John Robert Seeley
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Sir John Robert Seeley, KCMG (1834 - January 13, 1895) was an English essayist and historian.
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[edit] Life
He was born in London, the son of R.B. Seeley, a publisher[1]. Seeley developed a taste for religious and historical subjects. He was educated at the City of London School and at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was head of the classical tripos and senior chancellor's medallist, was elected fellow and became classical tutor of his college. For a time he was a master at his old school, and in 1863 was appointed professor of Latin at University College, London.
[edit] Works
His essay Ecce Homo, published anonymously in 1866, and afterwards acknowledged by him, was widely read, and prompted many replies, being deemed an attack on Christianity. Dealing only with Christ's humanity, it dwells on his work as the founder and king of a theocratic state, and points out the effect which this society, his church, has had upon the standard and active practice of morality among men. Seeley intended the book as "a fragment" and the text did not deny the truth of those doctrines it did not address, but many critics still found fault with its treatment of Christ. Many considered the book to be valuable not only in its content but in its style, which is characterized by relatively terse and fluid writing.
His sdgj<oædkhødalHKøøh'matters render it unattractive.
Far otherwise is it with his Expansion of England (1883). Written in his best manner, this essay answers to his theory that history should be used for a practical purpose; it points out how and why Britain gained her colonies and India, the character of her empire, and the light in which it should be regarded. As an historical essay the book is a fine composition, and its defence of the empire was, at the time, very persuasive. Seeley's defence of the Empire consists largely of the claim that British rule is in India's best interest, and the level of ethnocentrism required to make such a claim grate against some people's sensibilities. Seeley also questioned the usefulness of India to the power and security of Britain whilst claiming that there was 'no doubt' that India vastly increased the responsibilities and dangers to Britain. It appeared at an opportune time, and did much to make Englishmen regard the colonies not as mere appendages, but as an expansion of the British state as well as of British nationality, and to remind them of the value of Britain's empire in the East. It was reprinted ten times between the year it was published and 1899. Seeley was rewarded for this public service by being made a KCMG, on the recommendation of Lord Rosebery.
His last book, The Growth of British Policy, written as an essay and intended to be an introduction to a full account of the expansion of Britain, was published posthumously. He married in 1869 Miss Mary Agnes Phillott, who survived him.
In 1897, the history library of the University of Cambridge was named the Seeley Historical Library in honour of Sir John.
Inagaki Manjiro dedicated his Japan and the Pacific and the Japanese View of the Eastern Question (1890) to Seeley who had taught him at Caius College.
[edit] References
- G. W. Prothero, Memoir prefixed to Growth of British Policy (London, 1895)
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
