СНАР. Lord Shel burne, Burke, C. J. Fox, Clive Wes ley, Lord Mansfield, and Sheridan. superseded by the work of EARL STANHOPE,' who, in addition to the papers in Tomline's possession, had access to Pitt's unprinted correspondence with George III. The Life of Lord Shelburne, by LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE, notwithstanding the shortness of the duration of the Shelburne ministry, is of considerable value from the light it throws on the policy and views of a statesman, who, in common with both the Pitts, represented the more enlightened conception of government, which gradually superseded the rule of the Whig aristocracy.2 A Life of Burke, by MACKNIGHT,3 furnishes all the requisite information respecting that statesman's private life and political career; the study by MR. MORLEY,' of the same subject, exhibits Burke more especially in relation to his age and to the public events of the time. The Early History of Charles James Fox, by MR. TREVELYAN," is written with much graphic power, and, whether regarded as a portraiture of character or as an illustration of the political life of these times, is a volume of the highest interest. It concludes with Fox's final secession from the ministerialist party in 1774. The Memorials and Correspondence of Fox, edited by EARL Russell, were originally compiled by Fox's nephew (the third Life of the Right Hon. William Pitt. By Earl Stanhope. 4 vols. 2nd edit. 1862. 6 2 The Life of William, Earl of Shelburne, afterwards first Marquis Lansdowne with Selections from his Papers and Correspondence. By Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice. Vol. i. 1737-66); vol. ii. (1766–76); vol. ii. (1776-1805). 1875-6. History of the Life and Times of Edmund Burke. By Thomas Macknight. 3 vols. 1858. [In this work the writer has availed himself of both the published and unpublished portions of the Cavendish Debates.] ♦ Edmund Burke: a historical Study. By John Morley. 1867. The Early History of Charles James Fox. By George Otto Trevelyan, M. P. 3rd edit. 1881. Edited by • Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox. CHAP. X. lord Holland) and Mr. Allen, who each appended numerous explanatory notes. The criticism and elucidations by the final editor are of that judicious and practical character which he was eminently qualified to supply; and although the work presents a somewhat disjointed and irregular appearance, an eminent authority has observed that 'it contains so much authentic information, accompanied with criticism so intelligent and so candid, that no Englishman who desires to understand the history of his country between the years 1768 and 1792 can fail to read it with advantage and pleasure. Much of the materials in these volumes has since been given to the public in the Life and Times of Fox (3 vols.), published by earl Russell in 1866. The Life of Clive, by SIR JOHN MALCOLM (3 vols., 1856), is mainly a compilation from Clive's correspondence (both official and private) supplemented by the reports of Parliamentary Committees. It was left by the author in an unfinished state and was completed by another hand. SOUTHEY'S Life of Wesley (2 vols., 1820), an unequal though interesting narrative, may be supplemented by the more judicious and sympathetic work of Mr. TYERMAN.2 The Life of LORD MANSFIELD in Campbell's Lives (supra, p. 229) is conceived in a less depreciatory spirit than many of the biographies in the same series and is a work of real merit. MOORE'S Life of Sheridan, a production of somewhat superficial brilliancy, written in a vein not unsuited to the subject, is still deserving of perusal. BROUGHAM'S Statesmen of the Reign of George III.,3 in- Lord cludes the chief English politicians of the period, but the Broug general ability of the sketches very imperfectly atones Statesmen 'Lewis (Sir G. C.) Administrations of Great Britain, &c., p. 2. 2 The Life and Times of Wesley. By the Rev. L. Tyerman. 3 vols. 1871. • See Works of Henry, Lord Brougham (1868), vols. iii. and iv. ham's of the Reign of George 111. CHAP. John Adolphus. b. 1764. d. 1845, His History of for the strong party feeling and personal resentments of which they are the vehicle. (C.) Later Historical Writers.-The History of England from the Accession to the Decease of King George III (7 vols., 1840), by JOHN ADOLPHUS, passed through four large editions in the course of thirty-eight years. The writer was a barrister, in good practice, in the early part of the present century, and his undertaking was much England. patronised by the aristocracy. His mode of treatment, however, is now somewhat obsolete, and it was difficult for one writing within so short an interval from the period, to describe either the chief actors concerned or the political questions then at issue with the desirable degree of impartiality and candour. In the Additional Preface' to the edition of 1840, he specifies the sources from whence his work is derived,-a list in which much of the material noted in the present chapter is wanting. Craik and Maciarlane. Mr. Massey's Reign of George III. A more recent production is that by CRAIK and MACFARLANE,' which is a compilation of considerable merit. Here the writers aim at the study of the national development rather than at the recital of political events, their facts being grouped under the different heads of 'Civil,' Religious,' 'Laws,' 'Industry,' 'Literature,' 'Manners and Customs,' and 'People.' MR. MASSEY'S able work is written with much the same purpose. It commences with an introductory sketch of events from the fall of Sir Robert Walpole, and reaches to the year 1802. The work is dispassionate and impartial in its tone, but the writer has been considered The Pictorial History of England during the Reign of George III.: being a History of the People as well as a History of the Kingdom. By G. S. Craik and C. Macfarlane. 4 vols. 1853. A History of England during the Reign of George III. By William Massey, M. P. Vol. i. (1745-70); vol. ii. (1770-80); vol. iii. (1781–93); vol. iv. (1793-1802). 1855-63. to incline somewhat to the side of severity in his estimate of the character of George III. СНАР. May's The Constitutional History of England by SIR ERSKINE Sir Erskine MAY (2 vols., 1861), has been generally recognised as an Constitu adequate continuation of the labours of Hallam on the tional same subject. It reaches to the year 1860. History. Lewis's Essays on the Administra Much sound and able criticism on the Administrations of this and the following period will be found in the Essays on the subject by the late Sir G. C. Lewis,' the Sir G. C. first of which treats of the administrations of lord North, lord Rockingham, lord Shelburne, and Mr. Pitt. The Memoirs of the Whig Party, by the third LORD HOLLAND,' although a production hardly worthy of either the writer or the subject, contains some interesting Memoirs of the Whig facts, especially with respect to the character and policy Party. of Lord Shelburne. tions. Lord Hol land's Caricature Another volume, edited by Mr. T. Wright, A Cari- Wright's cature History of the Georges,3 supplies us with an History. illustration of the satirical literature of the period; and, if furnishing amusement rather than instruction, affords also significant evidence of the contemptible spirit in which the warfare of political parties was then often carried on. 1 Essays on the Administrations of Great Britain from 1783 to 1830. By the Right Hon. Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bart. Edited by Sir Edmund Head. 1864. 2 2 Memoirs of the Whig Party during my Time. By Henry Richard, Lord Holland. Edited by his Son, Henry Edward, Lord Holland. vols. 1854. Caricature History of the Georges: or, Annals of the House of Hanover, compiled from the Squibs, Broadsides, Window Pictures, Lampoons, and Pictorial Caricatures of the Time. By Thomas Wright. 1867. CHAP. scribed. CHAPTER XI. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. (A.) Contemporary Writers.-Among the authorities described in the preceding chapter, the third and fourth Authorities volumes of the Buckingham Memoirs may be consulted already defor details connected with the contest on the Regency question, the French Revolution, the war against France, the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland. These volumes, having been edited by another hand, are free from the glaring inaccuracies which belong to the former two. To the whole work, the Memoirs of the Court of the Regency, issued under the same auspices, form a kind of continuation which dates from the year 1811 to 1820. The Malmesbury Correspondence supplies a good account of the negotiations with the French Republic in the years 1796-7, and afford convincing evidence, in disproof of the insinuations of Thiers, that the English government and their representative were alike actuated by a sincere desire for peace. The concluding volume of the Life of Lord Shelburne supplies an interesting study of one who, amid the general panic that followed upon the excesses of the French Revolution, remained faithful to the principles of his party. To the Rose Correspondence may now be added George Rose's Diary, which dates from Pitt's resignation in 1801 to the year 1815. The |
