THE HISTORY OF FREEDOM AND OTHER ESSAYS
MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO
ATLANTA · SAN FRANSISCO
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA Ltd.
TORONTO
THE
HISTORY OF FREEDOM
AND OTHER ESSAYS
BY
JOHN EMERICH EDWARD DALBERG-ACTON
First Baron ACTON
D.C.L., L.L.D., ETC. ETC.
REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THEUNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JOHN NEVILLE FIGGIS, Litt.D.
SOMETIME LECTURER IN ST. CATHARINE'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
AND
REGINALD VERE LAURENCE, M.A.
FELLOW AND LECTURER OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
1909
First Edition 1907
Reprinted 1909
PREFATORY NOTE
The Editors desire to thank the members of the Acton family for theirhelp and advice during the preparation of this volume and of the volumeof Historical Essays and Studies. They have had the advantage ofaccess to many of Acton's letters, especially those to Döllinger andLady Blennerhasset. They have thus been provided with valuable materialfor the Introduction. At the same time they wish to take the entireresponsibility for the opinions expressed therein. They are againindebted to Professor Henry Jackson for valuable suggestions.
This volume consists of articles reprinted from the following journals:The Quarterly Review, The English Historical Review, The NineteenthCentury, The Rambler, The Home and Foreign Review, The NorthBritish Review, The Bridgnorth Journal. The Editors have to thank Mr.John Murray, Messrs. Longmans, Kegan Paul, Williams and Norgate, and theproprietors of The Bridgnorth Journal for their kind permission torepublish these articles, and also the Delegacy of the Clarendon Pressfor allowing the reprint of the Introduction to Mr. Burd's edition ofIl Principe. They desire to point out that in Lord Acton and hisCircle the article on "The Protestant Theory of Persecution" isattributed to Simpson: this is an error.
J.N.F.
R.V.L.
August 24, 1907.[Pg vii]