are all covered by one transcendent
merit, which, in a man of so much ability, promises great results.

Writers the most learned, the most accurate in details, and the soundest
in tendency, frequently fall into a habit which can neither be cured nor
pardoned,--the habit of making history into the proof of their theories.
The absence of a definite didactic purpose is the only security for the
good faith of a historian. This most rare virtue Mr. Goldwin Smith
possesses in a high degree. He writes to tell the truths he finds, not
to prove the truths which he believes. In character and design he is
eminently truthful and fair, though not equally so in execution. His
candour never fails him, and he is never betrayed by his temper; yet his
defective knowledge of general history, and his crude notions of the
Church, have made him write many things which are untrue, and some which
are unjust. Prejudice is in all men of such early growth, and so
difficult to eradicate, that it becomes a misfortune rather than a
reproach, especially if it is due to ignorance and not to passion, and
if it has not its seat in the will. In the case of Mr. Goldwin Smith it
is of the curable and harmless kind. The fairness of his intention is
far beyond his knowledge. When he is unjust, it is not from hatred;
where he is impartial, it is not always from the copiousness of his
information. His prejudices are of a nature which his ability and
honesty will in time inevitably overcome.

The general result and moral of his book is excellent. He shows that the
land-question has been from the beginning the great difficulty in
Ireland; and he concludes with a condemnation of the Established Church,
and a prophecy of its approaching fall. The weakness of Ireland and the
guilt of England are not disguised; and the author has not written to
stimulate the anger of one nation or to attenuate the remorse of the
other. To both he gives wise and statesman-like advice, that may soon be
very opportune. The first American war was the commencement of the
deliverance of Ireland, and it may be that a new American war will
complete the work of regeneration which the first began. Agreeing as we
do with the policy of the author, and admiring the spirit of his book,
we shall not attempt either to enforce or to dispute his conclusions,
and we shall confine our remarks to less essential points on which he
appears to us in the wrong.

There are several instances of inaccuracy