, 1872-10-19

II 70 lecture field Of America is becoming rap
idIy. Anglcized It has been evident, for the
Esssta two or three seasons, that the people are
tir7ne Of home lecturers. The majority OF them
have been comparatively unknown, and those
whort 7ere known have had nothing new to offer
their. audiences. The newspapers and the cir
culatil ,g libraries have literally ruined the home
lectun business. The people have just as ready
acceaato sources Of information as the lecturers;
and. as far as entertainment is concerned, the
lactu1e+n Dom has been dreary place compared
With the theatro, the concert, and the opera. To
, save the business from bankruptcy the
managers have sought for new attractions.
The great. majority Of American lecturers
have simply reflected other peoples ideas.
The managers, therefore, have reversed the
programme, and sought for people who
have ideas Of their own, and are
disr ossd to sell them, and have made themselves
ma sters Of special topics. To compass this re-
sui t, England has been levied upon, and has
an swered in very satisfactory manner bv send
in to us Mr.. Edmund Yates, the novelist; Profess
81 ,r Tgndall, the savant George Macdonald, the
Religious romancer, and James Anthony Froude,
:; the historian j; all OF whom are already better
known in this country BY their works than nine
tenths Of the American lecturers who hare ap-
; peared before the public during the past few
years. The interest which was excited, and the
sharp discussions which have grown out Of Mr.
.Froude's recent historical work, especially the
completely Of Mary Queen Of Scots with the
murder OF Darnley, which has been 40 ably
criticized by Meline, has brought the historian
before the people Of this country with more
prominence than any Of the others above men
toned, aud has awakened an interest in the
great rival Of Macau1ay which will ensure him
thousands Of attentive hearers during his Ameri-
can tour. A preliminary sketch Of Mr. Froudes
life will therefore be peruBed with interest at
this time. His father Was an archdeacon in the
Established Church, and his early days we're
spent nnder scholarly and somewhat clerical in
duences. From Westminster School, he vent
to Oxford, where he enjoyed q very successful
career. During his collegiate 1ife and after
wards, as Fellow OF Magdalen, his tastes in
c1ned largely towards theological questions, aud
was then the leader Of the extreme High Church |
party, and afterwards retired to Littlemere,
where he founded the famous semi -monastical
community which bears his name. During this |
time, he wrote work Of Armenian prociyities, |
called "Lives OF the English Saints, " subse-
quent1y developed his High Church tendencies !
in series Of stories entitled 1.-THE shadows Of !
the Clouds, and at last WAS ordained to the |
lower rank Of deacon Of the State Church. Sud- !
&anly change came over him. !
He wrote and published "The Nemesis
of Faith" and it's thinking characters 80 Of
Tended the University that, like Shelley before
him; he was obliged to sever his connection With
it. He then dropped polemics and turned his
attention to history. He soon became
widely known in England and elsewhere
by his papers in the quarterlies and monthlies,
especially in the Westminster end Fraser's, Of
which be was afterwards editor as one Of the
most brilliant Of living eaaayists. These papers
have been collected and published in book-forn,
under the title of "short Studies on Great Sub
1ects," and are now familiar to all intelligent
readers in this country. The great work. how
ever which has given him worldwide fame
is bis History Of England, from the Fall Of
Wolsey to the Death Of Elizabeth," in twelve
volumes, the first volume Of which appeared in
1896, and the last in 1870. In preparing this
work, he ransacked the archives Of the
british Museum, the Paris Libraries, and the
Escurial, and had access to sources Of informa-
-
enabled to consult. The result WAS that he
came into collision with preconcaived ideas, and
found many scholars and critics, who had set
tied their convictions from the statements Of
Hume and Macaulay, ready to dispute and dis
sect bpth bis opinions and bis 3aota. This waa