Reviews of the Week
The Age of Elizabeth
The England of Elizabeth. By A. L. Rowse. (Macmillan. 2 ss.) THE writing of history is always a source of trouble to the historian, for, as a rule, he is seeking to impress a logic and a form on what is, in itself, formless and without logic. He hangs, as it were, suspended between two opposing options—whether to adopt the maxim of a distinguished Frenchman of last century, who ventilated the opinion that "detail is the whole of history," and wrote an almost unreadable book ; or, to take Voltaire's advice and thrust the bulk of the detail—" the vermin that destroy books "—into the baggage waggon, thereby freeing himself for a swift and light-armed march. Of course, the choice in practice is neither so grim nor so absolute: one may, for example, attempt to combine both formulae by a judicious process of selection and generalisation. This, in effect, is what Mr. Rowse tries to do in his handsome volume on The England of Elizabeth; albeit some of his readers may think that his fear of generalisation drives him into over-indulgence in his passion for fact. He gives the demon for " detail " a surfeit of his diet, on a scale that occasionally sets his narrative staggering, despite its usual liveliness. At the same time, in order to supply the synoptic view of the Age as a whole—which is the professed object of the book—he treats all aspects of the subject not as ends in themselves but as means to an end, viz., the portrayal of the " rhythm " of society in all its sectors. The aim is ambitious: the project admirable—if it can be done. The question is: Does the author succeed ? Will one rise from a perusal of Mr. Rowse's 500- odd pages feeling that he has communicated a unified picture of the Age ?
A candid critic will probably conclude that the claim is over- stated ; that the "logic," which the author sees inherent in his chapters, binding one to another, and all together in a single conspectus, is more a fiction of his own imagination than a sober reality. What happens is that the reign of Elizabeth is slowly revolved before our eyes, chapter by chapter, each dealing with some specified aspect—the land; the economic revolution, the towns, the social classes, the Government, the administration (central and local), the Law, the Church, Catholics and Puritans, and Education. But it is difficult to see any convincing reason for the adoption of this particular arrangement, save the author's assurance that In every aspect, and in every subject, I am engaged in extracting the social juices," whatever this curious phrase may mean. Presumably we shall have to wait until the promised second volume appears, when the "logical and symmetrical structure will stand revealed." At the moment it is more a promise than a fulfilment.
It should be noted that Mr. Rowse's purpose is not to see Eliza- beth's England "steadily and see it whole "—certainly not "whole," for he is concerned only with what might be called the " active " citizens, viz., "the small society, tough, vigorous—pulsating with energy, that accomplished those extraordinary achievements that made the age the most remarkable in our history." In fact, the book is a paean to the glory of the nation-building class who, along with the Queen—greatest among them all—covered England with their activities or piloted her to an astonishing success. Evidently there is no "social juice" to be extracted from the appalling slough of misery and squalor of the submerged mass, which prompted Philip Stubbes to write his Anatotny of Abuses. Stubbes receives only a perfunctory mention.
Mr. Rowse is obviously a man of "imperfect sympathies." Indeed, he makes no secret about it: his dislike of the Puritans is profound and uncompromising. Their "sniffle," their "smug- ness," their "horrible emotional display" reminding him of "a modern Buchmanite house-party "—haunt him like the "smell of Nonconformity." "I have not depicted it (i.e., Puritanism) at its worst," he writes, "for the good reason that I like it so little." We may be thankful for what we are spared ; but why can't Mr. Rowse qua historian sink his prejudices and, like the judicious Hooker, whom he properly admires, exercise more fairness to a defeated and persecuted sect ?
In' the same way, and perhaps for the same reason—" imperfect sympathies "—Mr. Rowse sees nothing in what A. 0. Meyer calls the Blutzeit of English Catholicism save wrongheadedness and waste. Vae victis! One would have thought that the moral heroism of a man like Campion belongs to the Age as much as—let us say— the heroism of the sea-dogs. But no! He turns his back on the "fanatics," both Puritan and Catholic, with the reproach : "Ii only, instead of obfuscating each, other, they had gone positively and constructively into making the Church and society better! No doubt this sentiment will be shared by many readers, but to what avail such pious wishes ?
One last point. There is a sort of idolatry in Mr. Rowse's approach to the great Queen—doubtless justified in his case because he holds no brief for the old-fashioned belief that "when women rule, men govern ": he denies that the success of the reign was essentially due to the selfless devotion of the extremely able men who served her. The point, of course, is debatable : just as it is debatable whether Mary Stewart might not have made a better job of hers, if the mercenary crew who took pensions from England had behaved with the loyalty, of Burghley and Walsingham. . But enough of criticism. It would be churlish and foolish to dwell on what may appear to be defects and forget the undoubted merits of this striking contribution to literature. There is no section of the book that is not illuminated by the writer's massive know- ledge, his pungent and lively wit, and his penetrating insight. Mr. Rowse has assembled much that is new, and a good deal of what is already familiar, in an unusual context ; and what is familiar is as refreshing as what is new. His character sketches of the leading individuals show a deftness of hand that betokens the artist as well as the researcher and thinker. And indeed one may say of the whole book that it is born of a long and intimate acquaintance with the people it portrays. Scholars and students alike will give it a most friendly welcome ; and the lay reader, who desires to learn about the brilliant "small society" who made Elizabethan England a replica of Athens in the days of Pericles, will not be disappointed.
J. B. BLACK.
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