r oftener than history--which has very different problems to
solve--either requires or tolerates. De Maistre says that in our time
compassion is reserved for the guilty. Mr. Goldwin Smith is a merciful
judge, whose compassion generally increases in proportion to the
greatness of the culprit; and he has a sympathy for what is done in the
grand style, which balances his hatred of what is wrongly done.

It would not be fair to judge of an author's notion and powers of
research by a hasty and popular production. Mr. Goldwin Smith has
collected quite enough information for the purpose for which he has used
it, and he has not failed through want of industry. The test of solidity
is not the quantity read, but the mode in which the knowledge has been
collected and used. Method, not genius, or eloquence, or erudition,
makes the historian. He may be discovered most easily by his use of
authorities. The first question is, whether the writer understands the
comparative value of sources of information, and has the habit of giving
precedence to the most trustworthy informant. There are some vague
indications that Mr. Goldwin Smith does not understand the importance of
this fundamental rule. In his Inaugural Lecture, published two years
ago, the following extravagant sentence occurs: "Before the Revolution,
the fervour and the austerity of Rousseau had cast out from good society
the levity and sensuality of Voltaire" (p. 15). This view--which he
appears to have abandoned, for in his _Irish History_ he tells us that
France "has now become the eldest daughter of Voltaire"--he supports by
a reference to an abridgment of French history, much and justly esteemed
in French schools, but, like all abridgments, not founded on original
knowledge, and disfigured by exaggeration in the colouring. Moreover,
the passage he refers to has been misinterpreted. In the _Irish History_
Mr. Goldwin Smith quotes, for the character of the early Celts, without
any sufficient reason, another French historian, Martin, who has no
great authority, and the younger Thierry, who has none at all. This is a
point of very little weight by itself; but until our author vindicates
his research by other writings, it is not in his favour.

The defects of Mr. Goldwin Smith's historic art, his lax criticism, his
superficial acquaintance with foreign countries, his occasional
proneness to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of rhetorical effect, his
aversion for spiritual things,