1818.] Lord Woodhouselee. 41S 



of their own country as the subject most important in the instruc- 

 tion of his students, he began by the narration of the great events 

 of its civil and military story : he traced the successive steps of 

 its progress in industry, in legislation, in opulence, and in refine- 

 ment ; & and unfolded with care the gradual rise of its political 

 constitution, until it terminated in the memorable era of the 

 Revolution. From this central point of observation, he took 

 occasion, at different times, to direct the attention of his students 

 to the contemporary history of mankind— to mark to them the 

 successive changes that were occurring upon the Continent of 

 Europe — to introduce to them those new empires which at one 

 period the frenzy of fanaticism, and at another the avarice of 

 commerce, had revealed to the European eye — and to awaken 

 their attention to the mighty consequences which the establish- 

 ment of Christianity, the invention of printing, the discovery of 

 the New World, and the spirit of the Reformation, have had 

 upon the general character, and manners, and happiness, of 

 modern times. With these great subjects he gladly at times 

 interwove the history of literature and science ; and while his 

 attention was chiefly directed to the progress of British litera- 

 ture, he led the observation of his students to the contemporary 

 history of learning upon the European Continent, and to the 

 examination of those general causes which had influenced the 

 successive steps of its progress from the time of the revival of 

 letters to the brilliant period when his lectures closed. 



The success of this course of lectures was sufficient (as Mr. 

 Tytler has said) " to compensate the labours of the author." 

 They came to form an important part in the system of general 

 education ; and he soon numbered among his students not only 

 those who were destined to the profession of the law, but the 

 young of every different description, whose education was con- 

 ducted upon liberal and philosophical principles. The little 

 volume which he published in 1782, under the title of " Outlines 

 of a Course of Lectures," for the assistance of his students, 

 became so popular that he found himself called upon to present 

 it to the world in a larger form, under the title of " Elements of 

 General History," in two volumes. This work has since passed 

 through four editions, and has been found so useful by those 

 engaged either in the business of private or public education, as 

 affording a concise and luminous arrangement of historical 

 events, that it is now used as a text-book in some of the princi- 

 pal seminaries of education in England, and has become (as I 

 understand) the ground-work of historical study in some of the 

 Universities of America. Of the lectures themselves, while they 

 remain unpublished, it would be preposterous to offer any 

 opinion; yet, when they are given to the world, I shall be much 

 deceived if they are not found to fill up an important desidera- 

 tum in English literature— to afford to the minds of the young 

 more pleasing and more enlightened views of the history of man 



