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ablest historians devote their learning and energies nowadays rather to giving a complete history of a comparatively short period than to recording the history of a country from what are known as 'the earliest times' down to 'the present day.' Prominent among these writers of history is Mr. Froude. An original thinker, a sound scholar, and a man of varied culture and of large and liberal ideas, his opinions are always worthy of attention, though it is not at all times easy to draw the same conclusions that he does from statements of historical facts. Mr. Froude's principal works are 'Short Studies on Great Subjects,' a 'History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada,' 'The Nemesis of Faith,' 'The English in Ireland,' vol. i. This work is to be completed in two volumes. Under the title of 'Short Studies on Great Subjects,' Mr. Froude has collected several of his essays—historical, controversial, and descriptive—originally published in 'Fraser's Magazine' and elsewhere. Mr. Froude's literary style is very attractive. The diction is always simple and pure, but there is an animation and spirit in the historian's descriptions sufficient to clothe with interest the barest facts, figures, and arguments of his historical narratives.

James Anthony Froude was born on the 23d of April 1818. He took deacon's orders in the Church of England in 1844; published 'The Nemesis of Faith' in 1849, the 'History' from 1856 to 1869, the 'Short Studies' in 1867, 'English in Ireland' in 1872.