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RETROSPECT

OF

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART IN 1895.

LITERATURE.

THE most important contributions to the History of England are this year to be found in two posthumous works by eminent English historians. The Growth of British Policy: an Historical Essay (Cambridge University Press), by the late Sir J. R. Seeley, was intended by the author to be the introduction to what would have been his magnum opus, the History of British Foreign Policy since the Revolution of 1688. The two present volumes, in the opinion of Professor Prothero, who has written a brief prefatory memoir, contain one of the most masterly analyses of a great and momentous period that our literature has to show, and must rank among the most notable books of their kind. This intended introduction is a review of England's foreign policy during the century and a quarter between the accession of Elizabeth and that of William III. In it is traced the development of British relations with foreign powers, from the dynastic to the national stage. The three great factors in this development were the foreign policy pursued by Elizabeth, Oliver Cromwell, and William of Orange. Brief though the sketch be, it is rich in wide and brilliant generalisation, and throws valuable new light on British history.*

The second important posthumous book is English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century (Longmans), being nine lectures which the late J. A. Froude delivered at Oxford in 1893-4, in his capacity of Regius Professor of Modern History. His aim is to show how England became a great naval power, and to emphasise his opinion that England owes her greatness to the Reformation and to Puritanism. Among the most interesting sections are those dealing with "The Sea Cradle of the Reformation," Sir John Hawkins, Drake, and the Armada.

Mr. Arthur D. Innes's Britain and her Rivals in the Eighteenth Century, 1718-1789 (Innes), though intended primarily for the general reader, is of wider appeal. It tells excellently the stirring story of

* Together with it should be read Professor Montagu Burrow's studious History of the Foreign Policy of Great Britain (Blackwood), a policy which from first to last has been "6 dictated by our insular position and governed by the desire to save our shores from invasion by a foreign foe. Foreign policy is accepted as an integra part of our history, to be studied "on account of its influence in the past, and with a view to the inevitable necessities of the future ".

England's advance to Empire from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles, how she became mistress of the sea, annexed Canada, and took her present position in India. In A History of Newfoundland from the English, Colonial and Foreign Records (Macmillan), D. W. Prowse, Q.C., places before English readers an impartial statement of the relationships between the mother country and the oldest of her colonies, concerning which he writes: "Our treatment by the British Government has been so stupid, cruel, and barbarous that it requires the actual perusal of State papers to convince one that such a policy was ever carried out." The book is a revelation.

To the Navy Records Society we are indebted for two valuable works on naval history: State Papers relating to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, edited by J. K. Laughton, prefaced by an erudite and critical introduction by the editor. He points out that the defeat was owing to the Spanish ships being ill found, and to a lack of seamanship, and declares the origin of the war to be not a religious cause, but the policy of commercial exclusion in Spanish America, and the aid rendered to the Low Countries by the English. Mr. David Hannay has edited The Letters of Sir Samuel Hood (afterwards Viscount Hood), with an able introduction.

The Crimean War has received careful study. Two volumes, in particular, may be quoted: The Story of the Highland Brigade in the Crimea (Bentley), founded on letters written during 1854-56 by LieutenantColonel Anthony Sterling-a staff-officer who was there. This narrative is chiefly a running commentary on the events of the war, and the persons who took part therein. The criticisms are frequently bitter. He is an able partisan of Lord Clyde, and his strictures on the vexed question of war correspondence to the daily papers are worth reading. The Crimea in 1854 and 1894, by Sir Evelyn Wood (Chapman & Hall), is the expansion of articles originally contributed to the Fortnightly Review. The book presents a stirring account of the chief events of the war, especially of the taking of Sebastopol. It is written with graphic force, and is full of exciting narratives. A foremost place must be given to Lord Wolseley's Decline and Fall of Napoleon (Sampson Low) -a valuable critical study which first appeared in the Pall Mall Magazine. The period dealt with is the four last years of the Emperor's career, and the historian attributes the great general's failure largely to the "mysterious malady" of which Napoleon was the victim. General Lord Roberts issues an account of The Rise of Wellington (Sampson Low), which also originally appeared in the form of articles in the Pall Mall Magazine, and now forms a volume of the library of that magazine.

Waterloo: a Narrative and a Criticism, by E. L. S. Horseburgh (Methuen), the outcome of lectures given at the Royal Institution, to which Sir Evelyn Wood's Cavalry in the Waterloo Campaign (Sampson Low) is a fitting supplement.

The second and third volumes have appeared of The History of the Second (Queen's) Royal Regiment, now the Queen's (Royal) West Surrey Regiment, by Colonel John Davis (Bentley), and are the annals of a hardworked regiment, which within one century took its share in the suppression of four domestic rebellions, and participated in four foreign

wars.

The History of the 50th (or the Queen's Own) Regiment (Chapman & Hall), by Colonel Fyler, is the record of the deeds of one of the most distinguished of British regiments, which has now lost its individuality in its combination with the 97th. It is much to be regretted that the death of Colonel Clifford Walford cut short his valuable History of the British Standard Army (Harrison). The volume as it stands treats of the campaigns in Ireland, Flanders, and Morocco, 1660, 1700. A large part of it is devoted to an interesting survey of military archæology. Lieutenant-General M'Leod Innes, R.E., V.C., contributes a worthily written Lucknow and Oude in the Mutiny: a narrative and a study (Innes). With it may be noted Sir John Adye's Recollections of a Military Life (Smith, Elder & Co.), extending from the Crimean campaign and the Indian Mutiny to the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. He was brought in contact with Lord Raglan, Lord Clyde, and Lord Wolseley, and although he forbears to criticise his commanders, he has many personal reminiscences of their ways, military and social. The volume is illustrated by the author's own sketches, which are almost the only clue to his personal connection with some of the experiences he relates so modestly.

Five Years in Madagascar (Chapman & Hall), by Colonel F. C. Maude, V.C., though, to quote the author, the book "is somewhat of a mosaic," is brightly written and worthy of attention. His comments on the French policy and action of the Hovas are very suggestive Mention must also be made of The Relief of Chitral (Macmillan & Co., by Captain G. J. Younghusband and Captain Frank E. Younghusband, C.I.E., with map and illustration.

Dr. John Brown continues his work of careful, accurate historical investigation, and has produced an important account of The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and their Puritan Successors (Religious Tract Society), of interest alike to England and America. Dr. Brown sketches the "precursors of the Pilgrim Fathers," and the growth of Puritan tendencies in Scrooby during Elizabeth's reign, the persecution of the Scrooby community, the flight to Holland, and the sailing of the Mayflower. He emphasises the importance of the second Puritan exodus, 1628-1640-a historical vital fact too often overlooked.

John Knox, the Reformer, has received attention from two biographers-Mr. P. Hume Brown (A. & C. Black), and Mrs. F. A. Macunn (Methuen & Co.). The former is probably the first attempt at an impartial biography of a bitter partisan; and although Mr. Hume Brown displays a remarkable knowledge of details, he does not lose sight of the scene in which the great drama of the Scottish Reformation was played out. He has collected a number of facts concerning Knox's earlier life which were hitherto unknown, and throws some fresh light upon the Marian controversy; whilst Mrs. Macunn adds some interesting details on Knox's family life and relations. As a standard textbook for students, Mr. Hume Brown's work will be widely appreciated, and may be expected to long hold the field against all competitors.

Two further volumes have appeared of Social England: a Record of the Progress of the People by various Authors (Cassell), edited with great perspicacity by Mr. H. D. Traill. The present instalments of this

admirable work maintain the high level of their predecessors, and bring the record to the death of Queen Anne, thus embracing one of the most vital transition epochs of English history. The political, social, and economic history of each period is dealt with by competent writers; and the progress of art, literature, religion and industry is treated in separate sections after a method which cannot fail to place the work among the most useful books of reference and instruction. Mr. Reginald R. Sharpe has brought to conclusion his London and the Kingdom (Longmans): a History derived mainly from the Archives at Guildhall, in the custody of the Corporation of the City of London. The main features of the book deal with the Vindication of the Freedom of the Press, Policy towards the American Colonies, and the City's opposition to the Corn Laws. An exhaustive index is appended. In the Preface to The Tribal System in Wales: being part of an Inquiry into the Structure and Method of Tribal Society, by Frederic Seebohm, LL.D., F.S.A. (Longmans), the author considers the work "the first part of an essay in amplification of the sections on the subject in his 'English Village Community.'" It is an attempt to understand the structure of tribal society in Wales, as a stepping-stone to the understanding of other tribal systems. Feudal England, by J. H. Round (Sonnenschein & Co.), specially deals with the various aspects of social and military life in this country subsequent to the Roman Conquest. The author is one of the recognised masters of medieval law and history, and the life-long opponent of the late Professor Freeman. In this volume, however, the dissection of Domesday Book and the discussion on Anglo-Saxon taxation are the most striking contributions to the study of that period of history which saw the first making of England as a nation.

Mr. Lowes Dickinson's Development of Parliament during the Nineteenth Century (Longmans) traces the change of an aristocratic into a democratic assembly, explaining with clearness the necessities of the process. The contrast between the tenacity of the hold displayed by the great families and the governing classes with the very short duration of government by the middle classes is well brought out. The interval between the passing of the first Reform Bill and the acceptance of Mr. Disraeli's bill was barely more than the life-time generation; but it was a period in which industrial and social development was not less rapid than political evolution.

Mr. Ingram has written, in a broad, critical spirit, a valuable History of Slavery and Serfdom (Black), which is practically the extension of his article in the Encyclopædia Britannica (ninth edition). The subject is divided into three portions-slavery, crude and simple; serfdom, or sedentary slavery; free labour of modern communities. Modern colonial slavery Mr. Ingram emphatically brands as "a monstrous perversion, factitious in its origin, and always adverse to the interests of civilisation."

The "Story of Nations" (Unwin) has added valuable contributions to its series. In particular, The Crusades: the Story of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, by T. A. Archer and C. L. Kingsford, which not only is practically the only modern English book on the subject,

but is written above the ordinary level of the series, for its scholarlike and authoritative character.

Under the auspices of the Historical Manuscript Commission, Mr. Maxwell Lyte has brought to a conclusion his calendar of the Duke of Rutland's papers, known as the Belvoir MSS. The concluding volume deals with a portion of the reign of George III., from 1771-1787. It contains an account of the defeat of the French off Dominica in April, 1782; of the engagement off Flamborough Head in 1779, told by an eyewitness; Sir Samuel Hood's criticisms upon Sir George Rodney's great victory in 1782; descriptions of the operation of the English forces against Charlestown and on Long Island. There are numerous testimonies to Pitt's pre-eminence in Parliament almost from his first appearance; letters from Daniel Pultney concerning Pitt's efforts to impose a tax on horse-racing; also an important group of semi-official correspondence of the Duke of Rutland during his government in Ireland from 1784-1787.

The Stationery Office continues to issue valuable historical records. The Calendar of the Patent Rolls, 1292-1301, under Mr. Black's compilation, has nearly reached the end of the reign of Edward I. The Calendar of the Close Rolls, 1318-23, in the hands of Mr. W. H. Stevenson, covers the period of the struggle with Lancaster and the contemporary overthrow of the Dispencers. Volumes ix. and x. of the Acts of the Privy Council, 1575-7-8, give a sketch of Sir H. Sydney's connection with the government of Ireland in Elizabeth's reign, and (volume x.) of the "Elizabethan compromise" with religion.

The History of English Law before the Time of Edward L., by Sir Frederick Pollock and F. W. Maitland (Cambridge University Press, is "an effort to understand the law of the Angevin time-to understand it thoroughly, as though we ourselves lived under it." These volumes are written in the modern scientific spirit and aim at showing what English law is, whence derived, and how it grew to its present form. "Of all the centuries," we read, "the twelfth is the most legal," and "the reign of Henry II. is of supreme importance in the history of our common law." The work divides itself naturally into two portions; the first dealing with early legal history, the second with the doctrines of English law in the Middle Ages.

Mr. R. Ulick Burke's History of Spain (Longmans) is another posthumous work which makes the loss of the author regrettable. Patience, brightness, and impartiality are the characteristics of these volumes, which, if they do not bear witness to original research, show that the labours of others had been turned to good account. Mr. Burke's history surveys the country from the earliest times-when Spain was ever producing something new for the rest of the world-down to the death of Ferdinand the Catholic, when the country was firmly established as one of the Great Powers of Europe, as well as one of the most orderly. It is, therefore, the history of at least three different phases of civilisation through which Spain had the good or bad fortune to pass.

The History of the United States, by E. Benjamin Andrews (Smith, Elder & Co.), is a continuous and readable narrative of the development of the country from its discovery by Columbus to the present

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