and in the collected edition of his Works has more correctly been styled A Review of the Causes of the Revolution of 1688. The merits of the work are probably somewhat over-estimated by Macaulay in his well-known critique, written not long after the author's death. All preceding works, however, have since been thrown into the shade by the brilliant History of LORD MACAULAY, which commences with the accession of James II., and was left by him in an unfinished state, the narrative terminating with the death of William III. On the conspicuous merits of this most popular of all histories, the great extent of its research, its admirable portraitures of individual character, and the intellectual power and literary skill conspicuous on every page,--it is unnecessary here to insist. The careful student can, however, scarcely fail to become aware, in the perusal, of the partisan spirit in which the whole treatment is conceived, or of the grave inaccuracies which, in connexion with more than one topic, detract from the value of the work. A more general defect, but one less readily discerned, is the undue importance attached by Macaulay to the pamphlet literature of the period, -productions which, as we have already seen in the case of Rushworth (supra, p. 334), were regarded with great distrust by the less prejudiced contemporary historical writers. Of one serious blunder-Macaulay's description of William Penn, the Quaker-the result of a confusion of two distinct individuals, a sufficient refutation will be found in the short treatise by MR. W. E. FORSTER.' MR. PAGET'S New Examen (1861) is a W. Penn and Thomas B. Macaulay: being brief Observations on the Charges made in Mr. Macaulay's History of England against the Character of William Penn. By W. E. Forster. 1849. CHAP. VIII. History of Lord Macaulay. Mr. W. E. Forster's Pamphlet. СНАР. Paget's Works on the Time, by Mars and Tulloch. more extended criticism, including, along with the subject of Penn, an inquiry into the evidence for the historian's treatment of Marlborough and Dundee, his account of the Massacre of Glencoe, and his representations respecting the condition of the Highlands of Scotland. For the religious and metaphysical tendencies of the History of time, MARSDEN'S Later Puritans deserves to be consulted on account of the clearness with which it brings den, Hunt, out the distinguishing characteristics of the later as compared with the earlier sects. MR. HUNT'S History of Religious Thought (vols. i. and ii.) cover the whole ground of the English controversial theology of the period. In DR. TULLOCH's Rational Theology of England (2 vols. 1872), the same subject is very ably treated in a series of biographies of some of the most eminent divines and philosophers. These are divided into two groups: the former, designated as 'Liberal Churchmen,' including Lord Falkland, John Hales, Chillingworth, Jeremy Taylor, and Stillingfleet; while the latter comprises a succession of Cambridge divines-Whichcote, John Sinith, Cudworth, Henry More, &c.-who, inspired to a great extent by the influence of Descartes, were aiming at the foundation of a new eclectic philosophy. Histories of the Royal Of the scientific tendencies whicn now, no longer limited to the isolated efforts and speculations of individual minds, began to assume the character of a movement, the progress of the ROYAL SOCIETY furnishes the best illustration. Of its first beginnings, the History Society by by BISHOP SPRAT, published originally in 1667, offers an interesting outline, characterised by the author's usual and Weld. literary power. In marked contradistinction to the Platonic school, the influence of the Society is described by him as especially deserving of note as a means whereby Sprat, Birch, the young men of the age' were invincibly armed against all the enchantments of enthusiasm.' Another History of the Society, by DR. BIRCH, in four volumes quarto, published in 1756, is occupied mainly with the scientific proceedings of the Society; and the same applies to a smaller History, published by THOMSON in 1812. That by MR. WELD,' published in 1848, is both the most recent and the most satisfactory. CHAP. VIII. Graham of Shaftes bury, Blake, and Penn. The Life of Sir William Temple, by the Right Biogra phies of Hon. T. P. COURTENAY (1836), embodies the facts Temple, contained in Boyer as well as most of those in the Claverlater Life by LADY GIFFARD, together with new ma- house, terials, from the Bacon Papers' and the 'Longe Papers' at the British Museum. Mr. Courtenay's laborious production, though of real value, has, however, been in a great measure thrown into the shade by the brilliant essay of Macaulay, of which it was the occasion. The work of MR. MARK NAPIER furnishes all the requisite information concerning the short but romantic career of GRAHAME OF CLAVERHOUSE,2 highly coloured, however, by the prepossessions of the writer, whose sympathies are strongly with the cavaliers. A Life of Ashley Cooper, first earl of Shaftesbury, by MR. W. D. CHRISTIE, supplies some useful corrections of Hallam, and is of considerable literary merit. Shaftesbury's whole action as a politician, it need scarcely be said, is of primary importance in relation to our period. The Lives of Blake and Penn (1851), by HEPWORTH DIXON, are useful and interesting. DRYDEN'S influence, in relation to his age and to the national literature, is illustrated in A History of the Royal Society, with Memoirs of the Presidents. Compiled from authentic Documents by Charles R. Weld. 2 vols. 1848. 2 Memorials and Letters of Grahame of Claverhouse. By Mark Napier. 3 vols. 1859-62. B B Writers on Dryden. CHAP. VIII. Macaulay's Essay on the Comic Dramatists of the Restoration, in the excellent Memoir by professor WARD, prefixed to the Globe edition of the Poems, and in the admirable study of the poet's genius by professor LOWELL.' See Among my Books. By James Russell Lowell, First Series. 1870. CHAPTER IX. THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT AND THE RULE OF CHAP. IX. AMONG the writers enumerated in the preceding chapter, Burnet, Luttrell, Evelyn, Dalrymple, Mignet, and Macaulay, continue to be of service for the earlier part Works already of the present period. The Hardwicke State Papers described. include materials relating to the Partition Treaty, the Treaty of Utrecht, and the embassy of lord Stair in France. (A.) Correspondence and Papers. Of the domestic State Papers no calendars have as yet appeared, but the collections made in the last and present century by Carstairs, Macpherson, and Coxe, the biographer of Marlborough, in some measure supply the want. bury. Of these, the Correspondence of the Duke of Shrews- Correbury, edited by COXE, is of considerable value, and the of Shrewsspondence documents at the time of publication were entirely new to the public. They are distributed into three parts: (1) Shrewsbury's correspondence with king William from the commencement of his official career, when appointed secretary at the Revolution, to the year 1700; Private and Original Correspondence of Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, with King William, the Leaders of the Whig Party, and other distinguished statesmen. Illustrated with Narratives, Historical and Biographical, from the Family Papers in the possession of her Grace the Duchess of Buccleuch. By William Coxe. 1821. |