Chapter 23

NAPIER'S "PENINSULAR WAR"--CROKER'S "BOSWELL"--"THE FAMILY LIBRARY" ETC.

Napier's "History of the Peninsular War"--Origin of the work--Col. Napier's correspondence with Murray--Publication of Vol. I.--Controversy aroused by it--Murray ceases to publish the work--His letter to the _Morning Chronicle_--The Duke of Wellington's Despatches--Croker's edition of "Boswell's Johnson"--Correspondence with Croker, Lockhart, etc.--Publication of the book--Its value--Letter from Mrs. Shelley--Mr. Henry Taylor's "Isaac Comnenus"--"Philip van Artevelde"--"The Family Library" and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge--The progress of "The Family Library"--Milman's "History of the Jews"--Controversy aroused by it--Opinion of the Jews