✓ THE STUDENT'S SERIES. 12мO, CLOTI, UNIFORM IN STYLE. MANUAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. HISTORY OF FRANCE. By the Rev. W. H. By PHILIP SMITH. Illustrated. $150. THE STUDENT'S CLASSICAL DICTION- By JERVIS, M.A. Illustrated. $1 25. Illus ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE EAST. COX'S GENERAL HISTORY OF GREECE. LIDDELL'S HISTORY OF ROME. Illustrated. $1 25. MERIVALE'S GENERAL HISTORY OF GIBBON'S DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HUME'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Any of the above books sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price. HARVARD Copyright, 1850, by FER DEOTHERS. PREFACE. THE STUDENT'S HUME vas originally published in 1858. Its object was to supply a long-acknowledged want in our School and College Literature-a STUDENT'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND in a volume of moderate size, free from sectarian and party prejudice, containing the results of the researches of the best modern historians, tracing more particularly the development of the Constitution, and bringing out prominently the characters and actions of the great men of our country. That this object has been attained is attested by the approval the Work has received from those most competent to express an opinion upon the subject, by its continued use in many of our best Public Schools and Colleges, and by the very great and constant demand for new editions of the book. But the progress of events, and the publication of many important historical documents, public and private, previously unknown, induced the Editor to subject the Work to a thorough revision; and, in order to render the book as perfect as possible, he called to his aid the late PROFESSOR BREWER, who, possessing an unrivalled knowledge of all periods of English History, was, perhaps, the highest authority upon the subject in the present day. He bestowed unwearied pains upon the revision of the Work, and left it ready for publication a vi A short time previously, he gave, in a private letter written to the Editor, the following account of his labours and the principles which guided him in the revision. The italics are Mr. Brewer's. few weeks before his lamented death. "I have brought," he says, "the Work down to the Treaty of Berlin, of course with the brevity compatible with your wish that the Work should not exceed its original dimensions. On the whole, I think it is the most handy and complete Manual of English History which exists for Schools,-and experience will prove it to be so. To keep the Work to its title and its size, to introduce the corrections necessitated by the progress of original research, to remove positive misstatements, has required no small amount of care and judgment. But I have been guided, to the best of my ability, by historical truth, by the investigations of recent trustworthy historians, by the wants of the student, and by my own researches, now of some years' standing. In the most anxious of all periods -that of the seventeenth century-I have been guided by Ranke and Rawson Gardiner, whose authority is not only the highest for that period, but to my mind-and I know what I am saying-is now the only authority worth regarding. The research, the industry, the accuracy, the candour of Rawson Gardiner are unquestionable, though he is in politics and religion inclined to the Parliament strongly, and has no liking for the Stuarts: but his more equitable way of considering the great controversies of the times must eventually prevail against the less careful statements and the prejudices of Brodie, Macaulay, Forster, and others I need not name. "The popularity of the Work must depend on its merits for accuracy and ability, and its sufficiency as a good Manual. Competitive examinations have entirely put it out of any schoolmaster's power to exclude a thoroughly good History from his schoolroom, because he may have a sentimental dislike to some of its statements. I am fully convinced that the road to success is by careful investigations and temperate narrative, showing the reader that there is another side to the question than that which some recent writers have presented. 66 Wherever there was fair evidence for Hume's statements, I have retained them, and still more frequently Hume's estimate of motives and characters, when he had the jacts before him, because, though not entirely free from prejudice, he had excellent good sense and sound judgment." The present History, unlike some others of the same class, gives as full an account of Celtic and Roman Britain as the limits of the work would allow. Mr. Brewer strongly disapproved of the modern fashion of ignoring the Roman occupation of Great Britain, and starting at once from the Anglo-Saxon invasion. He pointed out, in an article which he wrote in the Quarterly Review, that the Celtic and Roman occupation of the island was closely connected with its subsequent history; that the Saxon Conquest, though a change of the highest moment, did not break up society; and that the Saxon State was built upon the ruins of the past. As much prominence as possible is given in the present Work to the rise and progress of the Constitution; but in order to economize space, and at the same time not interrupt the narrative, much important information upon See Quarterly Review, vol. 141, p. 295, seqq. this subject is inserted in a smaller type in the "Notes and Illustrations," where the student will find an account of the "government, laws, and institutions of the AngloSaxons," of the "Anglo-Norman Constitution," of the "origin and progress of Parliament," and of other matters of a similar kind. Several constitutional documents, such as the Petition of Right and the Bill of Rights, are printed at length. These Notes and Illustrations, which contain discussions on various other historical and antiquarian subjects, have been drawn up mainly with the view of assisting the student in further enquiries; and with the same object a copious list of authorities is appended. NOTE BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. In the portions of this volume relating to America are a few errors and some important omissions. The errors have been corrected and the omissions supplied in some Supplementary Notes, which may be found immediately preceding the Index. At the head of each note, the page in the text to which it refers is given; while in the text the number of the Note in the Supplement making corrections or additions is referred to. |