The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-03-10
The Story OF the English People.

The project outlined by Mr.. JoHN RICHARD
GREEN has been carried ont on m enlarged
scale in awOrk Of which the first volume is now
published. The new History ~ the English
P,oll. (larpersl keeps ms faithfully as did its
predecessor to the specific line Of inquiry
marked by the title but the plan Of exposition
has been modified and the materials consider
ably augmented the more valuable acccssions
being drawn from tho " Constitutional History"
Of Prof. Stubbs There was room for Just such
II book which should relegate kings and mobiles
TO the background of the picture. and in whose
record foreign wars and dynastic duarres
should make way for the social growth and polt-
ical enfranchisemcnt OF the bulk Of the nation.
Taken ~ a whole. the performance il satsfac-
tory for although some shortcomings may be
noted in the earlier periods covered by this
volume. these are Offset by sinRularly full
and vivid account Of the great popular resur-
recton In the fourteenth century. when his
wrongs and his strcngth-the curse and the
remedy of feudal iniustice-were abruptly re-
vcaled to the English ycoman.
The weakest part Of the book r. That which
chronicles the slow and tedious progress of the
English toward the conquest OF the island.
Besides the Anglo-Saxon annals. Mr.. Green
seems to have awaited himself ofthe only extant
British account the Eps'ola' of Gildas rs
well rs the remarkable papers communicated
10y Dr. Guest TO the Archaeological Institute.
Yet not even the light of conjecture Is thrown
on the important question. to what extent the
Romani2ed Britons maintained the Roman
civilization throughout the west ~ Britain dur.
ing the two centuries of incessant conflict with
the invaders. There is no reason to suppose
that the Welsh Kingdoms Of Strathclydc Cum
bria.and Cornwall which upheld their indepcnd-
encc for some two hundred years. were n whit
behind their Irish ncighbors. while the latter.
IL is now known, were far more advanced in all
the arts II social life than the English monarch
les OF Bcrncia and Wessex So too, the alleged
total -ubvcrsion OF Roman appliances and
usag's In the Fast and South seems 10 us hard
To- reconcile with the long continue 4 supremacy
II the Northumbrian settlement. and the species
OF metropolitan dignity which attached 10 Cork
in the carly English, 10 less than in M, Eoman
period. We cannot accept the statement that.
after the victory Of Dcorhnm in 81. utl aBriton
remained IL subject orslaveon Engis ground
and that eastward Of the border line which th.
English sword had drawn al was now purely
| English
II j. true that both In us material aud moral
conditions the conquest ol Britain VS. dis
| itngui-h'i from that of Thee oflor pr.piu. rs Of
Rome. Noi that Wa have ground FOR saying
that 'h" English, unlike the .rsuu Liam or the
| Goth, were utterly -traugHto Oh" Roman civil
| Haii"n. SaNon-. ~ w,'l a- franks had boon
enrolled among the m"rn"narir- of the omrirr.
and the presence of SAXON vessels in Tho Chnn-
mel for a hundred yoars before tho descent
n Britain must have iamihari>ed it, n--
-Wnnis with what social advance was io
Doe found in the provinces Of the N..t
But the natural drlen'es of the island
| throw exceptional ohstac'cr' IN It's invaders
way. Here or thero. M doubt Hike Fr,nt ur
| Nmlal in Gnul and Spain. they were able 90
march nvei Roman highway aud 10 'ro-- liy-
ors hy Roman bridges but i'm tho forest t.li-
which stretched over vast -unor- of couufr,
they encountered barriers which i'm nu c.so.
checked thoir advance sometimes finally
stopped it, The kenush men and the
South SHNons were brought uiterl, t. a
-tandriil by the Andred-wnnld the East
Naxons could never pierce the woods II their
western border, the ten proved m:dssable to
the north folk Of east Anglia. and In the height
OF their later power the men NJ Wnesrx wore
hurled back from the forests OF Cheshire. Bit
il was tha stubborn courage Of the British
themselves which made the capital difference
between the fate OF their country and TINT of the
rrsi Of the Roman world. In all the world
wide struggle between the empire and the Ger.
man peoples no land was 50 long fought for or
- hardly won And as the resistance of the
Blltpns was greater than that Of other
proNln'ials 50 the as-ailing forces ware less
for 1t If plain that those brought across by the
noats ~ li"ngest and Corlic cannot have sp-
proa'hed In number the hosts which followed
Th"od"ric or Clovis across the Alps or In.
Rhine. Landing IN small parties. and but
gradually r"tnfor'ed by after comers. the Eng
h-h invaders could only slowly and htfully
push tn" Briions bnrk, gaining field by field.
ana town by town. Nodouht theahsen 20 of any
lont action among the as-ai.ants told IN the
sam" way,
II IS true enough n Mr. Grcon insist that
nnd"l such conditions the mastery ol Britain
could NOT fail he IA different matter from the
@pia ami easy ovel-runiing Of countries IKE
"'nL But neither the WHOLESALE slaugl ter
'Or ~" ununiHou- withdrawal II Che nhah-