Macaulay's Successor
Tilts new collection of Sir Lewis Namier's occasional essays and reviews has all the qualities which we have come to expect in his work—scholarship, wisdom and clarity. His judgements are based not only on exact knowledge but also on those values which lie at the heart of European culture—a respect for human life and for institutions which have stood the test of history. When dealing with the recent past, as he does in the last four essays of this book, he is not afraid to show his utter detestation of the Nazi regime. He insists on its violence, its degradation, its cruelty and utter vulgarity. And that is as refreshing as it is salutary. But he is too fine an historian to leave it at that. Although he states that Hitler and his story 'pose the insoluble enigma of success,' he does not allow the lack of any final answer to deter him from exploring with all his analytical brilliance the factors which may have contributed to that mystery. Two essays in particular—The Basic Factors in Nineteenth-Century European History' and 'Diplomacy in the Inter-War Period, 1919-1939'—deepen our understanding of the whole sorry process by which Hitler and his regime had a chance to flourish. Good as these essays are, those which deal with aspects of eighteenth-century history are better. Paradoxically, England and not Europe is now Sir Lewis Namier's home ground. He has lived so long amidst the records of parliamentary politics of this time that the Edgcumbes, Foresters and Elliots are more familiar to him than the Schleichers, Francois Poncets and Hendersons of his own century. Again there are two essays of outstanding merit, and schoolboys as well as scholars will need to master them. They contain the first expression of ideas which may well dominate historically thinking on the subjects with which they deal for this and, probably, subsequent generations. `Monarchy and the Party System' sheds a new light on the age-old controversy about the two-party system and demonstrates as clearly as can be demonstra- ted that the early ministries of George III's reign were as much Whig as their predecessors. Never before has the role of eighteenth- century monarchy been so accurately and lucidly explained. 'Country Gentlemen in Parliament, 1750-84' is, perhaps, more original, for Sir Lewis has in his great books made us familiar with the Court side of eighteenth-century politics, whereas this study opens up an entirely new field and one of vital interest. The independent gentlemen provided, as no other group in politics Could, a channel for the expression of public opinion. For long periods public opinion was divided and so were the country gentle- men, and the Court had little difficulty in pursuing its own policy. At times of crisis, however, they and the country at large could speak With a unanimous voice. Once they were united against North his ministry came to an end. Their influence at other times in the eighteenth century when governments lost the confidence of the Commons remains to be analysed. Sir Lewis has shown that it must be done before a full understanding of eighteenth-century parlia- ments can be achieved.
.1. II. PLUMB
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