policy of the British Government during the first stages of the Revolution in France, and at the memorable crisis that led to the war, and to his elaborate review of the position of affairs in Eastern Europe, and of the attitude of Russia and of the great German Powers, from 1790 to 1792, which, it is now known, had momentous consequences in determining the course of events in the West. His chapters on Ireland, if less valuable than two or three in his preceding volumes on the same unhappy but important subject, are nevertheless of great interest; and he has brought out features of Irish history and passages in the annals of the Irish Parliament comparatively unknown, but just now worthy of serious attention. Mr. Lecky, too, has given ample proof, in this as in other parts of his work, of insight, discernment, and artistic skill, especially in the painting of character and in seizing the peculiarities of rulers and statesmen. His portrait of Pitt is extremely lifelike, and his estimate of that renowned statesman, elaborate and free from party bias, is just in the main ; his sketches of Fox and Burke are graphic and telling; and he has admirably delineated less known and distant actors on the stage of events-the Empress Catherine, Gustavus III. of Sweden, Joseph II. of Austria, and his successor, Leopold. The digressions, moreover, which pervade the work, though they often perplex a reader, are rich in learning and reflection. We would especially refer to

the résumé of the causes that led to the French Revolution, to the contrast between the ideas of Burke and of Rousseau on political systems, and to the analysis of Burke's famous 'Reflections;' indeed Mr. Lecky here and there gives utterance to thoughts on politics worthy of Burke, his genius being in some respects akin to that of his illustrious countryman. The style of the author, we need not say, is of very great and peculiar excellence; if somewhat wanting in force and compression, it is admirably simple, lucid, and easy, and it is wholly free from straining at effect and mannerism.

Some defects, however, must be set against the great and many excellences of this book. The arrangement and method of Mr. Lecky are defective throughout his whole work; he has written a series of essays, not a history; he is, perhaps unconsciously, far more of a critic than an historian; the epic and the descriptive faculties, which bring the scenes of past events vividly before us, are denied him. His narrative is interrupted by long and even irrelevant

episodes that divert a reader's attention from it; scores of pages, for instance, are devoted to dissertations on theories on Church and State, and to the history of France before 1789; and these are scarcely germane to the author's subject. Where a real connexion, too, exists between these passages and the main work, the true relation is not placed before us; the detached parts are not fused into unity. For example, the philosophy of Voltaire and his school is ably reviewed, and at excessive length, but its influence on the French Revolution is not indicated with sufficient clearness ; s; and the characteristics of the age of Pitt are illustrated with much learning and skill, but their effect on the course of English history, and even on the career of the minister, distinct as it was, is scarcely referred to. The narrative in some of its parts is extremely confused; it occasionally degenerates into a mere chronicle dealing separately with facts in the sequence of time, and not following subjects in their true divisions, and its thread is so often entangled and broken that it does not guide us through the maze of events. This is especially seen in the author's attempt to describe the relations of England and France with Eastern Europe when the Revolution broke out; and Mr. Lecky can lay no claim to Gibbon's great and peculiar excellence, the skilful arrangement of complicated details. The general result is that it is very difficult to pursue the course of events in this work; and, notwithstanding the charm of language and the wealth of knowledge and thought contained in it, even the most diligent student is perplexed and the ordinary reader is bewildered. A special defect of the book is due to a restriction imposed on himself by the author. Mr. Lecky, so far as regards England, brings his narrative to a close at the outbreak of the war; but he promises to give us a concluding volume on Irish affairs up to the Union; and this arbitrary adjustment, in no sense corresponding with the real march of events, has greatly injured this part of his history. For instance, though Mr. Lecky has made some just observations on the subject, it is impossible to pronounce a true judgement on Pitt without an inquiry into his conduct during his long struggle with Jacobin France; the partition of Poland and all that led to it are not placed in their true significance until we study the campaign of 1793, and the fruits of the policy of the Eastern Powers were not matured until the Treaty of Basle, or even until the peace of Lunéville. Mr. Lecky has scarcely glanced at the affairs of India, and has even passed

over the trial of Hastings, memorable passages in the history of the time. As regards Ireland, the author's views are somewhat distorted by a theory on Irish affairs peculiar to himself; and here, too, his abundant narrative is occasionally perplexed and disjointed.

These volumes begin at the point of time when the general election of 1784 had overthrown the coalition of Fox and North, and had placed the second Pitt at the head of the State. Before that event-in some respects a turning point in the national fortunes-England had seemed fallen from her high estate, and, in the opinion of even thinking men, was showing signs of decay and decrepitude. She had lost an empire across the Atlantic; the glory of her arms had been tarnished by the surrenders of Saratoga and Yorktown; in the east Suffren had held her fleets in check; her power in India had been defied and lessened by Hyder Ali and the Mahratta warriors. Nearer home the revolt of the Protestant colony, partly backed by the subject Catholic race, had dangerously weakened her rule in Ireland; the fleets of France and Spain had insulted her coasts, and had even held the command of the Channel; and the armed League of the North had seriously threatened the mainspring of her strength, the dominion of the seas. The State, too, appeared on the verge of bankruptcy; the national finances were deemed unequal to the burden of greatly increased debt, and were in an alarming state; and the very institutions which had been our boast worked inharmoniously and as if out of joint, and were loudly condemned in public opinion. The long quarrel between George III. and the great Whig nobles had weakened Government and engendered widespread corruption and faction; Parliament had become divorced from the people, and failed to carry out its ideas and wishes; and an angry demand for a sweeping reform of the House of Commons in a democratic sense was but a symptom of the general discontent, the bitter feelings, and the spirit of unrest, which stirred the lower and even the middle classes. Seven years passed, and the nation which seemed in decline had completely recovered its greatness, had attained an extraordinary height of prosperity, and, on the whole, presented the spectacle of a well-ordered, peaceful, and happy community. The loss of the revolted colonies had proved a gain; the relations of commerce were beginning to create ties between England and her children in the West stronger than those of distant territorial empire; and our power in India was spreading by

Mean

our arms and an improved mode of government. while our position as a great Power in Europe had been restored, nay, strengthened; England had humbled the pride of France and Spain in the well-known affair of Nootka Sound; through her alliances she had wellnigh succeeded in holding the balance of power on the Continent; and though Ireland remained her weak point, the island was for the time quiescent. The transformation, however, had been most conspicuous and felicitous within her own borders. The wealth of the country had immensely increased; its financial condition was perfectly sound; and, amidst the growth of trade and the triumphs of industry, the sounds of national discontent had been hushed, and few signs of peril to the State appeared. The system of government, too, had distinctly improved-it had become national, strong, and popular; it had been freed from many abuses; and, though there was much that to thoughtful minds required amendment in Church and State, the cry for parliamentary reform had ceased, and Englishmen were in the main satisfied with the institutions and the state of society which secured them a large amount of prosperity.

This marvellous change-one of the most remarkable in the history of the modern world-is, of course, indicated by Mr. Lecky, but he has not given it nearly sufficient prominence. The circumstances, too, which, quite apart from the genius and policy of any statesman, contributed to the revival of England, may be collected, in part, from his book; but they are relegated to a separate chapter. Mr. Lecky has not referred to a point of great importance at this conjuncture, by showing that the restored power of England was largely due to the decline of France and of the Bourbon monarchy. A mere demonstration of our naval strength would scarcely have silenced the claims of Spain to an undefined empire in the Far West, had not the feebleness of the government of Louis XVI. practically put an end to the Family Compact. English influence would not have displaced that of France in the Dutch Republic had not France been afraid to take a single active step in the matter; and the alliance of England, Holland, and Prussia would not have had decisive effects, in the temporary settlement of affairs in the East, had France retained her old place in the Continent. Nor has Mr. Lecky pointed out how immense were the consequences, as regards our destinies, of the birth of the free American Commonwealth; it substituted for the driblet of colonial trade' the

'spring of commerce' between two great Powers; and it closed a wasteful source of illwill and discord. He has, however, admirably explained and described one main cause of the national progress, the extraordinary developement of wealth and industry due to the inventive genius of the time. His account of the prodigious results wrought by the construction of our canal system, by the recent discovery of the full power of steam and its application to all kinds of uses, and by the skilful processes which made the growth of our textile manufactures a wonder of the world, is one of the most interesting episodes in his book; and if it be true that these agencies contributed largely to the fall of Napoleon, they perhaps saved the England of the youth of Pitt from bankruptcy. Another remarkable feature of the time deserves the attention of thoughtful minds. The power of the daily press was still immature, but it was steadily growing and asserting itself; and a spirit of inquiry, and of earnest interest in political questions of every kind, was spreading through many parts of the nation. This force of opinion had a potent influence in banishing corruption and intrigue from Parliament, and in purifying the whole system of government, as great, possibly, as the economic reform which was one of the best achievements of Burke. The philanthropic tendency, too, of the age was quickened in England by a strong religious movement; and this had much effect in lessening discontent, and in improving the relations between the rich and the poor. A Wilberforce never found a place in the House of Commons of Walpole and Pelham; he was the type of a class in the House of Commons of Pitt.

The prosperity of England in these years, however, must, to a great extent, be ascribed to Pitt, and Mr. Lecky is justified in placing that striking and commanding figure in the forefront, so to speak, of his narrative. His portrait of Pitt, we have said, is excellent; and his estimate of his career as a statesman, though not, in our judgement, wholly just, is nevertheless of real value. "Indomitable

resolution' was, we think, the most distinctive feature of Pitt's character; and this great quality-the only one, perhaps, in which he closely resembled Chatham-was the most conspicuous of his splendid gifts. To his firmness and constancy we may largely attribute his astonishing triumph in 1784, the stability of his long tenure of power, and the success of his earlier foreign policy; and this rare excellence, happily combined with self-confidence and a sanguine spirit,