Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/137

 REVIEWS 123

who followed Cromwell, that we do not wonder that Mr. Seeley regards it as a sort of oasis in the midst of a wilderness of littleness and mean- ness the connecting link between the policy of Elizabeth and the policy of William of Orange.

With the accession of William and Mary England is redeemed from the humiliation to which the later Stuarts had brought her, as a result of their alliance with Louis XIV. England now is drawn into the vast scheme of William for checking the aggressions of France. Instead of remaining a shameless stipendiary of the French crown she becomes henceforth a dangerous rival of the House of Bourbon, and the center of the Protestant powers of Europe. It is upon the spoil of her great foe, that England now proceeds to build up that vast world power the British empire.

That the book is well done, or is well worth a careful reading, goes without the saying. It is Mr. Seeley's last work. It will not be ranked as his greatest work, but it represents the cream of many years of careful reading and careful thinking. From the beginning the author is handicapped by his plan. Even his brilliant style and well-known power of generalization fail to impart dignity to that which has no dignity, or unity to that which has no unity, the foreign relations of England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The author, however, has bravely undertaken his task with his eyes open. In the introduction he calls attention to the fact, that in the field which he has chosen he is almost a pioneer. The great historians who have treated of this period, have dealt mostly with internal or domestic history. Their eyes have been directed ever upon the splendid struggle of Parliament, as representing the spirit of a great people, nobly and bravely working out the problem of self-government. This is in marked contrast with the method of the historians of Germany or France, who have given little attention comparatively to mere internal constitutional development, and have treated mostly of the history of their respective governments in their relations to other states. This is, however, a result neither of neglect, nor of oversight. The internal history of most of the continental states for this period is petty and uninteresting, because these states were so absorbed in the greater game, that internally they present little to attract either the student or the reader. For the same reason the foreign history of England for the greater part of this period is entirely secondary to her constitutional progress. The men who were really making Eng-