CONSIDER
HISTORY
WITH THE
BEGINNINGS OF
IT STRETCHING
DIMLY INTO THE
REMOTE TIME; EMERGING
DARKLY
OVT OF THE
MYSTERIOVS
ETERNITY:
THE TRVE EPIC
POEM AND VNIVERSAL
DIVINE
SCRIPTVRE.

CARLYLE

CONSTITUTIONAL
HISTORY of
ENGLAND
HENRY VII TO
GEORGE II
BY HENRY
HALLAM VOL I

LONDON: PUBLISHED
by J·M·DENT·&·SONS·LTD
AND IN NEW YORK
BY E·P·DUTTON & CO

INTRODUCTION

Few historical works have stood the test of time better thanHallam's Constitutional History. It was written nearly acentury ago—the first edition was published in 1827—and ata time when historians were nothing if not stout party men.The science of history, as we now know it, was in its infancy;apologetics were preferred to exegesis; the study of "sources,"the editing of texts, the classification of authorities were almostunknown. History was regarded as the handmaid of politics,and the duty of the historian was conceived as being, in thelanguage of Macaulay, the impression of "general truths"upon his generation as to the art of government and theprogress of society. Whig and Tory, Erastian and HighChurchman, debated on the field of history. The characters ofLaud and Cromwell excited as much passion and recriminationas if they were contemporary politicians. That a historywritten in such times, and by a writer who was proud to callhimself a Whig, should still hold its place is not a little remarkable.The reason for its vitality is to be found in thetemperament and training of the author. Hallam was alawyer in the sense in which that term is used at the Bar;that is to say, not so much a seductive advocate as a mandeeply versed in the law, accurate, judicious, and impartial.Macaulay, who was as much the advocate as Hallam is thejudge, described the Consti