1

OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT POLITICS ; LITERATURE OF EGYPT, GREECE, THE EARLY CHRISTIAN

FATHERS OF THE CHURCH, ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE LITERATURE OF THE PAPACY; CODE

OF LAWS FROM THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO THE DAYS OF (HARLEMAGNE ; SCHOLASTIC AND FEUDAL
ERA; CHIVALRY, TRADE AND COMMERCE, FROM THE CLOSE OF THE TENTH TO THE FOURTEENTH
CENTURY, SKETCHES OF CHRONICLERS, POLITICAL WRITERS, AND STATESMEN; NOTES, ETC.

LONDON:

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,

Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.

MDCCCLXI.

PREFACE.

I HAVE for a long time entertained the idea; that political writers of all countries, have received less attention at the hands of historians and critics, than any other class of authors. Though the immediate effects of their writings may have been popular and influential for a season, yet they soon palled upon the public taste, and their authors have been driven back into the shades of neglect and oblivion. These results are, perhaps, natural to all political disquisitions. They are often transitory, local, and accompanied by no small portion of public excitement and contention; and when the effervescence of the moment is

over, apathy and indifference are the usual consequences.

We have historical sketches of the writings constituting most branches of knowledge, with the exception of political and social philosophy. There are, indeed,