τὰ τῆς τύχης οὐκ ἄνευ φύσεως, ἢ συγκλώσεως καὶ ἐπιπλοκῆς τῶν προνοίᾳ διοικουμένων. MARCUS AURELIUS. Wir tragen die Lasten unserer Väter, wie wir ihr Gutes empfangen haben, und so leben die Menschen in der That in der ganzen Vergangenheit und Zukunft, und nirgend weniger als in der Gegenwart. NOVALIS. Με PREFACE. Y first object in compiling this book has been to give the last results of inquiry into the Early History of England. Since Hume wrote, but especially during the last thirty years, scholars and antiquarians, following in the steps of Sir F. Palgrave and Mr. Kemble, have almost remodelled our conceptions of Anglo-Saxon and Norman times. There are no signs as yet that the field is worked out, and until our private charters have been collected and printed an exhaustive History of England can never be produced. Meanwhile we must use the knowledge we have as we can, and even an imperfect theory of the connection and interdependence of events may be better than none at all. The only parts of the present volume that differ from the views generally recognized by scholars are the chapters which concern the perpetuity of Roman influences through Saxon times, and those which describe the results of the Norman Conquest. Further study has only deepened my conviction that since the beginnings of civilization all changes in the constitution of our society have been gradual and partial. To take a metaphor from geology, where others have seen icebergs drifting over the land, hollowing channels in rocks, and effacing forests, I incline to believe in the gradual operation of laws by which hills are worn away, rivers silted up, and the coast-outline rounded or indented. An epoch of great convulsions would scarcely seem to be consistent with the developement of the higher forms of life. Perhaps my estimate of the Middle Ages, which is rather more favourable than that commonly taken, has been coloured by the same tendency to believe in growth rather than in sudden and violent revolutions. It is difficult to study a literature and laws that are as English as our own in spirit and purpose without feeling that we have inherited good as well as evil from the past. In this second edition much is entirely new, and much has been re-written, it is hoped with some gain in accuracy and fulness. But the work of revision was interrupted by a long illness and absence from England, and it has been difficult for me to take up the broken links. Had I foreseen how much labour would be attracted into this department of knowledge, I should probably never have broken ground in it myself. But as the present volume, in spite of all faults, has appeared to supply a certain want as a text-book, I have decided to retain it in circulation, and make it as perfect as I can. That it only aims at being a text-book will be obvious to all students of history. I am indebted to the Rev. F. F. Cornish, of Exeter College, Oxford, for a very careful analysis of a portion of Domesday Book. Of the friends who aided me in the first edition, Professor Shirley has unfortunately been removed by death from labours which promised to add much to our knowledge of English as well as of Church History. To Professor Brewer, Mr. Earle, and Mr. Sandars, I here repeat my cordial thanks for the kind assistance I have received from them. Farnham Royal, May, 1867. CHARLES H. PEARSON. |
