THE ANNALS OF ENGLAND.* Tits School Edition of the Annals
of England has been prepared, the compiler tells us, to suit the present system of teaching
history in periods, the object being to give in the fewest possible words distinct statements of the facts on which the generalisa- tions of other works are founded, and thus to supply a material help to their profitable study. The master is to be saved the
labour of supplying the deficiencies of his text-books, and the scholar is to gain a store of positive knowledge essential to his sound progress, hitherto not readily attainable. This sounds very plausible and attractive, but a nearer inspection of the text- books will, we think, convince people that a more ill-assorted and unsatisfactory compilation has seldom been met with. The only originality about the work is its eccentric arrangement. If we except some interesting details of events during the Puritan as- cendancy, for which we must allow every consideration, it seems little else than a second-rate cram-book. If the information which is split up into narrative, notes, paragraphs, and chrono- logy had been given in the form of condensed history or tabular statement, they 'night have proved useful school- books, and it is therefore unfortunate that so much labour should have been expended in producing what has neither improvement nor utility to recommend it. It is better to teach boys English history as they are taught Bible history, i.e., by letting events and individuals tell their own story and make their own impressions. When thus acquired, the landmarks of the narrative are remembered like 'white days' in their own lives, and the memory of youth is so mar- vellously retentive that it requires no fictitious aid. There are no better books for acquiring history than the Epochs of English History, lately published by Messrs. Longman.
Each epoch is by a writer specially qualified to speak on that period, and who, in most cases, is already known for some larger work on the same period. They are handy, well-digested, well-written books, and to make them still more acceptable, contain good maps and genealogical tables ; with these little worthies in the field, the text-books before us are hardly likely to meet with the success looked for by their promoter.
The following estimate of Henry VII.'s character is hardly likely to commend itself to those who know anything of that Sovereign :—
"Henry's conduct throughout his reign was unworthy of the station to which his enterprise and abilities had raised him. No consideration of justice or mercy prevailed in his dealings with the adherents of the House of York ; and he sacrificed those who in early life had rendered him the most important services. He had no friends, no confidants, but was, in reality, his own minister ; and he devoted his own soul to the acquisition, even by the vilest means, of treasure which he guarded with all the jealousy of a miser, under his own lock and key, though he lavishly disbursed it for the preparation of a pompous burial-place. His government at home was marked by the creation of the Star Chamber, which reduced the occasional oppression of former kings to a regular system; and all his transactions with foreign Powers betray his dark, designing, treacherous, and ungrateful character."
• The Annals of England. (School Edition.) The Tudors, 1463 to 1603; the Stuarts, 1603 to 1660. Oxford and London: James Parker and Co. 1877. Now although his parsimony and avarice were great blots on Henry's character, there were many extenuating circumstances to foster and excuse them, for they were, to a certain extent, the excessive growth of his natural calculation and self-restraint. The necessities of his early life had taught him the value of money, and also the useful lesson that with it he could be his own master, and therefore less dependent on Minister or Parliament. The disastrous wars of the Roses had so crippled and exhausted the country, that peace almost at any price became desirable for her recovery ; and English money, employed on the Continent with this view, and in accordance with the diplomatic usage of the time, was therefore not a bad investment. He is twitted with guarding with all the jealousy of a miser, and under his own lock and key, his ill-gotten wealth ; but there is no doubt he could spend freely when the importance of the occasion demanded it, and the magnificence of his Court pageants offers a fair set-off to the charge of lavishing money on the pre- paration of a pompous burial-place for himself. As to his character being "dark, designing treacherous, and ungrateful," we do not remember what deeds can justify such a sweeping con- demnation; and it is scarcely reconcilable with his bright and cheerful temperament, his superior intellect, and his fair, 'well- favoured face.' Bearing in mind, too, that in his foreign policy he had to deal with the crafty master-spirit of Ferdinand of Aragon, and to solve the difficult problem of keeping on good terms with France when his own subjects were craving for war, it is remarkable to find how successful he was in maintaining peace, without loss of dignity or prestige. It could hardly be expected he would show much clemency to the Yorkist party, considering his precarious position as king by conquest, and the frequent attempts that were made to deprive him of his crown.
We do not agree with the statement that the Star Chamber was established in the third year of Henry VII.'s reign. Notwith- standing the opinions of Lord Coke and Lord Hale that the Court then created by statute was only a modification of the ancient Court, we thought it had been conclusively shown by modern writers of authority that that Court was not the Star Chamber, and that it had a totally different and distinct existence from the one revived by Henry VIII., and which made itself so notorious. Sir Thomas Smith, in his Treatise on the Commonwealth of England, in 1565, makes no mention of the tribunal instituted by Henry VII., though he treats parti- cularly of the Court of Star Chamber. In another place, the bare announcement that the French fleet was defeated in 1512 off Brest by Sir Edward Howard hardly conveys a correct impression of what actually took place. It seems, as indeed we learn from a foot-note, that the leading ship on each side was blown up by a French gunner, when the two were grappled together, with a loss of 1,600 men, but it is not added in the foot-note or elsewhere that the accident of the two ships being destroyed simultaneously so overawed both fleets that they separated without fighting, each claiming the victory. Elsewhere it is stated that Sir Edward Howard was killed in an attempt to destroy the French fleet near Brest. The fact is, the English admiral, being unable to induce the French fleet to quit the shelter of its harbour and fortifications at Brest, attacked with two galleys, not the fleet, but six galleys in the Bay of Conquet, for which the French Admiral had been for
some time waiting. It is unfortunate that in books of this nature care is not taken to insure accuracy in matters where there can be no question, or that opinions of his- torical events and personages are not formed more in accord- ance with the most recent and authentic evidence. By the way, it is strange that neither among the numerous authorities recommended for reference, nor yet among the books the com- piler has himself consulted, is there any mention of Mr. S. R. Gardiner's History of England during the Reigns of James I. and Charles I. This standard work, ranging from 1603 to 1637, forms an exhaustive history of that period that has not been equalled, either for the anxious care with which it was written, or for its insight, judgment, and impartiality. Forster's Life of Sir John Eliot is another well-known authority, the authority of which is not recognised here. As these books are intended for the use of schools, it is, perhaps, un- necessary to criticise an incomplete list of authorities ; school- boys would not be likely to refer to them, and real students would do better to read up the works of those writers who have given their lives to the study of one period, rather than of many. If a candidate has to prepare for an examination at short notice, and to convert himself into a storehouse of dates and names, he would beat accomplish his purpose by using unmistakable cram-books,
arranged in tabular form, to catch the eye and be the better com- mitted to memory.
There is no objection to the introduction of small plates of the Royal Arms of the various Sovereigns, for a little heraldry might be the means of attracting some who would otherwise turn away from these pages, yet the little there is should be complete, and not open to correction. We notice in the case of Henry VII., that he is only credited with four badges and two sets of supporters ; but he had three other badges, which are omitted here, viz., a portcullis, a crowned fleur de lys, and a rose of York and Lancaster, and also another set of supporters, a yellow lion and red dragon, as shown at King's College, Cambridge. Henry VIII. is only allowed one badge, the white greyhound, but modern heralds add a portcullis, a fleur de lye, a white cock, and a rose of York and Lancaster. We may remark that it would be more uniform, after speaking of a golden lion, to speak of a silver, not a white greyhound, and what can be the object in another place, of describing Charles I. as the son of James Vl. of Scotland and Anne of Denmark ?
We do not fail to acknowledge the labour and, for the most part, the accuracy with which the compiler of these text-books has done his work ; but as we have said before, we consider the design to be unfortunate and the arrangement most unsatisfactory. The sight of long notes in diamond type which, in fact, outweigh the structure itself, is enough to turn away any but the most assidu- ous pupil ; while the disjointed nature of the text is perplexing and uncomfortable ; nor are there any helps in the way of maps or pedigrees. The account of the Spanish Armada and the circum- stances that attended its failure and defeat are so well described, that it shows what might have been done, and makes one regret the more the scarcity of narrative and the want of cohesion that mar the value of these little books.
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