An Address delivered by Way of Inaugural Lecture. February 7,
1867. By the Rev. William Stubbs, M.A., Regius Professor of Modern History. (Oxford : J. Parker.)—We are glad of the opportunity of reading a revised edition of the lecture, which was not sufficiently reported, and from which so much would necessarily be expected. Of course such an address is purely an introduction, and at best is a promise of what is to come. But some men's introductions are worth more than the complete works of other men, and often the introduction to a book is read by many who never dream of going further into the book itself. Mr. Stubbs speaks worthily of the prospects of modern histori- cal study, and pays a fitting tribute to some of his predecessors, both to Arnold whom he calls the prime mover of this generation, and to Gold- win Smith, whom he admires as sincerely as any of his hearers for his learning, acuteness, earnestness, and eloquence. We hope the memory of the late Professor will not militate against the proper appreciation of Mr. Stubbs, and that he may do his work in Oxford so well that his successor may not feel any of that doubt hinted at in the opening sentences of this lecture, where Mr. Stubbs talks of being called upon "to address an academic, I may even say an educated audience."
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