Edward Augustus Freeman 273 



in an apothecary's scale, and in all these directions 

 Freeman was working at once. When it came 

 to publishing, volume followed volume with sur- 

 prising quickness. Turning aside in 1866 from 

 the second volume of the " Federal Government " 

 when a large part of it was already written, Free- 

 man brought out the first volume of the "Nor- 

 man Conquest "in 1867, the second in 1868, the 

 third in 1869, the fourth in 1871, the fifth more 

 leisurely in 1876. The proportions of this work 

 are eminently characteristic of the author's his- 

 torical perspective. In order to understand the 

 Norman Conquest, a survey of all previous Eng- 

 lish history, and especially of the struggle between 

 Englishmen and Danes, is essential ; and the first 

 volume carries us in one great sweep from the land- 

 ing of Hengist to the accession of Edward the Con- 

 fessor, while the early history of Normandy also 

 receives due attention. We now enter the region 

 of proximate causes, which require more detailed 

 specification, and the second volume takes us 

 through the four-and-twenty years of Edward's 

 reign. His death hurries the situation to its dra- 

 matic climax, and the whole of the third volume is 

 devoted to the events of the single year 1066. 

 The completion of the Conquest down to the death 

 of the Conqueror is treated with less detail, and 



