ALISON, Sir Archibald, Bart., the celebrated historian, younger son of the preceding, was born at Kenley, Shropshire, on the 29th December 1792. He studied at the university of Edinburgh, distinguishing himself especially in the classes of Greek and mathematics. In 1814 he passed at the Scotch bar, but he did not at once enter on the regular practice of his profession. The close of the war had opened up the Continent, and Alison, sharing with many of his countrymen the desire to witness the scene of the stirring events of the previous twenty years, set out in the autumn of 1814 for a lengthened tour in France. It was during this period, as he tells us in a characteristic passage of the work itself, that he “conceived the first idea” of writing his History, and “inhaled that ardent spirit, that deep enthusiasm,” which enabled him to accomplish his self-imposed task. A more immediate result of the tour was his first literary work of any importance, Travels in France during the Years 1814-15, which appeared in the latter year. On his return to Edinburgh, Mr Alison practised at the bar for some years with but very moderate success. In 1822, however, he became one of the four advocates-depute for Scotland. The extensive and varied experience gained in this office, which he held until 1830, gave him the necessary qualifications for writing his Principles of the Criminal Law of Scotland (1832), and Practice of the Criminal Law of Scotland (1833), works that are still of standard authority. It was the acknowledged merit of these treatises that chiefly induced Sir Robert Peel, during his brief administration of 1834, to confer on Mr Alison the important judicial office of sheriff of Lanarkshire, which ranks next in dignity and emolument to a judgeship in the supreme court. The office, though by no means a sinecure, afforded considerable leisure, which Mr Alison employed in not only making frequent contributions to periodical literature, but also writing the long-projected History of Europe, for which he had been collecting materials for more than fifteen years. The history of the period from the commencement of the French revolution till the restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 was completed in ten volumes in 1842, and met with a success almost unexampled in works of its class. Within a few years it ran through ten editions, and was translated into most of the languages of Europe, as well as into Arabic and Hindustani. At the time of the author’s death it was stated that 108,000 volumes of the library edition and 439,000 volumes of the popular edition had been sold. A popularity so wide-spread must almost of necessity have had some basis of real merit on which to rest, and the good qualities of Mr Alison’s work lay upon the surface. It brought together, though not always in a well-arranged form, an immense amount of information that had before been practically inaccessible to the general public. It made an attempt at least to show the organic connection in the policy and progress of the different nations of Europe; and its descriptions of what may be called external history—of battles, sieges, and state pageants—were always spirited and interesting. On the other hand, the faults of the work were so numerous and glaring as to prevent it from ever taking rank as a classic. The general style was prolix, involved, and vicious; inaccurate statements and fallacious arguments were to be found in almost every page; and the constant repetition of trite moral reflections and egotistical references seriously detracted from its dignity. A more grave defect resulted from the author’s strong political partisanship, which entirely unfitted him for dealing with the problems of history in a philosophical spirit. In the position of unbending Toryism which he occupied, it was impossible for him to give any explanation of so complex a fact as the French revolution that would be satisfactory to reflective minds. Accordingly, his treatment of what may be called the inner history of those forces hidden in the French revolution which have made modern Europe what it is, was meagre and incomplete in the last degree.

A continuation of the History, embracing the period from 1815 to 1852, which was completed in four volumes in 1856, did not meet with the same success as the earlier work. The course of events did not afford the same material for the exercise of the author’s powers of description, and the period being so near as to be almost contemporary, there was a stronger temptation, which he seems to have found it impossible to resist, to yield to political prejudice. Three great measures of English legislation— the Act restricting the paper currency, the Reform Act of 1832, and the Act abolishing the corn laws—were the object of his special aversion; and, with little regard for consistency, he was in the habit of tracing, now to one and now to another of these measures, all the real and many imaginary evils in the state of the nation. On the currency question, in regard to which he stood from the first almost alone in opinion, he has inserted several tedious dissertations in the continuation of his History, besides publishing a separate pamphlet in 1847. On the two other great measures he clung tenaciously to his opinion long after the more intelligent of his party had admitted the necessity, if not the justice, of the concessions that had been made. The use which Mr Alison made of statistics in the continuation of his History to support his peculiar political and economic theories was little short of astounding. He will be acquitted of intentional unfairness only by those who are aware, not merely how easy it is to make figures yield any result that may be wished, but also how difficult it is to bring out the correct result, even with the most honest purpose, unless there be special aptitude and special training on the part of the investigator.

Mr Alison’s successful literary career received from time to time due recognition in the form of public honours. In 1845 he was chosen rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen, and in 1851 he was raised to the same honourable position by the students of Glasgow University. In 1852 the dignity of baronet was conferred upon him by Lord Derby, and in the following year he was made a D.C.L. of Oxford. His literary activity continued till within a short time of his death, the chief works he published in addition to his History being the Principles of Population (1840), in answer to Malthus; a Life of Marlborough (1847); and the Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir C. Stewart (1861). Three volumes of his political, historical, and miscellaneous essays were reprinted in 1850. Sir Archibald died at Possil House, Glasgow, on the 23d May 1867.