The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-06-08
SOME NEW hooks.
Green. History or the English People.

Green's History Of the English People.
Tho merits Of Mr.. Green's treatment are
more conspicuous AZ he advances in his work.
| and the inaccuracies. perhaps inseparabe from
| an attempt to deal with so broad n themc. are
much less frequently noted in the present vol
ume. It IL we'll for his reputation that this
| should be so. for he now comes in competition,
not with two or throe historians. but with half
score OF writer's firmly planted in esteem. and
whose aim has coincided substantially with his
own-that. namely. OF producing narrative ut
| once trustworthy and popular IL Is the great
epoch OF tho Puritans. beginning in lawful
remonstranco and constitutional opposition.
eliminating in rebellion and bearing tardy
| fruitage in the revolution OF 1858. when IL por-
trnyed in the book before us. entitled History Of
| The English People, by JOHN RICHARD GREEN.
| vol (Hurper's). Most readers have gained nc
duaintance with this period from Clarendon
| and Guizot. from Carlyle. Foster. and May.
| MIR. Green has approached his subject In the
| temper OF n Republican; but 1.-Two except Guzot
mono OF the writer's named has equalled him In
| judicial mpartialty 1t Is no slight endorse
ment OF his qualifications to state and to resolve
questions hot with living and urgent interests.
that he can find It in his heart to be as Just to
| Wentworth IA to Cromwell. to Falkland as to
Hampden and to Laud az TO Milton. In meas
uring tho promptings and pressures which
broke the intimate union OF Crown and people
under the shrewd rule OF the Tudors and which
| provoked a fierce and inevitable conflict. he
| does not seem 20 overcharge tho perversity OF
the Stuarts. or to invest the Puritan leaders
with n monopoly OF uprightness and foresight
| 1t will probably appear. from such salient fea-
lures OF his narrative as can be cursory marked
In tho present notice. that Mr. Green has sue
ceeded in giving an exceptionally honest and
| ,.fxi ~ tho ri allo qriaia in
the history OF England.
England" cried Sir Thomas Philips. In 1923,
Ifs the last monarchy that yet retains her liber-
| ties. Let them not perish now" Only those can
appreciate tho gravity of that iuncturo who re-
member what the sixteenth century had wit
messed in the way OF subverting those popular
institutions which tho Teutonc nations brought
with them from the German forests When
Philips and Elliot raised their voices against
personal government. they were attacking what
must have soomed to an observer the irrcsst-
bic drift and dominant spirit Of the age. In
Sweden and Denmark the old checks upon ar
bitrary rule had fallen into desuetudc. and 1t
was as absolute monarchs that Gustavus and
Christian were presently to risk the blood and
treasure OF their subjects on German soil.
There was no such thing as local representa-
two assembly clothed with more than nominal
powers within the limits OF Germany proper.
II we except the councils OF the Hanseatc towns.
The provincial franchises but lately recognized
in the hereditary States OF the Hapsburgh
Kaiser had been swept away. and the ndepen-
dence OF the Magyars was brided by their per-
emptory need OF succor against the Turks. The
sovereign chosen in accordance with age-long
custom by the Diet OF Bohemia was now a fugi-
tive from his kingdom. and even the headshiu
OF the Holy Roman Empire, although still con-
ferred by the forms OF an election. seemed TO have
shrunk into an ex-oflicio title inseparablo from
the chief Of the house Of Austria. The repub-
lies Of Italy were dead. the Cortes OF Castillo
were silent. In Holland. even. the exponent Of
civil freedom. Barneveldt had been ludically
murdered. and tho executive powers exercised
by the States General were on the point OF being
merged In Stadtholdcratc. But the centraliz-
ing movement was most strkingly and strongly
emphasized in Engands neghbor. France
The aims Of Richeeu seem to have been rs
clearly understood by his contemporaries as by
posterity. his methods were no secret. and theil
success was indisputablo. Such was the pros
poet which men beheld when they sought e
borrow wisdom from experiences these were
the models set before his eyes when Sir Thomas
Wentworth took up tho work which Bucking
ham began. and fortified his master In the re-
solve TO govern without tho help Of Parliament
. The experiment tried in England during IN,
: eleven years between 1929 and 1910 was fraugh
with issues so immense that II challenges tn,
most careful and exhaustive analysis and II j,
Mr.. Green's account Of this eyentful decade t,
which we would specially direct attention.
II absolutlsm did not triumph at this period
in England we cannot say that 1t was bccaus,
, tho monarchy had no Nichelieu. There was n
least one Engshman who discerned pre-
cisey what was needed TO extinguish consttu
, tional guarantees and make the Stuarts az au
tocratic as the Bourbons. and il Is certain tina
this man was as as-utc, as pertinacious and a
/ ruthless ms the Minister Of Louis XIII. 81
Thomas Wentworth had been stung by hi
jealousy OF Buckingham and the studied in
I suits which tho Inter inflicted on him. int
figuring for a time in the ranks OF the countr
q party. and had sprung TO the front Of the Com
O mons in urging the Petition OF Right But h
had no faith In Parliaments. no belief In tn
general wisdom OF the Commonwealth as
q means Of bringing about good government
a Like Richeeu. he knew his own capacity 70
rule. and looked with scorn upon the power
v or wits OF meaner men He was a born admin
r istrntor, and from tho first moment OF his M
pearance in public il had been his passionat
l. desire to find employment in the service Of tn
Crown. In 1929 the death Of Buckingham re
8 moved the obstacle that stood between his am
# bition and the end at which It had Anne
luIhuEHbuls Al lItAtuNt ~ phtIlbllHA va
laid aside; Wentworth was admitted to th
Royal Council; and as he took his seat at tn
| Board, he promised to "yindicatc the monarch
forever from the conditions and restraints {
d subjects" In this man the very genius
tyranny seems to have been embodied. He wa
% too clear sighted to share his masters belle
j. that the arbitrary power which Charles wa
welding, formed any part Of the oil
10 Constitution OF tho country. or to drcaI
" that mere lapse Of time would reconcile Ems
lishmen TO despotism. He knew that absolu
. rule was new thing in England, and that ii
Y. only way Of permanently establishing ii was N
n by reasoning or by the force Of custom. but
Ia the paralysis Of fear Accordingly it was h
,e purpose from the first TO prepare for the comm
n. contest by the provision OF q fixed revenue.
d. arsenals, fortresscs. and standing army, IN
1t was in ireland that he resolved to find ther
In the summer Of 1888 Wentworth sailed
Lord Deputy to Ireland. and it may be tru
said that he carried with him the fortunes
X English CPsarlsm. Indeed, 1t will be obsery,
nm that in seeking this field of administration
es was actunted by precisely tho same mott
800 ~. 9 81, ID