The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-02-24
SOfE VIEW BOOKS.
England In the Eighteenth century.

Among the students and thinkers of the
time. Mr.. W. T.. H. LE,KY has gained dtstln-
guishcl place. His earlier works, tho History |
of Hationalism and the " History of European |
Morals" showed capacity OF indciailgahlc re-
search. while his dodu .tions were comn'hd'h
hya singular breadth ard holiness The in
du-try and acutcncs. conspicuous in those per |
fornHnccs arc now concentrated on theine oi
peculiar interest for Eu4li-h-~prnbing rar's-a
Usioyy Of Eayl,uid IA L,e I,Jhj,c"N C'nt'UD !
lApplct0nsl Thctwo volumes already published
represent onc-half Of the whole work bringing
it down to a natural point OF division tho "a
cc-siuu OF George I'LL
A largo part " the ground embraced IN these
volumes WINS already covered Ny Lord Mahon 5
homciy but honest annals. and small part
/ los Macaulays brilliant but untru-twprihy rag
mcnt. As regards aim. however Nh. L'cAy ha-
little in common with those writers. On the one
| hand. he cvnccs no desire To interpret past
events in the interest Of this or that political
party Neither liz it his purpose Ia set forth the
/ story of "a selected period. year by wear, or To-
/ furnish detailed accounted military cont sis'
/ orof personal aud party ncidcnt-. l.Aa- rath',
! he tells us bnon his object to di~rngago from TIC
grrat mass of facts those whl'h relate to the
permanent for cs OF the nation. az WHEN indl-
cate the moro enduring feature of mat onnl lilo,
such phenomena are the growth or decline oi
Church aud of dissent. Of the manufacturing
and the commercial interests. the changes That
| have taken place in social and economical con-
| ditinu. the relations of the mother country to
its dependencies. and the cau-r- that have ace
CELEBRATED or retarded the ai,au0 cnlrnt of the
latter. Under thc la-t-namnl h'nd a. d'--
,u--od quest 90 special concern io ha,iN'
am Adopted etI1.n. 90 tlo Unit . St.t' q. name
N. What WAS ,hc atutudrof England through
ont tl'iir-t hull of the la-t century toward her
colonies amt toward lrolunig twill Doe fouud
that lir. I.ks'- conclusions upon many ol
these topics. while in tho hi.iiH-t Il. greco novel
AMI rlrstioyicnl ar. fortified hy ingenious ar
gumnut and -ul -tant.nl evidence.
Thrhi-tory of ENGLAND ia the eighteenth con-
tury property begins with the revolution of
less. and Mr.. I'eay point, out thhf the success
OF this movement cannot he recon u'i with
favoritr dofrinr OF philo-ouhi' historians.
Buckle. for instance. ana other cmin no writer's
have maiuiuiucd that the action of special cir
cumetan .os and Of individual ssniu-, Efforts,
an po.uiiar'ics counts for THE i'm the mar h
of human affairs. AMI that every great social
trans formation must Doe attributed solely 10 a
lon. train Of intellectual influences But this
sweeping generalization ovcrlOoks the fac; that
many streams OF tendency might. at an early
period Of their career. have been arrested or de-
net,d Thu. the religious and moral scnti-
by the influence II the small nation which had
dwell in Palestine but there have been times
when il WIS more than probable contingent.
indeed upon the disposition IL particular
Per- an ruler that the jewish race would he H.
comflotely al sorbnd as were the ten tribes.
and every trace II the Jewish writings bl 'u'i
from the world. Again. il Mohammod had
happened 10 bc killed in ono of tho first Skin
mishos 81 his career. there's no reason 90 be-
lcve that n great monotheistie and military
f, religion would have been organized in Arabia
while aiterward. as Gibbon insists had Charles
Mart.l been defeated at tn battle ot Poleticr-.
MphammcdHnism would almost certainly over
spread the whole OF Gallo and Teutonic Europe
, and the same historian reminds US that the We
I tory Of the Christians was only gained after
= several days of doubtful struggle
; The English revolution. in Mr.. Lecky ;
. Judgment. is m example ~ the sam" kind. II
10 was not as was commonly supposed. an or
a ganir outgrowth from the rebellion " 1910. II
. was n movement essentially arst'rrati". The
n whole course Of it, policy was shaped by few
. mon who were far in advance Of the general
e sentiment OF the nation. II was effected by n
h foreign prince with Il foreign army. II was
y rendered possible. or NJ least bloodlos ty an
3 amount Of aggravated trcaehery durliciiy. anc
ingraiitude seldom surpassed in history. The
% Church r'maiucd ~uileu and discontinued. I'M
IiN 'li Ht-'il' 20 filf IffIf T''NIhI INJURY 90
l- government which triumrhed IN the re,oluti on
- All the in-tin 49, traditions. principles. and en-
T. tlu-iasm- ~ tln Tory party inclined them &
i- the Stuart-. and. as l. linsl roke truly said.
u Wig a-'en lJn.y in England could, in tina
f. age. only r.-i uron advent iou- cir'um
le stances. Under all normal conditions. " ih
Il. tru'. real. genuine strength oi Bruon Icy
10 with the Tories. The truth is that the persist
out Catholicism OF james II. and ut his sol
y WIS the sole substantial rouutorr"ls" o. IN" ia
90 y. i.rat. and universal lowe of the l"gitima'
~ line. In the opinion Of Mr.. l"'ky. there wa
le scarcely year in the course u more than
re- generation. from the landing ~ William 2
p- Torbay until az least n decade after the Han
10 vcran acces sion. when return ~ tho stuart
be 10 the Anglican faith would not have Instant
ce insured to them the crown. This is very di
yn forent conclusion from that nj VIII ii Macauln
10 arrived. but IL is supported in the first OF VI
r. Lecky'- volumes 10y mass Of evidence whlcl
he appears irroiutahc.
IN Another interesting feature If this work Is II
NJ repetition OF popular theory commented }
To- great names. according e, which iho rivnl Fnl
re-. li-h parties have exchanged 'hr.r prin 'ipl'
am since the carly years 81 the r-tt" NTH "'n'ur
II was alleged for Instance. log Woauay lh'
ng the policy OF the two great parties has he"
,w completely reversed; TINT the Tnrl's oi ihH I'm
IA ofQucen Anne and Of the llrsi two 'i"ors'- W"
tt sui -tuntulv tho same H. they nl-- of ON. ear
49, vour- uf tho present century unt in' "Nl
ai Wings II the modern Tories. Tin- view '
OF rendered plausible by number OF strlkl
on parallels The Tories, W. wer' reminded, &"
IA" posed MARLBOROUGH and tho French WI
'n a, the Wings Of the ninote"nth crnlul
r "A opposed Wellington aud the Penmsul
of war The Tories in III uv'rnme the oppos
49,, tiou Of the House of Lords 10y the creation
nm twelve peers. "a, the Wh,s i'm 1872 oF'rnI