The History of Freedom, and Other Essays

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THE HISTORY OF FREEDOM AND OTHER ESSAYS


MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited

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MELBOURNE

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[Illustration: Acton]




THE

HISTORY OF FREEDOM

AND OTHER ESSAYS

BY

JOHN EMERICH EDWARD DALBERG-ACTON

FIRST BARON ACTON

D.C.L., L.L.D., ETC. ETC. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JOHN NEVILLE FIGGIS, Litt.D.

SOMETIME LECTURER IN ST. CATHARINE'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

AND

REGINALD VERE LAURENCE, M.A.

FELLOW AND LECTURER OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE


MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

1909

_First Edition 1907_

_Reprinted 1909_




PREFATORY NOTE


The Editors desire to thank the members of the Acton family for their
help and advice during the preparation of this volume and of the volume
of _Historical Essays and Studies_. They have had the advantage of
access to many of Acton's letters, especially those to Doellinger and
Lady Blennerhasset. They have thus been provided with valuable material
for the Introduction. At the same time they wish to take the entire
responsibility for the opinions expressed therein. They are again
indebted to Professor Henry Jackson for valuable suggestions.

This volume consists of articles reprinted from the following journals:
_The Quarterly Review_, _The English Historical Review_, _The Nineteenth
Century_, _The Rambler_, _The Home and Foreign Review_, _The North
British Review_, _The Bridgnorth Journal_. The Editors have to thank Mr.
John Murray, Messrs. Longmans, Kegan Paul, Williams and Norgate, and the
proprietors of _The Bridgnorth Journal_ for their kind permission to
republish these articles, and also the Delegacy of the Clarendon Press
for allowing the reprint of the Introduction to Mr. Burd's edition of
_Il Principe_. They desire to point out that in _Lord Acton and his
Circle_ the article on "The Protestant Theory of Persecution" is
attributed to Simpson: this is an error.

J.N.F.
R.V.L.

_August 24, 1907._




CONTENTS


                                                                    PAGE
PORTRAIT OF LORD ACTON                                    _Frontispiece_

CHRONICLE                                                           viii

INTRODUCTION                                                          ix

   I.    THE HISTORY OF FREEDOM IN ANTIQUITY                           1

  II.    THE HISTORY OF FREEDOM IN CHRISTIANITY                       30

 III.    SIR ERSKINE MAY'S DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE                        61

  IV.    THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW                             101

   V.    THE PROTESTANT THEORY OF PERSECUTION                        150

  VI.    POLITICAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHURCH                            188

 VII.    INTRODUCTION TO L.A. BURD'S EDITION OF
         IL PRINCIPE BY MACHIAVELLI                                  212

VIII.    MR. GOLDWIN SMITH'S IRISH HISTORY                           232

  IX.    NATIONALITY                                                 270

   X.    DOeLLINGER ON THE TEMPORAL POWER                             301

  XI.    DOeLLINGER'S HISTORICAL WORK                                 375

 XII.    CARDINAL WISEMAN AND THE HOME AND
         FOREIGN REVIEW                                              436

XIII.    CONFLICTS WITH ROME                                         461

 XIV.    THE VATICAN COUNCIL                                         492

  XV.    A HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION OF THE MIDDLE
         AGES. BY HENRY CHARLES LEA                                  551

 XVI.    THE AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH. BY JAMES
         BRYCE                                                       575

XVII.    HISTORICAL PHILOSOPHY IN FRANCE AND FRENCH
         BELGIUM AND SWITZERLAND. BY ROBERT FLINT                    588

APPENDIX                                                             597

INDEX                                                                599




CHRONICLE


JOHN EMERICH EDWARD DALBERG-ACTON, born at Naples,
    10th January 1834, son of Sir Ferdinand Richard Edward
    Dalberg-Acton and Marie de Dalberg, afterwards Countess
    Granville.
            French school near Paris.
1843-1848. Student at Oscott
              "    "  Edinburgh.
1848-1854.    "    "  Munich University, living with Doellinger.
  1855.    Visits America in company with Lord Ellesmere.
1858-1862. Becomes editor of _The Rambler_.
1859-1865. M.P. for Carlow.
1862-1864. Founds, edits, and concludes _The Home and Foreign
             Review_.
  1864.