Macaulay Continued
England Under Queen Anne. Blenheim. By George Macaulay . Trevelyan. (Longmtuis. 21s.) MACAULAY has been fortunate in his kinsfolk. Over half a century ago his nephew, Sir George Trevelyan, wrote that wonderful biography which has done so much for Macaulay's fame. Now his grand-nephew, Professor G. M. Trevelyan, with greater courage but no less success, has essayed that continuation of Macaulay's History which has long been desired. Macaulay began with a broad survey of the Restoration, followed by that masterly chapter on England' in 1685 which everyone knows—or should know—and then settled down to a detailed account of the reign of James IL, the Revolution and the triumph of William of Orange. But death claimed him before he arrived at the reign of Queen Anne—" the very portion of English history which," in his biographer's opinion, "he was competent to treat as no man again will treat it." In view of this judgment, the biographer's son may well have hesitated to deal with that memorable age—only a dozen years from 1702 to 1714, but years full of grave issues that have affected the whole course of our history. In view of Professor Trevelyan's historical learning and literary charm it is no surprise to find that the first instalment of his book on Queen Anne is worthy. of the subject and of the family affection that has inspired it.
Remembering that famous .chapter on the state of England when James II ascended the throne, the author has rightly begun with a similar account of England in 1702, filling a hundred pages. Nothing could be better or more enter- taining. Professor TreveLyansees a prosperous and contented England, not free from grave defects by our standard, but' far in advance of the Continent, dominated by London with " more than a tenth of the population of England and a good half of its trained thinking power" and with a very large share of its wealth. He elaborates the story of the Spanish Succession and the Grand Alliance which Macaulay had summarized at the close of his History. Then he comes to Iris real task, and develops on a largt scale the early history of the French war up to the Battle of Blenheim and the rapture of Gibraltar in 1704. Professor Trevelyan has no new theories to propound about the party struggles of those exciting times, but his narrative is crystal. clear and his
estimates of Marlborough, Godolphin and their colleagues and rivals and of the Queen herself are judicious and enlightening.
"What men that little rustic England could breed ! A nation of five-and-a-half millions that had Wren for its architect, Newton for its scientist, Locke for its philosopher. Bentley for its scholar. Pope for its satirist, Addison for its essayist, Bolingbroke for its orator, Swift for its pamphleteer, and Marlborough to win its battles, had the recipe for genius."
Professor Trevelyan describes most admirably Marlborough's famous march to the Danube and victory at Blenheim, and he does not fail to re • d us how gloomy the situation was before the Duke struck south-eastwards into Germany and how near Louis' XIV was to winning the war.
•• Nothing but the accident of Marlborough's genius, and MO lucky turns of fortune in the field that year, diverted the paths of destiny."
Professor Trevelyan's first volume is assured of a welcome, and readers will eagerly await the next instalment.
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