SMITH, GoLowiN ( 1823 — ). An Anglo American publicist, born at Reading, in Berk shire, England. lie was educated at Eton and oxford. Elected fellow of University College in 1847. lie devoted some time to tutoring, and was called to the liar at Lincoln's Inn in 1850. He never practiced law, however. but gave his first public efforts to university reform, serving as assistant secretary to the first and secretary to the second Oxford commission, through whose efforts important changes were made in the uni versity system. From I858 to IS66 he was regius professor of modern history at Oxford. During the following two years he lectured on question; of political reform. During the Civil War Smith was one of the stanchest friends of the North, combating in the Daily News the pro-Southern views of the Times, in an effective manner. In 186S he came to the newly founded Cornell Uni versity at Ithaca. N. Y., as professor of English and constitutional history. He resigned this chair three years later, but retained a non-resi dent professorship. At Toronto, which became his home after leaving Ithaca, he increased his reputation as 'scholar, statesman. and philoso pher: As regent of the University of Toronto, as founder and edit6r of the leading periodicals of his eity—the Canadian Monthly, the Yation, and the Toronto Week (1884)—he lent his sup port to the cause of reform and liberty. As
professor of history at Oxford he developed his philosophy of history, combating the view that governed by necessary law. claiming on the contrary that all progress comes through the efforts of individuals. thus finding a moral rather than a physical basis for historical evolu tion. He believes in the ultimate union of Canada with its neighbor to the south, and advocates reciprocity in trade relations between the two countries. As an historian he has thrown much light on the relations of England and Ireland, claiming that the contest is of historical origin, and primarily a struggle on the part of the Irish people to reacquire the ownership of their soil. llis writings are so voluminous that only a few of the more important ones can be mentioned. Such are: Lectures on. Moder» History, delivered at Oxford, 1859-61 (1866) ; Irish History and Irish Character (1861) : The Empire (1863) ; Speeches and Letters, from January. 1S63. to January. 1865. dealing with the American Civil \Var (1865) ; Short History of England. Down to the Reformation (1869) ; The Political Destiny of Canada (1S79): Lectures and Essays (1882): Dismemberment Yo Meagerly (1886), on Home Rule: History of the United States (1893); Essays on the Questions of the Day (New York, 1894).