one. That is the pith and marrow of Froude's book. Those who think
that in history there is no side may blame him. He followed Carlyle.
"Froude is a man of genius," said Jowett: "he has been abominably
treated." "Il a vu iuste," said a young critic of our own day* in
reply to the usual charges of inaccuracy. The real object of his
attack was that ecclesiastical corruption which belongs to no Church
exclusively, and is older than Christianity itself.

--
* Arthur Strong.
--

The main portion of Froude's life for nearly twenty years was
occupied with his History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the
defeat of the Spanish Armada. It is on a large scale, in twelve
volumes. Every chapter bears ample proof of laborious study. Froude
neglected no source of information, and spared himself no pains in
pursuit of it. At the Record Office, in the British Museum, at
Hatfield, among the priceless archives preserved in the Spanish
village of Simancas, he toiled with unquenchable ardour and
unrelenting assiduity. Nine-tenths of his authorities were in
manuscript. They were in five languages. They filled nine hundred
volumes. Excellent linguist as he was, Froude could hardly avoid
falling into some errors. With his general accuracy as an historian
I shall have to deal in a later part of this book. Here I am only
concerned to prove that he took unlimited pains. He kept no
secretary, he was his own copyist, and he was not a good proof-
reader. Those natural blots, quas aut incuria fudit, aut humaria
parum cavit natura, are to be found, no doubt, in his pages. From a
conscientious obedience to truth as he understood it, and a resolute