Official and private letters possess an importance for the historian which entitle them to a sub-section under the most esteemed species of his documents. Of course one does not imply that they are uniformly truthful, but even when they intentionally convey falsehood they are worth much as proceeding directly from the individual and reflecting his mind or temper though they conceal his morals. Intended, too, in the majority of cases for one person or for a small circle, and often surrounded by the utmost secrecy, they convey tidings which can be entrusted to no other form of communication. Diplomatic correspondence, in particular, is stamped with this mark of privacy, and as a rule the world is kept waiting for generations, if not centuries, before independent historians can gain admission to the archives of ambassadors and foreign ministers. Three extracts which appear in close connection between pages 133-140 (Nos. 51, 53, and 54) deserve careful scrutiny, both by reason of what they contain and because they connect Italy so closely with the beginnings of English diplomacy. They are Soncino's despatch to the Duke of Milan regarding John Cabot's discoveries; Giustiniani's description of Henry VIII. and Wolsey; and a budget of Wolsey's own instructions to Richard Pace, special envoy of England at Venice. Another exceptional despatch is printed in No. 109-the letter sent from the British Foreign Office to Sir Arthur Paget after Mack's surrender at Ulm. With the rise of the Empire reports of generals and administrators abroad to the home government become important sources. For instance, see Clive's announcement of the battle of Plassey (No. 94); Wolfe's letter to Pitt from before Quebec (No. 95); and Warren Hastings' minute against Sir Philip Francis (No. 101). Three letters from sovereigns are included, and all of them afford glimpses of character. Canute's missive from Rome (No. 10) is a personal greeting to his people rather than a public proclamation, like the reward for the Pretender (No. 92); Mary Stuart in No. 63 speaks out with feminine emotion; and in No. 62 Elizabeth displays the full measure of her tact- -or hypocrisy-in negotiation. Besides these letters which fall into little clusters, several single

specimens are given on account of their unusual interest or meaning. Alcuin's request that he may send to Britain for books (No. 7), and his urgency in advising Charlemagne to encourage learning, are proofs that the spirit of culture was not extinct in the Dark Ages; the marriage correspondence between John Paston and Margery Brews (No. 47) is a striking illustration of social usage during the Yorkist period; and Sir Henry Sidney's advice to his son Philip (No. 64) discloses the best moral standards which were set before youths in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

Having glanced at formal and official documents, original texts of different sorts and letters, we pass to contemporary narratives which are descriptive of an event or episode. Description enters very largely into the subject matter of letters, but the difference between them and the sources now to be considered is that the latter are meant for publication. As compared with letters they may lack something in freshness and unreserve; by way of compensation they not infrequently gain from the care which an author devotes to style and finish. Before making mankind his confidant he considers what effect he wishes to produce. If a politician or the partisan of any cause, he must guard against the possible attacks of opponents; if he has the masses in view, he must be clear and easily understood; if he would reach the fastidious, he must spare no pains in pruning his ideas and revising his phrases. A man may occasionally publish without paying thought to his literary reputation, and a letterwriter may occasionally anticipate publication. The rule is, however, that a book is a much more studied performance than a letter, and tells its story with greater regard to consequences.

Autobiography is a typical form of the contemporary *record at its best. The closer one comes to the act, the fuller are his chances of knowing all about it; and when one has seen a thing done or shared in its achievement, he rises to the level of an ultimate authority. He may have motives for distorting the facts and require close watching, but, unless his memory has completely failed, he will certainly set down much that is correct.

Other factors besides immediate observation which such

sources require before they can reach the highest excellence are dignity of the event, magnitude of the writer, and power to depict skilfully or with force. This splendid combination of opportunity, greatness and literary skill is rare, and its product is always a historical classic, instance the De Bello Gallico. Lesser luminaries shine according to their strength, and sometimes a person, otherwise insignificant, connects himself lastingly with a stupendous scene, as did Edward Grim with Becket's murder (No. 23).

All writings which reflect real life and stirring experiences have one characteristic in common: they are entertaining. When the action has been crowded, or the event, though unexciting, is of universal moment, the recital need not rely upon fine words. A simple style will suffice so long as it is unmarred by obscurity or bad taste. And then in the same class with personal recollections one may rank the comments and criticism of an eye-witness, a foreigner's remarks about the country he visits, a biographer's opinion of the friend whom he has long known, a philanthropist's account of the evils he has lived among and studied. There is no occasion to go beyond the passages which are printed in this volume for divers examples of first-hand observation. Sir P. Warwick was present at the debate on the Grand Remonstrance when Royalists and Radicals were barely restrained by Hampden from drawing their swords (No. 72-A); John Wesley relates how he endured. the attack of a Staffordshire mob (No. 91); Lord St. Leonard's accompanied Wellington through London streets amid a hooting and jeering populace (No. 117); and Macaulay cast his vote for the second reading of the Reform Bill (No. 116). Asser describes Alfred's court as he had lived in it (No. 8); Roger Ascham was intimate with Lady Jane Grey (No. 59); Jeffrey's praise of Watt's conversation bespeaks familiar acquaintance (No. 102); The Venetian Relation (No. 50) contains an intelligent Italian's view of English society at a time when its tone was rapidly changing from roughness to comfort; and Howard's preface (No. 100) comes from a reformer whose head and heart were alike engaged in relieving prisoners

с

unjustly distressed. Gervase of Canterbury watched the flames which destroyed the "glorious choir" of Prior Conrad (No. 24); Roger Bacon laments the difficulty of getting proper apparatus for his experiments (No. 32); the losses which Florence. sustained when Edward III. repudiated his debts, is told by a chronicler who was ruined along with the Bardi (No. 38); Bradford was on board the Mayflower during her voyage to Cape Cod (No. 70); Thomas Harriot had gone out as a colonist to Virginia (No. 66); and Dr. Wallis was prominent among the founders of the Royal Society, whose origin he traces in No. 74.

Next in order of merit come pieces by contemporary writers who stood at a distance from the event, but who took trouble to satisfy themselves concerning it. When the original records are lost these take their place, and often through special circumstances they enjoy great credit without owing it to an accidental cause. The important points are that the author should be a competent person, and should also have investigated the matter in a proper way. During long periods, for instance the Middle Ages, autobiographical description languished, and we must thankfully accept as material any contemporary narrative which offers. Between the sixth and fourteenth centuries European history was almost wholly in the hands of churchmen, and monks secluded in their cloisters collected tidings of the outside world as they could get them. For every one abbey like St. Alban's, wealthy and frequented by illustrious travellers, a score of smaller houses had their chroniclers and annalists. These Benedictines, or Cluniacs, or Cistercians were not uniformly well educated, and they lacked means of sifting what they heard. Still the common news came their way, and by preserving it they have left us the possibility of judging them and their times. Sir T. D. Hardy points out that many a credulous story of saint or martyr abounds with local touches which are above doubt because so perfectly incidental.

Of the selections contained in this volume a large number has been taken from the works of men who were living at the moment but were neither actors nor spectators. Such passages might be divided and classified under numerous heads did space

Some of our authors

permit. As it is, the chief distinction which can be attempted is a simple and perhaps an artificial one. seem bent on sincere and impartial description, while others display a warmth and prejudice which at once impair our confidence in them. Controversy always exists, and the historian cannot overlook it. Therefore such passages as No. 35, "An English view of Wallace and Bruce," and No. 79, recalling the dispute over coffee-houses in the reign of Charles II., demand insertion here. Sir Thomas More's protest against sheep-walks (No. 55) has been charged with unfairness 1; No. 75, though faithful in the main, does not proceed from a sympathetic source, and is probably less than just to Cromwell; Smollett's picture of life on a warship (No. 93) is coloured for literary effect; and Wakley's charge against the staff at St. Thomas's Hospital (No. 114) is the open condemnation of an abuse.

Contrast with any extract among those just cited Tacitus' account of the primitive Germans (No. 4). The subject itself is removed from faction, and in the Roman's calm, disinterested tone we detect the sagacious observer and critic. No virtue or vice escapes his watchful eye, and if his armour has a weak spot it must be sought in defective knowledge rather than in mental bias. Ordericus Vitalis explains that his concern for the tragic wreck of the White Ship was prompted by no personal loss thereby (No. 20); Froissart, in spite of aristocratic sympathies, states the peasants' arguments honestly (No. 42); and, approaching recent times, we may observe a judicial attitude in the Annual Register's estimate of Pitt (No. 96), and in Napier's reflections on the Peninsular War (No. 111).

Several other notable descriptions by contemporaries merit attention. Among them are those selections from the Agricola, in which Tacitus considers the geography and inhabitants of Britain (No. 2); William Fitz-Stephen's praise of London (No. 25); Roger Hoveden's witness to the Jewish persecution at York (No. 26); Wendover's chapters on the Interdict and Magna Carta (Nos. 29 and 30); Higden's, Trevisa's, and Caxton's references to the popular speech of their day (Nos. 49 A and

1 1 E.g., by W. A. S. Hewins in Traill's Social England. Vol. iii., p. 248.