was by no means a bad king, and that
Elizabeth had very few faults. His treatment of Anne Boleyn and Mary Queen
of Scots is unjust and ignoble. Not content with publishing what has been
written in their disfavor, with the omniscience of a romancer, he asserts
their motives, and produces thoughts which they never uttered. A race of
powerful critics has sprung forth in defence of Mary, and Mr. Froude's
inaccuracies and injustice have been clearly shown. To novel readers who
are fond of the sensational, we commend his work: to those who desire
historic facts and philosophies, we proclaim it to be inaccurate,
illogical, and unjust in the highest degree.
_Sharon Turner_, 1768-1847: among many historical efforts, principally
concerning England in different periods, his _History of the Anglo-Saxons_
stands out prominently as a great work. He was an eccentric scholar, and
an antiquarian, and he found just the place to delve in when he undertook
that history. The style is not good--too epigrammatic and broken; but his
research is great, his speculations bold, and his information concerning
the numbers, manners, arts, learning, and other characters of the
Anglo-Saxons, immense.
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