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unfettered situation for their gratification than the Old World could afford; the second, in the discoveries of steam, furnished him with the means of reaching with facility the most distant parts of the earth, and armed him with powers which rendered barbarous nations powerless to repel his advance; the third presented irresistible attractions, at the same time, in the most remote parts of the earth, which overcame the attachments of home and the indolence of aged civilisation, and sent forth the hardy emigrant, a willing adventurer, to seek his fortune in the golden lottery of distant lands. No such powerful causes, producing the dispersion of the species, have come into operation since mankind were originally separated on the Assyrian plains; and it took place from an attempt, springing from the pride and ambition of man, as vain as the building the Tower of Babel.

That attempt was the endeavour to establish social felicity, and insure the fortunes of the species, by the mere spread of knowledge, and the establishment of democratic institutions, irrespective of the moral training of the people. As this project was based on the pride of intellect, and rested on the doctrine of human perfectibility, so it met with the same result as the attempt, by a tower raised by human hands, to reach the heavens. Carried into execution by fallible agents, it was met and thwarted by their usual passions; and the selfishness and grasping desires of men led to a scene of discord and confusion, unparalleled since the beginning of the world. But it terminated in the same result in Europe as in Asia: the building of the political tower of Babel in France was attended by consequences identical with those which had followed the construction of its predecessor on the plains of Shinar. The dispersion of mankind followed in both cases the vain attempt; and after, and through the agency of, a protracted period of suffering, men in surpassing multitudes found themselves settled in new habitations, and for ever severed from the land of their birth, from the consequences of the visionary projects in which they had been engaged.

Views of this kind must, in the present aspect of human affairs, force themselves upon the most inconsiderate mind; and they

tend at once to unfold the designs of Providence, now so manifest in the direction of human affairs, and to reconcile us to much which might lead to desponding views if we confined our survey to the fortunes of particular states. An examination of the social and political condition of the principal European monarchies, particularly France and England, at this time, and a retrospect of the changes they have undergone during the last thirty years, must probably lead every impartial person to the conclusion that the period of their greatest national eminence has passed, and that the passions by which they are now animated are those which tend to shorten their existence. But we shall cease to regard this inevitable change with melancholy, when we reflect that, from the effect of these very passions, the British family is rapidly increasing in distant hemispheres, and that the human race is deriving fresh life and vigour, and spreading over the wilds of nature, from the causes which portend its decline in its former habitations.

As the history of a period fraught with such momentous changes, and distinguished by such ceaseless and rapid progress, as that which is undertaken in this work, of necessity brings the Author in contact with all the great questions, social and political, which have agitated society during its continuance, he has deemed it essential invariably to follow out the two rules which were observed in his former publication. These were, to give invariably at the end of every paragraph the authorities, by volume and page, on which it is founded; and never to introduce a great question without giving as copious an abstract as the limits of the work will admit, of the facts and arguments brought forward on both sides. The latter especially seemed to be peculiarly called for in a work which is more occupied with social and political than with military changes, and which is occupied with a period when the victories were won in the forum or the senatehouse, not the field. The Author has made no attempt to disguise his own opinions on every subject; but he has not exerted himself the less anxiously to give, with all the force and clearness in his power, those which are adverse to it; and he should regret

to think that the reader could find in any other publication a more forcible abstract of the arguments in favour of Parliamentary Reform, a Contracted Currency founded on the retention of gold, or Free Trade in corn and shipping, than are to be met with in this.

In making this abstract, he has adopted two rules, which seemed essential to the combining a faithful record of opposite opinions with the interest and limits necessary in a work of general history. The first is to give one argument only on each side, and not attempt to give separate abstracts of the speeches of different men. Felicitous or eloquent expressions are occasionally preserved; but, in general, the argument given is rather an abridgment of the best parts of the arguments of many different speakers, than a transcript of the oration of any one. That this is necessary, must be obvious, from the consideration that the Author is often called on to give the marrow of an argument in three or four pages, which is expended over some hundreds of Hansard or the Moniteur; and it is surprising how effectually, where the attempt is made in sincerity and good faith, it proves successful. The second is, when a subject has been once introduced, and the opposite arguments fully given, to dismiss it afterwards with a mere statement of the fate it met with, or the division on it in the Legislature. As the same subject was constantly debated in both Houses of Parliament, both in France and England, for many consecutive years, any attempt to give an account of each year's debate would both lead to tedious. repetition, and extend the work to an immoderate length.

For a similar reason, although the History is a general one of the whole European states, yet no attempt has been made to bring forward, abreast in every year, the annals of each particular state. On the contrary, the transactions of different countries are taken up together, and brought down separately in one or more chapters, through several consecutive years. Thus, the first volume is chiefly occupied with the internal annals of France and England, from 1815 to 1820, when all the great changes which afterwards took place were prepared; the second, besides the annals of France and England, with the foreign wars or revolutions of Russia, Spain, and Italy, or the distant conquests of the

English in India during the next ten years. In no other way is it possible to enable the reader to form a clear idea of the succession of events in each particular state, or take that interest in its fortunes which is indispensable to success or utility, not less in the narrative of real, than in the conception of imaginary events.

One very interesting subject is treated of at considerable length in these volumes, which could not, from the pressure of warlike events, be introduced at equal length into the Author's former work. This is an account of Literature, Manners, the Arts, and social changes in the principal European states during the period it embraces. An entire chapter on this subject, regarding Great Britain, has been introduced into the first volume; similar ones relating to literature and the arts in France, Germany, and Italy will succeed in those which follow. This plan has been adopted, from more than an anxious desire-strong as that motive is-to relieve the reader's mind, and present subjects of study more generally interesting than the weightier matters of social and political change. During pacific periods, it is in the literature, which interests the public mind, that we are to find the true seat of the power which directs it; and if we would discover the real rulers of mankind, we shall find them rather in their philosophers and literary men than either their statesmen or their generals. The only difference is, that it is a posthumous dominion in general which the author obtains: his reign does not begin till he himself is mouldering in the grave.

By steadily following out the rule of dismissing every subject of political debate when it has once been fully laid before the reader, the Author has no doubt of his being able to comprise the history of the whole period in five volumes. The last volume will be accompanied by a copious Index.

POSSIL HOUSE, LANARKSHIRE.

October 8, 1852.

A. ALISON.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL SKETCH OF THE WHOLE PERIOD FROM THE FALL OF NAPOLEON TO THE
ACCESSION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON.

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1. Resumé of the war just concluded,

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2. The second drama was one springing out of social passions,

3. Causes which rendered it so violent,

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4. Governments now aimed at peace, and the people clamoured for war,

5. Causes in France which predisposed to the Revolution of 1830,

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ib.

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8. Political alliance between France and England, which followed this change, ib.

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9. Effects of the change upon the colonial empire of England,

10. Still greater results of the Free-trade policy of England,

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11. Vast extension of the United States of America,

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12. Vast increase of Russia during the same period,

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13. Continued increase of Russia from the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848,

14. Simultaneous conquests of the English in India, and their origin in

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20. Successful stand against the Revolutionary spirit in England and France,

21. Restoration of military power in Austria,

22. Restoration of military despotism in France by Louis Napoleon,

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24. Disastrous effects of this Revolution on the cause of freedom,

25. Dangers of Great Britain in particular,

26. Causes which have rendered the condition of Great Britain so precarious,

27. Extraordinary change in the national mind in this respect,

28. Dangers springing from the Free-trade system,

29. Dangers arising from the change in our foreign policy,

VOL. I.

23. Great increase of external dangers from the effects of the Revolution of
1848,

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