The Online Library of Liberty

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• Chapter 6 (continued)
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8: Socialism
• Chapter 9: Labour Questions
• Chapter 10: Woman Questions
• Biographical Note

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1838–1903), Irish historian and essayist, was born near Dublin, educated at Kingstown, Armagh, and Cheltenham College and graduated B.A. in 1859 and M.A. in 1863 from Trinity College, Dublin. Although he had completed a course in divinity, he abandoned his intention to become a clergyman in the Irish Protestant Church and turned his talents to history.

At age 23 he published his Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland anonymously, receiving little notice. But he soon won rapid recognition with two learned surveys: A History of the Rise and Influence of Rationalism in Europe (1865) and A History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (1869).

Lecky's major work, in eight volumes, was A History of England During the Eighteenth Century (1878–90), in which he aimed “to disengage from the great mass of facts those which relate to the permanent forces of the nation.” A later, twelve-volume, edition of this work included five volumes titled A History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century, which drew praise from Lord Acton.

In 1895 Lecky entered Parliament and became a privy councillor. In 1902 he was nominated an original member of the new Order of Merit.

William Murchison is chief editorial writer for the Dallas Morning News. He holds an M.A. in history from Stanford University.

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126 Allen, pp. 177–78. See, too, the Letters of Dr. Woolsey, p. 153.