The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-04-09

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Nothing is more striking than the perfec,
continuity OF Macaulay's work. There Is nc
lack OF adotnment. OF picturesque detail. Of
interspersed sketches OF character. and oil
grace Of style: but everything is subordinated
to the central necessity Of allowing no break OF
obstacle to the narrative. Even the more elabo-
rate studies OF individuals do not distract the
attention from the main story longer than II
would take a reader to turn aside from the
toxt to look at an illustration: and these
studies are made only when required as q
foundation OF knowledge on the subject. for.
a. TO the real character Of each actor. he Is
made to show that by his actions. 1t Is said
that Macaulay IL not iudicially impartial How
could he be. when to him the men Of the court
OF James II. wero as real and IA much alive rs
the men among whom he lived. Among the
former as the latter he Glove to his friends
and attacked his enemies. It is undcniable
that. in the heat Of his luminosity. he may have
distorted facts: but. colored as his narrative
may be. It is yet history Of the most profitable
kind. As the eye runs over his great picture
OF the past, the reader can see at a glance
more OF the actual life OF the world as It then
was than the most toilsome examination Of
documentary evidence can afford.
From n chronological point Of view. the names
OF Carlyle and Macaulay should be followed by
those Of i've English w~riters-Arnold. Milman.
Thirlwall. Grote. and F~lnlay-who have de-
voted themselves to ancient history. At the
present day DR.. Thomas Arnold 10 perhaps
most widely known as tho Head Master Of
Rugby. at which school he introduced SOM
remarkable reforms in tho bettsrment Of edu-
cation. His notes on Thucydides arc still felt
to be sympathetic and suggestive. but from
the view point Of scholarship they could
scarcely be regarded as authoritative. Much
the samo thing may be said OF his History OF
Rome" a work Of considerable pretensions.
originally published in three volumes. a sup
plcment to which was brought out after the
authors death. The English translation Of
Mommsen may be said to have en-
tiroly superseded Arnold's book. The lat
ter's account OF the earlier period was
basoi almost entirely on the assump-
lions OF Nicbuhr. whom Arnold regarded with
n veneration which may we'll be called excess
sive. Those who caro- to read Arnold's work
should do So in connection with Sir George
Cornewall Lewis's =" Inquiry into the Credible
ity Of Early Roman History" sir George as
sails with equal pungenoy and force the calm
assertions OF the scientific Niebuhr and the
early Roman legends handed down by Livy
for the delectation Of youthful students.
OF the two great English historians OF
Greece. Thirlwall and Grote. It is note
worthy that while the former was. as might
have been expected. a university man. having
graduated at Trinity College. Cambridge. tho
latter was self educated. SO for as his knowl-
edge Of Greek was concerned. having been re-
moved from school at the age Of sixteen and
placed In a banking house. In respect Of lit
crary merit Thirlwall Is far superior to Grote.
and he Is much more impartial in his account
OF the political struggles OF parties in
the Greek cities. Grote often seeming to
confuse Athenian democrats with Eng
lish radicals. and to write as II he held
a brief for the latter. Owing mainly to his
imposing array Of authorities. presented not
only in foot notes but In the form OF literal
translations In the texts. Grote's work gradu-
ally supplanted Thirlwall's considered as q
book OF reference. only to be. in Its turn. sup
planted by an English translation Of the his
tory Of Greece by Curtius. A fact overlooked
by Mrs. Oiiphant describes mention. namely.
that George Finlay. like Grote. lacked tho
advantage OF q university education. Yet to
him We owe the capacious work in which the
history OF Greece Is taken up at the Roman
and carried forward under Roman.
Venetian. and Turkish masters to the final
emancipation to which Finlay had himself
or course. Finlay traverses
q considerable extent Of ground already COW
cred bv Gibbon. hut his point Of view ia entirely
distinct. being that Of the conquered Greeks
rather than that Of the Roman conquerors.
HI.
Mrs. Oliphant thinks that among tke histor-
zeal writer's Of the early part Of the Victorian
reign. none-we resume her to except Car
ivta-0nuld mt forward INV p!nfm m eueh
as Macaulay's. ut least among those
devoted themselves to the annals OF their
own country. AS d matter Of fact John Lin
gard lived till 1851. dying only six years be-
foro Macaulay. 1t Is true. however. that his
work had been completed some
years before the Queen's accession. Even the
researches Of later students have not materl-
ally lessened the weight OF Lingard's utterance.
the only potential voice from tho Catholic
side which up to that time had been
heard in England. Another English pio-
neer In the field OF rigorous historical
was Sir Francis Falgrave. who
ultimately became Deputy Keeper Of tho
and turned the opportunities Of the
office to remarkable account. This historian
the son OF n jewish merchant. and was
originally named Francis Cohen. He had al
ready made himself known MS an untiring
ooiSh Hitok nioeoIi tIuih uSu IibtOEt vi
During tho An2lo-Snxon Period"
and by his Rise and Progress OF tho English
Commonwealth" when. in 1888. no was APP
Deputy Keeper. After thirteen years
OF indefntiGable toll among the papers OF the
Record Oflce no began tho publication In in
OF his memorable work. the His
OF Normandy and England" which, how
ever. was not completed at his donth In 1861.
As to Sir Archibald Allson's History OF Eu-
Q7S0- 1852. and Harriet Nartincau's
" History OF tho Thirty Years Peace" uSlo-
1870. they both wore at one time popular, tho
former consplcuously SO: they aro neither en-
nor authoritative: they are both in
accurate and dull. though Miss Martineau is
untrustworthy than Sir Archibald. She IA
also moro given to sormonizing. The skill in
shown in hor stories seems to have
her In history. What value these two
books still possess IL due to the fact that thoy
assume to offer full and continuous records OF
In the periods with which they deal.
1t is often. therefore. convenient to consult
hem. although verifcation is requisite. A
writer OF much more importance on
he score OF research than Alison. though even