THE STUDY OF ENGLISH HISTORY UNIFORM WITH THE PRESENT VOLUME. 2 vols. cloth, price 25$. INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE. By the Rev. ARCHIBALD HENRY SAYCE. 'A brief, clear account of the present state and past history of the science of language, which might not only serve as a handbook for the student, but should also be intelligible and interesting to the general reader. . . . Within the compass of some 700 pages he has managed to include a masterly sketch of his subject, and convey an immense amount of information bearing on it, without once losing his hold upon the reader's attention.' TIMES. ' The book fulfils admirably the promise of its title. It is truly an " Introduction " to the science of language.' SPECTATOR. Cloth, price 7*. 6d. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF GENRE PAINTING. By FREDERICK WEDMORE. With Sixteen Illustrations. ' Let us first do justice to the one conspicuous merit of the book its readableness.' SPECTATOR. * A book which will be read with nothing but pleasure by the con- tinually increasing class that cares for art and artists.' ACADEMY. ' A book in which special knowledge is moulded with much literary skill into an attractive form. Mr. Wetlmore is master of his subject." GUARDIAN. Cloth, price 9$. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE. By the Rev. Sir GEORGE W. COX, Bart., M.A. Author of ' The Mythology of the Aryan Nations," &c. London : C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., I Paternoster Square. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY BY SAMUEL R. GARDINER, HON. LL.D, PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON AND HONORARY STUDENT OF CHRISTCHURCH J. BASS MULLINGER, M.A. ST JOHN S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE LONDON C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., i PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1881 (The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved) Stack Annex z. CONTENTS. PART L INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAPTER I. Introductory The Ancient World. PAGE 1. What is history ? ...... I 2. Savage tribes . . . .- . I 3. Introduction of slavery ........ I 4. The great Asiatic monarchies ... 2 5. Governments established by them not permanent . . 3 6. The Greek republics . . . . 3 7. Rome's constitutional system .... -4 8. Roman patriotism . . . . . . . 5 9. Italy united under Rome . . . . .6 10. Rome the head of the nations . . . 7 11. The Empire and the Roman Law . ... 8 12. Abstract conception of Rome . . . . . 10 13. The individual sacrificed to the society . . . .10 14. The Christian Church . . . . . . ir 15. Organisation of the Church . . . . . II 16. The Empire and the Church . . . . . 12 17. Fall of the Empire in the West . . . . 13 1 8. The Church and the Teutonic conquerors . . . . 13 vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. The English Settlement and the English Kingship, 449-1066. PAGE I The Roman province of Britain . . . . 15 2. The English settlements . . . . . . 16 3. Institutions of the settlers . . . . 17 4. Changes produced by war . . . . . . 18 5. The King and the Witan . . . . .19 6. Administration of justice . . . .. 20 7. Moral needs of the population . . . . .21 8. The Christian missionaries in England . . 22 9. The monastic system . . . . . 23 10. The penitential system . . . ... 24 11. Church organisation . . ... .25 12. The Church compared with the Empire . . 27 13. Church and State . . . . . .27 14. Union of the kingdoms under Egbert . . . . 28 15. The Danish wars . . . . . .29 16. The struggle of the West Saxon kings with the Danes . . 29 1 7. Growth of kingly authority . . . . 30 1 8. Growth of a military aristocracy . . . ..31 19. The Eorls superseded by the Thegns . . . 32 20. The change gradual . . . . . 34 21. The King and the Witenagemot . . . -35 22. Dunstan's ecclesiastical policy . . . 36 23. The secular laws of Edgar . . . . -37 24. Ethelred and Edmund . . . . 37 25. Cnut's reign . .... 38 26. Edward the Confessor . . . . . . 38 27. The House of Godwin . . . . . -39 CHAPTER III. Norman and Angevin Organisation, 1066-1199. 1. North and South . . . . . . . 41 2. New ideas in Italy and France . . . . 42 3. Norman adaptability . . . . . . 42 4. Norman organisation in England . 43 5. The national kingship . . . . . . 44 6. Institutions of the first Norman kings . . . .46 7. Their imperfection .... 46 8. The Cluniac Reforms . . . . . -47 CONTENTS, , vii PAGE 9. The Hildebrandine Papacy and the Conqueror . 48 10. The spiritual and the temporal powers . . . .49 1 1 . The Church under William Rufus . . . 50 12. Anselm and Monasticism . . . . 51 13. Anselm and William Rufus . . . 52 14. Anselm and Henry I. . . . . .52 15. Principles involved in the quarrel . . . 53 1 6. The anarchy of Stephen . . . . . .54 17. The first Acts of Henry II. . . . . 55 1 8. Military reforms . . . . . .56 19. Judicial reforms . . . . . 57 20. Political arrangements . . . . . 58 21. The quarrel with Becket . . . . 59 22. England and the Crusades . . . . .61 23. Richard I. and Hubert Walter . ... 6l CHAPTER VI. Parliamentary Organisation, 1199-1327. 1. Contrast between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries . . 62 2. King John . . . . . . . . 62 3. The three quarrels of the reign . . . . -63 4. The quarrel with the King of France . . 63 5. The quarrel with the Pope . . . . .64 6. The Papacy of Innocent III. . . . 65 7. The quarrel with the baronage . . . . .66 8. Magna Carta . . . . . 66 9. New institutions needed . . . . -67 IO. Tentative efforts . . . . . 68 I J . Germ of the representative system . . . .69 12. Accession of Henry III. and the modified Charter . 69 13. Extinction of Papal influence . . . . -7 14. The Friars . . . . . . . 71 15. Simon de Montfort , . . . . -73 1 6. His scheme of a Representative Parliament . . 73 17. The early years of Edward I. . . . . -75 1 8. The national and the feudal kingship . . 76 19. Edward I. and Wales . . . . . -77 20. Edward I. and Scotland . . . . 77 21. Edward I. and France . . . . . 78 22. The dispute with the Clergy and the Baronage . 79 23. Confirmatio Cartarum . . . . . .80 24. Reign of Edward II. . . . . 81 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Constitutional Kingship, 1327-1485. PAGE 1. The Church and State of the Middle Ages . 83 2. Decline of the Papacy . . . . . . 84 3. National unity . 85 4. The connexion between England and Flanders- . 86 5. The beginning of the Hundred Years' Wa* . - -87 6. The Constitution of the House of Commons .. . 88 7. Unity of the nation. . . . - . .89 8. Growing strength of the Commons . . . 90 9. Chivalry ....... 90 10. The labourers . . . .. . . . 91 11. Piers the Ploughman . . . , -9* 12. The Black Death and the Peasants' Revolt . . 92 13. Wyclif 's principles . .. . . . -94 14. Wyclif's failure . . . . . 95 15. The Conservative reaction . .. . .96 1 6. The Revolution of 1399 . > .. - 97 17. Gradual Emancipation of the Serfs . . . -97 1 8. The decay of the baronage . . . . . 98 19. Causes of the rise of the Tudor Monarchy . . 99 CHAPTER VI. The Tudor Monarchy^ 1485-1603. 1. Reign of Henry VIL . ^ . . . 101 2. The Star Chamber . 102 3. End of the Middle Ages . .. . . . 103 4. The Italian Renaissance . . . . .104 5. The separation from Rome . . . . . . 106 6. Growth of despotism . _ .. . .106 7. The Protestants . . .. . _ 106 8. Character of the age . .. 108 9. The king's supremacy . . .. 1 10 10. Edward VI. . . . . ^ . .ill 11. Mary .. . . . . .. . . 112 12. The religious difficulty at the accession of Elizabeth . . 113 13. The Elizabethan Compromise . . . 114 14. The Elizabethan Commonwealth . . . 115 15. Elizabeth on her defence against the Catholics . . .116 16. The Jesuit Propaganda . .. . . . .118 17. Persecution of the Catholics . . . .. . 119 CONTENTS. ix PAGE 1 8. Elizabeth and the Puritans . . . . .121 19. The Elizabethan Church . . . . . i?.i 20. Elizabeth and the national spirit . . . .122 21. Elizabeth and the Renaissance . . . . . 123 22. England's position in Europe . . . .. .124 23. Elizabeth and Parliament . . . . 125 24. Growing importance of Parliament . . . .127 CHAPTER VII. The Struggle between King and Parliament, 1603-1653. 1. Necessity of liberty . . . . . .129 2. The first years of James L . . . . . 130 3. The Spanish Alliance . . . . . -132 4. Domestic Government . . . . 132 5. Buckingham and Prince Charles .. . . 134 6. War policy of Charles I- . . . . . 134 7. The House of Commons and the Churcb . . -135 8. The King without Parliament . > . 136 9. The Puritan Opposition . . . . .. 137 10. The Constitutional Opposition . . . 138 11. Arbitrary government . . . . . 139 12. The resistance in Scotland . . . . . 141 13. The beginning of the Long: Parliament .... 142 14. Breach between King and Parliament .. . . . 143 15. The King's supporters . . . . . 144 1 6. The supporters of the Parliament . . . . 146 17. The Civil War ....... 147 18. Cromwell and the Sects . . . . . 148 19. Supremacy of the army ...... 148 CHAPTER VIII. The Protectorate, tJie Restoration, and the Revolution, 1653-1688. 1. Aims of the Protectorate . . . . . 150 2. The Rights of Minorities . . . . 151 3. Government by the army .. . . . 152 4. Government of the Restoration . . . -154 5. The Divine Right of Kings- . . . . 154 6. Character of the Restoration . . . . 155 7. Prospects of Toleration . . . . 155 8. Antagonism to France and the Papacy . . . 157 9. The Exclusion Bill . . . ... . . 158 x CONTENTS. PAGE 10. Reign of James II. ...... 160 11. The Revolution of 1688 . . . . . . 161 CHAPTER IX. The Revolution Settlement, and the Rule of the Whig Aristocracy, 1 688-1 754. 1. Supremacy of the House of Commons . . . . 163 2. Liberty of the Pulpit aid the Press . . . . . 164 3. The sphere of Government restricted . . . .165 4. Immediate results of the predominance of the Hpuse of Commons 166 5. Cabinet Government . . . . 166 6. The House of Commons and the Nation . . . 168 7. Effacement of the Tory party . . * . 169 8. Influence of the large landowners . . . .170 9. The Whigs and the Dissenters . . . . 171 10. Hogarth and Fielding . . . . , -173 CHAPTER X. The Restoration of Authority, 1754-1789. 1. Premonitions of change . . . . 176 2. Wesleyanism . . . . . . 177 3. William Pitt . . . . . . . 178 4. The decline of the Whig Aristocracy . . , 1 79 5. The accession of George III. . . . 179 6. Edmund Burke ....... 181 7. The expulsion of Wilkes, and American taxation . . . 183 8. Comparison between Burke and Bacon . . . .184 9. The new Tories . . . . . . 185 10. The American War ...... 187 11. The Coalition Ministry . . . . 188 12. Pitt's Ministry ....... 189 CHAPTER XI. The Influence of the French Revolution, 1789-1881. 1. New ideas in France . , . . . . 192 2. The effect in England . . . . . 193 3. The last years of Pitt's Ministry . . . 193 4. The war with France . . . . . .194 5. The Foreign Policy of the Ministries after the war . . . 196 6. Domestic policy after the war . . . . .197 CONTENTS. PART IL AUTHORITIES. INTRODUCTORY. PAGE WORKS ON THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LANGUAGE : Pictet, Max Miiller, Oliphant, Isaac Taylor. WORKS ON THE COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF INSTITUTIONS: Sir H. Maine, Freeman, Kemble, Stubbs. THE ORIGINAL SOURCES. BIOGRAPHIES OF OUR HIS- TORICAL WRITERS : John Boston, John Leland, John Bale, John Pits, William Cave, Sir James Ware, Thomas Tanner. Later pub- lications : Macray, Prof. Morley, Sir T. D. Hardy. EDITORS : Archbishop Parker, Sir H. Savile, the Decent Scriptores, Henry Wharton, Thomas Hearne, Fulman, Gale, Hall, Sparke, Kennet, the Ada Sanctorum, Migne's Patrologia, Archaeologia, Ellis's Letters. The Rolls Series. HISTORICAL SOCIETIES : Roxburgh, Bannatyne, Maitland, and Abbotsford Clubs; Surtees Society, English Historical Society, Camden Society ; Parker, Percy, and Shakespeare Societies ; Spalding Club ; Aelfric and Chetham Societies ; Caxton and Early English Text Societies. STATE PAPERS : Rymer's Foedera ; Rolls of Parliament ; Publications of the Record Commissioners ; Corres- pondence of Henry VIII. ; Calendars of State Papers. SPECIAL SUBJECTS : Cobbett's Parliamentary History ; Earlier Collections of Parliamentary Debates ; Hansard ; Journals of the Houses of Parlia- ment ; Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England; Green's Lives of the English Princesses ; Foss's Lives of the Judges ; Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors and of The Lord Chief Justices ; Le Neve's Fasti ; Macpherson's Annals of Commerce ; Porter's Progress of the Nation ; Leone Levi's History of British Commerce ; James's Naval History The Harleian Miscellany . . . ... . 207-23 1 CHAPTER I. Authorities to A.D. 450. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. The Classical Writers; Itinerarium of Antoninus ; Notitia Dignitatum. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Gildas ; Bede ; his Historia F.cclesiastica ; editions by Smith, Moberly, Mayor and Lumby. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ; edi- tions by Thorpe and Earle ; Geoffrey of Monmouth ; influence of his xii CONTENTS. PAGE Historia ; the de Situ Britanniae ; spuriousness of the work ; the Monumenta Historica Brittanica. Hiibner's Inscriptions. MODERN WRITERS : Works on Roman, British, and Saxon Antiquities by Horsley, Bruce, Algernon Herbert, and Stukeley ; Articles by Dr. Guest ; other Authorities for points in dispute. The Ancient British Church. Camden's Britannia ..... 232-244 CHAPTER II. A.D. 450 to the Norman Conquest. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Growing importance of the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle ; Asser, Ethelwerd, the Emmae Encomium, the Vita Aedwardi ; Lives of Wilfrid and St. Cuthbert ; Aldhelm, Alcuin, St. Dunstan. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Marianus Scotus, Simeon of Durham, Henry of Huntingdon, Ralph of Diceto, Peter Langtoft, William of Malmesbury, Florence of Worcester ; Lives of Edward the Confessor ; Penitentials ; Lives of St. Dunstan ; Early English Legislation ; the Pseudo - Ingulphus. MODERN WRITERS. Palgrave, Kemble, Stubbs, Freeman, Waitz, Worsaee ; Freeman's Norman Conquest ; Bright, Milman, and Church ; Dictionary of Christian Biography ; Wright's Biographia ; Stubbs' s Select Charters ; Dugdale's Monasticon . . : 245-257 CHAPTER III. From the Norman Conquest to the Accession of King John. AUTHORITIES FOR NORMAN HISTORY. Dudo of St. Quentin, William of Jumieges, the Roman de Rou, William of Poitiers ; the Bayeux Tapestry ; Guy of Amiens. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS ON ENGLISH HISTORY. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Eadmer, Geoffrey Gaimar, Ordericus Vitalis, William of Malmesbury ; the Gesta Ste- phani ; the Hexham Chroniclers; Aethelred of Rievaulx ; Chronicles of Melrose and Lanercost ; William of Newbury ; the Gesta Regis Henrici; Roger Hoveden, Ralph of Diceto, Richard of Devizes, Hugo Candidus, Gervase of Canterbury ; other sources for reign of Richard I. ; Giraldus Cambrensis, Walter Map and John of Salis- bury ; other works of Giraldus ; Poem on the Conquest of Ireland ; Works relating to the Early History of Ireland ; contemporary Satirists ; Domesday Book ; contemporary Biographies. Dialogus de Scaccario. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITER. John of Bromp- ton. MODERN WRITERS. Freeman, Stubbs, Guizot, Bryce ; Lives of Lanfranc, Anselrn. Beket, and Hugh of Lincoln ; Sismondi ; Cox's Crusades ; Stubbs's Plantagenels 25^-269 CONTENTS. xii CHAPTER IV. From the Accession of King John to the Death of Edward II. PAGE CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. The ' Chronicle ' and the 'History;' advance in historical composition ; the School of St. Albans ; Matthew Paris ; his Historic, Major ; John de Cella and Roger of Wendover ; William Rishanger, Nicholas Trivet, Walter de Coventry ; the monastic Annales ; the Annals of Burton, the Annals of Winchester, the Annals of Wavexley, the Annals of Dunstable, the Annals of Osney ; Thomas Wykes ; the Annals of Worcester ; John of Trokelowe, the Monk of Malmesbury, Thomas de la Moor, Adam of Murimuth, Walter Hemingford. History of Gilds ; the City Records of London, Liber de Antiquis Legibus, Liber Albus, and Liber Custumarum ; other Records of London, Domesday of St. PauFs, Chroniques de London, the Chronicles of London ; Gregory's Chronicle. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Thomas Walsingham, Samuel Daniel ; Royal and Episcopal Letters ; Papal Letters ; Letters of Grosseteste; Roll of Bishop Swinfield ; Wright's Political Songs; AUTHORITIES FOR WELSH HISTORY. AUTHO- RITIES FOR SCOTTISH HISTORY. MODERN WRITERS. Freeman, Guizot, Pauli, Stubbs, Brewer, Milman, Hallam, Mullinger ; Lives of Simon de Montfort; Hook's Archbishops . 270-283 CHAPTER V, From the Accession of Edward III. to the Death of Richard III. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Adam of Murimuthi (continued}, Robert Avesbury, Higden and John of Trevisa, Henry Knighton, Chronicle by a Monk of St. Albans ; Walsingham's Historia ; French Chroni- clers on Richard II. ; Adam of Usk, John Capgrave, Thomas Otterbourne ; Lives of Henry V, ; Chronique de Normandie ; the Siege of Rouen ; John Amundesham, John Whethamstede ; other Chronicles for Reign of Henry VI. ; Bekynton's Correspondence ; John Harding, Richard Grafton, Jean de Waurin, William of Worcester, Jean de Bel, Froissart, Enguerrand de Monstrelet ; Robert Blondel ; Historie of the Arrivall of Edward IV. ; the Paston Letters ; Richard of Bury, Reginald Pecock, Continuation of the Croyland Chronicle ; Warkworth's Chronicle ; More's Richard III., Papers of Richard III. ; Docket Book of Edward V. ; Robert Fabyan ; contemporary writers on Wyclif and Lollardism, Wright's Political Poems. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Polydore Ver- xiv CONTENTS. PAGE gil, Hall, and Redman. MODERN WRITERS. Lives by Pauli, Gaird- ner, Longman, Wallon, Freeman, Brougham, Hallam ; Walcott's Wykeham ; Anstey's Munimenta ; Hook's Archbishops ; Shirley, Gairdner, Geffcken, Kirk; Rogers' s History of Prices . . 284-301 CHAPTER VI. From the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of Elizabeth. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Polydore Vergil and Hall (con- tinued}; Bernard Andre; the Venetian 'Relation'; the London Chronicle Harpsfield and Cardinal Pole ; Wriothesley's Chronicle ; More's Utopia and Starkey's England; influences of the Reforma- tion ; Holinshed's Chronicles ; John Stowe, his Sttmmary, Annales, and Survev of London ; John Foxe, his Actszcnd Monuments ; minor works relating to the Reformation; Remains of Edward VI. ; Machyn's Diary ; Chronicle of Queen Jane ; Lives of More and Wolsey ; Hooker's Life of Carew ; Camden's Life of Elizabeth ; the State Papers ; Calendars of the State Papers ; the Zurich Letters ; the Brief Discourse ; Martin Marprelate ; the Reformed Church in Scotland, Peterkin and Calderwood ; Archbishop Spottiswoode ; Hardwicke Papers ; Digges's Compleat Ambassador ; Cabala ; the Somers Tracts ; Proceedings of the Elizabethan Parliaments ; the Burleigh Papers ; Granvelle's Correspondence ; Teulet's French Despatches ; Noailles Despatches ; State Papers preserved at Venice and Simancas ; materials for the history of Mary, Queen of Scots ; literature relating to the Catholics and Jesuits in England ; Winwood's Memorials ; Sydney Papers; Carew Letters ; Harrison's Description of England; Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses ; Stafford's Examination. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Fuller's Church History; Collier's Church History ; ~Bv.met''s History of the Reforma- tion ; Le Grand's Histoire du Divorce ; Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials and Annals of the Reformation ; Neal's Puritans ; Dodd's Church History; Kurd's Dialogue. BIOGRAPHIES. Lives of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. by Bacon, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, and Sir John Hayward; Fiddes' Life of Wolsey; Lewis's Life of Fisher ; Fuller's Worthies ; Strype's Lives ; Lloyd's State Worthies ; Wood's Athenae Oxonienses ; Nichols's Progresses. AUTHORITIES FOR SCOTTISH HISTORY. MODERN WRITERS. Froude, Ranke, Lin- gard, Hausser, Haweis, Hunt, Marsden, Mot'ey. Histories of the Jesuit Order. Cobbett's State Trials. Brace's History of the East India Company. Biographical works by Wordsworth and Seebohm ; Lives of Cranmer, Parker, Grindal, Whitgift and Nowell ; Lives of Sir Christopher Hatton and Davison by Nicolas ; Life of Sir Philip CONTENTS. xv PAGE Sidney ; literature relating to Mary, Queen of Scots ; Lives of the Devereux, Sir Walter Raleigh, and John Knox ; Cooper's Athenae Cantabrigienses ; note on Sander, de Origine Schismatis, etc. . 302-330 CHAPTER VII. From the Accession of James I. to the Protectorate. CONTEMPORARY SOURCES. State Papers of the period ; Camden, Wilson, writings of James I., Melros State Papers ; Carew Letters ; Wellington's Diary ; the Thomason Collection of Pamphlets ; the ' King's Pamphlets ' ; Clarendon's History ; Dalrymple's Memorials. PARLIAMENTARY RECORDS. Debates of 1610 ; debates of 1620 and 1621 ; Lords' Debates of 1621, 1624, and 1626; Rushworth's Collec- tions', Clarendon State Papers; Debates of 1625; Protests of the Lords ; Verney Papers ; Whitelock's Memorials ; Thurloe Papers ; May's History; Verney's Notes; Scobell's Collections ; Parliaments of 1 640 ; Nalson's Collection ; Ormonde Papers ; Clarendon's Short View; Contemporary History of Ireland. SPECIAL EVENTS, &c. Gunpowder Plot (Gerard and Jardine) ; Trial of Somerset (Amos); Spanish Marriage (Fray Francisco); Expedition to Rochelle (Lord Herbert of Cherbury) ; Charles and the Covenanters (Balcanqual and Borough) ; Balfour's Annales ; Guthry's Memoirs ; History of Torture (Jardine) ; Milton on Church Reform, the Freedom of the Press, and the Puritan Policy; Strafford's Letters; Ludlow's Memoirs ; Holles's Memoirs; Walker's Discourses ; Sprigg's Anglia Rediviva ; Cromwell and Manchester; Letters of Charles and Hen- rietta ; Register of the Visitors of Oxford; Herbert's Memoirs of Charles the First's last years. FOREIGN RELATIONS, &c. De la Boderie, Dumont, Win wood, Bassompierre, Venetian Reports ; Sully's Oeconomies Royales ; Birch's Historical View ; Carleton Letters ; Rusdorf Despatches. BIOGRAPHIES. Materials for Lives of Prynne and Laud; Heylin's Life of Laud; Lives of Hutchin- son, Williams, Birch, Bedell, and the Dukes of Hamilton ; Auto- biographies of D'Ewes, Sir R. Carey, Lord Herbert, Lady Halket, and Mrs. Alice Thornton. Halliwell's Letters ; Correspondence of the Hatton Family; Fairfax Correspondence ; Hamilton Papers ; Baillie's Letters ; Welwood's Memoirs. LATER WRITERS. Dr. Birch, Carte, Brodie, Godwin, Lingard, Isaac Disraeli, Carlyle, Guizot, John Forster, Gardiner, Ranke, Sanford, Mozley, Burton ; Bancroft's History of the United States ; Nichols's Progresses ; Spedding's Bacon; Masson's Milton ; Lives of Montrose, Prince Rupert, and Fairfax ; Miss. Strickland and Mrs. Everett Green . 331-357 a xvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. From the Protectorate to the Revolution. PAGE CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Authorities already described. Green's Calendar of State Papers ; Burner's Own Times; Rennet's Register ; Chamberlayne, Sir William Temple, Sir John Reresby, Sir Joseph Williamson, Evelyn, Peoys, Narcissus Luttrell, Burton, Rymer, and Dumont ; Sir John Dalrymple's Memoirs; Despatches of Barillon, Bonrepaux, and the Comte d'Avaux ; Mignet's Collections relating to the Spanish Succession. BIOGRAPHIES. Baxter's Autobiography ; Calamy's Ejected Ministers; Boyer's Life of Temple ; Lives by Roger North ; Memoirs of Sir James Turner ; Letters of Mary II. ; Dryden's Poems. WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. Fox's History of James II. ; J v S. Clarke's Life of James II. ; Mackintosh, Ma- caulay, Mr. W. E. Forster, Mr. Paget, Marsden, Mr. Hunt, and Dr. Tulloch ; Histories of the Royal Society, by Sprat, Birch, Thomson, and Weld ; Biographies of Sir W. Temple, Grahame of Claverhouse, Lord Shaftesbury, Blake and Penn ; Writers on Dryden . . 358-370 CHAPTER IX. The Revolution Settlement and the Rule of the Whig Aristocracy. CORRESPONDENCE AND PAPERS. Correspondence of the Duke of Shrewsbury; Macpherson's Original Papers ; Carstair's State Papers. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Locke On Toleration ; Swift's Journal and History ; his Political Pamphlets ; Bolingbroke's Works and Correspondence ; Boyer, Oldmixon, and Tindal ; Fletcher of Saltoun ; Lord Hervey's Memoirs, and Horace Walpole's Letters ; Ker of Kers- land ; Dr. King's A necdotes. FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick ; Letters of William III. ; Marlborough's Despatches ; Literature relating to the Duchess of Marlborough. NON-CONTEM- PORARY WRITER. Somerville's Reign of Queen Anne. WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. Archdeacon Coxe, Alison, Earl Stan- hope, and Burton ; Mr. Lecky's England in the Eighteenth Cen- tury. Works relating to the Spanish Succession. The Earls of Stair ; Lives of Carstairs, Pitt, Bentley, and Newton ; Macaulay's Essays ; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes ; Wordsworth's University Life, etc. ; Professor Mayor's Baker ; Mr. Hunt, Leslie Stephen, Messrs. Abbey and Overton . ..... 371-383 CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. PAGE CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Calendar of State Papers by Mr. Red- ington ; the Grenville Papers ; the Bedford Correspondence ; the Pitt Correspondence ; Memoirs of Lord Rockingham ; Correspondence of George III. ; the Malmesbury Correspondence ; Burke's Correspon- dence, Speeches, and Pamphlets ; the Cornwall's Correspondence ; Romilly's Letters ; Duke of Buckingham's Memoirs of George HI. ; the Rose Correspondence ; the Auckland Correspondence ; Horace Walpole's Memoirs of George II. and George III. ; his Notes on the Debates in Parliament ; the Gentleman's Magazine and the Annual Register ; Cavendish's Debates ; the Letters of Junius ; Bubb Dod- ington's Diary. BIOGRAPHIES. Lives of William Pitt, Burke, C. J. Fox, Clive, Wesley, Lord Mansfield, and Sheridan ; Lord Broug- ham's Statesmen of the Reign of George III. LATER HISTORICAL WRITERS. Adolphus, Craik and Macfarlane, Mr. Massey, Sir Erskine May, Sir G. C. Lewis ; Lord Holland's Memoirs ; Wright's Caricatzire History ......... 384-395 CHAPTER XL Tfi French Revolution. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Writers already described ; Burke, Mackintosh, and Erskine on the French Revolution ; Diary and Correspondence of Lord Colchester ; Life and Correspondence of Lord Sidmouth ; Twiss's Life of Lord Eldon ; Yonge's Life of I^ord Liverpool ; Erskine's Speeches ; Lives of Erskine by Brougham and Campbell ; Memoirs of Francis Homer ; Brialmont's Life of Welling- ton ; the Wellington Despatches ; Lives and Correspondence of Nelson and Collingwood ; Life of I^ord Dundonald ; Lord Dudley's Letters; Bamford's Life of a Radical ; Lives of Lord Londonderry and Sir Charles Stewart by Alison. LATEST HISTORICAL WRITERS. Von Sybel, Alison, Sir William Napier, Mr. Spencer Walpole ; Tooke's history of Prices ; Miss Martineau's History of 'the Peace ; Dr. Pauli's Geschichte Englands, etc 396-404 INDEX . 405 a 2 xvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. From the Protectorate to the Revolution. PAGE CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Authorities already described. Green's Calendar of State Papers ; Burnet's Own Times; Kennet's Register ; Chamberlayne, Sir William Temple, Sir John Reresby, Sir Joseph Williamson, Evelyn, Peoys, Narcissus Luttrell, Burton, Rymer, and Dumont ; Sir John Dalrymple's Memoirs; Despatches of Barillon, Bonrepaux, and the Comte d'Avaux ; Mignet's Collections relating to the Spanish Succession. BIOGRAPHIES. Baxter's Autobiography ; Cz\zmy's Ejected Ministers ; Boyer's Life of Temple ; Lives by Roger North ; Memoirs of Sir James Turner ; Letters of Mary II. ; Dryden's Poems. WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. Fox's History of James II. ; J v S. Clarke's Life of James II. ; Mackintosh, Ma- caulay, Mr. W. E. Forster, Mr. Paget, Marsden, Mr. Hunt, and Dr. Tulloch ; Histories of the Royal Society, by Sprat, Birch, Thomson, and Weld ; Biographies of Sir W. Temple, Grahame of Claverhouse, Lord Shaftesbury, Blake and Penn ; Writers on Dryden . . 358-370 CHAPTER IX. The Revolution Settlement and the Rule of the Whig Aristocracy. CORRESPONDENCE AND PAPERS. Correspondence of the Duke of Shrewsbury; Macpherson's Original Papers ; Carstair's State Papers. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Locke On Toleration ; Swift's Journal and History ; his Political Pamphlets ; Bolingbroke's Works and Correspondence ; Boyer, Oldmixon, and Tindal ; Fletcher of Saltoun ; Lord Hervey's Memoirs, and Horace Walpole's Letters ; Ker of Kers- land ; Dr. King's Anecdotes. FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick ; Letters of William III. ; Marlborough's Despatches ; Literature relating to the Duchess of Marlborough. NON-CONTEM- PORARY WRITER. Somerville's Reign of Queen Anne. WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. Archdeacon Coxe, Alison, Earl Stan- hope, and Burton ; Mr. Lecky's England in the Eighteenth Cen- tury. Works relating to the Spanish Succession. The Earls of Stair ; Lives of Carstairs, Pitt, Bentley, and Newton ; Macaulay's Essays ; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes ; Wordsworth's University Life, etc. ; Professor Mayor's Baker ; Mr. Hunt, Leslie Stephen, Messrs. Abbey and Overton . ..... 371-383 CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. PAGE CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Calendar of State Papers by Mr. Red- ington ; the Grenville Papers ; the Bedford Correspondence ; the Pitt Correspondence ; Memoirs of Lord Rockingham ; Correspondence of George III. ; the Malmesbury Correspondence ; Burke's Correspon- dence, Speeches, and Pamphlets ; the Cornwallis Correspondence ; Romilly's Letters ; Duke of Buckingham's Memoirs of George HI. ; the Rose Correspondence ; the Auckland Correspondence ; Horace Walpole's Memoirs of George II. and George III. ; his Notes on the Debates in Parliament ; the Gentleman's Magazine and the Annual Register ; Cavendish's Debates ; the Letters of Junius ; Bubb Dod- ington's Diary. BIOGRAPHIES. Lives of William Pitt, Burke, C. J. Fox, Clive, Wesley, Lord Mansfield, and Sheridan ; Lord Broug- ham's Statesmen of the Reign of George III. LATER HISTORICAL WRITERS. Adolphus, Craik and Macfarlane, Mr. Massey, Sir Erskine May, Sir G. C. Lewis ; Lord Holland's Memoirs ; Wright's Caricature History .... I .... 384-395 CHAPTER XL TJie French Revolution. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. Writers already described ; Burke, Mackintosh, and Erskine on the French Revolution ; Diary and Correspondence of Lord Colchester ; Life and Correspondence of Lord Sidmouth ; Twiss's Life of Lord Eldon ; Yonge's Life of I^ord Liverpool; Erskine's Speeches; Lives of Erskine by Brougham and Campbell ; Memoirs of Francis Homer ; Brialmont's Life of Welling- ton ; the Wellington Despatches ; Lives and Correspondence of Nelson and Collingwood ; Life of ford Dundonald ; Lord Dudley's Letters; Bamford's Life of a Radical ; Lives of Lord Londonderry and Sir Charles Stewart by Alison. LATEST HISTORICAL WRITERS. Von Sybel, Alison, Sir William Napier, Mr. Spencer Walpole ; Tooke's History of Prices ; Miss Martineau's History of the Peace ; Dr. Pauli's Geschichte Englands, etc. ..... 396-404 INDEX . 45 a 2 PART I. INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. BY SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER. PREFACE TO THE FIRST PART. THE object of the present work is to provide some help for students who, having gone through the ordinary school course, wish to devote themselves to the special study of some part of the history of their country. Such persons chiefly require an indication of the books which it would be well for them to study, and that service is rendered to them by Mr. Mullinger, whose work forms the kernel of the volume, and to whom also I offer my hearty thanks for the care with which he looked over the proofs of my part of the book, 'and for the valuable assistance which he gave me in so doing. What I have attempted to do is to give help of a different kind. For those who wish to make progress in historical study, careful and minute investigation is indispensable. It is only by degrees that the student learns how much his power of judging fairly the characters of history depends upon complete accuracy in the matter of dates and places. A word spoken or a thing done will convey a very dif- ferent impression, as its relation to some other word xxii PREFACE. or action is known or unknown. By knowing this rela- tion the inquirer learns not merely what took place, but how it took place. When he finds how everything follows naturally from that which precedes it, he begins to understand that connection between cause and effect the knowledge of which is the necessary preliminary to all sober criticism of actions and persons. Yet this is not all. The personalities of history are not merely figures flitting across a stage, of whom it is enough to learn the motives and the actions. They are themselves the result of causes which existed generations before they were born, and influence results for genera- tions after they die. No one, therefore, can really study any particular period of history unless he knows a great deal about what preceded it and what came after it. He cannot seriously study a generation of men as if it could be isolated and examined like a piece of inorganic matter. He has to bear in mind that it is a portion of a living whole which is under his observation. The work of the constructive imagination comes in where the work of investigation ends. In the end this is a work which every man must do for himself. He will have to pick out from the manifold facts of history those which seem to him to be more important than the others, and it will never happen that any two men will be precisely agreed as to the relative importance of any set of facts. Yet it may not be altogether useless to those who are girding themselves to the task to have before them an attempt to trace the life of the English nation by one who has at all events given much of his time and thought in an attempt to realise to himself what that life has been. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY THE ANCIENT WORLD. HISTORY is the record of change, of the new circum- CHAP. stances into which communities of men are brought, and - *b of the new ideas called forth by those circumstances and by which circumstances are in turn moulded. Savage tribes have no history, because they know no 2 ^ change. They hunt and fish, or repel their enemies, on Tribes, the same soil and under the same climate from generation to generation. The most momentous change which comes over such 3-. Intro- tribes is that brought about by the introduction of slavery, slavery. When any body of men felt itself strong enough to utilise the labours of its enemies, it had advanced one step in the direction of mercy, and being now able to spare itself the necessity of toiling for the bare necessaries of life, was able to devote some time to procuring material comforts which would ultimately become the solace of others as well as of themselves. Another step in the same direction was taken when * The a race, no longer content with the capture of individual Asiatic- slaves, subjected a whole race to its domination, content- archies. ing itself with the exaction of tribute or of personal service in some way which did not involve the complete loss of personal freedom. In such a way arose the great B INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. Asiatic monarchies which meet us at the dawn of tra- ' ditional history, and which are doubtless only advanced types of earlier efforts in the same direction. To some extent both the conquerors and the conquered were the better for what had taken place. The conquered populations composed of many tribes were no longer allowed to wage war with one another. For the first time they enjoyed the blessings of peace, and the material advantages which accompany it. The con- querors had a far greater share in the enjoyments of the world. They learned to practise the virtues of a dominant race, and made some progress in intellectual knowledge. There was organisation of government and of the military force. But it was organisation for the sake of the governors, not for the sake of the governed. There was no amalgamation between the two, no sense of duty urging on the governors to improve the condition of the governed. So long as a subject tribe paid its tribute and did not annoy its neighbours in such a way as to prevent them from paying theirs, they might live as they pleased amongst themselves. What interference there was was simply for the objects of the ruling race. The fairest maidens might be carried off by force or persuasion, to fill the harems of the governing class, as when Esther was brought before Ahasuerus. The good- liest young men might be driven away to fight for that same class, as when Rabshakeh offered two thousand horses to Hezekiah if he would set riders upon them. But each man or woman selected went not to draw the union closer between governors and governed, but to swell the ranks of the governors, just as in later times no benefit has accrued to the subjects of the Ottoman Turks in Europe, by the abduction of women or by the seizure of male children to form the corps of Janissaries. THE ANCIENT WORLD. 3 The head of such a government is necessarily despotic. CHAP. The members of the governing- race are far more in- terested in preserving the strict discipline which alone 5. GOV- enables it to retain its sway, than in guarding each established individual of their number against the tyranny or b y them J } not per- caprices of the monarch. Any special case in which the manem. despot places himself in antagonism with the feeling of the race in general, or of those who immediately sur- round his person, is easily provided for by his assassina- tion. It is seldom that the dynasty to which such a ruler belongs maintains itself long in power. Doing nothing for the subject races, it has no gratitude to expect from them, and in times of danger they show no eagerness to come to its assistance. When Babylon was taken by Cyrus, the Lady of kingdoms fell in a moment as if it had been swallowed up by an earthquake. Three battles disposed of the Persian empire with almost equal suddenness. It mattered little to the Syrian peasant whether he paid tribute to a Nebuchadnezzar, a Darius, or an Alexander. His own lot was not likely to be improved by any change from one to the other. Very different was the condition of the petty Greek 6. The states which hurled back the whole weight of the Persian Republics, monarchy in its day of power. In Greece the tribe came into contact with the outer world not by conquest, but by commerce, exploration, and sometimes by piracy. It drew wealth from others without bringing upon itself the task of keeping them in subjection. Its character changed from that of a rural to that of a city commu- nity. The quick-witted thoughtful race occupied every domain of poetry, of oratory, of art, and of philosophy. Athens, the foremost of all the Greek states, was the first to show that the supremacy of the free population over its magistrates could be exercised not by inarticulate shouts or noisy clashing of arms, but by deliberate vote 4 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. after a serious and sustained argument in which anyone was permitted to take part. It was a great achievement ; but it carried with it its own shadow. If in the Persian monarchy there was no people worthy of the name, in Athens there was no government worthy of the name, no organised institutions which could sufficiently do for the people what Pericles did for them in his lifetime, and which could save them from the alternate rashness and inertness which proved their ruin. If, as a state, Athens was subject to dangers the very opposite to those under which Persia succumbed, her faults as a conqueror were precisely the same as those of Persia. When she converted the leadership of allied states into an imperial sway, she offered them, just as Persia had offered, protection against foreign attack and the cessation of neighbourly wars. She demanded from them, as Persia had demanded, tribute and fidelity. She did not admit them into fellowship with herself or merge her separate existence in that of a mightier whole. 5 7- The first commonwealth able to solve the problems Consti- which Athens and Persia in their several ways had failed SSSSJ to solve was that of Rome - Whilst she was still but a petty community, she had secured the existence of a body of magistrates with large and almost excessive powers. These magistrates, proceeding as they did from annual elections by the whole body of people, were not likely to entertain projects antagonistic to the desires of those by whom they were chosen, whilst their action was steadied and controlled by the moral and, to some extent, the legal superiority of the senate, a body composed of men who had held office in former years, and whose position was therefore the best guarantee for their practical experience and their wise moderation. The Roman state, unlike as it was to the constitutional states of modern Europe, afforded nevertheless the most THE ANCIENT WORLD. i complete instance of constitutional government which CHAP. the world had yet seen. The object of such a govern- 1_ ment is to secure as far as possible the carrying out of the general wishes of the governed, after they have passed through the minds of men of superior intelligence and knowledge of affairs. It aims, on the one hand, at placing a check upon the immediate passions and desires of the moment, and on the other hand, at restraining those who are set to guide, from satisfying their own pas- sions and desires in opposition to the distinct wish of the community at large. In some sort indeed this descrip- tion may suit every government which ever existed There are natural forces in every society which place power in the hands of those who are qualified to lead within the limits prescribed by the general feeling. All that any constitutional system can profess to do is to give regularity to the working of natural laws, to facilitate their action and to avoid the shocks which inevitably follow upon any attempt to set them at naught. In law as in science, man is but the servant and interpreter of nature. It was a great achievement to found a constitutional 8. Re- state, and to bring, as it were, the brain and heart of the l^olism" commonwealth into due relations with each other. But as even the healthy mind in the healthy body avails a man little unless he has sufficient mental power and moral character to bear himself well amidst the trials which new circumstances bring him under, so it is with a commonwealth. The very superiority of Rome's internal constitution gave her external strength, and the conquest of Italy called for new ideas of government under new circumstances. The difficulties of the pro- blem were such as, with our modern ways of thought, it is almost impossible for us even to conceive. To us, familiar as we are with political organisations extending 6 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. over enormous territories, it is a mere matter of practical convenience, whether a state extend over a few thousand square miles, or over a few hundred thousand. The ancient city communities limited their patriotism to their own fortified home. There were the temples of their Gods, the memories made beautiful by the deeds of their ancestors, and whatever scenes of happiness, or of tender regret their own lives had brought to them. There, too, was the centre of political action, the market place, where the freemen met to acclaim the laws or to choose the magistrates by whom those laws were to be executed, and the senate house where the fathers of the state met to consult how dangers at home and abroad might best be met. The love of country in such a community was as ardent and exclusive as it was nar- row, and the dweller in a neighbouring city was regarded not merely as a stranger, but as an implacable foe. The word hostts, by which the Romans designated an enemy, originally meant no more than a foreigner. 9. Italy it W as to the credit of Rome that in her earlier davs united under she had shown herself superior to this feeling of anta- gonism. She had striven, and conquered ; she had spread slaughter and desolation around ; but in the end she had offered the right hand of fellowship to those whom she had defeated and oppressed. Plebeian and patrician after a time were amalgamated together, and subsequently the dwellers 'in the Latin towns were admitted to a citizen- ship -as complete as that of the man whose ancestors had been consuls at the first establishment of the repub- lic. But even in Rome there seemed to come a limit to her transcendent assimilative power. She had been able to understand that a man could be a citizen of Rome who lived at Tusculum or Ardea. She could not understand that a man could be a citizen of Rome who Jived too far off to join personally in the vote in the THE ANCIENT WORLD. Roman Forum. She had overcome the moral difficulty, CHAP. she recoiled before the physical difficulty. The notion of representative arrangements, by which the conquered populations from the Rubicon to the Straits of Messina might appear at Rome by deputy, as they do at this day, never occurred to any Roman, and it is probable that if such an idea had been suggested to him, he would have re- coiled from it as from an innovation too daring to be worthy of consideration. Nevertheless, though Rome did not do what a modern state, under similar circum- stances, would inevitably have done, she did what no state had ever done before her. She took care indeed, by covering Italy with military posts under the form of colonies, and by joining them by a network of military roads, to make insurrection difficult. But she understood that strength cannot be gained by mere repression. She definitely renounced the idea of wringing money from her Italian subjects. No emissaries went forth from her gates, like the tribute-collecting ships from the port of Athens, to impress upon the Etruscans and the Lucanians the feeling of subjection. All that she asked from them was fellowship in arms, in victory, and in spoil. She called them her allies, and she treated them with the dignified consideration which won their respect and attachment. By their help she rose victorious from the great struggle with Carthage. Then came the evil days of Rome's too easy victory. ro . The whole Eastern world, Greece, Macedonia, Asia HeadVfth Minor, Syria, Egypt fell into her hands. The Mediter- Nations - ranean coast of Africa was subdued. Spain and Gaul were borne down by the overwhelming force of a disciplined attack. At a later time Southern Germany and Southern Britain were added to her territory. Long before the process was accomplished, the old Roman virtues seemed to have passed away for ever. Magi- INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. strates went forth to plunder, not to govern. The voters . ' at home chose magistrates who would offer them the highest bribes. The difficulty which had stared the Romans in the face after the conquest of Italy came back upon them in a more bewildering form. The political community consisted of a few hundred thousand demoralised men, living within an easy distance of the Roman Forum. The real community was scattered over every country in Europe, from the Atlantic to the Euphrates, and from the mouths of the Rhine to the wastes of the Sahara. In the face of such a population as this the privileges of the Roman voter were as unimportant as the rights of an elector of Shoreham or Truro are to the cultivators of British India. The con- quered nations could not possibly come in person to vote at Rome, and even if the idea of representative government had occurred to any one, the first requisite of that form of government, identity of interest and feeling, was entirely wanting. The polished scheming Greek, the effeminate Asiatic, the rude Spaniard and Gaul could not be brought by any constitutional arrangements to co-operate in the work of government. The utmost for which they could hope was the substitution of the rule of a man for the rule of the populace of a single city, or for that of the wealthy tyrants who were able to secure the goodwill of that populace by the most nefarious means. ii. The The establishment of the Empire gave the provinces all anduhe that they could hope to have. In the emperors, the old Roman assimilating genius of Rome was quickened into life once more. The very fact that they had risen to power in antagonism with the special society of the city of Rome, led them to consult the interests of the more extensive community. For a time the want of a constitutional limitation upon their powers was not felt in the exist- THE ANCIENT WORLD. ence of the stronger tie of a common interest between CHAP. j themselves and the mass of those whom they governed. The limits of Roman citizenship, valuable at this period only from the personal rights which it conferred, were rapidly extended till they included every free man born on the soil of the empire. The highest position of all was thrown open to every race. Gauls, Spaniards, Africans, and Syrians, wielded as emperors the sway which had been exercised by Julius and Augustus. For the first time the idea of scientific law rose on mankind. Rulers more powerful than the old Persian Kings were not content to leave each petty community subject to them to settle its own affairs in its own way, provided only that it did not fall into arrears in the payment of its tribute. They conceived the idea of duty from the rulers to the ruled, of a necessity under which they were to disseminate the benefits of which they were them- selves partakers, and to hold out the hand to raise up the less prosperous or less cultivated of their subjects to the level which they had reached. In the effort, the legisla- tor of the empire cut himself adrift from the old notion of law as the custom of a particular community. Brought face to face with rules of living as various as the soil on which they had sprung up, he learned to estimate them all at their true value. He ceased to ask what was law at Rome, at Athens, or at Lyons. He searched deep into the needs and duties of men as the members of the great human family. His task was rendered possible by the growth of the sentiment of humanity, which had found no root in the early days of the empire, when Rome was still the conquering city, only distinguished from other cities of the past by the mingled firmness and mildness of her sway. Tu regere imperio populos, Rom.ine, memento, Parcere subjectis et debellarc superbos. io INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. Four centuries later, Rome had become an abstract _ conception personifying the ideas of thoughtful and 12. Ab- beneficent government. Imperceptibly, as another poet, ception of himself of Gaulish origin, then sang, the city had melted Rome. j nto the wor l c l. Exaudi, regina tui pulcherrima mundi, Inter sidereos Roma recepta polos ; Exaudi, genetrix hominum genetrixque deorum Non procul a caelo per tua templa sumus. Fecisti patriam diversis gentibus unam ; Profuit invitis, te dominante, capi ; Dumque offers victis patrii consortia juris, Urbem fecisti quod prius orbis erat. individual* No great result is achieved without considerable cost. sacrificed The action of the government of the empire had bound to the So- ciety. men more closely together than they had ever been bound before. It had taught them to consider themselves as members of a great society, which claimed their loyalty because it studied their real interests. But it had done nothing to employ them as co-operators in the work. The individual energies of each particular citizen had been weakened in the process of amalgamation. They were left to concentrate themselves on selfish and material, or, at the best, on purely local objects. The bloody spectacles of the gladiatorial combats and the enervating representations of a profligate drama were the staple amusements of the multitude. The Gaulish tribesman, the Roman burgher of olden days, had known that his own temperance, and valour, and prudence, would count for something in advancing the fortunes of the community to which he belonged. The Gaulish or Italian subject of the empire was but a drop in the ocean. Government was regarded by him as something external to himself, something which he was powerless to influence, even in the most infinitesimal degree. The em- THE ANCIENT WORLD. pire, therefore, had at its service skilled legislators and CHAP. rulers, taking in hand the management of an acquiescent population. What it lacked was the spontaneity of individual public spirit diffused over the whole body, and the moral earnestness of individual aspiration after a higher and better life. Though the empire did not care to encourage by its 14-. Th . . . . ......... . , Christinn institutions either individual vitality or the development church, of popular control, another society arose in its midst which occupied the ground which the empire had left un- touched. The gospel of the Christian missionaries went straight to the heart of the individual convert. Christ, it told him, had died for his personal salvation, that he might be snatched from sin and the consequences of sin. It invited him not merely to obey laws imposed by some distant authority, but to be pure and righteous and merciful as the spotless model which was ever set before his eyes. Upon this foundation it built up an edifice of universal benevolence. Do what it would, the em- pire could not abolish slavery or serfdom, could not set aside the distinction between citizens within its limits and the hostile populations without. In Christ Jesus there was neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. The Christian theory started from the very opposite pole of thought from that from which the empire had started, though it is true that its desire to provide for the life to come rather than for the life of this world, prevented the Church from drawing forth all the practical consequences which were involved in its most cherished ideas. The organisation of the Church proceeded in the same IS . o clirection as its creed. The bishops who with the rest of j^" h ^f tlon the clergy were the instruments of collective acts of Church. larity, and who, as a moral and intellectual aristocracy, laintained the standard of doctrine to deviate from 12 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. which was heresy, had gained their position by the direct 1- or indirect choice of the churches over which they pre- sided. The constitution of each church in the third cen- tury was, in spirit at least, not unlike the constitution of the Roman state six centuries earlier. The magistrates and councillors sprang from the popular choice, and derived all their authority from popular support. But they were bound by their positions to respect the traditions of their order, to instruct, and guide, rather than to listen and to follow. It was no wonder therefore that not the worst but the best emperors struggled hard against an organisation so strong in every point in which their own organisation was weak, and that they only at last gave way when resistance was no longer possible. Con- stantine, indeed, as is probable, had little idea that in assembling at Nicaea a general council of the bishops, he was increasing the strength of a society which was stronger than that over which he ruled. In fact, he had given his consent to the erection of a real repre- sentative assembly. The force which had been scattered over countless congregations was at last brought into a focus. 1 6. The For a long time the empire and the church pursued ancu'he their several paths side by side. Different as their Church. organisations were, they were saved from collision by the difference of their aims. After some vain attempts, the emperors, at least in the west, refrained from promul- gating creeds. The clergy had no wish to take part in the direction of armies. Nor were the materials of a conflict to be found in the domain of justice, afterwards so fruitful of quarrels between the lay and the ecclesias- tical authorities. If the emperors sometimes interfered with the occupant of the important See of Rome, they showed no disposition to hamper the general relations between the clergy and their flocks, and the clergy were THE A NCI EXT WORLD. 13 too good Romans themselves to find fault with the CHAP. I working of the Roman law in other matters. ' It was one thing to offer no positive opposition to 17. Fail the empire ; it was another thing to support it actively p ire f n ^ in its day of trial. The empire at last suffered the fate West - of all institutions which do not root themselves in the active support of those for whose benefit they arise. As the danger from its Teutonic assailants grew more formidable, the pressure of taxation grew heavier till it was almost unendurable. The material wants of the people were not provided for. Its distresses were not alleviated. A population without enthusiasm could not be called upon to furnish men for the military defence of its rulers. The evil counsel prevailed of entrusting the defence of the frontier to Germans, trained and disciplined to the habits of Roman war- fare. At last the time came when those who had been admitted as servants claimed to be masters, and their brethren from the forests of Germany poured in at the gaps left undefended. In Western Europe the empire melted away before so dire a succession of calamities. The church rapidly transferred its allegiance to the is. The numerous Teutonic kings who sprung up on what had am? the once been Roman soil. It was too universal in its Teutonic con- sympathies, and too independent in its action to be querors. fettered by devotion to the frame-work of any existing government. The clergy, however, soon found that a new position had been created for them. If they had been less Roman than the emperors, they were more Roman than the new rulers. A political position, and that too an antagonistic position, was forced upon the bishops. They were the depositaries of a tradition of equal law and universal justice in the face of conquerors who understood none of these things. Occupying sees i 4 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. in the old Roman municipalities, they became the de- fenders of the conquered populations in general, and of municipal rights in particular. Everywhere on the con- tinent the progress of civilisation was determined by the form of compromise between the Roman civilisation upheld by the clergy, and the ruder but more vigorous civilisation of the Teutonic kings. CHAPTER II. THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENT AND THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. C'HAl'. II. i. The THE inhabitants of the southern portion of Britain which alone had been brought under Roman domination were even in worse case than their Gaulish neighbours. Large districts, especially in the western and more hilly p im: part of the island, retained their Celtic speech and their Bntam - Celtic habits. Even where Roman civilisation had made its way, its influence had been far more superficial than in Gaul. What intellectual vigour there was in the fourth century in any part of the empire, expressed itself chiefly in ecclesiastical legislation and literature, and the British church gave evidence of its weakness by taking little part in either. When in the beginning of the fifth century, the Roman legions were finally with- drawn, the provincials, divided amongst themselves, and enervated and helpless through the long habit of looking elsewhere than to their own courage for defence, fell a prey to the ravages of the Celtic tribes who had retained their independence of Rome. The Picts of those northern regions which now bear the name of Scotland, and the Scots of Ireland, whose colony in the Western [ighlands was afterwards to impress that name upon ic North of Britain, ravaged the land without mercy, ^he more distinctly Celtic West resisted not without success. The Romanised Celt of the East invited the INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. II. 2. The English Settle- ments. alliance of the Teutonic sea-rovers who had long been the piratic assailants of their coast. When in the middle of the fifth century, our Teu- tonic ancestors landed on the shores of Britain, they carved out settlements for themselves ; they were Jutes, and Saxons and Angles from the coast which stretches from Jutland to the mouths of the Elbe and Weser. Over the horror of the struggle a thick darkness has settled down, and, with the exception of one lightning-flash from a Celtic writer, it was only by its leading features, by a battle or a siege traditionally remembered, that any por- tion of it could be recovered when civilisation and its power of recording events again spread over the land. At the end of a century and a half, the Teutonic settlers occupied the whole of the eastern half of the land, from the Forth to the Straits of Dover, and from the coast of the German Ocean to the Severn. Over all this tract the Low German speech of the invaders was to be heard. To what extent the British population had disappeared is a matter of controversy. It is a point on which no certain knowledge is atttainable. The invaders did not enter the island impressed with the dignity of Roman civilisation. They knew nothing of the Roman speech. They seized upon the land of the Britons. They stormed and sacked their cities. They probably often carried off their daughters to be their wives or concubines. The men who resisted were slain as wild beasts are slain, without thought of mercy. Of the rest some were reduced to slavery, some may have kept up a precarious inde- pendence in the woods. Under such circumstances a population suffers fearful diminution from misery and starvation. The weak and the old with the young child, the hope of future generations, perish for lack of food. Yet whatever the numerical amount of the survivors may have been, the general result is certain. The Teu- THF. ENGLISH SETTLEMENT. 17 tonic speech, save in a few words used principally by CHAP. women and slaves, prevailed everywhere. The Teutonic L_ law, the Teutonic way of life, was the rule of the land. The Teutonic heathenism was unchanged. The Celtic element, whether it was larger or smaller, was absorbed and left scarcely a trace behind. If the history of the settlement is to be gathered 3 . in- from scanty tradition, the character and institutions of onhe ns the settlers have to be inferred from that which is known Settlers, of them in their own land, and from that which is known of them later in the land of their adoption. Fierce and masterful as they were, they were not barbarians except in antithesis to the civilisation of Rome. The stage which they had reached was very much that of the Homeric Greeks, if we allow for the greater inclemency of a northern sky. Each tribe was complete in itself. It had its own assembly of freemen whose voice was decisive in regulating its actions. At its head was a chief, the ealdorman, as he was named, who guided its deliberations, and who, after its arrival in England at least, headed it in war. The freemen themselves were composed of two ranks, eorls and ceorls. The eorls or nobles by birth, whose origin is lost in the mists of the past, had an honorary pre-eminence. Their voice was of greater weight, their life was of greater value, their share of booty larger. But they did not make the state, though they had doubtless much to do with its direction. In fact there was nothing that we should now call political life in existence. New legislation there was none. The old customs handed down from father to son in Germany were adhered to here, and the only question which could arise for deliberation was whether some new expedition should be undertaken against the enemy. Outside the assembly, as well as within it, all freemen were equal, however much they might differ in c ,8 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, influence or wealth. Each man had his own share of IL the conquered land, and his share of pasturage or wood- cutting in the folkland the common land that had been left undivided. The organisation of which he formed a part did not, as in the empire, reach from the state to the individual, but from the individual to the state. Each township which, in an ecclesiastical form, became the parish of modern days, made its appearance once a month, in the hundred mote, to decide quarrels and to witness contracts ; whilst the members of the tribe met twice a year to decide matters of more general im- portance. As every man was a judge, unless indeed, the practice of attending the hundred mote by a deputation of the reeve, or head man, and four best men of the township had been already adopted, so every man was a soldier. The assembly was in truth the tribe in arms, and the eorls and the ealdormen could but lead, they could not constrain the will of their fellow tribes- men. 4. Left in the positions which they had originally occu- proTu^ed pied, the tribes might have retained these institutions by War. unaltered for centuries. The progress of the war necessi- tated expansion and amalgamation, in order that greater force might be brought to bear on the enemy. As it had been with Rome, so it was now with the English tribe. The system of popular assemblies had reached its limit. The men of Dorset or the men of Norfolk could come up without difficulty to the place of meeting. The men of a state reaching from the Severn to the bor- ders of Sussex, could not come up. The idea of delega- tion, if it as yet existed at all, had not acquired sufficient strength to suggest the idea of a general collective coun- cil. Recourse was had to a different factor in the com- monwealth. Of all human occupations, war requires the most complete discipline and the most prompt obedience THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 19 to a single chief. Naturally, therefore, it was the chief, CHAP. the ealdorman, who gained most by the changes wrought by war. Everywhere he took the higher title of king, and in taking its title he gained a higher standing-point. He was the bond of union between many tribes. The ealdorman who now presided in the tribal assembly, derived his authority from him, even if he owed his position to an older tribal authority. At the end of the sixth century some ten or twelve kingdoms existed, and the authority of the kings would doubtless tend to increase in civil matters as they grew more successful as leaders in war. Yet growing as it was, the king's authority was by s . The no means absolute. The power which the king wielded could only be exercised in accordance with the wishes of the armed force, and that armed force was still in great measure composed of the contingents of the freemen of the several tribes. It is true that it was not so altogether. By an old German custom, a great man had been accustomed to entertain a body of followers gesiths as they were called in England who attached themselves not to the tribe, but to the person of him whom they followed and upon whose bounty they lived. For him they fought, and for him they were ready to die. They held it disgraceful to forsake him in battle, or even to leave the field alive if he were lying dead upon it. No doubt, if we possessed a history of those times, we should find that these two component parts of the king's army were also component parts of his council, and the Witan or wise men, without whose advice he did not venture to act in any important manner, were some of them the chief men of his personal following ; some of them leading eorls, or landowners from the various popu- lations which were blended together under his rule. But, however this council may have been formed, it had no 20 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, immediate organic connection with the people. Its members were not elected from beneath. They became councillors, either from their own position in life, or as selected by the king.' As long as there was a powerful enemy in the field, this breach in the continuity of the constitution might not be felt. But it was none the less a source of danger. 6. Ad- The judicial arrangements of our ancestors were tion of those of a strong-handed but law-loving race, in which each man was ready to do himself right with his own hand, but in which there was a general understanding that feuds should not be perpetual. The notion that it was the duty of the state to punish crime, and the no- tion that the criminal himself was any the worse for the crime which he had committed, would have been alike unintelligible to them. All that they saw was that it was in their power to enforce upon the kindred of a murdered man, or upon him who had suffered loss of property, the acceptance of a weregild, or money payment, in satisfaction of the injury done to them, which they might otherwise have avenged by the slaughter of the aggressor. As again the power of taking vengeance was different in different ranks, as the relations of a murdered king were more likely to take effectual vengeance than the relations of an eorl or a simple ceorl, and as they therefore required more to induce them to draw back, a larger money payment was enforced in proportion to the rank of the person injured. As too the state had no in- terest in the matter excepting to prevent continual private warfare, it had no trained police to seize the criminal, and no trained advocates and judges to investigate evidence. It looked to the kindred of the accused person to present him before the popular assembly at which he was to be tried, or to pay his weregild in his stead. If he denied his guilt, he had to bring others to swear that he was THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 2I innocent, and the declaration of the belief of these com- HAP. purgators in his favour was accepted as satisfactory. If '_ he failed to find compurgators, he had still the resource of appealing to the ordeal, doubtless performed in heathen times in some specially sacred spot. The as- sembled people who acted as his judges contented them- selves with seeing that the provisions of ancient customs were duly carried out. In proportion as the kingdoms increased in size, the 7- Moral moral defects of such a system must have been increas- the C popu- ingly felt. The special tie which bound the gesith to latlon> his patron summoned into existence feelings of personal honour and loyalty, which were stronger, but at the same time narrower than the patriotic sentiment which bound the freeman to the community of his fellow tribesmen. The authority of the king was further off from him than the authority of the ealdorman had been. It is true that he had still a part in the action of the state, was still liable to be called out for service in the field, and that he and his fellows might be present on important occa- sions at the meetings of the king and his Witan, and might be allowed to applaud with their shouts the de- cisions taken in higher quarters. But even if the effect of the change be left out of account, it is evident that the moral needs of the Englishman of the sixth century, were precisely opposite to those of the Roman provincial of the fourth. In the empire where all individuality was crushed out by an enlightened but overwhelming despotism, the side of Christianity which was most acceptable was its anchorage in individual faith and energy. In the Teuton, within or without the old limits of the empire, individual vigour was the prominent characteristic. Organisation of bodies of men did not go very far. The needs of extensive warfare might do something, but its work was necessarily imperfect. If 22 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, the Teutonic settlers came to have an ideal at all. it was n certain that it would be to them, as ideals are to all men,. the complement of their existing acquirements. They required some view of life, which would at the same time satisfy their inarticulate needs for a higher organisation,, which would tame the wild strivings of passion in the individual man, and would teach the fierce red-handed slaughterer that self-denial and self-restraint were the highest virtues of human existence. The history of the middle ages in England, as on the Continent, is the history of successive generations accepting in church and state institutions which serve to repress or tame the wild exuberance of individual violence and passion. The middle ages start from diversity and aim at unity. Their art, their literature, their temporal and ecclesiasti- cal legislation bear this impress distinctly. 8. The When Augustine and his fellow missionaries landed Mission" m Kent in 597, they began this work of moral order.. aries in j n one sense their arrival was the first step in the undo- England. . m ... ing of the isolation from Roman ideas, in which England had been standing for a century and a half. In another sense they brought something quite new. The law and order of the empire had reposed on the swords of its- legions. It had asked no assent from those upon whom it had imposed its will. The law and order of the Christian missionary rested on persuasion alone. He asked but for voluntary obedience, for that obedience which strengthens instead of weakening the sense of personality in the individual who accepts it. The old unity had crushed out individuality. The new unity would grow out of it, would found itself upon individual con- science, and harmonise individual energies for higher ends. In the midst of the troubles which preceded and suc- ceeded the fall of the empire in the West, Christianity THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 23 had advanced in two special directions. It was more CHAP. monastic, and it was better organised, in the sixth cen- 1_ tury than it had been in the fourth. Against the faults 9- The .... ... . A Monastic of monasticism it is especially easy to declaim. A sys- System, tern which takes men out of the world and forbids them to exercise the ordinary duties of men amongst men, which acts in defiance of the strongest tendencies of human nature, instead of reducing them under discipline, and which in consequence erects a whole system of arti- ficial duties and artificial faults, can never be regarded as a satisfactory solution of the problems which that nature presents. Nevertheless, it is impossible that a system so widely adopted, and so constantly recurred to, should have been wanting in elements fitting it at least for a time to render the highest services to man- kind. The apologies which some are inclined to make for it may be dismissed as irrelevant. If we can only praise the monks because they improved cultivation, or even because they were benevolent to the poor, it is better not to praise them at all. These things are but the accidents of monasticism. Its essence was a selfish unselfishness. It aimed at sacrificing the excitement and vain-glory of the struggles and triumphs of the present, sometimes it may be, at escaping from the depressing defeats and miseries of life, in order to gain eternal peace in the world to come, with some first- fruits of quiet and rest in the world which was. Yet self-centred as were the thoughts of the monk, his self- seeking was of incomparably a higher order than that of the world around. Other men might provide for them- selves by grasping avarice, by hasty passionate violence, by giving free rein to their most debasing passions. The monk would keep the wild animalism of his nature firmly down ; and, as always happens, the effort to rise higher in one direction brought with it the power of rising 24 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, higher in others. The monk could not help being an II- example of self-denial to others, and self-denial was the special virtue which the men of that fierce age needed most to learn. The monk could not help overflowing in bounty to the poor and suffering, and turning the fountain of blessing which he had opened in his own heart into a stream by the sides of which multitudes might rejoice. He represented not the best ideal of life, but the best ideal of the kind of life most opposed to the faults of contemporary existence. 10. The The penitential system of the Church was an attempt s^tem Ual to implant amongst laymen something of the monastic rule. The authors of the penitential code no more thought of descending into the heart and conscience than the authors of the weregild thought of descending into the heart and conscience. They did not bid the guilt- laden penitent simply to go and sin no more, nor did they proclaim the law of the gospel, ' Owe no man anything but to love one another.' His penance was measured out by weeks and years, as the weregild was measured out by shillings and pence. So much time was to be passed without tasting anything but bread and water, so much time in lighter mortification. But there was that in the penitential rules which was not in the weregild system. If the clergy made any difference between persons, it was, that the higher the clerical rank of the person who committed the offence was, the heavier was to be his penance, whilst the layman was punished more heavily in proportion to the rank of the person injured. The lay system, in short, started from the notion that vengeance was to be bought. The church system started from the idea, that an evil action polluted the actor. Man acquired in this way a moral sense which he had not before. He learned that he was accountable for his actions to a judge higher than the king or the popular THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 25 assembly, and he learned too that ill-doing was an injury CHAP. done to his own soul. The idea of purity and rectitude as !_ an object of desire for the sake of a man's own well- being planted itself firmly amongst men. Hence, too, the strange forms taken in the Christian imagination by the spirits and deities of the old pagan mythology. The spirit of the wood or the stream came to be the ugly horned unsavoury devil of Christian mythology. The change was a sign of the new position assigned by man to the supernatural powers of his imagination. The spirits of whom the heathen told were beings to be propitiated and dreaded. The devil of the Christian's tale was a being with whom he himself had a conflict. There was war now not merely on the battle-field, but in the heart of every man, and the stories which he loved to tell were but the expression of his knowledge of a conflict, which, to however strange results it might lead in the immedi- ate present, contributed incalculably to raise in the scale of moral beings the man who struggled against his lower nature. As Christianity was more monastic in the end of the n. sixth century than it had been in the fourth, it was also more monarchical. The authority of the pope indeed in the hands of Gregory the Great, by whom Augustine was sent to England, was not put forth with such high- sounding claims to obedience as were afterwards heard. But it was becoming more and more the central force of Western Christendom. It gained strength from its being exercised from Rome, the seat of the older empire, from the personal qualities of many of the Popes, and from the tendency of the barbarian tribes to welcome a centre of unity in the midst of their weakness and their divi- sions. The very haughtiness with which the emissaries of Rome maintained the claims of him who sent them was an important element of success. When Augustine 26 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, met the priests of the British Church, and alienated still _ further, by remaining seated in their presence, those who were already alienated from one who had preached the gospel to the hated invaders, we may be sure that he appeared more than ever worthy of respect in the eyes of the Englishmen who accompanied him. When Wilfrid reasoned against the clergy of Northumberland, who had learned from Irish teachers different modes of keeping Easter and of cutting the clerical tonsure than those which were practised in the Roman church, and which they declared themselves to have derived by tra- dition from St. John, through Columba, he clenched his argument, by claiming for the pope, as St. Peter's repre- sentative, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The king, before whom he spoke, at once acknowledged the force of his reasoning. If St. Peter, he said, was the door-keeper of heaven, he would follow him lest he should be shut out when he came to the gates. As Christianity in the form in which it appeared broke through all division of ranks, and knew nothing of eorls and ceorls, of freeman, of serf, or of slave, so its institu- tions rose above the civil institutions of the land. When Archbishop Theodore organised the English Church at the end of the seventh century, he created or adapted in- stitutions which were wider and more universal than those of the seven or eight kingdoms into which the original tribes had by that time coalesced. From north to south the priest took no account of divided nationality. The man born on the banks of the Tweed might find his life's work on the shores of the Southampton water, or in the secluded East Anglian peninsula between the fens and the sea. As he passed backwards and forwards on his mission of consolation and warning he was doing uncon- scious work in levelling national distinctions by his THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 27 presence, as he was levelling distinctions of rank by his CHAP. creed. _ In some sort the work of the Christian Church was a 12. The repetition of the work done by the legislators of the compared Empire. They too had set themselves to sweep away ]^,,* e differences, and to impose unity upon populations sepa- rated by far more deep-seated distinctions than those which kept apart the inhabitants of England. But whilst the Roman imposed his unity from without and from above, the Church sought to found it upon the heart and conscience. Grand and imposing as her institutions were, they blended with the civil institutions at the base. If the archiepiscopal presidency of Canterbury or York and the august supremacy of Rome had no parallel in the civil world, the parishes were simply ecclesiastical townships, and the bishoprics were conterminous with the kingdoms, or with the divisions of the kingdoms, which represented the older tribes. So it came about that Church and State worked 13- together harmoniously in England as they did nowhere state, else in Europe. The bishops and clergy had no memories of an older civilisation to defend, no conquered population to protect. The same English people were governed in one way for certain purposes, as they were governed in another way for other purposes. Very soon the entire clergy of England was English by birth and speech. Church and State acted and reacted on one another. The ideas of a higher and better order pro- mulgated by the church, found their way insensibly into the minds of laymen. The lay state, with all its incon- gruities, did not appear so utterly incompatible with that better order as it would have seemed to priests who had not grown up in English homes and who did not con- verse in the English speech. This activity without disruption of harmony soon found its expression in 3 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, literature and in increased exertion. Caedmon sang his song of the Creation. Bede, with English heart if with Roman speech, told the tale of the conquest, and the foundations were laid of the great Chronicle, which was to carry down to posterity the story of a people who were working out a history worthy of the telling. When the eighth century came, England had vigour to spare for other countries as well as for herself. English missionaries poured forth to carry the message of the gospel to the heathen, and, under the name of St. Boniface, the English Winfrid is still revered as the apostle to whom large populations in Germany owed their conversion. 14 . If the example of the Church contributed to draw the P eo pl es more closely together, the incidents of warfare domsunder tended in the same direction. In the early part of the seventh century four small kingdoms, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, and Sussex, divided the south-east of England. The other three, on whom lay the burden of contending against the yet unconquered Celts of the West, Northumberland, Mercia, and Wessex, had far wider territories. The frontier was gradually pushed west- ward, and the effect of the Christian teaching was seen in the milder treatment of the conquered. The kings of these larger kingdoms, as the conflict with the Celts drew to a close, turned their arms upon one another. Some- times Northumberland, sometimes Mercia, showed itself stronger than the rest. Then came the turn of Wessex. In the beginning of the ninth century, Egbert, King of the West Saxons, obtained the acknowledgment of his over-lordship from the whole English-speaking race, from the Channel to the Forth. Egbert's rule was not founded, like the dominion of the conquerors of Rome, upon the warlike predominance of a superior race. Neither was it founded on the voluntary amalgamation of many races. THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 29 It was rather an aggregation of many kingships into one. CHAI-. The old kings either retained their positions under _ Egbert as under-kings, or gave place to ealdormen from Egbert's own family, who fulfilled the kingly functions in more direct subordination to himself. Such a union was a frail one. It would probably have 15- The broken down as the less successful efforts of the Northum- ware, brian kings in the same direction had broken down before, but for the new flood of invasion which poured over England. As fierce as the ancestors of English- men themselves had been four centuries before, the Danish pirates had begun, even before Egbert's time, to harry the coasts of England. In the time of one of Egbert's sons they took up permanent quarters in Eng- land. The north and centre of the land fell easily into their hands. At the beginning of the reign of Alfred, the youngest and greatest of Egbert's grandsons, it seemed as if the whole would come permanently under their dominion. At last in 878, after an heroic struggle, he succeeded in imposing upon the invaders the Treaty of Wedmore, which saved from their grasp the country south of the Thames together with that part of Mercia which lay to the south-west of the Watling Street. For the rest their kings gave a vague acknowledgment of Alfred's over-lordship, an acknowledgment which he was in no position to interpret strictly. To the north of the line of partition the Danes settled at will. The Danish ter- mination -by in such names as Derby and Ashby, Grimsby and Whitby, still marks the place of their settlements on the map of England. To Alfred and his house the half was more than the 16. The whole. In the struggle which his descendants, the West thWest Saxon Kings carried on against the Danes they had |^*" what Egbert had not had, a national sentiment at their with the back. Gradually the frontier was pushed farther north. 3 o INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. Before Alfred's son Edward died, the whole of Mercia '__ was incorporated with his immediate dominions. The way in which the thing was done was more remarkable than the thing itself. Like the Romans, he made the fortified towns the means of upholding his power. But unlike the Romans, he did not garrison them with colo- nists from amongst his own immediate dependents. He filled them, as Henry the Fowler did afterwards in Saxony, with free townsmen, whose hearts were at one with their fellow countrymen around. Before he died in 924, the Danish chiefs in the land beyond the Humber had acknowledged his over-lordship, and even the Celts of Wales and Scotland had given in their submission in some form which they were not likely to interpret too strictly. His son and his two grandsons, Athelstan, Edmund, and Edred completed the work, and when after the short and troubled interval of Edwy's rule in Wessex, Edgar united the undivided realm under his sway in 958, he had no internal enemies to suppress. He allowed the Celtic Scottish King who had succeeded to the inheritance of the Pictish race to possess the old Northumbrian land north of the Tweed, where they and their descendants learned the habits and speech of Englishmen. But he treated him and the other Celtic kings distinctly as his inferiors, though it was perhaps well for him that he did not attempt to impose upon them any very tangible tokens of his supremacy. The story of his being rowed by eight kings on the Dee is doubtless only a legend by which the peaceful king was glorified in the troubled times which followed. I7 . Such a struggle, so successfully conducted, could not KinS^Au- fail to be accompanied by a vast increase of that kingly thority. authority which had been on the growth from the time of its first establishment. The hereditary ealdormen, the representatives of the old kingly houses, had passed THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. away. The old tribes, or where their limitations had CHAP. been obliterated by the tide of Danish conquest, as was the case in central and northern England the new artificial divisions which had taken their place, were now known as shires, and the very name testified that they were regarded only as parts of a greater whole. The shire mote still continued the tradition of the old popular assemblies. At its head as presidents of its deliberations were the ealdorman and the bishop, each of them owing their appointment to the king, and it was summoned by the shire-reeve or sheriff, himself even more directly an officer of the king, whose business it was to see that all the royal dues were paid within the shire. In the more general concerns of the kingdom, the king consulted with his Witan, whose meetings were called the Witenagemot, a body which, at least for all ordinary purposes, was composed not of any representa- tives of the shire-motes, but of his own dependents, the ealdormen, the bishops, and a certain number of thegns whose name, meaning ' servants,' implied at least at first, that they either were or had at one time been in some way in the employment of the king. Such a change looks, as long as we attend only to 18. words and forms, as if the kingship were acquiring some- thing like absolute power. No conclusion could be Arist - cracy. more delusive. Absolute power is gained by kings who put themselves at the head of a popular movement against an oppressive aristocracy, at a time when the people are not prepared to combine in order to carry out under their own inspection the reforms which they need. Under such circumstances, a successful king, like the early Emperors, can do very much as he pleases to individuals. Nothing of the kind is to be found in our early English history. What the English freeman wanted was not to be avenged upon his richer INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. II. 19. The Eorls su- perseded by the Thegns. neighbour, but to be protected, without the burden of constantly being called out for military service in the most distant quarters. The view of life taken by an or- dinary landowner was very limited. His politics were but the politics of his hundred, or at the most they extended only to his shire. The great English king- dom scarcely appealed at all to his imagination, and it was a real hardship if the man of Hampshire was asked to leave his fields to repel a Danish incursion on the coast of Norfolk, or to establish the supremacy of the national king over the Danish chieftains of Northumberland. The necessities of war therefore com- bined with the sluggishness of the mass of the popu- lation to favour the growth of a military force, which would leave the tillers of the soil to their own peace- ful occupations. As the conditions which make a standing army possible on a large scale did not yet exist, such a force must be afforded by a special class, and that class must be composed of those who either had too much land to till themselves, or, having no land at all, were released from the bonds which tied the cultiva- tor to the soil, in other words, it must be composed of a landed aristocracy and its dependents. In working out this change, England was only aiming at the results which similar conditions were producing on the Con- tinent. But just as the homogeneousness of the popula- tion drew even the foreign element of the Church into harmony with the established institutions, so it was with the military aristocracy. It grouped itself round the king, and it supplemented, instead of overthrowing, the old popular assemblies. Two classes of men, the eorls and the gesiths, had been marked out from their fellows at the time of the conquest. The thegn of Edgar's day differed from both, but he had some of the distinguishing marks of THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 33 either. He was not like the gesith, a mere personal CHAP. follower of the king. He did not, like the eorl, owe his !__ position to his birth. Yet his relation to the king was a close one, and he had a hold upon the land as firm as that of the older eorl. He may, perhaps, best be described as a gesith who had acquired the position of an eorl without entirely throwing off his own character- istics. Of the details of the change which took place we can only speak with hesitation. The period which separated the reign of Edgar from the Teutonic conquest was five hundred years, a period as long as that which separates the reign of Victoria from the reign of Edward III. Of this period our notices are scanty. But there can be little doubt that the change began in the practice of granting special estates in the folkland, or common undivided land, to special persons. At first this land was doubtless held to be the property of the tribe, and only granted away by the king with the consent of the tribe. When the king rose above the tribes, he granted it him- self with the consent of his Witan. A large portion was granted to churches and monasteries. But a large por- tion went in private estates, or book land, as it was called, from the book or charter which conveyed them to the king's own gesiths, or to members of his own family. The gesith thus ceased to be a mere member of the king's military household. He became a landowner as well, with special duties to perform to the king, but neverthe- less with the feeling of independence which the posses- sion of land is apt to give. His example too told on others. If he strengthened the king's hands, his relation to the king gave him strength. He had special jurisdic- tion given him over his tenants and serfs, exempting him and them from the authority of the hundred mote, though they still remained, except in very exceptional cases, under the authority of the shire mote. Eorls who D 34 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. II. 20. The Change gradual. had no such privilege, we may well believe, though there is no direct evidence on the point, coveted his advantages, and acquired from the king the rights and duties of the thegnhood. Even the simple freeholder discovered the weakness of his isolated condition, and commended himself and his land to a wealthy thegn, engaging to do him service and to be judged in his court, in return for support and protection. Even up to the Norman conquest this change was still going on. To the end, indeed, the old constitutional forms were not broken down. The hundred mote was not abandoned, where freemen enough remained to fill it. Even where all the land of a hundred had passed under the protection of a lord there was little outward change. The tenants were summoned to hear causes under the presidency of the lord's officer, instead of being summoned under presidency of an officer appointed by themselves or by the king. But that was all. The shire mote too was still in existence. Even in war the obligation of all men to defend the country was still enforced, though it pressed with a special force upon the king's thegns. There was thus no actual breach of continuity in the nation. The thegnhood pushed its roots down, as it were, amongst the free classes. Nevertheless there was a danger of such a breach of continuity coming about. The freeman entered more and more largely into a con- dition of dependence, and there was a great risk lest such a condition of dependence should become a condi- tion of servitude. Here and there, by some extraordinary stroke of luck, a freeman might rise to be a thegn. But the condition of the class to which he belonged was deteriorating every day. The downward progress to serfdom was too easy to take, and by large masses of the population it was already taken. Below the increasing THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 35 numbers of the serfs was to be found the lower class of CHAP. slaves, who were actually the property of their masters. _ The Witenagemot was in reality a select body of 21. The thegns, if the bishops, who held their lands in much thlTwhe- the same way, be regarded as thegns. It was rather an na s emot - inchoate House of Lords, than an inchoate Parliament, after our modern ideas. It was natural that a body of men which united a great part of the wealth with almost all the influence in the kingdom should be possessed of high constitutional powers. The Witenagemot elected the king, though as yet they always chose him out of the royal family, which was held to have sprung from the god Woden. There were even cases in which they de- posed unworthy kings. Their consent was necessary to make peace, to declare war, or to make a grant of folkland. No act of public importance was valid without their con- sent. No ealdorman was appointed, no bishop placed in his see, without their voice being heard in the matter. It would thus be easy to argue from one set of facts that the king was almost a cypher, just as from another set of facts it would be easy to argue that he was almost abso- lute. In truth, he was neither absolute nor a cypher. Kings like Alfred and his descendants had done pretty much as they wished, because they wished nothing which would be opposed to the wishes of the thegns. The more wealthy a man was, the more desirous he would be that his land might remain his own, instead of becoming the property of a sea-roving Dane. At home, as long as the king was a man of ability and character, there was no opposition of interests as yet between the king and his thegns. He himself was but as a thegn on his own estates. He too had tenants and serfs whose ancestors had once been freemen on his lands. As in the shiremoot the ealdorman and the bishop sat side by side, so sat Archbishop Dunstan by the side 3 6 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. of Edgar. After the legends which have obscured his fame are swept away, we descry, though dimly, the form 22. Dun- of a great statesman. The Danish wars had swept away siasticaT * the culture which had sent forth missionaries to the con- tinent in earlier days, and which Alfred had striven hard to revive. Dunstan's life-long work was the work of an educationalist. He strove to bring back to England the knowledge and culture in which it was now outstript by the continent. He sought the moral training of his countrymen as well as their intellectual advancement. It was inevitable that in so doing he should throw in his lot with the monks. The conditions which enable a married clergy to hold up an example of life to their parishioners did not then exist. There was no open-eyed public opinion around the parish priest, no widely spread publicity calling for watchfulness against the temptation of turning the means which were intended to enable him to instruct others into property for the sustenance of his own family. Family cares devoured him, and it was well if, living as other men did, he did not become partaker in their sins. It would have been no wonder if Dunstan, like Hildebrand and Damiani after him, had sought to confront the evil by the drastic remedy of the proclamation of universal clerical celibacy. It is the mark of his greatness that he did nothing of the kind. He did not indeed resist two bishops who drove out the secular clergy from certain specified ecclesiastical houses in the dioceses of Winchester and Worcester. But he did not imitate them himself, and, as far as we know, he gave no encouragement to those who wished to do so. The monk, he believed, being bound to a celibate life, could give himself to his spiritual and educational mission as the married priest could not. But he steadily refused to use compulsion in favour of that which he regarded as the better life. He preferred working by example. THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 37 The secular laws of Edgar bear the stamp of Dun- CHAP. stan's mind. In them, an assumption of such a guar- dianship over the poor and oppressed as befits a king, 23. The . . . ,. secular is combined with an acquiescence in those existing condi- Laws of tions of the national life which made the exercise of that guardianship so difficult. The great division of the population into Danes and Englishmen stands revealed. Edgar can venture, with the consent of his witan, to amend the laws for the behoof of Englishmen. The Danes must be left to such laws as they please to choose for themselves. The spectacle which the reign presents is that of a king aiming at a higher life for his people, but conscious of the want of support. The king is more national than the thegns, and the thegns are more national than the people. The thegns would be ready to gather into groups, East Anglian, Northumbrian, Mercian, or West Saxon. Danes and English were es- pecially ready to fly apart. In the lower classes there was still less cohesion. A strong king might draw the band a little more closely, if he tried to do no more. A weak king with unwise remissness and unwise violence would bring chaos back again. With Ethelred, chaos came again indeed. A fresh 24. invasion of the Northern Danes found local resistance but no general resistance. The local ealdorman, an m nd - Ulf kytel or a Brihtnoth, might lead the men of his shire to battle. But the king who, like Ethelred, was content to bribe off the invader made all national resistance im- possible. He alone was the band by which the sticks of the faggot were united for resistance. When he con- tented himself with inaction, each stick was separately overpowered. The Witenagemot had in theory the power of deposing kings. But it had not the will to exercise it. Each man had his own interests and intrigues to attend to. At last, after Ethelred's death came a bright INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY, CHAP. II. 25. Cnut's Reign. 26. Ed- ward the Confessor. moment under the hero Edmund. With his death all hope of resistance died away, and England without further struggle sank under the sway of Cnut. Cnut's rule was not as terrible as might have been feared. He was perfectly unscrupulous in striking down, the treacherous and mischievous chieftains who had made a trade of Ethelred's weakness and the country's divisions. But he was wise and strong enough to rule, not by increasing but by allaying those divisions. Rest- ing his power upon his Scandinavian kingdoms beyond the sea, upon his Danish countrymen in England and his Danish huscarles, or specially trained soldiers in his service, he was able without even the appearance of weakness to do what in him lay to bind Dane and Englishman together as common instruments of his power. Fidelity counted more with him than birth, To bring England itself into unity was beyond his power. The device which he hit upon was operative only in hands as strong as his own. There were to be four great earls, deriving their name from the Danish word jar/, centralising the forces of government in Wessex, in Mercia, in East Anglia, and in Northumberland. With Cnut the four were officials of the highest class. They were there because he placed them there. They would cease to be there if he so willed it. But it could hardly be that it would always be so. Some day or another, unless a great catastrophe swept away Cnut and his creation, the earldoms would pass into territorial sovereignties, and the divisions of England would be made evident openly. After the brief and inglorious reigns of the sons of Cnut, the English crown was once more won by a king^ of the old West Saxon line. Edward the Confessor was less English in his character than any of his subjects. His mother Emma was the sister and daughter of THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP. 39 Norman Dukes, and he had himself spent the early CHAP. years of life in exile in Normandy. He passed amongst L_ his contemporaries as one endowed with prophetic powers, and in truth he saw what none around him saw, the insufficiency of the moral and mental standard of English life. He shrunk from the jealousies of the great English families, from the rough animalism of English enjoyments, from its want of polish and culture, and from its low ideal of the religious life. But he shrunk from this with the petulance of a petty mind. He tried to do weakly what Dunstan had tried to do strongly. Dunstan had introduced foreign ideas and foreign teachers, with the purpose of weaving the golden threads of higher thought into the midst of the strong web of English life. Edward would have substituted that which he liked for that which he disliked, would have surrounded himself with foreign officers in church and state, would have spoken in the tongue of the foreigner and lived a foreigner's life, and he was not content till he had defied the laws and customs of his despised land by offering the succession to the throne to the foreign Duke of the Normans, without a thought of consulting his own Witan, in whom alone its disposal rested. Insulted in such a way, the English feeling turned, 27. The if not upon the king, at least upon his foreign favourites. Godwin! The revolt was headed by Godwin, and Harold, his nobler son. After Godwin's death, Harold ruled Eng- land in Edward's name. Strenuous and warlike, prompt in decision, and generous in thought, Harold was the ablest man of an unprogressive race. What he did he did well. But he brought no new ideas into the work of government, or into the existing system of military tactics. When on Edward's death, he was called to assume the crown, it was the natural choice of the wor- 40 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. thiest man in England. But he could not bind English- _ men together into a national unity. Edwin and Morcar, the chiefs of central and northern England, looked coldly on him with family jealousy. They were glad of his aid against the Norsemen at Stamford Bridge. They would not come to his help at Senlac. His last fight was a combat, in which heroic bravery strove in vain to com- pensate for want of discipline and lack of intelligence. In fighting qualities both sides were equal. The power of grasping the new idea, and the readiness to subor- dinate individual thought to the skill of the commander, were on the side of the invader. The Norman troops attacking, or flying in simulated rout, at the word of Duke William, or exchanging the combat of the horse- man for the combat of the archer at his word, deserved, at least in a military sense, to win. William put his mind into the battle, Harold could but give his example. CHAPTER III. NORMAN AND ANGEVIN ORGANISATION. IN the first half of the eleventh century, the two most CHAP. TTT purely Teutonic states, Germany and England, were beyond comparison, the strongest and the best governed T . North states of Europe. Before the end of the century, England and South ' had been smitten to the ground, and Germany was in deadly combat with the foe before whose persistent attacks she was ultimately to fall. Up to that time it seemed to be the law of progress that in England, as on the Continent, the last comer who placed his Teutonic freshness of vigour under the restraints of Roman civi- lisation should rise to the mastery. As dominion passed here from the descendants of Alfred and Athelstan to Cnut, so had it passed there from the children oi Clovis to the Carolingian border family from the lands east of the Meuse, and then again to the new border family of the Saxon line of Henry and the Ottos. The second half of the eleventh century witnessed a great revulsion. It was the time of the reaction of the south against the north. In the world of ideas a great spiritual power arose at Rome, clothing in ecclesiastical forms the claims of the old imperial city, and baffling and driving back the Teutonic sovereign who had decked himself in the imperial mantle whiri , * cipies in- grasping at the shadow and flinging away the substance, voived in No man flings away the substance who cares only to l announce the truth. It was an eternal truth for all time that there was a sphere of the mind and heart 54 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. which ought, for the good of mankind, to be left un- touched by the compulsory action of the state. It was a temporary truth for the eleventh and twelfth cen- turies, that those who addressed themselves to raise the moral and spiritual condition of their fellows needed the support of a central ecclesiastical organisation to main- tain them against the violence or the avarice of those who wielded the power of the state. Of course there were sure to be future troubles, but it would not be through the fault of Anselm. The troubles would come simply because the temporary truth of one century would cease to be the temporary truth of another. It might very well be that the ecclesiastical organisation of Rome would set itself against moral and intellectual progress. It might very well be that the powers of the state would be harshly and unjustly used. Above all, Rome, far away as she was, was not likely to know the facts of each case as it arose so well as persons living upon the spot. There is no absolute permanence in nationality. Frontiers- change, and habits change, till that which is a whole to- day may become a part to-morrow. But a people welded together into a coherent body is, on the whole, a better judge of its affairs than any distant power can possibly be. The day would come when those who were most bitterly opposed to the Roman see would be those who most truly maintained the principles of Anselm. His spirit rests with the men who in the seventeenth century passed the Toleration Act, and founded the liberty of the press. 16. The Henry I. went far to establish monarchical order in Stephen. England. But it was an order which depended on his own character for its maintenance. When he died, he was succeeded by the weak Stephen. The English people had no general organisation except in the person of the king. If the king was incompetent to furnish this organisation. ANGEVIN ORGANISATION. 55 the people dropped asunder as a faggot drops when the CHAP. band is loosed. The Norman baronage could wreak its L vengeance or satisfy its greed on each town or hamlet in detail. The horror of those days far surpassed the horror of the tyranny of Rufus. ' Men said that Christ and his saints were asleep.' On every side arose fortified castles, the abodes of robbery and wrong. At last, in the young Henry, a head was found capable of carrying on the work of his grandfather. It was not difficult for the strong man to reduce the 17- The exhausted land to order, to dismantle the fortified castles Henry n. of the barons which had been the strongholds of robbery and wrong, and to dismiss the mercenary bands of foreign soldiers, which had formed the main support of the oppressors in that evil time. Happily for England, Henry was more than a strong man. Without gentle- ness or sympathy, he had the clear head of an organiser, and a prompt eye to reject forms of organisation which might have been successful in another land or time, but which were not suitable to the England of his own day. There was much to lead a king at his time to strive after the ideal of the old Roman Empire. Its memories were still green on the Continent. Henry's reign was almost exactly contemporaneous with that of Frederick Bar- barossa, who wore the crown of the Caesars haughtily in defiance of all who sought to diminish its lustre. The study of the Roman law had just been quickened afresh in England, as in the rest of Europe, bringing with it its scientific precision, its reverence for despotic authority, and that contempt for traditionary custom and for the mere instinct of the unlearned masses which had gone far to bring about the ruin of the Roman Empire. Henry no doubt could not have succeeded in establish- ing a pure despotism in England if he had tried. But it was none the less a merit in him that he did not try, and 56 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. that he worked steadily to carry out the plans of his !_ grandfather and his great grandfather, by associating the greatness of the English crown with the active co-opera- tion of the English people. 18. Mill- It was in this spirit that he completed the organisa- tary Re- t j on o f fa e national army. The feudal landowners were forms. ' bound to follow him into the field for forty days in the year. Henry had many reasons for distrusting such a force. Besides being King of England, he was a great continental prince, ruling by various titles over sunny lands which stretched from the English Channel to the Pyrenees. To defend so long a line he wished to have English help, and he soon found that the short service of the English feudal force was of little use to him. As the trouble of crossing the sea was also highly disagree- able to the feudal tenants themselves, a bargain was soon effected by which they were excused from military service on payment of a sum of money, which bore the name of scutage. With this money Henry paid mercenary troops on whom he could depend all the year round, and whom he never, except on one occasion of desperate need, brought over into England. Such a change was of more than military importance. No doubt the feudal lords still continued to bear arms and to be proud of their fighting powers. But they were seldom brought under the stress and training of actual war, and they thus be- came far less formidable to the king than they had been in earlier days. Nor was Henry content with weakening the military power of the baronage. In the old English system the fyrd, or national militia, was drawn from the free landed population irrespective of tenure. By the assize of arms, Henry provided that every man whose property reached a certain specified amount should, in proportion to his wealth, possess arms, which he was never to be allowed to sell or pledge. By this arrange- ANGEVIN ORGANISATION. 57 mcnt the national force grew stronger, just at the time CHAP. that the feudal force was growing weaker. All initiative !_ in command was reserved for the king ; but the strength which would enable him to act would come neither from a standing army specially attached to his own person, nor from a feudal army specially attached to the defence of its own social position. It would come from his headship of the nation, from the willing co-operation of men who were, during most of their lives, farmers or merchants, and who stepped forward when their swords were needed to defend interests which were their own as well as the king's. The principle which prevailed in Henry's military 19 . j u - reforms prevailed also in his judicial reforms. If there ^^ F was nothing absolutely new in the system which he introduced, if something, was derived from the old cus- toms of the English, and something, through his Norman ancestors, from the Carolingian Empire, he made it his own by the extension which he gave to it, and by the constant reliance which he placed in it. In civil disputes relating to land, he bade his judges decide in accordance with the sworn testimony of twelve recognitors or knights living in the vicinity of the estate in dis- pute, so as to be able to tell the truth from their own knowledge. In criminal matters the accused was pre- sented by sworn accusers, who also brought their charge from their own knowledge of the facts, or from informa- tion on which they believed themselves to be able to depend. A similar system was adopted in the assessment of payments due to the Crown. Such modes of investi- gation were very far from perfect. They admitted of no sifting of evidence or cross-examination of witnesses. Many changes would have to take place before the trial by judge and jury, with which so many generations )f Englishmen have been familiar, could come into 58 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. existence. The importance of Henry's work lies not in !_ the positive excellence of his achievement, but upon the firmness with which he planted himself on that union of the two forces by which alone permanent progress is rendered possible. In the ancient world, Athens had failed because she relied upon the energies and patriot- ism of ordinary citizens, without caring to labour for the development of special talent for judicial, civil, or military leadership ; whilst Rome had failed because, as the em- pire grew older, it rested more entirely every day on the special talent of administrators, judges and generals, and despised the help of ordinary citizens. Henry showed his practical sense in combining the two elements. 20. Po- It was as well that Henry did not conform his poli- range- '" tical to his military and judicial institutions. No doubt ments. fo e ma de such use o f the Great Council of his tenants in chief which had taken the place of the Witenagemot, as no king since the Conquest had done. But he used it as a council, and not as a modern parliament. It had no wish to shake off his authority. It could therefore give advice without even wishing to exercise control. Even if it had wished to do so it had not the power. The feudal military support upon which alone it could reckon was, in part at least, the support of the men who were paying scutage to buy for themselves exemption from service. The thousands who were being organised into an army by the assize of arms would, on all or- dinary occasions, rally to the king and not to his vassals. It was much indeed to do what Henry had done ; to blend together the feudal elements with the wider national element. As always happens when success is achieved, he had assisted nature, and had not attempted to supplant her. Time had worn away the distinction between Norman and Englishman, and if French was usually spoken at one end of the social scale and English ANGEVIN ORGANISATION. 59 at the other, no man in the higher ranks could speak of himself as exclusively of one race or the other. But the consciousness of national unity was slow in growing, and it would hardly become a motive power in events till it had been awakened by common resistance to aggression. For the present there was local vigour put- ting itself gladly at the disposal of the central authority of the king. But the men who would gladly assist the royal judges in tracing out criminals, or ascertaining rights of property, put forward no pretensions to share in the political authority of the king. They were con- tent to leave that in Henry's hands. To ask these men to send representatives to a national parliament would merely have been to establish a sham, as the States- General who were summoned in the fourteenth century by Philip IV. of France to denounce the Pope or to plunder the Templars were a sham. It was better that the full forms of parliamentary institutions should not be there, till there was a nation behind them to inspire them with life. It was enough that the Great Council should hand down from the older Witenagemot the tradition of government by persuasion as something higher than government by compulsion. In the very midst of the gradual promulgation of these reforms, Henry found himself involved in a quarrel with the Church. The time was not come when the au- thority of the State, even in Henry's hands, could be safe- ly entrusted with control over the clergy. Yet not only was the State better organised under Henry II. than it had been under Henry I., but the demands of the Church were of a lower order than those which had been put forward by Anselm. Anselm had been distinctly the righteous man defending the poor and innocent against injustice and tyranny. Becket's main contention was that the clergy, whatever crimes they had committed, should not CHAP. 21. The Becket - 60 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. be judged by the ordinary justice of the realm. No doubt Becket had on his side the general feeling of the clergy, and he may well have thought that to surrender the outworks of their defence would only lead to a baser and more complete surrender hereafter. As for Becket himself, the king in placing him in the archbishopric, in order that he might betray to the Crown the liberties claimed by the Church, had asked him to perform an act of treason as contemptible as that of the man who accepts the command of a fortress in order to betray it to the enemy. Yet the liberties which the new archbishop defended, even if they had still an universal aspect, were far more professional in their nature than those for which Anselm contended, and Becket himself had far more of the champion of a profession about him than was in accordance with the character of the meek and gentle opponent of William II. and of Henry I. His quarrel with Henry II. was one which could best be settled by a compromise, and Becket would hear of no com- promise. His strength lay in the weakness of his adversary. The State could claim the submission of the Church when it could do justice to friend and foe alike. The king who fined Becket enormous sums on frivolous pretexts, who punished Becket's kinsmen when he could not reach Becket himself, who rolled on the floor and gnawed straw with his teeth when bad news reached him, and who, by his wrathful words, despatched the murderers on the archbishop's track, was not in a position to claim the obedience which is due to the fountain of justice. The murder of Becket completed the lesson, that the great interests of the Church and society were not as yet safe in being left entirely in the hands of the king. Popular enthusiasm hailed the new martyr ; and the miracles reported to be performed at his tomb seemed to ratify the popular belief ANGEVIN ORGANISATION. 61 Yet even thus, the edifice erected by Henry was too CHAK firmly established to be shaken by the storm. Men who !_ had no wish to see the clergy prostrated at his feet, had no desire to see the foundations of national order broken up. Of one great movement of this age, the historian of 22. Eng- English progress has little to tell. Before the end of t h" CTU- the eleventh century, the feudal nobility of the western sades - part of continental Europe were eagerly leaving home and lands to share in the enterprise of wresting the Holy Land from the Infidel. The crusading spirit took possession of the minds of these men just in proportion as they were without a national life to occupy their thoughts. In England, in the worst of times, a national life existed. In the days of the Conqueror and his sons, both Normans and Englishmen found enough to occupy their energies at home without turning their attention elsewhere. When, at the end of the reign of Henry II., the news arrived that Jerusalem had fallen once more into Mahometan hands, there was no widely spread feeling of horror. If Richard I. led not a few followers to the Holy War, they were animated rather by the spirit of adventure than by a deeply seated sense of duty. Richard was himself little more than a great adventurer. For England and its national development he cared nothing. If Richard cared nothing for England, he cared much 23. for the money of Englishmen. In Archbishop Hubert and Walter he found, during the latter years of his reign, a minister who could draw wealth from his subjects without subjecting them to the miseries of an irregular and capricious tyranny. Walter's administration there- fore was a time of silent growth in England. Henry's system of assessment by jury received under him a wider extension, and the representative system for judicial and financial purposes struck firm root, to be ready in time for an unexpected application to political objects. 62 CHAP. IV. i. Con- trast be- tween the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. 2. King John. CHAPTER IV. PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. THE political work of the twelfth century had been to draw closely the bonds between the king and the strengthened local organisations. The political work of the thirteenth century would lie in surrounding the king with a general representative organisation, which would bring before him the needs and desires of the nation as a whole, in the same way that the county courts and the county juries brought before his judges the needs and desires of the country districts. The first impulse to the movement was given by the misconduct of John. The system established by Henry II. could only work beneficially in the hands of an able and well-disposed king, who, if he did not care for the people for their own sake, at least understood that a well-governed people is the purest foundation upon which a ruler can build up his authority. John cared nothing for such a source of strength. For him, government meant merely the art of extorting money for his own selfish objects. Every class of his subjects was oppressed by the worst of tyrannies, a tyranny fitful and uncertain, relieved by no glorious achieve- ments abroad, and directed to no large and far-sighted policy at home. As the strength which his father had derived from the national support slipped out of his hands, he rested more and more on the mercenary troops PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 63 which he gathered on the Continent, to be paid with CHAI>. English money, and to extort yet more money in !_ England for them and for himself. Three quarrels, each of them ending disastrously for 3. The John, each of them leaving traces on the development rekofih?" of the English nation, occupied the whole of the reign Reign. the quarrel with the king of France, the quarrel with the Pope, and the quarrel with the English baronage. The result of the quarrel with the king of France 4. The was merely one more example of the weakness of withlhe extended territories without unity of sentiment and ing of J v ranee. organisation. To one who judges from a glance at the map, nothing can appear more unequal than the relative strength of John and of Philip II. But the dominions which stretched from the English Channel to the Pyrenees had nothing in common but their allegiance to the same sovereign. The great division of temperament and language between the lands to the south and the north of the Loire, was far more marked than it is at the present day. The Aquitanian differed to a great extent in race and language, and quite as much in his habits and mode of life from the Norman or the Frenchman of the North ; and within these large divisions smaller divisions remained uneffaced. The Angevin was not as the Norman, the Languedocian was not as the Poitevin. The cool head of Henry II. and the fierce activity of Richard I. might keep, not without a struggle, these various races together. John could not do it. He was neither feared nor respected. The provinces north of the Loire, Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Touraine, fell easily into the hands of Philip. If the Aquitanian lands held firm to their allegiance, it was because they had no wish to be French, and because they knew that the distant rule of a king who lived in England would leave them far more to their own devices than the rule near 64 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. at hand of a king who lived in Paris. The change, all- !_ important for the growth of the French monarchy, was not unimportant for the growth of the English nation. Practically it cut England loose from the Continent. No doubt the bond thus broken was not quite as strong as it had been a century before. The great Norman houses of the Conquest, with their vast landed estates on both sides of the Channel, were mainly things of the past. They had perished, or had been brought low in one or other of their many struggles to throw off the yoke of the Conqueror and his successors. Still there were some families remaining which held lands both in England and Normandy ; and, at all events, as long as a king of England ruled at Rouen, the French tongue could never be entirely a foreign speech, or the native of a French-speaking land entirely a foreigner in London. The loss of Normandy by John was therefore a distinct step in the direction of the formation of an English nationality. 5- The Even the result of the quarrel with the Pope worked with the incidentally in the same direction. In spite of the dis- Pope- tractions caused by the strife between Anselm and William, or between Becket and Henry, the rulers of the Church had on the whole been found on the side of the Crown. Nominated directly or indirectly by the kings, they often held official positions in the government of the State. But it was not only in this class that the kings had found support. The clergy were interested at least as much as other men in the maintenance of order, and their wide popular sympathies brought them in close connection with those classes which had most to fear from a repetition of the anarchy of the days of Stephen. Suddenly a storm burst from a clear sky. John nominated John de Gray, a favourite of his own, to the metropolitan see of Canterbury. The Pope, Inno- PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 65 cent III., nominated Stephen Langton, under the trans- CHAP. parent pretext of the confirmation of an election made _ in his presence. If John had only proceeded with decent moderation he might have rallied the bishops to his side as Henry had rallied them against Becket. But he acted, according to his nature, with insensate violence, seized the estates of the see for his nominee, and, when the Pope laid the kingdom under an interdict, gave up the clergy to the lawless violence of his subjects, and practised lawless violence on them himself. Innocent at last threatened to bring Philip II. of France against him, that he might strip him of England as he had before stripped him of Normandy. Deserted by his subjects, John humbled himself at the feet of the Pope's legate Pandulph, and received his crown back from him to hold from henceforth as the vassal of the Pope. At first sight it would seem as if no heavier blow 6. The PcllDclCV of could be struck at the rising nationality. Innocent, in- innocent deed, believed that he had taken a long step towards IIL the realisation of his great idea of the establishment of a fatherly control over the kings of the earth, in order that they might learn to do righteousness and exercise justice. The idea of Innocent was more straightforward and practical than the idea of Gregory VII. Innocent saw that it was not enough for the accomplishment of the great object of his desire to draw a strict line of separa- tion between the spiritual and the temporal. A theorist might distinguish where the one ended and the other began. To a practical ruler it was impossible. No act could be done which was not in some way either moral or immoral, and if it was the business of the Pope to make men moral or immoral, he might as well come into direct connection with those by whom men were governed. It was simpler to declare that as all men held their lands from kings, kings held their crowns F 66 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. IV. 7- The Quarrel with the Baronage. 8. Magna Carta. from the Pope. Innocent's theory would soon be tested by experience. But even for the moment, the clergy were rather bound together against John than bound together to the Pope. They had shared in the miseries caused by John's oppression, and they had learned to look for friends amongst those who had been equally maltreated with themselves. The barons of Eng- land were near and the Pope was a long way off. If John continued to oppress, clergy and barons, might join to resist oppression without waiting till their com- plaints could travel to Rome to be discussed and debated in the Papal courts, especially as, in spite of the high ideas of the Pope, it was known that he was surrounded by greedy and unscrupulous officials who needed to be bribed at every step. In this way the interference of the Pope, which seemed to transfer the mainspring of English politics to a distant country, only served to bind all classes of Englishmen more closely together than before. Happily the new archbishop was a thorough Englishman. In him the scattered elements of the opposition to John's tyranny found a common leader. The barons, who rose in arms to wrest from the king some security that they should not be in future pillaged and oppressed at random, gained a definiteness of object by entrusting to him the preparation of the document in which their claims were made. The Great Charter, founded on an earlier charter of Henry I., bears the impress of the mind of the man whom Innocent III., not knowing what he did, had obtruded on the English Church and nation. The Great Charter differed from similar concessions made by the sovereigns of the Continent to their nobles. It was demanded and received not merely by the class of Englishmen which was the most powerful, PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 67 but by the English people in its entirety. The clergy, CHAP. the great barons, the lower vassals and freeholders, !_ even the merchants and the peasants, found their in- terests consulted in it. For the first time the English people appeared as a united whole. The local divisions of the days before the Conquest were gone. The class divisions of the days after the Conquest were also gone. In their stead had arisen a union based on mutual con- cessions and strong by mutual support. The great im- portance of the Charter does not lie in the wisest of its provisions, but in the fact that it sprang from a re- arrangement of political forces. The Norman and Angevin kings had thought to establish a centralised despotism, and the result had been the bringing of the English nation to the birth. Such a change in the forces of politics rendered 9- New ,. . . . . . rr . Institutions necessary a change of institutions to give it effect. The needed, old Great Council of the immediate vassals of the crown must in some way or another change its basis, and become the Great Council of the nation, whilst the holder of the kingly office also must be inspired with the new national spirit. Unless that could be done, little would be gained. Unity of direction, the vigilance of personal superintendence, the permanent action of a presiding intelligence, are as necessary for the well-being of a state as the expression of popular will by which the ruler is prevented from providing for his own wants instead of providing for the wants of the nation. Such a change, however, could only be tentatively carried out. Some time passes before a nation finds out exactly what it wants, and a longer time before it finds out what are the most suitable means for supplying its necessities. The efforts of the barons were very tentative indeed. 10. Ten- They forced John to promise that he would not, except Efforts. in certain specified cases, levy any scutage or aid upon 68 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. his own vassals without the consent of the Great Council of the realm. As, however, the aids and scutages due to the crown were only levied on its immediate feudal tenants, there was no thought of providing any new assembly to guard the rights of those who were interested. All that was done was to try to make the Great Council to be in reality what it was already in theory, an assembly not merely of the prelates and great barons, but of the whole of the tenants in chief. John, therefore, was constrained to promise that he would summon for purposes of feudal taxation, the archbishops, bishops, abbots, and greater barons by special writ, whilst he would summon all the lesser tenants in chief by a general announcement conveyed by the sheriffs. There was no likelihood that such a plan would meet the necessities of the case. The smaller tenants in chief would not take the trouble to appear any more than they had done before, and the sub-tenants by knight-service, the free- holders who were not knights at all, and the inhabitants of the towns, had no part or lot in the assembly. The Great Council would continue to be a council of prelates and barons ; and if prelates and barons were to be left alone to deal with the king, they might be inclined, if they proved successful, to kick over the ladder by which they had risen to power. Nor was the new arrange- ment for the exercise of the royal authority any more satisfactory. John was still to be king, but a committee of twenty-five barons was to be appointed to watch over him in the exercise of his office. If he broke the Charter, they were to make war on him and to seize his castles and lands. Probably nothing better could have been suggested at the moment, but it is evident that a system under which a king could only exercise his authority under the constant threat of legalised rebellion could not form part of a permanent constitution for the country. PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 69 If, however, the Great Charter offered no remedy here, CHAP. there were in existence forces which would sooner or - L later come to the front. In the counties the old shire- u. mote, under the Norman name of the county court, was t h e Repre- more than ever flourishing. It was accustomed to elect persons to assess taxation locally in concert with the judges. Sooner or later, the system which prevailed locally was certain to make itself felt in the conduct of the general affairs of the nation. Even John him- self had dimly recognised the value of the support which might thus be gained, and had summoned elected knights on one or two occasions to meet him on affairs of public importance. The time had not yet arrived when the representative system could take per- manent shape. For the barons the immediate question was not so much how the Great Council was to be con- stituted in the future, as how the existing king was to be controlled or deposed. John soon showed that no promises could bind him, and the barons, in despair of a successful resistance, invited Lewis the son of the king of France, and the husband of John's niece to re- place him on the throne, much in the same way that their descendants invited William of Orange to replace James II. Happily John's death rendered the step unnecessary, 12. and his son, then a mere boy, was soon universally ac- cepted as Henry III. Those who acted in his name I "- 1 the modi- declared their adhesion to the Great Charter. But the fied clause binding the king to levy the feudal aids and scutages only on a grant from the Council was omitted. When Henry grew up to manhood, he showed himself less vigorously tyrannical than his father. But he was a weak and heartless spendthrift, throwing money freely away on himself, and still more freely on a swarm of foreigners, the relatives and connexions of his mother 70 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. and of his wife, for whom he seemed to think that nothing in England was too good His ever-craving need drove back those whose money he demanded upon the theory of the invalidity of a royal demand for taxation without the consent of the Council, while at the same time it led them to make the foundations of that Council as broad as possible in order that all classes might present a united front to a common danger. 13. EX- In such a conflict, with dangers on every side, the Papaiin 0f nat ional institutions of Englishmen were hardened as in fluence. the fire. Above all there was the danger lest, in a con- test in defence of property, however nobly waged, the habit of looking after the right to money should lead to mere selfish faction, and that when once the king had been restrained, the strong would trample on the weak, and the rich would grind the faces of the poor Never . is it more necessary than in times of civil strife to keep warm the heart and to maintain the sense of brother- hood. Nor was the civil strife of the thirteenth century without special dangers of its own. Hitherto the eccle- siastical organisation, with the Pope at its head, had kept alive a sense of unity amidst the distractions of feudal warfare. Everywhere through Western Christen- dom, the Church had been the protector of the helpless, the advocate of peace, the protector against violence and wrong. Everywhere the Pope could be looked up to as the common father. But there were signs that it would not be so much longer. Innocent III. had taken part distinctly with John, wicked and bloodthirsty as he was, as soon as John had acknowledged him as his fe.udal superior ; and though Honorius II., who followed him, had done much to help on the pacification which ensued on the accession of Henry, neither his influence nor that of his successors was likely to be exercised in giving any support to the growth of a constitutional control PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 71 by subjects over their sovereign. As an ecclesiastical CHAP. autocracy, the papacy was certain to oppose the de- 1_ velopment of free institutions in the state ; whilst, as a universal system, the highest merit of which was that it placed itself above distinctions of race, of language, and of government, it was qually certain to look askance upon the tightening bonds of nationality which were causing Englishmen to regard foreigners as unfit to take part in the management of English affairs. And at the same time that the papacy was losing its intelligent percep- tion of the real wants of Englishmen, circumstances led it to make the heaviest demands upon the purses of Englishmen. Two successive popes, Gregory IX. and Innocent IV., engaged in a deadly struggle with the Emperor Frederick II. The object of that struggle, even at its commencement, had very little of a spiritual nature in it. The popes no longer, as in the eleventh century, burned with zeal for the reform of the Church and the world. They wanted chiefly to maintain their inde- pendence as temporal sovereigns. For this they fought ; for this they sent emissary after emissary to England, subjecting the English clergy and laity to taxation, and infringing on the rights of lay patrons as well as clerical expectants by the appointment of needy Italians to English benefices. It was not long before the pope came to be regarded as merely one foreign bloodsucker the more, as mischievous as the brothers-in-law of the king, who cared for nothing in England except its wealth. In the sturdy growth of a national feeling lay the 14- The strength of England. But it was not without its own risks. There was a danger lest a claim to power, arising from the desire to guard the purse, should end in a struggle for pelf rather than in an increase of righteous rule, and that the pursuit of material objects should lead in the end to disintegration rather than to union. Once 72 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. more England had to look abroad for the remedy. The L_ new thought came across the sea with the Friars, and more especially with the Franciscans, the followers of Francis of Assisi, the gentle mystical Italian, rather than with those of Dominic, the combative and persecuting Spaniard. The friars were the last helpful gift of the medieval Church to the world. Like the old monks in their self-abnegation, and in their complete renunciation of the pleasures and interests of the world, the friars in- troduced an entirely new element into the ecclesiastical system. The monk stood apart from humanity for his own soul's welfare, crucifying the flesh in order that the spirit might live, and teaching indirectly by example, and not, except accidentally, by direct word or guidance. The friar's work was carried on, not in retired cloisters but in the busy haunts of men. He lived not for himself but for others. Wherever men were most wretched, struck down by the most loathsome of diseases, or pinched and hunger-starved with famine, there the little mission chapel of the friars was raised. Francis of Assisi wooed, in his own mystical language, poverty as his bride ; but it was poverty revealed in others as well as in himself. The world for him was not a haunt of demons to be avoided at the peril of eternal death, but a home of sin and misery to be healed and alleviated. Whilst pope and emperor, king and baron, were contending for this world's goods, the Franciscan drew close the golden bond of charity, and told not in word, but in very deed, of the love which is stronger to draw together than this world's goods are powerful to separate. They had their reward even in that of which they were most careless. The intellectual sway of the world, the organising of its science, even what knowledge of its physical laws was then possible, fell into their hands. Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon were of the friars. Even in political PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 73 change their weight was felt. In the English constitu- CHAP. tional struggle, the man whose influence was ever used - - 1_ to exalt the standard of right and to bind together the hostile elements of faction, was one who had imbibed their teaching most deeply Earl Simon de Montfort was a pupil of the friars. It is possible that Earl Simon's foreign origin may IS . si- have had something to do with the freshness of insight which enabled him to look to the bottom of our English difficulties. Fully assuming his position as an English- man, and associating himself completely with the strug- gles of the English baronage, he saw, ever more clearly as the conflict with the king continued, that the substi- tution of the government of an irresponsible aristocracy for an irresponsible king would not be a gain to anyone. The Provisions of Oxford in 1258, which were in the main the work of the baronage, contemplated some such a settlement as this. Earl Simon's own arrangements, made after the victory of Lewes in 1264, contemplated a national constitution. For some time knights had been sent with increasing 16. His frequency to represent the smaller landowners in Parlia- ment. Almost accidentally the barrier between tenants tative Parlia- in chief, and subtenants, and again between subtenants mem. and ordinary freeholders had been broken down. If knights were to be sent to parliament at all, there was no machinery for their election except in the county court, and the county court was still what it had been as the shiremote before the Conquest, the place of the meeting of landowners irrespective of the nature of their tenure. The step from a feudal to a national assembly was thus taken without any special contrivance by any special statesman. But it could not have been taken unless the fusion of feudal and nonfeudal elements in parliament had already been completed in the nation 74 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. itself. It was because the great baron and his vassal IV L knights had learned to act together with the simple freeholder in resisting royal and papal encroachments at home, that they were able to join together in parliament Earl Simon drew yet another element of life into the political arena. The towns, comparatively small and unimportant as, with the single exception of London, they were, were yet important enough to be consulted, and the admission of their repre- sentatives to parliament completed the national as- sembly. It was to a parliament so constituted in a single house that Earl Simon looked for the mainspring ot political action. It is true that the governors who were to act in the name of the king were to be nominated by electors named by the barons alone ; but they were to be continually checked by the criticism of a parlia- ment which would represent England as no parliament had represented it before. In so doing the great earl attempted to anticipate the work of centuries. Even if his parliament h d been more homogeneous than it was, the control of government by a representative body was no easy task. The constitutional habit of giving way to the majority of votes takes long to form, and the equally necessary habit of paying attention to public affairs when a critical moment of danger is past s not easily acquired. Great as the progress of England in the direction of national unity had been, it was not as yet enough to bear the strain of so great a constitutional change. The barons preferred to be the servants of a king who would spare their interests to being servants of the community at large. Personal jealousy of the great earl did the rest. Feudalism was still too strong for the complete nationalisation of the kingdom. The split between the baronage and the national party grew wider every day, till the hope of England seemed to be struck down with Earl Simon at Evesham, and nothing PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 75 left to be done but to raise the fruitless lament for the CHAP. IV political martyr who had died for the country as Arch- _ bishop Thomas had once died for the church. Happily, Earl Simon found a successor, and more 17. The than a successor, in the king's son. Do what he would, the earl, from his very position, was a divider. He could do nothing without thrusting the king down into tutelage, and in proportion as he succeeded in doing that, he became the object of jealousy to those who were un- willing to submit to the rule of a subject like themselves. Edward I. stood on the vantage ground of the throne. From thence he was able to look at men and things from a point of view very different from that which any subject could command. He could do that easily and without effort which Simon could only do la- boriously, and with the certainty of rousing opposition. Especially was this the case with the encouragement given by the two men to the growing aspirations after parliamentary representation. Earl Simon's assemblies were instruments of warfare. Edward's assemblies were invitations to peace. Yet his position would have availed him little if he had trusted to nothing else. He was able to use it, because he was strong in mind as well as in body, because with the reforming temperament he had an open eye for his subjects' grievances, and was thus able to lead them steadily forward in the path of legislative Improvement. Barons and prelates, knights and towns- men, came together only to support a king who took the initiative so wisely, and who, knowing what was best for all, sought the good of his kingdom without thought of his own ease. Yet even so, Edward was too prudent at once to gather together such a body as that which Earl Simon had planned. He summoned, indeed, all the constituent parts of Simon's parliament, but he seldom summoned them to meet in one place or at one time. Sometimes 76 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. the barons and prelates met apart from the townsmen ' or the knights, sometimes one or the other class met entirely alone. By this means Edward got what he wanted. He strengthened himself in his power to do good by gathering a fruitful knowledge of the thoughts and aims of his subjects, and by inspiring -them with re- spect for his own thoughts and aims for them ; but he accustomed them at the same time to look upon him far more as the centre of the national life than they would have done if they had been in the habit of meeting him face to face in one great national body. It may fairly be said, too, that they got what they needed. They had the best possible training for higher work to come one day, the work of co-operating with one nobler and wiser than themselves, without any temptation to contend over points of small importance. 18. The In this way, during the first twenty years of Edward's national . . , and the reign, the nation rapidly grew in that consciousness f national unity which would one day transfer the function of regulation from the crown to the repre- sentatives of the nation. Like all changes, even when they are for the best, this change brought with it its own peculiar risks. The king, in gaining the position of head and leader of the nation, did not entirely throw off the position of feudal head of a certain body of landowners holding by a special military tenure from the crown. Hence there was always a danger that, in looking at things from a double point of view, the king might be inclined to put one relation or the other into the foreground in proportion as one or the other would serve his interests most, and would thus reap the discredit which accrues to the man who uses technical legality for the purpose of securing solid advantages for himself. From this danger Edward, so far as his domestic policy was concerned, only escaped with difficulty, whilst PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 77 he did not succeed in escaping from it in his dealings CHAP. with foreign nations. This difficulty was observable even in Edward's deal- 19- ings with Wales in the early part of the reign. The real and Wales, causes of his anxiety to subdue the dwellers on the Welsh mountains, was the harm which was done to peaceable Englishmen by the close proximity of a body of men whose very position made them freebooters. But this motive was not placed in the foreground. Wales was ostensibly subdued not for the fault of Welsh- men in general, but for the special breach of the feudal relations between their chief and the English king, rela- tions which only existed at all, because the Welsh had been unwillingly forced into a distasteful connection with the English Crown. If no permanent evil followed, it was because Edward was wise enough to content him- self with the establishment of his power, without attempting to mould the national habits of the Welsh after English forms. The case was otherwise with Scotland. In demand- 2 o. Ed- ing to be accepted as Lord Paramount of Scotland, Edward had doubtless in his mind the advantages which Iand - would arise to the populations on both sides of the Tweed by the union of all the inhabitants of the island under one government. But nothing of this appeared on the surface. The claim was not only distinctly a feudal claim that is to say, a claim put forward on the ground of a personal tie between the king of England and the king of Scotland, and not on the ground of any tie connecting the Scottish nation to the king of Eng- land but it was a feudal claim put forward on a very questionable basis of fact, and at all events extended to mean a great deal more than the foundation on which Edward's argument was based could possibly bear. At first indeed he proved successful. The class to which 78 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. he directly appealed, that of the Scottish nobility, was V- peculiarly susceptible to feudal considerations, as it was to a great extent of southern origin, whilst such of its members as held land on both sides of the border had a special interest in maintaining themselves in the good graces of the English king. In proportion as the effects of Edward's interference made themselves felt by the great body of the nation, a national resistance was aroused amongst those who cared nothing for feudal theories or for their interpretation by interested English lawyers, but who cared very much about putting a stop to a system under which their actions were con- trolled by foreign courts, and their lives and goods were at the mercy of foreign officials. The national feeling which had been gradually growing up during a long course of years in England, sprang up suddenly in Scotland, after a brief interval of anarchy. If it failed to obtain the mastery in Edward's lifetime, it was alto- gether owing to the personal activity and skill of the king himself, and it was unlikely that these qualities would be inherited by his successor. 21. Ed- It was not only in Scotland that this mixture ot France. aE feudal with national ties brought confusion into Edward's plans. In France Edward was on the defensive, not, as in Scotland, on the offensive. But it was a feudal tie which bound Gascony to himself, and though whatever possible national feeling was there was still dormant, and the king of France was regarded as more of a stranger than the king of England, there was certainly no feeling to attach the Gascons to the English nation. Thus it came about that the king who had done more than any of his predecessors to raise his people to the consciousness of national unity, was engaged abroad in enterprises in which the national feeling of other peoples was entirely set at defiance. Unfortunate as PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. . 79 this was, it is not strange that it was so. It is always CHAP. long before the full consequences of a change are under- !_ stood even by those who do most to bring it about. Old habits of thought cling long about the mind, however incompatible they may be with the new habits which are beginning to be formed. Whatever might be the result of Edward's enterprises 22. The abroad, it was certain that they could not be carried out wuT^he without considerable expense. At a loss for money, and ^ 1 1 g r | y r and doubting the readiness of the nation to grant him all age. that he needed, the king fell back upon the old methods of arbitrary taxation, as if the newly completed parlia- mentary institutions had no binding force against him- self. Even those who opposed him did not perceive at once the value of those institutions, as offering them a new standing-ground against the king, and they too fell back upon an equally obsolete line of defence. First came the clergy. The ruling pope, Boniface VIII. , was to Innocent III. what Innocent III. had been to Gregory VII. He looked on the papacy, and upon the clerical order of which it was the head, far more as a divinely privileged institution than as a body charged with the duty of rendering services to mankind. The Bull which he issued under the title of Clericis laicos directed that on no account should the clergy pay taxes to the lay authorities. Edward's answer to the assump- tion was complete. If the clergy bore no part in the burdens of the state, they could have no part in its protection. The days were gone by when their mere character sufficed to guard them from violence. The English clergy were soon compelled to acknowledge the vitality of the national principle, and to strive for im- munity from unfair burdens as standing inside and not out- side the nation to which they belonged. As it was with the clergy, so it was with the baronage. The two great So INTRODUCTION JO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. earls, Bohun and Bigod, began their resistance on a purely technical ground, derived from a narrow interpretation ot their feudal relations with the crown. They were bidden to conduct an English force to Gascony, whilst Edward conducted another to Flanders. They refused, on the ground that though they were bound to follow the king they were not bound to go to war without him. The strife soon enlarged itself beyond such narrow limits. Edward had been stripping the merchants as well as the clergy of their property, and if the barons were to have the support of the clergy and the merchants in their resistance, they must place it upon some better chosen ground than a mere refusal of military duty. In this way all special grievances were quickly blended in one. The king was asked to renounce his whole claim to arbitrary taxation. 23. Con- Reluctantly the king yielded, if not all that was asked, fi r a tarum. at least the greater part of it. In 1295, Parliament had assumed the complete form which it has never since lost, comprising lords spiritual and temporal, knights of the shire, and representatives of the cities and boroughs. By the Confirmatio Cartarum of 1 297, an end was put to the long question of organisation which had been the sub- ject of dispute ever since the reign of John. It is true that there was no general enunciation of principle. The Great Charter was confirmed as it stood in the reign of Henry III., without the constitutional clauses. There was no general condemnation of arbitrary taxation, but only of such aids, tasks, and prises as had recently been taken, and of the special toll upon wool which had recently been exacted. One grievance too remained entirely unredressed. The Crown had hitherto assumed the right of exacting special payments from the inhabit- ants of its own demesne lands under the name of tallages, and nothing was said to restrict its exercise of this right. PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 81 But such details are comparatively of little importance. CHAP. The great fact is that the best and wisest of the kings _ since the Conquest gave way, and consented to limit his own functions in the presence of the national as- sembly which he had done more than any one else to bring into being. From that moment it was plain that the government of England would, rest, not on the king alone, but on the king in co-operation with parliament. Such a co-operation was only possible because parlia- ment had at its back a united nation, which could strengthen the king's hands to keep in check the presumption of any single class, but which would be strong enough to resist the king himself if he attempted to use for the oppression of all the powers entrusted to him for the good of all. Two factors were needed for the maintenance of 24. the now established constitution ; a king strong enough Edward n. to hold his own at the head of the nation, and a nation possessed of sufficient cohesion to avoid splitting up again into the separate classes of which it was com- posed. In both these points the constitution was severely tested in the reign of Edward II. The young king, utterly given up to pleasure, and entirely neglectful of the first duties of his office, could in no sense stand at the head of England as his father had stood at its head. It is impossible to remove one part of a compli- cated piece of machinery without affecting the others, and as Edward was simply inefficient and not tyranni- cal, he was opposed by the forces of the baronage with- out the immediate intervention of the other classes. The victory of the baronage was followed by the institution of a provisional government under the name of the Lords Ordainers, consisting solely of barons and prelates, who paid little more than a formal homage to parliament. The government by a class failed to secure respect, and when G 82 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. Edward recovered power he was enabled to proclaim the principles of his father's government even more strongly than his father had been inclined to do. ' The matters ' he declared, ' which are to be established for the estate of our lord the king and of his heirs, and for the estate of the realm and of the people, shall be treated, awarded and established in parliaments by our lord the king, and by the consent of the prelates, earls and barons, and the commonwealth of the realm, according as hath been heretofore accustomed.' Edward II. could not fulfil his part of the contract even if he had wished to do so, and it was not long before the nation witnessed with satisfaction the domestic broil which swept away the occupant of the throne, and which placed upon it another Edward, who, in spite of many defects, had at least some notion that the kingly office entailed upon its holder duties as well as pleasures. In principle, at least, the theory of the constitution propounded by his father when he overcame the barons, was admitted by Edward II. From henceforth England was only concerned with its practical application. CHAPTER V. CONSTITUTIONAL KINGSHIP. A.T the beginning of the fourteenth century the work of CHAP. :he Middle Ages was nearly accomplished. The rude Teutons who poured over the surface of the Roman j.The Empire in its earliest years needed increase of discipline, not increase of liberty, the growth of a sense of the the Middle worth of self-renunciation and obedience rather than the growth of a sense of independence and self-reliance. On Roman soil they had met with two institutions, the state and the church, which offered to give them the training which they required. They shattered the state, but they accepted the teaching of the church. When at last the idea of a state discipline revived, it slowly made its way in organising the scattered tribes into a nation, and in compelling individuals to submit to a rule often harsh and tyrannical, but wholesome in the main. It found the church idea already in possession of the field. Not only were the limits of church rule wider than the limits of the rule of any single state, but its ideal was purer, its notions of morality more lofty, whilst its demand of utter self-renunciation in its most devoted followers gave it a hold upon the individual heart and conscience which no external institutions of government could hope to rival. The great men of the Middle Ages were ecclesi- astics rather than statesmen. Yet the very causes which led to growth of ecclesiastical authority for a time pre- G 2 84 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. vented it from establishing itself as the permanent source ' of law and order. Partly from the character of the papacy as a religious institution, partly from the wide diffusion of the populations entrusted to its care, it was impossible that the popes should possess that constant and complete knowledge of the wants and feelings of the peoples of all Western Christendom which was essential to the establishment of such a government as formed the ideal of Innocent III. That which had happened to the imperial rulers of the earlier Rome happened now to the papal rulers of the later Rome. They themselves did what they could for the people, but they lived too far apart from them to apply the right remedies at the right time. Other causes too made the failure more complete. The ecclesiastical ideal of monastic virtue was too complete an exaggeration, too thoroughly in antagonism with the ordinary conditions of human life, to occupy the minds of men for ever. 2. De- As late as the thirteenth century indeed, the pro- Papacy. ductive force of the medieval church was not exhausted, but the mission of the friars was its last effort in the days of its greatness, and that had only been successful because ideas of active beneficence were intermingled with the older ideas of poverty and self-denial. The inward corruption and the worldly entanglements of the papacy were but the outward sign that its true work was done ; and when, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, the popes retired into a splendid and luxurious slavery at Avignon, they renounced the outward form of a spiritual guidance which it was no longer theirs to give. For two centuries the mechanism of church authority would continue in their hands. But the mechanism of church authority would not foster the growth of ideas or of devotion. Men would no longer learn from the popes to project themselves into the CONSTITUTIONAL KINGSHIP. 85 future and to struggle for the realisation of better and CHAP. happier days for the generations to come than those in 1_ which their own lot was cast. The work of constituting national unity was, to a 3.' Na- great extent, accomplished when Edward I. died. To a great extent because it had been accomplished, the characters of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were inferior to those of the thirteenth. The greatness of men and of nations depends not so much on what they do as on what they desire, and when once a task is accomplished there is always a tendency to fold the arms and rest. Yet even this is not a sufficient explana- tion for the lassitude which followed. Doubtless the mere fact that the bond of church unity had to a great extent given place to the bond of national unity must be answerable for much of the decline which followed. The ideal of the church entered into the very heart and soul of the individual Christian. It bade him, if often in superstitious and ignorant ways, to work out his own sal- vation with fear and trembling. Self-purification was a work which came home to the hearts and bosoms of all. The state too had its ideal, an ideal of justice, but it was not one which appealed so readily to the individual con- science. The great earl who stood up against Henry III. was known as Sir Simon the Righteous. The great king who took up and accomplished his task was known as the English Justinian. Even in him the idea of a righteous man was hardening into the idea of a giver of laws. It is the tendency of this pursuit of righteousness alone to dwindle into a balance of opposing claims, a maintenance of external rules, a calculating of the place which each man has gained in the world, and a deter- mination that he shall keep it still. The ideal of the medieval church would never revive again for the English people in the form in which it had hitherto 86 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. V. 4. The Connexion between England and Flanders. attracted them, but it would go ill with them unless it could be revived again in some other, shape to win them to tenderness and purity, to the abandonment of selfish efforts and designs. Whatever might be the bearing of these events upon the future character of the English nation, there was no doubt that it had acquired strength for the immediate present, which would enable it to overpower and hold down, at least for a time, any other nation living under the feudal regime. The course of the struggle with Scotland had run through the stages of immediate suc- cess and ultimate failure of success as long as there was only a Scottish feudal nobility to contend with, of failure as soon as there was a Scottish nation to be kept in subjection. Untaught by the lesson, England threw herself, under the guidance of Edward III., into a war of conquest against France For a war of more limited extent, indeed, Edward was not without justification. Europe was making pro- gress slowly but surely in the arts of peace. In the cities of Flanders had arisen manufacturing popula- tions which supplied the countries around with the products of the loom. To the Ghent and Bruges of the Middle Ages, England stood in the same relation as that which the Australian colonies hold to the Leeds and Bradford of our own day. The sheep which grazed over the wide uninclosed pasture-lands of our island formed a great part of the wealth of England, and that wealth depended entirely on the flourishing trade with the Flemish towns in which English wool was converted into cloth. When, therefore, the Count of Flanders quarrelled, as feudal magnates were apt to do, with the burghers of the cities over which he ruled, the strife was one to which England could hardly be indifferent. Yet if Edward were to intervene in the Low countries, CONSTITUTIONAL KINGSHIP. 87 he would have to deal with a more powerful enemy CHAP, than the Count of Flanders only. A new family sat upon the throne of France, and Philip VI., the first of the Valois dynasty, renouncing the traditions of the older branch, bore himself as a gay knight amongst the knights of his kingdom, and knew no wisdom better than to give his support to the splendid and thoughtless feudal aristocracy rather than to the sober and hard- working citizen. Philip now ranged himself on the side of the Count against the burghers of Flanders, and a war against him in the interest of the Flemish towns, would therefore have rendered a real service to Flanders as well as to England itself. It was probably inevitable that a second and less 5- Be- e- i i r 1111 t i i ginning of justifiable cause of war should have been thought more the Hun- of in those days than it is likely to be thought of now. w The loss of Gascony, unconnected as it was by any ties of nationality with England, was a mere question of time. But if Edward I. held the preservation of Gascony to be worth struggling for, it is no wonder that his grandson did the same. That which gave the war its indefensible character was not the support of Flanders or the claim to the retention of Gascony, but the monstrous assertion of Edward's rights to the very crown of France, on the most flimsy of pretexts. Crecy and Poitiers demonstrated to the world that a people with united ranks, in which the nobility and gentry regarded the townsmen and the yeomen as their fellow- citizens, was stronger than a people in which distinction of rank was everything, and in which the business of defence was entrusted to the more showy part, instead of being a burden imposed upon the whole. It was a war in which the victors suffered as much as the vanquished. Habits of rapacity and greed were easily contracted, not easily cured. When France at last learned to act ss INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. V. 6. The Constitu- tion of the House of Commons. together under a wiser king, the tide of English conquest was thrown back, and the men who had taken pleasure Li preying upon a foreign people were driven to prey upon one another at home. No nation can wage a war upon this scale without some effect being produced on its social and political institutions. During the earlier years of failure and expectation, before the victory of Crecy, the existence of war was chiefly felt in England by the increasing demands for money made by the king. The parliament to which these demands were addressed was separated into two Houses, if indeed it had not been already separated in the days of Edward I. an Upper House, composed of peers and prelates; and a Lower House, composed of the knights of the shire, representing the untitled gentry and freeholders of the country, together with the burgesses who represented the towns. The day would come when the fact that there were two houses rather than one would be considered to be a matter of prime importance. In the early days of the House of Commons, the thing of prime importance did not lie in its separation from the House of Lords, but in the union of classes within its own walls. No stronger evidence could be given of the depth to which the idea of national unity had struck its roots in England than lay in this combination. On the continent there was a strong repulsion between these very classes. The dwellers in towns cannot suffice alone to make a nation ; their occupations are such as to induce mental exertion, to make men quick and lively, eager for profit, and full of warm devotion towards the spot of earth upon which their fortunes have grown. But the very strength of this devotion tends to exclude a larger patriotism, and it had never proved possible to teach the citizen of Athens that he was above all a Greek, or the citizen of Florence CONSTITUTIONAL KINGSHIP. 89 that he was above all an Italian. In the close relations CHAP. y of the country gentleman to the burgess class, Eng- land found a powerful solvent which hindered her towns from crystallising themselves apart, as the towns of Italy had crystallised themselves, or from clinging for support, like the towns of France, to the arbitrary government of the king, in order to free themselves from the brutalities of the feudal landowners around. It must never be forgotten that the form taken by 7. Unity the House of Commons was the effect, not the cause. \,- at io n . Long before there was a House of Commons at all, the ancestors of the knights of the shire of the reign of Edward III. had fought side by side at Lewes with the ancestors of the citizens of London who sent their representatives to Parliament in the same reign. Such a union was of advantage to both classes. The burghers brought an acquaintance with trade which was of the ut- most value at a time when the battle of the constitution was fought out on questions mainly relating to com- mercial imposts, whilst the knights of the shire gave a vigour to resistance which mere citizens could never have offered. It is of the utmost importance that strength in argument should clothe itself in effective strength, if necessary, in battle. It is ill to reason with the master of thirty legions, and it is the fate of cities which stand alone to discover that neither arts nor com- merce nor civic virtue can avail for ever to resist the masters of the wide fields which stretch away beyond the horizon outside their walls. In the House of Com- mons the masters of the streets and lanes made common cause with the masters of the fields. The knights of the shire furnished the effective strength that was needed, and were consequently the most honoured members of the assembly : on them fell the weight and the glory of speaking, as well as of acting in defence of all, and not merely in defence of their own peculiar privileges. 90 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. The early years of Edward's reign were years of con- stant progress on the part of the House of Commons, ing ir SV " 'interrupted no doubt by times of retrogression. Edward strength of promised concessions, and then withdrew them. He mons. mingled cajolery and flattery with positive falsehood. Step by step, however, the Commons grew in influence. The great lords of the Upper House found their account in having the knights and burgesses on their side. The protest against injustice and wrong was often no more than a protest. But it was repeated again and again till a sense of right was created which would in the end gain the mastery over the wrong. q. After all, however, the leading power in England was still the baronage. Edward's French wars indeed were rendered possible by the support which he received from other classes ; but they were waged in accordance with the ideas, and with due respect for the interests of the feudal and more especially the military class. So far as that class w r as animated by any special idea, it was by the idea of chivalry. Chivalry was to the medieval warrior very much what monasticism was to the medieval churchman. It placed before him his own mode of life, in the best and highest light of which it was capable. The rough and often brutal warrior learned that self- restraint and respect for others were higher than prowess in the field. The Black Prince showed himself nobler in humbly waiting upon a captive king than when he won his spurs by his charge at Crecy. In some respects the ideal of honour and courtesy was higher than the ideal of the monk. It was less entirely introspective, less concerned with separating those who entertained it as a class apart from others, more of a bond attaching man closely to his fellow-creatures. But in other respects it w r as a lower ideal. The code of honour was always more arbitrary, more concerned with outward actions, and less PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 91 with inward purity and uprightness than the code of CHAP. monastic virtues. _ In . the Middle Ages too the code of honour was 10. The subject to special limitations which were most in- jurious to its development. Courtesy finds all the more scope for its excellence when exercised by the rich towards the poor, or by the strong towards the weak. But in the fourteenth century the community of feel- ing necessary to the development of courtesy did not reach to all classes of the population. The nation, the growth of which we have been slowly tracing, was by no means co-extensive with the population of the kingdom. Even the House of Commons, which was pushing its way to a share of power, was comparatively an aristo- cratic body. The labouring population in town and country had no share in its exaltation. Even the citi- zens, the merchants and tradesmen of the towns, looked down upon those beneath them without trust or affec- tion. To the warrior knight the labouring marf was but an instrument of service to whom no courtesy was due, and who, in war, might be pillaged or plundered without pity, when the defeated knight or gentleman would be received to mercy. The course of the French wars deepened this feeling of estrangement. The lot of the labourer in France was lower and more pitiable than in England, and the English victors learned to treat the whole class with more complete disdain from their new experience. Then came the days of failure and disaster. Expen- sive habits, acquired when booty was easily got, were hard to throw off, and the demands made on the labourer, when the baron or the knight returned dis- comfited from the war in which he had learned the evil lesson of cruelty to the poor, were certain to be higher than thej f had ever been before. The feeling of the 92 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. lower classes was roused against their oppressors. Gra- _ dually there had been growing up a literature of satirical songs directed against the vices of the rich. The author of ' Piers the Ploughman ' now stepped forward to weigh the clergy, the nobles, the traders, and the knights in the balance, and to find them wanting. True industry and true innocence, he declared, were to be found in those alone whose lives were spent in manual labour. This poem was the sharp reply to the romances of chivalry and to chronicles like those of Froissart, in which the rich and the noble were de- picted in the brightest colours, and in which life appeared to be one long holiday. Assuredly the picture drawn was highly exaggerated. But it revealed the great fact of the time the fact that the consolidating work of earlier days needed to be carried on further still, and that the limits of the nation were not yet comprehensive enough for the task that lay before it. 12. The If the demands of the landowners were higher, the Death and position of the peasants for resistance was stronger than - ^ een before. The condition of the serfs or villeins volt. had been one of improvement for some time past. Some of them had been set free and had given rise to a class of labourers working like the modern labourer for his hire. If the great part of the peasants were still bound to the soil, and if they were unable to leave the landlord's estate without their landlord's leave, most of them had changed the uncertain tenure of their cottages and of the plots of ground around them for one which was more definite. Instead of being called on to plough and sow at their master's direction, they had some fixed work to do, some ascertained labour rent to give, or, in the majority of cases, a fixed money rent to pay in com- mutation for the labour rent. Suddenly an event occurred which made all past progress seem small. The Black PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 93 Death swept over Europe, that devastating scourge to CHAP. which neither the cholera of our own days, nor the 1_ plague of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, can afford a parallel. At teast one half of the population, it can hardly be doubted, disappeared before its ravages. The relations between the landowning and the labouring classes were at once altered by the blow. Whatever number may have perished out of the families of the landowners, there were sure to be kinsmen left to gather the inheritance of those who were gone. There would be a new face at the head of the table in the hall of the manor house, a new exacter of service and of rent. In the cottage the change would work in a very different fashion. Where there had been two labourers before there would be but one now, and the same amount of work would have to be done. Men who worked for pay would feel it hard that they did not have more pay when their services were in greater request, and men who paid rent in labour without receiving pay at all would feel it harder than ever that they did not receive money for the work of their hands which had now become twice as valuable as it had been before. Nor is it unlikely, though it is not absolutely certain, that an attempt was made by the lords to enforce the service of labour in the large number of instances in which it had been tacitly permitted to fall into desuetude in con- sideration of the payment of rent. Other grievances of the labouring classes came to swell the tide of agitation, and before Richard II. had been long upon the throne the peasants were ready to join in an active opposition to the propertied classes, of which the main cry was one for the entire abolition of villenage. In 1381 they burst out into open insurrection. But they were not strong enough to gain their ends. The upper classes were too strong in organisation to be overwhelmed by an un- 94 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. organised crowd, and the insurrection was quenched in blood. 13. Wy- Revolutions are only possible when the interests of Principles. tne masses can be welded into a permanent political force by the leadership of the thoughtful few. In the latter part of the fourteenth century, the masses were ready to act, and the thinker was present to think. That thinker was Wyclif. But between the two there was no common ground, and the failure of his movement for religious reform was inevitable. His ideas developed themselves not out of the new social aspirations of the multitude, but out of the old national aspirations of the upper classes. He began by demanding that England should be more independent of the Papacy than it had hitherto been, less a prey to the needy foreign clergy who came to batten on its ecclesiastical pastures. It was the cause alike of the English clergy who disliked seeing the benefices which they coveted in the hands of Italians, and of the English landowners, who disliked the loss of the patronage which they counted as their own. But Wyclif was not a man to be content with the defence of merely material interests. He asked that English benefices should be placed not merely in the hands of men of English birth, but in the hands of men whose high moral worth fitted them for the fulfilment of spiritual functions. He cast down his doctrine of Do- minion founded on Grace as his challenge to a worldly and self-seeking clergy. At once he had on his side the still more worldly and self-seeking aristocracy, with John of Gaunt at its head. They fancied it would be easy, under the cover of reforming the Church, to draw a large portion of its revenues into their own pockets. They did not see that Wyclifs challenge had opened wider issues than they were aware of. Stripped, of its scho- lastic and ecclesiastical form, Dominion founded on PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATION. 95 Grace was the doctrine with which we are so familiar at CHAP. the present day, that no authority or institution can, in the long run, justify its existence except by the services which it is capable of rendering. John of Gaunt and his comrades were happy in finding such a weapon wherewith to cut down their rivals the bishops till, on a sudden, they discovered that their own authority was at stake. The dominion which they claimed over the peasants, the hard compulsion to forced service, the scanty pay doled out, did not seem to the wretched labourers to be in any way founded on grace. The in- surrection of 1381 came to remind the barons that they were playing with edged tools, and that the less they had to do with Wyclif the better they would consult their own interests. If Wyclif thus lost his hold upon one side in the social H- w y- strife, he gained no hold on the other. A few months Failure. before the insurrection, he entered boldly on the path of a religious reformer by his denial of the doctrine of transubstantiation. He was not without numerous followers, and the Lollardism which sprang out of his teaching was a living force in England for some time to come. But it was weak through its connection with subversive social doctrines. He himself stood aloof from such doctrines, but he could not prevent his follow- ers from mingling in the social fray. It was perhaps their merit that they did so. The established constitu- tional order was but another name for oppression and wrong to the lower classes. But as yet the lower classes were not sufficiently advanced in moral and political training to make it safe to entrust them with the task of righting their own wrongs as they would have attempted to right them if they had gained the mastery. It had nevertheless become impossible to leave the peasants to be once more goaded by suffering into re- 96 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, bellion. The attempt, if it had been made, to enforce ' absolute labour-rents was tacitly abandoned, and gradu- ally during the next century the mass of the villeins passed into the position of freemen. 15. The For the moment, nobles and prelates, landowners and tive^Reac- c l er gy> banded themselves together to form one great party of resistance. The church came to be but an outwork of the baronage. Courtneys and Arundels, Beauforts and Bourchiers, sate on the high seats of prelacy; no longer vigorous scholars like Stephen Langton, or humble saints like Edmund Rich. If there still lingered a feeling of appetite for the goods of the clergy, it was among the burgesses and lesser gentry of the House of Commons, not among the great houses, the chiefs of which were to be found in the House of Lords. Such a union of interests was certain to increase the weight of parliament in the constitu- tional system. Parliaments are weak when they will nothing strongly ; when the aims of the more devoted and intelligent fall flat upon the ears of those who care for nothing but present ease. The defence of interests appeals alike to all who share in those interests. Not, indeed, that the better minds amongst the sharers in this great conservative reaction were without some sense of higher duty. To them it seemed that the battle was not for the preservation of pelf and power, but for the sal- vation of society from those who were undermining its foundations in Church and State. Such a combination would, in any case, have raised into increased prominence the parliament which represented the upper classes. Its progress to power was accelerated, if only accelerated, by the weakness of the king. Richard II. had this special failing, that he stood on neither side of the great contro- versy of the age. He had not the large-heartedness and the heroism to place himself at the head of the peasants, CONSTITUTIONAL KINGSHIP. 97 excepting in one brief moment of excitement, and thus to obtain at least some consideration for their just demands. On the other hand he had no real sympathy with the ruling classes. Fitful and uncertain in action, he strove, with long intervals of inertness, to maintain or acquire authority over them without regard for the conditions on which alone authority can be wielded. The revolution of 1 399, which hurled Richard from 16. The the throne, was, in its external circumstances, the coun- ^f 6 110 terpart of the revolution of 1688. Both diminished the powers of the crown ; in both the leadership fell into the hands of the aristocracy. But whilst the revolution of 1688 was one step forward in the direction in which the nation was ultimately to move, the revolution of 1 399 was a step backward in arrest of motion. Its main advantage was that by postponing the consideration of the relation between the labouring and the propertied classes to a time when the question could be faced without fear of violence and bloodshed, and by improving the working of constitutional government, it provided for the con- sideration of such matters in the way of reasoning and argument, and thus indirectly benefited even those who were, for the present, entirely excluded from the deli- berations of parliament. The fifteenth century witnessed, if not the entire 17. Gra-> extinction of serfage, at least its limitation within very ^tkm^f" narrow bounds. Economical laws proved too strong for the Serfs - the governing classes, and they found their account rather in dealing with the labourer as a free man to be bar- gained with, than in treating him as a serf to be com- pelled to work against his will for nothing. A hundred years after the revolution of 1 399 there were still serfs in England. But their existence was the exception and not the rule. Lollardism, too, ran much the same course. As soon as it ceased to be fostered by the indignation of the H 98 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. labouring class against its oppressors, it dwindled away. Some traces of it, indeed, are long to be found. Much dissatisfaction with the lives and teaching of the clergy lingered on till the dawn of the Reformation. The sharp statute which authorised the burning of heretics in the reign of Henry IV. found its martyrs for a time, and then fell asleep for lack of material, till a new attack upon the clergy appeared to awaken it afresh. 18. The Whilst a new class was thus rising up to share in the privileges f freemen, the victors of 1399 were reaping the natural consequences of their success. The revolu- tion of selfish conservatism was followed by a scramble for power. Only with the greatest difficulty did Henry IV. succeed in holding his own against the great feudal houses. His son, Henry V., turned their energies and their love of plunder upon foreign soil. More unprin- cipled war there never was. It had not even the excuse which the war of Edward III. had, of the necessity of giving protection to the English trade with Flanders. When, after Henry's death, the English conquerors were driven step \by step out of the territory which they had held for a time, they found themselves in much the same position as that in which their ancestors had been a century before. Cooped up within the limits of their island, they sighed for fresh fields to plunder, and those of their own countrymen were alone accessible. To restrain men in such a temper would have been difficult even for a strong king. Unhappily, the king on the throne was always weak in mind, and was often absolutely insane. The name of Henry VI. became a weapon in the armoury of men whose only object was to enrich themselves under legal forms. Men who were great and powerful already saw their opportunity of becoming more great and power- ful still. Great landowners, who had crowds of armed retainers in their service, bribed and bullied juries till CONSTITUTIONAL KINGSHIP. 99 the administration of the law became a farce, and on the CHAP. rare occasions when this course failed, they knew how to _ '_ vindicate their claims by maiming or assassinating their opponents, or by laying siege to houses, the possession of which they coveted. A desire for a strong govern- ment to put an end to the anarchy arose, not merely in the breast of the peasant and the labourer, but amongst stout country-gentlemen who wished to keep the lands which had descended to them from their ancestors, and amongst tradesmen who wished to enjoy in peace the profits of their industry. When, therefore, the baronage, torn by its intestine divisions, broke out into civil war, the wishes of all those who had no interest in the per- petuation of confusion gradually turned to the Yorkist party as affording a hope of better things. Edward IV. had his faults, but at least he was not an idiot or a mad- man. He was anxious to take advantage of the general desire for order and government to strengthen his own position, and the diminution of the great houses by death upon the field and on the scaffold rendered his task easier than it would have been for anyone a few years before. Only after the overthrow of Richard III. and the I9 . assumption of the crown by Henry VII. did the .greatness of the change which had taken place fully appear. The the Tudor Monarchy. nation needed peace, but that it might have it permanent- ly it needed a firm government. It is delusive to trace the exceeding strength of the Tudor monarchy merely to the disappearance of the great houses. Undoubtedly the Tudor monarchy would never have established itself if the great houses had remained standing. But they fell, not by the accident of civil warfare, but because they deserved to fall ; because they had been turbulent, aggressive, and tyrannical ; because they had misused the strength of their position to oppress their inferiors in social rank with forms of law and without forms of law. The monarchy in H a ioo INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. the hands of Henry VII. stepped into their place because _ it was able to realise the promise of the older monarchy, to dispense justice without fear or favour, to check the ascendancy of the rich over the poor, of the strong over the weak. History knows no violent breaches of con- tinuity, no new monarchy established on the ruins of the old. The kingship of Henry VII. was but the kingship of Henry II. and Edward I. adapted to the needs of a different generation. But the very fact that it was so adapted modified its character profoundly. The dread of a return of the anarchy which had prevailed under the forms of constitutional order made men think lightly of the worth of constitutional order itself. The king as the active and executive factor of the constitution was magnified beyond measure. Parliament which had made itself to a great extent the instrument of the nobility was for a time discredited. From Edward IV. down- wards, kings found that they could venture upon actions which their predecessors had not dared to commit. Illegal levies of money, illegal imprisonments, were winked at from fear lest the rule of the great houses should return. Nor was this change confined to England alone. In all the great states of the continent the path to equality before the law lay through absolutism. England reaped the benefit of her earlier progress in the restric- tions upon absolutism which, in form at least, she retained at the time when her monarchy approached the nearest to absolutism. But even she could not escape from the operation of the political law which prevailed elsewhere. IOI CHAPTER VI. THE TUDOR MONARCHY.. THE reign of Henry VII. gave to the English middle classes what they most needed, the protection of a firm government . By strict execution of the statute of T - Rei 8 n liveries of Edward IV., the great noblemen were pro- vn. hibited from giving to their followers the outward symbol of a military force, and Henry was strong enough in the general support to take care that armies were not levied at all excepting in his own name. As far as legislation was concerned, parliaments became mere instruments in his hands. The House of Lords had been thinned away by the recent massacres and executions, and the House of Commons was filled with men who had neither the power nor the will to be other than his humble servants. Men might grumble at his exorbitant taxation, but the bare idea of seeing feudal anarchy again raising its head was too terrible to be thought of, and much could be endured by those who knew what a dire calamity a suc- cessful insurrection would bring forth. Those who were ready to endure much themselves, would not be very careful of the sufferings of others, and the lesson was soon learnt by the king that, in spite of all restraints of the law, the lives and properties of the higher classes were at his mercy. Juries would be ready to convict those whom he saw fit to bring to trial. Parliaments would be prepared to condone arbitrary aggressions upon 102 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VI. 2. The Star Chamber. liberty and property. The middle classes were too much under the sway of a violent desire for peace, and were even yet too little trained in experience of consti- tutional politics, to feel instinctively that wrong done to one is done to all, and that the rich and powerful cannot be deprived of the safeguards of law without risk to the humble and the poor. It could not probably have been otherwise. But it was a happy thing that the forms of better days survived, for the very reason, perhaps, that the spirit which once filled them had so completely fallen asleep that they seemed entirely innocuous to the ruling powers. The day would come when a new life would enter into them, a life which would assuredly have found in any case its own forms, but which flowed on gently and wthout dis- turbance because it had not to create new channels for itself. Henry VII., indeed, did not leave the constitu- tion quite as he found it. Lawyers tell us that the court of the Star Chamber was derived from the ancient jurisdiction of the Privy Council. But it was reinvigo- rated by Act of Parliament in the early part of the reign of the first Tudor king, and, for all practical purposes, it may be held to date from his time. Consisting, at first, of certain royal officers and one of the chief justices, and ultimately, of all privy councillors together with the two chief justices, it was a tribunal formed to take cog- nisance of all cases in which justice was not to be had from the ordinary courts. It could not take away life, and, till later times, it did not claim to punish by more than fine and imprisonment. The full exercise of the powers which had been given to it was a healing measure. Wherever a powerful landowner cajoled or bullied juries, wherever faction banded men together to oppress the innocent, the Star Chamber righted the balance. Hurried THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 103 off to Westminster, the offender found himself in the CHAP. presence of judges whom no bribery would influence, no threats divert from their course. The time might come when the king would separate himself from the national feeling, and when such a court might convert itself into an instrument of oppression. For the present the Star Chamber was the weapon with which the oppressed armed the king, that he might strike the oppressors down. The strength which a government acquires by being 3. End of armed against anarchy is short-lived. Its very success Ages. " brings such strength to an end. Not only are the violent measures to which it resorts no longer needed when it has become master of the enemies of peaceful progress, but it becomes itself deteriorated in the process. It comes to look upon coercion not as a necessary means of escape from extreme peril, but as a perma- nent mode of exercising power. The reign of Henry VII. did not come to an end before he had roused indignation by the extortionate injustice which has ever since been connected with the names of his minis- ters, Empson and Dudley. Always alive to the import- ance of a well-filled exchequer to a prince who wishes to be master of his subjects, he had forgotten that the goodwill of his subjects was even better than their money. He could comprehend the strength which his eyes could see and his hands could handle. Into the unseen his vision did not penetrate. In this he was but the repre- sentative of his age. The ideals of the past were gone ; the science of the medieval ages had become a laughing- stock. The medieval saints were all dead, and had left no successors. The medieval church had become either a sink of corruption, or at the best, a house of idleness. Anyone who would devote himself for its sake was a rare exception in the midst of a careless and a mocking 104 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VI. 4- The Italian Renais- sance. generation. Nor were other ideals readily at hand. Reverence paid to woman had given place to bargain- ing, in which the future wife was estimated like a beast in the market, at her money's worth. The king was no longer a gracious lord for whom one would be ready to die, but a mere guarantee against loss, like a fire- insurance office in modern times. Such a state of things could not last. A society with no ideal but self-preservation is doomed to disso- lution. It needs an aim to set before it, an object for which to strive, a common bond calling into sympathetic activity those higher powers which have been developed in the course of its past history. Such an aim and such a bond was offered by the great movement which spread over Western Europe from Italy under the name of the Renaissance. It was the intellectual and artistic reversal of the characteristic doctrine of the Middle Ages. Asceticism carried to exaggerated lengths had become ridiculous or disgusting. The wearisome conven- tual discipline, the renunciation of the duties of life had become a mere form for most even of the monks them- selves. Men turned to human life and beauty, to human art and science. To enjoy the world, to learn all that the wisest of past generations had to teach, and to employ the legacy of the past for the benefit of the future, grew to be the objects which alone were worth striving for. Therefore the powers of men must not be repressed but strengthened and encouraged. The body of man was no longer the husk to be peeled away that the grain within might be prepared for a life beyond the grave, but the very instrument of power through which the living soul might work whilst yet there was time. It is never among the people who give birth to new ideas that those ideas attain to their healthiest development. The new thought takes possession of them too exclu- THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 105 sively, and quickens one side of their nature into too one- CHAP. sided a life. So it had been in the early Middle Ages !_ with the monasticism of the East. So it was when the Middle Ages drew to a close with the humanism of Italy. What Benedict of Nursia was to Simeon Stylites, Colet and More were to Pulci and Machiavelli. The Italians had before them the lees of medieval Christi- anity in their foulest corruption. Their reverence for humanity grew to be mere pampering of the intellect or of the senses. In England, as the evil was less intense, the reaction was less intense also. The old Church life lives on in the words of Colet, interpenetrated with a new spirit of inquiry and a new longing for a reign of justice rather than for self-mortification. In More we have the old political life living on with fresh and in- creased reverence for the poor and the oppressed. ' The Prince ' of Machiavelli is appalling for its cruelty and its cynicism. The ' Utopia ' blends the spirit of reasoned kindliness and the spirit of reasoned self-denial, with the reverence for men simply as men apart from their piety or their virtue. Sir Thomas More goes forth to the highways and the hedges in search of the vagrant and the robber, to win them not for the life to come, but for the honest citizenship of the present world. Nor was it only in such men as More that the many-sidedness of English life was manifested. Those aims which with him were blended together in sweet harmony are to be found side by side incoherently in Henry VIII. With all the love of pleasure of an Alexander VI., he never gave himself so entirely over to vice as that most un- blushing of the Italian popes. With all the cruel wilful- ness of Caesar Borgia, he never equalled the shameless villanies of that most atrocious of Italian tyrants. He preferred to satisfy his lust under the forms of marriage, and to satisfy his wrath under the forms of io6 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. S- The Separation from Rome. CHAP. legal procedure. He may not have been consciously L self-seeking. He took a real interest in learning. He may have had a vague desire to live uprightly and honourably, though his effort only led to a disgraceful satisfaction with the appearance of truth and justice, whilst their reality was trodden under foot. The separation from Rome was effected in a way in which such a man was likely to effect it. It sprang from a purely personal and even a sensual motive. Henry threw off the authority of the Pope simply because he was tired of a staid and elderly wife, and had fallen in love with a flighty young woman. But the moment the thing was done, he justified his acts to himself in reform- ing the Church according to the ideas of the better men around him. There was to be no change in the doctrine preached, but there was to be a change in the habits of those by whom it was preached. The clergy were to cease to be untruthful and vicious. The monasteries, already partly emptied by the growing unpopularity of the monastic life, were to be destroyed as abodes of sloth and corruption. Images were to be destroyed, not because their use was wrong, but because they had been made the instruments of fraud by their cheating owners. Henry did not purpose to go further than to purify the old Christianity by an admixture of intellectual criticism and moral earnestness. 6. By placing himself at the head of such a work, Despotism. Henry rendered himself more despotic than he had been before. The destruction of the monasteries, the com- pulsory obedience of the clergy to the king as Supreme Head of the Church, and their separation from the See of Rome, from which they had once derived their union and their force, combined to leave him unas- sailable by ecclesiastical resistance. The great tem- poral lords who still remained were smitten down, and THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 107 their places taken by new families from among the CHAP. VI lower gentry living upon his favour, looking to him for a share in the plunder of the monks, and dependent upon that plunder for the means of supporting a life of ostentatious profusion. Many of the great houses of modern England, the Russells, the Herberts, the Wriothesleys, owe their origin to that splendid court. Over them all towered the king's stately form, 'the majestic lord that broke the bonds of Rome,' and whose course through life was accompanied by the frequent thud of the executioner's axe. Before the bare enunciation of the royal will all resistance was silenced. The spirit of the Renaissance, of the new learning, as it was called in England, was not a spirit of liberty. Those who like Sir Thomas More and Fisher refused to lay their honour in the dust before the royal despot, had to fall back on the old traditional standing-point of Anselm and Becket, and to defy the commands of Henry in the name of the papal authority. Others amongst the representatives of the new learning floated with the stream, made themselves the instruments of the king's will, like Cromwell or like Cranmer, and, whilst applying their faculties to the criticism of the received theology, took care never, even in thought, to raise a protest against the deeds of the sovereign who had become to them as one in the place of God. The protest of Sir Thomas More was made in the name of a system which it was impossible to revive. But unless the spirit of Anselm could live again, England, in spite of the new learning, was doomed to corruption and to the catas- trophe which is the natural result of corruption. If there was to be any heroism amongst men, any self- devotion, any power of resistance to tyranny and wrong, there must be something more awakened in them than a reverence for human nature, and for the pleasures of io8 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VI. 7. The Protest- ants. the flesh and the intellect. Unless the sense of indivi- dual responsibility could be called out, unless the spiritual powers could be quickened into new life, there might be progress in knowledge, but there would be no moral growth. To the ideal of the new learning must be added the ideal of Protestantism. Protestantism was far more than a change of doc- trine. It was a reversal of the poles of religious thought and feeling. In the Medieval Church each man aimed at casting off his individuality, at bringing himself under definite rules, till he reached the absolute self-renunciation of the perfect monk. The Protestant spirit strengthened each man's individuality by the direct contemplation of One who was higher and holier than himself. Man was to be made righteous by faith by fixing the eye of the spirit on Him who was all righteous ; to be made pure by faith by fixing the eye of the spirit on Him who was all pure. The guiding clue of life was to be found within and not without. Forms and ceremonies, ecclesiastical institutions and persons, were rather inter- ruptions than assistants to one who was endued with the full spirit of Protestantism. Its English disciples derived their faith from Zwingli rather than from Luther. They not merely threw off respect for the pope and the papal church, but for all the institutions to which men had become habituated. Even the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper retained its place in their respect only by the mental associations quick- ened by it. If such a religion had much in common with the new learning, it was opposed to it in many points. Like the new learning, its strength lay in the cultivation of the powers of man, not in their destruction. Like the new learning it cherished the development of intelligence and reason. But it did not, like the new learning, regard culture as an end in itself; still less did THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 109 it look upon the world around as the instrument of self- CHAP. VI indulgence. The Protestant hungered and thirsted after righteousness that he might make others better than they were before. The new learning showed to man the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them. Protestantism bade him fall down and worship the Giver before he entered into the enjoyment of the gift. The change produced in England by the half-century 8. Cha- which succeeded the overthrow of Richard III. was enormous. Instead of a people with scarcely a thought beyond the mere need of bodily safety, we have a people busily occupied with the highest objects of thought and life. We are surprised by the diversity as well as by the intensity of the effort. From the conservative reverence for the ancient church to the pagan eagerness for enjoyment, and again to the sombre denunciation of pleasure by the Protestant zealot, the whole gamut of human passion and feeling was run over. In the midst of this diversity too there was a certain harmony. Take the extremes, and we have men as discordant as fire and water. Between the prior of the Charter-House, who died rather than renounce the papal authority, and Lambert or Anne Ascue, who died rather than ac- knowledge the truth of the papal doctrines, no recon- ciliation seemed possible. But between those extremes every shade of opinion was to be found. Men like Cranmer, starting from the ancient forms, worked them- selves by an intellectual process into the gradual accept- ance of the principal points of the new creed. Men like Latimer, starting from an enthusiastic devotion to righteousness, found room in their conceptions for much that savoured of the ancient faith. There was infinite life, infinite variety of ideal, of aim, and of character, but there was no breach of continuity. There were parties of every kind, but there was a strong national life TIO INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VI. 9. The King's Su- premacy. animating them all. Men were not merely Protestants, or Anglicans, or Catholics. They all knew themselves to be Englishmen as well, sometimes to be Englishmen before everything else. The great political idea of the age was expressed in its favourite political term the commonwealth. Even selfish adventurers had to pretend that they held their lands, their honours, their very lives, not for themselves but for the good of all. The idea of the royal authority obtained a new con- secration when the king came to be regarded as the impersonation of the commonwealth. There never was a man more representative of a people than was Henry VIII. of the England of his day. In him met the brutal passions of his subjects with their dogged persistency, their love of show and splendour, their intellectual, moral, and religious tendencies. Low and high, coarse and cultured, mocking and serious, he had a side for all. He could speak to each rank, to each character, in the name of England, because all England was in himself. The very title of Supreme Head of the Church of England which scandalises us now, scandalised scarcely any one then. It was felt that he laid his hand upon the clergy not in his own name, but in the name of the nation, and that if he did not choose for them what was ab- solutely the best, he chose for them what was most com- patible with the condition of the national mind. Even his cruelties were based upon this conception of his office. His conception of a national church was large-minded and geneipus. He was not sharp-scented to track out the windings of heretical tendencies. He issued the English translation of the Bible to the world in order that men might search for themselves. If he cut off the heads of Catholics and burnt extreme Protestants at the stake, it was because Catholics and extreme Protestants were each inclined not merely to hold their own opinions, THE TUDOR MONARCHY. m but to set them up in defiance of the commonwealth. It CHAP. was well indeed that there were found some to resist to the death, well that men should be found to whom truth was a pearl of great price, to be followed for its own sake without thought of consequences. But if England found itself in due time strong enough to permit every man to follow his own conscientious persuasion without let or hindrance, it was because she herself had that strength which grows out of the spirit of compromise, which fuses into some tolerable harmony the discordant imaginations of parties and of men. During the years which are known as those of the 10. Ed- reign of the boy-king Edward VI., the government for- sook this strong position. The greedy and profligate courtiers entered into an alliance with the Protestants. The reformers who had given their support to Henry split up into two parties, the one gradually drawing back with Gardiner till they ultimately ceased to be dis- tinguishable from the Catholics, the other pushing on with Cranmer till they were able to hold out a hand to the Protestants. The rapidity of the changes effected, the denial of transubstantiation, the alteration of forms and ceremonies, the abandonment of the time-honoured latin in the services of the Church, would have been sufficient, even if these changes had proceeded from men universally respected, to have shocked the feelings of a conservative people, slow to change the habits of genera- tions. Protestants and reformers together formed only a minority amongst the nation, and they had to bear the weight of obloquy earned by the greedy courtiers who supported them, only that they themselves might plunder ecclesiastics and oppress the poor. No single act of the wealthy landowners had caused such dissatisfaction for many years, as the recklessness with which they had driven off the peasants from their agricultural holdings, ii2 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, in order to enclose the land for their sheep, the wool of which fetched a high price. In Henry's days there had been an effort to redress the evil, though the effort had been harsh and violent. The crowds of sturdy vagrants and robbers which poured forth over the land were pitilessly flogged and hanged. But at least an attempt was made to prohibit the practice of converting arable land into pasture. In the days of Edward the prohibition was abandoned, and those who sought under Ket, the tanner of Norwich, to redress the mischief with their own hands, were cut down without mercy. At last Edward died, and the shouts which welcomed Mary expressed the resolution of the nation to submit no longer to a hand- ful of religious theorists, supported by an unprincipled band of robbers who chose to style themselves a govern- ment. " The reaction of Mary's reign was too severe to last. \ltirv The fierce persecution to which the Protestants were subjected predisposed the spectators of their sufferings to, pity. Yet it was not pity alone which swung the nation round to its final breach with the papacy. If in the days of Edward VI. Protestantism had been associated with selfish greed at home, in the days of Mary Catholi- cism was associated with incompetence in the domestic government and with a subservient cringing to foreigners. The Church was laid at the feet of the pope, a foreign ecclesiastic. The State was laid at the feet of the king of Spain, a foreign potentate. The Queen neither un- derstood the English character, nor cared for the things for which Englishmen cared. Calais, the pride of many generations of Englishmen, was thrown away by her negligence. All she thought of was the success of her beloved Philip, by whom she was regarded with loathing. In England itself, the debased coinage continued to afflict the poor and the man of business alike, whilst the THE TUDOR MONARCHY. \\y. wealthy were frightened by the evident desire of the CHAP. queen to place once more the confiscated ecclesiastical lands in the hands of the clergy. Mary's death, like Edward's, came at a moment fortunate for herself, when a revolution was preparing to sweep away all that she held most dear. Elizabeth at once took up the position which had I2 The been occupied by Henry VIII. Her reign was indeed ^ e !i& io , us 3 * Diificultya the continuation of her fathers. The last two reigns theAcces- had shown the impossibility of governing England by the Elizabeth. help of either of the extreme parties, and the queen was therefore well advised in taking up her ground between them. Yet prudent as her course was, it was one sur- rounded with immediate difficulty and danger. Late events had so embittered the strife between Catholics and Protestants, that the central party on which Henry had relied was scarcely any longer in existence. The theory that it was possible to entrust the guidance of the English Church to a lay sovereign without giving it over to change, had been proved by the stern trial of experi- ment to be no more than a dream. Almost everyone, therefore, who clung to the old forms and the old doctrines was driven into the arms of the papacy. On the other hand, almost everyone who disliked those forms and doctrines, and who regarded it as the highest of duties to combat them, was driven to the opposite extreme. It seemed but a poor thing to follow in the steps of Cranmer, to separate slowly the wheat from the chaff, by boulting it through some intellectual sieve, the texture of which depended very much upon the mental characteristics of the operator. It was a far more attractive course to accept the Protestant doctrine as a whole from the lips of Calvin, the Genevan reformer, who had drawn up a whole system of dogmatic theology and had supported it by a thoroughly organised eccle- I ii4 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. siastical system ; especially as it happened that a con- _ siderable number of the reformed clergy, who had gone into exile during Mary's reign, had fallen at Frankfort under the influences of Calvinism, and were dissatisfied even with the last revision of the Prayer-Book which had been made under Cranmer's guidance at the close of Edward's reign. In the Calvinistic churches the theory that nothing was to be accepted but that which could be proved from scripture to be true was opposed to the theory of the English reformers, that nothing was to be rejected which could not be proved by scripture to be false, and gained a hold upon men by the logical completeness of Calvin's system. They opened the Bible to find there above all things the doctrine of pre- destination, and the presbyterian institutions. In the Genevan Church the ministers, supporting themselves on the democracy of the congregations, in reality swayed the congregations by the authority of their teaching. 13. The Naturally Elizabeth felt ill at ease between these bet'han rival systems. The Catholics would look first to the Com . pope and only secondarily to herself. The Calvinist promise. r J J would pay her respect so far as she favoured the growth of his special form of religion. Nor was this all. The Catholic expected her to suppress and persecute the Calvinist. The Calvinist expected her to suppress and persecute the Catholic. It was here that her private interest coincided with the interest of the nation at large. It would have been a great calamity if England had been divided into hostile parties opposing one another to the death, like the factions by which France was for half-a-century to be miserably distracted. It was this consideration which formed the justification of Elizabeth in taking the Church into her own hand. The episcopal constitution was maintained as a means by which she might keep the clergy in order. But THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 115 she was too wise to attempt, and too little of a theo- CHAP. logian to wish to reduce the doctrine taught by them '__ to a narrow and consistent orthodoxy. The work done by Cranmer in the days of her father and her brother had laid the foundations of a wider and more compre- hensive teaching. The habit of taking all that existed for granted till it was proved to be untrue, on the one hand gave encouragement to intellectual vigour, and on the other hand left free scope to the various mental and spiritual tendencies of the Englishmen of the day. In the outward forms and ceremonies of the Elizabethan Church, its clinging to the old words and to many of the old thoughts, there was that which would attract those who were half Catholics in heart, whilst by its spirit of personal religion, its careful cherishing of individual responsibility, its honour paid to domestic life by its permission to the marriage of the clergy, as well as by the tone of its doctrinal articles, it would attract those who were inclined to Calvinism without being thorough- going disciples of the Genevan reformer. Such a compromise would have had no chance of establishing itself if all men in England had been Eliza- religious, and if those who were religious had thought co'mnlon- of nothing but religion. In point of fact, there were wealth, many men who cared for the greatness of the State and for the independence of the nation far more than they cared for the prevalence of one doctrine rather than of another, and a far larger number of men who were willing that a government should allow what doctrines it pleased to be taught, provided that it secured peace and plenty to the community. In this way an ecclesias- tical system, weak in ecclesiastical support, was strength- ened by all the forces of a government which was popular upon other grounds than its religious views, and held its ground till it had lasted long enough to avail ii6 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. itself of the strength given by the respect which sur- rounds all institutions to which men have been long accustomed. Nor was it only upon a mere calculation of advantages that the Church maintained its footing. The protection of the Church by the State, which is a weakness in our own days, was a strength in the days of Elizabeth. To those who were neither Catholics nor Calvinists, the predominance of the Common- wealth over every other form of association formed an ideal which was almost a religion, and of this Common- wealth the queen herself became the embodiment. The homage, absurd as it came to be, which was paid to the imaginary beauties of the royal person was in the main only an expression of the consciousness that peace and justice, the punishment of wickedness and vice, and the maintenance of good order and virtue, came primarily from the queen and secondarily from the Church. If Englishmen were not flying in one another's faces, and driving swords through one another's bodies, it was to the queen that this happy result was owing. Her strength lay in her representative character. She claimed the powers which she exercised in her own right, but she was able to employ them because she exercised them in the name not of a party, but of the State. * 15. Eliza- It was impossible that a compromise so prepared her Defence should be equally satisfactory to all. The great secular Catholics 116 conmct f tne a S e was tne conflict between the jurisdic- tion of the temporal princes and the jurisdiction of the pope. To take her part in this, Elizabeth would have been obliged, even if she had not wished to do so, to lean towards the Protestants. The English Protestants had no help to expect from their brethren on the Continent, and were therefore obliged to trust for support entirely to themselves. The English Catholics belonged to a THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 117 Church whose head was a foreign ecclesiastic, and which CHAP. numbered among its supporters two of the great monarchs _ of Western Europe. It was therefore not unlikely that those monarchs, if they entered into a quarrel with Elizabeth, might rally to their side at least a part of her Catholic subjects. For some time Elizabeth was able to keep the foreign danger at bay by dexterously playing off France and Spain against each other. For she knew well that neither of those rival monarchies would be con- tent to see the forces of England added to those of the other. But before long the danger approached her in another form. Mary Queen of Scots was not merely the queen of a neighbouring kingdom, she was the claimant of the English throne, on the ground that Elizabeth was disqualified by the stain of illegitimate birth. Elizabeth would fain have avoided the inevitable struggle. Then came the catastrophe in Scotland. Mary Stuart was driven from her own kingdom by her sub- jects. As a refugee, she sought protection and support in England for the reconquest of the throne which she had lost. Elizabeth had a hard problem before her. To set Mary free was to give her the chance of reconquering a strong position in Scotland, and with that she would gain a scarcely less strong position in England. Her right to the English throne, which she had never re- linquished, would be made good with all the forces of Scotland, probably backed with a French or Spanish army, and by the willing support of all the malcontents of England, headed by three-fourths of the nobility of the land. In retaining Mary in prison Elizabeth judged that she was doing the best for herself and the great cause which she represented. It may indeed be doubted whether she was wise in this. Mary as a prisoner was more powerful than Mary at large would have been. She became, voluntarily or involuntarily, the centre iiS INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. of intrigues against the crown. The defence of the captive princess threw an imaginative halo over the cause of the ancient Church. Young men vowed to live and die in her defence. The tale of her sufferings was spread over all Europe, and woke the spirit of chivalry and devotion in her favour, till Elizabeth's subjects began to doubt whether there was safety for their queen and nation as long as Mary continued to live. 16. The Together with the political propaganda, a new re- paganda. ligious propaganda alarmed the queen. The Society of Jesuits had been formed with the express intention of combating Protestantism. Every Jesuit on entering the order relinquished all power over himself. The will of his superior became his only law, in accordance with which he was bound to act, to speak, to think. In opposition to the self-contained religion of the Pro- testant appeared a form of religion which treated the individual conscience with contempt The extrava- gance of discipline appeared as the opponent of the extravagance of individual religion. To the Jesuit, Protestantism appeared to be equivalent to Antinomian- ism, and he convinced himself and strove to convince others that those who had rejected the obedience of the Church of Rome were fanatics ready to plunge into any vice under the cover of the profession of assent to a correct form of words. As often happens with bitter partisans, he mistook the caricature of the belief which he disliked for its vital strength. A.t least he had the courage of his opinions. It was impossible that Elizabeth should regard the movement as one of a merely religious character. The whole present and future organisation of England was at stake. The success of the Catholic reaction implied the substitution of Mary receiving orders from the pope for Elizabeth ruling in THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 119 accordance with the good will of her subjects, and foster- CHAP. ing all forms of thought which did not threaten the stability of her throne. For the future it implied the substitution of mental slavery for mental freedom, of the spirit which urges men to be content with the acceptance of their beliefs from an external authority for the spirit which urges them to base their principles upon inquiry. For some years indeed the Jesuits who arrived in Eng- land to dare and endure were but few in number, and most of those few were seized and executed by the government But the energy of the few who escaped gave force to many who were not members of the Society. First Parsons, and then Gerard, were men of extraordi- nary ability in the organisation and management of men. It was inevitable that two systems so radically oppo- I? Per . sed to one another as the supremacy of the crown and s =ution <> f the supremacy of the pope, should come into violent Catholics. collision with one another. Each side tried to make the best of its own cause. The government, when it seized the Catholic missionaries, and imprisoned, tortured, or executed them, announced that it treated them in this manner, not because they preached a false religion, but because they made men rebels to the queen. The Catholic missionaries, on the other hand, announced that they were persecuted not for treason, but for religion. Undoubtedly there was truth on both sides. Whether the missionaries wished it or not, the success of their efforts could not but end in the overthrow of the political as well as of the ecclesiastical authority of Elizabeth. Whether Elizabeth wished it or not, she could not en- force this authority without assailing by violence the conscientious convictions of thousands of her subjects. In the eyes of posterity, Elizabeth's justification is to be found in considerations, the import of which she 120 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. scarcely understood. Against her was the old doctrine that the acceptance of certain definite opinions pro- mulgated by authority was so all-important to man- kind, that for the sake of retaining them, men were bound to put to death their fellow-men, a doctrine which by exalting submissive assent at the expense of moral and intellectual vigour, tended in the long run to surround itself with a poisonous atmosphere of falsehood and corruption. On her side was the doctrine of which only glimpses had yet been gained, that men are better only for the truths which they appropriate to themselves by effort, and for the earnestness of their moral striving. In proscribing the papal religion, she was not proscribing a form of thought and belief which claime'd mere equality with others. She was warring against a tyranny which claimed the right of crushing all independence of judgment under its heel. Undoubtedly there was much which was harsh, much too that was worse than harsh, in the mode in which she prepared her triumph. The treatment of the Catholics, like the treatment of all prisoners, was barbarous, and as special objects of suspicion, the Catholics were subjected to hardships from which others were free. Nor is it pos- sible to doubt that chicanery and fraud entered largely into the plots by which Elizabeth's ministers contrived to give an air of legality to the proceedings by which they dogged Mary Stuart to death. But we are not bound, because we are dissatisfied with the manner in which she acted, to be dissatisfied with the action itself. Elizabeth, in upholding the authority of the crown, was upholding the authority of the State, and in upholding the authority of the State, she was, unlike William Rufus and Henry I., upholding a truer and nobler authority than that which the Roman missionaries had to offer. To a limited extent, what was true of Elizabeth's THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 121 CHAP. Puritans. opposition to Rome was true of her opposition to Cal- vinistic Puritanism. The Puritans, indeed, unlike the Catholics, appealed, not to external authority, but to the interpretation of a book by the private judgment of each individual man. But such had been the influence of Cal- . , -11 1-11 -1 vm s mind, that they agreed in all essential particulars, and they sought to impose their creed by force upon those who rejected it. They declared it to be the duty of the civil power to prohibit ceremonies dear to large masses of men, and they were earnestly desirous to organise the church irrespective of the authority of the crown. It was therefore not without reason that statesmen feared that the tyranny of an ecclesiastical democracy would be as great as the tyranny of an ecclesiastical monarchy. On the other hand, it was impossible for Elizabeth to be blind to the fact that the spirit of Puritanism was essen- tial to the success of her struggle against Rome. The desire to throw off the papal yoke which was in others a matter of reason or feeling, was, in the Puritan, the object of consuming passion. To contend with Rome without his help was to grasp a lance of which the point had been thrown away. As the most zealous Pro- testants found their way amongst the ranks of the clergy, the greater part of the Protestant clergy were more or less Puritan at heart, and Elizabeth, if she were to have clerical allies at all, was obliged to make con- cessions to the Puritans. Her object, therefore, was to use them in such a way that they might not be dan- gerous to her own crown, or so offensive to those of her subjects who did not share their opinions as to throw them into confirmed opposition. The Church, as it was moulded at the commence- ment of the reign, was admirably calculated to serve {j^ this end. If some part of its formularies betrays an Church effort to express discordant thoughts, it owes its strength i 9 . The 122 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. to the expression which it gave to the higher and better ideas of either side. There the worshipful spirit of older days was blended together harmoniously with the indi- viduality fostered by the new religious teaching. There the reverent spirit of Catholicism learned to test the tra- ditional belief by the touchstone of history and of reason, whilst the fervour of the self-contained Protestant learned to soften down its asperities by the necessity of co-operat- ing with men of other temperaments. The problem before Elizabeth was, whether she would be able to bring her subjects to accept those forms through which a spirit of united worship and united doctrine might develop itself more fully in time. It was indeed impossible that she should in this succeed completely. Some there would surely be to whom the old papal forms would be all in all, and some to whom the new Calvinistic forms would be all in all. The only wonder is that she succeeded as far as she did with unwilling instruments, at a time when the rising of the European conflict favoured the develop- ment of extreme doctrines. 20 - If, indeed, Elizabeth had had nothing but church beth and parties to look to, she would undoubtedly have failed. National But even m those days of strong religious partizanship Spirit. other more mundane interests had weight in the minds of men. Above all, Englishmen cared for the nationality of England. Of all the various church-parties, the Catholics stood alone in looking for direction to a head be- yond the seas, and when, in course of time, some of them came to look for temporal aid to the king of Spain, all who did not share their belief turned against them, and many who did share their belief grew lukewarm in its defence. The Puritans who disliked Elizabeth's ecclesiastical pro- ceedings were yet ready to shed their blood in her quarrel against Rome and Spain, like that Stubbs, who, when his hand had been cut off for an attack upon the queen's THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 123 government, raised his hat with the other hand, crying-, CHAP. ' God save Queen Elizabeth.' Some men might not like !_ to see the ministers of religion wearing caps and surplices. Other men might not like to see the Communion Service substituted for the Mass. But as soon as the bulk of the nation clearly perceived that each of the various parties insisted on having its own way at the expense of the dissolution of national unity, it rallied round the queen. Gradually, in opposition to the common enemy, the religious forms which, in the beginning of the reign, had hardly any partizans at all, were adopted by the mode- rate men of all parties, though there were still left many who w'shed them to be modified. Nor was it only from the moderate men of the various 2I . church-parties that Elizabeth obtained support. The ^ e '{^~ nd spirit of the Renaissance was actively at work amongst the Reuais- i i 11 i i / i seined. her subjects, blunting the edge of religious controversy, and sending men in search of earthly beauty and enjoy- ment, instead of spiritual growth. The Elizabethan literature was but the expression of a deep-rooted feeling. Holding out its hand, as in Spenser, to Protestantism, it was in the main, as in Shakspere and the dramatists, neither Catholic nor Protestant. It kept steadily in view the human side of life as opposed to the religious. It appealed to human motives, to the love of wealth and prosperity, to the human sense of justice, and power, and beauty, and virtue, not to the asceticism of the monk, or the religious self-restraint of the Puritan. It rested on the growth of commercial manufactures and of the general national well-being. The wooden trencher was replaced by the platter of pewter, the smoky hut by the chimneyed house, the rush-covered floor by the soft carpet, and men knew the reason why. They knew that these things had come to England because she had held fast to her national unity, and they decided that whatever 124 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. C y* p< religious doctrine might be true, it was not worth the while of half the nation to be cutting the throats of the other half to enforce its universal acceptance. 22. Eng- In this way England came to be morally and intel- sruon S in" lectually the centre of European civilisation. Whatever Europe. tendencies directed the stream of progress in various parts of the Continent were to be found in England. She had originated nothing of her own. Satirists held that Englishmen fetched their dress and external accom- plishments from foreign nations. ' I think,' says Portia in the ' Merchant of Venice ' of her English lover, ' he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour everywhere.' The words were true in a larger sense. The dominant idea of the Reformers was derived from Germany. The dominant idea of the Puritans was derived from Geneva. The dominant idea of the Catholics was derived from Rome and Spain. Literature looked for its models to Italy. But though here and there factions held to ex- treme views, the bulk of the nation blended together theories and practices till it had assimilated them in spite of their various origin. In the Church, in the State, in literature, in the habits of daily life, there arose something which was indisputably English, and which nevertheless allowed free scope to the vigorous indi- vidualism of life. As year by year passed by, the national unity established itself more firmly, because here there was less repression than anywhere else, less inquisition into opinion, freer permission to unre- strained development. Such a people obtained the pre- eminence because it deserved it. England was not torn in pieces by internal dissensions like France, nor split into petty states like Germany or Italy, nor given up to intellectual deadness like Spain. Its mariners ransacked the seas for booty, and overwhelmed with disaster the THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 125 proudest navy which had ever sailed on the sea. Its CHAP. statesmen more than held their own against the craftiest heads of France and Spain. Its poets rose to an un- equalled eminence, to culminate in the great dramatist whose knowledge of the human heart knows no equal or rival. Before the death of Elizabeth, England possessed in Hooker the most judicious and large-minded of eccle- siastical writers, and in Bacon, the thinker, who, without being himself capable of anticipating the foundation of modern experimental and political science, was endowed beyond all other men with the spirit of the future change which was to renew the world. Of all this varied life Elizabeth made herself the 23. organ. She had sympathies with it all, and if the very an d^>ar- variety of those sympathies made her conduct shifting liam ent. and uncertain, it also gave her an abiding place in the hearts of every section of her subjects. She was, in fact, a much better representative of the nation than the House of Commons, especially in the early portion of her reign, could possibly be. We are so accustomed to regard an elective house as constituting the true re- presentation of a people, that it is well to be reminded under what limitations it does so. When a question arises for decision, a representative house decides one way or the other, often by a narrow majority. Very probably, though this is not always the case, the narrow majority in the house corresponds to a more or less narrow majority in the nation itself. Its decision is, therefore, not the decision of the whole nation any more than it is the decision of the whole house. Its weight, therefore, rests on the tacit understanding that it is better and safer to yield to the weight of a few votes than to resist by an appeal to civil war. This constitu- tional morality will always be widely spread in propor- tion to the general agreement amongst the population. 26 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. If the changes proposed are very slight in comparison with the things left unchanged, all of them put together will seem very endurable even to those who object most strongly to every one of them. There will exist, too, a fellow-feeling between parties, an assurance that whilst they differ on much, they agree on more, which renders compromise and concession easy. In the early part of Elizabeth's- reign all these conditions were reversed. Religions as opposite as Catholicism and Calvinism stood face to face, and the best chosen House of Com- mons could have done nothing to mediate between them. A Catholic majority would have proscribed Protestantism in every form. A Calvinist majority would have proscribed not merely the Papal Church, but every vestige of the ancient creed and ceremonial. Men felt too deeply on such questions to submit to such summary dealing, and they would have preferred to fight out the quarrel to the death. Those who wished that things should not come to such a pitch would have been powerless to avert a rupture, because the great middle party which existed in an incoherent state was as yet unformed, and as yet unconscious of the principles on which it could act It was Elizabeth's work to summon it into life, and to consolidate it, a work which often involved opposition to the House of Commons, all the more because the house was at that time far from being a fair mirror of the general feeling. The Catholics were excluded by the statute which required all members to take the oath of supremacy, and Elizabeth, therefore, was only exercising a sound discretion in throwing her authority in the balance against the attempts of the Commons to reduce the formularies of the Church to the expression of the opinions of a single party. It was not in the nature of things that such a relation between the crown and the House of Commons should THE TUDOR MONARCHY. 127 be permanent. The very success of Elizabeth's efforts CHAP. was against it. As a new generation grew up, the _ numbers of those who in the main accepted the Queen's 24. Crow- ecclesiastical arrangements increased. But at first the 'pjrtance of tendency drew men over in the direction of Puritanism. j^ ent As long as the struggle with Spain lasted, as long as there was danger of an actual invasion of the country, of an assassination of the queen, of the establishment of Mary Stuart on the throne by foreign aid, so long the bent of all who opposed such things led them to approve of a form of worship and doctrine as different as possible from those of the Papal Church. In the later years of the reign, when Spain and the Pope grew less terrible, a certain reaction took place. The papal claims were as unpopular as ever, but there was less zeal for extreme Puritanism. The doctrine preached was strongly tinged with Calvinism, but there was but little opposition to the episcopal government, and most of those who dis- liked the existing order of things would have been con- tent with some relaxation of the ceremonial rules of the Church, so that those who wished to vary from them by omitting the use of the surplice, of the cross in baptism, and of the ring in marriage, might be at liberty to do so. Bacon, expressing here the highest intellect of his day, advised the concession of these demands, and there can be little doubt that a compact national sentiment was behind him. The prevalent feeling was in favour of substantial unity in Church and State, with a certain liberty to individuals to follow their own courses. Such a change could not be without effect on the position of the Commons. The cause of their weakness in the divisions of the nation was at an end. They were strong in 1603 as the embodiment of a national desire which was not even in existence in 1558. Other causes too had come to give them increased importance. They were 128 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. no longer what they were at the accession of the Tudor L dynasty, comparatively poor, accustomed to be ill-treated by the aristocracy, and unversed in public affairs. The Tudor sovereigns had taken chosen members of the middle class into their immediate confidence, and had administered the local affairs of the country by them and with them. Then had come the influx of wealth by commerce and manufacture, and the spirit of adven- ture by which that wealth was directed to our shores. The Commons had grown independent in prosperity by the hardihood with which they had struggled for pre-eminence in social life. In 1485 they were but a down-trodden portion of the English people looking out for a strong ruler to defend their cause. In 1603 they were almost identical with the nation itself, with aims and ideas of their own, and with firmness and resolution enough to strengthen them to carry out in practice the thoughts which their hearts conceived. 129 CHAPTER VII. THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. WHEN Elizabeth died it was inevitable that the House CHAP. of Commons should take a larger part in the direction of affairs than it had done before. In what precise way r . Ne- the change would be effected depended partly on the character of the new king, and partly on the fitness of the Commons to undertake the work which lay before them. That work consisted in the relaxation of those restrictions which had necessarily been imposed by Elizabeth upon the free development of religious prac- tices. As long as such a change presented itself as a mere obstruction to the higher development of the Commonwealth, the force of the State had been brought to bear against the negation of its authority. But if such action on the part of the government was a neces- sary evil, it was an evil none the less. The moment that men became willing to admit the supremacy of the State, it was beyond all things important both for them- selves and for their fellow-citizens that they should be allowed, not merely to think as they pleased, but to write, to speak, and to pray as they pleased. Unless it conceded these rights, the State itself would be the first to suffer. What counsellors are to an arbitrary prince, a free press and a free pulpit are to a self-controlling community. Without them prince and people alike are apt to run in old grooves, and to think it needless to K 130 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VII. 2. The first Years of James I. take account of new thoughts which from time to time arise. Where liberty is, not only are the individuals who compose the nation better, stronger, and more self- reliant, but the nation itself acquires strength from the very diversity of opinion which seems to undermine it. Liberty of speech and thought creates an organisation higher and nobler than that which it has destroyed. It was not to be expected that the change either from the supremacy of the king to the supremacy of the Commons, or from the maintenance of church uniformity to the permission of diversified forms of worship, could be effected without a struggle. James I. brought with him from Scotland no practical knowledge of the English character or of the wants of the English people. He drew tighter than ever the limits of con- formity, refused, after a short time of toleration, any concessions to the Roman Catholics, browbeat the Puritan ministers at the Hampton Court Conference, and put the finishing stroke to the establishment of the English Church system, as Elizabeth had planned it. Yet so completely had that system rooted itself in the affections of the bulk of the nation, that though there were many who would have wished to see the Puritans conciliated, the king was able to carry out his plans without serious difficulty. More dangerous, it seemed, was the extreme need in which the king stood of money, and the increasing demands which the Commons conse- quently made for concessions to their wishes before they would grant supplies. For a time indeed he succeeded in parrying their attacks by raising impositions upon exports and imports without their consent, a course which the Court of Exchequer pronounced to be within his rights, though the House of Commons, followed by the lawyers of later generations, took the opposite view. The di- vergency between the king and the mass of the country STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 131 gentlemen who mainly composed the House of Commons CHAP. led to his surrounding himself with courtiers who had little or no influence with the nation. Though Somerset and Buckingham, whom he selected as his intimate friends, were both of them ignorant and ambitious young men, he made over to them the patronage of the kingdom, and allowed them to rise to princely fortunes without any corresponding service to the people. But the political quarrel was aggravated by religious dis- agreement. The Commons were indeed not prepared to grant toleration to any Puritan sects. They wished that there should still be one Church, and were con- tent that its organisation should still be episcopal. But they desired that latitude should be given to those amongst the clergy who felt scruples about conformity, and that any minister might wear a su-rplice or a black gown, might use the sign of the cross in baptism or give the ring in marriage or not, at his discretion. The Church thus constituted would embrace all moderate Protestant views at that time in existence, and would answer very fairly to the actual feelings of the nation. But the more anxious these men were to conciliate the Puritans, the less ready were they to give fair play to the Roman Catholics. The foul treason of the Gunpowder Plot, planned as it had been by a mere handful of men, yet bore so strong a resemblance to the old assassination plots against Elizabeth, that Protestants could hardly fail to draw the inference that the toleration of the Roman Catholic religion was inconsistent with the safety of the State. Yet it was precisely against this feeling, so deeply rooted in his subjects, that James set himself. His position was the worse because he did not stand out on any broad ground of principle. He was not so imbued with the love of tolerance as to strive in season and out of season to advance the good cause. He K 2 '32 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VII. 3- The Spanish Alliance. 4- Do- mestic Govern- ment. imposed and remitted the legal penalties on the Roman Catholics by fits and starts, as his fancies or his interests demanded. At last, in 1614, when it seemed hopeless, without grave concessions, to expect a grant of adequate supplies from the Commons, James took the most unpopular step of his life. He planned a marriage between his son, the future Charles I., and a Spanish Infanta. A Roman Catholic lady was to be the future Queen of England, to use all her influence for the protection of the members of her church, and for the gathering of fresh converts to its bosom. Other stipulations would probably have to be made before the marriage was concluded, stipulations which would bind James to the modification or suspension of the penal laws against the Roman Catholics, and would thus give a foreign sovereign, the son of that Philip of Spain who had launched the Armada against English independence, a treaty-right to complain if those laws were put in force. For the present, however, James hesitated to go so far as this, and the conclusion of the marriage treaty was in consequence deferred. Then came fresh compli- cations on the Continent. The Thirty Years' War broke out in Germany, in which Catholics and Protestants were opposed to one another. James tried to mediate without sufficient knowledge of the facts, or resolution to support his wishes by action, and his inconsistencies and hesita- tions were made use of by the Spanish Government to carry out their purposes in Germany. The fact that James was engaged at the time in negotiating a marriage treaty with Spain, made men think that he supported Spanish interests on the Continent even more than he really did. Whilst distrust of his foreign policy and of his attach- ment to Protestantism was thus growing, his domestic government was exposed to the gravest suspicions. The STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 133 influence of the favourite had swallowed up the just au- CHAP. VII thority of the crown. Applicants for office found that to obtain their object they must cringe to Buckingham. Those who gained Buckingham's good will were careless about conforming to the law. Monopolies were established, and special powers of interfering with trade were granted to his favourites, not always without some wish to ad- vance the true interests of commerce and manufacture as they were then understood, but with a secondary intention of making the fortunes of those who had the good luck to get the working of these schemes into their hands. When at last a parliament met in 1621, it met with a settled distrust of the whole system which James was pursuing at home and abroad. That parliament accomplished much. It swept away the monopolies. It revived the disused right of impeachment, prosecuting the great Lord Chancellor Bacon for corruption before the House of Lords. It taught courtiers and officials that it behoved them to be able to maintain their purity at the bar of public opinion as well as in the royal ear. It offered to support James if he would take part in the German war in defence of his son-in-law, the elector Palatine. But James's notions of carrying on war were peculiar. He thought that he could do much by mere good advice, and he thought that if good advice were not enough, and he were driven to fight, it would be pos- sible to remain friends with Spain, whilst fighting the Emperor, who was the closest ally of Spain. The Commons thought otherwise. With such differences of opinion, a subject of quarrel was easily found. James dissolved parliament. Without the support of the nation, and without either an army or a well-filled treasury, he strove in vain to dictate peace to Europe. As a last resource, his son Charles, accompanied by Buckingham, undertook a journey to Madrid, in the 134 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VII. 5. Buck- ingham and Prince Charles. 6. War policy of Charles I. vain hope that this act of courtesy would induce the king of Spain, not merely to make over the Infanta to him without exacting unreasonable conditions, but also to place himself on the side of England, in opposition to the House of Austria on the Continent. As might have been expected, the Prince found that the policy of a great state was not to be changed by acts of personal courtesy, and he returned to England to stir up the national feeling of antagonism against Spain. In such an effort, Buckingham and Charles were easily successful. With the help of the new parliament which met in 1624, they found little difficulty in bearing down the old king with his love of inactivity and peace. They did not see that the monarchy was discredited as well as the monarch, and that it could only regain its ancient splendour by the display of ability and wisdom, in which the heir to the throne was still more deficient than its occupant. Of energy, Buckingham for he, and not Charles, was the ruling spirit of the government had enough and to spare. But he had neither great abilities nor sound discretion. He rushed into treaties for military action which made the highest demands upon the purse of the nation, whilst he offended its religious instincts by the concessions which he made to the Roman Catholics as a consequence of the marriage between Charles and the sister of the king of France. When James died in 1625, Buckingham became, if possible, more completely master of England than he had been before. He would take no counsel which was not in accordance with his own wishes. In the first two years of the reign of Charles I., a war with France was added to the war with Spain ; whilst expedition after ex- pedition was sent forth to the Low Countries, to Cadiz, and to Rhe, each one to a disaster more ignominious than the last. The House of Commons, stirred to action STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 135 by the incapacity of the government, demanded under GHAP. Eliot's leadership that the honour of England should L. no longer be committed to hands so rash. Charles stood by his friend, struggled to carry on the war by questionable, if not by illegal means, by forced loans, by imprisonment of those who refused to pay them, and by all the machinery of despotic government. He succeeded in stripping himself of all the authority which Elizabeth had derived from her position as representative of the nation. When Buckingham was murdered in 1628, that authority had passed irrevocably into the hands of the House of Commons, which had just driven the king to renounce, by his assent to the Petition of Right, his claim to levy taxes without its consent, and to imprison with- out the consent of the judges. Inspired with the feeling of its greatness, the House 7 . The of Commons addressed itself to the settlement of those commons Church questions which Elizabeth had so carefully kept and the i i Church. for her own decision. A representative assembly is not in- deed well fitted to decide questions of theology or science. Composed of a large number of persons, the natural tendencies of such a body are towards the acceptance of opinions already in vogue, and the proscription of ideas which, whether true or not, are new and unheard of. It was therefore a happy circumstance that the Commons had not been allowed to settle the English Church in the reign of Elizabeth, and it is impossible to deny that in 1629 the danger was not entirely at an end. The Commons declared boldly against toleration. The Calvinistic doctrines which they themselves had learnt in their infancy were to be handed down unquestioned to their descendants. No man who taught the contrary was to be allowed to hold a benefice, or to open his mouth in the pulpit. Yet, mistaken as the Commons were, the evil which they encouraged was not so great as the evil 136 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. which they combated. Those persons who questioned _ the received doctrinal teaching were also advocates of ceremonial observances which had in most places fallen into disuse. They did not ask simply for liberty for themselves, as the Puritans had asked at Hampton Court. With their leader, William Laud, they declared their doctrines to be the only true doctrines, and their ceremonies to be the only true ceremonies of the Church of England. To this view Charles was ready practi- cally to give his support, and they, in turn, were ready to advocate his assumption of almost uncontrolled authority. In Church and State the wishes of the nation were to be no longer consulted. The authorities in both domains of human action separated themselves entirely from that body of which they were but the active mem- bers. Officials were to be everything, the nation was to be nothing. A quarrel with the House of Commons, which spoke in the name of the nation, was the natural conse- quence, and in 1629 began a period of eleven years in which parliament was not allowed to meet. 8. The The separation between the king and the representa- outf&r- " ti ve House was fatal to the efficiency of the monarchy. iiament. ^he authority of the Crown withered as a plant withers which has been cut off from the soil from which it derives its nourishment. It ceased to exercise the functions of controlling by superior intelligence and experience, be- cause it believed itself called upon to combat rather than to foster and to train the instincts of the nation. Charles's idea of government was like the idea of an engineer in possession of a steam-engine who should set himself the task of keeping the machinery in motion whilst he scru- pulously excludes the admission of steam. His object was to manage Englishmen as he thought best, not to help them to manage themselves better than they knew how to do without assistance. In the State, he provided a fleet STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 137 for the defence of the country, not by rousing the patriotic C vn P ' feelings of Englishmen, but by levying shipmoney by his own authority. In the Church, he enforced obnoxious rites and ceremonies, in the hope that England would be brought to entertain religious opinions which he ap- proved, but which the country bitterly detested. In all things, as far as he was concerned, external and visi- ble control took the place of the spontaneous vigour of Elizabethan England. With Laud, the greatest eccle- siastic of his court, correctness of gesture and outward form went far to constitute the test of churchmanship. With Wentworth, the greatest statesman of his court, a due administration of reward and punishment became the highest method of acquiring political influence. The decadence of the courtly literature of the time was the index to the decadence of moral and intellectual strength. The remaining dramatists of the Elizabethan school died, leaving no successors but the sweet and honey-tongued singers of a world of grace and beauty, where earnestness of heart counted for nothing, the Herricks, the Carews, the Sucklings, who could tell of the loveliness of soft glances and warm kisses, but who knew nothing of the fidelity of Imogen or the bright womanliness of Rosalind. Literature, in the person of Milton, passed to the side of the opposition. That opposition grew stronger every day, because, 9. The like Elizabeth's government, it harmonised the aspira- oppo tions of men of various minds. To that standard all Sltlon- gathered who reverenced the unseen objects of thought above the visible objects of sense. First, of course, came the Puritan strictly so called, who either objected to the ceremonies of the Church as a whole, or who objected, like the men of Hampton Court, to some special ceremonies which reminded him of the pre- tensions of the Church of Rome. Towards these ad- 133 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. C " AP - vanced another and far more numerous band, who would have been content if Charles had left Church ar- rangements as he found them, but who were irritated by the order to transfer the position of the communion-table from the centre of the church to the east end, and by other accompanying ceremonial changes. They saw in these things an indication that the king and Archbishop Laud were, if not actually preparing the way for the restoration of the Roman Church, at least furthering a state of things in which the cardinal principle of Protest- antism the direct individual dependence of each man upon God without the intervention of priests and ex- ternal observances was to be set at nought in favour of a system in which man was to be called on to approach his Maker in ways settled without his approbation, and through official persons with whom he wished to have nothing to do. So thoroughly were these men, loyal as they were to the Church as it stood in the days of their boyhood, alarmed by Laud's proceedings, that the barrier which divided the Elizabethan Puritan from the merely Protestant churchman was broken down, and the name of Puritan became applicable to both classes alike. 10. The The other great wing of the opposition was composed tutionai of lawyers. Lawyers indeed were to be found in plenty tion SI on the king's side, for there were many who were content to fall back upon his authority for the maintenance of order. But for the higher class of minds this was im- possible. For them there was need of a conception of law, which would ultimately rest on something better than mere precedents and decisions leading up in all unsettled cases to the arbitrary will of a single man. They preferred to give the right of settling such cases to Parliament as the embodiment of the wisdom of the nation. No doubt there was a danger here. If Parlia- ment was to rule instead of the king, it might very well STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 139 become as arbitrary and despotic as the king himself. CHAP. It might impose injustice upon unpopular persons and _ unpopular classes. But as a legislative body it would have this advantage, that it was less liable than was a single person to act on each special occasion upon the impulse of the moment. The king, professing only to execute the law, might, unless he were placed under con- trol, execute it in a different way at different times ac- cording to the temper in which he was at the moment. Parliament, by the very fact that it was obliged to legis- late for the future, was always tending to lay down general rules, and was likely to be especially careful to bring them into conformity with the rules of justice, because as long as the existing constitution lasted the execution of them would fall into the hands of the king. In this way the lawyers and the Puritans found a point of contact which was wanting at other periods of our history. Both alike looked for their rules of life to laws which were discovered by the exercise of reason rather than to the commands of an authoritative person or an authoritative class. Almost all that was noble and dignified in man was n. Arbi- on the side of the opposition. Fanatics no doubt there vCTnmwu were, legal fanatics who saw nothing in law but a col- lection of precedents, religious fanatics who saw no salva- tion out of the observation of a narrow orthodoxy. But the main body of the opposition was not composed of fanatics. Puritan gentlemen like Hutchinson, or Puritan men of business who, like Milton's father, loved song and music and literature, ordering their lives into a kindly if severe decency, self-respecting and respecting others, working manfully at their several callings, and remembering that they lived ever in their great Taskmaster's eye. Yet these were the men, forming as they did the bone and sinew of the nation, who were 140 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. C vn P frowned upon by Charles. Their ideas were treated with contempt. Every rule of law was interpreted or wrested against them. They were compelled, whether they liked it or not, to attend their own parish churches, to bow when the name of Jesus was pronounced, to receive the Communion on their knees before a table at the east end, which they were told to call an altar. Their names were left out of the commission of the peace, in favour of their more subservient neighbours. The Court of Star Chamber and the Ecclesiastical Com- mission were ever active to enforce the will of the king against them. Yet it was not solely because he pro- voked the enmity of thinking men that Charles ran into danger. Those who were willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their ideas were then, as they always are, a minority. But it is not likely that a government which disregards the ideas of its subjects will pay much regard to their interests. Hundreds who would not be touched by large grievances would be affected by small ones. Those who did not care whether the communion-table stood at the east end or in the centre of the church, cared very much when they found that the clergy began to assume lordly airs, that the bishop of the diocese had more in- fluence at Court than the gentlemen who were his neigh- bours, or that the minister of the parish kept the squire in order. So too in civil matters. The enforcement of ship- money led the way to a breach of the constitutional prac- tice which had been sanctioned by the Petition of Right, that money should not be taken without a parliamentary grant. But the resistance to the principle was much strengthened by the fact that it involved resistance to the payment of money. The dullest minds could hardly be impervious to the logic which taught them to guard against the demand of a few pence by the sole authority of the crown, because the authority which asked for a few STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 141 pence might, by the same reasoning, ask for as much as CHAP. it pleased. Charles's resolution to act independently of the nation marshalled well nigh the whole nation against him. Like every weak government, the government of Charles was driven from sheer terror to violent measures of repression. Argument against the principles on which it was based had long been prohibited, and those who were restrained from the use of serious argument took refuge in derisive and libellous attacks upon the persons of their oppressors. Laud and Charles had but one answer to give. The Star Chamber had brandings on the cheek, loppings off of ears, life-long imprisonments for men who like Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick assailed the bishops, cruel scourgings for men who like Lilburne called in question its method of procedure. Compas- sion for the victims added yet another cord to bind together the hearts of Englishmen against those who were treating England without knowledge and without sympathy. Yet even then there was no deliberate pur- pose of throwing off the king. King, Lords and Commons, it was held, must work together. The attempt of the king to stand alone had wrought nothing but mischief. Resistance came first from Scotland. The Scottish 12. The nation had gained its Protestantism in more direct conflict with a Roman Catholic sovereign than had been needed land - in England. Its Puritanism was therefore more intense, and its hatred of all ceremonial forms which resembled in any way the ceremonies of the Roman Church was far more decided. James, with the view of keeping the clergy in subordination to himself, had established epis- copacy in Scotland, and had enjoined, though he was not everywhere able to enforce, the practice of kneeling at the reception of the Communion. Charles went further than his father had ventured to go. By his orders a new prayer-book was drawn up on the model of the 142 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VII. English service, but differing from it in many places by the introduction of words still more offensive to those who were called on to use it. Scottish popular feeling was roused by the insult. Those of the clergy who tried to use the new book were mobbed and insulted. The fact that the new book was English roused the anger of Scotchmen as much as the fact that it was, or appeared to be, popish. The Scottish nobility almost to a man threw themselves on the side of the Scottish clergy and people. Their power was greater than that of the English peers. They were sorely afraid lest Charles should diminish their revenues for the benefit of the clergy, and they saw with disgust bishops admitted to temporal offices, and claiming precedence of themselves in the Privy Council itself. Here, too, Charles's dis- regard for the ideas of his subjects led to a disregard for their interests. A national resistance was formed before which the king was powerless. Twice he attempted to bring the force of England to bear upon the Scots who drove away his bishops and claimed to settle their affairs without his concurrence. Twice he failed entirely. Englishmen would not fight in such a cause. At last the Scottish army gained possession of Northumberland and Durham, and it was found necessary to summon a parliament which would find him money to pay them off. The Long Parliament, to call it by its historical name, was naturally not disposed to find the king money with- out demanding anything in return. Wentworth, now Earl ofStrafford, who had been the most energetic maintainer of the king's system, was brought to the block. The Star Chamber and the Ecclesiastical Commission were swept away. The right to levy ship-money and customs without a parliamentary grant was abandoned by the king, and, as far as the law could bind him, Charles was reduced to act in accordance with the wishes of his parliament. He even STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 143 assented to an Act depriving himself of the power of dis- CHAP. solving the existing parliament without its own consent. _ Such an arrangement could not form a permanent 14- settlement. The formula that government is founded between on the co-operation of King, Lords and Commons sounds j" g ant well. But it is no working rule for a constitution. In Hament. every nation there must be some authority which is decisive, some man or body of men who have the power of saying the last word. Hitherto this power had been the king's. There would be no rest for England till it passed into the hands of the House of Commons. That which had been done, great as it was, had not been sufficient to deprive the king of the power of setting at nought to some extent the decisions of the Houses. If he had lost the right of dissolving Parliament he retained the right of refusing his assent to the Bills accepted by it, so that he could, without any effort of his own, put a stop to all further legislation. If he had given up the special courts by which his will had been enforced, and had even abandoned his right of levying the income without which he could not subsist with decency, he retained the command of the militia, which furnished the only military force then known, and the appointment of the officers by which it was controlled. Under any circumstances such a position would have been a menacing one. But the immediate danger lay in the fact that there was still a question of the first importance to be settled. The majority of the House of Commons proposed to modify the Book of Common Prayer in a Puritan sense. They also proposed to do away with Episcopacy, or at least to place it under the strongest possible restrictions. The bishops had been hard taskmasters to the Puritans, and the Puritans naturally thought that it would not be well to entrust the working of the new Church arrangements which they contemplated to men who 144 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. in their hearts wished to maintain the old order of things. VII The battle was transferred to the ecclesiastical ground. It was a battle in which the king had many chances, but he threw them all away. If he had stood upon the de- fensive, opinion might have rallied round him. Instead of that, he engaged in one intrigue after another, and at last his attack on the Five Members shocked those who feared what he might do if he regained his old authority. 15. The Yet even then Charles had a strong force on his side. Supporters. Old attachment to the monarchy and conservative dis- like of change drew to him many supporters, especially amongst the country gentry. There was also working for him the dread of which Hyde was the spokesman lest the law should be swamped by the arbitrary wilfulness of a single House and the dread of which Falkland was the spokesman at Court, and of which Chillingworth and Hales were the spokesmen amongst thinkers lest independent thought should be swamped by the dogmat- ism of the Puritan clergy. Still greater was the terrifying effect of the outburst of sectarian gatherings in London and elsewhere. In the spring of 1642, as Milton tells us, the Royalists had forgotten to complain of the Puritans, in their alarm at the increase of the so-called Brownists. Yet none of Charles's new supporters had any power to construct a system under which Englishmen could live peaceably. Not only was no reliance to be placed on the king to carry out the reformed government in a befitting spirit, but there was weakness in the very proposals which were made by the statesmen whom he favoured. Hyde's constitutional theory was founded on the neces- sity of the co-operation between the king and the two Houses. He omitted to provide for the case, which sooner or later was certain to occur, when the king's will would be opposed to that of the Houses. He shrank from allowing the king to do as he pleased, and STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 145 to treat the Houses with contempt, as Charles in the CHAP. days of his power had been in the habit of treating them. 1_ But he also shrank from allowing the Houses to over- ride the resolute will of the king, to control the execu- tive, or to enact laws to which the royal assent had not been given. His constitutional scheme therefore had the gravest of all defects. There was no force any- where to give it unity of purpose, no absolute power of decision to direct the march of government. In the region of thought, too, Charles's best supporters were equally astray. Falkland and Hales and Chillingworth agreed that persecution was an evil, that religious ideas should be accepted upon reason and not upon authority, and that religious worship should be simple in order that as many persons as possible might be able to join in it without rinding anything to jar with their beliefs. They did not see that such a state of things could never have any real existence, that multitudes of men are so constituted as to have very great respect for authority and very little use of reason, that even with those who seek most keenly to know and understand, the power of habit, and the force of emotion have no small share in the direction of their intellect, and that even the simplest forms of worship would be but a mockery to those who found nothing in them answering to their own inner feeling, whilst it would be impossible to discover any form of worship whatever which would be acceptable to all. And if the best men on Charles's side could offer no true solution of the difficulties of the age, what was to be said of the bold riders who followed Rupert to the charge, and who had no principle beyond the hatred of rebels, and the love of a free life without constraint of morality or religion ? The constitutional ideas of the Parliamentary party were free from the weakness which was inseparable from L 146 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. liament. CHAP. the system of Hyde. It is true that they were ready to ' maintain the form of the old constitution. The govern- 16. The ment was to consist of King, Lords, and Commons as of the Par- before. But, if it came to a struggle, King and Lords must yield to the Commons in a way that they had never done before. The final decision must rest with the nation itself, and be recorded by its representatives. When once this point was settled, it would be time enough to meet Hyde's difficulties, and to provide how the transmission of the supreme authority from the King to the Commons could be surrounded with safe- guards to hinder its degenerating into a tyranny. Yet the House of Commons as a whole, and still more the narrow majority of the House of Commons which re- mained at Westminster after the outbreak of civil war, was incapable of giving to the ecclesiastical problem a solution even as complete as that which satisfied Falk- land. That House had been elected to combat false ideas, not to organise a new system, and its mood was more distinctly Puritan than was in accordance with the ordinary temper of the nation. Its determination to tread in the path of Puritan reform alienated at once a large minority of its own members, and ultimately more than half of the nation. What had begun as resistance to absolute government in Church and State ended in a civil war, in order that it might be settled which of the contending ecclesiastical parties should prevail. Charles found himself supported by thousands who would not have fought for him for his own sake, but who had learned to value his authority as soon as it appeared that only its maintenance would preserve the Book of Common Prayer frora rejection or mutilation. Those who took the side of Charles had to learn that with him as a leader success was impossible. Their adver- saries rent in pieces the work of Laud, and were driven, STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 147 in part by their well-founded distrust of the king, to CHAP. give their support to the Puritan clergy. To that clergy the orthodoxy of Calvinism was the only orthodoxy. Not only did they aim at the rigid main- tenance of their own opinions and the proscription of all others, but they often exaggerated the strict morality which was the glory of their party, till they threw them- selves across the very primary tendencies of human nature to enjoyment and pleasure, not by raising men to be nobler and better than they were, but by binding them down with unbending laws and harsh restrictions. The struggle of the Civil War was in the main a 17. The struggle between the enfeebled spirit of the Renaissance and the spirit of Protestantism raised to its highest pitch. As the strife proceeded, the conduct of each party fell into the hands of those who were most completely filled with one or other of these spirits. The better part of Charles's advisers gave way to the worse, to the men of unbridled action and of mere hatred of Puritanism. If there were Pharisees in the opposite ranks, there were, as Chillingworth sadly preached, Sadducees and Publicans in his own. On the parliamentary side, the spirit of dog- matic Presbyterianism gained for a time the upper hand, in spite of the tendency of even the Puritan laity to shrink from putting their necks too far under the clerical yoke. There was to be but one form of church worship in England, but one religious creed for all Englishmen. When the first eighteen months of the war turned out badly for the parliamentary party, and the Scots were enticed to send aid by the adoption in England of their Solemn League and Covenant, it seemed as though the defeat of the king would stiffen the English Church and society into a doctrinal rigidity, as complete as the cere- monial rigidity of Laud. From this fate England was saved by Cromwell and 148 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VII. 18. Cromwell and the Sects. 10. Su- the sects. These sects, especially the Independents, had learned by the experience of days when they found themselves practising their religion in hiding-places, or were driven to the New England settlements for a re- fuge, that it was well that the State should cease to meddle in religious matters at all. In opposition to the scholar-like doctrine of Chillingworth and Hales, they propounded ideas of the widest religious liberty based on the right of sectarian association, without which religious liberty can never be complete. They felt an absolute repulsion from a system under which conflicts were to be avoided by toning down strong religious expres- sions and strong religious feelings in a vast religious communion, including the most extreme varieties of belief and of moral conduct. What these men believed they believed strongly, they had embraced with all the rugged strength of their natures the moral idea of purity which they had conceived. But they knew that there were but few ready to share with them in their efforts, and they formed small communities in which the mem- bers encouraged one another in running the Christian course, whilst they regarded all national interference with religion as an evil to be avoided. Of such men were formed the regiments which, at Marston Moor and Naseby, decided the civil strife. They were more energetic and at the same time better disciplined than other men. Their greatest difficulty arose when the fight was over. With Cromwell as their military and political leader, and with Milton as their literary spokes- man, they claimed to have fought for religious liberty, and they refused to lay down their arms till this was secured. The soldiers felt that a force in arms is not the prop er guardian of religious liberty. They earnestly strove to place it under the care of the king, as the re- STRUGGLE BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT. 149 presentative of the old institutions, and of the parlia- CHAP. ment as the representative of the new institutions. Neither king nor parliament was ready to accept the task. Old and new prejudices combined to reject the notion that entire liberty of speech could be otherwise than a danger to the state. The army offered to the king its support on condition of his acceptance of its views. Charles was ready to negotiate, but he was also ready to intrigue. He watched his opportunity and invited the Scotch to invade England in combination with a royalist rising in the southern kingdom. The army, exasperated by the trickery, demanded the king's head. To obtain it they had to content them- selves with the mere shadow of parliamentary authority. The House of Lords absolutely refused to concur. The House of Commons remaining at Westminster was but a minority of the House originally elected, and it was not till a majority of that minority was ejected by violence, that a vote was passed erecting a High Court of Justice for the trial of the king, and throwing off all claim to co-ordinate authority by the Lords. The sentence was a foregone conclusion ; but if Charles met his death upon the scaffold, it was by the act of the army and not by the act of the nation. That army was not to be subdued in fight. In two years and a half it beat down resistance in Ireland and in Scotland, and overwhelmed all possible opposition in England. Then came the inevitable conflict with the remnant of the Long Parliament. When Cromwell drove out the handful of members who remained, all English institu- tions were levelled to the ground. King, Lords, and Commons had vanished from the scene. The army alone remained. 1 5 o CHAPTER VIII. CHAP. VIII. i. Aims of the Pro- tectorate. THE PROTECTORATE, THE RESTORATION, AND THE REVOLUTION. THE army was the guardian of the new principle of religious liberty. It was the peculiar merit of the great man at its head, that he saw distinctly that other things than personal liberty were required for good government. He saw that it was necessary that the nation itself should step forward as the guardian of that treasure, and should speak its voice through the only means on which, in the long run, a nation can speak through an elected assem- bly. He saw too that, though a king standing outside the national feeling had lost the power and the right to command, complicated affairs required from day to day to be treated by an executive body which could only secure unity and energy of action by being made de- pendent on the sway of a single mind. Gradually too he perceived the necessity of countervailing the possible waywardness or tyrannical instincts of a .single house, by the intervention of a second. In other words, he saw that the old constitution required to be modified and purified, not to be replaced by one entirely different. Every constitutional change made by him drew England back to the old forms, and indicated the way which ultimately led to the Restoration. For his own lifetime he was able to keep power in his hands ; but he could THE PROTECTORATE. 151 not hand it down to his successors. There are forlorn CHAP. hopes in politics as well as in war, and Cromwell's Pro- L tectorate was one of them. The task of establishing religious liberty was beyond his strength. The nation would never make up its mind to permit it till it ceased to fear it, and it would not cease to fear it till it could be sure that power would not be used to force or entice the majority to abandon its opinions, or at least to rear up the succeeding generation in different opinions. The principle of the supremacy of majorities, which is 2. The ,. r ^ L Rights of the cardinal point of parliamentary government, must be Minorities. accepted fully before religious or political liberty can be accorded. That principle had not yet been admitted by any government which had succeeded to power since the beginning of the Reformation. Elizabeth had successfully set it at nought because the majority of her subjects were divided in opinion, and because many of them who were hostile to her on religious grounds, agreed with her on political grounds. Charles and Laud failed in their attempt to set it at nought, because they treated the nation with contempt, and drove all the various sec tions of their adversaries into a united opposition. In this at least Cromwell was but treading in the steps of Charles. He kept aloft a standard which was the stand- ard of a noble and high-hearted minority, but which was only the standard of minority after all. The real Puritans were but a few amongst the population of England, and those who cared for religious liberty were but a few amongst the Puritans. Such a position was most injurious to those who maintained it. It became impossible for the champions of religious liberty to permit religious liberty to exist in any complete sense. In old stories the fierce energy of the dwarf is often con- trasted with the lazy good-nature of the giant. The Puritan army was but a vigorous dwarf after all when '52 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VIII. 3- Go- vernment by the Army. compared with the English nation. It could not ven- ture to overlook many things which a strong national government would have borne without wincing. Its principle was a right one, that the only limit to liberty of speech should be where it endangers the true interests of the state. But they could not help confounding the interests of'the state in its natural organisation with the interests of the highly artificial state which they had called into existence. A theory which would be properly applied io incendiaries who claimed the right of publicly instigating men to a new gunpowder plot, in order to terrorise unarmed populations into submission by mas- sacre, was by no means properly applied to suppress even private meetings for worship according to the forms of the Book of Common Prayer. As in the days of Laud the pressure upon men whose religious opinions were weak was felt more widely than the pressure upon those whose religious opinions were strong. Tolerant on the score of belief, the Puritan government was intolerant on the score of morality. In its attempt to suppress vice, it waged warfare against many acts which were not in themselves vicious, and against many more which, though evil in themselves, were regarded with leniency by the average opinion of the time. No wonder that the Book of Common Prayer gained more adherents than it had in the days when Laud sat in the High Commission Court and the Star Chamber. Cromwell found himself proscribing the religion of a people in the name of religious liberty. Nor was it only the fact that the government was supported by a minority which roused opposition. The fact that this minority was an armed one was still more exasperating. Those who lead opinion will always be the few, and not the many ; but it is necessary that the few should pay the many the compliment of employing THE PROTECTORATE. 153 persuasion. Such a compliment an army cannot pay. CHAP. Its instrument of control lies in the text of pike and gun. 1 From this necessity Cromwell tried hard to escape. He had no pleasure in ruling by force. But he could not help himself. When parliaments were recalcitrant he had no resource but in the buff-coated soldiers who were always ready to intervene at his bidding. Government appealing to armed force cannot be permanently strong. It was said to a ruler of our own day that he could do anything with bayonets except sit upon them. And even besides the popular repulsion to military power, there would have always remained a popular repulsion to the men of whom Cromwell's army was composed, even if they could have dropped their muskets and slipped off their uniform to appear in civilian garb. On their side were all the worst and most contemptible hypocrites of the day, who found it easy to imitate their forms of speech, and to chatter of saving grace and the interests of the soul, to cover the vilest iniquity. They themselves were for the most part honourable and high- souled Christian men, with the most exalted ideal of morality, and the most profound conviction that a special work of Almighty grace had been wrought in their own souls, and that they were the chosen saints of the Most High appointed to carry on God's work upon the earth. Their spiritual fervour regarded with disdain the ordinary mass of humanity, and, as always happens, the ordinary mass of humanity was irritated at being so regarded. Never yet was any effort successful to raise a people by compulsion above its average standard. It turns upon those who attempt it, as the Florentine people turned upon Savonarola, as the French people turned upon Saint Just For a time Cromwell staved off the evil hour. When he died, anarchy was let loose, and after a brief interval the nation threw itself into the arms of Charles II. 154 CHAP. VIII. 4- Go- vernment of the Restora- tion. 5- The Divine Right of Kings. INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. The government of the Restoration, as it formed itself under the influence of Hyde, who shortly became Lord Chancellor Clarendon, was an attempt to resuscitate the political theories of the minority of 1641. King and parliament were to work for ever in harmony together. The king, being entirely dependent upon parliament for his revenue, would never be able to strike out a separate line of action, whilst the parliament, solemnly declaring that in no possible case was resistance to the king allowed by the laws of God or man, seemed to have placed it out of its own power to strike out a line of action independent of the king. In point of fact, this excellent system of mechanical balance would remain in working order just as long as king and parliament were united in feeling and policy, and not a moment longer. The men of the Restoration forgot what Elizabeth and Charles I. on the one side, and the Commons of post- Revolutionary times on the other side did not forget that the power of giving a final and irrevocable decision must be placed somewhere. The great advocate of this system was Clarendon, and Clarendon was never able to understand that when two men are on the same horse, both of them cannot ride in front at the same time. For a time at least king and parliament were agreed. They had one common enemy in Puritanism, and one common resolve, that a Puritan minority should not again impose its will upon the nation by the instru- ment of an armed force. This was the real meaning of those sweeping enunciations of principles about non- resistance and the divine right of kings which astonish a later age. The latter doctrine, startling as it appears now, was little more than the form special to the age, in which respect for established institutions had clothed itself. In the medieval empire and in the England of the Tudors, it had meant no more than that the emperor or THE RESTORATION. 155 king was independent of the Pope. In the days of the CHAP. first two Stuarts it had been little more than a clerical . 1 appendage to the ordinary constitutional arguments against the growing inclination to claim sovereign authority for the House of Commons. After the exe- cution of Charles I. it had associated itself with a new idea, that of indefeasible hereditary right, which seemed to be a barrier against the irruption of tumultuary violence to sweep away the ascertained foundations of government. Such a Restoration as this was sure to go deeper than 5. Cha- to a mere replacement of the old external machinery [^Res^ of government. The reaction against the attempt to toration. raise ordinary men to a standard of religion and morality above their reach made vice in its grossest forms welcome in the high places of the world. The court and high society wallowed in filth. Literature decked itself in foulness. It was not only in this direction that the reaction made itself visible. The ideas of Chilling- worth and Hales in religion, of Bacon and the founders of the Royal Society in science, acquired an unexpected preponderance with thinking men. The intellectual side of man's nature was cultivated to the neglect of spiritual inspiration and individual enthusiasm. The word zeal, which had once been used as the highest praise, now became a term of reproach. Christian precepts were enforced because they were eminently reasonable and conducive to happiness, not because they exalted the believer to a high-strung enthusiasm for a divine cause. Such a temper, though unfavourable at the time to 7 . p ro - morality and religion, would in the long run give to them a higher place than ever before. Charles and Cromwell had alternately extended their patronage to different systems with the result of making the system i $6 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. which each patronised contemptible. At first it seemed L. as if the Parliament of the Restoration were about to persist in the evil courses of its predecessors. It brought back the Church system of Charles I. and it persecuted the Puritans with unrelenting severity. But between the persecutions of this Parliament and preceding persecutions there was a great difference. In all former cases persecu- tion arose more from fear than from intolerance. But the fear of Charles and Cromwell was a permanent fear. It arose from the fact that a minority was attempting to coerce a majority without the slightest prospect that the minority would ever be converted into a majority. Under the Restoration a majority was persecuting a minority. It is true that that minority was especially formidable, partly from its activity and energy, but still more from the fact that it numbered in its ranks the dissolved Puritan army. As long as those soldiers were alive, it would be difficult to persuade ordinary citizens that it was safe to allow to the Dissenters an eccle- siastical organisation which might easily be converted into a military organisation. Such a danger however would of necessity grow less every year. The risk was diminished as each of Cromwell's soldiers passed into the grave. In twenty or thirty years the Dissenters would only be known as a small minority of the popu- lation, of whom a few old men had once borne arms in a now unpopular cause. All that would then stand in the way of the grant of the liberty of sectarian associa- tion apart from the national church would be the feeling of dislike which their ideas and principles aroused. Now however they would not be without allies within the national church itself. The men who measured Christianity by its reasonableness rather than by its traditionary authority were not without considerable influence there, and though these men would have pre- THE RESTORATION. 157 ferred that dissent should not exist, they were not likely CHAP. to oppose much resistance to the recognition of its '_ claims. Other causes combined to accelerate the inevitable 8. An- change of feeling. During the years in which the fear toFrance of Puritanism was gradually diminishing, an alarm of another kind was gradually increasing. The Restora- tion was almost contemporaneous with the conclusion of the long struggle between France and Spain to the benefit of the former power, and with the assump- tion of personal authority by Lewis XIV. In his hands the French monarchy became aggressive and domineering. In organisation, in military strength, and in political ability, it held the first place amongst the nations of Europe. It became as dangerous to the independent development of other European States as the monarchy of Philip II. had been in the preceding century. As Lewis grew older, he showed an increasing disposition to stand before the world as the champion of the Roman Catholic religion, though he was by no means inclined to submit his own authority to the au- thority of the pope. In this way it came about that the fear of the predominance of a religion supported by armed force shifted its ground in England. Everyone who kept his head cool was perfectly aware that neither Puritans nor Catholics were sufficiently numerous in England to dictate the religion of the country by mere force of numbers. But just as a Puritan minority had dictated its will by the strength of its military organisation, so it might be with the Catholic minority. What difference there was, was in favour of the Puritans. Cromwell's Ironsides had at least been Eng- lishmen, and even the heart of a Cavalier might swell with triumph as he heard how his countrymen had driven the choicest legions of Spain in rout before them. I 5 8 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. VIII. 9- The Exclusion Bill. The troops who alone could put the English Catholics in power were the armies of a foreign king. Once more it was as it had been in the time of Elizabeth. The Catholic was looked upon as an alien from the national brotherhood. He was unlike the Puritan, a member of a society of which the higher organisation had no root on English soil, and he was now suspected of being in close connection with a foreign military power which was suspected of hostile intentions, if not against England itself, at least against the influence of England upon the Continent. It was evident that if ideas of toleration gained ascendancy, the Roman Catholics would be the last to obtain the benefit. If indeed that close union between the king and the nation which had been proclaimed at the Restoration had been maintained, this feeling against the Catholics might not have gathered head. But whilst Charles was luxurious and extravagant, the members even of the parliament which had been chosen in the first fervour of revived loyalty, soon grew parsimonious and suspicious. They believed that he spent upon his pleasures and his vices money which they had destined for the equipment of the fleet. If it was not known that he had taken pay from the king of France, and had declared his readiness at the proper moment to avow himself a Catholic, there was enough in his conduct to show that he was not heart and soul a sharer in the national aspirations and prejudices. He certainly did not keep a watchful eye upon the progress of French ambition abroad, and he did not show himself to be at all imbued with those Protestant ideas which entered more largely than in the time of Laud into the thoughts of English churchmen. If however the position of the reigning monarch was doubtful, the position of the heir presumptive was per- fectly plain. Charles had no legitimate children, and his THE RESTORATION. . 159 brother the Duke of York declared himself a convert to CHAP. the Roman Catholic religion. Then came an excitement 1 which has no parallel in English history. A charge invented by wicked men, and adopted by weak or wicked politicians, was brought against the English Roman Catholics of being concerned in what was called the Popish Plot for the murder of the king. Large numbers of innocent persons were put to death by the verdicts of ignorant and excited juries under the direction of unscrupulous judges. In parliament the violence and suspicion of the nation took a political form in the demand for an Exclusion Bill, which should deprive the Duke of York of his right of succession to the throne. In the struggle which ensued, the two great parties which have retained their existence to our own days acquired those names of Whig and Tory which they long pre- served. There can be little doubt that the Whigs were in the right in wishing to provide against the accession of James. All experience shows that the position of a ruler who takes a different side from his subjects on the great question of the day, becomes rapidly untenable. But it does not follow that they were in the right in seek- ing to avert by legislation the evil which they were suffi- ciently quick-sighted to foresee. Masses of men are so constituted as to be slow to take alarm at prospective evils, and to prefer to deal with each grievance when it arises, and not before. The idea of hereditary succession had been adopted by the nation as a guarantee against dis- order, and as soon as it became clear that the Whigs were endangering established order as well as hereditary succession, the nation preferred to accept the future risk rather than to launch into immediate agitation. The Whigs suddenly dwindled into a despised minority, and their leaders paid the penalty of real or supposed treason on the scaffold. 160 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. Before long those who survived saw their anticipa- 1 tions realised. Charles died, and James ascended the 10. throne. Setting his mind on obtaining liberty of worship James H. an d equality of civil rights for his fellow-catholics, he hoped at first to obtain it with the co-operation of the bishops and their supporters. He was too ignorant of the prejudices and feelings of those whom he courted, and too impatient of opposition, to succeed even if success had been possible. He then tried to obtain his wishes by the exercise of his own prerogative. Every shred of that prerogative which had come down to him from the struggles of the past was magnified till he had created out of it a power which in no respect fell short of absolute sovereignty. He used the right of appoint- ing judges to pack the bench with men who would deliver that to be law which was in accordance with his wishes. He used his supremacy in the Church to strike down those who clearly represented the feelings of the Church. He used his right of granting charters to cor- porations to modify those charters in such a way as to give him hopes of obtaining a packed House of Com- mons at the next elections. He issued a Declaration of Indulgence, by which, of his own authority, he set aside the effect of all laws imposing restrictions on religion. In resisting this Declaration the clergy and those who sympathised with them were doubtless not uninfluenced by somewhat questionable motives. But their conduct was such as to commend itself to approbation on higher grounds than they were themselves conscious of. It is doubtless good that no religious belief should stand in the way of admission to political and military offices. A general should be appointed because he understands strategy, and a lord treasurer because he understands finance, not because his opinions coincide with those of the majority on the subject of transubstantiation. But if THE REVOLUTION. 16 1 all religious tests imposed by law are to be taken away, CHAP. it is absolutely necessary that they shall not be succeeded VI1 by a religious test unavowedly imposed by the person who has it in his power to dispose of offices. What our ancestors had to face was, not the danger that James would appoint a casual Catholic here and there to com- mand a regiment or to sit upon the bench as justice of the peace, but that he would flood the army, the navy, the judicial bench, and the civil administration with Catholics to the exclusion of Protestants ; and that too at a time when the Catholic monarchy of Lewis XIV. had shown itself especially intolerant, had recom- menced the persecution of French Protestants, and had at its disposal a fleet arid army which might easily be placed at the disposal of an unscrupulous English king to suppress opposition at home. For a time, even these considerations failed to goad n. The Englishmen to resistance. Whatever James might be, ofTess.' 01 the heir to the throne, his daughter Mary, was a con- firmed Protestant. Her husband, William of Orange, was equally a confirmed Protestant, and was the head of the opposition on the Continent to Lewis XIV. James was advanced in life, and it was certain that, whatever he might do, his successor would undo. Suddenly it was announced that the queen was with child, and then it was told that she had borne an heir to the throne. It is no wonder if men received the news with incredulity, and thought that, as James had called into existence a sham bench of judges, and was preparing to call into existence a sham House of Commons, he had now pro- duced a sham heir to the throne. Whether the child was the queen's or not, its very existence made prompt action necessary, unless James's system were to be per- petuated. Hope could no longer be entertained that all would go well as soon as James's life was at an end. M ,62 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. Leading men of both the great parties invited the Prince 1 of Orange to come to defend the liberties of England. When William landed James found himself helpless. He had made many enemies and no friends. Those whom he had favoured deserted him in his hour of need, and he fled from the country leaving everything, as far as he was concerned, in disorder and confusion. The two houses combined to offer the throne to William and Mary. i6 3 CHAPTER IX. THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT, AND THE RULE OF THE WHIG ARISTOCRACY. THE Revolution was more than a change of sovereigns. c '\i\\-. It was the rejection of the ideas of the minority of 1641, __Ll_ which had been adopted as sufficient at the Restoration, T - Stl ' premacy in favour of the idea of the supremacy of Parliament, of the Pym's political ideas were at last to be realised. The commons. name and title of the King were to remain as they had been before. But it was to be clearly understood that if a serious difficulty ensued, the king was to give way to parliament, and more especially to the House of Commons, by which the nation was more directly re- presented. Up to the Revolution, England was under a monarchy surrounded by certain constitutional checks, intended to prevent the will of the monarch from de- generating into arbitrary wilfulness. After the Revolu- tion, England became practically a republic, in which the Crown possessed various constitutional powers, intended to prevent the will of the representatives of the people from degenerating into arbitrary wilfulness. But it is seldom that contemporaries estimate the full im- portance of changes so great. In this case, at least, they did not. The theory on which they proceeded to build up their conception of the new government was in itself as irrational as the theory of Divine Right which M 2 164 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. IX. 2. Li- berty of the Pulpit and the 1'ress. preceded it. They held that the relations of riiler and ruled were governed by some undefined social compact entered into before the memory of man, which bound the ruler to some undefined and elastic terms of con- formity with the needs of the ruled. Facts were, however, greater than theories, and the main fact was that the king, if he meant to preserve authority, must appeal to some other argument than the claim to here- ditary right. Another consequence of the Revolution was hardly of less importance. Government after government had wrecked itself by attempting to grasp the control of the domain of religion and intelligence. The old claim of Anselm and the medieval churchmen had been set at naught. For a century and a half religion and politics had been strangely mixed. The holders of power had been in the position of a garrison defending all that they counted dear from the most violent attack. In such a position they had used the vantage ground of authority to prevent the spread of principles which were certain, to be turned against them in actual combat. Gradually since the first days of the Restoration, all this had changed. The garrison had gathered strength, had marched out into the open country, and had been able to keep the field. The Church of England knew itself to be strong in the reverence of the great majority of the nation. Circumstances, never likely to occur again, had made it possible for a combination between Catho- lics and Dissenters to be formed under the shadow of James's Declaration of Indulgence. Yet so strong had the Church been, that not only had that combination failed to effect anything against her, but even the greater part of the Dissenters themselves had preferred to trust to her leaders for toleration, rather than risk all by assailing her. Therefore, the concession made to the THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. 165 Dissenters by the Toleration Act was made without v difficulty. It was easy to permit the assembly of sepa- - rate congregations for purposes of worship outside the pale of the National Church as soon as it was ascer- tained that all those congregations, if they chose to combine together, would be too weak to affect the posi- tion of that Church which they had resolved to abandon. A few years later, the Toleration Act was supplemented by the withdrawal of the existing censorship over printed matter. A free press and a free pulpit took their places in the new system established by the Revolution. Like all great changes, the concession of liberty of -s- The . , , Sphere of speech and of writing was accompanied by results of Govem- which its authors had no foreknowledge. In the first "rf place, it made government easier by withdrawing a whole sphere of human action from its influence. As long as those who were in authority were able to put to silence those whose opinions were adverse to their own, or at least to visit them with grievous penalties, the power which they possessed was so enormous, as to be liable to the grossest abuse, whilst it was certain to rouse the most determined opposition. Struggles for power under such conditions, resembled the struggles between hostile armies which allow no quarter to one another. Each successive government was anxious to secure not merely the present possession of influence, but the power of stereotyping ideas upon future gene- rations by the suppression of the teaching of principles which it disliked. All this was abandoned by the statesmen of the Revolution. Whig and Tory might differ in their views ; but the future was to be left to take care of itself. If the future would be moulded to some extent by Parliamentary action, it would be moulded to a far greater extent by words uttered or printed which were now placed beyond the control of any 166 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, government whatever. In a new shape, the liberty which had been claimed by the heads of the organised medieval church was given over by a triumphant State to the individual conscience. $4. im- The two cardinal principles of the Revolution, there - Resultsof fore, were, that the government should be conducted in the Pre- accordance with the will of the House of Commons, and domin- ance of the that the House of Commons, predominant as it became Commons, in the government, should have no authority over the free expression of political and religious opinion outside its walls. For a long time before, both these principles would have been regarded as likely to lead straight to anarchy. As a matter of fact, they combined to lay the foundations of an order more stable than had yet been seen in England, After all, there was something permanently true in the reasoning of the advocates of monarchical authority. Neither five millions of men nor five hundred men can govern a country. To manage public affairs, even in a single department, requires a familiarity with the course of business and special mental aptitude, combined with a sense of responsibility for suc- cess or failure which is only possible for a single indi- vidual, whilst the task of keeping the heads of different departments in harmony is also only possible for a single individual. Till this was understood, the growth of parlia- mentary power brought with it the growth of parlia- mentary faction. The last years of William were em- bittered by the meddlesome intervention of the House of Commons in matters which it was unable to under- stand, and which it discussed with the strong passion of ignorance goaded by personal spite. 5. Gradually, a better system evolved itself out of the Govern- necessity of the circumstances. The Commons, sepa- rated as they were into two great parties, divided in opinion on the questions of the day, fell naturally THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. 167 under the control of the ablest members of the party CHAP. in the majority, who alone were able to obtain the _ necessary concurrence of the House in the measures proposed by the government. As therefore no govern- ment could do without the support of the House of Commons, the sovereign was obliged to choose his ministers from the ranks of the majority. The Com- mons obtained the power of securing that the general direction of the course of government should be in ac- cordance with the wishes of its majority, whilst from that very assurance it ceased to be tempted to interfere with those details of business which it could safely leave in hands in which it had confidence. The further task of keeping the administrators in harmony was at first entrusted to the king. It was William who judged when any particular minister was to be appointed or dismissed, or when the whole ministry had better be changed. After the accession of George I., who was too indolent and too foreign to English habits to be com- petent to fulfil this task, it devolved upon one of the ministry, who acquired the name of Prime Minister, and who became responsible for the general work of those who became his subordinates. In this way Cabinet Government gradually came into being. It is in reality a committee formed of members of both Houses of Parliament, and liable to have its existence terminated by the victory of the Opposition in the House of Com- mons. It has vindicated the work of actual government from a House which, if it attempted to take it upon itself, would be certain to degenerate into a disorderly mob, whilst each successive Cabinet adapts itself to the general feeling which prevails in parliament at any given time. The new organisation had thus all the advantages without the disadvantages of the old. It confided the work of government, as before, to a directing mind, whilst 168 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP IX. 6. The 1 louse of of Com- mons and the Nation. it took care that that work should be exercised under responsibility to those who represented the average tone of the community. Such at least was the ideal form of the new constitution, an ideal which, after the lapse of nearly two centuries, it is still tending to realise. Probably the time will never arrive when every member of a large community will vote from entire reliance on political conviction uninfluenced by personal considera- tions. It certainly had not arrived at the end of the seventeenth century. Even now, when we speak of public opinion, we refer to the opinion of a larger or smaller circle in proportion to the larger or smaller interest excited by the subject under discussion. There are questions brought before Parliament of so intricate and technical a nature, that only two or three hundred persons in the nation are capable of forming an opinion on the subject, or have any wish to do so. There are, on the other hand, subjects of so engrossing interest, that several millions of people, whether they are capable of understanding the matter or not, are at least ready to express an opinion. The greater the political intelli- gence of a people is, the larger are the number of subjects which appeal to the wider circle, and the fewer the number of subjects which appeal to the narrower circle. On the other hand, every achievement of the object of popular demand is followed by a time of appa- rent lethargy. The large circle has been satisfied in its demands, and it takes some time before the pressure of new wants is felt, and before the smaller circle of more intelligent men has discussed the remedies, and has convinced the masses that those remedies are worthy to be adopted. Such seasons of alternate activity and lethargy are of as constant recurrence in the political body, as the alternations of action and sleep in the physi- THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. 16) cal body. At the end of the seventeenth century the CHAI- activity of the political body had been enormous, and 1__ the lethargy which followed was, therefore, peculiarly lasting. All the great questions of the Stuart period had been such as to awaken the minds of even the most sluggish classes. The question of the right of taxation touched every one who had a few shillings in his pocket. The question of control over religion touched every one who had an idea in his head. Both these questions were now set at rest. Any attempt to reawaken them by bringing the power of the State to exact taxation in new forms, as Walpole attempted to do by his Excise Bill, or even to interfere with the most absurd religious opinion, as the Whig Government in Anne's reign attempted to do by the prosecution of Sacheverell, roused a storm of indignation, which spread far beyond those classes which usually took part in political affairs. But as long as governments refrained from pushing their superabundant activity in these directions they found the mass, not merely of the nation, but even of the small minority which was possessed of the electoral franchise, singularly inert. In this inertness of the nation is to be found the key 7- ^f- to the sudden downfall of the Tory party which accom- O fthe panied the accession of the House of Hanover. That p^[ party had no doubt causes of weakness in itself. It had set out in the reign of Charles II. as the guardian of the two principles of hereditary right and of the supremacy of the. Established Church. Each successive change had made it more difficult to maintain those principles intact, and at last the time had come when it had become ab- solutely impossible to maintain them together. The heir to the throne after Anne's death>, according to the Tory system, was a Roman Catholic, and the Tories were therefore compelled to choose between loyalty to 170 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. a king who was likely to do all in his power to weaken 1_ the Church of their preference, and loyalty to a Church which would be likely to fare ill in the hands of the king of their preference. The course of events had placed them in a situation in which it was impossible for them to step forward with assurance. They were like the traveller who has arrived at a point where two roads diverge, and who cannot make up his mind which he prefers of the two destinations to which those roads respectively lead. In another respect, too, the Tories found their occupation gone. Even more than the Whigs, they had retained the distrust of the institution of a standing army which had resulted from the military despotism of the Cromwellian period. They had, there- fore, gathered strength at the end of the two great wars in the reigns of William and Anne, which seemed likely to lead, as far as domestic politics were concerned, to the increase of the military power of the Crown. With the accession of George I. this danger ceased to be appreciable. If there were wars, they were not waged on a large scale. The prospect of danger to the institu- tions of the country was not merely averted by constitu- tional safeguards, such as the restriction of the Mutiny Act to a single year, but by the fact that the army was officered by members of the aristocracy and gentry, and had thus become a counterpart of the country itself. A government is in danger of military violence when its military institutions are on a different footing from its political institutions. The safety of England from this particular form of danger since the Revolution has lain in the substantial identity between the .two. Though each has varied from time to time, they have always varied together. c R j n _ It is easy to ascribe the enormous influence of the fliK-nte of aristocracy in those times to the restriction of the fran- THE RULE OF THE WHIG ARISTOCRACY. 171 chisc, or to the ignorance in which electors were left CHAP. of the debates and votes in parliament. In point of _ fact, the electoral body was weak in the reigns of the j 1 ^^ first two Georges precisely for the reason that the House owners. of Commons was weak in the reign of Henry VIII. It was content if parliament protected the persons of citi- zens from imprisonments without a fair trial, their purses from frequent and exorbitant demands, and their religion from meddlesome interference ; whilst it cared little about the course of a legislation, which was founded on argu- ments, with respect to the very nature of which it was uninformed, and which, if so informed, it would have failed to comprehend. Naturally, therefore, the control over government fell into those hands which were qualified to exercise that control. The average voter cared very much to vote for his landlord, whom he respected or feared, very much to pocket a few extra guineas, or to drink large quantities of beer at the candi- date's expense, very little for the measures which that candidate would support. Hence power fell almost exclusively into the hands of the class of large land- owners, who were wise enough to avoid wounding the general feeling on those points on which alone it was susceptible. Hence the anomaly of the theoretic supremacy which the House of Commons exercised by means of its control over the purse, combined with the practical supremacy of the members of the House of Lords by means of the influence which they exercised over the election of members of the House of Commons. Like every other system which acquires power, this 9. TRe system was in its early days justified by its results. The the'Dis- 8 "' aristocracy ruled, because it was at that time the fittest to senters - rule. It entered into close connection with the mercantile classes, which had never risen to such importance before. It had the great bulk of the literature of the time on 72 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, its side. The one great name, the name of Swift, which was opposed to it, was opposed, so far as personal considerations were not involved in the matter, rather from opposition to its temporary aims than to its permanent policy. Originally the Whigs had thrown themselves on the side of toleration to the Dissenters, whilst the Tories who accepted the Revolution only assented to it as a political necessity. It was only natural that the Whigs should have been ready to grant more than toleration and to admit the Dissenters to political equality, allowing them to hold offices under the crown, and to occupy positions in the municipalities. The Tories, on the other hand, wished, by passing the Occasional Conformity Bill, to exclude from office even those Dissenters who were ready to take the sacrament in a church, though they afterwards returned to wor- ship in their own chapels. The question was agitated in the reign of Anne. In the reign of George I. it was settled that the Toleration Act should be fully observed. Occasional conformists were to be admitted to office, whilst stubborn nonconformists remained excluded. Such a settlement, which let in the lax and the hypocritical, and shut out the honest and the sincere, would at the present day be rejected with contempt. It exactly satis- fied the ideas of the men of the opening years of the eighteenth century. They were equally disinclined to persecute, and to submit themselves to those who were likely to persecute others. The apologue of Swift's ' Tale of a Tub ' fairly represents the central thought of the time to which the moderate men of both parties, men like Harley and men like Walpole, inclined. The readiness to relieve Dissenters from persecution was perfectly consistent with an aversion to zeal and enthusiasm as a disturbing factor in human affairs. The seed sown by Chillingworth and Hales .had grown up till it had THE RULE OF THE WHIG ARISTOCRACY. 173 become a great tree. Christianity was nothing if it was CHAT-. not rational. Its life and vigour, its high enthusiasm, . ' ' were all laid aside. The Church of the eighteenth century would have been a strange Church to St. Francis or to Oliver Cromwell. Men argued of the suitability of the scriptural promises to the needs of life, sometimes, like Bishop Butler, with a high idea of duty and loving- kindness before them ; sometimes with the mere thought of skilfully adjusting formulas into a pleasant scheme. Others carried the argument further, and the Deists conceived the idea of a beneficent Creator who had ordained all things in a world in which no account need be taken of the disturbing elements of sorrow and sin. But whatever might be the special view arrived at, the characteristic of the age was the predominance of reason without active energy for the common good. The old tyrannies were gone, and the new effort after a better order had not yet come. Life was not beautiful under this regimen. The i . Ho- streets of London were as Hogarth painted them. Riot and anarchy were there, controlled, so far as they were controlled at all, by practical common sense, and by something remaining of the Puritan morality without the Puritan enthusiasm. Hogarth's industrious ap- prentice going to church instead of gambling on the tombstones outside, taking care to attend to his master's accounts, and finally marrying his master's daughter, is the eighteenth century outcome of the religion of Baxter and Owen. Fielding's novels tell the same tale. There is no sense of natural or artistic beauty in them, no enthusiasm, no feeling for the nobleness of temperance and chastity. But there is a certain level of morality below which they never sink. If they lay stress on the unhealthy animalism of human nature, they do not depict that hot-bed of intrigue and corruption, that sty I 7 4 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. of falsity and obscenity, in which the dramatists of the IX ____ Restoration revelled. Such books serve to hold up the mirror to the time. They were days in which individual energies were strong, and the thought of devotion to public ends was weak. The Puritan ideal and the Royalist ideal had been alike trodden in the dust. The Englishman was proud of his constitution because it guarded the individual Englishman from interference ; because he could not, like the Frenchman, be hurried off to the Bastille without warning or trial ; because it enabled him to eat beef like the representative islander in Hogarth's picture of ' Calais Gate,' instead of eating nothing better than soup and frogs. To those who look back upon the scene, it does not appear so entirely lovely as it did to contemporaries. The rude energy with which the actors shouldered their way through the crowd, making full use of all the advantages that personal strength of body, or the possession of a purse full of guineas, or broad acres of landed estate might give them, must have fallen with terrible weight upon the weaker members of society. In such a world the rich man took his pleasure, swearing and cursing and drinking himself into the gout as he went. The poor man swore and cursed too, with Gin Lane as a solace, and the misery of the gaol or a speedy exit from life at Tyburn before him. Yet unlovely as the spectacle was, it had its promise of better things. Rude and uncul- tivated as this life was, it was full of activity. The evils which men suffered from they brought on themselves. No tyranny of class over class handed down by the tra- dition of centuries, as in France, no servile yoke of in- justice, presses upon the citizen or the cultivator of the soil. If the people can but make up their minds about their own wrongs, those wrongs will be redressed. To- day it is a prosecution of Dr. Sacheverell or an un- THE RULE OF THE WHIG ARISTOCRACY. 17 j popular Excise Bill or a rectification of the Almanac, CHAP. IK which rouses the opposition. Some wiser cry for right and justice will be heard to-morrow, and men will learn that the struggles of the seventeenth century had not been in vain, and that a nation which has grasped the direction of its own destinies will not always be con- tent to leave the helm in the hands of a place-loving aristocracy. 1 7 6 CHAPTER X. CHAP. x. r. Pre- monitions of Change. THE RESTORATION OF AUTHORITY. IT was certain that some day or other, the time would come when such an abnegation of the higher duties of government would be met by a demand for a develop- ment of authority which might discipline into obedience to the national will the factions which profited by the existing anarchy. In some sort, the situation was what it had been when a stronger, fiercer aristocracy treated England as its own in the days of Stephen, or in the days of Henry VI. But as the evil was present in a milder form, the remedy was also likely to take a milder form. The king, as the representative of unity in government, would have a good chance of raising his own power, if he knew how to wield it for national purposes, but he would not this time have the mass of the nation looking on with dumb respect. It would claim to act with him or without him according to the way in which he exercised the authority which he claimed. Not, indeed, that the over- throw of the predominance of the aristocracy would come from a mere jealousy of their supremacy. It is not in this way that great constitutional changes are effected. There must be some actual sin of omission or of commission on the part of the rulers to stir up a x desire for change, before a strong enough movement manifests itself in the minds of the multitudes by whose union alone the THE RESTORATION OF AUTHORITY. 177 forms of popular government can be filled with the life- CHAP. giving spirit of popular action. 1_ It was well that the first motion towards a better 2. Wes- order should make itself felt in the domain of religion rather than in that of politics. The thought of the time had little reference to action, and none at all to spiritual ardour and emotion. Around the thinkers who specu- lated on the comfortable results of the Christian scheme were a large number of clergy who did not speculate at all, but who contented themselves with fulfilling the external functions of their office in a more or less respect- able way, without dreaming that it was their duty to utter more than a mild protest against the evils around them. The one word which expressed to them all that was to be avoided was the word ' zeal.' They were in the midst of masses who were mere heathens, living lives utterly brutal and degraded, and they passed on their way as if these things had no existence. John Wesley saw the sight with other eyes. He gave his life to raise these very masses to a higher and a nobler life. There was in his teaching nothing new. It was the old Puritan doctrine of conversion, upon which was grafted the practice of confession from the yet older church, stripped of its sacerdotalism, and assuming a de- mocratic form in the class-meetings by means of which he organised his followers. In his hands the old thing had become new. His work was more than to teach and to organise. It was to quicken into vigour the seeds of spiritual life which had been almost smothered under the oppressive reasoning of the philosopher and the careless self-content of the man of the world. From it sprang the work of the later evangelical leaders within the English Church, and indirectly the whole spiritual teaching of men who would be by no N I7 3 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP. means inclined to trace their mental genealogy to the ' founder of Wesleyanism. 3. Wil- What Wesley was in the region of mind and spirit, >m " William Pitt was in the region of politics. He too brought nothing new in the way of intellectual concep- tion. His ruling idea of antagonism to France was as old as the days of Edward III. and of Henry V. It was enshrined in the historic drama of Shakspere, and it inspired the foreign policy of the Whigs of the Revolu- tion. When he tried to solve the questions evolved by the resistance of America to English taxation, he fell back on the old doctrine of No taxation without representation, which had been heard in the midst of the Puritan revo- lution. Pitt's strength lay in his character, not in his ideas. The spectacle of a man who set before him noble ends, and who trusted his countrymen above that which they were able to do, roused them to do more than they had done before. The first step in organisation is to rally round a man, and in Pitt, England had at last found the man to whom it could look up. It was only to be expected that that rally should have been the accompaniment of a great war. It is for the purposes of war that the need of leadership is most promptly felt, and that need which at an earlier stage of civilisation is satisfied by a quick eye and a brave heart in the field, demands, when war is spread over a larger field, a quick eye and a brave heart in the cabinet. The successes of the Seven Years' War, the conquest of Canada, and tH establishment of English military power in India were the distinct results of the individual energy and vigour which the race had gained by its development in the seventeenth century. Frenchmen, in spite of such glorious exceptions as Montcalm and Dupleix, were through their long training under an absolute monarchy, unfitted to compete with the great-grandchildren of the THE RESTORATION OF AUTHORITY. 179 freeholders who supported Hampden, and of the Puri- CH.U-, tans who charged with Cromwell. The influence of the character of a single man is 4- The evanescent. Nor was it in the nature of things that t he England should be swayed by Pitt in peace as it had been swayed by him in war. As long as the war lasted, the hearts of all were set upon the one object of beating the enemy. When the war was at an end, the mass of men became very much what they had been before it Petty objects took the place of great ones, and intrigues resumed their empire over public spirit. The idea of a State watching over its fleets and armies had been easily seized. The idea of a State watching over the welfare of the population at home, and binding them into common action for great social ends was as yet un- familiar. In such a dormant condition of public feeling men's advantages were the measure of their power. The Whig aristocracy once more threatened to seize autho- rity into their hands. But the Whig aristocracy was not quite what it was before. It had split into various frac- tions combating one another for power, and some of its members had learned something by their temporary combination with the ostentatious purity of Pitt. It was otherwise with the bulk of members of Parliament who still called themselves Whigs. If they no longer took bribes in the more degrading form of money pre- sents, they did not hesitate to take bribes in the shape of pensions and places, and they flung away in gam- bling and debauchery the money which they thus ac- quired at the expense of the nation. When the great landowners were divided amongst -. TI,,,- themselves, it was possible for the crown to assert a Ac ^f ssl011 1 (jl (j claim to a higher position than had been allowed to it In - since the days of Anne. At first indeed the royal competition for power only brought one more rival on N 2 180 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAP, the scene to appeal to the covetousness of mankind. '" The young king, George III., who ascended the throne in 1760, was indeed possessed of a strong desire to do his duty as a ruler, and of a firm conviction that he and not the great landowners was the rightful centre of authority. But he won his way, not by the pos- session of high qualifications for government, but by persistency of effort joined to the advantage of posi- tion. If he exercised his legal rights, he had more to give away than Newcastle and his allies. Places and pensions had all along nominally been in the gift of the Crown. When it was once understood that the King meant really to allot them himself, he soon found that he could dispose of votes in parliament, which had hitherto been at the disposal of the prime minister. Yet the Whig domination was not to be overthrown at once. In bringing about peace with France when everything had been achieved to which the nation could fairly lay claim, George III. was in the right. But in the struggle which followed between the king and the Whig landowners little was to be seen except a contest for power. One body of them, indeed, which placed itself under the leadership of Rockingham, set a noble example in renouncing the paths of corruption. But for that very reason it was weak in Parliamentary influence, and it failed to convey the impression that its chief spokesmen were possessed of sufficient firmness or ability to be entrusted with the destinies of the nation. When its leaders held office for a few short months, they had against them both the hostility of the King, who disliked them as a party formed independently of himself, and the hostility of those numerous members of Parliament who had made their way into the House of Commons in order to be heavily bribed. At last, when after various defeats and victories the King selected Pitt now Earl of Chatham as his Prime Minister, there seemed a chance THE RESTORATION OF AUTHORITY. 181 that the weight of hereditary authority was about to add CHAH. to itself the weight of the instinctive virtues of the great ...' ' . popular statesman. But Chatham's failure of health prevented the fair trial of the experiment, and George went his way combating influence by influence and, so far as he fell back upon popular support at all, falling back upon that ignorance and the selfishness of his countrymen in which he shared. The influence of an hereditary king, or of a popular 6. K See ibid. i. 780. 2 See A Descriptive Catalogue of the First Series of the Works of the Camden Society. By John Gough Nichols, 2nd edit. (This supplies a brief account of all the publications of the Society down to the year 1872.) See Hardy, D. C. i. 860-3. STATE PAPERS. 223 genealogical, topographical, and literary remains of the INTRO- t* f~* i i)i DUCTORY. north-eastern counties of Scotland. ' In 1842 were founded the AELFRIC SOCIETY 2 and the CHETHAM SOCIETY ; 3 the former ' for the publication of Anglo-Saxon and other literary monuments, both Soctet y- civil and ecclesiastical, tending to illustrate the early state of England ; ' the latter, for the printing of ' remains, historical and literary, connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester.' The CAXTON SOCIETY, 4 founded in 1844, was de- Caxton signed for the wider sphere of labour involved in bringing out works ' illustrative of the history and miscellaneous literature of the Middle Ages.' Its publications, though numerous, have been indifferently edited, and are wanting in typographical correctness. The scheme of the ANGLIA CHRISTIANA SOCIETY, 5 put forth in the following year, has proved almost abortive. The EARLY ENGLISH TEXT SOCIETY, founded in Early En- 1864, has issued yearly a series of carefully printed texts g socit&*^ of early English authors. Of these a large proportion have been printed for the first time, and not a few possess considerable value for the historical student. It now remains briefly to notice the measures that STATE have been taken to render what may be termed the PAPERS - ' documentary evidence ' for our history more accessible to the general public. Before the Restoration of Charles II., the accepted theory with respect to state negotiations with other countries entirely debarred the ordinary man of letters from access to the original documents. The reserve maintained in this respect by the English Government was, indeed, to some extent exceptional, and we find it 1 See Hardy, D.C. i. 887-8. 2 See ibid. i. 686. 1 See ibid. i. 743-5- Humphrey Chetham was a distinguished bene- factor of learning at Manchester in the seventeenth century. 4 See ibid. \. 741-2. 5 See ibid. i. 691. 224 INTRODUCTORY. INTRO- unfavourably contrasted by a political writer in the year ' 1655, with the conduct of the French and the Italians. 1 The very name of ' Treasury,' as applied to the offices in which the state papers were deposited, is expressive of this exclusiveness. The first treaty committed to the press and published by royal authority was that with Spain, in the reign of James I., dated August 18, 1604. The theory, however, may be said to have re- ceived its death-blow in the course of the Civil War, when the interest which both the contending parties claimed to take in the highest matters of state made the former secrecy no longer possible. The four treaties of Breda were printed by the order of Charles II. in 1667, and between the Restoration and the Revo- lution of 1688 all the public treaties to which Great Britain was a party were published by royal au- thority. At last, in the year 1693, mainly, it would appear, at the suggestion of the eminent statesmen, Rymer's Somers and Halifax, THOMAS RYMER, in his capacity of historiographer royal, was appointed to transcribe and publish all the leagues, treaties, alliances, capitulations, and confederacies which had, at any time, been made between the Crown of England and other kingdoms. As the result of these instructions there successively appeared, in the early part of the eighteenth century, the volumes of his well-known Foedera, the series being continued by his assistant, Robert Sanderson, in the year 1735. The work, as it issued from the press, attracted considerable attention both at home and on the Con- tinent, and, though severely criticised, has generally been admitted to be a collection of the highest value and authority. It commences with the reign of Henry I. (ann. 1134), and extends to 1654. A new edition, pub- lished at the Hague, 1737-45, is of greatly superior typo- 1 See preface to Sir Dudley Digges' Complete Ambassador (1655). STATE PAPERS. 225 graphical accuracy ; while the utility of the collection to INTRO- students has been much enhanced by the Syllabus of ' the work by the late Sir T. D. Hardy. 1 The Rolls of Parliament, extending from the reign Roils of of Edward I. to the first year of the reign of Henry VI L, m ^J' t a ~ are comprised in six volumes folio, and were published at the expense of the nation pursuant to the order of the House of Peers, March 9, 1767. A general Index to the six volumes was issued in 1832, after sixty-five years had been employed in its formation. ' There can be no doubt,' says Sir T. D. Hardy, ' that these Rolls are a most valuable and authentic source of parliamentary and constitutional history, indeed, it is questionable whether any nation in Europe possesses any materials for a history of its legislative assemblies at all comparable with these muniments.' In consequence of representations made to the Crown Pubiica- of the great value and importance of many of the papers and documents in the office of the Keeper of the A Records, a Commission was appointed in 1825, and again in 1830, to consider what portions of this invaluable collection might be fitly printed and published with ad- vantage to the public. 2 As the direct result of their decision, eleven quarto volumes were published (1830- 1 Vol. i. A.D. 1066-1377 ; vol. ii. 1377-1654. A third edition of the Foedera, undertaken by Dr. Clarke, and subsequently by Messrs. Caley and Holbrooke, for the Record Commission, remains incomplete, having been carried no further than the year 1383. Hardy's Syllabus gives the references to three editions the original edition, the so-called Dutch edition published at the Hague, and the Record edition. Students should note in the Syllabus (vol. i. pp. i-xiv, vol. ii. pp. Iv-lxvii) the useful Chronological Tables, giving the Legal, Civil, and Ecclesias- tical Years, along with the regnal year of each English sovereign. 2 The term Records, taken in its most general sense, includes: (i) Inrolments which are intended to be official and authentic records of lawful acts made by the proper officer of any court upon rolls, or, in some cases, in official entry-books of the same court ; (2) Memoranda of acts or Q -226 INTRODUCTORY. INTRO- DUCTORY. Correspon- dence of Reign of Henry VIIL Calendars of State Papers. 1852) of the Correspondence of Henry VIII. 1 The plan of arrangement was, however, unfortunate, the chronological order being, in the first instance, discarded with the design of grouping the different materials under the respective subjects, a method which proved so un- satisfactory that it was materially modified in the latter volumes. Of all these letters an abstract (often suf- ficient for the student's purpose) will be found in the volumes of the Calendar Series edited by the late Prof. Brewer under the title of Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIIL, &c. a collection which also includes abstracts of a vast number of letters not included in the volumes published by the Commis- sioners. Respecting the series of which the volumes edited by Mr. Brewer form a part, a few words may be of service. In the year 1855 the State Paper Office was in- corporated with the Public Record Office, and the Master of the Rolls then suggested to the Lords of the Treasury that, notwithstanding the great value, in an historical and constitutional point of view, of the documents thus brought together, their contents were rendered almost useless to the public from the want of proper calendars and indexes. As the result of this representation, instruments brought into the proper office of any court by parties interested therein (or by their agents) either in the form of rolls or otherwise, and preserved in bundles or on files ; (3) Books of entries, containing memor- anda of acts, &c., entered by officers of the court ; (4) State papers, which form a distinct branch of the records. These originally sprang from the Privy Council and Chancery, and now form various branches the corre- spondence and other records of the Privy Council, Secretaries of State, and all other public departments. See Handbook to the Public Records, by Mr. F. S. Thomas, 1853. 1 State Papers, during the Reign of Henry (he Eighth. : with Indices of Persons and Places. Other publications of the Record Commissioners, such as Domesday Book, Catalogues of the Rolls, &c., have appeared at different times during the present century ; of these a complete list can be obtained on application to Messrs. Longmans & Co., or Macmillan &Co. PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY. 227 orders were given for the preparation and publication of INTRO- a series of Calendars of the different divisions under - *' which the collections have been classified (Domestic, Foreign, Colonial, Ireland]. This series now reaches to nearly a hundred volumes, and the service it has rendered to historical research, whether by facilitating the con- sultation of the original documents, or, as is often the case, rendering such consultation unnecessary, can hardly be over-rated. 1 In relation to the political and legislative history of SPECIAL the country, the Parliamentary History, originally pro- ^ UB J ECTS - jected by WILLIAM COBBETT (a prominent democratic Cobbett's leader in the early part of the present century), comes ^ntary down to the year 1803, incorporating or superseding History. the earlier collections, to which, for most practical pur- poses, it is to be preferred. As, however, the student who has occasion to consult historical works written in the last century or in the earlier part of the present, will meet with frequent references to the older collections, it may be of service here to specify the most important. They are (i) The Parliamentary or Constitiitional History Earlier of England, originally published in 1752, in eight volumes, and expanded in subsequent editions to twenty-four ; mentary (2) Sir Simonds D'Ewes' Journals of the Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth ; (3) Chandler and Timberland's Debates, in twenty-two volumes ; (4) Debates of the House of Commons from \66jto 1694, collected by the Honourable Anchitell Grey, in ten volumes ; (5) Almon's Debates, in twenty-four volumes ; (6) Debrett's Debates, in sixty- three volumes. Cobbett's great work was continued under the title of Parliamentary Debates, a series generally known by 1 The Record Office is on the Rolls estate between Chancery Lane and Fetter Lane : access to the papers can be obtained by any respectable per- son, on entering his name in a book kept for that purpose. There is also no restriction on copying. Q 2 228 INTRO D UCTOR Y. the name of the printer, HANSARD, which is now an annual publication. Hansard. During the present century, the above sources of information have been supplemented by the publication Journals of of (i) the Journals of tke House of Lords, which com- crfLords 56 mence with the year 1509, and are accompanied by and of the separate indexes ; (2) the Journals of the House of Com- Commons. mons, commencing with the year 1547, these volumes have likewise separate indexes, and also a general index for the period 1765-1801. Stride- The Lives of the Queens of England, by Miss AGNES Livefoftke STRICKLAND, after a brief notice of our British and Saxon Queens. queens, commence with the life of Matilda of Flanders, and continue in unbroken succession to the end of the reign of Queen Anne. The series is not distinguished by any high literary excellence, and its value is further diminished by the strong prejudices of the writer, who throughout upholds very extreme theories of ecclesiastical government and the royal prerogative. The volumes embody, however, many interesting extracts, and afford good illustrations of the court life and domestic life of successive periods. Green's A ^ ar more solid and judicious performance is that Lives of the o f]Vf r s. EVERETT GREEN, The Lives of the Princesses of Princesses. J England, commencing with the Norman Conquest, and concluding with sketches of the lives of the four daughters of Charles I. Foss's The Lives of the Judges of England? by Foss, com- mence as far back as the time of Herfastus, Chancellor in the year 1068, and extend to the Vice-Chancellorship of Sir William Page Wood in 1853. The series is the result of considerable research, and is executed with commendable fairness and accuracy. 1 Nine vols. 1848-64. A useful abridgment of the work in one volume, entitled Biographic, Juridica, was published in 1870. SPECIAL SUBJECTS. 229 The Lives of the Lord Chancellors, by LORD CAMP- INTRO- BELL (4th edit. 1856-7), commence with the institution CTORY * of the office in Saxon times, and extend to the ac- Campbells cession of George IV. As an historical production, the L^rdChan- vvhole work is wanting in a due sense of the obligations Q or official list of the Empire Notitia under the Romans, is the original source from whence tum. we derive our knowledge of the organisation of Britain during the Roman occupation, and the division of the country into five provinces, each ruled by a consul. It was probably compiled about the time of Honorius. 1 (B.) Non-contemporary Writers. The first native his- cildas. torian is a British ecclesiastic of the name of GlLDAS, who lived in the sixth century and wrote in Armorica (circ. 550-560) his treatise, de Excidio Britanniae? which Gale, its editor in the seventeenth century, some- what arbitrarily divided into two works, the History and the Epistle. The treatise, however, may fairly be re- garded as composed of two distinct portions : (i), from the invasion of Britain by the Romans to the revolt of Maximin at the close of the fourth century ; (2), from the close of the fourth century to the writer's own time. Very different views have been taken of the value of Contro- Gildas as an author. Dr. Guest, whose opinion must specdng carry the greatest weight, says, c I am not aware that its this Writer, genuineness has been questioned by any one whose scholarship or whose judgment is likely to give weight 1 Notitia Dignitatum et Administrationum omnium tarn Ctvilium quam Militarium in Partilnts Orientis et Occidentis. Ed. Edwardus Booking. 2 vols. Bonn, 1839-53. Ed. Otto Seeck, Berlin, 1876. 2 De Excidio Britanniae Liber Querulus. Migne, P. L. Ixix. 330. Printed also in Gale's Scriptores XV. (see supra, p. 217); and edited by Mr. Stevenson in 1838 for E. H. S. 234 B.C. 55 TO A.D. 450. CHAP. to his opinion. The two treatises may be considered '- the safest guides now left us, and he that would write the history of this early period will do well to abandon any speculation which cannot be reconciled with the facts handed down to us by Gildas.' Mr. Thomas Wright, in the Biographia Britannica Litteraria, has expressed a doubt whether the work could have been written by a Briton, inasmuch as Gildas dwells with particular severity on the vices of his countrymen and the degeneracy of the British Church. To this Dr. Guest replies, ' Gildas looked upon himself less as a native Briton than as a Roman provincial ; not indeed a subject of the Roman Empire, but a participator in Roman civilisation, an up- holder of the ' Romania ' and opponent of the ' Barbaria ' of his country ? He refers very pertinently to the de- nunciations of Salvian as a parallel instance. 1 Sir T. D. Hardy is of opinion that ' Gildas's veracity must rest entirely on his own authority, as none of the contempo- rary Greek or Roman writers afford it any support, but rather the reverse? The style of the work is singularly verbose and unintelligible, and much of the earlier part is derived from a Latin version of the Ecclesiastical His- tory of Eusebius and from the Epistles of St. Jerome. It is to be noted, however, that, notwithstanding undeni- able defects, the latter portion of Gildas was unhesita- tingly adopted by Bede, and must be regarded as forming the basis of early English history. k^g BEDE, who comes next to Gildas, offers in many re- b. 672. spects a strong contrast to his predecessor. Educated in the Benedictine monastery of Jarrow, on the banks of the Tyne, he early acquired that deference for the tradi- tions and authority of the Latin Church which is to be 1 On the Earlv English Settlements in South Britain. By Edwin Guest, Esq. (Printed in Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute at Salts- bury in 1849.) NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 235 recognised throughout his writings. In the composition CHAP. of his History ', we learn, from his own statement, that ' his chief advisers in the work were Albinus, a disciple of Theodorus, archbishop of Canterbury, and abbat of the monastery in that city, and Northelm, afterwards arch- bishop. The latter, when on a visit to Rome, collected materials which Bede afterwards incorporated in his narrative. Facts such as these are sufficient to shew that the History was conceived and written in harmony with the views of the Latin Church, and that we must not expect to find in its pages an altogether impartial account either of the Saxon Conquest or of the older British Christianity. The Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis His His- Anglorum, extends from the date of Caesar's invasion of cksiastica. Britain to the year 731. It is divided into five books. Of these the first reaches from the invasion of Julius Caesar to the mission of Augustine in 596. The earlier portion is of little value, being compiled chiefly from Orosius, Eutropius, Gildas, and a life of St. Germanus, by Constantius, a priest of the Gallican Church. Orosius was a disciple of St. Augustine of Hippo, and his History (the accepted text-book of the Middle Ages), is con- structed on the theory embodied in the great work of his master, the de Civitate Dei. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, lived in the fifth century, and was especially distinguished as an opponent of Pelagianism, a form of doctrine adopted by the British Church, but opposed to the teaching of St. Augustine. The second book gives a narrative of events from the mission of Augustine to the arrival of Paulinus in 633. The remaining books constitute the most valuable portion of the work, as con- taining facts which rest either on Bede's personal knowledge, or on the statements of others equally well informed. With respect to the title of his work, it is to be remembered that the term f ecclesiastical ' involved 236 B.C. 55 TO A.D. 450. CHAP. no such limitations in Bede's time as it would now imply. ' It was the customary definition of similar historical compositions by Christian writers, from Eusebius down- wards. The Church in those times comprised nearly all the higher intelligence and all the learning of the land, and civil functions were frequently discharged by ecclesiastics ; hence Bede's History, so far from being confined to Church matters, contains a large proportion of those secular events which it is most interesting and important for us to know, while the natural candour and honesty of the writer inspire a confidence in his statements, very much beyond what we find ourselves able to accord to the great majority of medieval writers. Every student should endeavour to make himself ac- quainted with Bede's History, as such a knowledge will not only be found most useful in itself, but in relation to later writers. The facts related by Bede are frequently copied from him, without acknowledgment by subsequent annalists, and it is consequently of considerable import- ance to know that their authority was Bede, and, in most instances, Bede alone. It was owing to a want of a due perception of this fact, that Hume fell into the capital error of adducing in support of Bede's statements the authority of Matthew of Westminster and Henry of Huntingdon ; a misconception similar to that which should lead a writer of the present day to quote, in con- firmation of a statement by Whitelock or Narcissus Luttrell respecting an event in the seventeenth century, the authority of lord Macaulay. It is no exaggeration to say, that with respect to the period of English history treated by Bede in the latter portion of his work, three- fourths of our knowledge are derived from him, and that most of what we find on the same subject in later histo- rians is merely a reflection or amplification of what they themselves found in his pages. An excellent edition of NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 237 the Ecclesiastical History was published at Cambridge in CHAP. 1722, by professor John Smith. It is a folio volume, I and includes Bede's other historical writings, along with Editions of the Anglo-Saxon version of his History by king Alfred. ^^ A more compendious edition of the Latin text was pub- Moberly, lished at Oxford (Clarendon Press), in 1869, edited by Cl Moberly ; this embodies the most valuable of Smith's notes, and includes others more fully up to the present standard of historical and textual criticism. An excel- lent edition of the third and fourth books has also recently (1878) been published by the Cambridge Uni- versity Press, with notes by professor J. E. B. Mayor and professor Lumby. Of scarcely less importance than Bede's History, even for the period of which he treats, and of yet greater value in that it extends to a much later period, is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle? which brings us down to the year 1154. The commencement of this great national work has been ascribed to king Alfred, but Dr. Guest is of opinion that ' though it was probably reduced to its present shape in the ninth century, yet many of its entries must have been written long before the age of Bede.' If we adopt this view, a portion of the work be- comes contemporary evidence for the period of which we are now treating. It has been conjectured that the Chronicle was an annual compilation, made at one or more of the chief monasteries in the kingdom, from materials furnished by other monasteries throughout the realm. ' No other nation,' says Mr. Thorpe in the Pre- 1 Generally cited by Mr. Freeman under the title of the 'English Chronicles,' owing to his repudiation, on very good grounds, of the term ' Anglo-Saxon ' in the place of ' English.' As, however, the edition by Mr. Thorpe still retains the traditional designation, while that by Mr. Earle is designated as the 'Saxon Chronicles,' it has been thought better not to deviate here from established usage. B.C. 55 TO A.D. 450. CHAP. I. Editions of the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle by Thorpe and Earle. face to his edition, ' can produce any history, written in its own vernacular, at all approaching the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, either in antiquity, truthfulness, or extent, the historical books of the Bible alone excepted.' Mr. Free- man's observations on the work (Norman Conqtiest, i. 9) should be carefully noted. In addition to its value as a source of historical information, the Chronicle may also be regarded as a unique monument of the Anglo-Saxon language, inasmuch as it exhibits the modifications through which the language passed up to the period when its forms developed into what is known as Early English. Of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle there are two excel- lent editions, that by Mr. Thorpe, 1 published in the Rolls Series in 1861, and that by professor Earle, 2 pub- lished in 1865. Mr. Thorpe's edition comprises the six different texts of six independent manuscripts, ending at different dates and written in different parts of the country. These are printed in parallel columns so that the student is enabled to see at a glance the various changes which occur in orthography, whether arising from locality or lapse of time. This edition is accompanied by a new translation of the work, published in a separate volume. Professor Earle's edition gives only two of the texts complete, that known as (A) being the Parker MS. preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and that known as (B) or the Laudian, which is in the Bodleian at Oxford, with occasional extracts from the rest. His edition, however, contains an elabo- rate preface, a large body of useful notes, and a very 1 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, according to the several Original Author- ities. Edited and translated by Benjamin Thorpe. 2 vols. R. S. 1861. * Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel, -with Supplementary Extracts from the others. Edited with Introduction, Notes, and a Glossarial Index. By John Earle, M.A. Oxford, 1865. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 239 full glossarial index. While, therefore, Mr. Thorpe's CHAP. edition provides the more complete apparatus for a critical study of the whole of the texts, professor Earle's supplies the larger amount of general assistance to the student. The writer next in order is NENNIUS, of whose per- sonal history nothing is known, and whose Historia Britonum 1 has often been attributed to Gildas. His History, though written a century later than that of Bede, having been completed in the year 858, stops short of the period reached by the latter writer, by more than forty years. It is almost exclusively occupied with a narrative of events occurring in Wales. Nennius is deficient in judgment and extremely credulous, but he has preserved to us fragments from earlier treatises which are of considerable importance and interest. The Historia Britonum of GEOFFREY OF MON- Geoffrey O f MOUTH 2 is of still less value as an historical guide. Monmouth, b. mo. Geoffrey wrote during the reign of Stephen, and taking d. 1154. Nennius as the groundwork of what is little better than a romance, passed off his production as a translation of a Breton original. Regarded, however, simply as a source of a large amount of falsification with respect to our early history, the work requires to be noticed. It is from these pages that a considerable proportion of the legendary traditions respecting Brut and king Arthur has found its way into English poetry. Buckle, in his History of Civilisation (i., 321-5), has somewhat unjustly selected the Historia Britonum as a fair sample of what passed for English history in the twelfth century ; but 1 Edited by Rev. J. Stevenson, E. //. 1838 ; included also in M. H. B. 2 Edited by Dr. J. A. Giles, 1844. A translation of the work, along with translations of Ethelwerd's Chronicle, Asser's Life of Alfred, Gildas, Nennius, and Richard of Cirencester, forms a volume of Bohn's Antiquarian Library, 1848. 240 B.C. 55 TO A.D. 450. CHAP. I. Influence of his His- toria. The de Situ Bri- tanniae. we have satisfactory proof that it was rejected as an im pudent fiction by William of Newbury, and it is probable that his estimate of the work was that of the majority of his contemporaries. It was not until long after the twelfth century that Geoffrey of Monmouth began to be regarded as a credible historian. But with the sixteenth century it had become almost a heresy to question his authority, and Polydore Vergil, on venturing so to do found himself looked upon as one bereft of his senses ' Few historical works,' says Sir T. D. Hardy, ' have had a wider circulation than Geoffrey of Monmouth's Gesta Regum Britanniae. The alleged history of the origin of the work is seemingly a fabrication ; but without entering into the question whether he did in reality translate into Latin a narrative written in the British tongue, it must be admitted that his writings had a great, perhaps an inspiring influence, not only upon the literature of his age, but upon that of succeeding cen- turies. . . . They became the great fountains of romance, out of which the poets of successive generations have drawn a flood of fiction that has left an indelible impress upon our medieval literature. Indeed it is hardly going beyond bounds to say that there is scarcely an European tale of chivalry, down to the sixteenth century, that is not derived, directly or indirectly, from Geoffrey of Monmouth. If he had never written, our literature would not, in all probability, have been graced by the exquisite dramas of" Lear " and " Cymbeline ; " and much of the material which he has woven into his work would no doubt have perished.' ' Some mention is here required .of another spurious work. For more than a hundred and twenty years, it was almost universally believed that a valuable addition to our knowledge of early Britain had been made by the ' Hardy, D. C. i. 348-9. SPURIOUS AUTHORITY. 241 discovery and publication (in 1747) of a treatise bearing CHAP. the title de Situ Britanniae. It was brought out by ' Dr. Charles Julius Bertram, professor of English at Copenhagen, who died in 1765 in his forty-second year. The work, as he represented, was the production of Richard of Cirencester, a monk of St. Peter's in West- minster, who died in the year 1400. Of this writer one Spudous- work, the Speculum Historiale de Gestis Regum Angliae, is extant, and though of little value has always been accepted as genuine ; it offers, however, the strongest possible contrast to the de Situ, which was really a forgery by Bertram. Professor J. E. B. Mayor, in his edition of the Speculum for the Rolls Series, has exposed with a masterly hand the absurdity of supposing that the two works could have been the production of the same writer. ' The fabricator,' he says, ' ascribes a mosaic of classical citations to an author who never cites independently even the most current poets, Virgil, Lucan, Statius, and whose reading appears to have been confined to the Vulgate, to medieval theology, chronicles and hagiology, and to the charters of his monastery.' The evidence is as conclusive against the genuineness of the treatise, as against its authenticity. The de Situ is unmentioned until the year 1747 ; the original manu- script could never be produced ; the fac-simile which Bertram pretended to have made bears no resemblance to the writing of the fourteenth century, and even on Bertram's own shewing the grounds for attributing the work to Richard of Cirencester are very insufficient. It accordingly becomes necessary to reject the details which some writers of repute, such as Gibbon (Decline and Fall t c. 31), Lingard, and Lappenberg, have derived from the de Situ, as altogether untrustworthy. 1 1 See also Wright's Celt, Roman and Saxon, Append, pp. 466-9 ; and Note E to chap. i. of The Student's Hume, editions prior to 1 880. R 242 B.C. 55. TO A.D, 450. CHAP. I. Camden's Britannia. The Monu- menta His- torica Bri- tannica. Hiibner's Inscrip- tions. Works on Roman, British, and Saxon An- tiquities by Horsley, Bruce, Al- gernon Herbert, and Stuke- lev. In the year 1586, CAMDEN, the antiquarian, pub- lished the first edition of his Britannia, a work that long continued to be a standard authority on all questions connected with Roman Britain. It originally appeared in Latin, forming a small octavo volume of 556 pages ; but in the later editions, which are in English, has been extended to four volumes folio. Camden's Britannia was followed in 1603 by ms Anglica, Normannica, Hibernica, Cambrica, a volume of reprints of some of the chief ancient writers on English, Norman, Irish, and Welsh history. Camden's labours have however been, to a great extent, superseded by the publication of the Monumenta Historica Britannica? which includes, to- gether with reprints of the more important earlier writers on English history, a large collection of passages from Greek and Roman authors and from ancient inscriptions relating to early Britain. The Inscriptiones Britanniae Christianae (Berlin, 1876) of professor Hiibner contains all Latin inscriptions found down to the ninth century. It should however be observed that it is doubtful whether any of these can rightly be referred to the present period, i.e. to the time of Roman Christianity in Britain. Modern Writers. To Camden's Britannia succeeded, in the year 1732 the Britannia Romano, of JOHN HORS- LEY. This work is divided into three parts : (i) a narrative of the Roman transactions in Britain ; (ii) a collection of Roman inscriptions and sculptures discovered in Britain ; (iii) the Roman geography of Britain, after Ptolemy, the Itinerarium of Antoninus, the Notitia, the anonymous Ravennas, Peutinger's Table, &c. .Horsley is generally admitted to have been a careful and judicious anti- 1 Monumenta Historica Britannica : or, Materials for the History of Britain. Edited by Hen. Petrie and Job.. Sharpe, fol. London, 1848. (For list of contents, see Hardy, D. C. i. 850.) MODERN WRITERS. 243 quary, but much of his work, like that of Camden, re- CHAP. appears in an improved form in the Monumenta. MR. _ BRUCE's volume on The Roman Wall, originally de- signed as a popular introduction to Horsley, has ex- panded in the third edition (1867) into a standard work, with numerous and carefully executed plans and illus- trations. It has the merit of being committed to the support of no particular theory. ' Scarcely a statement,' says the compiler, ' is brought forward which is not directly deduced from inscriptions found upon the wall. The legions and auxiliary cohorts are themselves re- quired to describe their movements, to name the camps which they garrisoned, and to specify the works on which they were employed.' In this respect, Mr. Bruce's work differs considerably from that of ALGERNON HER- BERT, entitled Britannia after the Romans (2 vols., 1836- 41). In this the writer deals at length with the mytho- logical element and the legendary history. He identifies Uthyr Pendragon with Jupiter, Prince Arthur with Hercules, relegating nearly all the earlier traditions to the region of the fabulous. He also advances the theory of what he terms 'a Neo-Druidic heresy,' consequent upon the separation of Britain from the Roman Empire. The Druidical antiquities are elaborately illustrated by STUKELEY in his works on Stonehenge and Avebury. 1 More recent and accurate criticism, however, is to be Articles by found in the contributions of Dr. Guest to the elucidation of disputed points in connection with the following sub- jects: (i) Julius Cesar's Invasion of Britain (Archceological Journal, vol. xxi. 1 864) ; (ii) The Campaign of A ulus Other Au Plautius (Ibid., vol. xxiii. 1866) ; (iii) The Boundaries thoritiesfor that separated the Welsh and English Rule during the Dispute. 1 Stonehenge, a Temple restored to the British Druids. By W. Stukeley, fol. 1740. Abury, a Temple of the British Druids, -with some others, described. By the same, fol. 1743. B 2 244 B.C. 55 TO A.D. 450. CHAP. I. The Ancient British Church. Seventy-Five Years wJiicJi followed the Capture of Bath, A.D. 577 (Ibid. vol. xvi. 1859). In the paper already referred to (supra, p. 234), On the Early English Settle- ments, the same writer approaches the much disputed question respecting the permanence of Roman institu- tions and Roman influences subsequent to the departure of the legions and the arrival of the Saxons. 1 His high authority may be cited in favour of an affirmative con- clusion, though his language is carefully qualified. On the same side are to be found Mr. Brewer (Quar. Rev., vol. cxli. 295-301), and MR. C. H. PEARSON (History of England in the Early and Middle Ages, 2nd edit. i. 83-103). While the same theory is carried to the most extreme conclusions by MR. COOTE, in his work entitled The Romans of Britain (1878), where he professes to trace, in the laws and customs of the England of the fifth and sixth centuries, a condition of society ' steeped in Roman institutions and observances.' In the opposed ranks are Lappenberg, professor Stubbs, Freeman, and Wright. The last-named writer in his volume, TJu j Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon (3rd edit. 1875), which forms an interesting manual of the antiquities of the period B.C. 55 to A.D. 597, holds that there existed a large Saxon element in the population prior to the in- vasion under Hengist and Horsa. As regards the evidence for the existence and charac- teristic institutions of the ancient British Church, the student is referred to Spelman and Wilkins' Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents (ed. Haddan and Stubbs), i. i -200, where all the really trustworthy data are incor- porated. 1 It may be observed that the decision of this controversy turns, to a great extent, upon the acceptance or non-acceptance of the testimony of Crildas, and his genuineness as a writer. 245 CHAPTER II. A.D. 450 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. (A.) Contemporary Writers. The guidance of Gildas is CHA . lost to us with the year 560 ; Nennius goes no further _ n ' than the year 688. A few meagre notes, by another Authorities hand, afford a kind of continuation of Bede's History Ascribed, down to the year 766. The records of the different CJironides continue, up to the time of Alfred, to be somewhat meagre ; but with the commencement of his reign become much fuller. In the eleventh century, slight differences occur in the different texts, and with the reign of Edward the Confessor these become much more marked, indicating the divergencies of political feeling in the different parts of the country where they were compiled. The Abingdon Chronicle, for example, shews decided hostility to earl Godwin, while the Peterborough Chronicle is equally favourable to his cause (see Freeman, Norman Conquest, i. 442). ASSER, a monk of Celtic extraction, belonging to the Asser. monastery of St. David's, who became bishop of Sher- borne and died in the year 910, was the adviser and coadjutor of king Alfred in the latter's efforts to revive learning throughout the country. He is generally believed to have been the author of an extant Life of ALFRED, 1 consisting of two parts : (i) a chronicle of events 1 In Camden, Anglica, &c., and M. H. B, There is also an edition by Wise. Oxford, 1722. A Chronicon Fani S. Neoti, an anonymous 246 A.D. 450 TO A.D. 1066. CHAP. II. Ethelwerd. extending from 851 to 887; (2) personal events re- specting Alfred himself, designed as a kind of Appendix. The fact that the latter part was written while Alfred was still in the prime of life, together with certain incon- sistencies and improbabilities in the narrative, has in- clined some critics (see article by the late Mr. Thomas Wright, in Biog. Brit. Litterarid) to conclude that Asser was not the author. Dr. Reinhold Pauli, the author of an admirable Life of Alfred, considers however that the work is substantially that of Asser, with interpolations belonging to a much later date. In referring to places by their Latin or Saxon names, the writer often adds the Celtic name, a feature which would seem plainly to prove that he was a Briton by descent. His narrative was probably compiled for the information of a Celtic com- munity, such as we know to have existed at St. David's. Asser is under frequent obligations to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, of which the earlier part of his work is often a mere transcript. The Latin version of the Chronicle of ETHELWERD, 1 written in the tenth century, and treating of English history from the earliest times to the year 975, is inter- esting as the only production of a Latin historian in an interval of two centuries. Ethelwerd was probably an ealdorman, and he is styled by William of Malmesbury ' the noble and magnificent.' His work is devoid of originality, being little more than a meagre compilation from Bede and the Saxon Chronicle ; the Latinity is also extremely bad. ' In an historical point of view,' how- ever, Sir T. D. Hardy considers that ' his authority and value as a writer are not to be despised.' compilation beginning with Caesar's invasion of Britain and ending A.D. 914, has also been attributed to Asser, but is probably a compila- tion of the latter part of the twelfth century. (See Hardy, D. C. i. 577.) 1 In Savile's Serif tores post Bedam (see supra, p. 216). CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 247 For the years from Svvegen's invasion of England CHAP. (1012) to the accession of Hardicanute (1040), we have L_ the Emmae Encomium? a narrative in the tone of a pane- The m- gyrist addressed by an unknown writer, probably a comium. Norman, to Emma of Normandy, the wife of Ethelred II. The writer shows but an imperfect knowledge of contem- porary events, and the account is defective in other respects, but it contains many curious particulars, and the style, though inflated, is good for the period. For the life of Edward the Confessor, there is a com- Vita Aed- pilation entitled Vita Aeduuardi Regis qui apud West- monasterium requiescit? It is by an unknown author, but one who was unquestionably a contemporary, and wrote, it is conjectured, between the years 1066 and 1074, when the sufferings inflicted by the Norman con- querors were at their height. The treatise is of consider- able value, as it contains facts not found elsewhere ; it also frequently differs materially from other accounts. The biographical literature of this period compensates, Wilfrid and indeed, to some extent for the scantiness of the historical. bg rt U1 Among its most favourable specimens are the Life of St. CUTHBERT, by Bede, and another entitled, Historia de S. Cuthberto, printed in Twysden {Decent Scriptt. pp. 67-76) and also included in the edition of the works of Simeon of Durham, published by the Surtees Society. Bede, however, was indebted for the materials of his Life, to earlier writers, and it is to the Life of WILFRID, bishop of York, by Eddius, that Sir T. D. Hardy accordingly assigns the distinction of being ' the first independent piece of genuine biography in our literature.' ' The style,' he says, ' is somewhat diffuse, and the facts are com- 1 Emmae Anglorum Reginae, Ricardi I, Duds Normannornm Filiae, Encomium ; incerto Auctore, sed coaetaneo. Migne, P. L. cxli. 2 See Lives of Edward the Confessor. Edited by Henry Richards Luard, M.A., R. S. 1858. 248 A.D. 450 TO A.D. 1066. CHAP. II. Aldhelm. b. 656. d. 709. Alcuin. b. 725. d. 804. The Church of York. paratively few, yet his narrative furnishes a valuable commentary upon the corresponding passages in Bede's history, and throws considerable light upon what would otherwise have remained in obscurity ' (D. C. i. 396-8). The Life of ALDHELM of Sherborne, by Faricius, 1 to- gether with the Letters and Poems of Aldhelm himself, are of considerable value. His position, as the earliest English scholar, and his labours in promoting the work of educa- tion in Wessex, impart an exceptional interest to his history. The biography by Faricius was compiled about the beginning of the eleventh century. Faricius was a Tuscan by birth, and a monk of the monastery of Malmesbury, from whence he was promoted to be abbat of Abingdon. The reputation that he there acquired by the austerity of his discipline made him unpopular with the secular clergy, and prevented his election to the archbishopric of Canterbury. His account of Aldhelm is to some extent superseded by that given by William of Malmesbury in the fifth book of his Gesta Pontifiann. William made the life by Faricius the basis of his own account, but added extracts from Aldhelm's writings, and also availed himself of materials afforded by local tradi- tion. The Life of ALCUIN, by an anonymous writer, 2 is of much inferior merit when compared with the foregoing biographies, but Alcuin's Letters* are of great importance from the illustration they afford of the relations between England and Frankland in the eighth and ninth centuries. His poetical history of the bishops and archbishops of York 4 is also of considerable value as a record of events 1 Vita Aldhclmi, auctore Faricio Monac/io Malmesburiensi. Edited byj. A. Giles. Caxt. S. 1854. Printed also in Migne, P. L. Ixxxix., along with Aldhelm's works. 8 Migne, ibid. c. 90-106. s Id., ibid. c. 135-514. 4 Migne, ibid. ci. 814-46. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 249 in connexion with the chief centre of English learning CHAP. at this period ; other material relating to the same subject will be found in the collection by canon Raine. 1 Two Lives of St. DUNSTAN, 2 the one by Adelard, the St. Dun- other probably by Ebrachar, are of importance as sources ^25. of information respecting English history in the latter d - 9 88 - half of the tenth century, for which indeed, if we except the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, they constitute almost the only contemporary materials. (B.) Non-contemporary Writers. The Chronicle of Marianus ... Scotus. MARIANUS SCOTUS, 3 who wrote in the eleventh century, 1. 102 8. is a work of no authority, being, as regards English d - lo86 ' history, nothing more than a compilation from Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, extending to the year 1083. The manuscripts to which he had recourse were however so good, that his text has occasionally served to correct that of the sources from which he borrowed. With thirteenth and fourteenth century writers he ap- pears to have passed for an original authority. The History of the Kings of England, (616-1130) by Simeon of SIMEON OF DURHAM, 4 written in the twelfth century, I13a is especially valuable in connexion with events in North- umbria, for which, in the tenth century, he is indeed the highest authority. He gives an account of the rise of Christianity in the North which, though largely de- rived from Bede's History, and Life of St. Cuthbert, con- tains evidence, particularly towards the close of the third book, of being derived also from other sources, and furnishes many important illustrations of the secular as 1 The Historians of the Church of York, and its Archbishops. Vol. i. Edited by James Raine, M.A., R. S. 1879. 2 Memorials of Saint Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. Edited by .William Stubbs, M.A., K. S. 1874. 3 Migne, P. L. cxlvii. 1844. 4 Symeonis Dunelmensis Opera et Collectanea. Edited by J. H. Hinde. S. S. 1868. 250 A.D. 450 7O A.D 1066. CHAP. II. Henry of Hunting- don. d. after "54- Ralph of Diceto. Peter Langtoft. well as of the ecclesiastical affairs of northern Eng land. HENRY, archdeacon of HUNTINGDON, who was con- nected with the monastic community at Ramsey in that shire, completed in the twelfth century, a history of England up to the end of the reign of Stephen. 1 Here again, Bede and the Chronicle form the staple of the work ; but though little more than a compilation, it pos- sesses some value as preserving to us many ballads and early traditions which would otherwise have been lost. It is also noticeable as the production of a secular clergy- man at a time when monks were almost the only writers. 2 As an independent authority, Henry of Huntingdon has less claim upon our notice, and Mr. Freeman observes (Norman Conquest, iv. 3, note) that he diminishes in im- portance as he gets nearer to his own time. This may in some measure be accounted for by the inferiority of his means of observation in a provincial diocese when compared with those of a resident at one of the great monasteries. The Abbreviations Chronicorum, by RALPH OF DICE TO, 3 a canon of the Church in the twelfth century, and archdeacon of Middlesex, is also noticeable as written by a secular, but is of small value. The Chronicle of PETER LANGTOFT, 4 composed in French verse, and ex- 1 Henrici Archidiaconi Httntindunensis Historia Anglorum : A.C. 55- 1154. In eight Books, ed. Thomas Arnold R, S. 1879. 2 Mr. Earle observes : ' He was an amateur and an antiquarian. To him we owe the earliest mention of Stonehenge. He had a great fondness for the old Saxon Chronicles, which in his day were already something curious and out of date, although his Annals close at the same date as E. viz. 1154.' Pref. to Parallel Chronicles, p. Ixi. 8 Radnlfi de Diceto Decani Lundoniensis Opera Historica* Edited by William Stubbs, M.A. 2 vols. R. S. 1876. 4 The Chronicle of Pierre Langtoft, in French Verse, from the earliest Period to the Death of Edward I. Edited by Thomas Wright, M.A. 2 vols. R. S. 1866-8. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 251 tending from the time of Cadwallader to the reign of CHAP. Edward II., is of even less merit. - In WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY we are presented, for wuiiam of the first time after a lapse of four centuries, with a his- torian who may compare with Bede, and who aspires to * higher functions than those of the mere annalist. The offspring of a Norman father and an English mother, he represents the fusion of the two races, though his sym- pathies are manifestly on the side of the conquerors. William is an eminently favourable example of the Benedictine scholar, interpenetrated with the learning of his order, but with sympathies and an intelligence that lift him far above the ordinary level of monastic writers. By the general consent of scholars, from Leland to Mr. Freeman, he takes a foremost place among the authorities for the Anglo-Norman period of our history. ' Con- sidering the age in which this author lived,' says Sir T. D. Hardy, ' the sources whence he has drawn his materials are surprisingly numerous. In many instances, it is difficult to name his authorities. Little seems to have escaped him, and his skill and judgment in arranging his materials keep such even pace with his industry, that more information is perhaps to be gathered from him than from all the writers who preceded him. 1 His most important work is his Gesta Regum Anglorum, extending from A.D. 449 to the 28th year of Henry I. The text of this, as given in Savile's Scriptores, ' abounds,' according to the same critic, ' with gross errors ; ' the best edition is that which Sir T. D. Hardy himself ed- ited for the English Historical Society, 1 840, along with another work by William, known as the Historia Novella?' A third work from the same pen is the de Gestis Pen- tificum? a history of English bishops and of the principal 1 Hardy, D. C. ii. xlvii. 3 See infra, p. 260. 3 Willelmi Malmesbiriensis Monachi de Gestis Pontificum Anglomm Libri Quinque. Edited from William of Malmesbury's autograph MS., by 25 2 A.D. 450 TO A.D. 1066. CHAP. English monasteries from the mission of Augustine to _ the year 1 123. This has been edited for the Rolls Series by Mr. N. Hamilton, who in his preface describes it as 'the foundation of the early ecclesiastical history of Eng- land on which all writers have chiefly relied.' Florence of FLORENCE OF WORCESTER, whose Chronicon 1 reaches d. iiilt! 161 '' to the year 1 1 16, and is in the earlier part little better than a compilation from the Saxon Chronicle and Marianus Scotus, begins with the year 1030 to be of greater value and to assume the character of an independent authority. His comments are sensible and judicious, and his mate- rials appear to have been selected with considerable care. Mr. Freeman, in the course of his History, bears fre- quent testimony to this writer's discrimination and good sense. Lives of Besides the contemporary Life of Edward the Con- theTfon- fessor, there is a Life by Ailred or ETHELRED OF RlE- VAULX, 2 an abbat of the twelfth century, who compiled his work from that of OSBERT DE CLARE, prior of Westminster. When Edward's body was exhumed in 1066 by the Conqueror, Osbert was sent to Rome to obtain permission to establish a festival in commemora- tion of the deceased monarch, and he then composed the work which forms the basis of the Life by Ethelred. These circumstances enable us to understand how it was that so much legendary matter became interwoven with Edward's history, and accounts also for the highly enco- miastic character of the work. Osbert's work re- mains unprinted, but some of his letters, in which N. E. S. A. Hamilton, Esq., R. S. 1870; as edited by Savile, Mr. Hamilton says the text ' is full of errors, amounting at times to downright unintelligibility.' 1 Florentii Wigomensis Moiiachi Chronicon ex Chronicis, ab Adventu Hengesti et Horsiin Britanniam usque ad ann. 1117. Edited by Benja- min Thorpe. 2 vols. E. If. S. 1848. 2 Printed in the Decent Scripiores (see supra, p. 2 1 6). NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. he insists strongly on Edward's merits and claims to CHAP. canonisation, were published in I846. 1 Ethelred's Life became in turn the basis of a metrical Life, composed in the year 1245, on the occasion of the restoration of the church of Westminster, and written in Norman French. This is printed in the volume, Lives of Edward the Con- fessor, edited for the Rolls Series by Mr. Luard. Al- though these three Lives (especially the metrical life) are of but little historical value, they afford an excellent illustration of the manner in which the legendary element often finds its way into genuine history and of the motives which lead to its fabrication. Mr. Freeman, in his Norman Conquest (Vol. ii. Append, note B), has traced with great clearness this' gradual development of popular reverence for King Edward, which at last ended in his being acknowledged the patron Saint of England.' The Penitential System, instituted by the Church at Peniten- this period, may be studied in the Poenitentiale attributed tials> to THEODORUS, archbishop of Canterbury (A.D. 668-690) and printed in Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents (ed. Haddan and Stubbs) iii. 177-204, in the Poenitentiale of Bede (tb. 326-334), and in that of Egbert (ib. 418-430). All these collections, while illustrating the introduction of a new conception of social relations, point, at the same time, to an extremely low standard of morality as pre- vailing among all classes. The Lives of St, Dunstan? by Osbern and Eadmer Lives of St. exemplify, like the later Lives of Edward the Confessor, Dunstan - the tendency among biographers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to invent statements regarding the career of past prominent actors (especially saints), for a 1 Osberti de Clara Epistolae, Edited by R. Anstruther. Bruxelles, 1846. * Memorials of St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. Edited from various MSS, by William Stubbs, M.A. R. S. 1874. 254 A D. 450 TO A.D. 1066. .CHAP, definite political purpose. The criticism on these Lives !_ in professor Stubbs's preface is highly important. He repudiates altogether the stories which we meet wither the first time in the above biographers (' the earlier of whom wrote nearly a century and a half after the death of Edwy,') of the cruelties practised on the monarch and his queen, and Dunstan's complicity therein. He also dismisses, as equally baseless, the charge brought against Dunstan of having persecuted the married clergy. He dissents entirely from the parallel instituted by Milman (Latin Christianity, bk. vii. c. I.) between Dunstan and Hildebrand, and maintains that Osbern and Eadmer, in attributing to the English prelate characteristics like those of the great eleventh-century pope, were guilty of a gross anachronism, conceived for the purpose of bringing their subject up to their own monastic ideal. Early En- Specimens of laws enacted from the reign of Ethelbert giish Legis- to that of Edward the Confessor, which serve to illustrate the administration of justice in England before the Conquest, are given in Stubbs's Documents illustrative of English History, (pp. 59-75). The distinction there pointed out between those laws which ' are mainly of the nature of amendments of custom,' and those which ' aspire to the character of codes ' is not unimportant. It is however to the former class that the laws of Edgar belong, although it is in these that, in professor Stubbs's opinion, ' the true mark of Dunstan's mind must be looked for.' For the main features of Dunstan's influence in this respect, see the same writer's Preface to Memorials of St. Dunstan (p. cvi.) In the Ancient Laws and Insti- tutes of England, edited for the Record Commissioners by Mr. Benjamin Thorpe (2 vols.), a complete collection of the laws of this period is given, -comprising those of the Anglo-Saxon kings, from Ethelbert to Cnut, with a translation of the Saxon text, the laws called Edward MODERN WRITERS. 255 the Confessor's, those of William the Conqueror, and CHAP. those ascribed to Henry I. ; the above volumes also contain Monumenla Ecclesiastica Anglicana from the seventh to the tenth century, &c. Spurious Authority, The Historia Monasteria Cray- The landensis attributed to Ingulphus, a writer of the eleventh century, was for a long time accepted as genuine and also regarded as one of the most valuable sources of historical information, inasmuch as it includes in addition to the history of the monastery much that relates to the kingdom at large. In proportion to the estimation in which this work was held, was the amount of error of which it was productive. 1 It has, however, been con- clusively proved to be a composition of the thirteeenth or fourteenth century ; the arguments and facts which support such a conclusion are given by Mr. Riley in the Archaeological Journal (i. 32-43; ii. 114-133), and by Sir T. D. Hardy in the Descriptive Catalogue (ii. 62-64). (c.) Modern Writers. The History of the English Paigrave, Commonwealth, by Sir FRANCIS PALGRAVE, and MR. J. M. KEMBLE'S Saxons in England afford, much valuable illustration of this period, and the chapters treating of special or still controverted questions, such as the Mark, the Bretwaldas, the constitution of the Witenagemot, &c., should be studied by those who are desirous of fully investigating these subjects. Generally speaking, how- ever, all the more important and most fully ascertained conclusions of these two writers will be found reproduced and more accurately stated in the two standard works on the period, the Constitutional History (chaps, i.-ix.) of professor STUBBS, and the Norman Conquest (chaps, i. ii. iii. v. and vi.-x.) of MR. FREEMAN. The first 1 The credit given to ' Ingulphus ' by Thierry in his Histoire de la Coqut>te (TAngleterre, appears to have been a frequent cause of misconcep- tion in his treatment of the subject. 2 5 6 A.D. 450 TO A.D. 1066. CHAP. II. Worsaae's Danes and Nor- wegians, Mr. Free- man's Norman Conquest. volume of WAITZ'S Deutsche VerfassungsgeschicJite, treating of Die Verfassung des deutschen Volks vor der Zeit des grossen Wanderung, offers an excellent intro- duction to professor Stubbs's volume. The work of WORSAAE ' supplies a valuable collec- tion of facts which tend to prove the permanence of the results that followed upon the Danish conquest and occupation. The writer, himself an eminent Danish antiquary, pushes his conclusions, however, beyond reasonable limits, maintaining that the combined effects of the Danish and Norman conquests were such as almost entirely to substitute Scandinavian for Anglo- Saxon influences, while the representatives of the latter race, he holds, sank entirely, ' leaving only a part of their civilisation and their institutions to their successors in dominion.' The merits of MR. FREEMAN'S History of the Norman Conquest have been so generally recognised that it is unnecessary here any further to insist upon them. It may, however, be observed that the first two volumes are held by competent judges to have been conceived in a spirit of too unreserved admiration of the early Eng- lish character and institutions. He has failed, it has been said, sufficiently to recognise the very defective sense of nationality which prevailed down tb the time of Henry of Anjou. The ' Imperialism ' which he claims for the kings of Wessex or of England does not appear to be supported by adequate evidence. His praise of earl Godwine is overwrought, and he fails to allow sufficient weight to the facts which militate against that states- man's character. His view of the Commendation of Scot- land to Eadward in 924 should be compared with Mr. Burton's comments in his History of Scotland, \. 356-9. 1 An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and Ireland. By J. J. A. Worsaae. 1852. MODERN WRITERS. 257 Professor BRIGHT'S Early English Church History CHAP. is a careful and valuable study of events from the mission of Augustine to the death of Wilfrid in 709. MlLMAN's Professor Latin Christianity (bk. iv. c. 4 ; bk. v. c. 10) supplies ^itaan, many interesting- facts from the latter date to the death and Dean J Church. of Alfred. Dean CHURCH'S Beginning of the Middle Ages furnishes a very useful outline which serves to illus- trate the affinities of English history to that of the Continent up to the tenth century. The Dictionary of Christian Biography? now in Dictionary course of publication, includes many excellent and care- "/tan s'io- ful biographies of the chief characters both in the S ra P h y- political and ecclesiastical world in England down to the ninth century. To this may be added, for the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Biographia Britannica Litter- w . right 'i . d r Bwgraphia, aria (Anglo-Saxon Period, 1846) by THOMAS WRIGHT, etc. The Select Charters and other Illustrations of English Stubbs's Constitutional History from the earliest Times to the charters. Reign of Edward /., edited by professor Stubbs (Clar- endon Press, 1870), form a volume best described in the editor's own words as ' an easily handled repertory of the Origines of English Constitutional History,' ' con- taining every constitutional document of importance during the period it covers.' Portions of the Introdiictory Sketch and interspersed criticism have since been given more fully in the same author's Constitutional History , but the volume still retains most of its original value. The standard work of reference for the history of Dugdaie's * Monas- English and Welsh monastic foundations, from their first ticon. institution to their dissolution in the sixteenth century, is Dugdaie's Monasticon? 1 A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects, and Doc- trines. Edited by William Smith, D.C.L., and Henry Wace, M.A., vol. i. A-D ; vol. ii. E-HER. 1877-79. 2 Mo-nasticon Anglicanum. By Sir William Dugdale. Edited by Caley, Bandinel, and Ellis. 6 vols. in eight parts. 1817-3- 2 S 8 CHAP. III. Dudo of St. Quen- tin. CHAPTER III. FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE ACCESSION OF KING JOHN. (A.) Authorities for Norman History. The study of Norman history, so far as necessary to elucidate our own, should be commenced with the reign of Edward the Confessor. The sources of information are not numerous, almost the only authority for the tenth century being the de Gestis Ducum Normanniae by DUDO, dean of St. Quentin in the first quarter of the eleventh century, ' one of the earliest,' says Mr. Freeman, ' of a very bad class of writers, those who were employed, on account of their supposed eloquence, to write histories which were intended only as panegyrics of their patrons.' Although the work is almost wholly untrustworthy, it was the wniiam of source from whence WILLIAM OF JUMIEGES, surnamed Calculus, derived much of the material for his Historiae Normannorum. William himself, whom Palgrave styles ' the perplexed and perplexing,' becomes a contemporary authority with the Conquest. Although obscure and involved as a writer, he is free from prejudice, and Mr. Freeman pronounces his work to be one of great value. It was from the work of William, that Wace, a canon of Bayeux in the twelfth century, compiled his poetical history of the Conquest, known as the Roman de Ron. A yet more important work is the Gesta Willelmi of WILLIAM OF POITIERS ; it narrates the career of the CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 259 Conqueror from the year 1036 to 1067, and is the chief CHAP. source of information on the subject William was chaplain to the Conqueror, and his work is conceived in William of a spirit of determined vindication of his hero and of de- i, .^dao! preciation of the English. For the events immediately j' 8 circ * succeeding the Battle of Hastings the narrative is of especial value. Both William of Jumieges and William of Poitiers have been printed by Maseres in his selection from Duchesne's Historiae Normannorum Scriptores, published in 1808. The Bayeux Tapestry l and the metrical composition The of Guy, bishop of Amiens, 2 are specially to be consulted Tapestry, by those who wish to study all the circumstances of the Guy of great battle. Amiens ' (B.) Contemporary Writers on English History. Of the Anglo- different versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Cot- Chronicle, tonian (Tib. A. vi.) has .already ended with the year 975, the Cottonian (Domit A. viii. 2) with the year 1056, the Abingdon, with the battle of Stamford Bridge ; the Benet (or Corpus Christi) Chronicle terminates with the year 1070; the Cottonian (Tib. B. iv.) with the year 1079; the Bodleian or Peterborough Chronicle carries us to the end of the reign of Stephen. As, however, the literary influences of the court of Henry Beauclerc began to spread through the kingdom, the Chronicle disappeared amid the change that came over the monastic foundations; it died out before Norman learning and the modified conditions which now surrounded alike the monk, the ecclesiastic, and the scholar. The Historia Novorum by EADMER, 3 a monk of Eadmer, Christchurch, Canterbury, is the best authority in rela- 1 For a full criticism on the authority of the Bayeux Tapestry, see Free- man's Norman Conquest, vol. iii. Append. A. 2 Carmen de Bella Hastingensi. Printed in M. H. B. ; and also in Giles, Scriptores Rerum Gestarum Willelmi Conquestoris. 3 Printed in Migne, P. L. clix. S 2 26o A.D. 1066 TO A.D. 1199. CHAP, tion to the public careers of Lanfranc and Anselm, and in 1_ the controversy respecting investitures ; it also gives other important facts in the reign of William Rufus. Geoffre About the year 1140, GEOFFREY GAIMAR composed Gaimar. in French verse his Histoire des Angles. The work commences with the arrival of Cerdic, but prior to the Norman Conquest is little more than a very incomplete and faulty narrative strung together from the Anglo- Saxon Chronicles. After the invasion, Gaimar appears to have drawn from some source common to himself and Florence of Worcester. His account of the death of William Rufus, with which event the History ends, is particularly circumstantial. Onto-icus ORDERICUS VITALIS, an Englishman by birth, but b. 1075, educated as a monk in Normandy, compiled, between ^ years 1130 and 1141, an Ecclesiastical History extending to the latter year. With the Conquest, the work becomes one of primary importance, especially in connection with events in Normandy. The spirit in which Orderic writes is highly to be commended, al- though his style and method are vicious and faulty in the extreme. A good criticism of his merits as an his- torian will be found in the fifth chapter of dean Church's Life of Anselm (1870). The best edition is that pub- lished by Le Prevost, 1838-40. wniiam of The work of WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY already referred to, the Historia Novella, or 'New History,' was compiled by him at the request of Robert, Earl of Gloucester, a natural son of Henry I., and Stephen's chief antagonist. It deals with the period 1126-1142, and, as might be anticipated, is altogether favourable to the party of Matilda. The Gesta Stephani? on the other hand, written in all probability by one of Stephen's own 1 Edited for E. H. S. by Dr. R. C. Sewell, 1845. The Gesta Stephani and the Historia Novella illustrate each other in a remarkable manner, and CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 261 clerks, is a spirited narrative conceived as a vindication CHAP HI of Stephen. It terminates with the arrival of Henry of 1_ Anjou in England in 1152, and though the single exist- ing manuscript has reached us in a defective condition, some parts being altogether wanting, while the end is lost, the work is valuable from its graphic description of many of the incidents of the civil war, and the picture it supplies of the prevalent anarchy and suffering. Amid the confusion that prevailed and the vacillation of the contending parties, it is not difficult to discern that prin- ciples as well as the interests of rival houses were at stake. The influence of archbishop Theobald, the patron of Thomas Beket, was honourably exerted in the the main to enlist the efforts of the Church in the cause of peace. RICHARD and JOHN, both priors of the monastery at The HEXHAM,' are other authorities for the same reign, in *?exham . Chronicles. connexion with which the work of the former gives us important information. Richard's narrative concludes with the Battle of the Standard, of which he supplies an excellent account. Another account of the battle is that of Aethelred or Ailred, 2 abbat of the Cistercian monas- tery at Rievaulx, in Yorkshire. Aethelred gives fewer Aethelred details, but professes to report the actual speeches of the leaders on either side before the engagement. The Chronica of Melrose? is, in the earlier part, a chronicles somewhat dry epitome of the foregoing northern writers, of Meirose but for the period 1140 to 1270 it assumes considerable cost, value as an independent authority. ' The numerous and progressive variations in the handwriting,' says the should be read together page by page. A good outline of the contents of the former will be found in Gairdner's Early Chronicles of England, pp. 88-98. 1 Both in the Decent Scriptores, see supra, p. 216. - De Bella Standardii ; in Migne, P. L. cxcv. 702-12. * Chronica de Mailros. Edited by J. Stevenson. Bann. C. 1835. 262 A.D. 1066 TO AD. 1199. CHAP. III. William of Newbury. b. 1136. d. 1208. The Gesta Regis Henrici. editor, ' show that it is very frequently, if not always, contemporaneous.' It became, in turn, the source from whence not a few other monastic chronicles, and especially that known as the Chronica de Lanercost? incorporated some of their most interesting facts. The last-named work is a well-known and amusing record, chiefly of events in Border history ; its name, however, would seem to be a misnomer, the internal evidence leading us rather to conclude that it was the composition of a member of the Franciscan community in Carlisle. The three chief authorities for the reign of Henry II. are WILLIAM OF NEWBURY, 2 the Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi, commonly ascribed to Benedict of Peterborough, and ROGER HOVEDEN. The Historic/, Rerum Angli- carum of the first-named writer is in five books, extend- ing from the year 1066 to 1 198. William's style is clear and sober, and his appreciation of the comparative value of facts is sound. His account of the disputes between the king and Beket is singularly free from prejudice. His characters are drawn with much fidelity and dis- crimination, and he has preserved many interesting anecdotes relating to distinguished persons. The work ascribed to Benedict of Peterborough is of no less merit and is characterised by professor Stubbs as ' indisputably the most important chronicle of the time.' He has, however, clearly shewn that Benedict was certainly not the author? and he inclines to the belief that it was the production of Richard Fitz-Neal, the treasurer of Henry II., and author of the celebrated treatise known as the 1 Historic, de Gestis Regum Britannonun et Anglorum a Cassibellano ad annum 20 Edw. 3 (1346) per qitendam Canonicum de Lanercost in comitatu Cumbria. Edited by J. Stevenson. 2 vols. Bann. C. 1839. 2 Edited for E. H. S. by Mr. Hans Hamilton. 2 vols. 1856. * See his preface to his edition of this author (R. S. 1867) pp. Hi. liii. ; and Hardy, D.C. ii. 254. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 263 Dialogus de Scaccario. The greater part of the Gesta CHAP. was reproduced by ROGER HOVEDEN in his Chronica} a L_ series of annals extending from A.D. 732 to 1201. Of R i er ' . Hoveden. this series, the portion from the commencement to the d. oirc. year 1169 appears to be mainly a compilation, though J one of considerable value. The portion which corre- sponds with the Gesta is that included between the years 1170 and 1192, and the internal evidence serves to shew that the two writers had access to the same materials, but treated them in a somewhat different fashion. From 1192 to 1 20 1 the Chronica maybe regarded as wholly Hoveden's work, and constitute an authority for that period of the highest importance. ' It is in Hoveden,' says professor Stubbs, ' that we have the full harvest of the labours of the Northumbrian historians. . . . Studied as the primary authority on the history of a reign of primary importance, this work affords material for dis- cussion of the most interesting kind on an immense variety of points, constitutional and political.' The Imagines Historiarum of RALPH OF DlCETO - Ralph of are also of considerable value for the reigns of Henry II. ^/^rc.' and Richard, the position occupied by the writer for I2 3- more than fifty years as archdeacon of Middlesex and dean of St. Paul's having given him access to the best information. ' Well illustrated,' says the same authority, ' as the reigns of Henry II. and Richard are, without Ralph de Diceto one side of their character would be 1 Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Hovedene. 4 vols. Edited by William Stubbs. R. S. 1868-71. - Radulfi de Diceto Decani Londoniensis Opera Historica. Edited by William Stubbs. 2 vols. R. S. 1876. This includes also the Abbrevia- tiones Chronicorum by the same writer, a work of comparatively slight value. As regards the use of the term ' Chronicle ' by writers in these times, the observation of Professor Stubbs is to be noted : ' Chronicles were, as Ralph de Diceto had read in Cassiodorus, Imagines Historiarum, the outlines of histories. ' Pref. to Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi, p. xi. 264 A.D. io66 TO A.D. 1199. CHAP. III. Richard of Devizes. Hugo Candidas. Gervase of Canter- bury. Other ma- terials for reign of Richard I. imperfectly known, and some of the crises of their politics would be almost incomprehensible.' A Chronicle of the earlier years of the reign of Richard, viz., A.D. 1 189-1 192, by RICHARD OF DEVIZES, 1 adds somewhat to the infor- mation supplied in the Gesta attributed to Benedict of Peterborough. The History of the monastery at Peterborough, by HUGO CANDIDUS, 2 carries the narrative down to the year 1175, and includes notices of neighbouring monas- teries founded by bishop Ethelwold. Hugh appears to have used and amplified the Peterborough version of the Saxon Chronicle in connexion with which his work possesses its chief interest, being otherwise almost en- tirely destitute of information of a general character. About the year 1189, GERVASE, 3 a monk of Canter- bury, began to put together a compilation from the chief historians of the century, Henry of Huntingdon, the continuator of Florence of Worcester, and the author of the Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi, commencing with the reign of Stephen and continuing the work to the death of Richard I. Gervase appears to have been inspired throughout by a spirit of hostility to the house of Anjou, and his labours, though not without value, do not entitle him to take rank with the best authorities for the period. Two other volumes in the Rolls Series will be found useful for the reign of Richard I. 4 Of these, the one 1 Chronicon Ricardi Divisiensis de Rebus gestis Ricardi Primi. Edited by J. Stevenson. E. H. S. 1838. s Hngonis Candid! Coenobii Burgensis Histeria. Printed in Sparke (see supra, p. 217), who also gives an abridged translation of Hugh's work into Anglo-Norman verse. 3 The Chronicle of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry //., and Richard /., by Gervase, the Monk of Canterbury. Edited by William Stubbs. 2 vols. R. S. 1879-81. 4 Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard the First. Vol. i. : Itinerarium Peregrinorum, et Gesta Regis Ricardi. Vol. ii. : Epistolac Cantuaricnses. Edited by William Stubbs. R. S. 1864-5. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 265 furnishes a minute and authentic narrative of that CHAP. monarch's career, from his departure from England in L. December, 1189, as the leading spirit of the third Crusade, to his death ; the other, consisting of letters written by the prior and convent of Christchurch, Can- terbury, between the years 1187 and 1189, supplies a good illustration of the relations between the monastic orders and the secular clergy, an important feature in the history of these times. GlRALDUS CAMBRENSIS, 1 a Welsh ecclesiastic, who Giraldus wrote in the latter part of the twelfth century, was a b r *~ is man of great shrewdness of observation and considerable <* "47- d 1222 powers of satirical humour. His Gemma Ecclesiastica and Specuhim Ecclesiae, together with the poem of WALTER Waiter MAP, de Nugis Curialium, and the de Nugis Curialium ap ' et Vestigiis PhilosopJwrum of JOHN OF SALISBURY, 2 pre- John of sent us with a remarkable, although in some respects exaggerated, picture of ecclesiastical and court life at this period. The Letters of the last-named writer are not less valuable and full of interest. The most important of the works of Giraldus are, The Topo- however, his Topographia Hiberniae and his Expugnatio ff J?*_ Hiberniae, the former being the result of his visit to pugnatio . . Hiberniae Ireland, as secretary to prince John, in 1185, and con- ofGiraidus. taining a description of the natural history, the miracles, and inhabitants of the country ; the latter giving an account of the Conquest of Ireland under Henry II. Both these works are of exceptional merit ; and the Expugnatio is characterised by Brewer as ' a noble speci- men of historical narration, of which the author's age furnished very rare examples.' 1 The Works of Giraldus Cambrensis. Vols. i-iv. Edited by J. S. Brewer, M.A. Vols. v-vii. Edited by James F. Dimock, M.A. R. S. 1861-77. - For the works of John of Salisbury, see Migne, P. L. cxcix. 266 A.D. 1066 TO A.D. 1199. CHAP. III. Poem on the Con- quest of Ireland. Works re- lating to the Early History of Ireland. Besides Giraldus, we possess, for the Conquest of Ireland, a poem in Norman French verse, 1 which, though faulty in style and very corrupt in its language, contains an interesting account of the whole expedition. It is the composition of an unknown author who derived his information from Morice Regan, interpreter to Dermod MacMurrough, king of Leinster. ' Few events,' observes Mr. Wright in his Preface, ' have had the good fortune to be recorded by two contemporaries so well fitted for the task as Giraldus and Maurice Regan one closely related to the heroes (for heroes we may truly call them) who performed the enterprise ; the other, an immediate agent of the native chieftain in whose aid it was per- formed.' Early Irish History. In connexion with yet earlier Irish history, a subject which may advantageously be taken up at this period, almost the only printed source of authentic informa- tion is the fragmentary records known as the Annals of Ireland, 12 which, along with much that is fabulous and legendary, supply a disjointed narrative of the achievements of the princes of Ossory and Leix, together with those of their kinsman, the Ui Neill. Of the manuscript sources a minute criticism will be found in MR. EUGENE O'CURRY'S Lectures? In speaking of modern writers on the early period, this critic goes so far as to affirm that ' no one event of early Irish history is accurately given in Moore.' The History of Erina, by DR. KEATING, a work of the seventeenth century composed among the woods 1 Anglo-Norman Poem on the Conquest of Ireland by Henry the Second. Edited by Francisque Michel. With an Introductory Essay on the History of the Anglo-Norman Conquest of Ireland, by Thomas Wright. 1837. * Annals of Ireland : Three Fragments copied from ancient Sources by Diibhaltach Mac Fribisigh, and edited -with a Translation and Notes. By John O'Donovan. Dublin, 1860. * Lectures on the MS. Materials of Ancient British History, delivered at the Catholic University of Ireland, during the Session of 1855 and 1856. By Eugene O'Curry. Dublin, 1861. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 26; and caves of Tipperary, he pronounces to be a work of great CHAP. value, though not without serious defects. The History of the Abbe Mac Geogehan, written in 1758, is to be looked upon as a praiseworthy attempt rather than a successful performance. The Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets and Epigramma- Contem- tists of the Twelfth Century, edited by Mr. Thomas gS^ 8 *" Wright, 1 contain much amusing and interesting illustra- tion of the manners, vices, and follies of the period. Of Domesday Book, otherwise known as the Liber de Domesday Wintonia, the original of which is to be seen at the Book ~ Record Office, a verbatim edition was printed in the last century, being completed in 1783. In 1860, Her Majesty's Government, with the concurrence of the Master of the Rolls, determined to apply the art of photozincography to the production of ^.fac-simile edition, which was brought out under the superintendence of Colonel Sir Henry James, R.E., Director of the Ord- nance Survey, Southampton. This was completed in 1863, and is sold in parts varying in price from 4$-. 6d. to i/. is. od. A full account of the whole literature ot this great survey is given by Mr. Freeman in the Appen- dix (note A.) to the fifth volume of his Norman Conquest. The life of Lanfranc by MlLO CRISPIN, 2 that of contem- Anselm by EADMER, 3 those of Beket in the volumes edited by canon Robertson for the Rolls Series, 4 and that of Hugh of Lincoln, known as the Magna Vita? are all biographies of high value and interest. 1 2 vols. R. S. 1872. 2 Vita Beati Lanfranci, Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis, Auctore Milan e Crispino, monacho et cantore Beccensi, subpari. Migne, P. L. cl. 22-28. * Printed in Migne, P. L. clix. 4 Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canter- bury. Vols. i. ii. and iii. Edited by J. C. Robertson. R. S. 1875- 1877. 5 Magna Vita S. Hugonis Episcopi Lincolniensis. Edited by James F. Dimock. R. S. 1864. 268 A.D. 1066 TO A.D. 1199. CHAP. III. Dialogus de Scacca- rio. John Brompton. Freeman, Stubbs, Guizot, Bryce. Lives of Lanfranc, Anselm, Beket, and Hugh of Lincoln. The Dialogus de Scaccario, or ' Dialogue on the Ex- chequer,' by Richard, bishop of London, is printed in full in professor Stubbs's Documents, &c. (pp. 160-241),. 4 as contributing an extraordinary mass of information on every important point in the development of constitu- tional principles before the Great Charter.' Non- Contemporary Writer. The Chronicon of JOHN BROMPTON, who was abbat of Jervaulx in Yorkshire at the close of the thirteenth century, is printed in Twys- den's Scriptores. It terminates with the year 1199, and is a poor compilation of little authority from William of Newbury, ' Benedict,' Giraldus, and Hoveden. (C.) Modern Writers. The fourth chapter of Mr. Freeman's Norman Conquest gives a graphic account of Norman history up to the commencement of the eleventh century. Professor Stubbs's Constitutional History, chap- ters x. xi. xii. (to p. 514), affords the requisite and in- dispensable collateral guidance. The first chapter of the sixth Essai in GuiZOT's Essais sur rHistoire de France, ' Du Gouvernement Anglo-Normand,' brings out some of the chief points of contrast between French and English constitutional history at this period. The seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters of PROFESSOR BRYCE'S Holy Roman Empire contain a full explanation of the theory of the medieval Empire and its relations to Teutonic history in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. The main facts in the life of Lanfranc are to be found in dean Hook's Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. ii. ; but are given more fully as well as more correctly in M. de Crozal's Lanfranc: sa Vie, son Enseignement, sa Politique (Paris, 1.877). The Life of Anselm, by DEAN CHURCH, is a volume of great merit, and may be compared with that contained in dean Hook's Lives, &c., from which it diverges on some not unimportant points. The essay on Thomas a Beket in MODERN WRITERS. 269 Mr. Freeman's Historical Essays (2nd series), is one of CHAP. especial value. The Life of St. Hugh of Lincoln, by L canon G. G. Perry, is a very instructive study, founded upon original materials, of the Church history of these times. The Biographia Britannica Litteraria (Anglo- Wr ight's Norman Period, 1842), by Mr. Wright, supplies a series Biographia. of sketches of the chief literary characters of the period arranged in chronological order. The 2ist and 22nd chapters of SlSMONDl's Histoire des Fran^ais, detailing sismondi. the history of the third Crusade and the results by which it was attended, will be found to supply a good illustra- tion of Richard the First's real character. For the Crusades generally the volume by Sir G. W. Cox s Cox supplies a graphic though brief account ; while Crusades. professor Stubbs's Early Plantagenets, a volume in the same series, supplies an outline of the greater part of the nets - present and of the following periods, which will be found useful both by teacher and student. 1 1 The Crusades, by G. W. Qox ; The Early Plantagenets ; by William Stubbs ; volumes in 'Epochs of Modern History.' Longmans and Co. 1874 and 1876. 270 CHAPTER IV. CHAP. IV. The 'Chronicle and the History. 1 Advance in Historical Composi- tion. FROM THE ACCESSION OF KING JOHN TO THE DEATH OF EDWARD II. (A.) Contemporary Writers. A marked advance in historical composition is one of the distinguishing fea- tures of the thirteenth century when compared with the preceding era. We find the mere Chronicle now giving place in the treatment of abler writers to the History, that is to say a simple arrangement of events in chrono- logical sequence is expanded into a narrative which aims at exhibiting the relations of cause and effect, and events are pourtrayed as incidents of a coherent drama and in their supposed moral and political significance. This important advance presents itself in connexion with a new Historic School. The great Northern school culmi- nated and ended with Hoveden, and was now succeeded by the no less remarkable school of the South associated with the monastery of St. Alban's. A very slight ac- quaintance with the historical literature of this ancient house, which owed its foundation to king Offa and had once been ruled by Anselm, is sufficient to disprove the representations of those who would have us look upon this period as one when history had lapsed into the hands only of ignorant, credulous, and prejudiced writers. 1 1 See, for example, the very unjust representations of Buckle in the sixth chapter of his History of Civilisation. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 271 The town of St. Albans, the halting-place at the close CHAP. of the first day's journey northwards from London, was the scene of continuous traffic and excitement, and its The School monastery afforded shelter and hospitality to travellers Alban's. of all classes. 1 Nor was it only a great centre of intelli- gence, it was also a great depository of documents ; and hence the works of its members, such as those of Mat- thew Paris, Rishanger, John de Cella, Roger Wendover, and John de Trokelowe are among the most authoritative contemporary records of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 2 Pre-eminent among their number is MAT- Matthew THEW PARIS, the historian, the traveller, the politician, the monk, and the courtier, and a comparison of his Historia Major with the Chronica of Hoveden affords decisive proof of the advance above described in this species of composition. Instead of an almost colourless narrative, we are presented with a series of brilliant historical criticisms, and although the change may in some measure be due, as professor Stubbs suggests, to the altered policy of the clergy, who found themselves compelled to abandon their former position of political neutrality for one of active partisanship, it is also un- doubtedly to be regarded as one of the manifestations of that new spirit infused into the age. 1 Matthew Paris states that in the stables of the abbey set apart for the use of guests and strangers, there were stalls for nearly 300 horses. Chron. Maj. ann. 1252. 2 Chronica Monastetii S. Albani. Edited by H. T. Riley. 1 1 vols. R. S. 1863-76. It may here be worth while to caution students against the misapprehension that a Chronicle associated with the name of a par- ticular religious house is exclusively concerned with its special history. Sometimes, like the Annales Monastici, they incorporate documents of great national importance which had been sent to the monastery to be transcribed. See on this point the Preface to the third volume of Hardy's Descriptive Catalogue, &c. p. xx. ; and also, for some interesting observa- tions and facts relating to the character and 'mechanical structure' of our earlier chronicles, professor Earle's Preface to his Parallel Chronicles, pp. i-vi. 272 A.D. 1199 TO A.D. 1327. CHAP. IV. His His- toria Major. John de Cella and Roger of Wendover. The Historia Major of Matthew Paris, of the latter part of which his Historia Anglorum (or Historia Minor) is chiefly an abridgment, though containing some ad- ditional facts, extends from the Creation to the year I259. 1 The much controverted question, as to the relative claims of Matthew and Roger of Wendover to be considered the original author, has been finally set at rest by the valuable Prefaces of Mr. Luard to his edition of the larger work. He concludes that the Historia Major up to the year 1189 was the work of John de Cella, abbat of St. Alban's during the years 1195 to 1214 ; that it was then continued by ROGER OF WEND- OVER on the same plan and from the same sources to the year 1235, the whole work up to this date subsequently passing, for a long time, as the production of the latter writer exclusively, and being known as the Flares His- toriamm ; 2 that it was then transcribed by Matthew Paris, who, however, made numerous corrections and additions, but, in the opinion of professor Stubbs, ' interpreted ' rather than ' interpolated ; ' that it was then continued by the same writer, and is, from 1235 to the year 1259, exclusively his work. In style, in vividness of narration, and in descriptive power, Matthew greatly surpasses his two predecessors. He has also received the praise, very generally, of being a warm advocate of English rights and liberties, and a sturdy opponent alike of regal and 1 Matthai Parisiensis Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora. Edited by H. R. Luard. R. S. 1872-80. [Vol. i., the Creation to A.D. 1066 ; vol. ii. A.D. 1066-1216; vol. iii. 1217-1239; vol. iv. 1240-1247 ; vol. v. 1248-1259]. Matthai Parisiensis Historia Anglorum, sive, ut vulgo dicitur, Historia Minor. A.D. 1067-1253. Edited by Sir Frederic Madden. 3 vols. 1?. S. 1866-69. [The Chronica Majora are often designated the Historia Major. ,] 2 This work has also been edited by Mr. H. O. Coxe for the English Historical Society. He considers that for the period A.D. 1200-1235 Wendover may be looked upon as an original writer, and that here his character as an historian is unimpeachable. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 273 papal tyranny : in fact, the national sentiment may be CHAP. said first to receive adequate expression in his pages. 1_ His History, moreover, is not only the best source of information with respect to events in England, but is also an authority as regards continental affairs, especially those of France and the Empire. The Chronica of WILLIAM RiSHANGER, 1 also a monk wmiam of St. Alban's, was formerly known as his continuation of Matthew Paris. It embraces the period A.D. 1259- 1306, and is in many respects identical with the Annales of NICHOLAS TRIVET, a history of the Angevin dynasty Nicholas in England, 2 both authors having evidently drawn to a great extent from the same sources. 3 Trivet was a Dominican friar who had been educated at Oxford and at Paris, at which latter university he collected many of his materials for his history. He assigns as his motive for undertaking the work, the comparative neglect with which, after the death of John, historical writers had treated English affairs. For the reign of Edward I., Trivet's A nnals are a contemporary record. The work is one of high merit, whether regarded as a literary produc- tion or simply as a clear and accurate narrative of events. For the reign of John, besides the Historic/. Major, we waiter de have a very valuable contribution in the Memoriale of Coventr y- WALTER DE COVENTRY, a compilation made in one of the fen monasteries, probably Crowland or Peterborough. 1 Willelmi Rishanger Chronica et Annales, forming vol. iii. of the Chronica Monasterii S. Albani. Edited by Mr. Riley. ft. S. - Annales sex Regum Angliae qui a comitibus Andegavensibus originem traxerunt. Edited by Mr. Hog. E. H. S. 1845. It is to be noted that Trivet makes up the number ' six ' by including Geoffrey of Anjou, the husband of Matilda, and the original wearer of the planta genista. He speaks of Henry II. as ' primus eorum regum qui a comitibus Andegaven- sibus duxerunt originem secundum lineam masculinam ' (p. 31). 3 Mr. Gairdner (arfy Chronicles, p. 265) seems, however, to have clearly established the conclusion that Rishanger's work is borrowed, for the above period, almost entirely from that of Trivet. T 274 A.D. 1199 TO A.D. 1327. CHAP. IV. The Mon- astic An- nales. The Annals of Burton. The Annals of Win- chester. The Annals of Waverley. The Anna! Dunstable. For the reign of Henry III., down to the commence- ment of the Barons' War, Matthew Paris is the main authority ; but at this period the Annales Q{ the different monasteries come in and often supply trustworthy sub- sidiary information. The principal of these Annales are those (i.) of the monastery of Burton-upon-Trent, 1 in Staf- fordshire, beginning in the year 1004 and ending with the year 1263. From 1189 to 1201, they supply little more than a series of extracts from Hoveden, but after the year 1211 they acquire a special value from the im- portance of the incorporated documents, especially those relating to the Provisions of Oxford. (ii.) of the monastery of Winchester 2 (A.D. 519 to 1 277), probably the work of Richard of Devizes. These are important for the last ten years, as they supply us with a very full account of the period immediately fol- lowing upon the battle of Evesham. (iii.) of Waverley, 3 near Farnham in Surrey, the ear- liest Cistercian house in England. These treat of the whole Christian era up to the year 1291. The history of John's reign is given at considerable length, and from the year 1219 to 1266 the manuscript was written con- temporaneously with successive events, and consequently furnishes one of the most authoritative records of the period. From 1266 to 1275 it is identical with the Winchester Annals. (iv.) of Dunstable, 4 comprising the whole Christian era down to the year 1297. 'Very few contemporary chroni- clers,' says Mr. Luard, ' throw so much light on the general history of the country, and, what would scarcely be expected, on foreign affairs as well as those of Eng- land. Many historical facts ' (enumerated by the editor 1 In vol. i. of Mr. Luard's Annales Monastic!. 2 Ibid. vol. ii 3 Ibid. vol. ii. R. S. 1864-9. * Ibid. vol. iii. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 275 in his Preface, pp. xv-xix.) ' are known solely from this CHAP. chronicle.' The compiler is on the barons' side in his . account of the Barons' War. (v.) of Osney near Oxford l (A.D. 1016-1347). This The is supposed to have been the work of Thomas Wykes, Osney. " with whose Chronicon (A.D. 1066-1289) it has much in wkes. S common. Both the Chronicon and the Annals are to a great extent compiled in the earlier parts from Ralph of Diceto and Florence of Worcester, while in the later they borrow largely from Matthew Paris and William of Newbury. The points with respect to which the two works are found to differ are enumerated by Mr. Luard in his Preface to the fourth volume of the Annales Monastici, pp. xviii-xxiii. (vi.) of Worcester, 2 comprising the whole Christian The , Annals of era to A.D. 1377. In their general character these A nnals Worcester. much resemble those of Dunstable, though hardly of equal excellence. For the reign of Edward II. we have (i.) the Annales of JOHN of TROKELOWE (A.D. 1307- J hnof * J ' Trokelowe. I3 2 3)> 3 a rnonk of Tynemouth, who had been transferred from that monastery to St. Alban's, where he composed his work. He had been an eye-witness of many of the events which he describes, and these portions of his nar- rative are consequently of value. (ii.) A Life of Edward by an unknown writer, 4 who, Monk'of from the fact that the only existing MS. came from bury. Malmesbury, is supposed to have been a member of that monastery. This, as regards both style and authority, ranks higher than the compilation of Trokelowe. Pauli considers that the narrative is certainly contemporary with the year 1 327. 1 Luard 's Annales Manas tici, vol. iv. s Ibid. vol. iv. 3 In vol. iv. of the Chronica Monast. S. Albani. 4 In the series edited by Hearne. T 2 2 7 6 A.D. 1199 TO A.D. 1327. CHAP. IV. Thomas de la Moor. Adam of Murimuth. Walter Heming- ford. (iii.) A Life by THOMAS DE LA MOOR, 1 who evinces considerable sympathy with Edward. He indulges, however, in frequent exaggeration, and his statements do not appear to rest, in any case, on a personal know- ledge of the facts. (iv.) The Chronicon of ADAM OF MURIMUTH, 2 a diplomatist who had received his education at Oxford. This work is of importance both for the reign of Edward II., and for the earlier period of that of his son, the narrative terminating with an account of the battle of Crecy, and the victory of the earl of Derby. Another Chronicle, of especial importance for the reigns of the first three Edwards, is that of Walter de Gisseburn, better known as WALTER HEMINGFORD. 3 This extends in the first instance, from A.D. 1066 to 1297 ; it was subsequently continued (but whether by Heming- ford himself or by another hand is a matter of some doubt 4 ) and carried on to the year 1346, terminating somewhat abruptly on the eve of the battle of Crecy. Of this continuation, the part of the narrative relating to the last five years of the reign of Edward II. is altogether wanting. The early part is derived mainly from the Durham compilers, and from William of Newbury, but with the thirteenth century, the narrative assumes an in- dependent value. The editor, Mr. Hans Hamilton, de- scribes it as 'one of the most favourable specimens of our early chronicles, both as regards the selection of events 1 In Camclen's Anglica-Norm. Hibern. Cainbr. pub. 1603. - Adami Muritnuthensis Chronica sui Tewporis, mine piimum per decent annos autta (1303-1346) cum eonindem Continuation* cut A.D. 1380 a quodam Anonymo. Edited by Mr. T. Hog. . H. S. 1846. 3 Chronicon Walteri de Hemingburgh. 'Edited by H. C. Hamilton. 2 vols. E. II. S. 1848. It is from this writer that Hume mainly derived his account of Edward I. Both Hume's and Hallam's estimate of this monarch are, however, superseded by that given in Stubbs's Const. Hist. c. xiv. 4 See Hardy, D. C. iii. 255. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 277 and the accuracy with which they are recorded.' We note CHAP. also in Hemingford what is still more rare at this period an adequate sense of the value and importance of the Great Charters of England ; it is to him that we are in- debted for the most satisfactory text of the so-called statute de Tallagio non concedendo, of the year 1297. He also in the latter portion of his work that relating to the years 1339-1346 cites at length, in connexion with the reign of Edward III., a large number of Royal Letters and Papal Bulls to which he supplies the neces- sary connecting narrative. Among the local chronicles, that of Peterborough 1 is History of exceptionally valuable. It was in the thirteenth century that our municipal institutions became consolidated and the trade gilds attained to full possession of the privileges which secured the ' craftsmen ' against the tyranny of the burgher class. The gradual development of these gilds, from the ' frith-gild' of Anglo-Saxon times to the con- federation of gilds which resulted in an organised municipality, is ably illustrated in Dr. Brentano's essay. 2 In London, in marked contrast to the traditional patriot- ism of the citizens whenever the cause of popular freedom throughout the country was at stake, the struggle for independence against the oligarchical rule of the merchants, on the part of the ever-augmenting num- bers of the ' craftsmen,' was singularly protracted and severe. The incidents of these successive contests and The City the whole history of the civic community may be traced London, in the archives preserved in the Record Room of the Guildhall, a collection unrivalled in its kind by that of any other city in the world. Of these documents three of the most important have been printed and published : 1 Chronicon Petroburgense. Ntmc prinium typis mandatum, curante Thoma Stapleton. C. S. 1849. 2 Prefixed to Ordinances of English Gilds. .. T. S. 2 7 S A.D. 1199 TO A.D. 1327. CHAP. IV. Liber de Antiquis Legibus. Liber Albus. Liber Cus- tumarum. Other Records of London. Domesday of St. Paul's. Chroniques de London. The Chronicle f London. (i) the Liber de Antiquis Legibus} a Latin chronicle of the city transactions from A.D. 1178 to 1274; (2) the Liber Albus, compiled in the year 1419, by John Carpen- ter, Common Clerk to the city of London ; (3) the Liber Custumarum, a compilation of a similar character, of about 1320, put together under the supervision of one Andrew Horn. Both these latter volumes 2 are of high value from the light they throw upon the political and commercial condition of the country during the thir- teenth and fourteenth centuries, upon the social usages and institutions of the city, and on the foreign wars of Edward III. Another record of considerable importance for the same subject, is the Domesday of St. Paul's? a compilation of the year 1222, which gives a detailed account of the churches and landed property belonging to the cathedral body, and also affords a useful insight into the con- ditions of land tenure and agricultural industry at the same period, a state of affairs which resulted in the agra- rian insurrections of the following century. There is also a Chronicle of London composed in French 4 (at that time the language both of the royal court and of the courts of law), which extends from the forty-fourth year of Henry III. to the seventeenth of Edward III. Another Chronicle, published by Sir Harris Nicolas in i827, 5 appears to have been a compilation of the time of Henry 1 Edited by T. Stapleton (together with Cronica Maiorum et Vice- comitum.) C. S. 1846. 2 Muninienta Gildhallae Londoniensis. Vol. i. Liber Albus ; vol. ii. Liber Custumarum ; vol. iii. Translation of the Anglo-Norman Passages in Liber Albus, Glossaries, Appendices, and Index. Edited by H.*T. Riley, M.A. R. S. 1159-62. 3 The Domesday of St. Paul's of the Year 1222. With Introduction, Notes, and Illustrations. By William Hale Hale. C. S. 1858. 4 Chroniques de London, depuis fan 44 Hen. III. jusqt? a Fan 17 Edw. III. Edited by G. I. Aungier. C. S. 1844. 5 Chronicle of London from 1089 to 1483. With an Appendix con- taining Poems by Lydgate. Edited by N. H. Nicolas. 1827. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 279 VI. and to have been subsequently continued to the CHAP. death of Edward IV. To the foregoing, we may add a 1_ volume compiled by WILLIAM GREGORY, lord mayor of Gregory's London, in 1451, the year after Jack Cade's rebellion. 1 (B.) Non-contemporary Writers. The historical labours of the monks of St. Albans were continued in the fifteenth century by one of the most eminent of the community, THOMAS WALSINGHAM, 2 who was precentor of the Thomas abbey in the reign of Richard II. ; he appears to have ^ sing " been the inspiring genius of its scriptorium, and was also the compiler of a History of the foundation. The part of the Historia Anglicana attributed to his pen which relates to the present period, is however almost entirely a compilation from preceding writers already named. In the year 1618 there appeared the History of Eng- land from the Conqiiest to the reign of Edivard III., by SAMUEL DANIEL, 3 a production deserving of notice Samuel rather for its literary than its historical merits, being a mere reproduction of the ordinary authorities. Royal and episcopal Letters. The chancellorship of Royal and Hubert Walter, in the reign of John, marks the com- Letters 1 ^ 1 mencement of a new source of information of the highest historical value, namely, the Letters, preserved either as entries upon the Close and Patent Rolls, or separately among the documents, and known as the Royal Letters. Those of the reign of Henry III., edited by Mr. Shirley, 4 are especially valuable in connexion with the history of Simon de Montfort and the state of affairs in Gascony. 1 Collections of a London Citizen. Edited by James Gairdner. C. S. 1877- 2 Thomae Wahinghain Historia Anglicana, forming vols. i. and ii. of the Chronica Monast. S. Albani. R. S. 1863-4. 3 In Kennet ; see supra, p. 217 ; see also Hallam's Hist, of Literature, iii. 373-4 (ed. 1864). 4 Royal and other Historical Letters illustrative of the Reign of Henry III. Vol. i. A.D. 1216-1235; vol. ii. 1236-1272. Selected and edited by the Rev. W. W. Shirley. R. S. 1862-6. 280 A. D. 1199 TO A.D. 1327. CHAP. IV. Papal Letters. To Walter de Grey, archbishop of York, and bishop Hugh of Wells, deputy of the chancellor of Lincoln, we owe the earliest existing records relating to the eccle- siastical acts of their respective dioceses. Both the royal and the episcopal letters derived their idea and form from the corresponding documents of the Papal Registry, an all-important collection for the relations of England to the Holy See at this period. These may be consulted in the continuation of the Annales Ecclesiastici of Baro- nius, by Raynaldus ; in Jaffe's Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, vol. ii. ; and in the Monumenta Britannica ex autograpJiis Romanorum Pontificum (A.D. 1216-1759) in 50 volumes, edited by Marini. The Letters of ROBERT GROSSETESTE, bishop of Lincoln, dating from about 1210 to 1253, afford much insight into both the political and ecclesiastical history of his age ; ! while the Roll of the Household Expenses of BisJwp Swinfield 2 illustrates not only the economy of an episcopal palace, but the whole condition of society in the reign of Edward I. A collection of political and satirical Songs of the period, edited by Mr. Wright, affords occasionally inter- esting evidence with respect to the popular impressions- concerning the chief characters and events of the time. 3 Welsh History. The history of Wales, the study of which can best be taken up at this period, must be gleaned from the Authorities Itinerarium of Giraldus (see supra, p. 265), and from the Annales Cambriae, edited for the Rolls Series by the Rev. John Williams ab Ithel. This latter, which is, for the most part, a meagre register of events resembling the earlier portions of the 1 Letters of Bishop Grosseteste, illustrative of the Social Condition of his Time. Edited by Rev. H. R. Luard. R. S. 1861. 2 A Roll of the Household Expenses of Richard de Swinfield, Bishop of Hereford, during part of the years 1289 and 1290. Edited by Rev. John Webb. C. S. 1854. 8 TJie Political Songs of England from the Reign of John to that of Edward II. Edited and translated by Thomas Wright, Esq. C. S. 1839. Letters of Grosse- teste. Roll of Bishop Swinfield. Political Songs. for Early Welsh History. WELSH AND SCOTTISH HISTORY. 281 English Chronicle, was probably compiled by Welsh monks and CHAP. extends from A.D. 444 to 1288. It is interesting as the earliest source of the kind for information respecting Welsh history, and the probable basis of later chronicles relating to the principality. To this may be added the Brut y Tywysogion ; or, Chronicle of the Princes of Wales, in the same series and by the same editor. The Annals of the monasteries of Margan and Tewkesbury, in the first volume of the Annales Monastici, edited by Mr. Luard, will also be found of service from the facts they record relating to local history. Other sources, whether for tradition or historical fact, are Gildas, Nennius, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Tysilio, Ponticus Verannius, Wace's Brut, Layamon, Caradoc of Llancarvan, John Brechfa, and the Chronicon Walliae* Of all of these, a concise account will bg found in the first chapter of Lappenberg's History of England. ! Scottish History. The chief sources for this subject are Authorities the series of Documents edited by the late Sir Francis Palgrave 2 scouj^ and by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson ; 3 the Chronicles relating to History. Pictish and Scottish history edited by Mr. W. F. Skene, 4 who has also embodied the results of a succession of valuable re- searches in his work entitled Celtic Scotland ; 5 and, for the subsequent period, the able work of Mr. E. William Robertson, entitled Scotland under her Early Kings* The theory put 1 A History of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings. By Johann Martin Lappenberg. Translated from the German, with Additions and Corrections by the Author and the Translator. 2 vols. 1845. 2 Documents and Records illustrating the History of Scotland and the Transactions between the Crowns of Scotland and England ; preserved in the Treasury of Her Majesty's Excheqtier. Edited by Sir Francis Palgrave. I vol. R. C. 1837. 3 Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland, from the Death of Kin% Alexander III. to the Accession of Robert Bruce. A.D. 1286-1306. Selected and arranged by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson. 2 vols. H.M. General Register House. Edinburgh. 1870. 1 Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and other Early Memorials of Scottish History. Edited by William F. Skene. i vol. H.M. General Register House : Edinburgh. 1867. (These extend from the tenth to the fifteenth century. ) 5 Celtic Scotland: a History of Ancient Alban. By William F. Skene. Vol. i. : History and Ethnology ; vol. ii. : Church and Culture ; vol. iii. : Land and People. 1876-80. 6 Scotland under her Early Kings : a History of the Kingdom to the 282 A.D. 1 199 TO A.D. 1327. GHAP. forth by Mr. Robertson (vol. ii. append, i), of the original re lations of Scotland to England should be compared with that maintained by Mr. Freeman in his Norman Conquest [vol. i. (edit 2), pp. 117-129, and Appendix G, I, and N], and with his elaborate investigation of the whole question in his His- torical Essays (ist series), in the essay on The Relations be- tween the Crowns of England and Scotland. The theory of the English monarchic supremacy may be compared with that in- volved in the claims of the head of the Holy Roman Em- pire, a subject which requires again to be carefully studied in connexion with the history of Richard of Cornwall. The early charters and coinage of the realm are to be found in the col- lections by Anderson. 1 (c.) Modern Writers. The whole period of the Angevin reigns (1154-1272) has been summarised with his wonted Freeman, vigour and mastery of the subject by Mr. Freeman in the Pauli, ' concluding chapter of his History of the Norman Conquest. Brewer Tke thirteenth Leqon in Guizot's Histoire de la Civilisa- Miiman, tion en France furnishes an outline which brings out &c. some of the main points of difference between the in- stitutions of France and England during this century. The best account of the reigns of John and Henry III. is that given by DR. PAULI in his GeschicJite von England, iii. 294-855. The work of Mr. William Longman, entitled Lectures on the History of England from tJie Earliest Times to the Death of Edivard //., will be found useful in con- nexion with the period of the present chapter. The pre- faces by professor Stubbs to his edition of Walter of Coventry, and by Mr. Luard to the several volumes of his edition of Matthew Paris, together with those by Brewer to the Monumenta Franciscana and his editions of the Opus Tertium and Opus Minus of ROGER BACON 2 Close of the Thirteenth Century. By E. William Robertson. 2 vols. Edinburgh. Edmonston and Douglas. 1862. 1 Selectus Diplomatum et Numismatum Scotia: Thesaurus. Edited by James Anderson. Fol. Edinburgh, 1 739. 2 The ' Opus Tertium J ' Opus Minus,' &c. of Roger Bacon. Edited by J. S. Brewer, M. A. R. S. 1859. MODERN WRITERS. 283 are full of illustrative material for thirteenth century CHAP. IV history, a period which professor Stubbs, in the pre- !_ face above referred to, designates, as ' one of the most remunerative of all studies to the careful student.' The ninth and tenth chapters of the ninth book of MlLMAN's History of Latin Christianity supplies a graphic sketch of the rise of the orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi. The second part of the ninth chapter of HALLAM'S Middle Ages points out the elements of progress and improvement which England shared in common with the Continent, and the ' four causes ' which he assigns of the intellectual advance then per- ceptible should be carefully noted. In the writer's History of tfie University of Cambridge (vol. i. cc. 2 & 3), will be found a systematic account of the commencement of the universi y era throughout Europe, and of the rise of Oxford and Cambridge, together with the history ot the foundation of their most ancient colleges. 1 The Barons' War (1871) by Mr. Blaauw, Dr. Pauli's Lives of Simon von Montfort, der Schopfer des Hauses der Ge- Montfort. meinen (1867) and the Life of Simon de Montfort (1877), by Mr. G. W. Prothero, afford all the requisite information respecting the great political contest of the thirteenth century. The Lives of Stephen Langton (archbishop 1207-1228), Edmund Rich (1234-1240), Boniface of Savoy (1245-1270), and Robert Winchelsey ( 1 294- 1313), in dean Hook's A rchbishops of Canterbury, Hooks offer good illustrations of the relations of Church and State in England at this period ; while for the policy of Boniface VIII. and its effects in England and France, Milman's Latin Christianity (bk. xi. cc. 7, 8, and 9) should be consulted. 1 The University of Cambridge : from the earliest times to the Royal Injunctions 0/1535. By James Bass Mullinger, M. A. Cambridge Uni- versity Press. 1873. 284 CHAPTER V. CHAP. V. Adam of Murimuth. Robert Avesbury. d. (circ.) 1356. FROM THE ACCESSION OF EDWARD III. TO THE DEATH OF RICHARD III. (A.) Contemporary Writers. The materials for English history throughout this period reflect the general decline of the literary spirit, and are at once defective as sources of information, and inferior as specimens of historical literature. We meet with no such writers as William of Malmesbury or Matthew Paris. Adam of Murimuth continues to be a principal witness for events up to the year 1 346, after which the narrative is carried on by his unknown Continuator to the year 1380. His statements are for the most part made on good authority, or as the result of personal observation, and the impression we de- rive is that of one who was an honest and veracious chronicler, although possessed of no descriptive or literary power. The achievements of Edward III. are also recorded by ROBERT AVESBURY, 1 who was registrary of the archi- episcopal court at Canterbury. He likewise can claim no higher rank than that of a painstaking chronicler, but his work incorporates some valuable original documents and transcripts of letters. In connexion with the in- vasion of Cambresis in 1339, the expedition into Brittany 1 Robert of Avesbury, Hist, de mirabilibus Gestis Edwardi HI. Hearne. 1720. Ed. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 285 in 1342, and the events that led to the battle of Crecy his narrative is of the highest authority, and affords ma- terial corrections of that of Froissart. The Polychronicon of HlGDEN becomes the account Higden of a contemporary with the first half of the fourteenth J" xSlsa century. Higden was a member of the wealthy and powerful abbey of St. Werburg, a Benedictine com- munity at Chester. His work is divided into seven books, of which the sixth concludes with the Norman Conquest, the seventh reaching to the reign of Edward III. 1 The Polychronicon is almost entirely a compilation, but in the second chapter of the first book the author enumerates at length the sources from which he has drawn his nar- rative, and the work is consequently valuable as showing what historical writers were studied in England at this period. Towards the close of the century, the Poly- chronicon was translated by JOHN OF TREVISA, a secular priest of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, and his version is valuable as a specimen of contemporary English prose. The Polychronicon is now in course of publication in the Rolls Series, and in the prefaces to the several volumes the sources from which Higden has derived his facts are pointed out. 2 HENRY KNIGHTON, a canon of the abbey at Leices- Henry ter, was a contemporary of John of Trevisa and compiled Kni s hton - a History of England from the time of king Edgar to the death of Richard II. 3 According to his own state- ment, his compilation was mainly founded on Higden's seventh book ; but it includes many facts not therein 1 That is, as appears most probable, to the year 1342 ; but this ques- tion cannot be considered as decided until the appearance of professor Lumby's preface to the concluding volume of his edition of Higden. 2 Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden, with Trevisa's Translation. Vols. i. and ii. edited by Churchill Babington, D.D. Vols. iii. iv. v. vi. and vii. edited by Professor Lumby. R. S. 1865-79. 3 Printed in the Decem Scriptores ; see supra, p. 216. 286 A.D. 1327 TO A.D. 1458 . CHAP. contained. The text, as it has reached us, is extremely 1_ corrupt, and Knighton's style and method are alike faulty. Notwithstanding, however, his history is valuable on account of the facts and original records which it con- tains. Among other sources of information, he appears to have had access to the private collections and letters of Henry, duke of Lancaster, and those of John of Gaunt. Chronicle A Chronicle of England, during the sixty years A.D. by a Monk ... 3 J . of St. 1328-88, written by another member of the active centre ns ' of St. Alban's, fills up what had before been regarded as almost a blank in our history, namely, the concluding years of the reign of Edward III., of which it supplies a circumstantial account. 1 Waking- It is in connexion with the first fifteen years of the ' reign of Richard II. that the Historia Anglicana of Walsingham (see supra} assumes its highest value and becomes a work of primary importance. Prior to this period it is grounded chiefly on the Annals of St. Alban's, while the concluding portion (A.D. 1393-1422) contains not a few inaccuracies of detail. 2 For the years 1377 to 1392, however, it is a strictly contemporary account (compiled probably by Walsingham, soon after he left St. Alban's in 1 392 to become prior of the cell of Wy- mundham), which is at once intelligent and authoritative, 1 Chronicon Angliae, ab Anno Domini 1328 usque ad Annum 1388, auctore Monacho quodam Sancti Albani. Edited by Edward Maunde Thompson, Esq. R. S. 1874. 2 These defects induced Mr. Riley, the latest editor of the work, to conclude that the Historia, after the year 1392, is not the production of Walsingham. Mr. Gairdner, however, a highly competent critic of the literature of this period, assigns satisfactory explanations of the inferiority discernible, and gives it as his opinion that there is nothing ' of the nature of internal evidence to create a doubt that the writer of the history during the reigns of Henry IV. and Henry V. is the same as the writer of the his- tory in Richard II. 's time, ' On the contrary,' he says, ' the style is the same throughout.' Early Chronicles of England, p. 269. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 287 notwithstanding that certain contradictions and expres- CHAP. sions of conflicting opinion (especially with respect to _ the characters of Richard and John of Gaunt) shew that it is still a compilation from diverse and sometimes dis- cordant sources. In relation to the concluding portion of Richard's French . . ^ \ -i <_ i Chroniclers reign, we have also a Cromque ' and a metrical compost- O n Richard tion, Histoire du Roy d? Angleterre? both by French n> writers. Of these, the former is the production of one who was an eye-witness of many of the events which he describes, and who sympathised with the ill-fated mon- arch. His account is of the more value from the fact that the chroniclers of the fifteenth century invariably espouse the side of the House of Lancaster. The writer of the poem also pleads the cause of Richard, and his production is likewise deserving of attention. The Chronicle of ADAM OF USK 3 throws some ad- A dam of ditional light on the years A.D. 13771404. Adam was Usk - a Monmouthshire man and a priest, who, after having been educated at Oxford, entered the service of Henry IV. and subsequently ingratiated himself with pope Boniface IX. His chief contribution to the history of the period consists of some interesting facts relating to the deposition and last days of Richard II. and the early part of the reign of Henry IV. His account of the march of Henry's army to Chester and of the events 1 Cronique de la traison et mart de Richart deux Roy Dengleterre. Edited by B. Williams. E. H. S. 1846. 2 Histoire du Roy d'Angleterre, Richard, traictant particulierement la rebellion de ses subjects et prinse de sa personne, composee par un gentilhommc francois qui fut a la suite dudict Roy, avecq permission du Roy de France, 1399. Edited and translated by Rev. John Webb. Archaeolog. Britann. xx. 1-423. 3 Chronicon Adae de Usk, A.D. 1377-1404. Edited with a Transla- tion and Notes by Edward Maunde Thompson. Published under the direction of the Royal Society of Literature. London: John Murray, 1876. 288 A.D. 1327 TO A.D. 1485. CHAP. V. John Cap- grave. * !393- a. 1464. that followed is also of some value. We learn from these pages that Henry, in his hatred of the Welsh, had designed, if possible, altogether to suppress the Welsh language. JOHN CAPGRAVE, a native of Lynn in Norfolk, was a member of the house of Augustinian friars in that city, and afterwards provincial of his order. He was a voluminous writer, and composed among other works (i) A Chronicle of England, 1 and (2) The Book of the Noble Henries? Of these the former, extending from the Creation to A.D. 1417, is written in English and is valu- able as a specimen of the Norfolkshire dialect of the period. It also supplies some facts, not found elsewhere, respecting the history of the writer's own times. His Noble Henries (designed in honour of the reigning monarch) includes Henries of the Empire and other illustrious characters of the same name, besides the first six Henries of England. His notices of the latter ex- tend from the accession of Henry I. to the year 1446 ; his facts, as regards the first four Henries, are derived mainly from Henry of Huntingdon, Higden, and Wal- singham. In adverting to the circumstances under which the Lancastrian dynasty succeeded to the crown, he professes to maintain the strictest impartiality, but as a contemporary record the work is disfigured by the tone of degrading sycophancy employed by the writer with respect to the Henry on the throne. His latest editor claims for him, however, the merits of ' honesty and sincerity of purpose.' 3 1 The Chronicle of England. By John Capgrave. Edited by Rev. F. C. Hingeston. K. S. 1858. 2 Johannis Capgrave Liber de Illustribus Henricis. Edited by Rev. F. C. Hingeston. R. S. 1858. Of this work Mr. Hingeston has also pub- lished a translation. 3 Hingeston, Pref. p. xvii. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 289 THOMAS OTTERBOURNE, a Franciscan monk who CHAP. lived in the reigns of Henry IV. and V., wrote a con- _ temporary chronicle entitled Ckronica Regum Angliae. 1 Thomas This concludes abruptly with the assassination of the bourne. duke of Burgundy in the year 1419. Otterbourne and Walsingham either drew from common sources or copied the one from the other ; but there are also facts recorded in the Chronica which we do not meet with elsewhere, and which rest on good authority. For the reign of Henry V. we have, besides Capgrave, f-ives of three other biographies: (i) The Life by THOMAS by Elm-' ELMHAM, prior of Lenton, near Nottingham, which he ^apkdn' also rendered, with numerous additional facts, into and Titus English verse ; 2 (2) that known as the ' Chaplain's ac- count,' written in 1418 by a chaplain in the army under Henry's command ; 3 (3) the Life by one TlTUS LlVIUS, an Italian, who was patronised by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, and was one of the privy council of Henry VI., to whom the work is dedicated. 4 Of these the first is much the more full and important, but is written in an inflated grandiloquent style which frequently obscures the author's meaning. The Life by Livius, on the other hand, is comparatively simple in its language, and, in the opinion of one critic, is mainly a compilation from Elmham. Hearne, however, points out that each writer presents us with many facts which are not to be found 1 Duo Rertim Anglic arum Script ores Veteres : viz. Thomas Otterbourne et Johannes Whethamstede, ab Origine Gentis Britannicae usque ad Ed- wardum IV. Edited by Thomas Hearne. 1732. 2 Thomae de Elmham Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti Anglorum Regis. Edited by Thomas Hearne. 1727. The metrical version has been printed by Mr. Cole in the Memorials of Henry V. R. S. 3 Henrici Quinti, Angliae Regis, Gesta, auctore Capdlano in Exerdtn Regio, cum Chronico Neustriae, Gallice, ab ann. 1414-22. Edited by B. Williams. E. H. S. 1846. 4 Titi Livii Foro-Juliensis Vita Henrici Quinti Regis Angliae. Edited by Thomas Hearne. 1716. U 290 A.D. 1327 TO A.D. 1485. CHAP. V. Chroniqite de Nor- mandie. Siege of Rouen. in the other. The ' Chaplain's account,' first printed by Mr. Williams, goes no further than the year 1418, the continuation from that time to the close of Henry's reign, being taken from Sloane MS. 1776, which is little more than an abridgment of Elmham. The author was probably a Frenchman, and his accounts of the siege of Harfleur and the battle of Agincourt are especially full and animated. The volume containing this Life gives us also a Chronique de Notmandie frequently cited by Fabyan. ' The dates of this latter composition,' says the editor, ' are often incorrect, but it supplies us with much valuable information which we do not obtain from our English chroniclers, especially an account of Henry's residence at Paris, and the proceedings between the rival parties in that city ' (Pref. p. xi.). Further information respecting Henry's campaign in Normandy will be found in the work of M. Puiseux, Le Siege de Rouen (Caen, 1867), and also in the Siege of Rouen by John Page, which narrates in verse the inci- dents of that tragical experience, as recalled by an eye- witness. 1 As contrasted with the materials for the history of Henry the Fifth's foreign wars and that waged in the early part of the reign of his successor, 2 our information respecting the domestic life of the nation is sadly inade- quate. Walsingham, as already noted, leaves us with the year 1422, and for the first ten years of the reign of Henry VI., Fabyan's Chronicle, together with the data supplied by the Rolls of Parliament and Rymer's Foe- dera, constituted, until recently, nearly the only printed sources. Under these circumstances, the Annales of 1 The Historical Collections of a Citizen of London in the Fifteenth Cen- tury. Edited by James Gairdner. C. S. 1877. 2 See Letters and Papers illustrative of the Wars of the English in France during the Reign of Henry VI. Edited by J. Stevenson. 2 vols. K. S. 1864 CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 291 the monastery of St. Alban's, for the years 1421 to 1440, CHAP attributed to JOHN AMUNDESHAM, 1 a member of the 1_ community and afterwards president of a Benedictine John College at Oxford, and another Chronicle 2 by an un- ham. known member of the same foundation, acquire an ex- ceptional value. Though alike concerned mainly with events relating to the abbey of St. Alban's and its members, both these productions constitute a singular and often amusing illustration of the learning, discipline, and customs of English monasticism at this period. The Annales, more especially, deserve to be read for the interesting sketch they contain of the career of WHET- John J . . . Whetham- HAMSTEDE, who was twice abbat of the society, and stede. whose memory Amundesham avows himself anxious to guard from detraction. Both Amundesham and Whet- hamstede would seem to have been favourable specimens of their order ; the former was an accomplished scholar ; the latter, a scholar, and also a traveller, and well versed in the ways of the world. Of the latter period of his abbacy, Whethamstede himself composed a Register? which relates to events of the years 1452 to 1461. It is consequently concerned with the time of the great struggle between the Red and the White Rose, and from the towers of the monastery its inmates may have viewed the battle of 1455, which took place in the im- mediate vicinity. From this date to its close, the Register, unlike the two other chronicles above described, 1 Johannis Amundesham, Monachi Monasterii S. Albani, utvidetur, Annales. 2 vols., forming volumes viii. and ix. of the Chronica Monas- terii S. Albani. Edited by Mr. Riley, see supra. 2 This Chronicle, Chronicon Rerum gcstarum in Monasterio S. Albani (A.D. 1422-1431) a quodam Auctore ignoto compilatum, is described and included by Mr. Riley in the above volumes of John Amundesham. 3 Registrum Abbatiae Johannis Whethamstede, Abbatis Monasterii Sancti Albani, iterum susceftae. In vol. x. of the same Chronica, edited by Mr. Riley. On the use of the term ' Register,' see Bacon, Advancement of Learning, bk. II. ii. 2. n 2 2Q2 A.D. 1327 TO A.D. 1485. CHAP. V. Other Chronicles for Reign of Henry VI. Bekynton's Correspon- dence. John Hard- b. 1378. d. 1465. Richard Grafton. d. after I572- Jean de Waurin. ceases accordingly to be a mere record of the history of the house, and embodies some important notices of the strife that was going on between the contending parties without. Two other Chronicles relating to the reign of Henry VI. have just been edited by Mr. Gairdner. 1 The Correspondence of bishop BEKYNTON, secretary to Henry VI., contains both letters written by himself and several written in the royal name, as well as letters addressed to the king and to himself. Though not of any striking interest, the correspondence serves to illus- trate some points in our national history in the first half of the fifteenth century. 2 JOHN HARDYNG, a dependant of the family of the Percies, who was frequently employed in state business in the reigns of Henry V. and Henry VI., composed a Chronicle treating of the earliest period of English history, and terminating with the flight of Henry into Scotland. 3 This was continued by RICHARD GRAFTON, a man of good family and liberal education, to the thirty- fourth year of the reign of Henry VIII. The treatment by both writers presents us only with a very meagre collection of facts, while Grafton's work is little more than a transcript of Hall (see infra, p. 299.) The Collection of Chronicles by JEAN DE WAURIN 4 1 Two Chronicles of the Reign of Henry VI. Edited by James Gairdner. C. S. 1880. 2 Memorials of the Reign of Henry VI. : Official Correspondence of Thomas Bekynton, Bishop of Bath and Wells. Edited by Rev. George Williams. Vols. i. and ii. R. S. 1872 3 The Chronicle of John Hardyng, containing an Account of Public Transactions from the earliest Period of English History to the Beginning of the Reign of King Edward the Fourth. Together with the Continuation by Richard Graf ton, to the Thirty- Fourth Year of King Henry the Eighth. Edited by H. Ellis. 1812. 4 Recufil des Croniques et Anchiennes Istories de la Grant Bretagne a ptesent nomine Engkte^re. par Jehan de Waurin. Vol. i., Albina to- CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 293 -embraces the period from the first fabled settlement in CHAP. v Britain to the author's own times, that is, to the ex- L_ pedition undertaken by king Edward IV. against the Bastard of Falconbridge, after the defeat and death of the prince of Wales and queen Margaret at Tewkesbury in 1471. It consists of six volumes, each volume being divided into six books ; volume v. containing the period 1413-43 ; volume vi. that from 1443-71. For the four- teenth century there can be no doubt that Jean borrows a good deal from Froissart. His merits and claims to rank as an independent authority are discussed by Mr. Hardy in his Introduction (vol. i. pp. civ ccx). WILLIAM OF WORCESTER (also known as ' the Bot- William of toner'), was born at Bristol about the year 1415, and ces er's received his education at Oxford at the expense of Sir * f Collections. John Fastolf, with whom he afterwards lived at Caistor in Norfolk, and in relation to whom he filled the several functions of esquire, historian, and executor. He died about 1490. Worcester was a man of considerable learning, and was indefatigable in the study of the an- tiquities of the kingdom ; but his Annales Rentm Angli- cantin? which extend from A.D. 13241491, exhibit no merits beyond those of the ordinary chronicler. Besides the Annales, Worcester compiled certain 'Collections con- cerning the Affairs of Normandy and France,' in French. 2 The most important source of information with re- spect to the last-named subject is, however, the Chronicle of JEAN LE BEL, 3 a native of Liege and of noble family, jean ie Bel. A.D. 688; vol. ii. A.D. 1399-1422; vol. iii. 1422-1431. Edited by W. Hardy. R. S. 1864-79. A translation of vol. i. by Mr. Hardy has also appeared. R. S. 1864. 1 In vol. ii. of the Liber Niger Scaccarii (ed. Hearne, 1771) ; also in Letters and Papers illustrative of the Wars of the English in France (supra, p. 290, note 2} vol. ii. pt. ii. * Also included in Mr. Stevenson's collection. 3 Jehan le Bel. Chroniques. Edited by M. L. Polain. 1863. 294 A.D. 1327 TO A.D. 1485. CHAP. V. Froissart. 6. 1337. d. 1410. Kngupr- rand de Monslrelet b. 1390. d - 1453- Robert Blondel. b. 1390. d. 1460. who, together with his brother served under Jean of Hainault in the expedition undertaken by Edward III. against the Scots at the commencement of his reign. The writer was himself participant in many of the events which he describes, and his experiences in England having made him familiar with the habits and charac- teristics of those to whom he was opposed by nationality, his narrative is comparatively free from unjust prejudices. The period it embraces is that extending from A.D. 1326 to 1361, and it thus corresponds with the first part of the first book of FROISSART, by whom it was adopted as the basis of his better-known work, in which graphic and lively description but imperfectly compensates for his want of trustworthiness as an authority. Froissart con- tinues the subject to the year 1400, when his place is sup- plied by the Chronicles of Enguerrand de MONSTRELET, who treats at length of the English war and the English expulsion from Normandy, his work terminating with the year 1467. For the events of the years 1449 and 1450, however, the most detailed account is that con- tained in the narrative of ROBERT BLONDEL, entitled de Reductione Normanniae^ Blondel was a Norman and attached successively to the courts of the queen of Sicily and Charles VII. He records with considerable minuteness and precision the incidents that occurred in Normandy, Brittany, and France, from the capture of Fougeres, when the truce between England and France was broken, to the defeat and final expulsion of the English after the loss of Cherbourg. Allowing for occas onal acerbities of expression, his narrative may be accepted as a fair and honest representation of events. The Historie of the A rrivall of Edward I V. in Eng- 1 Narratives of the Expulsion of the English from Normandy, 1449-50. Robertus Blondclli de Reductione Normanniae etc. Ed. J. Stevenson. R.S. 1863. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 295 land? contains the best contemporary account of the CHAP. final overthrow of the Lancastrian party. The editor has also furnished in the Preface an instructive criticism of the writers from whom we chiefly derive our know- Historic af . . the Arri- ledge of this period, and who were especially followed van of Rd- by the chroniclers. V3ard1 ^ For the social causes which mainly conduced to the Wars of the Roses, Mr. Gairdner's valuable Prefaces to his edition of the Paston Letters 2 should be studied, to- Paston gether with the letters themselves. While destitute, for the most part, of any literary interest or charm, this re- markable collection brings very clearly before us the degraded moral sense, the coarseness of feeling, and the rude manners characteristic of domestic life in England at this period. The letters are also of service as showing the real character of Jack Cade's rebellion, and the ruth- less spirit in which party warfare was carried on in the counties. They illustrate, in short, the conditions under which the reactionary rule of the Tudor dynasty became possible. A Chronicle of the Rebellion in Lincolnshire in 1470 The Re- is valuable not only as detailing particulars, not else- Lh^c-ohi where found, of an obscure episode in the great struggle, shire. but as proceeding from a writer instructed by the king's government, and who appeals to documents throughout 3 For the literary history of the period, the Philobiblon* Richard of of RICHARD OF BURY is of considerable value ; while 1 Historic of the Arrivall of Edward IV. in England and the finall Recoverye of his Kingdomes from Henry VI. A.D. 1471. Edited by John Bruce. C. S. 1838. 2 The Paston Letters. Edited by James Gairdner. 3 vols. 1872- i875- 3 Edited by John Gough Nichols for Camden Miscellany, vol. i. C. S. 1847- 4 The best edition is that by M. Cocheris, in 2 vols. (Paris, 1856.) A good abstract of the treatise is given by professor Morley in his English Writers, vol. ii. pt. i. pp. 49-57. 296 A.D. 1327 TO A.D. 1485. CHAP. V. Continua- tion of the Croyland Chronicle. Wark- worth's Chronicle. More's Richard III. Papers o f Richard III. the theological and scholastic tendencies of the age are reflected in the pages of the Represser of REGINALD PECOCK. 1 The Continuation of the Croyland CJironicle? by more than one hand, is a genuine continuation of the spurious work ascribed to Ingulphus (supra, p. 255), and carries on the history to the year 1486 ; in the great dearth of historical writers on the latter years of the reign of Henry VI. and on the reign of Edward IV., this narrative, meagre though it be, becomes of no slight importance. The Chronicle of JOHN WARKWORTH also preserves some valuable details with respect to the latter period. 3 The account of Edward V. and Richard III. by SIR THOMAS MORE, 4 may be accepted as virtually that of a contemporary, the facts having been in all probability communicated by his patron, archbishop Morton, in whose household he was a page in his youth. As a literary composition, the work is also deserving of note from the contrast which it presents in its purity and vigour of diction to most of the historical productions of this century. Some of the diplomatic papers of Richard III. are to be found in the Letters and Papers edited by Mr. Gairdner. 5 The brief period of the nominal rule of Edward V. has been illustrated by a series of extracts from the 1 TJie Represser of over imuh Blaming of the Clergy. By Reginald Pecock, sometime Bishop of Winchester. 2 vols. Edited by Churchill Babington. B.D. R. S. 1860. 2 Printed in Gale's Scriptores, i. 451-593 ; see supra, p. 217. s A Chronicle of the First Thirteen Years of the Reign of King Edward IV. By John Warkworth, D.D. Edited by J. O. Halliwell. C. S. 1839. See also articles in Gentleman's Magazine and Archaeologia enumerated in Descriptive Catalogue of Works of Camden Society, p. 9. 4 Printed at Louvain in 1556; an English translation is given in Kennet, vol. i. see supra, p. 217. 5 Letters and Papers illustrative of the Reigns of Richard III. and Henry VII. Edited by James Gairdner. 2 vols. R. S. 1864. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS, 297 Docket-Book, or Register to the Crown, edited by Mr. CHAP. Nichols. The evidence which these supply is occasion- _ ally important ; among other points, it effectually dis- Docket- proves the supposition of Sharon Turner, that a parlia- Edward v. ment was held during this time, and that the duke of Gloucester derived from it his authority as Protector. 1 The Chronicle of ROBERT FABYAN, sheriff of London Fabyan's in 1493, extends from the fabulous period of British history, when ' Brute first entered Albion,' to the year 1485. Fabyan was a man of considerable attainments for his time, and in the earlier portion of his work, he makes some endeavour to reconcile the discordant statements of different historians. As a contemporary authority, his narrative is confined, for the most part, to events in London, but he is at the same time strongly Lancastrian in his sympathies. 2 The testimony of fourteenth and fifteenth century Contem- writers, such as Knighton, Capgrave, Netter, Walsing- writers on ham, and others, with respect to WYCLIF is uniformly unfavourable. It is from his own works and the more ism - appreciative criticism of modern writers that he is to be judged. His principal English writings have been edited by Mr. Arnold, 3 and are admirable specimens of the 'New English' of the fourteenth century. The Fasciculi Zizaniorum (' Little Bundles of Tares ') ascribed 1 Grants, &c., from the Crown during the Reign of Edward the Fifth, from the original Docket-Book MS. Harl. 433. And two Speeches for . opening Parliament, by John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln, Lord Chancellor. With an Historical Introduction. By John Gough Nichols. C. S, 1854. 2 77ie New Chronicles of England and France, in two Parts; by Jtobert Fabyan. Named by himself the Concordance of Histories. Edited by Henry Ellis. 1811. 3 Wyclif's Select English Works. By T.Arnold. 3 vols. Clarendon Press. 1871. [This collection has recently been supplemented by another publication, The English Works of Wyclif hitherto tinprinted. Edited by F. D. Matthew. E. E. T. Soc. 1880.] 298 A.D. 1327 TO A.D. 1485. CHAP. Political an Poiydore d - iSSS- Merits of to THOMAS NETTER of Walden, 1 provincial of the Car- melite order in England, and confessor to Henry V., is the only contemporary account of the rise of Lollardism. It is, however, the production of a writer hostile to the movement, and chiefly valuable as an illustration of the theological controversies of the age. Contemporary satire and popular sentiment are illustrated by another collection of Political Poems and Songs, edited by Mr. T. Wright. 2 (B.) Non-contemporary Writers. The Historia Anglica of POLYDORE VERGIL is the production of a learned Italian, the friend of Erasmus, and notable as the last collector of ' Peter's Pence ' in this country. He resided in England nearly half a century (A.D. 1 503-50), and his work, undertaken at the request of king Henry VIII.,. appeared at Basel in 1534. It is divided into twenty- six books, of which three relate to the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., and Richard III. These were trans- lated into English in the sixteenth century, and the English version was published in 1846, by the Camden Society, with a preface by Sir Henry Ellis. 3 In point of literary merit, the Historia Anglica exhibits a great advance, both in conception and style, upon preceding histories. ' It was,' says Sir Henry Ellis, ' the first of our histories in which the writer ventured to compare the facts and weigh the statements of his predecessors ;: and it was the first in which summaries of personal 1 Fasciculi Zizaniorum Magistri Johannis Wyclif cum Tritico. Edited by Rev. W. W. Shirley. R. S. 1858. 2 Political Poems and Songs relating to English History, composed during the Period from the Accession of Edward III. to the Reign of Henry VIII. 2 vols. R.S. 1859-61. (For contents, down to reign of Richard III., see Hardy, D. C. i. 867). * Another volume, also published by the Camden Society (1844), contains an English version of the first eight books of Polydore's History (which relate to the period prior to the Norman Conquest), by the same editor. MODERN WRITERS. 299 character are introduced in the terse and energetic CHAP. form adopted in the Roman classics. 1 With respect to _ the books included in the above translation, the same critic observes, that ' it is important to know that Poly- dore wrote this portion of his work whilst many of the persons alluded to in the events of the reigns of Edward IV. and Richard III. were alive, and who communicated with him ' (Pref. pp. xxviii. and xxxii). The work of EDWARD. HALL, entitled The Union Edward of the Two Noble Families of Lancaster and Yorke y first ^.%' 99( printed in 1 542, commences with the deposition of ^ IS47 * Richard II., and terminates with the reign of Henry VIII. For the present period it is mainly a compilation, made, however, with much care, from every available source, including French and German authorities. The style, though highly Latinised, is vigorous and clear. To the student of Shakespeare, Hall's narrative is of special interest, as the source from whence the great dramatist derived the materials for his historical plays. A Life of Henry V., by one ROBERT REDMAN, 1 writ- Redman's ten about 1540, is interesting as a source of tradition Henry v. with respect to Henry's foreign policy, and also for the corroboration it affords of some of Shakespeare's repre- sentations of events ; it has, however, no claim to rank as an authority. The writer appears to have belonged to the party of the Reformers. (c.) Modern Writers. In relation to the careers and Lives by characters of the Black Prince and Richard III., Dr. Gardner, PAULI has given a careful and interesting study of .each ^ 1 1 f man ' in his Aufsatze zur Englischen Geschichte (1869) ; but of Freeman, the latter, the most complete and trustworthy account is that supplied in the Life by MR. JAMES GAIRDNER, 2 1 Memorials of Henry the Fifth. Edited by C. A. Cole. R. S. 1858. 2 History of the Life and Reign of Richard the Third. To -which is 3 A,D. 1327 TO A.D. 1485. CHAP. V. Walcott's Wykeliain. Anstey. Hook's Arch- bishops. in which the conclusions of the writer tend mainly to a vindication of the traditional accounts, and especially of the representations contained in Hall. For the history of Edward III., LONGMAN'S History of the Life and Times of that monarch may be consulted with advantage. 1 M. WALLON has written the best ac- count of Richard II. 2 MR. FREEMAN'S comparative estimate of the French wars of Edward III. and Henry V., in his Essays (First Series), offers the best criticism of our continental policy at this period ; while LORD BROUGHAM'S History of England imder the House of Lancaster* is a vigorous sketch of our political history at large. The last two chapters of HALLAM'S Middle Ages are eminently suggestive for the whole subject of medieval legislation and institutions, and his treatment of the subject of Chivalry still remains one of the best and most dispassionate estimates of that phase of civilisa- tion. MR. MACKENZIE E. C. WALCOTT'S William of Wykeham and his Colleges (1852) is an interesting and careful sketch of the great reformer of education in the fourteenth century. MR. ANSTEY'S Preface to the Munimenta Academica* illustrates the conditions of academic life and learning throughout the period, while these features may be further studied in DEAN HOOK'S sketch of Thomas Bradwardine in his Lives of the Arch- bishops. The biographies in the same series John Strat- ford (archbp. 1333-48), Simon Islip (1349-66), Simon Sudbury (1375-81), William Courtney (1381-96), added the story of Perkin Warbeck from original Documents. By James Gairdner. 1878. 1 The History of the Life and Times of Edward III. By W. Long- man. 2 VOls. 2 Richard II. Episode de la rivalite de la France etcTAngleterre. 2 vols. 1864. 3 New edit. 1861. 4 Munimenta Academica ; or, Documents illustrative of Academical Life and Studies at Oxford. 2 vols. R. S. 1 868. MODERN WRITERS. 30? Thomas Arundel (1396-1414), Henry Chicheley (1414- CHAP. 43), and Thomas Bourchier (1454-86), are, for the _ most, animated sketches, which supply useful illustra- tion of the relations of the English Church to the State, a subject that is more systematically treated in the ipth chapter of PROFESSOR STUBBS' Constitu- tional History. MR. SHIRLEY'S Preface to the Fas- Shirley. ciculi Zizaniorum renders a like service in connexion with Wyclif and Lollardism, and the Papacy, a piece of valuable criticism which should be studied in conjunction with MR. GAlRDNER's article entitled Bible Thought in Gairdner. the Fifteenth Century. 1 Another article by the same writer on Jack Cade's Rebellion 2 brings out the real sig- nificance of that movement, as ' the first move in the struggle between the Houses of York and Lancaster.' A good general outline of the decline of the Papacy and the causes that led to the Reformation will be found in the tenth chapter of GEFFCKEN'S Church and State, Geffcken. translated by Fairfax Taylor. For the career of Charles the Bold, duke of Bur- gundy, who played an important part in relation to English politics in the fifteenth century, the student should consult the Life by MR. KlRK, 3 a work of con- Kirk's siderable research, and enlivened by much brilliant and f^ the vigorous description. Bold. In connexion with the condition of the English peasantry at this period, and more especially with the popular revolt of 1381, the first two volumes of professor THOROLD ROGERS' History of Agriculture and Prices Rogers's in England 4 supply the best statistical information. Pricel 1 Fortnightly Review, vol. ii. 2 Ibid. Oct. 1870. 3 History of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, By John Foster Kirk. 3 vols. 1863. 4 Of this valuable work only the first two volumes are published, com- mencing with the year after the Oxford Parliament (1259) and concluding with the year 1400. It is the author's design to carry it on to the year 1793. Two more volumes are now in the press. 302 CHAPTER VI. CHAP. VI. Polvdore Vergil and Hall. FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VII. TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. (A.) Contemporary Writers. IT is a significant proof of the dearth of literary talent in England at the close of the fifteenth century, that our best sources of information with respect to the national history, so far, at least, as they assume the form of narrative, are from the pens of foreigners. Polydore Vergil now attains his chief value, 1 and as an authority for the reign of Henry VII. greatly surpasses all native writers, Hall being here little more than a translator of his contemporary's work. In con- nexion with the reign of Henry VIII., however, Polydore is by no means altogether to be trusted, and more than one critic, and especially Mr. Brewer, has convicted him of very unscrupulous misrepresentations with respect to individual characters ; of cardinal Wolsey he habitually writes with an animosity which is sufficiently ex- 1 As regards Polydore, Mr. Gairdner's criticism appears well worthy of being quoted. 'There was certainly,' he says, 'something in the new condition of things that produced a feeling of constraint ; and the dull intellects of native writers, accustomed only to record external events, which the contentions of feudal nobles and rival dynasties had produced in unwelcome abundance, could not be expected to penetrate the veil of subtle statesmanship, by which a politic and peaceful, but watchful and suspicious king, was putting an end to the long reign of violence. It required the brain of an Italian to gather the acts of such a reign into a regular narrative, and make their real significance apparent.' Early Chroniclers, p. 306. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 303 plained by some of the incidents in his personal career. CHAP. Hall, on the other hand, exhibits the opposite prejudices. He was a lawyer by profession, and he appears to have hailed with special satisfaction the accession of a sovereign whose undeniable hereditary right gave promise of a more tranquil era. While therefore he continues to bor- row largely from Polydore, his strong sympathies with the Crown lead him to justify and extol Henry's policy to an undue extent; some of the passages which he adapts from his contemporary, containing expressions un- favourable to the Reformation, are even altered by him so as to bear a contrary sense. But there are also portions of Hall's narrative in which he becomes a valuable original authority. Among these is his account of the rising of the 'prentice lads against the aliens in London, and of some of the passages in Wolsey's career, where he writes as a personal observer. To another foreigner, BERNARD ANDR of Toulouse, Bernard we are also indebted for an excellent account, perhaps Ani the best from a contemporary pen, of the reign of Henry VII. 1 Andre was an Italian scholar, who, after having taught at Oxford, became permanently attached to the court of Henry VII. as poet laureat, and was the re- cipient of an annual pension. His Life of his royal patron is written in excellent Latin, and reflects, in its numerous quotations from classical authors and its frequent poetical effusions, the influence of the Renais- sance. The example of Livy is especially to be recog- nised in the speeches attributed to Richard III. and Henry. The sketch of Henry's career prior to his coronation is probably derived from statements made by the monarch himself, but it supplies only an imperfect 1 Historia Regis Henrici Septimi, a Bernardo Andrea Tholosate con- scripta, necnon alia quaedam ad eundem regent spectantia. Edited by James Gairdner. R. S. 1858. 34 A.D. 1485 TO A.I). 1603. CHAP. VI. The Vene- tian ' Rela- tion.' The Lon- don Chro- nicle. Harpsfield and Pole. outline, and the value of the whole composition consists rather in the fact that it is the production of a contem- porary than in the information which it supplies. Another sketch of England under Henry VII. is the work of a Venetian, the secretary, it is supposed, of Francesco Capella, ambassador from the Republic of Venice to Henry's court. 1 It gives a clear and intelligent account of such features in the English political, commercial, and financial institutions as the writer thought likely to interest his countrymen. The time of its composition is supposed to be A.D. 1496-1502. An account of London during the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII., 2 published by the Camden Society, supplies a series of short notes on public events, from the progress of the Royal family and the arrival of illustrious visitors in London, down to minor incidents, such as the paving of Chancery, Fetter, and Shoe Lanes, the doings of the London ' prentices,' &c. For the Divorce and the rupture with Rome of which it was mainly the cause, the treatise of NICHOLAS HARPSFIELD 3 and that of REGINALD POLE, de Unitate Ecclesiae, are two of the most noteworthy illustrations of the feelings and sentiments of the Catholic party. Among the numerous City chronicles of this period, which intelligent London citizens were in the habit of 1 A Relation, or rather a true Account, of the Isle of England ; with siw dry particulars of the Customs of these People and of the royal Revenues under King Henry the Seventh, about the year \ 500. Translated from the Italian, with Notes, by Charlotte Augusta Sneyd. C. S. 1847. 2 A London Chronicle during the Reigns of Henry VIL and Henry VIII. Edited by Clarence Hopper. Camden Miscellany, vol. iv. C. S. 1859. 3 Harpsfield's Treatise of the Pretended Divorce between Henry VIII. and Catharine of Aragon. Edited by the Rev. N. Pocock. C. S. 1879. See also the materials collected by the same editor in connection with the Divorce Question, entitled ' Records of the Reformation' (1527-1533). 2 vols. Clar. Press. 1870. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 305 compiling, although apparently without any notion of CHAP. bringing them under the public eye, is that of CHARLES WRIOTHESLEY, Windsor Herald. 1 This is of some value Wnothe- leys s as shewing us the way in which an Englishman of ordi- chronicle. nary intelligence regarded the events of the time. Down to the eleventh year of Henry VIII. the Chronicle is a mere piece of plagiarism, but from that date it becomes original and supplies some valuable information. No works of the period describe with greater force the social evils and abuses prevalent in the first half of the sixteenth century than the Utopia of SIR THOMAS Core's Utopia and MORE, 2 and STARKEY'S England in the Reign of Henry starkey's VIII? In the former production, these features are E "8 land - brought into relief by juxtaposition with the laws and institutions of an imaginary Commonwealth. In the latter, the treatment is cast into the form of a dialogue between Reginald Pole and Lupset. Thomas Lupset, who was afterwards a professor at Oxford, edited, while studying at Paris, a reprint of the first edition of the Utopia (printed at Paris, about 1518), and the two works have many sentiments in common. Of the Dialogue, its latest editor says, ' its unimpassioned statements respect- ing men, its judge-like suggestions for improvement, its keen appreciation of what would profit the country, and make men wiser, happier, and better, give it a value which few works of the time possess.' With the Reformation, our English historical literature influences begins to reflect the influences of the controversial spirit 1 A Chronicle of England during the Reigns of the Tudor s, from A.D. 1485 to 1559. By Charles Wriothesley. Edited by W. D. Hamilton. 2 vols. C. S. 1875. 2 Utopia. Originally printed in Latin, 1516. Translated into English by Ralph Robinson. Edited by Edward Arber. 1869. 3 England in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth. By Thomas Starkey, Chaplain to the King. Edited by J. M. Cowper. . E. T. Soc. 1871. X 306 A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. of the age to an extent which renders it necessary to exercise more than ordinary caution in accepting many statements, however positively and circumstantially affirmed. While we can discern in writers of every school the effect of the new studies on learning, and also the growing richness and power of the native language, the spirit of partisanship becomes at the same time in- creasingly perceptible. The accounts given by Catholic writers concerning Protestants, or by Protestant writers concerning Catholics, those of either Catholics or Angli- cans concerning Puritans, or those of Puritans concerning Catholics or Anglicans, are to be looked upon with almost equal distrust until corroborated by other and less prejudiced testimony. The overthrow of the monas- teries, again, involved the discontinuance of much of the former laborious research, the quiet and the assured maintenance necessary to the prosecution of such labours being no longer at the command of the scholar, a fact of which we are painfully reminded by the indifferent reward which waited upon the labours of patient investi- gators, such as Leland and Stowe, who ventured to carry on historical work at their own risk. A third cause, which operated powerfully to the prejudice of all learned enterprise, was the absorption of much of the intellectual vigour of the age in the narrow but exciting arena of theological polemics. Holin- The collection known under the name of HOLIN- Chrwidts. SHED'S Chronicles} is devoted mainly to purely political or social events, and is comparatively free from exag- gerated partisanship. It contains (i) A Description of * Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. First collected and published by Raphael Holinshed, William Harrison, and others. Now newlie augmented and continued to the year 1 586. By John Hooker, alias Vowell, Gent., and others. (Of this, the edition of 1807 in 6 vols. 4to. is an exact reprint.) CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 307* England by William Harrison, a work of considerable CHAP. topographical and antiquarian interest ; (2) A Chronicle V J . of Ireland, derived from Giraldus Cambrensis as far as the Norman Conquest, from which time to the year 1509 it is the compilation of Holinshed ; it was then continued by Richard Stanyhurst (a Catholic, and the uncle of archbishop Ussher), who brings the narrative down to 1547 ; from thence to 1586 it is the work of John Hooker, alias Vowell, an uncle of the eminent author of the Ecclesiastical Polity ; (3) A Chronicle of Scotland, chiefly from the Latin of Hector Boethius, by William Harrison ; (4) A Chronicle of England, by Holinshed, who carried his work as far as the year 1577, whence it was continued to 1586 by John Hooker ; (5) A Chronicle of Scotland, by Holinshed and other hands, compiled from Boethius, John Major, and the continuation of Boethius by John Ferreri. The range of Holinshed's read- ing was considerable, and in the compilation of his work he had the advantage of being allowed to consult the manuscripts of Leland. In his dedication, he professes to ' have had an especial eye unto the truth of things,' a claim which is fairly borne out by his own share in the performance ; and, on the whole, the collection justifies the description of its compilers given by Holinshed himself in his preface, as the work of ' men of commendable diligence though not of deepest judgement.' The first edition of the Chronicles appeared in two volumes folio, in 1557 ; but the edition of 1807, to which reference is given in the footnote, is a reprint of the edition of 1 586-7 in 3 vols., in which certain passages of the original edition, displeasing to Elizabeth and her ministers, had been suppressed by order of the Privy Council. The suppressed passages were however printed separately in 1723. The works of JOHN STOWE, in their conception and 308 A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. character, somewhat resemble the foregoing Chronicles. L He was the son of a merchant tailor of London, and John became one of the most distinguished antiquaries of Tis2s. tne century. His theological sympathies, which were d. 1605. first those of a moderate Catholic, and subsequently of a loyal adherent of the Established Church, inclined him to look with reverence and interest on the institutions and memorials of the past. He was the author of (i) A His Sum- Summary of the Chronicles of England? a small popular ^Awaks manual of English history, which, so far as it relates to and Survey sixteenth century history, consists mainly of notable of London. . political events, extraordinary occurrences, natural phe- nomena, &c. ; (2) Annales? a work of similar character, but more strictly, historical in its conception, continued to the year 1614, by Edward Howes, who re-edited it under the title of Stowe's Chronicle ; (3) A Survey of London and Westminster? treating of the history and antiquities of the two cities for a period of six centuries, together with their municipal institutions and forms of govern- 1 A Summarie of the Chronicles of England, from the first arriving of Brute in this leland unto this present yeere of Ch rist, 1 590. First collected, since inlarged, and now continued by John Statue, citizen of London. London, 1590. 8 The Annales, or Generall Chronicle of England, begun first by maister John Slow, and after him continued and augmented with matters forayne and domestic, auncient and moderne, unto the end of this present yeere 1614. By Edward Howes, gentleman. London, 1615. (Howes dedicates his edition to Prince Charles.) 1 A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster : containing the Original, Antiquity, Increase, Modern Estate and Government of those Cities. Written at first in the year 1 598. By John Stow, citizen and native of London. Since reprinted and augmented by the Author : and afterwards by A [nthony] M\pnday\, H\umphrey\ D[yson], and others.. Now lastly corrected, im- proved, and very much enlarged, and the Survey and History brought down from the year 1633 to the present time ; by John Strype, M.A. To which is prefixed the Life of the Author, writ by the Editor. London, 1720. Another and much more compendious edition was published by Mr. Thorns in 1842. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 309 ment ; the contemporary portion is described by Mr. CHAP. Thorns as ' a simple unadorned picture of London at _ the close of the sixteenth century.' For what is usually denominated the Reformation period, the chief contemporary source of information is JOHN FOXE'S History of the Acts and Monuments of the John^Foxe. Church^ more commonly known as the 4 Book of Martyrs.' d. 1587. Foxe was a man of high character and undoubted in- His ,<*?^ and Monu- tegrity of purpose, but his sympathies were altogether ments. with the extreme Protestant party, and his Puritanical views would never permit him to subscribe to the Articles of the Established Church. There is consequently little reason to doubt that, though there is no reason to suppose thafhe wilfully mistated facts, his representations are largely coloured by his feelings as a partisan. He was acrimoniously attacked by Harding, Harpsfield (Alan Cope), and others, but their vehemence in a great measure recoiled upon themselves, and comparatively few of his statements have been disproved. The History ex- tends to the year 1559. Monastic history is illustrated by the Chronicle of the Minor Grey Friars of London? which extends to the year 1556, latino 6 a volume the more deserving of notice in that it was tbe Refor - mation. unused by Stowe, and appears to have altogether escaped the notice of Strype. With the commencement of the reign of Henry VIII. the entries give evidence that the chronicler was watchfully observant of the religious ten- dencies of the age. The collection of Letters relating to the Dissolution of the Monasteries 3 (published in the same series) throws considerable light on the actual state of 1 The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe. A new and complete edi- tion. Edited by Rev. S. R. Cattley. 8 vols. 1841. 2 Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London. Edited by John Gough Nichols. C. S. 1852. 8 Three Chapters of Letters relating to the Suppression of the Monasteries. Edited by Thomas Wright. C. S. 1843. 3' A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAF. VI. Remains of Ed- ward VI. Machyn's Diary. Chronicle vf Queen Jane, &c. Lives of More and Wolsey. these communities at that time. To these may be added the companion volume, entitled Narratives of the Days of the Reformation, 1 which includes two contemporary biographies of Cranmer. Another excellent illustration of the period is afforded in the rhymed satire, Rede me and be nott wrothe (1528), an attack upon the clergy and Wolsey in particular for the immorality and world- liness of their lives. 2 The Literary Remains of King Edward VI? published by the Roxburgh Club, contain his letters, ' orations,' and exercises, together with his Journal. They are pre- ceded by a preface by Mr. J. G. Nichols, of considerable interest, in which he defends the originality of the Journal. The whole work offers some noteworthy illustrations both of the education of the time and of the royal character. The Diary of Henry Mariiyn? a citizen of London, extends from A.D. 1550 to 1563, and preserves many interesting facts which have however been largely incorporated by Strype. Another work of a somewhat similar character, dealing with the first two years of queen Mary's reign, and with Wyatt's rebellion, has been used in like manner by Stowe. 5 The Life of Sir Thomas More, by his son-in-law, 1 Narratives of the Days of the Reformation, chiefly from the MSS. of John Foxe the Martyrologist, with two contemporary Biographies of Arch- bishop Cranmer. Edited by John Gough Nichols. C. S. 1859. 2 In Arber's English Reprints, 1871. 8 Literary Remains of King Edward the Sixth. Edited from his auto- graph manuscripts, with Historical Notes and a Biographical Memoir. By J. G. Nichols. R. C. 1857. 4 The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant Taylor of London, from A.D. 1550 to A.r>. 1563. Edited by John Gough Nichols. C. S. 1854. 4 The Chronicle of Queen yane, and of Two Years of Queen Mary, and especially of the Rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat : written by a Resident in the Tnver of London. Edited by J. G. Nichols. C. S. 1850. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 311 ROPER, 1 and that of Wolsey, by his usher CAVENDISH, 2 CHAP. are both biographies of signal merit, containing much _ that serves to illustrate the social habits and standard of morality prevalent in their day. The expedition of the Earl of Essex to Ireland receives some additional illustration in the Life of Sir Peter Carew, 3 written by JOHN HOOKER (alias Vowell) Hooker's of Exeter, an uncle of the eminent Richard Hooker. The Corn*. work affords also a striking picture of the domestic life of an English country gentleman of the sixteenth century. The eminent antiquary CAMDEN, of whose Britan- Camden's nia some account has already been given, published in Elisabeth. 1615 the first part of his Life of Elizabeth ; 4 it was originally composed in Latin, and is a lucid and able digest chiefly of the political events of her reign. Cam- den's conception of the historian's function, as indicated in his Preface, marks a distinct advance upon preceding writers. He professes to take Polybius for his model, and to refer events to their true causes. In the com- pilation of his work he was materially aided by papers and correspondence from the royal archives, placed in his hands by lord Burghley. The main value of the foregoing material, however, The state often consists rather in the evidence which it affords a t ers j a '* A Calendars with respect to contemporary impressions and beliefs, ofthesame. than in the light which it throws on the genuine con- nexion of events and the true springs of state policy. 1 The Life of Sir Thomas More, by his son-in-law, William Roper, Esq.; to which is added an Appendix of Letters. Chiswick, 1817. 2 The Life of Cardinal Wolsey, by George Cavendish, his Gentleman Usher. Edited by Samuel Weller Singer, F.S. A. 1827. 3 The Life and Times of Sir Peter Carew, Kt. From the original MS. With an historical Introduction and elucidatory Notes by John Maclean. 1857. 4 In Kennet, vol. ii. see supra, p. 217. The second part was not pub- lished until 1633, after Camden's death. A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. VI. Zurich Letters. To these, the real key is to be found in the State Papers of the period, documents which, with the reign of Henry VIII., become vastly more numerous and important than in the preceding century, besides embodying information of far more general and widely extended interest, while the Calendars ' of the same, published by the Record Commissioners, have rendered the work of investigation much less laborious. Of the volumes relating to the reign of Henry VI 1 1., the late learned editor says, ' What- ever authentic original material exists in England relative to the religious, political, parliamentary, or social history of the country during the reign of Henry VIII., whether despatches of ambassadors, or proceedings of the army, navy, treasury, or ordnance, or records of Par- liament, appointments of officers, grants from the crown, &c., will be found calendared in these volumes.' 2 The series known as the ZiiricJi Letters? from the 1 Calendar of Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. Edited by J. S. Brewer and James Gairdner. 1862-1880. 5 vols. Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reigns of Edward VI. , Mary, Elizabeth, and James I. Edited by Robert Lemon and Mrs. Everett Green. 1856-1872. 1 2 vols. Calendar of State Papers , Foreign Series, of the Reign of Edward VI. Edited by W. B. Turnbull. 1861. Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Mary. Edited by W. B. Turnbull. 1861. Calendar of Slate Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth. Edited by Joseph Stevenson and A. J. Crosby. 1863-1880. n vols. extending to the year 1577. 2 From the State Papers of the reign of Henry VIII. selections ex- tending to seven volumes quarto were printed by the Record Commis- sioners in 1830-52 : vol. i. Domestic Correspondence ; vols. ii. and iii. Correspondence relating to Ireland ; vols. iv. and v. Correspondence relating to Scotland ; vols. vii. to xi. Correspondence between England and other courts. * Edited by the Rev. Hastings Robinson, in three volumes ; (i) From the Reformation to 1557; (2) from 1558-1579 ; (3) second series, 1558- 1602. P. S. 1847 and 1842. [The first of three volumes (as regards order of contents) was published last, and is generally cited as '3 Zur. ' The Epistolae Tigurinae, frequently referred to by Mr. Froude, are the Latin originals of this volume, published in 1848.] CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 3*3 fact that the original documents are for the most part CHAP. contained in the public library and archives of that city, _ will be found of considerable service in connexion with the study of the views and personal history of the six- teenth century Reformers ; while the Brief Discourse? (attributed to Whittingham, a relation of John Calvin,) respecting the proceedings of a little band of Marian exiles at Frankfort, throws much light on the first begin- Troubles at nings of Puritanism, and the scruples which led to the attempt to establish a church discipline different from that of the Church of England. A History of the Martin Martin Marprelate Controversy? by W. MASKELL, supplemented pre by the account in Hunt's History of Religious Thought (vol. i.) supplies all the information necessary in con- nexion with that episode. For the history of the Reformed Church in Scotland, TheRe- the earliest record is that edited by PETERKIN, 3 which church in contains the successive enactments concerning doctrine p e e r kin' and discipline from the year 1 560 to 1616. A more gene- 1781. rally interesting account is the History of tJie Kirk of Caider- Scotland by DAVID CALDERWOOD, 4 which commences #.1575. with the year 1514, and concludes in 1625. Calderwood d - l6 5 r - 1 A Brief Discourse of the Troubles begun at Frankfort in Germany A. D. 1554 about the Book of Common Prayer, and continued by the English- men there to the End of Queen Alarms reign. Phoenix, vol. ii. 1707. (Originally published in 1575.) The representations of the Discourse re- quire, however, to be received with special caution. Dean Hook regards it as ' so one-sided a production, that in giving an account of the proceedings at Frankfort, much, ' he says, ' must be left by those who have only this work to guide them, to historical conjecture.' Lives of the Archbishops, x. 31. - A History of the Martin Marprelate Controversy in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. London, 1845, (Printed at Chiswick.) 3 The Booke of the Universale Kirk of Scotland : wherein the Headis and Commissionaris of the particular Kirks thereof are specially expressed and contained. Edited by Alexander Peterk in, Esq. Edinburgh, 1839. 4 A History of the Kirk of Scotland. By Mr. David Calderwood, sometime Minister of Crailing. Edited by the Rev. Thomas Thomson. 8 vols. Wodrow Society. 1842. 3U A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. was a staunch opponent of the episcopalian movement in Scotland, in the reign of James I., and the chief value of his work belongs to our next period. His work con- tains much unscrupulous misrepresentation and scanda- lous calumny as regards James and the English Church party, but is evidently the production of a vigorous and independent mind. Another work on the same subject, but of a very different character, is the History of Hie Arch- Church of Scotland, by SPOTTISWOODE, 1 archbishop of St. Spottfs- Andrews, who undertook the labour at the suggestion of king James himself. Spottiswoode was a man of ami- d. 1639. able and conciliatory spirit, and his History reflects the disposition of its author. Hard-wicke The volumes generally known as the Hardwicke Papers'* include a valuable miscellaneous collection, the contents of which range from the year 1501 to 1726. Of the portion relating to the present period, some of the documents throw considerable light on the characters of Burleigh, Walsingham, and Leicester ; another sup- plies a detailed and amusing account of the journey of Mary's ambassadors to Rome in 1555, the last state embassy from England for the purpose of paying public homage to the see of Rome ; others include correspon- dence relating to the siege and final loss of Calais, and also numerous letters of Mary, queen of Scots. The Compleat Ambassador of Sir DUDLEY DiGGES, 3 a diplomatist in the early part of the seventeenth cen- 1 History of the Church of Scotland, beginning the year of our Lord 203, and contimied to the end of the Reign of James VI. By the Rt. Rev. John Spottiswoode. With biographical Sketch and Notes, by the Rt. Rev. M. Russell. 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1851. 3 Miscellaneous State Papers. From 1501 to 1726. 2 vols. 4to. 1 778. ( The name of the editor, the Earl of Hardwicke, does not appear on the title-page.} * The Compleat Ambassador : or, Two Treaties of the intended Marriage of Queen Elizabeth, &c. Faithfully collected by the Honourable Sir Dud- ley Digges, Kt. Fol. 1655. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 315 tury, gives the ' Letters of Negotiation ' relating to the CHAP. proposed marriage of queen Elizabeth with the duke of - Anjou. The collector claims to exhibit 'as in a clear mirror, the two faces of the two courts of England and France, as they then stood, with many remarkable passages of State, not at all mentioned in any history.' The volume entitled Cabala is a collection of cor- Cabala. respondence ' of illustrious persons, and great ministers of state,' in the reigns of Henry VIII., Elizabeth, king James I. and king Charles I. 1 A far more extensive and important, but very mis- cellaneous, collection is that known as the Somers Tracts? -phe which may compare with the Harleian Miscellany in its ^^ range and importance. The earliest document belongs to the reign of king John, but the materials are scanty until the reign of Elizabeth is reached, while the chief value of the work is in connexion with the seventeenth century. For the proceedings of the Elizabethan parliaments Proceed- the collections published in the following century by SlR SIMONDS D'EwES, 3 and HEYWOOD TOWNSHEND 4 are beihan 1 Cabala, sive Scrinia Sacra, &*c. Third edition (containing a second part, consisting of a choice collection of original Letters and Nego- tiations, never before published) fol. London, 1691. 2 A Collection of scarce and valuable Tracts, on the most interesting and entertaining Subjects: but chiefly such as relate to the History and Constitu- tion of these Kingdoms. Selected from an infinite number in print and manuscript, in the Royal, Cotton, Sion, and other public, as -well as private, Libraries ; particularly that of the late Lord Somers. The second edition, revised, augmented, and arranged, by Walter Scott, Esq. 13 vols. 410. 1808. 3 The Journals of all the Parliaments during the Reign of Queen Eliza- beth, both of the House of Lords and House of Commons. Collected by Sir Simonds D'Ewes. London, 1662. 4 Historical Collections : or, an exact Account of the Proceedings of the four last Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth. Wherein is contained the Corn- pleat Journals both of Lords and Commons, taken from the original Records of their Houses. Faithfully and laboriously collected by Hey wood Towns- hend, Esq., Member of those Parliaments. 1680. 316 A. D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. the best sources of information ; the former are incor- _ _ porated in Cobbett (see supra, p. 227). Parlia- The two volumes known as the Burleigh Papers con- ta ' n a ^ ar ' e number of documents illustrative of public Papers. affairs from A.D. 1542 to I5Q6. 1 The State Papers Granveiie's and Correspondence of cardinal GRANVELLE 2 include date*?** documents dealing with events throughout the greater part of the sixteenth century, and are a primary source of information with respect to the rivalry then exist- ing between the houses of France and Austria, the progress of the Reformation in Germany, France and Switzerland, the divorce of Henry VIII., the marriage The of queen Mary with Philip II., &c. The French Des- Despatch.es. patches, edited by M. Teulet, 3 are of not less value in connexion with affairs in Scotland and the political negotiations between that country and France, especially Noaiiks during the reign of Elizabeth. The Despatches of the two brothers, Antoine and Frangois de Noailles, 4 ambas- sadors from Henry II., during the reign of queen Mary, 1 (i.) A Collection oj 'State Papers, relating to Affairs in the Reigns of King Henry VIII., King Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, from the year 1542 to IS7- Transcribed from Original Letters and other authentic Memorials, never before published, left by William Cecil, Lord Burghley. By Samuel Haynes, A.M. 1740. (ii.) A Collection of State Papers relating to Affairs in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, from the year 1571 to 1596, &c. By William Murdin. 2 (i.) Collectionde Documents Inedits surf Histoirede France, publics par Ordre du Roi et par les Soins du Ministre de P Instruction Publique. Premiere Serie. Histoire Politique. Vols. i-ix. : Papiers d'Etat du Cardinal Granvelle. Ed. M. Ch. Weiss. Paris, 1841. (ii.) Cotrespond- ance du Cardinal Gran-velle. Ed. M. E. Poullet. Belg. Doc. Inedit. * Teulet (Jean B. A. T. ) ; (i.) Inventaire chronologiqiie des Documents relatifs a F Histoire d'Ecosse conserves aux Archives du Royaume de Paris. (Abbotsford Club, 1839) ; (ii.) Relations Politiques de la France et de fEspagne avec PEccsse au seizieme Siecle : Papiers d'Etat, Pieces et Docu- ments inedits ou peu connus. 5 vols. Paris, 1862. 4 Ambassades de Messieurs de Noailles en Angleterre. Redigees par feu M. 1'Abbe de Vertot. 6 vols. Leyden, 1763. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 317 reveal many details respecting the plots against her CHAP. supremacy (to which they were privy), and shew great powers of observation and discernment. In addition to the foregoing, two highly important state collections in foreign countries now begin to be of con- preserved siderable service in the illustration of English affairs. at Y eni e and at Si- those of the Venetian State, 1 and those preserved at mancas. Simancas, the depository of the archives of the kingdom of Castile. 2 In connexion with the character of Mary, queen of Materials Scots, and the long-agitated controversy respecting the History of justice of the charges brought against her by contempo- ^ r ^ rary writers, we have the collection of her Letters Scots, published by prince LOBANOV-ROSTOVSKY, who has also edited the modern treatise on the subject by W. Tytler. 3 Other material (the genuineness of some of which is much disputed) will be found in the earlier Collections by ANDERSON, 4 and in the Letter Books of Sir AMIAS POULET, edited by John Morris, 5 by whom Froude's accuracy is strongly impugned. 1 Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English Affairs preserved in the Archives of Venice, &c. (1202-1556). Edited by Rawdon Brown. 6 vols. R. S. 1864-77. 2 Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, relating to the Negotiations between England and Spain, preserved in the Archives of Simancas, and elsewhere (1485-1525). Edited by G. A. Bergenroth. 2 vols. R. S. 1862-68. Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, dealing with the Negotiations between England and Spain, preserved in the Archives of Simancas and elsewhere (1525-30). Edited by Don Pascual de Gayanos. 3 vols. R. S. 1873-9. 3 Letters of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland : selected from the ' Recueil des Lettres de Marie Stuart,' 1 by Prince Lobanav-Rostovsky. 1845. Tytler (W.). Recherches historiques sur les principales pretives de F accusation intentee contre Marie Stuart. Edited by Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky. 1860. 4 Collections relating to the History of Mary, Queen of Scotland. 4 vols. 4to. Edinburgh, 1727-8. * The Letter Books of Sir Amias Pmclet, Keeper of Mary, Queen of Scots. Edited by John Morris, Priest of the Society of Jesus. 1874. 3i8 A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. The state of religious parties in the latter part of _ !_ Elizabeth's reign is a subject which has been very in- Literature adequately treated by historical writers on the period. th e a cafho- For the condition of the Catholic clergy and the Jesuit Mission to England, the student may consult the first in England, part of CHALLONER's Missionary Priests? and the Lives of John Gerard by MORRIS, 2 and Dr. JESSOPP. 3 The latter writer has also prefixed to his interesting volume a list of the special literature relating to his subject. win-wood's The collections known as WlNWOOD's Memorials* fliemorials. . r . ... , > /-.. T. i i date from the year 1590 and extend to 1013. Sir Ralph Winwood was English minister at this period at the French court and at the Hague, a time when, to quote the expression of Lloyd, ' you might understand more of England at Amsterdam than at London,' and the papers which he preserved relate to negotiations, not only with France and Holland, but also with Spain, Venice, and other countries. Sydney The collection known as the Sydney Papers? a series Pap en. of letters and State documents, written and collected by 1 Memoirs of Missionary Priests, as well secular as regular, and of other Catholics, of both Sexes, that have suffered Death in England on Religious Accounts, from the year of Our Lord 1577 to 1684. Pt. i. 1577- 1603 ; pt. ii. 1603-1684. * The Condition of Catholics under James I. Father Gerard 's Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot. Edited, with his Life, by John Morris, Priest S. J. 2nd edit. Longmans, 1872. 3 One Generation of a Norfolk House : a Contribution to Elizabethan History. By Augustus Jessopp, D.D. 1879. 4 Memorials of Affairs of State in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. Collected (chiefly) from the original Papers of the Right Hon. Sir Ralph Winwood, Kt. In 3 vols. By Edmund Sawyer. I725- * Letters and Memorials of State, in the Reign of Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, King James, King Charles /., part of the Reign of King Charles II., and Oliver's Usurpation. Translated from the Originals at Penshurst in Kent, the seat of the Earls of Leicester. By Arthur Collins. 2 vols. fol. 1746. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 319 successive members of the Sidney family, commences CHAP. with the reign of queen Mary. These were edited in the last century by Arthur Collins, with a large amount of additional historical matter, and well deserve to be consulted, not only for the history of an illustrious house, but for the various information they convey. The Letters of Sir Robert Cecil to Sir George Carew, 1 Carew written during the administration of the province of Letters - Munster by the latter, in the years 1600 to 1602, throw considerable light on the policy pursued towards Ireland during the latter years of Elizabeth's reign. For the same reign, HARRISON'S Description of Eng- Harrison's land, of which Mr. Furnivall has published an excellent ^ reprint among the publications of the New Shakspere Society, affords a graphic and outspoken record of the general condition of the people in the latter half of the sixteenth century. In the same series we have also STUBBES'S amusing A natomie of Abuses, which depicts the stubbes's prevailing vices and corruptions of the period 1583-95 ; O f l Abuses. and STAFFORD'S Examination of Complaints, etc. (1580), in which the writer's chief aim is to explain the actual Sla ff ord - s condition of trade and agriculture, his views presenting Examina- a singular combination of natural shrewdness with the defective economical theories of his age. Non-contemporary Writers. As nearly all political feeling in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was dominated by religious sympathies, a close attention to the views of religious parties is indispensable on the part of the historical student. It is not, however, until the latter century that we find the policy of each party, whether Anglican, Puritan, or Catholic, receiving a fairly temperate exposition at the hands of its defenders, in the form of connected narrative. Among these pro- 1 Letters from Sir Robert Cecil to Sir George Carew. Edited by John Maclean. C. S. 1864. 320 A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. VI. Thomas Fuller. b. 1608. d. 1661. His Church History. Jeremy d. 1726. His Bishop f U 1 1 et - d - I 7is- His ductions, FULLER'S Church History^ reflects the candid and liberal spirit of its author, who, while a firm supporter of the Church and the monarchy, was constant in his endeavours to reconcile contending factions, and to mitigate the asperities of controversy. Fuller's History terminates with the year 1648. The writings of bishop BURNET and JEREMY COL- LIER are the productions of personal antagonists and warm partisans. The Ecclesiastical History of the latter, 2 which extends to the year 1685, is conceived in the spirit of one who had embraced very extreme views respecting Church government and the relations of the Church to the State, but who, from his attainments and extensive learning, was able to grasp and defend the Anglican theory far better than most of his con- temporaries. GILBERT BURNET, bishop of Salisbury, 3 was a writer of not inferior ability, but less attainments, and his works abound with hasty and ill-considered assertions, which, even among the critics of his own time, served to impair his reputation, and must be regarded as seriously affecting his authority as an historian. His History of the Re- formation of the Church of England is, however, perhaps his least faulty production, and was undertaken with the advice and assistance of some of the most eminent mem- bers of the Whig party of his day ; designed to subserve political purposes, it contributed in no slight degree to 1 The Church History of Britain : from the Birth of Jesus Christ un- til the year 1628. Endeavoured by Thomas Fuller, D.D. Edited by J. S. Brewer. 6 vols. 1845. 2 An Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain^ chiefly of England, with a brief Account of the Affairs of Religion in Ireland. By Jeremy Collier. Edited by Thomas Lathbury. 9 vols. 1852. 8 History of the Reformation of the Church of England. By Gilbert Burnet, D.D. Carefully revised, and the Records collated with the origi- nals, by N. Pocock, M.A. 7 vols. Clarendon Press. 1865. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 321 the spread of anti-papal feeling in England. The utility CHAP. of the work to the student is greatly enhanced by the 1_ important and numerous documents printed in the several Appendices. Burnet's History extends from the divorce of Katha- Legrand : ... , , ., , 111 Hiiloire dit rme of Arragon to the year 1 567. It was attacked by Divorce. a French writer, JOACHIM LEGRAND, who published in 1688 his Histoire du Divorce, impugning many of Burnet's representations of the facts, as given in the first two books. To this Burnet drew up a short reply. JOHN STRYPE, born in the same year as Burnet, was John a man of greatly inferior natural gifts and capacity, but ^^ his extensive historical compilations are of the highest d - X 737- value to the student, and were the result of many years' painstaking research guided by unquestionable honesty of purpose. His criticisms shew no depth of discern- ment, and are occasionally characterised by extreme simplicity ; his narrative is often tediously prolix and full of irrelevant details ; the arrangement, again, is often faulty, and repetitions are frequent. Yet notwithstanding these defects, his Ecclesiastical Memorials^ and Annals of the Reformation? together with the valuable materials in the Appendices, are unrivalled stores of information with respect to the period 1521-1588. DANIEL NEAL, a dissenting divine of the last century, Neai's compiled a History of the Puritans, which, so far as regards the Elizabethan period, is mainly derived from 1 Ecclesiastical Memorials, relating chiefly to Religion and the Refor- mation of it, and the Emergencies of the Church of England under King Henry VIII., King Edward VI., and Queen Mary I. By John Strype, M.A. 6 vols. Clarendon Press. 1822. 2 Annals of the Reformation and Establishment of Religion, arid other various Occurrences in the Church of England, duiing Queen Elizabeth's happy Reign : together with an Appendix of original Papers of State, Records, and Letters. By John Strype, M.A. 7 vols. Clarendon Press. 1824. Y 3-2 A.D. 1485 TO AD. 1603. CHAT VI. Dodd's Church History. H-.ird's Dialogue. Lives of Henry I'll. Henry VIII. and F.dioatd VI. by Lord Bucon, Lord Her- Iwrt of Chcrbury, and Sir John Hay- ward. Strype. The work betrays considerable partiality, but although severely animadverted . upon by different critics, has not been shewn to contain any grave mis- statement of facts. It was criticised by Madox, bishop of Worcester, in 1733, in an anonymous production en- titled A Vindication of the Church of England. A Church History of England from the Commence- ment of the Sixteenth Century to the Revolution in 1688, by CHARLES DODD, 1 is a work of some importance from the amount of information it contains concerning the movements and organisation of the Catholic com- munity. It has also been praised for its freedom from prejudice and from any endeavour to distort or suppress facts. It is, however, wanting in accuracy of detail, dates, and even names, being often incorrectly given. One of BISHOP KURD'S Dialogues, 'On the Golden Age of Queen Elizabeth,' still deserves to be read, both on account of its discriminating criticism and as one of the earliest indications of a reaction from the excessive eulogy which it had been usual, before that time, to bestow on the policy and character of Elizabeth. In biography, LORD BACON'S Life of Henry VII., though conceived in too eulogistic a spirit, is praised by Hallam as 'the first instance in our language of the application of philosophy to reasoning on public events in the manner of the ancients and the Italians.' The Life of Henry VIII., by LORD HERBERT OF CHERBURY,* considered with regard to the time of its production, is also a work of high excellence. SIR JOHN HAYWARD'S Life of Edward VI? and Annals of the First Four Years 1 Edited with Notes, Additions, and a Continuation, by the Rev. M. A. Tierney, F.S.A. 5 vols. 1839. 2 Printed in Kennett, see supra, p. 217. 8 In the same. For a criticism of this Life see Strype, Memorials, vol. ii. pt. ii. c. 28. NON-CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 323 of the Reign of Elisabeth 1 are performances of some CHAP. literary merit, although the former is mainly a com- pilation from the young king's Journal. FIDDES'S Life Fiddes's of Wolsey (1724) is conceived in a spirit far too favourable wo/ey. to that prelate and his pretensions, but contains some valuable documents. A Life of Bishop Fisher, by LEWIS, 2 is a work of merit, Lewis's and affords a good illustration of the views and principles #& of the moderate Catholic party prior to the rupture of the Crown with Rome ; it also contains numerous origi- nal documents. FULLER'S History of the Worthies of England in the Fullers opinion of many, the most valuable of all his works is a sensible but appreciative Acta Sanctorum, interspersed "with much interesting information on the antiquities and characteristic features of the different counties of Eng- land. STRYPE'S Lives of Cranmer, archbishop Parker, strype's Sir John Cheke, Sir Thomas Smith, bishop Aylmer, Ltv "- Grindal, and Whitgift, are a series of important works, reproducing much that is to be found in the Memorials and Annals, and marked by the same defects, but also containing much that is calculated further to illustrate the history of the age. LLOYD'S State Worthies, pub- Lloyd's lished in 1670, is a series of epigrammatic, caustic, and f^ /y j/ M often happily expressed sketches of many of the most notable characters in English history, from the accession of Henry VIII. to the reign of Charles I. The work preserves many details that we should otherwise lack, but its statements are not altogether to be relied upon. The At/ienae Oxonienses of ANTHONY WOOD, first pub- w ood's ^ Athena t Oxonienses. 1 Edited from a MS. in the Harleian Collection, by John Bruce. C. S. 1840. 2 The Life of Dr. John Fisher. By John Lewis. With Introduction by T. Hudson Turner. 2 vols. 1855. (Lewis, the author, died in 1746.) Y 2 324 A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. C "AP. lished in 1691, 1 contains a valuable collection of bio- graphical materials with respect to eminent churchmen or authors educated at Oxford ; the arrangement, how- ever, is often slovenly, and the compiler is by no means free from prejudice. Few works are more deserving of careful perusal on the part of those who are desirous of acquiring a genuine Nichols's knowledge of the Elizabethan age than NICHOLS'S Royal Pro- gresses. Progresses of Queen Elizabeth? a collection in which the customs, manners, learning, and etiquette of the times each in turn receive a large amount of curious and often entertaining illustration. Irish History. For Irish history at this period, the third and fourth volumes of BREWER'S Calendar of Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VI IT. (supra, p. 312) afford guidance to much original material in the earlier part of the century. For the condition of the country at the latter part, prior to the sub- jugation of the Earl of Tyrone, the tractate of Edmund Spen- ser, the poet, is perhaps the least partial piece of contemporary evidence. Among modern writers, Hallam gives a clear and succinct sketch of the constitution of Ireland in the eighteenth chapter of his Constitutional History \ Mr. A. G. Richey's two series of Lectures on Early Irish History (1869 and 1870) are of much value ; and Mr. Lecky, in his History of England in the Eighteenth Century (vol. ii. c. 6), gives an able sketch of ' Ireland before the Eighteenth Century,' together with refer- ences to the best authorities. Scottish History. For Scottish history, as viewed by native contemporary writers, the Latin work of George Buchanan, which commences with the earliest times and concludes with the accession of James VI. (1567), is by far the most important. Of this, a translation was published at Edinburgh in 1821, in 1 An improved edition appeared at Oxford in 1815-18, edited by Dr. Bliss. 3 vols. * The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth. Among which are interspersed other Solemnities, Public Expenditures, and Remark- abk Events, &c. By John Nichols. 3 vcls. 1023. MODERN WRITERS. 325 three volumes. The Annals of Scotland, by George Majori- CHAP. banks (Edin. 1814) is a meagre record, by a burgess of Edin- burgh, extending from 1514 to 1591, but filling only sixty-two pages. Two volumes of Calendars of State Papers, edited by Mr. M. J. Thorpe (R. S. 1858), comprise the period 1509- 1603 ; the second volume contains the State Papers relating to Mary, queen of Scots, during her detention in England. Modern Writers. The well-known work of MR. FROUDE 1 abounds with graphic descriptions, accom- panied by much admirable and just criticism. In its composition he was largely aided by his researches among the archives at Simancas, collections which at that time had been very imperfectly investigated. Un- fortunately, the conception he has formed of the cha- racter and conduct of Henry VIII. is of so strained and unreal a kind as to deprive this portion of his History of much of its value. The reign of Edward VI. is described with more impartiality, but the policy of Somerset is somewhat harshly judged, and the student will do well to compare this portion of the work with the more sober narrative of Lingard or Tytler. The volumes that relate to the reign of Elizabeth are the most valuable part of the work, and the treatment of successive questions is often vigorous and original ; accuracy of detail, however, cannot be said to be a distinguishing characteristic of this writer, and his omissions are often serious. The student also fails to find that criticism, for which he would naturally look, of contemporary writers. The portion of RANKE'S History of the Popes which Rankcs belongs to the present division, should be studied in the Popes conjunction with Macaulay's brilliant Essay on the *" d ^."~ whole work, and the not less useful analysis by MlLMAN. 2 England. 1 History of England, from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada. By James Anthony Froude. 12 vols. 1870. 2 See Savonarola, Erasmus, and other Essays. By Dean Milman. 1870. 326 A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. The three masterly and luminous chapters in which Ranke, in his History of England, 1 sums up the main features of our national development down to the reign of James I., contain an unrivalled outline of the subject. Hallam's temperate and judicious criticisms of the period in the first five chapters of his Constitutional History, though somewhat modified by later research, still retain much of their original value for the student. Lingard, LlNGARD's History, in a great measure superseded, Haiisser, , ,. " , . . . J.H. Blunt, as regards the earlier volumes, by more recent investi- Hawei's, gations, is of high value for the sixteenth century, as Hunt, giving the views of a candid and judicious Catholic Marsden, f. . , and Dr. historian with respect to a period in which the fortunes and principles of the Roman Church were subjected to no ordinary tests. HAUSSER's History of tJie Period of the Reformation 2 supplies an outline, of no great merit, of the movement both in England and on the Continent, extending to nearly the middle of the seventeenth cen- tury. Two works of recent date, MR. J. H. BLUNTS Reformation in England (1869), which embraces the period A.D. 1514-1547, and MR. R. W. DlXON's History of the Church of England, 3 are valuable as presenting us with the evidence and the arguments which serve to qualify the too complacent estimate of this great revolu- tion common with English writers. MR. HAWEIS' 'Sketches of the Reformation (1844), is a small volume containing within a moderate compass more valuable illustration of the habits of thought of the early Re- formers than many works of much greater bulk. MR. 1 A History of England. Principally in the Seventeenth Century. By Leopold von Ranke. 6 vols. Clarendon Press. 1875. 2 Haiisser (Ludwig), The Period of the Reformation (1517-1648). Edited by W. Oncken. Translated by Mrs. Sturge. 2 vols. 1873. * History of the Church of England from the Abolition of the Roman Jurisdiction. By the Rev. R. W. Dixon. Vol. i. (1529-1537); Vol. ii. (1538-1548). 1877-80. MODERN WRITERS. 327 HUNT'S Religious ThougJit in England gives in its CHAP. earlier pages an impartial and well-executed summary of the more important controversial literature of the time. The History of the Early Puritans (1853), by the late REV. J. B. MARSDEN, is a work of merit ; while in DR. MAITLAND'S Essays on the Reformation (1849), we have a series of masterly criticisms, by a writer of a different school, in which the unscrupulous tactics of many of the early Reformers are skilfully exposed. In MR. MOTLEY'S Rise of the Dutch Republic, and Motley, History of the United Netherlands, productions of very high historical excellence, will be found, and, especially in the latter work, much useful incidental illustration of the influences by which the English foreign policy was, at this period, to a great extent determined. The best recent outline of the history of the Jesidts Histories of is that by professor HUBER; 1 but for more original order 5 " 1 information the works of JUVENCIUS, BARTOLI, and TANNER should be consulted. The great collection of State Trials, by COBBETT Cobbetfs and HOWELL, now begins to be indispensable to the Trials student. The first volume comprises the period A.D. 1163 to i6oo. 2 For the history of the East India Company, founded The East by royal charter in the year 1600, the work of BRUCE pan^ C m " affords, for the first century, almost all the necessary information. 3 1 Der Jesuitenorden nach seiner Verfassung und Doctrin, Wirksamkeit und Geschichte characterisirt. Von Job. Huber. Berlin, 1873. 2 A Selection from these, comprising Trials for Treason (1327-1660), has been edited by Mr. J. W. Willis-Bund. Cambridge University Press. 1880. 3 Annals of the East India Company, from their establishment by the Charter of Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1 600, to the Union of the London and English East India Companies in 1707-8. By John Bruce. 3 vols. quarto. 1810. A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. VI. Biographi- cal Works by Words- worth, and Seebohm. Lives of Cranmer, Parker, Grindal, Whitgilt, Nowell. Lives of Hatton and Davison by Sir H. Nicolas. Lives of Sir Philip Sidney. The Ecclesiastical Biography of DR. WORDSWORTH is chiefly devoted to Lives of sixteenth century divines, many of which are taken from Foxe. They are accompanied by useful notes. Among the most important are those of Colet, Wolsey, Cromwell, Tyndal, Latimer, Cranmer, Jewel, Hooker, Whitgift, and Donne. Of Colet and his times we have an excellent study in MR. SEEBOHM'S Oxford Reformers of 1498. The lives of the most distinguished churchmen of the period Cranmer, Par- ker, Grindal, and Whitgift as given in Hook's Lives of the ArcJibishops, well deserve to be consulted, though inferior to the same writer's preceding studies in care- fulness of execution and accuracy of detail. The Life of Alexander Nowell^ (alias Hooker), dean of St. Paul's, by CHURTON, is a valuable sketch of one whom his biographer not inaptly styles ' the last surviving Father of the English Reformation.' The view here taken of the history and policy of the Marian Exiles would appear to be more just and dispassionate than that of many subsequent writers. For the statesmen of the age, besides the Lives in Campbell and Foss. those of William Davison and Sir Christopher Hatton, by SIR HARRIS NICOLAS, maybe named In the Appendix to the former will be found the four ' Apologies ' left by Davison, relative to his remarkable trial. The Life of Sir Philip Sidney by his personal friend and admirer, LORD BROOKE (1652), will always continue to be read as a graceful and touching tribute to the worth of a heroic character ; but as a source of information, this work, as well as the Life by ZOUCH (1808), has been superseded by the Memoir by MR. Fox BOURNE (1862), a work of much literary merit founded on a careful consultation of 1 The Life of Alexander Nowell : chiefly compiled from Registers, Letters, and other authentic Evidences. By Ralph Churton. M.A. Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1809. MODERN WRITERS. 329 original documents. The biographical literature relat- CHAP. ing to MARY, queen of Scots, is voluminous and ex- ceptionally controversial. The controversy appears to have been excited, in the first instance, by the histories of Hume and Robertson, both of whom inclined to an unfavourable estimate of Mary's character. Their con- clusions were challenged by WILLIAM TYTLER, who published in 1759 his Inquiry, historical and critical, into Literature the Evidence against Mary, Queen of Scots (2 vols. Mary, 8vo. 1 790). A far more thorough investigation of the of evidence is to be found in the comparatively recent work of MlGNET, 1 who reverted to the view of Hume. MR. HOSACK, 2 in a yet later contribution to the subject, sides again with Tytler, looking upon Mary as the ' victim of sectarian violence and barbarous state-craft.' The Life of the first Earl of Essex, in MR. DEVEREUX'S Lives of Lives and Letters of the Devereux, is of special interest from the new and somewhat startling light in which it Waiter places the character of Elizabeth. For the career of Sir and Knox. Walter Raleigh, the Life by OLDYS, published in 1733, is the original storehouse of facts. This has, however, been to some extent superseded by the work of MR. EDWARDS incorporating the results of Oldys's research, and also additional material unaccessible, for the most part, at the time when the earlier work was compiled. 3 M'cCRIE's Life of Knox (1812), is still the standard source of reference for all that relates to the great Scotch reformer. The whole of our sixteenth history is further illus- 1 Histoire de Marie Stuart, 3rd edit. 2 vols. Paris, 1 854. 2 Mary, Queen of Scots, and her Accusers : embracing a Narrative of Events from the Death of James V. in 1542 tmtil the Death of Qtteen Mary in 1587. By John Hosack. 2 vols. 2nd edit. 1870. * The Life of Sir Walter Ralegh. Based on Contemporary Documents preserved in the Rolls House, the Privy Council Office, Hat field House, the British Museum, &c. By Edward Edwards. Vol. i. The Life ; vol. ii. Letters. 1 868. 330 A.D. 1485 TO A.D. 1603. CHAP. VI. Cooper's Athenae Cantabri- g lenses. trated by a biographical collection of exceptional merit and importance the AtJtenae Cantabrigienses, by the brothers CHARLES HENRY, and THOMPSON COOPER, which extends from the year 1500 to 1609. A more ad- mirable series of concise biographies is nowhere to be found, while the aid afforded to the student by the lists of authorities and works of reference appended to each life is of the highest value. In the impartiality of its criticisms, and the thoroughness of its execution, this work greatly surpasses the Athenae Oxonienses of Anthony Wood, above mentioned (p. 323). [ADDENDUM. Students of this period will also find it useful to consult the treatise of Nicolas Sander, entitled Historia Schismatis Anglicanz, which extends from the twenty-first year of the reign of Henry VIII. to the twenty-seventh of Elizabeth. This was first published in 1585 ; subsequent editions, with additions by other hands, appearing in 1610 and 1628. Sander was an Oxford professor with strong Catholic sympathies, who finally quitted England for the continent in 1561. His treatise is frequently appealed to by writers of his party as authoritative, and embodies, they maintain, a more truthful representation of events than that given by Protestant writers. It may here be further observed that it is of high importance clearly to distin- guish the successive influences of Lutheran, Zwinglian, and Calvinistic doctrine in this country, and for this purpose Sander's treatise will be found of considerable assistance. The work has been translated, with introduction and notes, by Mr. David Lewis (1877).] 331 CHAPTER VII. FROM THE ACCESSION OF JAMES I. TO THE ESTAB- LISHMENT OF THE PROTECTORATE. State Papers. Party spirit, already excessive under the CH,P. influence of theological differences, becomes, in the seventeenth century, still further intensified by political state animosities. Rushworth, in dedicating his Collections to the period. Richard Cromwell, says, ' most writers now-a-days appear in public crooksided, warped, and bowed to the right or to the left.' The few, indeed, who supply a dispassionate and candid record of events are of minor importance as writers, and generally not distinguished by ability. In this dearth of competent and unprejudiced contemporary historians, the State Papers of the period necessarily assume the highest degree of importance, and the Calendars of these, by Mr. Lemon, 1 Mr. Bruce, Mr. Hamilton, 2 and Mrs. Everett Green, 3 afford invaluable aid. The Hardwicke Papers, already described (supra, p. 314), contain papers relating to the Spanish Match and to the French Match ; correspondence of Charles I. 1 See supra, p. 312, note I. 2 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles the First. 16 vols. Edited (i-xii.) by John Bruce, Esq. ; vol. xiii. by Bruce and Hamilton ; and vols. xiv. xv. and xvi. by W. D. Hamilton, Esq. R. S. 1858-80. 3 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, during the Commonwealth. Edited by Mary Ann Everett Green. 5 vols. 1875-8. For Stale Papers of Reign of James I. by same editor, see supra, p. 313. 332 A.D. 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII. Camden. Wilson's Hiitory of King Janus. Dr. God- frey Good- with the duke of Buckingham ; materials connected with the expedition to the Isle of Rlie*, and with the Scotch troubles in the years 1637-41 ; while ma- terials too various here to be particularised, will be found in the Cabala, the Somers Tracts, the Sydney Papers, the Winwood Memoirs, in Fuller, Collier, Neal, Dodd, and other authorities described in the preceding chapter. As regards Scotland, the works of Calderwood and Spottiswoode now become strictly contemporary narratives. The student of Irish history will find con- siderable aid in the newly published Calendar of State Papers^ that has just appeared, which includes the papers relating to Ireland to the end of the reign of James I. (A.) Contemporary Writers. CAMDEN'S Annals of King James 7. 2 (A.D. 1603-23) is a meagre summary of events in strict chronological sequence, containing, as compared with his History of Elizabeth, little of value. The History of King James L, by ARTHUR WILSON, 3 is a work of some merit. Wilson was a gentleman of a good Suffolk family, who compiled his History at the .sug- gestion of the third earl of Essex, afterwards the parlia- mentary general, through whose assistance and that of the earl of Southampton he gained access to a large number of private documents. His friendship for Essex is supposed to have inclined him to severity in his es- timate of James. Another contemporary account is the work of the well-known DR. GODFREY GOODMAN, bishop of Glou- cester. Goodman's sympathies, which were those of 1 Calendar of the State Papers relating to Ireland of the Reign of James I. 1615-25. Edited by Rev. Charles W. Russell, D.D. and John Pren- dergast, Esq. R.S. 1881. 2 Printed in Kennet, see supra, p. 217. 3 Printed in Kennet, see ibid. * The Court of King James the First : by Dr. Godfrey Goodman, Bishop of Gloucester : ta which are added Letters illustrative of the personal History CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 333 the extreme Anglican party, led him to undertake a too CHAP. unqualified defence of both king James and the court, but his work is deserving of note as a notable contrast to the virulence and malignity of the Puritan writers of the time. The personal views and literary abilities of James himself are illustrated by his own numerous Writings of ... i Tames I. writings. 1 The State Papers and Correspondence of the EARL OF Meiros MELROS cover the period 1599 to 1625 ; 2 and the fjljj^ Carew Letters* belong to the years 1615 to 1617. The Carew latter are described by Carte as ' a journal of occur- Letiers - rences, as well in England as in other parts of Europe, containing short memorials of fact, like Camden's summary of king James's reign.' They are, really, news-letters, and may rank among the earlier specimens of that class of composition, a labour which even men of high rank did not disdain at a time when newspapers were still unknown. WALLINGTON'S Diary,* which relates principally to waiiing- the reign of Charles I., contains the jottings of a city Puritan of just so much of public events as had an interest for himself. For the history of the long Parliament and the events Thomason of the Civil War, we have the great collection of pamph- O fpamph- lets made by THOMASON, preserved in the British Mu- lets - of the most distinguished Characters in the Court of that Monarch and of his Predecessors. Edited by J. S Brewer. 2 vols. 1839. 1 Of these a good account is given in Irving's Lives of the Scottish Poets (ed. 1810), ii. 207-91. James's Apophthegms are printed in Dingley's History from Marble. 2 vols. C. S. 1867. 2 A. C. 2 vols. 1837. 3 Letters of George Lord Carew to Sir Thomas Roe, Ambassador to the Court of the Great Mogul, 1615-17. Edited by John Maclean, F.S.A. C. S. 1860. 4 Historical Notices of Events occurring chiefly in the Reign of Charles I. Edited from the original MSS. with Notes and Illustrations [by R. Webb]. 2 vols. London, 1869. 334 A.D. 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII. The ' King's Pamph- lets.' Lord Clarendon. b. 1608. d. 1674. His History of the Re- bellion. Sir David Dalrymple. b. 1726. d. 1792. His Afe- ,morials and Letters. Parliamen- tary Re- cords. seum. A not less valuable collection is that, in the same depository, known as The King's Pamphlets, which illus- trate the same period. The great work of CLARENDON 1 commences with the reign of Charles I., supplying a comparatively slight account of events until the year 1641 is reached, and concluding with the return of Charles II. in 1660. His admirable delineations of character and general ability as a writer, have obtained for his History a reputation much beyond that deserved by its historic merits, the work having been really designed as an elaborate justi- fication of the royalist party. For a masterly estimate of its value, and a clear discrimination of the biographi- cal element from the historical, the student should con- sult the criticism in the sixth volume of Ranke's History. The Memorials and Letters collected by SIR DAVID DALRYMPLE (better known as lord Hailes), relating to the reigns of James I. 2 and Charles I., 3 rendered a consider- able service in the last century in enabling students to judge more accurately the policy and motives of those monarchs. Dalrymple was charged, indeed, with exhibiting the court and character of James in a too unfavourable light, but he always maintained that he had suppressed nothing that was favourable. As the whole history of England at these times represents results consequent upon the action of its 1 The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, together with an Historical View of the Affairs of Ireland, by Edward, Earl of Clarendon, now for the first time carefully printed from the original MS. preserved in the Bodleian Library. To which -are subjoined the Notes oj Bishop Warburton. ^ vols. Oxford, 1849. 2 Memorials and Letters relating to the History of Britain in the Reign of James I. 1762. 1 Memorials and Letters relating to the History of Britain in the Reign of Charles I. 1766. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 335 parliaments, the Debates of the period necessarily be- CHAP. come of primary importance. In connexion with those 1_ of the year 1610, marking the. commencement of the Deimesof great struggle between the Crown and the Commons, a series of notes, by a member of the House, has been published by the Camden Society. 1 For the debates of 1620 and i62i, 2 an account, also Debates of by a member of the House (now known to have been 162 a " E. Nicholas), and much fuller than any before published, was first printed at the Clarendon Press in 1766. For 1621, 1624, and 1626, we have also contemporary notes Lords' De- on the debates in the House of Lords, 3 a record all ^j 8 62 the more deserving of attention in that the speeches of and l6a6 - a peer, made in his individual capacity, were never given in the Journals. The Collections by RUSHWORTH, 4 assistant clerk of Rush- the House of Commons, and afterwards secretary to ^w&^- lord Fairfax, commence with the year 1618 and con- tions - elude in 1629. He assigns as a leading motive which induced him to undertake the labour, his conviction of ' the impossibility for any man in after-ages to ground a true History, by relying on the printed pamphlets of 1 Parliamentary Debates in 1610. Edited from the Notes of a Member of the House of Commons. By Samuel Rawson Gardiner. C. S. 1861. 2 Proceedings and Debates of the House of Commons, in 1620 and 1621. Collected by a Member of that House, and now published from his original MS. in the Library of Queen's College, Oxford. 2 vols. Clarendon Press. 1766. Since incorporated in Parliamentary History, vol. i. 1179- 1366. 3 (i.) Notes of the Debates in the House of Lords, officially taken by Henry Elsing, Clerk of the Parliaments, A.D. 1621. Edited by S. R. Gardiner, Esq. C. S. 1870. (ii.) Notes, etc., officially taken by Henry Elsing, A.D. 1624 and 1626. Edited by S. R. Gardiner. C. S. 1879. 4 Historical Collections of private passages of State, weighty matters of Law, remarkable proceedings in Five Parliaments. Digested in order of Time and now published by John Rush-worth, of LincoMs Inn, Esq. 1659. 336 A.D. 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII. Clarendon State Papers. Debates of 1625. Protests of the Lords. Verney Papers. our days, which passed the press while it was without control.' Rushworth dedicated his work to Richard Cromwell. He was afterwards vehemently denounced by royalist partisans for wilful suppression and garbling of documents. In the Somers Tracts (see supra, p. 315) some of the documents which he failed to incorporate are supplied. With the year 1623 commence the State Papers collected by CLARENDON as materials for his History?- These were subsequently given by his descendants, along with translations of the Spanish and Italian despatches, to the university of Oxford, and have since been printed in part at the University Press ; while the task of consulting the whole collection has been rendered easy by the recent publication of a Calendar?' For the debates of the House of Commons of the year 1625, we have a volume of contemporary notes lately published by the Camden Society. 3 The Protests of tJie Lords, from the year 1624, have been recently edited, with historical introductions, by professor J. E. Thorold Rogers. 4 With the accession of Charles, down to 1640, the Letters and Papers of the Verney Family* acquire con- 1 State Papers collected by Ed-ward, Earl of Clarendon, commencing from the year 1621. Containing the Materials from which his History of the Great Rebellion was composed and the Authorities on -which the truth of his Relation is founded. 3 vols. fol. Clarendon Press. 1767. 2 Calendar of the Clarendon State Papers preserved in the Bodleian Library. Vol. i. (1623-49) ; vol. ii. (1649-54) ; vol. iii. (1655-57). Cla- rendon Press. 1872. 3 Notes of Debates in the House of Commons in 1625. Edited from a MS. in the Library of Sir Rainald Knightley, Bart. By S. R. Gardiner. C. S. 1874. 4 Protests of the Lords, including those "which have been expunged, from 1624/0 1874 ; with Historical Introductions. Edited by James E. Thorold Rogers, M.A. 3 vols. Clarendon Press. 1875. 4 Letters and Papers of the Verney Family down to the End of the Year CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 337 siderable importance. Sir Edmund Verney attended CHAP. the king on his expedition against the Scottish Covenanters in 1639, and has left one of the most cir- cumstantial accounts of that ignoble campaign. The Memoirs of the Verney family which Mr. Bruce has interwoven with their correspondence are also of interest and value. From the commencement of the reign of Charles White- lock's Mc- to the year 1660, WHITELOCK'S Memorials^ furnish mortals. one of the best accounts of the general home adminis- tration. Whitelock was a man of acknowledged veracity and moderation of character, and his opportunities for observation in the important offices which he succes- sively filled, and the fulness of his disclosures, render the work one of the highest authority for the period to which it relates. With the year 1638 commences the important Thurioc collection known as the Thurloe Papers? THURLOE was afier ' secretary to the Council of State, and to Oliver and Richard Cromwell successively, and the papers which he collected and transcribed during his tenure of office were preserved in the library of Lord Somers. They consist (i) of letters written by the Council of State, 1639. Printed from the original MSS. in the possession of Sir Harry Verney, Bart. Edited by John Bruce. C.S. 1852. 1 Memorials of the English Affairs : or, an Historical Account of what passed from the beginning of the Reign of King Charles I. to King Charles II. his happy Restauration. Containing the Public Transactions, Civil and Military : together "with the private Consultations and Secrets of the Cabi- ntt. By Mr. Whitelock. London, 1732. [Comparison with a more suc- cinct edition in MS., now in the possession of lord Bute, points to the conclusion that, while it is undoubtedly Whitelock's work, much (at least of the earlier part) was written from memory, and consequently partakes of the defects inseparable from such a process. S. R. G.] 2 A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq. In 7 vols. : containing authentic Memorials of the English Affairs from the year 1638 to the Restoration of King Charles II. By Thomas Birch, M.A 1742. Z 338 A.D. 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII. May's \History of the Long Parlia- ment. Verney's Notes. Scobell's Collection. Parlia- ments of 1640. and by the two Crom wells during the Protectorate ; (2) letters from English ambassadors or envoys, and naval and military commanders during the same period ; (3) letters from other functionaries in high office ; (4) ac- counts of the revenues of England, Ireland, and Scot- land. For the history of the Long Parliament, the work of MAY * is generally accepted as a standard authority ; it is 1 preceded by a notice of some of the earlier parlia- ments. His narrative, considering the period, is re- markably free from invective and rancour, and tends to induce the belief that the statements it contains are on the whole faithful and impartial. For more precise reports of some of the speeches we are indebted to the Notes of SIR RALPH VERNEY ; 2 while the Collection by SCOBELL 3 supplies the texts of such Acts and Ordinances as were of general scope and permanent force, down to the year 1656. A volume published by the Camden Society, 4 containing documents relating to the parlia- ments of 1640 and certain proceedings (connected with their enactments) in Kent, illustrates the condition of the 1 The History oftJie Parliament of England, which began Nov. 3, 1640 : with a short and necessary View of some precedent Years. Written by Thomas May, Esq. Clarendon Press. 1854. 2 Notes of Proceedings in the Long Parliament, temp. Charles I., printed from original pencil memoranda taken in the House by Sir Ralph Verney, Kt. Edited by John Bruce, Esq. C. S. 1845. 3 A Collection of Acts and Ordinances of General Use made in the Parliament begun and field at Westminster the third day of November ; anno 1640, and since unto the adjournment of the Parliament begun and /widen the \"]th of September, anno 1656, &>t. By Henry Scobell, Esq., Clerk of t'he Parliament ; examined by the original Records and now printed by special Order of Parliament. London, 1658. 4 Proceedings principally in the county of Kent, in connection with the Parliaments called in 1640, and especially with the Committee of Religion appointed in that year. Edited by the Rev. Lambert B. Larking. C. S. 1861. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 339 Church at this period, and the administration of arch- CHAP. bishop Laud. In the reign of James II., NALSON, a zealous royalist, published a series of documents relating to the ten years Collection, from the outbreak of the Scottish rebellion to the exe- cution of King Charles (A.D. I639-49). 1 The work is dedicated to James ; and in his introduction Nalson endeavours to convict Rushworth of tampering with documents, and prints parallel passages to prove his assertions. His Introduction is also noticeable as con- taining an exposition of the doctrine of non-resistance in its most servile form. For the rebellion in Ireland in 1641, and the sub- A ff airs in sequent history of Irish affairs, the Ormonde Papers* are Ireland * Ormonde (in the present absence of a Calendar of the State Papers) Papers, the main source of information, the post of Lord Lieu- tenant and Governor of the country having been filled by Ormonde for periods amounting in the aggregate to nearly thirty years. These collections contain also much that relates to events occurring in England. With these the student should compare Clarendon's ciaren- 4 Short View,' in the seventh volume of his History, ^^. ivitnjl , written in defence of the royal Irish policy throughout, and especially to vindicate Ormonde. A Contemporary contem- History of Affairs in Ireland from 1641 to 165 9, edited by %L O f Mr. J. T. Gilbert, 3 offers a valuable contribution to the Ireland. 1 An Impartial Collection cf the Great Affairs of State* from the begin- ning of the Scotch Rebellion in the year 1639, to the Murther of King Charles I. , wherein the first Occasions and the whole Series of the late Troubles in England, Scotland, and Ireland are faithfully represented. By John Nalson, LL.D. 2 vols. 1682. 2 A Collection of Original letters and Papers concerning the Affairs of England, from the year 1641 to 1660, found among the Duke of Ormonde's Papers. By Thomas Carte. 2 vols. London, 1739. 3 In 6 parts. Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society. 1879 and 1880. Z 2 340 A.D. 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII. Special events, &c. Gun- powder Plot. Trial of Somerset. The Spanish Marriage. Expedition to Ro- chelle. literature of the subject, and includes numerous original documents. The general tenour of the evidence supplied is unfavourable to the English conduct of affairs, and, in contradiction to Clarendon, serves to convict both Or- monde and Charles of complicity with the Irish Catholics in 1641, in order to secure their assistance against the English Parliament. Turning now to special events and particular cha- racters, we have, for the Gunpowder Plot, FATHER GERARD'S Narrative, contained in the volume by Morris, already named (supra, p. 318), and the documents con- tained in MR. JARDINE'S work. 1 For the trial of the earl of Somerset and his countess, MR. AMOS'S volume 2 furnishes original material, although his treatment of the evidence is altogether wanting in critical value. Of the Spanish Marriage, viewed in the light in which the facts would present themselves to a Spanish Catholic, the treatise of FRAY FRANCISCO 3 is a trustworthy repre- sentation, and supplies a full statement of the case, on behalf of Spain, against king James and prince Charles. An account written by Lord HERBERT OF CHER- BURY of the Expedition to the Island of RheV is designed to vindicate the whole conception and conduct of the undertaking ; its value, however, is somewhat diminished by the consideration of the fact that the writer was the confidant and personal friend of Buckingham. In his ' Preface to the Reader,' he refers to four other accounts of the expedition. 1 The Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot. By D. Jardine. 1856. 2 The Great Oyer of Poisoning : the Trial of the Earl of Somerset for the Poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower of London. By Andrew Amos. 1846. * Narrative of the Spanish Marriage Treaty. Edited and translated by S. R. Gardiner. C. S. 1869. 4 The Expedition to the Isle of Rhe. By Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Phil. S. 1860. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 341 The Large Declaration? published in 1639 by royal CHAP. authority, was the work of DR. BALCANQUAL, although it does not bear his name. It is valuable on account of The Large the documents printed in it, and also as giving the %^ ara ' royalist version of king Charles's case against the Covenanters. The negotiations between the king and the Borough's Notes Covenanters in 1640 have received additional illustration in a volume edited by the late Mr. Bruce. 2 TheAnnafes of Scotland, by SIR JAMES BALFOUR of Baifours Kinnaird, 3 lord Lyon King at Arms to Charles I. and Charles II., extend from A.D. 1507 to 1603. The last two volumes giving, under the title of ' Some Brief Memorials and Passages of Church and State,' a chron- icle of events from 1641 to 1652, are a valuable contem- porary record. The Memoirs of Henry Guthryf bishop of Dunkeld, Guthry's embrace the period 1637 to 1649. GUTHRY was Memoirs - originally a Covenanter, but subsequently espoused the cause of Charles I., and, on the re-establishment of episcopacy, was made a bishop. His narrative fairly deserves the praise of being one of the most temperate and candid specimens of the minor historical literature of the time. It was in the year 1640 that torture was resorted to, jardir.eon for the last time in England, as a legal means for ex- Torture. 1 A large Declaration concerning the late tumults in Scotland. Fol. 1639. 2 Notes of the Treaty carried on at Ripon between Kittg Charles I. and the Covenanters of Scotland, A.D. 1640, taken by Sir John Borough, Garter King of Arms. Edited from the Original MS. in the possession of Lieutenant-Colonel Carew, by John Bruce. C. S. 1869. 3 Historical Works of Sir James Balfour. Edited by James Haig, with a prefatory Memoir. 4 vols. 1825. 4 The Memoirs of Henry Guthry, late Bishop of Dunkeld: containing an Impartial Relation of the Affairs of Scotland, civil and ecclesiastical, from the year 1637 to the Death of Charles I, 2nd edit. Glasgow, 1747- 342 A.D. 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII Milton on Church Reform, the Free- dom of the Press, and the Puritan Policy. Burton's Protesta- tion, &c. Lord Brooke's Discourse. Stratford's Letters. torting evidence ; a subject which has been historically investigated by MR. JARDINE. 1 The controversial works of MlLTON, written when (to quote his own expression) he quitted calmer studies ' to embark in the sea of noises and hoarse disputes,' are highly important illustrations of the age. Those which appeared about 1641 : Of Reformation touching Church Discipline, Of Prelatical Episcopacy, and The Reason of Church Government, embody the Puritan arguments against the Church of England as then established. The replies of BISHOP HALL to ' Smectymnuus ' and to Milton, represent the moderate Episcopalian view in opposition to Presbyterianism. Milton's Areopa- gitica gives the earliest exposition of the arguments for the freedom of the press, a subject- which, as a distinct enquiry, may here be advantageously followed up in the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of Macaulay's History. His Defence of the People of England and his Eikonoclastes are powerful expressions of the political feeling of the Puritan party. BURTON'S Protestation Protested' 1 (1841) and LORD BROOKE'S Discourse* (1841) the former advocating the abolition of the characteristic institutions of the Church of England, the latter denouncing the episcopal office as unscriptural are notable specimens of the iconoclastic spirit of the times. For STRAFFORD's character and policy, his Letters and Despatches* must be studied, a series of papers 1 Reading on the Use of Torture in the Criminal Law of England. By D. Jardine. 1837. See also Hallam's observations: Const. Hist, (nth ed.) ii. 8. " The Protestation Protested ; or, a short Remonstrance shewing what is principally required of all those who take the last Parliamentary Protesta- tion. [By H. Burton.] 1641. 8 A Discourse opening the Nature of that Episcopacy ivhich is exercised in England. By the Rt. Honourable Robert, Lord Brooke. 1641. 4 The Earl of StraffcrdSs Letters and Despatches, -with an Essay towards CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 343 in which his conceptions of the relations of the monarchy CHAP. to the commonwealth are clearly revealed. _ To LUDLOW'S Memoirs 1 we are indebted for a good Ludiow's illustration of the Cromwellian policy throughout Ire- land. Those of DENZIL, LORD HoLLES, 2 belong to the Hoiies's Memoirs. period A.D. 1641-48, and may be looked upon as a kind of rejoinder to Ludlow. They are the production of a zealous royalist, during the time of his exile, and are ironically dedicated to St. John and Cromwell, as those to \vhom he is especially indebted for 'the leisure of making ' his book. The events of the years 1644-45, those in Scotland in 1650, and the documentary evidence for the negotia- tions in the Isle of Wight between Charles and the Par- liament in 1648, are given in the Historical Discourses of SIR EDWARD WALKER, S secretary of wr,r to Charles walker's I., and afterwards clerk of the Council to Charles II. Discourses. The military movements of the years 1645 and 1646 are detailed at length in SPRIGG'S Anglia Rediviva? a Sprigg's work by Fairfax's chaplain. Other details respecting the Rediviva. war in the West of England, and more especially in Herefordshire, are to be found in WEBB'S Memorials? a his Life by Sir George Raddiffe. From the Originals in the possession of his Great Grandson, the Right Hon. Thomas, Earl of Malton, 6-v. By William Knowler, LL.D. 2 vols. fol. London, 1739. 1 Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow, Esq., Lieiitenant-General of the Horse, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Ireland, &*c., &*c. With a Collection of Original Papers. 1771. 2 Printed in Select Tracts relating to the Civil Wars in En^-and, in the Reign of Charles the First. In 2 parts. London, 1815. 3 Historical Discourses upon several Occasions, &c., &c. By Sir Edward Walker, K.G. London, 1705. 4 Anglia Rediviva, England's Recovery : being the History of the Motions, Actions, and Successes of the Army under the immediate Conduct of his Excellency, Sir Thomas Fairfax. Kt. Compiled for the public good by Joshua Sprigg, M.A. (Original edit., 1647.) Clarendon Press, 1854. 5 Memorials of the Civil War between King Charles I. and the Parlia- ment of England, as it ajfectcd Herefordshire and the adjacent Counties. By 344 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII Cromwell Eari of cluster Memoirs of ] ast a yel r S s. record which brings home to us, perhaps more than any other of the period, the social suffering and demoralisa- tion consequent upon the great struggle. The quarrel between Cromwell and Manchester at Newbury, a leading event in the Civil War, but one with respect to which our information has hitherto been sin- gularly incomplete, has been rendered more intelligible by a recent publication of the Camden Society. 1 In the same series, a volume of Letters from CHARLES to HEN- RIETTA MARIA, written in the year 1646, when he .was in the hands of the Scotch army, 2 exhibit in a striking light the duplicity of his conduct at this crisis. Those of the queen to her husband have been translated and edited by Mrs. Everett Green (Bentley, 1856). The Puritan Visitation of the University of Oxford, edited by professor Montagu Burrows (C. S. 1881), has just issued from the press. A small volume published at Geneva, 3 chiefly from the pen of SIR THOMAS HERBERT, supplies a narrative of Charles's personal history during the last two years of his life, and a detailed account of the circumstances more immediately preceding his execution. England and the Continent. Our foreign relations for the period 1606-11 are illustrated by the journal of the late Rev. John Webb. M.A. Edited and completed by the Rev. T. W. Webb. With an Appendix of Documents, z vols. 1879. 1 Documents relating to the Quarrel between the Earl of Manchester and Oliver Cromwell ; with Fragments of a Historical Preface, by the late J. Bruce, Esq. Annotated and completed by Prof. Masson. C. S. 1877. a Letters of King Charles the First to Queen Henrietta Maria. Edited by John Bruce, Esq. C. S. 1856. 3 Memoirs of the Two Last Years of the Reign of that unparalleled Prince, of ever blessed Memory, King Charles I. By Sir Tho. Herbert, Major Huntingdon, Col. Edw. Coke, and Mr. Hen. Firebrace. Geneva, 1646 (? 1666). [The London edition of 1702 gives also ' The Death-Bed Repentance of Mr. Lenthal, Speaker of the Long Parliament, extracted out of a Letter written from Oxford, Sept. 1662.'] CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 345 Le Fh're de la Boderie? the French ambassador, an CHAP. experienced and distinguished diplomatist of the period. L_ The great collections by DUMONT 2 are now indispens- Deia able to the student who seeks to become acquainted D n ^"p| with the treaties between England and other countries. The work also supplies, in the first part of the sixth volume, material which is not to be found in the con- cluding volume of Rymer's Foedera. Winwood's Me- Winwood. morials (supra, p. 318), which extend to 1613, continue to be of much service, especially for the negotiations with France and Spain. To these may be added the account of the embassy of Bassompierre, 3 the French Bassom- ambassador to the court of England in 1626. The aspect under which the England of this period presented itself to foreign eyes is to be gathered from the Reports of the Venetian ambassadors, 4 which they Venetian were accustomed to prepare on their return from their Re P rts - respective missions. These are comparatively meagre for the reign of Elizabeth, but with the seventeenth century become of great value, and contain very graphic descriptions both of the English court and of public affairs. The (Economies Royales of SULLY 5 are of a graver ' Ambassades de M. de la Boderie en Angleterre sous le regne d' Henri IV. et la minorite de Louis XIII. 1750. 4 Corps Universe! Diplomatique du Droit des Gens : contenant un Recueil des Traitez d' Alliance, de Paix, de Treve, de Neutrality de Com- merce, d? Echange, &-Y. , &c., depuis le Rtgne de r Empereur Charlemagne jusques a present : par M. J. Dumont. 8 vols. 1726. 3 Memoir of the Embassy of the Marshal de Bassompierre to the Court of England, in 1626. Translated with notes and a Life of Bassompierre. By the Right Hon. J. W. Croker. 1819. 4 Relazicmi degli Stati Europei, Lettere al Senato dagli Ambasciatori Veneziani nel secolo Decimo settimo. Raccoltc ed annotate da Nicolo Barozzi e Guglielmo Berchet. Serie III. Italia e Inghilterra. Venezia. 1861. 5 Memoires des sages et royales aaconomies cTestat, domestiques, politiques et militaires de Henry le Grand, I'exemplaire des Roys, le pi ince des vertues, 346 A.D. 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII. Sully's (Economies Roy ales. Birch's Historical View. Car let on Letters. Rusdorf Des- patches. character and somewhat repellent both from their style and unmethodical arrangement, but will be found to contain material of considerable value for the negotia- tions between England and France up to the date of his retirement from office in 1611. DR. BIRCH'S Historical View ' of the diplomatic re- lations of the courts of England, France, and Brussels, from 1592 to 1617, is founded on the State Papers of the period, and includes also SIR GEORGE CAREW'S ac- count of Henry IV. and the French Court, drawn up on his return from his mission thither in 1609. The correspondence of SIR DUDLEY CARLETON, 2 ambassador to the Hague, extends over the years 1616- 20, a very critical juncture in our relations with the States-General. The Memoires of RUSDORF, 3 councillor to Frederick V. of Bohemia, are valuable as the record of a diploma- tist's experiences at the English Court during the latter part of the reign of James I. and the early part of that of Charles. They are really despatches, not memoirs, in the English sense of the term. The Consilia et Negotia Politica (Frankfort, 1725), by the same writer, also con- tain documents relating to English affairs. Biographical Literature. The many remarkable des armes, et des loix . . . et des servitudes utiles, obeissances conv enables et administrations loyales de M. de Btthtme. Decliez a la France. 4 toni. Chateau de Sully, 1638. Paris, 1662. [The edition of 1745 (London) by the Abbe de PEcluse should be avoided, as in this the original arrangement and the text itself were unwarrantably tampered with.] 1 An Historical View of the Negotiations behueen the Courts of England, France, and Brussels, from the year 1592 to 1617, &c., &c. By Thomas Birch, M.A. 1749. 2 The Letters from and to Sir Dudley Carleton, Kt., during his Em- bassy in Holland. 3rd edit., with Historical Preface. 1780. 8 Memoires et negociations secretes de M. de Rusdorf, conseiller d*Etat de Frederic V., J\oi de Boheme, pour servir a Phistoire de la guerre de t 'rente ans. Edited by E. G. Cuhn. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1879. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 347 characters whose capacities and energies were devel- CHAP. oped by the experiences of the Civil War and the preced- _ ing political contests, were the occasion of a correspond- ing number of biographies or autobiographies, many of which are interesting and valuable. Of the Life of Father Gerard mention has already been made. For the eventful career of WILLIAM PRYNNE some new works by . , ... , ,- , . , ,. r ,1 Prynneand material will be found in a recent publication of the Laud. Camden Society. 1 For that of his antagonist, LAUD, the true key is contained in the Letters to Strafford, 2 and the History of his Troubles and Trials (written by him- self), both of which are much more important than the Diary, 3 a record on which somewhat undue stress has been laid by hostile criticism. The light in which this prelate's policy and motives were viewed by his enemies is to be seen in the two treatises of Prynne ; 4 the esti- mate formed by his admirers is expressed in the Life by HEYLIN: 5 an excellent illustration of the period, Heyiin's though presenting us with a somewhat superficial view Laud. of Laud's character. 1 Papers relating to the Life of William Prynne, -with the Fragment of a Biographical Preface by the late J. Bruce, Esq. Edited by S. R. Gardiner. C. .9. 1878. 2 The Earl of Strafford 1 s Letters and Despatches, -with an Essay towards his Life by Sir George Radciijfe. From the originals in the possession of is Great Grandson, the Right Hon. Thomas, Earl of Malton &c. By William Knowler. 2 vols, fol. 1739. 3 See his Works. Edited by Rev. W. Scott. 9 vols. Anglo-Catholic Lib. 1847-70. 4 (i.) Hidden Works of Darkness brought to Publike Light : or, a neces- sary Introduction to the History of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Trial!, &c. London, 1845, fol. (ii.) Canterburie's Doome: or, the first part of a Compleat History of the Commitment, Charge, Tryall, Condemnation, Execution, of W. Laud, late Archbishop of Canterbury, fol. 1846. 5 Cyprianus Anglicanus: or. the History of the Life and Death of the most reverend and renowned Prelate, William, by Di-uine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. In 2 parts. Containing also the Ecclesiastical History of the Three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, from 348 A.D. 1603 TO A.D. 1653. CHAP. VII. Lives of Hutchin- son, Williams, Birch. Bedell, and the Dukes of Hamilton. The Life of Colonel Hutchinson? by his widow, is among the most widely known. Hutchinson represented Nottingham in the Long Parliament, and the narrative, besides its many characteristic incidents, throws much light on the conduct of the committees through which Par- liament worked, and the machinery whereby it maintained its authority over the whole kingdom. RACKET'S Life of the Lord Keeper Williams'* undoubtedly the most important piece of biography in this period depicts a character of great force and originality, and one who was especially conspicuous as the rival of Laud. The Memoir of Colonel Birch? governor of Hereford during the Civil War, is an account of an officer who attained to considerable distinction in his day ; this will gain in interest if read in conjunction with Webb's Memorials, above referred to (p. 342). The Lives of BISHOP BE- DELL 4 supply a graphic description of the difficulties and perils that surrounded the English settlers in Ulster. BISHOP BURNET's Lives of tJie two Dukes of Hamil- ton;' dedicated to Charles II., are a highly eulogistic account of the careers of two distinguished royalist leaders from the year 1625 to 1652. his first Rising till his Death. By P. Heylin, D.D., Chaplain to Charles I. and Charles II. Dublin, 1719. 1 Memoirs of the Life of Lolonel Hutchinson, Governor of Nottingham Castle and Town, with original Anecdotes of many of the most distinguished of his Contemporaries and a Summary View of Public Affairs. By his Widow, Lucy. To which is prefixed the life of Mrs. Hutchinson, written by herself. 1848. 2 Scrinia Reserata: Memoirs of the Life of Archbishop Williams. By John Hacket, D.D. Fol., 1693. 1 A Military Memoir of Colonel Birch, Governor of Hereford during the Civil War. Edited by the late Rev. John Webb, and Rev. T. W. Webb. C. S. 1874. 4 (i.) Life of Bishop Bedell, by his Son. Edited by John E. B. Mayor. 1871. (ii.) A true Relation of the Life and Death of William Bedell, Lord Bishop of Kilmore. Edited by Thomas Wharton Jones. C. S. 1873. 5 The M< moires of the Lives and Actions of James and William, Dukes CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 349 Among the numerous autobiographies of this period. CHAP. VII each possessing a certain character and value of its _ 1 own, that of SlR SlMONDS D'EWES, 1 terminating with the Autobio- year 1636 (although he lived to the year 1650), includes |?|f w of interesting sketches of many of his contemporaries, and mpnds represents generally the views of a moderate Puritan, sir R 65 ' but one of very dogmatic spirit, and no little eccentricity. LorZker- That of SIR ROBERT CAREY, earl of Monmouth, 2 ends be * of T-I f -r-r Cherbury, with the year 1639. That of LORD HERBERT OF CHER- Lady Hai- BURY 3 is the frank and ingenuous record of the career Mrs. 3 of a high-spirited and chivalrous nobleman, who mixed Thornton - much with society both at home and abroad ; it illus- trates, however, to a painful extent, the singularly vindictive and lawless spirit that prevailed among even the highest classes at this period. Two similar produc- tions from the pens of ladies, the one that of LADY HALKET, 4 a royalist lady who saw much of public events and political society under the reigns of both the Charleses, the other that of MRS. ALICE THORNTON, 5 which extends to the year 1669, and is the record of the quiet domestic life of a true and pious wife and mother, of Hamilton and Castleherald, 6ndence. and by other correspondents in the House of Commons and in the City. In an Appendix the student will find some interesting particulars concerning the management of the State Paper Office (of which Sir Joseph was keeper) and also details shewing the mode of preparing and circulating the news-letters of the time. The Diary of JOHN EVELYN 2 is one of the most Evelyn's important and attractive records of the kind in the Diar y- language. Evelyn was personally well known both to Charles II. and James II., and throughout his life con sistently maintained the character of a staunch episco- palian and royalist. He was distinguished for his enlightened interest in the progress of learning and science, and few foreigners of eminence in the scientific world visited England without seeking to make his acquaintance. During a short period of his life, Evelyn was engaged in the public service, and his Diary is a storehouse of illustration as regards the political, literary, and scientific movements of his age. It contains a record of events from the year of his birth (1620) to that of his death (1706). By the student of the manners and social life of the Pepys's times, the Diary of Evelyn's friend, SAMUEL PEPYS, 3 Diary - 1 Letters addressed from London to Sir Joseph Williamson -while Plenipo- tentiary at the Congress of Cologne in the year 1673. Edited by W. D. Christie, C.B. 2 vols. C. S. 1874. 2 Diary ami Correspondence of John Evelyn. To which is subjoined the private Correspondence between King Charles I. and Sir Ed-ward Nicholas, and between Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Earl of Clarendon, and Sir Richard Browne. Edited by W. Bray. New edit. 4 vols. 1850. * Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys. From his MS. cypher 362 A.D. 1653 TO A.D. 1689. Count de Gramont. Luttrell's Diary. CHAP. will be found of even greater interest. It relates only '_ to the years 1659 to 1669, when Pepys was a young and prosperous man, who mingled with zest in the London society of the day, and was a shrewd observer both of men and events. As secretary to the navy in the reign of Charles II., he had also excellent opportunities for becoming acquainted with state affairs. Of much the same character, as regards their point of view and tone Memoirs of of feeling, are the celebrated Memoirs of the Count de Gramont} by his brother-in-law, Anthony Hamilton. These were composed in French, but have been trans- lated into English. A far more useful source of information for historical purposes than either of the foregoing is the Diary of NARCISSUS LUTTRELL, 2 which extends from A.D. 1678 to 1714. Luttrell, like Evelyn, was an independent gentleman of antiquarian and literary tastes, and his careful and methodical record of events is a trustworthy authority to which later writers have been under no small obligation. Parliamentary History. In addition to the sources already named under preceding periods, BURTON'S Diary* is an indispensable source of information for the two parliaments of Oliver Cromwell (1654 and 1656) and that of Richard Cromwell (1659). Foreign Affairs. The meagreness of the materials in in the Pcpysian Library, with a Life and Notes, by Richard, Lord Bray- brooke. Deciphered -with additional Notes by the Rev. Mynors Bright. 6 vols. 1875-9. 1 Memoires de la Vie de Comte de Gramont ; contenant particultircment t Histoire Amoureuse de la Cour d'Angleterre sous le Regne de Charles II. 'A Cologne. 1715. A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from September, 1678, to April, 1714. By Narcissus Luttrell. 6 vols. Clarendon Press. 1857. * Diary of T. Burton, Esq. , Member in the Parliaments of Oliver and Richard Cromwell. . . . Edited and illustrated with Notes by S. T. Rutt* 4 vols. 1828. Burton's Diary. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 363 Rymer's Foedera, during the Commonwealth, is in some CHAP, measure made good by Dumont's Corps Universel (see _ '. supra, p. 334), which supplies the treaties then enacted Rymer with foreign powers. With the year 1654, Rymer's " great work comes altogether to an end, and Dumont consequently becomes of increased importance. In 1773, SIR JOHN DALRYMPLE, of Cranstoun, 1 pub- sir John lished his Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland? which JT^^! P e ' relate to the period from the dissolution of the last d - l8l - parliament of Charles II. to the Battle of La Hogue. In his preface, he affirms that ' he has procured materials in England, Scotland, and France, far superior to what any single person has hitherto been able to obtain.' Among other sources, he had access to the collection by Carte ; and his work was undertaken at the suggestion of lord chancellor Yorke. He gives copious extracts from the Despatches of BARILLON, the French ambassa- Bariiion, dor to the court of St. James's, which are preserved in paujTand the ' Depot des Affaires Etrangers ' at Versailles, and in the Comte d'/\V3UX which, he held, the true key to the diplomatic secrets of the reign of Charles II. was to be found. 3 These de- spatches were largely used by Macaulay, together with those of BONREPAUX, Barillon's successor, and those of the COMTE D'AvAUX, 4 the able representative of France, 1 To be carefully distinguished alike from Sir John Dalrymple, the Master of Stair, and from Sir David Dalrymple, the editor of the Memorials and Letters (see supra, p. 333). This becomes all the more necessary to be noted, from the coincidence in the editor of the Memorials and the author of the Memoirs having been born in the same year. 2 Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland. 4th edition. Dublin, 1773- 3 The portions of the correspondence between Louis XIV. and Bariiion for the period Dec. 1684 to Dec. 1685, not contained in Dal- rymple, are printed in the Appendix to Fox's History of the Reign of "James II. 4 (i.) The Negotiations of Count d'Avaux, Ambassador from his most Christian Majesty to the States- General of the United Provinces. Containing, 364 A.D. 1653 TO A.D. 1689. CHAP. first in the States-General, and subsequently in Ire- L land, whose correspondence is of especial value from the light which it throws on the secret policy of James. Mignet's For the great European question of this and the ensuing period, that of the Spanish Succession, the mater i a l s collected by M. Mignet ' are an indispensable source of information. These commence from the marriage treaty of Louis XIV. with Maria Theresa in 1659, and although the question does not become promi- nently associated with English history until after the Peace of Ryswick, the various complications which arose can only be understood by reference to the main details considerably anterior to that event. Mignet, not without justice, claims for his subject a paramount importance in the age, ' puisque ses preparatifs ont commence en 1659, et que ses resultats se sont e'tendus jusqu'en 1738.' Baxter's Biographical Literature. In the biographical litera- graphy^ ture of tne period, BAXTER'S A utobiography? a record from his birth, in 1615, to the year 1685, is of value from the numerous particulars it preserves respecting the In- dependents and ejected ministers, and also from the light it throws on the moral and social condition of the masses, The work was subsequently abridged by EDMUND the steps taken by the Prince of Orange to ascend the Throne of Great Britain ; and the Intrigues of the Court of France to counteract his Mea- sures during that interesting Period. Translated from the French. 4 vols. London, 1754. (ii. ) Negociacions de M. le Comte d"Avaux en Irlande depuis 1689 jusqu'en 1690. [Privately printed at the expense of the Foreign Office, 1830.] 1 Negociacions relatives a la succession d 1 Espagne sous Louis XIV, ou Correspondances, Memoires, et Actes Diplomatiques concernant les preten- tions et favenement de la Maison de Bourbon au Trone d'h.spagne. Accom- pagnts tfun texte historique et precedes d'une Introduction par M. Mignet. 4 vols. 1835-42. 2 Reliquiae Baxterianae : or, Mr. Richard Baxter's Narrative of the most memorable Passages of his Life and Times. Faithfully published from his own Original MS. By Matthew Sylvester. Fol. London, 1696. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 36 CALAMY, 1 who also compiled an elaborate series of bio- CHAP. graphics of those nonconforming divines who were either ' ejected or silenced ' after the Restoration. A short Edmund Life of Sir William Temple? by BOYER, a French Pro- ?J""j[" testant refugee, was published in 1715. It is devoted Life of almost exclusively to his political career, and has since Tem P le - been, for the most part, incorporated in later biographies. The Lives of his three brothers, by ROGER NORTH, 3 Lives by exhibit in a remarkable manner the average morality North. and habits of thought of the upper class of this period. That of the Lord Keeper, more especially, is notable as attributing to the subject of the memoir a paltriness of conduct and meanness of motive, which constitute the description an unconscious satire. The Memoirs of SIR JAMES TURNER 4 are useful in connexion with the Memoirs of . , . . r , s-^^ TII i. Sir James Scottish insurrection of the year 1600. The edition Turner. published by the Bannatyne Club contains also a collec- tion of letters, many of which are by the duke and duchess of Hamilton. A recently published volume re- lating to MARY, the consort of William III., 5 supplies 1 An Account of the Ministers, Lecturers, Masters and Fellows of Colleges, and Schoolmasters, who were ejected or silenced after the Restora- tion in 1660, by, or before, the Act of Uniformity. 1713. [Forming vol. ii. of Calamy's Abridgment of Baxter's Autobiography.] 2 Memoirs of the Life and Negotiations of Sir W. Temple, Bart. : con- taining the most important Occurrences and the most secret springs of Affairs in Christendom, from the year 1665 to 1681. By A. Boyer. * The Lives of the Right Hon. Francis North, Baron Guilford, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under King Charles II. and King James II. ; the Hon. Sir Dudley North, Commissioner of the Ctistoms, and afterwards of the Treasury, to King Charles II. ; and the Hon. and Rev. Dr. John North, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Clerk of the Closet to King Charles II. 2 vols. 1740-2. 4 Memoirs of his Own Life and Times. By Sir James Turner. A.D. 1632-70. Bann. C. 1829. & Lettres et Memoires de Marie, Reine d'Angleterre, Epouse de Guillaume III. Collection de documents authentiques inedits. La Haye, Nyloff : .London, Nutt. 1880. 366 A.D. 1653 TO A.D. 1689. CHAP. some interesting details illustrative of her character, a '.'_ series of letters from her pen, and also some facts of general historical importance. Dryden's The important illustration afforded by Dryden's political and controversial poems, especially ' The Medal,' the ' Absalom and Achitophel,' and the 'Hind and the Panther,' of the party questions of the day, render their study essential even to the strictly historical investigator. FOX, (B.) Writers of the present Century. A design of the and r u'n- celebrated CHARLES JAMES Fox to write the History of the reign of James II., resulted only in a fragment of no high order of merit, which reaches no further than to the end of the year I685. 1 A Life of James II. by the REV. J. S. CLARKE, 2 published in 1816, is valuable on account of its containing portions of the king's Auto- biography (a work now lost). As an historical composi- tion, however, it is almost worthless, being throughout a servile and illogical attempt to vindicate the conduct of James on every occasion, and even to pourtray his character in heroic proportions. Lingard's treatment of his subject is of a very different order, and in the concise but able account of the present period, with which his History terminates, he does not fail to expose the extreme impolicy of most of the measures which it was James's endeavour to enforce. Mackin A History of the Revolution in England in 1688, by /Siy SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH, was published after his death. It is, however, only a fragment, consisting rather of a series of criticisms than forming a connected narrative, 1 History of the Early Part of the Reign of James II. 1 808. a The Life of James the Second, King of England, &c. , collected out of Memoirs writ out of his own hand. Together with the King's Advice to his Son and his Majesty's Will. Published from the original Stuart MSS. in Carlton House, by the Rev. J. S. Clarke, LL.B., F.R.S.. Historiographer to the King, &c. 2 vols. 1816. WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 367 and in the collected edition of his Works has more CHAI-. correctly been styled A Review of the Causes of the 1 Revolution of 1688. The merits of the work are pro- bably somewhat over-estimated by Macaulay in his well-known critique, written not long after the author's death. All preceding works, however, have since been thrown into the shade by the brilliant History of LORD History of MACAULAY, which commences with the accession of James II., and was left by him in an unfinished state, the narrative terminating with the death of William III. On the conspicuous merits of this most popular of all histo- ries, the great extent of its research, its admirable portraitures of individual character, and the intellectual power and literary skill conspicuous on every page, it is unnecessary here to insist. The careful student can, however, scarcely fail to become aware, in the perusal, of the partisan spirit in which the whole treatment is conceived, or of the grave inaccuracies which, in con- nexion with more than one topic, detract from the value of the work. A more general defect, but one less readily discerned, is the undue importance attached by Macaulay to the pamphlet literature of the period, pro- ductions which, as we have already seen in the case of Rush worth (supra, p. 334), were regarded with great distrust by the less prejudiced contemporary historical writers. Of one serious blunder Macaulay's description of William Penn, the Quaker the result of a con- fusion of two distinct individuals, a sufficient refutation will be found in the short treatise by ME. W. E. Mr - w. E. FORSTER. 1 MR. FACET'S New Examen (1861) is a Pamphlet. 1 W. Penn and Thomas B. Macaulay : being brief Observations on the Charges made in Mr. Macaulay's History of England against the Character of William Penn. By W. E. Forster. 1849. 368 A.D. 1653 TO A.D. 1689. CHAP. VIII. Paget's New Examen. Works on Religious History of the Time, by Mars- den, Hunt, and Tulloch. Histories of the Royal Society by Sprat, Birch, Thomson, and Weld. more extended criticism, including, along with the subject of Penn, an inquiry into the evidence for the historian's treatment of Marlborough and Dundee, his account of the Massacre of Glencoe, and his representations respect- ing the condition of the Highlands of Scotland. For the religious and metaphysical tendencies of the time, MARSDEN's Later Puritans deserves to be con- sulted on account of the clearness with which it brings out the distinguishing characteristics of the later as com- pared with the earlier sects. MR. HUNT'S History of Religious Thought (vols. i. and ii.) cover the whole ground of the English controversial theology of the period. In DR. TULLOCH'S Rational TJuology of England (2 vols. 1872), the same subject is very ably treated in a series of biographies of some of the most eminent divines and philosophers. These are divided into two groups : the former, designated as ' Liberal Churchmen,' including Lord Falkland, John Hales, Chillingworth, Jeremy Taylor, and Stillingfleet ; while the latter comprises a succession of Cambridge divines Whichcote, John Smith, Cudworth, Henry More, &c. who, inspired to a great extent by the influence of Descartes, were aiming at the foundation of a new eclectic philo- sophy. Of the scientific tendencies which now, no longer limited to the isolated efforts and speculations of in- dividual minds, began to assume the character of a movement, the progress of the ROYAL SOCIETY furnishes the best illustration. Of its first beginnings, the History by BISHOP SPRAT, published originally in 1667, offers an interesting outline, characterised by the author's usual literary power. In marked contradistinction to the Pla- tonic school, the influence of the Society is described by him as especially deserving of note as a means whereby WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 369 the young men of the age ' were invincibly armed against viii.' all the enchantments of enthusiasm' Another History of the Society, by DR. BlRCH, in four volumes quarto, published in 1756, is occupied mainly with the scientific proceedings of the Society ; and the same applies to a smaller History, published by THOMSON in 1812. That by MR. WELD, 1 published in 1848, is both the most recent and the most satisfactory. The Life of Sir William. Temple, by the Right Ksr^- f Hon. T. P. COURTENAY (1836), embodies the facts Temple, contained in Boyer as well as most of those in the ciaver later Life by LADY GlFFARD, together with new ma- ' Shaftes- terials, from the ' Bacon Papers' and the ' Longe Papers' bury, at the British Museum. Mr. Courtenay's laborious pro- p e nn.' duction, though of real value, has, however, been in a great measure thrown into the shade by the brilliant essay of Macaulay, of which it was the occasion. The work of MR. MARK NAPIER furnishes all the requisite information concerning the short but romantic career of GRAHAME OF CLAVERHOUSE, 2 highly coloured, however, by the prepossessions of the writer, whose sympathies are strongly with the cavaliers. A Life of Ashley Cooper, first earl of Shaftesbury, by MR. W. D. CHRISTIE, supplies some useful corrections of Hallam, and is of considerable literary merit. Shaftesbury's whole action as a politician, it need scarcely be said, is of primary importance in relation to our period. The Lives of Blake and Penn (1851), by HEPWORTH DIXON, are useful and interesting. DRYDEN'S influence, in relation to his Writers on i -11 Dryden. age and to the national literature, is illustrated in 1 A History of the Royal Society, with Memoirs of the Pt esidents. Compiled from authentic Documents by Charles R, Weld. 2 vols. 1848. 2 Memorials and Letters of Grahame of Claverhouse. By Mark Napier. 3 vols. 1859-62. B B 370 A.D. 1653 TO A.D. 1689. CHAP. Macaulay's Essay on the Coptic Dramatists of the Resto- '. ration, in the excellent Memoir by professor WARD, prefixed to the Globe edition of the Poems, and in the admirable study of the poet's genius by professor LOWELL. 1 1 See Among my Books. By James Russell Lowell. First Series. 1870. 371 CHAPTER IX. THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT AND THE RULE OF THE WHIG ARISTOCRACY. AMONG the writers enumerated in the preceding chapter, CHAP. Burnet, Luttrell, Evelyn, Dalrymple, Mignet, and _L_ Macaulay, continue to be of service for the earlier part Works of the present period. The Hardwicke State Papers described, include materials relating to the Partition Treaty, the Treaty of Utrecht, and the embassy of lord Stair in France. (A.) Correspondence and Papers. Of the domestic State Papers no calendars have as yet appeared, but the collections made in the last and present century by Carstairs, Macpherson, and Coxe, the biographer of Marlborough, in some measure supply the want. Of these, the Correspondence of the Duke of Shrews- Corre- bury^- edited by COXE, is of considerable value, and the ^shrews- documents at the time of publication were entirely new bury- to the public. They are distributed into three parts : (i) Shrewsbury's correspondence with king William from the commencement of his official career, when appointed secretary at the Revolution, to the year 1700; 1 Private and Original Correspondence of Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, with King William, the Leaders of the Whig Party, and other distinguished statesmen. Illustrated with Narratives, Historical and Bio- graphical, from the Family Papers in the possession of her Grace the Duchess of Buccleuch. By William Coxe. 1821. B B 2 372 A.D. 1689 TO A.D. 1754. CHAP. IX. Macpher- son's Original Papers. Carstair's State Papers. (2) his correspondence with admiral Russell, during the command of the latter in the Mediterranean in 1695, and also at the time of his successful expedition to the coast of France in 1696, his correspondence with viscount Galway (1695-96), illustrating the policy of the duke of Savoy in relation to the Grand Alliance, that on the negotiations connected with the Peace of Rysvvick (1696-97) ; (3) his confidential correspondence, extend- ing over the period 1695-1704, with Sunderland, Somers, Wharton, Russell, the earl of Orford, and Halifax. The collection of Original Papers by MACPHERSON, 1 the author of the poems attributed to Ossian, is also of importance, but lies under the suspicion which attaches to all the literary performances of this unprincipled writer, and the papers, according to Coxe, are ' garbled.' They comprise those left by Nairne, who was under- secretary to the ministers of James II. and his son from the Revolution to the year 1713, and also a considerable portion of the correspondence of the house of Hanover with their agents and partisans in Britain during the reign of queen Anne. The State Papers and Letters collected by CAR- STAIRS, 2 the private secretary of William III., remained unpublished a long while after his death, and were at length given to the world, in 1774, by the industry of Joseph M'Cormick, a Presbyterian minister. They relate mainly to affairs in Scotland during the period 1691-1718, especially the massacre of Glencoe. They 1 Original Papers: containing the Secret History of Great Britain, from the Restoration to the Accession of the House of Hanover. 2 vols. 1775- 2 State Papers and Letters, addressed to William Carstares, confidential Secretary to King William during the whole, of his Keign : afterwards Principal of the University of Edinburgh. To -which is prefixed the Life of Mr. Car stares. Edited by Joseph M'Cormick. Edinburgh, 1774. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 373 also comprise short memoirs of the statesmen, secretary CHAP. Johnston, earl of Argyle, secretary Ogilvy, lord Tar- 1_ bat, earl of Melville, marquis of Annandale, and others, whose correspondence is included in the collection. (B.) Contemporary Writers. The numerous political state pamphlets called forth by the incidents of the Revolution Tracts - of 1688 and the contests during the reign of William, were collected and published early in the eighteenth century. 1 Locke's Letters on Toleration, 2 perhaps the most Locke's original of all his writings, were designed to vindicate Toleration. the Toleration Act of 1689, which, however, he regarded as an imperfect measure. In connexion with the Letters the criticism in the eleventh chapter of Macaulay, and that in the tenth chapter of Hunt's Religious Thought, will be found eminently suggestive. Locke's position may be regarded as that of the national Church. The eventful reign of William and Mary, and the equally stirring times of queen Anne, with their domestic struggles and brilliant continental victories under Marlborough, almost entirely failed to call forth any historic talent worthy of the age. Only two writers of real genius even attempted to record the history of their country. SWIFT, in his Journal to Stella 3 and Swift's History of the Four Last Years of Queen Anne's Reign? and describes the course of events immediately prior and Ht3tor y- subsequent to the Peace of Utrecht. The latter work, which he considered ' the best he had ever written,' was 1 A Collection of State Tracts published on occasion of the late Revolu- tion in 1688, and during the Reign of King William. 3 vols., fol. 1705- - Four Letters on Toleration. By John Locke. Reprint of seventh edit. 1758. Reprinted by A. Murray. 1870. 3 Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., with Notes and Life of Author. By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 19 vols. 1824. Vols. ii. and iii. 4 Ibid. vol. v. 374 A.D. 1689 TO A.D. 1754. CHAP. IX. His minor Political Pamphlets. Boling- broke's Works and Correspon- dence. not published till thirteen years after his death. It reflects, in a very marked manner, the spirit of animosity by which he was actuated after his defection from the Whig party, and the imputations he casts upon prince Eugene, Marlborough, Burnet, and other distinguished characters are of the darkest kind. His portraits of his friends, Ormond, Bolingbroke, and Harley, on the other hand, are equally exaggerated in their praise. But notwithstanding these demerits, the fragment is well deserving of perusal. The same rrlay be said of his pamphlet On the Conduct of the Allies, 1 which materially modified the national policy in relation to the war, of his Tale of a Tub? which, as a satire on religious parties, may be compared with Dryden's Hind and the Pantlier, of the Drapier's Letters? which rescued Ireland from the infliction of a national slight, and of his Inquiry into the Behaviour of the Queen's last Ministry? written June, 1715. Swift's criticisms of lord Clarendon's History and Burnet's Own Times should also be noted. 5 BOLINGBROKE, in his Letter to Sir W. Wyndham, gives his version of the circumstances under which he had assisted to negotiate the Peace of Utrecht, and brings a heavy indictment against the political conduct of his rival, Oxford. His Idea of a Patriot King (1738) and Letter on the State of Parties at the A ccession of George I. embody his views in relation to a subsequent period. 6 The principal source of information as regards 1 Works of Swift. By Sir W. Scott, vol. ii. 2 Ibid. vol. x. On this see the criticisms in Abbey and Overton's English Church in the Eighteenth Century, i. 450-2. * Ibid. vol. vi. 4 Ibid. vol. v. ' Ibid. vol. xii. * The Works of the Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke. 5 vols. Edited by David Mallet. 410,1754. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 375 his public career is, however, his Letters and Correspon- CHAP. dence} ___ When compared with Swift and Bolingbroke, the other contemporary annalists appear in point of ability almost contemptible. BOYER, the author of the Life of Boyer. Temple, published in 1753 his History of the Reign of Queen Anne; 3 and OLDMIXON, a violent and unscru- oidmixon. pulous Whig partisan, satirised by Pope in the Dunciad, published in 1730-35 his History of England during the Reigns of William and Mary, Anne and George I. Neither of these works, however, though the result of some research and labour, is entitled to more than an occasional reference on the part of the student. A Continuation of Rapin's History of England;" attributed to TlNDAL, and containing the period from the death Tindai's of Charles I. to that of George II., was published in %%"'$"' 1757 ; the work is partly original and partly a compila- Rapin. tion, but it deserves the praise of having been written without party spirit, and of being a temperate and candid narrative of carefully ascertained facts, although destitute of those higher merits which attest original historic power. 4 The two Discourses of FLETCHER OF SALTOUN, 5 Fletcher of on the state of affairs in Scotland, composed in 1698, Salu together with his Speech upon the State of the Nation (1701) and speeches delivered in the parliament at Edin- 1 Letters and Correspondence, public and private, of Lord Bolingbroke. With State Papers, Explanatory Notes, and a Translation of the Foreign, Letters. By G. Parke. 2 vols. 1 798. 2 A work founded on the Annals (by the same writer), and published in- parts during queen Anne's reign. 3 The first edition of the Continuation, which terminated with the reign of George L, was published in 1747. 4 According to Burton (Reign of Queen Anne. ii. 324) Tindai's Con- tinuation ' has perhaps been more amply founded on by later historians*, as an authority, than any other book referring to the period it covers.' * The Political Works of Andrew Fletcher, Esq. 1737. 376 A.D. 1689 TO A.D. 1754. CHAP. IX. Hervey's Memoirs and Wai pole's Letters. burgh in 1707, are well deserving of perusal as shewing the aspect under which the union of the two countries presented itself to those who opposed the measure. Fletcher was a man of great oratorical power and singularly independent habits of thought, who denounced with almost equal vigour the policy of both Whigs and Tories ; at the same time, he was wanting in discern- ment in questions of national economy, and while a democrat in principle was a staunch protectionist in his views of international commerce. The reigns of the first two Georges, which have been compared to those of the Antonines,were singularly wanting in events calculated to call forth historic genius. Berkeley, writing in 1728, denounced the age as ' barren of every glorious theme ; ' l and LORD HERVEY'S Me- moirs 2 and HORACE WALPOLE'S Letters to Sir Horace Mann 3 must rank as two of the best authorities. Of these the first supplies a remarkably close and minute picture of court life and intrigue during the reign of George II., drawn by one, of whose opportunities for observation and accuracy of description there can be no doubt ; the latter, familiar to every reader through Macaulay's well-known critique, supply an almost con- tinuous chronicle of the last twenty years of the same reign, and in the earlier letters the details of Sir Robert's fall from power are described with much animation. The coincidence of statement between the two works are 1 Hearne, writing six years later (1734), laments that ' nothing is now hardly read but Burnett's romance or libel, called by him 7^he History of his own Times. 'Tis read by men, women, and children.' Reliqu. Hearn. it. 200. 2 Memoirs of the Reign of George //., from his Accession to the Death of Queen Caroline. By John, Lord Hervey. Edited by J. W. Croker. 2 vols. 1848. 3 Letters of Horace Walpolc, Earl of Orford, to Horace Mann. 4 vols. London : 1843-4. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 377 often remarkable, and a like similarity is observable in CHAP. Walpole's Memoirs, which belong mainly to our next period. A more general resemblance to be noted is the cynicism and spirit of detraction in their estimate of their contemporaries which characterise both writers. The Memoirs of KER OF KERSLAND/ who was Ker of employed as a secret agent of the British Government Kersland - in the earlier years of the eighteenth century, illustrate the undercurrent of the political life of the time. DR. KING'S collection of A necdo tes^ contains a noteworthy King's sketch of the Pretender by a zealous Jacobite of the Anecdotes - period, together with interesting recollections of the chief members of the Jacobite party, and also of some of the leading literary men of the age, especially of Pope and Atterbury. Foreign Affairs. The Memoirs of the DUKE OF Memoirs of BERWICK, 3 a natural son of James II., are partly auto- biographical, and furnish a record of a brilliant military career on the part of one who was for a long time closely associated with the history of English affairs on the Continent. For the period 169710 1 700, a collection of the Letters Letters of of William III. and Louis XIV. and of their ministers, edited by Grimblot, 4 will be found useful in connexion 1 The Memoirs of John Ker, of Kersland, in North Britain, Eqs. : containing his secret Transactions and Negotiations in Scotlaitd, England, the Courts of Vienna, Hanover, and other Foreign Parts. With an Account of the Rise and Progress of the Ostend Company in the Austrian Netherlands. Published by himself. London, 1726. 2 Political and Literary Anecdotes of his own Times. By Dr. William King, Principal of St. Mary's Hall, Oxon. 2nd edit. 1819. 3 Memoires du Marechal de Berwick, ecrits par lui-meme ; avec une suite abregee de 1/16 jttsqtt'a sa mart en 1734. Forming volumes 65 and 66 in ' Collections des Memoires relatifs a 1'histoire de France, ' edited by Petitot and Monmerque. 4 Letters of William III. and Louis XIV. and of their Ministers, illustrative of the domestic and foreign politics of England from the Peace of 378 A.D. 1689 TO A.D. 1754. CHAP. IX. Marl- borough. Des- patches. The Duchess Marl- borough. Somer- ville's Reign of Queen Anne. both with the domestic and the foreign policy of Eng- land. In the year 1842 a collection of the Marlborough Despatches } was discovered at Kensington, near Wood- stock, and subsequently printed. Earl Stanhope, how- ever, is of opinion that they were neither written nor dictated by the Duke, but prepared by his secretaries, and subsequently merely signed by him. They contain but little that is of historical interest. A full account of the special literature illustrative of the character and life of the duchess of Marlborough is given in Burton's History of the Reign of Queen Anne, i. 28-30. Non-Contemporary Writer. The publication of the sources described at the commencement of this chapter puggested to a Presbyterian minister, named SOMER- VILLE, the idea of writing a History of the Reign of Queen Anne which should at once represent a fuller command of the facts, and at the same time be free from party spirit. His work appeared at the close of the last century, but was attended with little success and failed even to attract the criticism of the chief literary organs of the day. The Preface, however, will be found useful from the account there given of the sources from whence the writer's materials were drawn ; and the Appendix is of valuers containing an abridgment of the Articles of the Union and other original documents. (c.) Writers of the Present Century. Material service was rendered in the first quarter of this century towards making the political history of the present period better known, by the writings of Archdeacon COXE (the editor Ryswick to the Accession of Philip V, of Spain. Edited by P. Grimblot. 2 vols. 1848. 1 The Letters and Despatches of John, Duke of Marlborough, 1702-12. Edited by Sir George Murray. 1845. WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 379 of the Shrewsbury Correspondence}, whose Lives of CHAP. MARLBOROUGH, WALPOLE, and HENRY PELHAM are L the result of considerable labour and research. Though Coxe's wanting in the higher merits of historical composition, M^ri- they are full and accurate, and from the important parts ^*^ played by the characters to whom they severally relate and Hen TV and the large amount of material incorporated from Peiham. State documents, they may be regarded as belonging quite as much to the historical as to the biographical literature of the period. In his Life of Marlborough, Coxe had access to the very important collection of manuscripts preserved at Blenheim, from which he printed copious extracts ; and in the prefaces to the Lives of Walpole and Peiham will be found a full enu- meration of the manuscript sources from whence these works were compiled. A Life of MarWorough by SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, Alison's of which a third edition appeared in 1855, was designed Marl- to impart to the subject greater dramatic interest ; but orou z h - his fulsome panegyric of his hero is probably yet further removed from faithful portraiture than the harsh judg- ments of Macaulay. Preceding histories of the eighteenth century have, however, been to a great extent superseded by the works of EARL STANHOPE, who published between the years EarlStan- 1836 and 1854 his History of England from the Peace of toryof Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles, 1713-1783, and some- n s land - what later, his History of the Reign of Queen Anne, re- suming, in the latter work, the narrative at the point where it was left by Macaulay. Without any pretension to the great literary powers and fertility of illustration possessed by his predecessor, earl Stanhope succeeds perhaps to a greater extent in commanding the con- fidence of the reader. His narrative is clear ; his judg- ments are fair and temperate in expression ; and few 380 A.D. 1689 TO A.D. 1754. CHAP. IX. Burton's Reign of Queen Anne. Lecky's History of England. histories of so recent a period are so honourably charac- terised by the desire to render equal justice to all parties. The history of the Reign of Queen Anne has also been written by DR. BURTON, who had a certain advan- tage over all earlier writers on the period, in having access to the Godolphin Papers, now at the British Museum, a collection especially rich in the private correspondence of contemporary statesmen on subjects of political importance. His treatment of his materials differs from that of earl Stanhope in the greater promi- nence assigned to the religious movements of the period, Marlborough's campaigns, although excellently de- scribed, being treated with somewhat disproportionate brevity. As a whole, the work, while ably executed in parts, is wanting in lucid arrangement and is marred by some serious inaccuracies. A third work, The History of England in the Eigh- teenth Century, by MR. LECKY (2nd ed. iS/p), 1 differs in its conception both from that of earl Stanhope and that of Mr. Burton. He describes it as his object ' to disen- tangle from the great mass of facts those which relate to the permanent forces of the nation, or which indicate some of the more enduring features of national life.' His treatment accordingly embraces (to quote his own de- scription) ' the growth or decline of the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the democracy, of the Church and of Dissent, of the agricultural, the manufacturing, and the commercial interests ; the increasing power of Parliament and of the press ; the history of political ideas, of art, of manners, and of belief; the changes that have taken place in the social and economical condition of the people ; the influences that have modified national character ; the relations of the mother country to its de- pendencies,' &c. 1 Only two volumes of this work have as yet appeared. WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 381 Much information concerning the War of the Spanish CHAP. Succession (1701-1714) is to be found in lord Mahon's _ _ (now earl Stanhope) History of the Reign of Queen A nne, and in his earlier production, the History of the War of the Succession in Spain. Macaulay's graphic outline of w rks re- . . lating to the subject in his critique of the latter work is familiar the War of to most readers. A far more adequate and complete treatment of the subject, however, will be found in CARL VON NOORDEN'S Europdische Gescliichte im achzehnten Jahrhundert 1 (vols. i. and ii.), which gives us the results of a much more thorough investigation of the original sources. Of these, the principal are the Coxe, Stepney, Hyde, Mitchell, and Gualterio Papers in the British Museum ; the Reports sent to their respective Govern- ments from the embassies at Vienna and London ; the confidential letters of L'Hermitage, a secret political agent, from London ; the correspondence of Marlborough with Heinsius ; and the despatches preserved in the archives at Berlin, of Spanheim, the Prussian ambassador at the English court The A nnals and Correspondence of the EARLS OF The Earls STAIR, by J. M. GRAHAM, 2 have been compiled from of Stair - the Stair Papers and other collections of their letters. Those relating to the second earl, who served under Marlborough in his foreign campaigns, are of real value for the contemporary political history. The Life of CARSTAIRS, the collector of the State Life of Papers above referred to, has been written by MR. STORY. 3 Carstairs, who was a presbyterian minister, may be accepted as a good representative of the mode- 1 Dusseldorf : 1870-4. First and Second Parts: 'Die spanische Erbfolgekrieg. ' This work is still in progress. 2 Annals and Correspondence of Viscount and the first and second Earls of Stair. By John Murray Graham. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1875. s William Carstares : a Character and Career of the Revolutionary Epoch (1649-1715). By R. H. Story, Minister of Rosneath. 1874. 382 A. D. 1689 TO A.D. 1754. rate party of his denomination at this period. ' In craft and courage,' says Macaulay, ' he had no superior among the politicians of his age.' His experiences supply a remarkable picture of Scottish affairs at this time, and especially of the unrestrained cruelties of the Royal Commissioners under Charles II. and James II. Lives of For the career of the first PITT, the Life by Bonder, THACKERAY (1827) supplies us with a large mass of ^ d information and copious extracts from his official corre- Newton. r spondence, but as a biography the work is equally wanting in critical discernment and literary merit. The Life of Bentley, by BISHOP MONK (1823), and the Life of Sir Isaac Newton, by SIR DAVID BREWSTER (1855), are respectively excellent illustrations of the learning and the science of the age. To the former should be added the admirable study by DE QuiNCEY. 1 Among Macauiay's the contributions of Macaulay to the history of a period with which his acquaintance was unrivalled, are his Essay on the fragment by Mackintosh, already referred to, that on Walpole's Letters (one of the happiest and most just of his critical performances), and the first Essay on the Earl of Chatham (occasioned by the publication of the Life by Thackeray), in which he follows Pitt's career to the close of the reign of George II. His estimate of ATTERBURY, as given in the En- cyclopedia Britannica, has been reprinted in the collected Biographies from his pen published by Messrs. Longman. Nichols's The great collection entitled Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, by J. G. NICHOLS, 2 abounds with facts and anecdotes which are generally illustrative of 1 Collected Works, vol. vi. a Literary Antedates of the Eighteenth Century. By John Nichols. 6 vols. 1812-14. Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century. Intended as a Sequel to the Literary Anecdotes . 8 vols. 1817- 1858. WRITERS OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 383 the times, and is invaluable as a work of reference. MR. CHAP. IX C. WORDSWORTH'S University Life (1874) and Uni- versify Studies (1877) in the Eighteenth Century render ^[^ s " much service in illustrating the state of education and University learning ; while the relations of learning to religious thought, and the points most in dispute within the pale of the English Church, may be pursued in detail by the aid of professor J. E. B. MAYOR'S elaborate notes to BAKER'S History of St. John's College, Cambridge. The third volume of Mr. Hunt's History of Religious Hunt. Thought supplies us with a series of skilful analyses of the chief theological and speculative works of the century. His labours, however, are restricted for the most part to writers of the, orthodox school. In MR. LESLIE STEPHEN'S History of English Thought in the Leslie Eighteenth Century (2 vols., 1876) a wider range is taken, and special attention is devoted to that sceptical element which forms the distinguishing characteristic of our national literature in the latter half of the century, and which exercised a potent influence on the political and social life of the period both in England and on the Continent. Mr. Stephen's volumes are well deserving of careful study, however much the conclusions to which they point may be a subject of dispute. Another work of considerable research and critical power is The English Church in the Eighteenth Century, by C. J. ABBEY and J. H. OVERTON (2 vols., 1878). Abbey and While written from the stand-point of a professed Overt supporter of the Church, it is catholic and liberal in its treatment, and the views of both Jacobite and Nonjuror are analysed with much care and with scrupulous im- partiality. As a comprehensive and temperate exposition of a wide and difficult subject, these volumes will not soon be superseded. 384 CHAP. X. Authorities already de- scribed. Calendars of State Papers. CHAPTER X. THE RESTORATION OF AUTHORITY. (A.) Contemporary Writers. Among the works named in the preceding chapter, the Walpole Letters and lord Hervey's Memoirs, together with Coxe's Life of PelJiain, are the principal original sources that continue to be available. For the reign of George III., two Calendars of State Papers of the ' Domestic Series ' have recently appeared, 1 which contain the first nine years. The want occasioned by the absence of similar volumes for the subsequent years is in some measure supplied by the numerous collections of the Correspondence of the chief statesmen and political characters of the period which have been published during the last half-century. 2 Among these the 1 Calendar of Home Office Papers of the Reign of George III Edited by Joseph Redington. Vol. i. (1760-65); vol. ii. (1766-69.) 1878-79. 2 The following observations, by an eminent critic, on the special value of material of this kind, deserve to be noted : ' Letters and despatches, like journals entered day by day, have this advantage over memoirs, that they exhibit faithfully the impressions of the moment, and are written without knowledge of the ultimate result. They are, therefore, more tmstworthy than any narrative composed after the whole series of events has been worked out, at a time when the narrator is tempted to suppress, or has learnt to forget, the proofs of his own want of foresight. In confi- dential correspondence, written without any expectation of publicity, weak- nesses and minor defects of the writer will be disclosed ; many transient feelings or thoughts will appear which his deliberate judgment would have rejected ; but where there is genuine ability and true integrity, these qualities will be more apparent from their evidence being undesigned.' SlR G. C. LEWIS, Essays on the Administrations, &c., p. 158. STATE CORRESPONDENCE. 385 Grenville Papers 1 are perhaps the most important. They CHAP. extend over thirty years, commencing from 1742, and are especially valuable for the seven concluding years of The Gnu George II. and the first ten of the following reign. The v p a e pers _ Preface, by the editor, is designed to vindicate the claims of the two brothers, Richard and George, to a higher place in the estimation of posterity than was conceded to them by contemporary criticism or has been adjudged to them by later writers. For the period 1744-1770, the Bedford Corre- The spondence * illustrates the political life of England, the cf/re$o- DUKE OF BEDFORD having successively filled during dence - those years the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, ambas- sador at Paris, and President of the Council. With respect to the negotiations which resulted in the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, this collection is the best source of information. The Introduction, by the late earl Russell, will also repay perusal. The Correspondence of the first WILLIAM PiTT, 3 put Corrc- which should be read in conjunction with the Letters of s P ndence - Horace Walpole, was published in 1840. The Memoirs Memoirs of LORD ROCKINGHAM 4 include much of his corre- of Lord 1-11 i i- r Rocking- spondence, and illustrate the new policy of which, as ham. distinguished both from that of the duke of Bedford's 1 The Grenville Papers : being the Correspondence of Richard Grenville, Earl Temple, K. G. , and the Right Hon. George Grenville, their Friends and Contemporaries. Edited, with Notes, by William James Smith. 4 vols. 1852. 2 Correspondence of John, fourth Duke of Bedford: selected from the Originals at Woburn Abbey. With an Introduction by Lord John Rus- sell. 3 vols. 1842. 3 Correspondence _ of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. 4 vols. Svo. 1840. 4 Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham and his Contemporaries ' -with original Letters and Documents now first published. By George Thomas, Earl of Albemarle. 2 vols. 1852. C C 386 A.D. 1754 TO A.D. 1789. CHAP. The spondence. Burke's dence, and'pam- phiets. party and that of lord Chatham's party, he became the recognised leader soon after the accession of George III. The Correspondence of George III. witJi Lord NortJi? -dating from 1768 to 1783, and embodying all the letters preserved in the royal library at Windsor Castle, is chiefly valuable as indicating the personal sentiments and policy of the king. The editor has prefixed to the collection a useful Introduction, and has appended to the correspondence a large body of explanatory notes. The Malmesbury Correspondence? which commences * n ^ e ^ ear 1 7^^' extends to 1797- The record of nearly thirty years' service of the Crown, it much surpasses most similar collections in interest, and proves alike the high sense of duty by which the writer was actuated, and the ability with which his diplomatic functions were discharged. The earlier part relates to his missions to the court of Spain, of Russia (in the time of Catharine II.), and of the Hague. An imperfect collection of the Correspondence of BURKE is included in the edition of his Works? published in 1852 ; his Speeches* appeared in a collected form soon a ^ ter ^* s death. Among his political pamphlets, the Observations on a Late State of tlie Nation ( 1 769), the Thoughts on tJie Cause of the Present Discontents ( 1 770), his speech on American Taxation (1774), that On Concili- ation (1775), and his Letters on tJte Trade of Ireland 1 The Correspondence of King George III. -with Lord North. From 1768 to 1783. Edited from the Originals at Windsor, with an Introduction and Notes, by W. Bodham Donne. 2 vols. 1867. * Diaries and Correspondence of James Harris, first Earl of Malmes- bury. 4 vols. 1844. 8 The Works and Correspondence of Edmund Btirke. Anew edition. 8 vols. 1852. [On the wanting portions of the Correspondence see Pre-. face to Macknight's Life, pp. ix. and x.] 4 The Speeches of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke in the House of Commons and in Westminster Hall. 4 vols. 1816. STATE CORRESPONDENCE. 387 (1778), are the most important of those belonging to the CHAP. present period. The Correspondence of LORD CORNWALLIS, 1 whose Cornwailis military and political career extended from 1776 to fo***" 1805, is of value in connexion with Indian and American history. His command in the American War was during the period 1776 to 1781, and during the last two years he exercised an independent control of the English forces in the only quarter where active operations were carried on. His first administration as governor-general in India commenced with the year 1786, and lasted till 1793, during which time he was engaged for two years in the Mysore War, and also drew up the fiscal and judicial regulations which continued for more than half a century to be in force in the Presidency of Bengal. A series of Letters, addressed by SIR SAMUEL Ro- Romiiiy's MILLY 2 to his brother-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Roget, at Letters - Lausanne, contains some account of the principal events occurring in England during the period 1780-83. The Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George Duke of III.? which purport to have been compiled by the DUKE hwTJL OF BUCKINGHAM, are valuable on account of the corre- moir * f 1-1-111 tlie <~<> urt spondence they contain, to which, indeed, the editor has of George in. 1 Correspondence of Charles, first Marquis Cornwailis, edited with. Notes by Charles Ross, Esq. 3 vols. 2nd edit. 1859. 2 Memoirs of the Life of Sir Samuel Romilly, written by Himself: with a selection from his Correspondence. Edited by his Sons. 3 vols. 1840. 3 Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third, from origi~ nal family Documents. By the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. Vols. i. and ii. (2nd edit.) 1853 ; vols. iii. and iv. 1855. [The task of editing the first two volumes of these papers was unfortunately confided by the duke of Buckingham to an incompetent person, who was also completely igno- rant of the times and characters with which they are concerned. A large number of the more important errors were pointed out by a writer in the Quarterly Review, (vol. xcii., pp. 421-446) ; they remain, however, for the most part uncorrected in the second edition of the first two volumes.] C C 2 3 88 A.D. 1754 TO A.D. 1789. CHAP. X. Rose Corre- spondence. A uckland Correspon- dence. Horace, Walpole's Memoirs. done little more than supply the connecting links. They commence with the year 1782, and extend to 1800. The letters are chiefly those that passed between dif- ferent members of the Grenville family, and of these, those of Mr. William Grenville (afterwards lord Grenville) to his brother, the Marquis of Buckingham, are by far the most important. Among the subjects which the volumes for this period 'serve to illustrate are the ad- ministration of lord North, the formation of the Coalition Ministry and breaking up of the Whig party, and the king's first illness. Two other collections, which date from the same period, are the Rose Correspondence^ and the Auckland Correspondence? the former terminating with the year 1815, the latter a year earlier. Both GEORGE ROSE and LORD AUCKLAND were the confidential advisers of the younger Pitt, and the former was in frequent com- munication with the chief politicians of the time. The latter, whose name is associated with the reform of the penal code (1778) and the commercial treaty with France (1786), was a nobleman of highly cultivated and dispassionate intellect, but his want of ' anti-Gallican instincts ' rendered him unpopular with the country. His Journal and Letters should be read in conjunction with those of lord Malmesbury and George Rose, in both of which his conduct and motives are somewhat unfavourably represented. Horace Walpole's Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of George II? and his Memoirs of the Early Reign of George 1 Diaties and Correspondence of the Right Hon. George Rose: contain- ing original Letters of the most distinguished Statesmen of his Day. Edited by the Rev. Leveson Vernon Harcourt. 2 vols. 1860. 1 The Journal and Correspondence of William, Lord Auckland, -with a Preface and Introduction by the Bishop of Bath and Wells. 4 vols. l86i-2. Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of the Reign of George II. By Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford. 2 vols. 1822. CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 389 7//. 1 (which comprise the first twelve years) are perhaps CHAP. the most really useful contemporary chronicles. His position and connexions enabled him to acquire the best information respecting court intrigues and state diplo- macy, while his abstention from active political life pro- bably led him to form a somewhat less prejudiced esti- mate of men and measures. He has, however, been censured for the severity and partiality of many of his judgments ; and the discrepancies in his recorded opinions of the same individuals in different parts of the Memoirs His own are obvious. Walpole himself alleges that they are ' the J S tion memoirs of men who had many faults, written by a man character. who had many himself.' ' The contradictory opinions,' he says, ' which may appear in them from being written at different periods, forbid this work to aim at the regular march of history. As I knew men more, I may have altered my sentiments of them ; they themselves may have changed ' {Memoirs of George III., i. 3). In one important respect the service rendered by Walpole in his earlier work is deserving of note. We have already seen (supra, p. 384) of what imperfect and doubtful materials our earlier parliamentary history is composed the Journals of the two Houses and the Rolls His Notes representing the primary sources, supplemented by the biassed accounts of contemporary writers. It was not, indeed, until after the brief but decisive struggle of 1771 that the right of the press to publish reports of debates in either House was admitted and recog- nised. 2 Prior to that time, the Gentleman's Magazine, of which the first volume appeared in 1731, and the 2 n ' s . ' J ' Magazine, 1 Memoirs of the Reign of George III. By Horace Walpole. Now first published from the original MSS. Edited, with Notes, by Sir Denis Le Marchant. 4 vols. 1845. 2 See on this subject Massey, Hist, of England ', ii. 93-124 ; Trevelyan, Early Life of Charles James Fox, c. viii. A.D. 1/54 TO A.D. 1789. CHAP. Annual Register, which commences in 1758, had ven- _ _ tured on little more than an occasional report of a and The speech of special interest delivered in the ' House of Register. C -- ns > ar >d a list of the supplies annually voted by Parliament. Special reports, by members of the House, such as those already described (see chapters vii. & viii.), still lurked in manuscript. Of no period sub- sequent to the reign of James I. are the reports more meagre than those of that which intervenes between the fall of Sir Robert Walpole (1742) and the outbreak of the War with America (1758), and the value of Horace Walpole's earlier work consists to no small extent in the fact that it in some measure supplies this deficiency by the accounts furnished for the years 1750-60. He him- self regularly attended the more important debates in the House of Commons, and took notes of the speeches ; these he subsequently wrote out at greater length, with comments on the manner in which each speech was re- ceived by the House, and other details. The criticism contained in his later work is scarcely less valuable ; his remarkable insight into character, combined with his great literary power, giving to these Reports an altogether exceptional interest. For the second Parliament of George III. (May 1768 to June 1774), known as the ' Unreported Parliament,' we have the Debates left in manuscript by SIR HENRY Caven- CAVENDISH. 1 This collection, the publication of which ^Debates was never completed, comprises in the printed volumes a large number of speeches by Burke, before unpub- lished, together with much curious matter appended by 1 Sir Henry Cavendish's Debates of the House of Commons, during the Thirteenth Parliament of Great Britain^ &c. Edited from the original MSS. by J. Wright. 2 vols. 1841-3. [The publication of this work was broken off when it had progressed as far as the year 1771.] CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 391 'Mr. J. Wright, the editor, from letters, private journals, CHAP. and memoirs. 1_ The Letters of Junius } which appeared between Letters of January 1769 and November 1771, attracted the atten- J unius - tion of the political world no less by their boldness, vigour of thought, and striking literary merits, than by the intimacy they indicated with cabinet secrets and the curiosity they thus excited as to their authorship. As a feature in the history of the times, their chief significance is in the evidence they afford of the intense animosity with which the reactionary policy of the dukes of Grafton and Bedford was regarded by the people. The arguments brought forward by the editor of the Grenville Papers (see supra, p. 384) to prove that lord Temple was the author and not Sir Philip Francis, are not generally regarded as conclusive. The Diary of BUBB DODINGTON 2 (afterwards lord Bubb pod- Melcombe) dates from 1748 to 1761 ; it is the journal of 3^ s an active politician who, after having been a warm sup- porter of Walpole, more than once changed sides after his leader's downfall. Part of the Diary is devoted to reminiscences of earlier years, among which we have an amusing account of the dispute between George II. and the prince of Wales in 1737, a matter in which the narrator took an active part. (B.) Biographies. The Life of Mr. Pitt (3 vols., 1811) Lives of by BISHOP To.MLINE, his college tutor, is a dull and a somewhat disingenuous performance which has been 1 Junius: including Letters by the same Writer under other Signatures, now first collected. To which are added his confidential Correspondence with Mr. Wilkes, and his private Letters addressed to H. S. Wood/all. With a preliminary Essay. 1875. - A Diary of the late George Bubb Dodington, from Mar. 8, 1 748-9 to Feb. 6, 1761. With an Appendix containing many curious and interesting Papers referred to in the Diary. Published from his Lordship's original MSS. by H. S. Wyndham. 4th edit. 1809. 39 2 A.D. 1754 TO A.D. 1789. CHAP. _ LordShel- Burke, c. ley, Lord Mansfield, and superseded by the work of EARL STANHOPE, 1 who, in addition to the papers in Tomline's possession, had access to Pitt's imprinted correspondence with George III. The Life of Lord SJielburne, by LORD EDMOND FlTZ- MA URICE, notwithstanding the shortness of the duration o f the Shelburne ministry, is of considerable value from J the light it throws on the policy and views of a states- man, who, in common with both the Pitts, represented the more enlightened conception of government which gradually superseded the rule of the Whig aristocracy. 2 A Life of Burke, by MACKNIGHT, 3 furnishes all the re- quisite information respecting that statesman's private life and political career ; the study by MR. MORLEY, 4 of the same subject, exhibits Burke more especially in rela- tion to his age and to the public events of the time. The Early History of Charles James Fox, by MR. TREVELYAN, 5 is written with much graphic power, and, whether re- garded as a portraiture of character or as an illustration of the political life of these times, is a volume of the highest interest. It concludes with Fox's final secession from the ministerialist party in 1774. The Memorials and Correspondence of Fox, edited by EARL RUSSELL, 6 were originally compiled by Fox's nephew (the third 1 Life of the Right Hon. William Pitt. By Earl Stanhope. 4 vols. 2nd edit. 1862. * The Life of William, Earl of Shelburne, afterwards first Marquis Lansdowne : with Selections from his Papers and Correspondence. By Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice. Vol. i. (1737-66) ; vol. ii. (1766-76); vol. iii. (1776-1805). 1875-6. 3 History of the Life and Times of Edmund Burke. By Thomas Macknight. 3 vols. 1858. [In this work the writer has availed himself of both the published and unpublished portions of the Cavendish Debates.'} * Edmund Burke : a historical Study. By John Morley. 1867. * The Early History of Charles James Fox. By George Otto Trevel- yan, M.P. 3rd edit. 1881. 8 Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox. Edited by Lord John Russell. 3 vols. 1853-4. BIOGRAPHIES. 393 lord Holland) and Mr. Allen, who each appended CHAP. numerous explanatory notes. The criticism and elucida- ___ tions by the final editor are of that judicious and practical character which he was eminently qualified to supply ; and although the work presents a somewhat disjointed and irregular appearance, an eminent authority has observed that ' it contains so much authentic information, accompanied with criticism so intelligent arid so candid, that no Englishman who desires to understand the history of his country between the years 1768 and 1792 can fail to read it with advantage and pleasure. Much of the materials in these volumes has since been given to the public in the Life and Times of Fox (3 vols.), published by earl Russell in 1866. The Life of Clive, by SIR JOHN MALCOLM (3 vols., 1856), is mainly a compilation from Clive's correspondence (both official and private) supplemented by the reports of Parliamentary Committees. It was left by the author in an unfinished state and was completed by another hand. SOUTHEY'S Life of Wesley (2 vols., 1820), an unequal though inte- resting narrative, may be supplemented by the more judicious and sympathetic work of Mr. TYERMAN. 2 The Life of LORD MANSFIELD in Campbell's Lives (supra, p. 229) is conceived in a less depreciatory spirit than many of the biographies in the same series and is a work of real merit. M CORE'S Life of Sheridan, a production of somewhat superficial brilliancy, written in a vein not unsuited to the subject, is still deserving of perusal. BROUGHAM'S Statesmen of the Reign of George III.? in- Lord eludes the chief English politicians of the period, but the ^"f" general ability of the sketches very imperfectly atones statesmen * ' of the Reign of George 1 Lewis (Sir G. C.) Administrations of Great Britain, &c., p. 2. ///. 2 The Life and Times of Wesley. By the Rev. L. Tyerman. 3 vols. 1871. 8 See Works of Henry, Lord Brougham (1868), vols. iii. and iv. A.D. 1754 TO A.D. 1789. John Adolphus. b. 1764. d. 1845, >His His- tory of Jingtand. Craik and Mac far- lane. Mr. Mas- sey's Reign of George III. for the strong party feeling and personal resentments of which they are the vehicle. (C.) Later Historical Writers. The History of England from the Accession to the Decease of King George III (7 vols., 1840), by JOHN ADOLPHUS, passed through four large editions in the course of 'thirty-eight years. The writer was a barrister, in good practice, in the early part of the present century, and his undertaking was much patronised by the aristocracy. His mode of treatment, however, is now somewhat obsolete, and it was difficult for one writing within so short an interval from the period, to describe either the chief actors concerned or the poli- tical questions then at issue with the desirable degree of impartiality and candour. In the ' Additional Preface ' to the edition of 1840, he specifies the sources from whence his work is derived, a list in which much of the material noted in the present chapter is wanting. A more recent production is that by CRAIK and MACFARLANE, 1 which is a compilation of considerable merit. Here the writers aim at the study of the national development rather than at the recital of political events, their facts being grouped under the different heads of ' Civil,' ' Religious,' ' Laws,' ' Industry,' ' Literature,' ' Manners and Customs,' and ' People.' MR. MASSEY's able work 2 is written with much the same purpose. It commences with an introductory sketch of events from the fall of Sir Robert Walpole, and reaches to the year 1802. The work is dispassionate and impartial in its tone, but the writer has been considered 1 The Pictorial History of England during the Reign of George III. : being a History of the People as -well as a History of the Kingdom. By G. S. Craik and C. Macfarlane. 4 vols. 1853. 2 A History of England during the Reign of George Til. By William Massey, M.P. Vol. i. (1745-70) ; vol. ii. (1770-80); vol. iii. (1781-93); vol. iv. (1793-1802). 1855-63. LATEST WRITERS. 395 to incline somewhat to the side of severity in his estimate CHAP. of the character of George III. __ The Constitutional History of England by SIR ERSKINE Sir Erskine MAY (2 vols., 1861), has been generally recognised as an 'consfuu- adequate continuation of the labours of Hallam on the ^^L same subject. It reaches to the year 1860. Much sound and able criticism on the A dmin istrations of this and the following period will be found in the Essays on the subject by the late Sir G. C. Lewis, 1 the SirG. c. first of which treats of the administrations of lord Essavson North, lord Rockingham, lord Shelburne, and Mr. Pitt. the . ^. d ; ' ' mtnistra- The Memoirs of the Whig' Party, by the third LORD tions. HOLLAND, 2 although a production hardly worthy of J^ S H T ~ either the writer or the subject, contains some interesting Memoirs & of the Whig facts, especially with respect to the character and policy Party. of Lord Shelburne. Another volume, edited by Mr. T. Wright, A Cari- Wright's cature History of the Georges? supplies us with an History. illustration of the satirical literature of the period ; and, if furnishing amusement rather than instruction, affords also significant evidence of the contemptible spirit in which the warfare of political parties was then often carried on. 1 Essays on the Administrations of Great Britain from 1783 to 1830. By the Right Hon. Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bart. Edited by Sir Edmund Head. 1864. 2 Memoirs of the Whig Party during my Time. By Henry Richard, Lord Holland. Edited by his Son, Henry Edward, Lord Holland. 2 vols. 1854. 3 Caricature History of the Georges : or, Annals of the House of Hano- ver, compiled from the Squibs, Broadsides, Window Pictures, Lampoons, and Pictorial Caricatures of the Time. By Thomas Wright. 1867. 396 CHAPTER XI. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. CHAP. fA.) Contemporary Writers. Among the authorities described in the preceding chapter, the third and fourth Authorities volumes of the Buckingham Memoirs may be consulted already de- . IT-. scribed. for details connected with the contest on the Regency question, the French Revolution, the war against France, the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland. These volumes, having been edited by another hand, are free from the glaring inaccuracies which belong to the former two. To the whole work, the Memoirs of the Court of tJie Re- gency, issued under the same auspices, form a kind of continuation which dates from the year 1811 to 1820. The Malmesbury Correspondence supplies a good account of the negotiations with the French Republic in the years 1796-7, and afford convincing evidence, in disproof of the insinuations of Thiers, that the English govern- ment and their representative were alike actuated by a sincere desire for peace. The concluding volume of the Life of Lord Shelburne supplies an interesting study of one who, amid the general panic that followed upon the excesses of the French Revolution, remained faithful to the principles of his party. To the Rose Correspondence may now be added George Rose's Diary, which dates from Pitt's resignation in 1801 to the year 1815. The CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. 397 Correspondence of lord Cornwallis may be consulted for CHAP the history of the Rebellion in Ireland, for the Union with England, and for the Peace of Amiens (1802), in both of which latter measures he was the leading negotiator. The Correspondence of Sir Samuel Romilly, especially that with M. Dumont, continues to offer some good illustration, of the state of the political world, and to this must now be added his private Journal of his parlia- mentary life, during the years 1 806 to 1818. The second, third, fourth, and fifth of Sir G. C. Lewis's Essays treat successively of the Administration of Pitt and the Catholic question ; the negotiations of lord Cornwallis and the Irish Union ; the Addington, Pitt, Grenville, Portland, and Perceval Administrations ; and lord Liverpool's Administration, down to 1822. The second volume of lord Holland's Memoirs of the Whig Party gives some interesting details respecting the formation of the ' All the Talents ' Ministry, their administration and dismissal. BURKE'S Reflections ! (1790), on the one hand, and Sir Burke, JAMES MACKINTOSH'S Vindiciae Gallicae (1791) and tosh, and ERSKINE'S View of the Causes and Consequences of the t ^ r e s French* Present War with France (1797) on the other, exemplify Revoiu- the widely different sentiments with which the outbreak and progress of the French Revolution were regarded by the two chief contemporary parties in England. (B.) Biographies and Correspondence. The Diary and Diary and Correspondence of LORD COLCHESTER 2 illustrate the views denc^of"' and character of a moderate Tory, who, while a zealous promoter of schemes of public utility, was throughout his career a steady opponent of all innovation, and especially distinguished by his opposition to the removal of the 1 Reflections on the French Revolution. Vol. ii. of Works, edited by E. J. Payne. Clar. Press. 2 The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord Colchester: Speaker of the House of Commons, 1802-17. Edited by his Son, Charles, Lord Colchester. 3 vols. 1861. : 398 A.D. 1789 TO A.D. 1822. CHAP. XI. Life and Correspon- dence of Lord Sid- mouth. Twiss's Life of Lord Eldun. Yonge's Lifeof Lord Liverpool. political disabilities to which Roman Catholics at that time were still subjected. LORD SlDMOUTH's Life and Correspondence, edited by PELLEW, 1 though a work of but slight literary merit, contains many interesting facts. It serves also to explain the policy of a statesman on whose behalf his defenders urge that he was called to the head of affairs under cir- cumstances of exceptional difficulty, and that his genuine merit was obscured by the brilliancy of Pitt ; while by less favourable critics he is censured for a repressive rather than remedial policy, and is held to have been mainly responsible for the massacre at Peterloo. The Life of Lord Eldon, by HORACE TwiSS, 2 pour- trays with greater success the experiences of a politician of the same school as the two foregoing. It is derived partly from autobiographical materials left by lord Eldon himself, and partly from numerous letters addressed to him by George III., George IV., and other members of the royal family. The long administration of LORD LIVERPOOL is to be followed in the Life by MR. YoNGE. 3 His highly en- comiastic narrative is devoted to a representation of his subject, according to which a statesman of moderate ability, sound sense, and high character, but wanting in 1 The Life and Correspondence of the Right Hon. Henry Addington, first Viscount Sidmouth. By the Hon. George Pellew, D. D., Dean of Norwich. 3 vols. 1847. 2 The Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon, with Selections from his Correspondence. By Horace Twiss. 3rd edit. 3 vols. 1846. 3 The Life and Administration of Robert Banks, second Earl of Liver- pool, K.G. By Charles Duke Yonge. 3 vols. 1868. [In contrast to the theory of his biographer, Mr. Knight's view (Hist, of the Peace, bk. i. ) represents the more general opinion : ' The conduct of the war was not his, he suffered others to starve the war. The peace was not his, he gave to others the uncontrolled power of prescribing the laws of vic- tory.'] BIOGRAPHIES. 399 comprehensive judgment or political foresight, is credited CHAP. with a principal share in bringing about the national 1_ prosperity which followed on the Peace, and is even designated as ' the very last minister who had been able fully to carry out his own political views.' ERSKINE's Speeches (4 vols., 1847) have been edited Erskine's by lord Brougham, who has also appended a Memoir, ^ eei which may be compared with that in the sixth volume of Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors. The latter Lives of composition is free from the depreciatory spirit which Brougham characterises so many of the Lives in the same series ; j^J Cam i ;H the writer declares that Erskine commands his ' love and respect,' and holds that he ' saved the liberties of his country.' The Memoirs and Correspondence of FRANCIS Memoirs and Corre- HORNER 1 have been compiled by his brother. His re- spondence putation is chiefly that of a profound financier, whose Homer. 01 * views were in many respects in advance of his age ; but during the last few years of his life (1812-16) he took a more prominent share in the debates of the House of Commons his voice, in those exceptionally turbulent times, being invariably raised in support of a moderate and pacific policy. Among the numerous Lives of WELLINGTON, that by Briaimont's BRIALMONT, 2 an officer in the Belgian army, is the most weulng- satisfactory. It is written throughout with great impar- ton - tiality, and is the result of many years' conscientious labour and research. To military students it is of especial value on account of the clearness and ability with which 1 Memoirs and Correspondence of Francis Homer, M.P. Edited by his Brother, Leonard Horner, Esq., F.R.S. 2nd edit, with Additions. 2 vols. 1853. 2 History of the Life of Arthur, Duke of Wellington, from the French of M. Brialmont. With Emendations and Additions by the Rev. G. R. Gleig. 4 vols. 1858. 400 A.D. 1789 TO A.D. 1822. CHAP. the strategic genius that directed Wellington's campaigns. - _ is brought before the reader. Welling- Of the Wellington Despatches, during the campaigns patchel'. of 1796-1815, a second edition appeared in 1844-7,111 eight octavo volumes. This collection has been further augmented by a supplementary series, extending to fifteen additional volumes (1858-72). His Civil Corre- spondence is comprised in five volumes, published from 1867 to 1873. Of his correspondence during his Indian administration a useful selection for students has been edited by Mr. S. J. Owen ; this contains also the text of treaties, and other important papers, and is illustrated by maps and plans (Clarendon Press, 1877). Lives and The Life of Nelson by SOUTHEY, one of his happiest efforts, maybe regarded as an English classic. NELSON'S Nelson and Despatches 1 have been edited by Sir Harris Nicolas. Colling- wood. Another Life, by CLARKE and McARTHUR, 2 is accom- panied by a Life, by the same writers, of Nelson's fellow- commander and intimate friend, LORD COLLINGWOOD. Collingwood's Correspondence? official as well as private, has also been published ; and his despatches, which do equal credit to his heart and to his head, rank among the most favourable specimens of this class of literature. Life of The volumes edited and compiled by MR. Fox donaid U " BOURNE, which illustrate the romantic career of LORD DUNDONALD, 4 are partly autobiographical. They com- 1 The Despatches and Letters oj Vice-Admiral Horatio, Viscount Nelson. 7 vols. 1844-5. * Life and Services of Horatio, Viscount Nelson, from his Lordship's AfSS. By the Rev. James Stainer Clarke and John McArthur. 3 vols. 1 A Selection from the public and private. Correspondence of Lord Calling-wood, interspersed -with Memoirs of his Life. By G. L. Newnham Collingwood. 410. 1828. 4 The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, tenth Earl of Dundonald, G.C.B., Admiral of the Red, Rear- Admiral of the Fleet. By Thomas, eleventh Earl, and H. R. Fox Bourne. 2 vols. 1869. BIOGRAPHIES. 401 pose a narrative fraught with experiences of singular CHAP. interest. For the present period, however, their main _ value is in connexion with the years 1810-20, when, as admiral Cochrane, he commanded the English fleet off South America during the War of Independence in the Spanish colonies. LORD DUDLEY'S Letters to the Bishop of Llandaff Lord Dud- (new edition, 1841) contains some amusing gossip and Letter*. criticism relating to public men and events during the period 1814-23. Of the events which took place in the manufacturing Bamford's districts of Lancashire and other parts of England Radical. during the years 1816 to 1821, BAMFORD'S Passages in the Life of a Radical affords a graphic and highly in- structive record. The painful end of LORD LONDONDERRY 1 (better Lives of known as lord Castlereagh) marks the close of the London- present period. The Life of this statesman, together with siTcharfes that of his brother, SIR CHARLES STEWART, has been Stewart, by written by ALISON, and the volumes, which partake more of the character of a general history than a personal narrative, rank among the best of this writer's per- formances. Although conceived in no impartial spirit, the work may be regarded as a successful endeavour to rescue lord Londonderry's fame from much of the obloquy to which he was unjustly exposed during his life. ' There is perhaps,' says his biographer, ' no great man of his age, either in Great Britain or on the Continent, whose public conduct and motives of action have come so immaculate from the most searching test, or have borne so well the minutest examination by the most unfriendly 1 Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir Charles Stewart, the Second and Third Marquesses of Londonderry, with Annals of Contemporary Events in which they bore a Part. From the Original Papers of the Family. By Sir Archibald Alison, Bart. 3 vols. 1861. D D 402 A.D. 1789 TO A.D. 1822. CHAP. XI. Von Sy- bel's French Re- volution. Alison's History of Europe. Napier's II '(i r in the Pen- insula. eyes' (iii. 183). Lord Londonderry's Correspondence (1850) has been edited by his brother, who survived him more than thirty years. The public life of the latter was comparatively brief, extending only from his mission as ambassador to Vienna in 1814 to his with- drawal from diplomatic service after the Congress of Vienna in 1823. (C.) Latest Historical Writers. Among the many productions to which the French Revolution has given rise, the work of VON SYBEL 1 is generally regarded as the ablest, and is perhaps the most impartial. The writer's treatment of his subject is of that philosophical character by which he is distinguished as an historian, and he co-ordinates the Revolution with the two last divisions of Poland and the disintegration of the German Empire as one of the great events which mark the fall of Feudalism. SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON'S History of Europe, from the year 1789 to 1815, although often superficial in its treatment and wanting in the higher merits of historical composition, besides exhibiting throughout an almost servile deference to the views of the Tory party of his time, is still the most complete source of information for the main facts of the period when all European history took its direction from the action and policy in France. In conjunction with the later volumes, the student should read SIR WILLIAM NAPIER'S History of the War in the Peninsula? which supplies some important cor- rections of Alison's narrative. A Continuation of the History of Europe, which subsequently appeared, is still 1 History of the French Revolution. By Heinrich von Sybel, Professor of History in the University of Bonn. Translated from the third edition by Walter C. Perry. 4 vols. 1867. 4 History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, from the year 1807 to the year 1814. By Major-General Sir W. F. P. Napier. New edit. 6 vols. 1851. LATEST WRITERS. 403 more strongly characterised by the author's design of CHAP. making his subject the vehicle for enforcing his particular views, and is loaded with much irrelevant disquisition. At this point, however, commences MR. SPENCER WAL- Spencer POLE'S History of England} a far more judicious and careful performance. The writer has, indeed, been cen- sured for giving somewhat undue importance to the bureaucratic influences of the time, and his treatment does not exhibit any of the higher powers of philosophic generalisation ; but his research is extensive, and the commercial, economic, and financial questions which now begin to enter more largely than ever into the political history of the nation, are treated with sound judgment and conspicuous moderation. A valuable aid in the more detailed study of these questions is afforded by TOOKE'S History of Prices? which contains an Tooke's elaborate series of statistics from 1793 to 1837. With the year 1816 commences the History of the Peace, by Marti- HARRIET MARTINEAU. 3 Of this, however, the first book (which extends to the death of George III.) is ^ Peace. written by Charles Knight, and it is consequently only to the last two years of the present period that her work relates. In its composition, the authoress had access to unpublished sources of information, and was aided by the advice and criticism of some distinguished politicians of the Whig party. Generally speaking, it may be said that this History is less full of detail and less complete than Mr. Walpole's, but is far more animated in its description of events, while in its estimate of characters 1 A History of England from the Conclusion of the Great War in 1815. By Spencer Walpole. 3 vols. 1878-80. 2 A History of Prices and of the State of the Circulation from 1793 to 1837 ; preceded by a brief Sketch of the Corn Trade in the last two Cen- turies. By Tooke and Newmarch. 6 vols. 1838-57. 3 The History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace, 1816-46. By Harriet Martineau. 2 vols. 1849. D D 2 404 A.D. 1789 TO A.D. 1822. CHAP. XI. Pauli's Geschichte Englands. and the statemanship of the period it evinces powers of a high order. DR. PAULI'S Geschichte Englands ' con- tains no facts which may not be found in the foregoing writers ; but the introduction and first four chapters are of some interest, as occasionally presenting us with the views of an enlightened Continental historian respecting the foreign policy and diplomatic relations of England at this critical period. 1 Geschichte Englands sett den Friedenschliissen von 1814 und l8i5 von Reinhold Pauli. Leipzig, 1864. INDEX. ABB ABBEY (and Overton), English Church, in the Eighteenth Century, by, 383 Abbotsford Club, foundation and object of, 221 Adam of Usk, his Chronicon, 287 Adelard, see St. Dunstan. Adolphus, John, History of Eng- land, by, 394 Aelfric Society, foundation and object of, 223 Alcuin, Life and Letters of, 248 ; his history of Archbishops of York, ib. Aldhelm, of Sherborne, Life of, by Faricius, 248 Alfred, King, his wars with the Danes, 29 ; Life of, by Asser, 245 Alison, Sir Archibald, Life of Marlborough by, 379 ; his Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir Charles Stewart, 401 ; his History of Europe, 402 ; his Continuation, 402 Almon's Debates, 227 America, resistance to taxation by, 183 ; its resistance to England, 187 Amundesham, John, supposed author of Annales of St. Albans, 291 Anderson, collections by, relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, 317 Andre, Bernard, his History of Henry VI L, 303 AVI Angles, the settlement of, in Britain, 16 Anglia Christiana Society, founda- tion and object of, 223 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, see Chroni- cle. Annales, the, of the monasteries, 274 Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 43 ; sketch of his career, 51; his conflict with William II. and Henry I., 52 ; his part in the quarrel about investitures, ib. ; Life of, by Eadmer, 267 ; by Dean Church, 268 Anstey, Mr., his Munimcnta Aca- demica, 300 Antoninus, the Itirurarium of, 232 Aquitaine, retains its allegiance to the English kings, 63 Archaologia, 218 Army, the Cromwellian, 148 ; its character under the Protectorate, 152 Asiatic monarchies, nature of, 2 Asser, Life of Alfred, by, 245 Athens, its political system con- trasted with that of Persia, 4 Atterbury, bp., criticism on, by Macaulay, 382 Auckland Correspondence, the, 388 Augustine, preaches Christianity in England, 22 ; his behaviour to the British priests, 25 Avesbury, Robert, his account of Edward III., 284 Avignon, the Popes at, 84 406 INDEX. BAB BABYLON, fall of, 3 Bacon, Lord Chancellor, fall of, 133 ; his Life of Henry VII., 322 ; Life of, by Spedding, 356 Baillie, Robert, Letters and Jour- nals of, 351 Baker, Thomas, his History of St. John's College, 383 Balcanqual, Dr., the author of the Large Declaration, 341 Bale, John, \i\sScriptoresBritanniae, 212 Balfour, Sir James, his Annales of Scotland, 341 Bamford, Passages in the Life of a Radical by, 401 Bancroft, George, his History of the United States, 356 Bannatyne Club, foundation and object of, 221 Barillon, Despatches of, 363 Baronage, the, its tyranny in Stephen's reign, 55 ; its power weakened by Henry II., 56 Bassompierre, M. de, Memoir of the Embassy of, 345 Baxter, Richard, Autobiography of, 364 Bayeux Tapestry, the, 259 Bee, the abbey of, 51 Becket, Archbishop, see Beket. Bede, his Ecclesiastical History, 28; the Venerable, 234 ; his History, 235-6 ; editions of, 237 ; his Life of St. Cuthbert, 247 Bedell, bishop, Lives of, 348 Bedford Correspondence, the, 385 Beket, Thomas, his quarrel with Henry II., 59 5 his murder, 60 ; account of, by William of New- bury, 262 ; Lives of, 267 ; Free- man's Essay on, 268 Bekynton, bishop, his Correspon- dence, 292 Berwick, duke of, Memoirs of, 377 Bertram, C. J., forges the de Sittt Britanniae, 241 Biography, Dictionary of Christian, 257 Birch, colonel, Memoir of, 348 Birch, Dr., his Historical View, BRI 346 ; his Courts of James I. and Charles I., 351 Bishoprics, the English, their rela- tion to the kingdoms, 27 Bishops, their position after the Teutonic conquest of the empire, Blaauw, Mr., his Barons' War, 283 Black Death, the, 92 Black Prince, the, his chivalry, 90 Blake, admiral, Life of, by Dixon, 3 6 9 Blondel, Robert, his de Reditctione Normanniae, 294 Blunt, Mr. J. H., his Reformation in England, 326 Boderie, le Fevre de la, corre- spondence of, 345 Bollandus, John, his Acta Sanc- torum, 218 Bolingbroke, Lord, his political pamphlets and correspondence, 374-5 Bonaparte, Napoleon, his rise to power, 195 Boniface, St., preaches in Germany, 28 Boniface VIII., Pope, issues the Bull Clericis laicos, 79 Boston, John, his Catalogus, etc., 211 Bourne, Mr. Fox, his Life of Lord Dundonald, 400 Boyer, A., History of the Reign of Queen Anne by, 375 ; Life of Sir W. Temple by, 365 Brentano, Dr., his Essay on Gilds, 277 Brewer, Mr., his prefaces to the Monum'nta Franciscana and Roger Bacon, 282 ; his view of British history, 244 Brewster, Sir David, see Newton. Brief Discourse, the, or the Troubles at Frankfort, 313 Bright, professor, his Early English Church History, 257 Britain, Roman province in, 15 ; English settlements in, 16 ! Britons, their treatment by the i English, 1 6 INDEX. 407 BRO Broclie, George, the Constitutional History of, 352 Brompton, John, Chronicon of, 268 Brooke, lord, his Discourse of Episcopacy, 342 Brougham, lord, his Statesmen of Reign of George ///., 393 ; his England under the House of Lancaster, 30x3 Bruce, J. C., The Roman Wall of, 243 Bryce, professor, his Holy Roman Empire, 268 Buchanan, George, his History of Scotland, 324 Buckingham, George Villiers, duke of, his position under Charles I., 134 Buckingham, duke of, Memoirs of the Court of George Iff. by, 387 ; his Memoirs of the Court of the Regency, 396 Buckle, T. A., his criticism of Geoffrey of Monmouth, 239 Burke, Edmund, his political prin- ciples, 181 ; his views on the Middlesex election, and on American taxation, 183 ; his opinions compared with those of Bacon, 184 ; Correspondence of, 386 ; Speeches of, ib. ; politi- cal pamphlets of, ib. ; Life of, by Macknight, 392 ; study of, by Mr. John Morley, 392 ; his Re- flections on the French Revo- lution, 397 Burleigh Papers, the, 316 Burnet, bishop, his History of the Reformation, 320 ; his Lives of the Dukes of Hamilton, 348 ; Own Tinus of, 358 Burton, Dr., his Reign of Queen Anne, 380 ; his History of Scot- land, 355 Burton-upon-Trent, Annals of the monastery of, 274 Burton, H., his Protestation Pro- tested, 342 Burton, T., Diary of, 362 Bury, Richard of, his Philobiblon, 295 CAT /~*/EDMON, his poetry, 28 \_s Cabala, the, 315 Cabinet Government, establishment of, 167 Calais, loss of, 112 Calamy, Edmund, his abridgement of Baxter's Autobiography, 365 ; his Lives of the ejected Ministers, 365 Calderwood, David, his History of the Kirk of Scotland, 313 Calendars of State Papers, 226 Calvin, John, his dogmatic system, "3 Camden Society, foundation and object of, 222 Camden, William, his Annals of James I. , 332 ; Britannia of, 242 ; his Anglica, etc., ib. Camden, John, his Life of Elizabeth, 3" [ Campbell, lord, his Lives of the Lord Chancellors, 229 ; of the Chief Justices, ib. Canada, the conquest of, 178 Candidus. Hugo, his History of the Monastery at Peterborough, 264 Canning, George, foreign policy of, 196 Capgrave, John, his Chronicle of England, 288 ; his Book of the Noble Henries, ib. Carey, Sir Robert, Memoirs of, 349 Carew letters, the, 319, 333 Carew, Sir Peter, his Life by Hooker, 311 Carleton, Sir Dudley, correspond- ence of, 346 Carlyle, Thomas, his Letters and Speeches of Cromwell, 353 Carstairs, William, his edition of State Papers, 372 ; Life of, by Story, 381 Carte, Thomas, Life of Ormonde by, 352 Castlereagh, \iscount, see London- derry. Catholics, the English, Elizabeth's distrust of, 116; their persecu- tion, 119; their treatment by James I., 131 ; feeling against, in the reign of Charles II.. 158 408 INDEX. CAV Cave, William, his Historia Litte- \ raria, 214 Cavendish, Sir Henry, his Debates of the ' Unreported Parliament,' 390 Caxton Society, foundation and ob- ject of, 223 Celibacy of the clergy, opinions of Dunstan on, 36 ; arguments in favour of, 48 Cella, John de, part author of the Historia Major, 272 Ceorls, their position in the English I tribe, 17 Challoner, his Missionary Priests, 3i8 Chamberlayne, Edward, his Angliae Notitia, 359 Chancellors, the Lord, Lives of, 229 Chandler's Debates, 227 ' Chaplain, the, ' his account of Henry V., 289-90 Charles I., engages in war with Spain and France, 134; his breach with the House of Com- mons, 136; nature of the oppo- sition to, 137 ; his arbitrary government, 139 ; introduces a new Prayer-book into Scotland, 141 ; his quarrel with the Long Parliament, 143 ; character of his supporters in the Civil War, 144 ; execution of, 149 ; corre- spondence of, with Henrietta ! Maria, 344 Charles II., restoration of, 154; growing distrust of, 158 Charter, the Great, its grant by John, 66 Chatham, the Earl of, becomes Prime Minister, 180 ; his views on the Middlesex election and on American taxation, 183 ; death of, 187 Chetham Society, foundation and object of, 223 Chivalry, character of, in the reign of Edward III., 90 Christie, Mr. W. D., his Life of Ashley Cooper, 369 Chronicle, the Anglo-Saxon, 237 ; COB editions of, 238 ; texts of, 245 ; periods at which they respectively terminate, 259 ; the Peterborough version of, 264 Chroniques de London, 278 Church, dean, his Beginning of the Middle Ages, 257 ; his Life of Anselm, 268 Church and State, their relations in the Middle Ages, 49 Church of England, its separation from Rome, 106 ; its character in the reign of Elizabeth, 113; its development under Elizabeth, 121 ; its character in the eighteenth century, 173 ; the in- fluence of Wesley on, 177 Church, the Christian, its character in the Roman empire, II ; its relations with the empire, 12 ; its organisation, ib. ; its relations with the Teutonic conquerors of the empire, 13 Church, the English, its origin, 22 ; its monasticism, 23 ; its peni- tential system, 24 ; its relation to the State, 27 ; its effect on the growth of national unity, 26 ; organised by William I. and Lanfranc, 50 Churton, Ralph, his Life of Nowell, 328 Cirencester, Richard of, not the author of the de Situ Britanniae, 241 Civil War, the first, 147 ; the second, 149 Clarendon, Lord Chancellor, his system of, government, 154; his History of the Rebellion, 334 ; his Short Vie~iU, 339 Clarendon State Papers, the, 336 Clarke, J. S., Life of James II. by, 366 Cluniac reforms, the, 47 Clive, lord, Life of, by Sir John Malcolm, 393 Cnut, his reign, 38 Coalition Ministry, the dismissal of, 1 88 Cobbett, William, his Parlia- mentary Debates, 228 INDEX. 409 COL Colchester, lord, Diary and Corre^ spondence of, 397 Collier, Jeremy, his Ecclesiastical History, 319 Collingwood, lord, Life of, by Clarke and McArthur, 400 Commendation of freemen, 34 Commons, House of, its constitu- tion, 88 ; growing strength of, 90 ; its position in Elizabeth's reign, 126 ; its position at the death of Elizabeth, 128 ; its in- creased importance after Eliza- beth's death, 129 ; its treatment of Catholics and Puritans, 131 ; its ecclesiastical policy in the reign of Charles I., 135 ; su- premacy of, 163 ; first results of its supremacy, 166 ; its relation to the nation, 168 ; its relation to the constituencies after the death of Anne, 171 ; expulsion of Wilkes from, 183 ; gives a ma- jority to any ministry in power, 185 ; its constitution in 1783, 189 ; Journals of, 228 Commonwealth, the, its meaning as apolitical term, no; Elizabethan conception of, 116 Compurgators, oath of, 21 Conjirmatio Car/arum, 80 Cooper, C. H., and Thompson, Athenae Cantabrigienses of, 330 Cooper, Ashley, Life of, by Christie, 3 6 9 Coote, Mr., his Romans of Britain, 244 Cornwallis, lord, Correspondence of, 387 Courtenay, Hon. T. P., see Temple Coventry, Walter de, Memoriale of, 273 Coxe, archdeacon, his edition of the Shrewsbtiry Correspondence, 371 ; his Lives of Marlborough, Walpole, and Pelham, 379 Craik (and Macfarlane), History of England by, 394 Cranmer, Archbishop, his religious position, in Cromwell, Oliver, his services, 147; his Protectorate, 1 50 ; difficulties DIG in the way of his government, 151 ; and the Earl of Manchester, documents relating to, 344 ; edi- tion of his Letters and Speeches, by Carlyle, 353 Croyland, monastery of, history of, 255 Croyland Chronicle, the, Continua- tion of, 296 Crusades, the, 6l ; authorities for, 269 Cuthbert, St., Lives of, 247 TAALRYMPLE, Sir David, \_J Memorials and Letters of, 3 34 Dalrymple, Sir John, his Memoirs of Great Britain, &c., 363 Danes, the, wars with, 29 ; con- quer England under Cnut, 38 Daniel, Sam., History of England by, 279 Danish settlements in England, 29 Danish wars, destruction of culture in England, 36 D'Avaux, Ct., Negotiations of, 363 Davison, Wm., Life of, by Sir H. Nicolas, 328 Debates, parliamentary, early col- lections of, 227 Debates (Commons) of 1610, 1620, and 1621, 335 ; do. 1625, 336 Debates (Lords) of 1621, 1624, 1626, 335 Debrett's Debates, 22^ Declaration of indulgence, the, issued by James H., 160 De Quincey, criticism on Bentley by, 382 Devereux, Mr., his Lives of the Devereux, 329 Devil, the, legends of, 25 Devizes, Richard of, his Chronicle, 264 D'Ewes, Sir Simonds, his Journals of the Elizabethan Parliaments, 227, 315 ; Autobiography of, 348 Dialogus de Scaccario, the, 268 Diceto, Ralph of, his Chronicles, 250 ; his Imagines Historiarum, 263 ; important for reign of Henry II., ib. 4io INDEX. DIG Digges, Sir Dudley, his Compleat Ambassador, 314 Disraeli, Isaac, his Commentaries on Reign of Charles I., 353 Dissenters, their treatment under the Restoration, 1 56 ; relations of, with political parties, 172 Divine Right of Kings, meaning of the doctrine of the, 1 54 Dixon, Mr. R. W., his History of the Church of England, 326 Dixon, H., his Lives of Blake and Penn, 369 Dodd, Charles, his Church History, 322 Dodington, Bubb, Diary of, 391 Domesday Book, 45 ; facsimile edition of, 267 Dryden, John, political poems of, 366 ; writers on, 369 ; Dudley, lord, Letters oi, 401 Dudo of St. Quentin, authority for Norman history, 258 Dugdale (Sir W.), his Monasticon, 257 Dumont, M., Corps Universel of, 345 Dundonald, lord, Life of, by Fox Bourne, 400 Dunstan, archbishop, his eccle- siastical policy, 35 ; favours edu- cation and clerical celibacy, 36 Dunstan, St., Lives of; 249, 253 Dunstable, Annals of the monastery of, 274 Durham, Simeon of, his History, 249 EADMER, his Historia Novo- rum, 259 Ealdorman, his position in an English tribe, 17 Earle, professor, his edition of the A. S. Chron., 238 Earls, Cnut's appointment of, 38 Early English Text Society, founda- tion and object of, 224 East India Company, Annals of the, by Bruce, 327 Ebrachar, see St. Dunstan. ELI Ecclesiastical, force of the term as applied to history, 235 Eddius, author of Life of Wilfrid, 247 Edgar, cedes Lothian to the Scot- tish King, 30 ; constitution of England in his reign, 32 ; the secular laws of, 37 Edmund Ironsides, his reign, 38 Edward the Confessor, reign of, 38 ; his love of foreigners, 39 ; Life of, 247 ; Lives of, 252 Edward the Elder, his wars with the Danes, 30 Edward I., character of his reign, 75 r his ideas of the kingly power, 76 ; his relations with, France, 78 ; his dispute with the clergy and the baronage, 79 ; completes the English Parliament, 80 Edward II., his reign, 81 ^ author- ities for reign of, 275-6 Edward III., his French wars, 86 Edward IV., causes of the strength of his government, 99 ; Historie of the Arrivall of, 295 Edward V., Docket Book of, 297 Edward VI., his reign, in Edward VI,, Literary Remains of, 310 Egbert, unites the English king- doms, 28 Eighteenth century, state of society in the first half of, 173 Eldon, lord, Life of, by Horace Twiss, 398 Eliot, Sir John, his leadership of the Commons, 135 Elizabeth, difficulties at the begin- ning of her reign, 113; her re- ligious compromise, 1 14 ; charac- ter of the church of her reign, 115 ; her treatment of religious parties, 116; her rivalry with Mary Queen of Scots, 117; her conduct towards the Catholics, 119 ; her treatment of the Puri- tans, 121 ; literature of her reign, 123 ; development of the English character in her reign, 124 ; her sympathy with the nation, 125 INDEX. 411 ELL Ellis, Sir Henry, his Historical Letters, 219; his criticism on Polydore Vergil, 298-9 Elmham, Thomas, his Life of Henry V., 289 Emmae Enconmim, the, 247 Empire, the Roman, see Rome. England, early institutions of, 17; introduction of Christianity into, 22 ; union of the kingdoms of, under Egbert, 28 ; tendency to break up in Edgar's reign, 37 ; Norman organisation of, 43 ; effect of the loss of Normandy on, 64 ; its connection with Flanders, 86 ; influence of the French Re- volution on, 193; its relations with France, 195 ; foreign policy of, 196; its struggle with Napoleon, 196 English, the, settlement of, in Britain, 16 ; their institutions, 1 7 ; effect of war on the institu- tions of, 18; growth of kingship amongst, 19; their relation to the Norman kings, 45 English Historical Society, foun- dation of, 222 Eorls, their position in the English tribe, 17 ; superseded bylhegns, 32 Erskine, lord, his pamphlet on the War, 397 ; Speeches of, 399 Ethelwerd, Chronicle of, 246 Ethelred of Rievaulx. his Life of Edward the Confessor, 252 Ethelred the Unready, his weak- ness, 37 Evelyn, John, Diary of, 361 Evesham, Battle of, 74 Exclusion Bill, the, 159 FABYAN, Robert, Chronicle of, 297 Fairfax Correspondence, the, 350 Faricius, see Aldhelm. Feudality, origin of, 32 ; its estab- lishment in England, 43 Fiddes, Richard, his Life of Wolsey, 323 FRE Fielding, evidence of his works, .173 Fisher, bishop, Life of, by Lewis, 323 Fitz-Neal, Richard, probably the author of work ascribed to Bene- dict of Peterborough, 262 Fitzmaurice, lord Edmund, his Life of Lord Shelburne, 392 Flanders, connection of England with, 86 Fletcher of Saltoun, Discourses of, 375 Forster, John, his works relating to the Commonwealth, 354 Forster. Mr. W. E., his pamphlet on Macaulay, 367 Foss, Mr., his Lives of the Judges, 228 Fox, Charles James, his quarrel with Shelburne, 188 ; History of Reigit of James II. by, 366 ; Early History of, by Trevelyan, 392 ; Memorials of, by Earl Rus- sell, ib. ; Life and Times of, by same, ib. Foxe, John, his Actes and Monu- mentes, 309 France under Philip II., 63 ; its relations with Edward I., 78; antagonism of the Restoration Parliaments to, 157 ; European wars of, 194 Francis of Assisi, character of his work, 72 Frankfort, the exiles at, 114 Frankfort, Troiibles at, see Brief Discourse, 313 Fray Francisco, his treatise on the Spanish marriage, 340 Frederick II., his struggle with the Popes, 71 Freeman, Mr. E. A., his Compara- tive Politics, 209 ; on the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, 237, 238 ; on Henry of Huntingdon, 250; on the Lives of Edward the Confessor, 253 ; his History of the Norman Conquest, 256, 268 ; his account of the Angevin reigns, 282 ; on the wars of Edward III. and Henry V., 300 412 INDEX. FRE French Revolution, the prevalent ideas of, 192 ; its influence in England, 193 Friars, the, arrive in England, 71 ; contrasted with the monks, 72 Froissart, his adaptation of Jean le Bel, 294 Froude, Mr. James A., his History of England, 325 Fuller, Thomas, his Church History, 319 ; his Worthies of England, 323 Fulman, William, his Scriptores Rerum Anglicarum, 217 AIMAR, Geoffrey, his Histoire \_J des Angles, 260 Gairdner, Mr. James, his Life of Richard III., 299 ; his articles on fifteenth century history, 301 ; his criticism on Polydore Vergil, 302, n. I Gale, Thomas, his Scriptores XV., 217 ; his edition of Gildas, 233 Gardiner, Stephen, his religious position, ill Gardiner, Mr. S. R., his works on English history in the seventeenth century, 354 Geffcken, Heinrich, his work on Church and State, 301 George III., his struggle for power, 180; defeats the Whigs, 186 ; State Papers of the reign of, 384; his Correspondence with Lord North, 386 Gerard, John, Life of, by Morris, 3i8 Germans assail the Roman empire, 13 Gervase of Canterbury, chiefly a compiler, 264 Gery, Robert, continued Cave's His tor ia, 214 Gesiths, relations of, with the king, 19 Gesta Stephani, the, 260 Giffard, Lady, her Life of Sir W. Temple, 369 Gildas, his de Excidio Britanniae, 233 GUN Gilds, history of, 277 Giraldus Cambrensis, works of, 265 Gisseburn, see Hemingford. Godwin, his influence in England, 39 . Godwin, William, his History of the Commonwealth, 352 Goodman, Dr. Godfrey, his Court of James I., 332 Grafton, Richard, continued Hard- ing's Chronicle, 292 Graham of Claverhouse, see Napier. Gramont, Count de, Memoirs of, 362 Granvelle, cardinal, his Corre- spondence, 316 Gray, John de, nominated arch- bishop, 64 Great Council, the, compared with the Witenagemot, 46 ; its power over taxation, 68 Greek republics, character of, 3 Green, Mrs. Everett, her Lives of the Princesses, 228 Gregory I., Pope, sends Augustine to England, 25 Gregory VII., Pope, his idea of papal absolutism, 48 ; his ideal of the papacy contrasted with that of Innocent III., 65 Gregory IX., Pope, his quarrel with Frederick II., 71 Gregory, William, his Chronicle, 279 Grenville Papers, the, 385 Grey, Anchitell, his collection of Debates, 227 Grey Friars of London, Chronicle of the, 309 Grosseteste, Robert, his Letters, 280 Guest, Dr. E., his opinion on Gildas, 233 ; on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,- 237 ; pamphlets on British history by, 243 Guizot, Essais of, 268 ; his Histoire de la Civilisation, etc., 282 ; his works on Englivh history, 354 Gunpowder Plot, materials for the history of the, 340 INDEX, 413 GUT Guthry, Henry, Memoirs of, 341 Guy, bishop of Amiens, on the battle of Hastings, 259 T T ALKET, lady, Autobio- rl graphy of, 349 Hall, Anthony, texts edited by, 217 Hall, Edward, his Two Noble Families, &c. , 299 ; his value for the Tudor period, 302-3 Hallam, on the 'four causes,' 283; on chivalry, 300 ; value of his Constitutional History for the sixteenth century, 326 Halliwell, J. O., his Letters of the Kings of England, 350 Hamilton, dukes of, Burnet's Lives of, 348 Hamilton Papers, the, 350. Hampton Court, Conference at, 130 Hardwicke Papers, the, 314 Hajdy, Sir T. D., his criticism on Bale, 213 ; on Tanner, 214 ; his Descriptive Catalogue, 215; his Syllabus of Rymer's Foedera, 22$; on the Rolls of Parliament, 225 ; his opinion on Gildas, 234 ; his criticism of Geoffrey of Mon- mouth, 240 ; of Ethelwerd, 246 ; his criticism on Eddius, 247 Hardyng, John, Chronicle by, 292 Harleian Miscellany , the, 231 Harold is chosen king, 39 Harpsfield, Nicholas, his Pretended Divorce, &c., 304 Harrison, William, his Description of F.ngland, 307 ; his Chronicle of Scotland, 307 Hatton, Sir Christopher, Life of, by Sir H. Nicolas, 328 Hatton Family, the, Correspondence of, 350 Hansard, his Parliamentary Debates, 228 Hausser, Ludwig, his History of the Reformation, 326 Haweis, Mr. , his Sketches of the Re- formation, 326 Hayward, Sir John, his Life of HOL Edward VI. , 322 ; his Annals of Elizabeth, ib. Hearne, Thomas, merits of his texts of authors, 216-7 Hemingford, Walter, Chronicle of, 276 Henry I., his quarrel with Anselm, 52 ; establishes order, 54 Henry II., restoration of order by, 55 ; his military reforms, 56 ; po- litical institutions of, 58 ; his quarrel with Becket, 59 ; chief authorities for reign of, 262 Henry III., King, his accession, 69 Henry IV., the Emperor, his penance at Canossa, 42 Henry V., his French wsrs, 98 authorities for reign of, 289 Henry VI., his weakness, 98 Chronicles for reign of, 292 Henry VII., his accession, 99 nature of his authority, 100 ; ex tends the royal power, 101 ; en< of his reign, 103 Henry VIII., character of, IO"? his quarrel with the Pope, 106 his use of the royal supremacy 1 10 ; correspondence of, 226 State Papers for reign of, 312 Henry the Fowler imitates Edward the Elder, 30 Herbert, Algernon, his Britannia after the Romans, 243 Herbert of Cherbury, lord, his Life of Henry VIII., 322 ; his Expedition to the Isle of R he, 340; Autobiography of, 349 Herbert, Sir Thomas, his Memoirs of Charles I. , 344 Heretics, statute for the burning of, 98 Hervey, lord, Memoirs of, 376 Heylin, P., his Life of Laud, 347 Hexham Chronicles, the, 261 Higden, Polychronicon of, 285 Hildebrand, see Gregory VII. Hogarth, evidence of his works to the state of society, 173 Holinshed, Raphael, Chronicles of, 306-7 Holland, lord, his Memoirs of the Whig Party, 395 414 INDEX. HOL Holies, lord, Memoirs of, 343 Honorius II., pope, his influence during the minority of Henry III., 70 Hook, dean, his Lives of the Arch- bishops, 283, 300 Hooker, John, a contributor to Holinshed's Chronicles, 307 Homer, Francis, Memoirs of, by his brother, 399 Horsley, John, Britannia Romana of, 242 Hosack, Mr. John, his Mary, Queen of Scots, 329 Hoveden, Roger, Chronica of, 263 ; importance of the work as de- scribed by Stubbs, ib. Hubert, Walter, archbishop, his administration for Richard I., 6l Hiibner, professor, his collection of Christian inscriptions in Britain, 242 Hugh of Lincoln, Life of, 267 ; Life of, by Perry, 269 Hundred Years' War, the, begin- ning of, 87 Hunt, Mr. John, his Religious Thought in England, 326, 368, 383 Huntingdon, Henry of, his Historia, 250 Hurd, bishop, his Dialogue on Elizabeth, 322 Hutchinson, colonel, Life of, by his widow, 348 TNCLOSURES, the attempts to J. restrict, 112 Independents, the, support tolera- tion, 148 Ingulphus, spuriousness of work attributed to, 255 Innocent III., pope, his quarrel with John, 64; proposes to Philip II. to invade England, 65 ; his ideal of the Papacy contrasted with that of Gregoiy VII., ib. Innocent IV., pope, his quarrel with Frederick II., 71 Inscriptions, ancient, collections of, see Bruce, Horsley, Hiibner. KEM Investitures, quarrel about, 53 Ireland, account of, by Giraldus, 265 ; conquest of, by Henry II., ib. and 266 ; authorities for early history of, ib. ; for history of, in sixteenth century, 324 Ireland, History of Affairs in, 339 Italy, its union under Rome, 5 JAMES I., the first ten years of his reign, 130 ; his treatment of the Catholics, 131 ; his alliance with Spain, 132 ; materials for reign of, 331 ; writings of, 333 James II., the reign of, 160 ; birth of his son, 161 ; dethronement of, 162 ; Lives of, 366 James, William, his Naval History, 230 Jane, queen, Chronicle of, 310 Jardine, D., On the Use ofTortttfe, 341 Jean le Bel, Chronicle of, 293 Jerusalem taken by the Maho- metans, 6l Jessopp, Dr., his One Generation of a Norfolk House, 3T8 Jesuits, the, their propaganda, 118 ; authorities for their history, 327 John, king, his selfishness, 62 ; his quarrel with the king of France, 63 ; his quarrel with the Pope, 64 ; his quarrel with Innocent III., 65 ; his quarrel with the baronage, 66 ; constitutional con- cessions of, 68 Judges of England, Lives of the,- 228 Judicial reforms, established by Henry II., 57 Jumieges, William of, his Historiae Normannorum, 258 Junius, Letters of, 391 Jutes, the, settlement of in Britain, 16 TREATING, Dr., his History of _|^^ Erina, 266 Kemble, John M., his Saxons in England, 2IO, 255 INDEX. 415 KEN LON Rennet, bishop, his History of England, 217 ; his Register and Chronicle, 359 Kent, Proceedings in the County of, 338 Ker of Kersland, Memoirs of, 377 Ket's rebellion, 112 King, Dr., Anecdotes of, 377 ' King's Pamphlets, ' the, at the British Museum, 334 King, the, growth of his authority amongst the English settlers, 19 ; relations of, with his Witan, ib. ; his relations with his gesiths, ib. ; his constitutional powers in the tenth century, 35 ; growth of his authority after Alfred's reign, 30 Kirk, Mr. John F., his Life of Charles the Bold, 301 Knight, Charles, his share in Miss Martineau's History of the Peace, 403 Knighton, Henry, History of Eng- land by, 285 LABOURERS, the condition of, 91 Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canter- bury, 43 ; organises the English Church, 50 ; Life of, by Milo Crispin, 267 ; by dean Hook, 268 Langtoft, Peter, his Chronicle, 250 Langton, Stephen, nominated Arch- bishop, 65 Lappenberg, his error in accepting the de Situ as genuine, 241 Large Declaration, the, 341 Laud, Archbishop, his ecclesiastical policy, 136 ; alarm caused by his proceedings, 138 ; his Letters to Strafford, 347 ; History of his troubles, &c., ib. ; Life of, by Heylin, ib. Laws, early English, 254 Lecky, Mr. W. E. H., his History of England, 380 Legrand, Joachim, his Histoire du Divorce, 320 Leland, John, his Collectanea and Commentarii, 2 1 1-2 Le Neve, John, Fasti of, 229 Letters, the Royal, temp. Henry III., 279; episcopal, of Walter de Grey, 280; papal, collections of, ib. Levi, Professor Leone, his History of Commerce, 230 Lewes, battle of, 73 Lewis, son of Philip II., invited to take the English throne, 69 Lewis XIV., European position of, 157; his intolerance, 161 Lewis, John, his Life of Fisher, 323 Lewis, Sir G. C., his observations on the historical value of letters and despatches, 384 ; his Essays oti the Administrations, 395 Liber Albus, 278 Liberal movement, the, spread of, 198 Liber Custumarum, 278 Liber de Antiquis Legibus, 278 Liberty of the press, the establish- ment of, 165 Lincolnshire, the rebellion in, 1470, 295 Lingard, John, his error in accepting the de Situ as genuine, 241 ; value of his History for the sixteenth century, 326 ; value of his History for the seventeenth century, 353 ; his account of James II., 366 Liverpool, lord, Life of, by Mr. Yonge, 398 Livius, Titus, his Life of Henry V., 289 Lloyd, David, his State Worthies, 323 Lobanov-Rostovsky, Prince, edition of Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, by, 317 Locke, John, his Letters on Tolera* tion, 373 Lollardism, course of, 97 Lollards, the, their rise, 95 London, Chronicle of, 278 London Chronicle, the, temp. Henry VII. and Henry VIII., 304 London, City Records of, 277 Londonderry, lord, Life of, by Alison, 401 ; Correspondence of, 402 416 INDEX. LON Longman, William, his lectures on I Afo History of England, 282 ; his j Life of Edward Iff., 300 Long Parliament, the, its first mea- | sures, 142 ; its breach with the King, 143 ; character of its sup- porters in the Civil War, 145 ; Cromwell's dissolution of, 149 Lords, House of, Journals of, 228 ; Protests, 336 Lowell, J. R., his Essay on Dryden, 370 Luard, Mr., his edition of Mat- thew Paris, 282 Ludlow, Edmund, Memoirs of, 343 Luttrell, Narcissus, Diary of, 362 MABILLON, John, his Ada Sanctorum, 218 Macaulay, lord, History of, 367 ; Essays of, 382 MacGeogehan, the Abbe, his His- tory of Ireland, 267 Mackintosh, Sir James, his History of the Revolution, 366 ; his Vin- diciae Gallicae, 397 Macknight, Thomas, his Life of Burke, 392 Machyn, Henry, Diary of , 310 Macpherson, David, his Annals of Commerce, 229 Macpherson, James, Original Papers \ edited by, 372 Macray, Mr., his Manual of British Historians, 215 Magna Carta, its grant by John, 66 Maine, Sir H., his authority cited, 208 ; his History of Institutions, 209 Maitland Club, foundation and ob- ject of, 221 Maitland, Dr., his Essays on the Reformation, 327 Majoribanks, George, his Annals of Scotland, 325 Malmesbury, the Monk of, his Life of Ed-ward II., 275 Malmesbury, William of, his ac- count of Aldhelm, 248 ; his Gesta Regum Anglorum t 251 ; his de MID Gestis Pontificum, to. ; his His- toria Novella, ib. and 260 Malmesbury Correspondence, the, 386 Mansfield, lord, Life of, by lord Campbell, 393 Manufacturing industry, its influence on politics, 190 Marianus Scotus, Chronicle of, 249 Markham, Clements, Life of Fair- fax by, 356 Marlborough, duchess of, literature relating to, 378 Marlborough Despatches, the, 378 Marlborough, duke of, his Life by Coxe, 379 ; by Alison, ib. Marprelate, Martin, see Maskell. Marsden, J. B., his History of the Early Puritans, 327 ; his Later Puritans, 368 Martineau, Miss, her History of the Peace, 403 Mary, queen, her reign, 112 Mary II., queen, Letters and Me- moirs of, 365 Mary, queen of Scots, her captivity, 117; materials for the history of, 317 Maskell, William, his History of the Marprelate Controversy, 313 Map, Walter, his de Nugis Curia- Hum, 265 Massey, Mr., History of England by, 394 Masson, Mr. D., his Life of Milton, 356 Maurer, G. L. von, his Etnlertung, &c., 210 May, Thomas, his History of the Long Parliament, 338 May, Sir Erskine, History of Eng- land by, 395 Mayor, Professor John E. B., his edition of Bede, 237 ; his ex- posure of the forgery by Bertram, 241 ; his- edition of Baker's His- tory of St. John's College, 383 M'cCrie's Life of Knox, 329 Melrose, Chrontca of, 261 Melros State Papers, the, 333 Middle Ages, the, decline of the system of, 83 INDEX. 417 MIG Migne, the Abbe, his Patrologia Latina, 218 Mignet, M. , his Histoire de Marie Stuart, 329; his collections re- lating to the Spanish Succession, 364 Military system of England, the, Norman changes in, 43 Military system, the, reformed by Henry II., 56 Milman, dean, his account of the rise of the Mendicant Orders, 283 ; his account of Boniface VIII., M. Milo Crispin, his Life of Lanfranc, 267 Milton, John, prose works of, 342 Moberfy, Dr., his edition of Bede, 237 Monasteries, Letters relating to the Dissolution of the, 309 Monastici-m, its merits and defects, 23 ; its character in the eleventh century, 51 Monk, bishop, see Ben tie y. Monmouth, Geoffrey of, \\isHistoria Britonum, 239 ; influence of his work, 240 Monopolies, establishment of, 133 Monstrelet, Enguerrand de, his Chronicles, 294 Montfort, Simon de, his political ideas, 73 Montrosc, Life of, by Napier, 356 Monumenta Historica Britannica, the, 242 Moor, Thomas de la, his Life of Edward II., 276 More, Sir Thomas, his Utopia, 105, 305 ; h : s accounts of Edward V. and Richard III., 296; his Life by Roper, 310 Morley, professor H., his English Writers, 215 Motley, Mr., his Dutch Republic and United Netherlands, 327 Mozley, J. B., his Essays on Straf- ford, Laud, and Cromwell, 355 Miiller, professor Max, his Lectures on Language, 207 Mullinger, Mr. J. B., his History of the University of Cambridge, 283 NOR Murimuth, Adam of, continuation of, 284 NALSON, John, Collection of, 339 Napier, Mark, Life of Mont rose by, jt 356 ; his Life of Graham of Clarerhouse, 369 Napier, Sir William, his History of the Peninsular War, 402 Naval History, see James, 230 Neal, Daniel, his History of the Puritans, 321 Nelson, lord, Life of, by Southey, 400 ; his Despatches, ib. ; Life of, by Clarke and McArthur, ib. Nennius, Historia Britonum of, 239 Netherlands, the, attack of France on, 196 Netter, Thomas, his Fasciculi Zi- saniorum, 297 Newbury, William of, his Historia . Keruni Anglicarum, 262 Newton, Sir Isaac, Life of, by Brewster, 382 Nicolas, Sir Harris, his Lives of Davison and Hatton, 328 Nichols, John, his Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, 324 ; his Prc- gresses of James I., 356; Literary Anecdotes by, 382 Noailles, de, Despatches of Antoine and Francois, 316 Notitia Dignitatum, the, 233 Noorden, Carl von, his Europdische Geschichte, 381 Norman conquest of England, part of a reaction of the South against the North, 41 ; its effect on the organisation of the country, 43 Normandie, Chronique de, cited by Fabyan, 290 Normandy, its early relations with England, 39 ; taken from John, 63 Norman history, authorities for, 258 Normans, the, character of, 42 ; their organisation of England, 43 North, Lord, his coalition with Fox, 186; becomes Prime Minis- E E INDEX. NOR ter, ib. ; his correspondence with George III., 386 North, Roger, Lives of his brothers by, 365 ; his Exanten, 359 ^Northumberland, Wilfrid in, 26 ; cession to the King of the Scots of the Northern part of, 30 OCCASIONAL conformity, le- gislation on, 172 O'Curry, Mr. Eugene, his Lectures on Irish History ; 266 Oliphant, Mr. T., his Old and Middle English, 208 'Ordericus Vitalis, his Ecclesiastical History, 51, 260 Organisation of England, political, 251 ; ecclesiastical, 22 Ormonde Papers, the, 339 Osbert de Clare, his Life of Edward the Confessor, 252 Osney, Annals of the monastery of, 275 Otterboume, Thomas, his Chronica, 289 Overton, J. H., see Abbey. Oxford, University of, Puritan visi- tation of, 344 PAGE, John, his Siege of Rouen, 290 Paget, Mr., his New Examen, 367 Palfrey, J. G., his History of New England, 356 Palgrave, Sir F., History of the Knglifh Commonwealth, by, 255 Pandulph receives John's submis- sion, 65 Parish, origin of the, 18 Paris, Matthew, his qualities as an historian, 271 ; his Historia Major, 272 ; his Historia An- glorum, ib ; period for which he is the main authority, 274 Parker, Archbishop, his editions of Matthew Paris and Walsingham, 215 Parker Society, foundation and object of, 222 Parliament, admission of represen- PIT tative knights to, 73 ; admission of representatives of the towns to, 74 ; its progress under Edward I., 75 ; its complete form, 80; rise of the House of Commons in, 88 ; its relation with Elizabeth, 125 ; growing importance of, 127; see Rolls ; the ' Unreported, ' 390 Parliamentary History, the, 227 Pas ton Letters, the, 295 Pauli, Reinhold, his opinion on As- ser, 246 ; his account of the reigns of John and Henry III., 282 ; his Simon von Montfort, 283 ; his Auf- sdtze zur Englischen Geschichte, 299 ; his Geschichte Englands seit den Friedenschlilssen, 403 Pearson, Mr. C. H., his view of British history, 244 Peasants' revolt, the, 92 Pelham, Henry, Life of, by Coxe, 37.8 Penitential system, its action as an organising power, 24 ; literature of the, 253 Penn, William, Life of, by Dixon, 369 Pepys, Samuel, Diary of, 361 Percy Society, foundation and object of, 222 Persia, fall of the empire of, 3 Peterborough, Benedict of, work ascribed to, 262 ; Chronicle of the monastery of, 277 Peterkin, Alexander, on the Re- formed Church of Scotland, 313 Philip II., king of France, takes provinces from John, 63 Philip VI. makes war with the Flemish burghers, 87 Pictet, M., his Origines Indo- Europeennes, 207 Picts, the, their attack on south Britain, 15 Piers the Ploughman, 92 Pits, John, his Scriptores Angliae, 213 Pitt, William (the elder), his cha- racter as a statesman, 1 78 ; his Life by Thackeray, 382 ; his Correspondence, 385; see Chatham, the earl of. INDEX. 419 PIT Pitt, William (the younger), inherits his father's policy, 187 ; becomes Prime Minister, 188 ; seeks national support, 190 ; the later years of his ministry, 193 ; en- gages in war with France, 195 ; Life of, by Tomline, 391 ; by earl Stanhope, 392 Poets of the court of Charles I., \V Poitiers, William of, his Gesta Willelmi, 258 Pole, Reginald, the de Unitate of, 34 Popes, the, claims of, 25 ; the de- crease of their influence in Eng- land, 70 Popish Plot, the, 159 Porter (G. R.), his Progress of the Nation, 230 Poulet, Sir Amias, Letter Books of, 3'7 Prices, History of, by Rogers, 301 ; by Tooke and Newmarch, 403 Protestantism, its crnracter, 108; its progress in the reign of Ed- ward VI., in; Elizabeth's support of, 116; views of the Jesuits on, 118 Prothero, Mr., his Life of Simon de Montfort, 283 Provisions of Oxfoid, the, 73 Prynne, William, Papers relating to, 347 Puiseux, M., his Siege de Rouen, 290 Puritanism, its treatment by Eliza- beth, 121 ; its character under Charles I., 137 RALEIGH, Sir Waiter, Life of, by Oldys, 329 ; by Edwards, ib. Ranke, Leopold von, his History of the Popes, 325 ; his History of England, 326 Ranulf, Flambard, his tyranny, 50 Record Commission, publications of the, 225 ' Records,' meaning of the term, 225 ROM Reformation, the age of the, its general character, 109 Reformation, the, its influence on our historical literature, 306 Reformation, Narratives of the, 310 Renaissance, the, character of, 104; its effect upon England, 105 ; its development under Elizabeth, 123 Representative government, the Roman empire incapable of, 8 Representative system in England, the, its germs, 69 ; Simon de Montfort's scheme of, 73 ; growth of, 74 ; completion of, 75 Reresby, Sir John, Travels and Memoirs of, 360 Restoration, the, 154 Revolution of 1399 contrasted with' the Revolution of 1688, 97 Revolution of 1688, the, institutions, established at, 163 ; restriction of the sphere of government as a result of, 165 Richard, bishop of London, his Dialogus dc Scaccario, 268 Richard I., his reign, 6l ; authori- ties for reign of, 264 Richard II., beginning of his reign, 93 ; his weakness, 96 ; deposition of, 97 ; French chroniclers on, 287 Richard III., Papers of, 296 Richey, Mr. A. G., his Lectures on Irish History, 324 Rievaulx, Aetnelred of, his account of the Battle of the Standard, 261 Rishanger, William, his Chronica, 273 Rockingham, lord, Memoirs of, 385 Rockingham, the Marquis of, his leadership, 180 ; death of, 188 Rogers, professor Thorold, his History of Prices, 301 Rolls of Parliament, first publication of, 225 Rolls Series, the, account of its origin, 219 ; value of the series, 220 Roman law, revival of the study, of 55 E E 2 420 INDEX. ROM Rome, its constitution, 4 ; effect of the conquest of Italy on the in- stitutions of, 6 ; its position as head of the nations, 7 ; impossi- bility of establishing representa- tive government in its empire, 8 ; establishment of the empire of, ib. ; establishment of scientific law in, 9 ; sacrifice of the individual to . society in, 10 ; abstract concep- tion of, 10 ; relations with the Church of the empire of, 12 ; Teutonic conquest of its empire, 13 ; its province in Britain, 15 Romilly, Sir John, his proposals in connection with the Rolls Series, 220 Romilly, Sir S., Letters of, 387; parliamentary Journal of, 397 Rose Correspondence, the, 388 Rouen, siege of, authorities for, 290 Rousseau, his influence on the French Revolution, 192 Roxburgh Club, its foundation, 221 Royal Society, the, histories of, by Sprat, Birch, Thomson, and Weld, 368 Rupert, Prince, Life of, by War- burton, 356 Rusdorf, M. de, Met/wires of, 346 ; his Consilia et Negotia, ib. Rushworth, Collections of, 335 Rymers Foedera, commencement of, 224 ; its defectiveness during the Commonwealth, 363 Q ACHE.VERELL, Dr., prose- v^ cut ion of, 169 Salisbury, John of, writings of, 265 Sander, Nicholas, de Origtnc Schis- matis Anglicani, 330 Sanderson, Robert, assisted Rymer in the compilation of his Foedera, 224 Sanford, Mr., his Studies of the Great Rebellion, 355 Satirical poetry, in the twelfth century, 267 -Savile, Sir H., his Scriptores post Bedam, 216 SMI Saxons, the, settlement of, in Britain, 16 Scobell, H., Collection of, 338 Scotland, its relations with Edward the Elder and Edgar, 30 ; its relations with Edward I., 77 ; its resistance to Charles I., 141 ; sources for early history of, 281 ; authorities for history of, in the sixteenth century, 324 Scots, their attack on Southern Britain, 15 Scriptores, Decent, 216 Seebohm, Mr., his Oxford Re- formers, 328 Selden, John, one of the editors of the Decent Scriptores, 216 Senlac, Harold's death at, 40 Serfdom, growth of, 34 Serfs, the, emancipation of, 97 Shaftesbury, see Cooper. Shakespeare Society, foundation and object of, 222 Shakespeare, William, his historical plays chiefly founded on Hall, 299 Shelburne, the Earl of, his policy,, 187 ; Prime Minister, 188 ; Lift of, by lord E. Fitzmaurice, 392 Sheridan, R. B., Life of, by Moore,i 393 Shipmoney, levy of, 137 Shirley, professor, his Preface to the Fasciculi Zizaniorum, 301 Shrewsbury, duke of, his Corrc-, spondcncd, 371 Sidmouth, lord, Life and Corre- spondence of, 39& Sidney, Sir Philip, Life of, by Lord Brooke, 328 ; do. by Zouch, ib. ; do. by Fox Bourne, ib. Simancas, State Papers preserved .at, 31.7 Simon, Earl, tfrMontfort, Simon de. Simony, proposed abolition of, 47 Sismondi, account of the third Cru- sade by,' 269 Slavery, effect of the introduction of, I Smith, Adam, his influence on Pitt, 190 Smith, John, his edition of Bede,, 237 INDEX. 421 soc Social contract, the Whig theory of the, 164 Societies, historical, account of principal, 221-3 Somerset, earl of, account of trial of, by Amos, 340 Somers Tracts, the, 315 Somerville, Thomas, his History of Reign of Queen Anne, 378 Songs, political, edited by Wright, 267, 280, 298 Southey, Robert, his Life of Wesley, 393 ; his Life of Nelson, 400 Spain, negotiations of James I, with, 132 Spalding club, foundation and ob- ject of, 222 Spanish marriage, the treaty for the, 340 Spanish succession, collections re- lating to the, 364 ; works relating to, 381 Sparke, Joseph, his Scriptt. Hist. Anglic., 217 Sped ding, Mr., his Life of Bacon, 356 Spelman (and Wilkins), Councils, &c., by, 244 Spenser, Edmund, his account of Ireland, 324 Spottiswoode, archbishop, his His- tory of the Church of Scotland, 314 Sprigg, Joseph, his Anglia Redi- viva, 343 Stafford, William, his Examination of Compla in ts, 319 Stair, the earls of, Annals of, by Graham, 381 St. Albans, the historic school of, 270 ; importance of the monastery at, 271 ; activity of its chroniclers, ib. ; Chronica of, edited by Riley, ib. n. 2 ; monk of, Chronicle of England by, 286 ; Annales of monastery of, 291 Stamp Act, the, imposes taxation on America, 186 Standard, battle of the, accounts of, by Richard of Hexham, &c., 261 Stanhope, earl, his History of Eng- land and Reign of Queen Anne, 379 SWI Stanyhurst, Richard, a contributor to Holinshed's Chronicles, 307 Star Chamber, the Court of, institu- tion of, 1 02 Starkey, Thomas, his England in the Reign of Henry VIII., 305 State Papers, formerly not open to the inspection of men of letters, 223 ; calendars of, 226 ; for reign of James I., 330 State Trials, collection of, by Cob- bett and Howell, 327 Stephen, king, anarchy of his reign, 54 ; authorities for his reign, 260-1 Stephen, Mr. Leslie, his English Thought in the Eighteenth Century, 383 Stewart, Sir Charles, Life of, by Alison, 401 Stowe, John, his Summary, An- nales, and Survey of London, 308 St. PauPs, Domesday of, 278 Strafford, lord, Letters and Des- spatches of, 342 Strickland, Agnes, her Lives of the Qutens, 22$ ; her Lives of the Stuart Princesses, 357 Strype, John, his Memorials and Annals, 321 ; his Lives of Cran- mer, Parker, &c., 323 Stubbes, Philip, Anatomie of Abuses, by, 319 Stubbs, professor, on the mark system, 210 ; his criticism on the Lives of Dunstan, 254 ; his Docu- ments, &c., ib. ; his Select Charters, &c., 257 ; his Early Plantagenets, 269 ; his preface to Walter de Coventry, 282 Sully, Oeconomies Royales of, 345 Supreme Head of the Church of England, title of, 1 10 Surtees Society, foundation and ob- ject of, 221 Swift, dean, his Journal to Stella, 373 ; his History of Queen Anne's Reign, ib. ; his political pam- phlets, 374 ; his criticisms of Clarendon and Burnet, ib. ; his 'Tale of a Tub,' 172 Swinfield, bishop, the Roll of, 280 422 INDEX SYB Sybel, Professor Heinrich von, History of the French Revolution by, 402 Sydney Papers, the, 318 4 *T* ALE of a Tub, ' representative J. character of its ideas, 172 Tallages, not declared illegal in the Confirmatio Cartaritm, 80 Tanner, bishop, his Bibliotheca, 214 Taxation, assessment of, 57 Taylor, Rev. Isaac, his Words and Places, 208 Temple, Sir William, his Letters and Memoirs, 359 ; Life of, by Hon. T. P. Courtenay, 369 Teulet, M., his edition of the French Despatches, 316 Thegns, their position in the Witenagemote, 31 ; their relation to the king, 33 ; distinguished from eorls and gesitbs, ib. Theodore, archbishop, his organisa- tion of the Church, 26 Thomason, collection of pamphlets by, 333 Thornton, Mrs. Alice, Autobicgraphy of, 349 Thorpe, Benjamin, his edition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 238 ; his edition of the Ancient Laws, &c., 254 Thurloe Papers, the, 33,7 Tindal, Nicholas, his- Continuation of Rapin, 375 Toleration, its adoption by the sects, 148 ; its prospects, under the Restoration, 155 Toleration Act, the, enactment of, 165 Tooke (and Newmarch) History oj Prices by, 403 Tories, the, oppose the Exclusion Bill, 159 ; their depression after the death of Anne, 169 ; recon- struction of the party of, 1 86 ; their principles in the reign of George III., ib. Townshend, Heywood, his His- tqrical Collections, 3 1 5 VOL Township, the, sends deputies to the hundred-mote, 18 Trevisa, John of, his translation of Higden, 285 Trevelyan, Mr. G. O., his Early History of C. J. Fox, 392 Tribe, the English, 17 ; their amalgamation into kingdoms, 19 Trivet, Nicholas, his Annalcs, 273 ; his . six Angevin kings, how reckoned, ib. n. 2 ; Rishanger's work largely borrowed from, ib. n- 3 Trokelowe, John of, his Annales, 275 Tudor monarchy, the, causes of its strength, 99 Tulloch, Dr., Rational Theology of, 368 Turner, Sir James, Memoirs by, 3,65 Twysden, Sir Roger, the Decent Scriptores generally known under his name, 216 Tyerman, Rev. L., his Life of Wes- ley, 393 Tytler, W. , his work relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, 317, 329 T TSSHER, archbishop, one of \^J the editors of the Decent Scriptores, 216 Utopia, the, its characteristics, 105 VENETIAN 'Relation,' the, temp. Henry VII., 304 Venetian Reports, the, in the seven- teenth century, 345 Vergil, Polydore, his Historia An- glica, 298 ; his value as a contem- porary authority, 302 Verney Family, the, Letters and Papers of, 335 Verney, Sir- Ralph, his Notes on the Long Parliament, 337 Vienna, the Congress of, 196 Villenage, cry for the abolition of, 93 Voltaire, influence of, on the French Revolution, 192 INDEX. 423 WAC WACE, Robert, his Roman de Ron, 258 Waitz, G. , his Deutsche Verfassungs- gesch., 250 Walcott, Mr. M. E. C., his William of Wykeham, 300 Wales, its conquest by Edward I., 77 ; sources for early history of, 280-1 Walker, Sir Edward, Historical Discourses of, 343 Wallington's Diaiy, 333 Walpole, Horace, Letters of, 376 ; his Memoirs of George II. and Memoirs of George ///., 388-90 Walpole, Sir Robert, Life of by Coxe, 379 Walpole, Mr. Spencer, History of England by, 403 Walsingham, Thomas, his Historia Anglicana, 279, 286, 290 War, effect of, on the English tribes, 18 Warburton, Eliot, Life of Prince Rupert by, 356 Ward, Mr. A. W., Memoir of Dry den by, 370 Ware, Sir James, his Scriptores Hiberniae, 214 Waverley, Annals of the Monastery of, 2 74 Waurin, Jean de, Chronicles by, 292 Webb, John, his Memorials of the Civil War, 343 Wedmore, the treaty of, 29 Wellington, Duke of, his Life by Brialmont, 399 ; his Despatches, 400 ; his Correspondence, ib. Welwood, James, his Memoirs of a century, 351 Wendover, Roger of, part author of the Historia Major, 272 Wergild, payment of, 20 Wesley, John, preaching of, 177; his influence on a later genera- tion, 190 ; Lives of, by Southey and Tyerman, 393 Wharton, Henry, continued Cave's Historia, 214; his Anglia Sacra, 216 Whethamstede, John, account of by WIT John Amundesham, 291 ; his Register, ib. Whigs, the, support the Exclusion Bill, 159; causes of the ascen- dancy of, after Anne's death, 170 ; their relation with the mercantile class, 172 ; their relation to the Dissenters, 172; their weakness at the end of the reign of George II., 176; their relations with the elder Pitt, 1 79 ; their struggle .with George III., 180 ; adopt the teaching of Burke, 183 ; defeat of, by George III., 186 ; seces- sion of, from Fox, 194 Whitelock, Sir Bulstrode, Memo- rials of, 337 Wilfrid, his argument in support of the Papal claims, 26 ; Life of, 247 Wilkes, declared incapable of sitting in the House of Commons, 183 Wilkins (and Spelman) Councils, &c. by, 244 William I., defeats Harold at Senlac, 40 ; character of his government in England, 43 ; causes of his power in England, 44 ; his position as a national king, 44 ; organises the English Church, 50 William II., his tyranny, 50; ap- points Anselm archbishop, 51 ; his quarrel with Anselm, 52 William III., his Continental posi- tion, 161 ; the crown offered to, 162 : his position in the Govern- ment, 167 ; Letters of, edited by Grimblot, 377 William of Malmesbury, his histori- cal writings, 51 ; see Malmesbury. Williams, Archbishop, Life of, by Hacket, 348 Williamson, Sir Joseph, Letters of, 36i Wilson, Arthur, his History of James I., 332 Winchester, Annals of the monas- tery of, 274 Winwood's Memorials, 318 Witenagemote, the, relations of, with the king, 19 ; its constitu- 424 INDEX. WOL tion in the tenth century, 31 ; its constitutional powers, 35 Wolsey, cardinal, his Life by Cavendish, 310 Wood, Anthony, his Athenae Oxonienses, 323 Worcester, Florence of, his Chroni- con, 252 Worcester, Annals of the monastery of, 275 Worcester, William of, his Annals and Collections, 293 Wordsworth, Dr., his Ecclesiastical Biography, 328 Wordsworth, Mr. Christopher, Uni- versity Life and University Studies by, 383 Worsaae, J. J. A., his Danes and Notwegians, 256 Wright, Thomas, his opinion on Gildas, 234 ; his Celt, Roman, and Saxon, 244 ; his opinion on ZWI Asser, 246 ; his collection of satirical poetry, 267 ; and ot political songs, 280 ; his Bio- graphia Brilannica Litteraria, 269 ; his Caricature History, 395 Wriothesley, Charles, his Chronicle, 305 Wyclif, his teaching, 94 ; causes of his failure, 95 ; contemporary writers on, 297 ; English works of, ib. Wykes, Thomas, his Ckronicon, 275 \7ONGE, Mr. C. D., his Life of X Lord Liverpool, 398 ZURICH LETTERS, the, 312 Zwingle, Ulrich, his influence in England, 108 LONDON : PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET A LIST OF C. KEGAN PAUL & CO. 'S PUBLICATIONS. 7.8!. I Paternoster Square, London. A LIST OF C. KEGAN PAUL & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. ADAMS (F. O.) F.R.G.S.THE HISTORY OF JAPAN. From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. New Edition, revised. 2 volumes. With Maps and Plans. Demy 8vo. price 2is. each. A DAMSON (ff. 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