In the first volume, as is to be gathered from its title, Professor Cheney studies those characteristics of European civilization which most markedly affected American exploration and colonization. Opening with an account of medieval commerce and of the political changes which, practically closing the great trade routes of the time, turned men's thoughts to the possibility of oversea discoveries, he examines in turn the political and economic conditions of Western and Central Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; the system of chartered commercial companies which in the case of Holland, France, and England played such an important rôle in the development of New World settlements; and the political and social consequences, in their relation to America, of the Reformation, the religious wars in the Netherlands and Germany, and the rise of Episcopacy and the dissenting sects in England. The volume is then brought to a close by four chapters discussing in careful detail sixteenth and seventeenth century conditions in the last-named country. Necessarily lacking in continuity, this initial installment nevertheless serves admirably its purpose of furnishing a correct apprehension of the proper point of departure for the study of the history of the United States. It charts, as it were, the course of colonial evolution, showing clearly the national and local institutions transplanted into America and indicating the causes for the successes and failures of the rival peoples engaged in colonization. Further light is shed on this latter point by Professor Farrand's contribution, which deals with the conditions confronting the newcomers. The general physiography, the resources, and the native inhabitants of the continent form the subject-matter of this volume, wherein the results of the most recent scientific inquiry are exhibited lucidly and briefly and especially in regard to such controverted questions as the antiquity of man in America and the identity of the mound-builders-from a cautiously conservative standpoint.

With the third volume the work reaches that event which is usually first to engage the attention of historians

the discovery of America. To this and to the story of early exploration Professor Bourne gives no fewer than twelve chapters, embracing a luminous discussion of the many problems that have arisen since modern historical criticism began to busy itself with the records bearing on Columbus and his contemporary voyagers. No less helpful is his exposition of the aims, structure, operation, and results of the colonial system established by Spain in the West Indies, Florida, Mexico, and Central and South America. To many, indeed to the great majority of readers, this will come with all the interest of novelty. It has so long been the custom for writers to dwell on the sanguinary trail that marked the extension of Spanish dominion, and on the failures of Spain as contrasted with the successes of England in weaving an enduring social fabric, that it is refreshing to be reminded that there were other and much pleasanter aspects of the Spanish occupation. In regard to the treatment of the Indians, for example, it is here contended that the emphasis laid on Las Casas's "Brief Relation by scholars of all subsequent generations has obscured our vision of the conditions obtaining after Spanish sovereignty had taken root. As Professor Bourne puts the case, "It is forgotten that his [Las Casas's] book was the product of a fierce agitation, or that it was written before the Spaniards had been fifty years in the New World, where their empire lasted three hundred years. Two centuries of philanthropic legislation has been thrown into the background by the flaming words which first gave it impulse. Las Casas was the Lloyd Garrison of Indian rights; but it is as one-sided to depict the Spanish Indian policy primarily from his pages as it would be to write a history of the American negro question exclusively from the files of 'The Liberator;' or, after a century of American rule in the Philippines, to judge it solely from the anti-imperialistic tracts of the last few years." In fine, the writer's investigations go to show the existence, throughout the Spanish settlements generally, of a wider degree of culture than has hitherto been supposed. Not only in relation to the natives, but in the

encouragement of learning and in the upbuilding of towns and cities and the construction of roads and bridges, Professor Bourne finds, the first century of Spanish colonization witnessed larger results than did the first century either of French or of English colonization. At the same time he does not lose sight, nor does he allow the student to overlook, the fatal defects of the Spanish system.

The story of the growth of the English system is told in the next three volumes, which bring the chronicle to the eve of the struggle that preceded the War for Independence. Of these volumes the first, though containing less than either of the others in the way of substantial additions to the fund of available knowledge, enjoys the distinction of being the most readable. That this should be so is, after all, not surprising, since to President Tyler falls the duty of recounting the perennially interesting details of the struggles of our forefathers to gain a foothold on the continent, while Professors Andrews and Greene of necessity dwell on the equally important but more prosaic facts connected with the governmental and institutional development of the several colonies. As is to be expected, President Tyler pays particular attention to the early history of Virginia and Massachusetts, his treatment of the latter being characterized by a decidedly iconoclastic attitude towards its Puritan administrators, who, in the words of the editor of the series, " are further relieved of the halo which generations of venerating descendants have bestowed upon them." In the process of disillusionment, unfortunately, the writer exposes himself to the criticism of having neglected to take the influence of time and circumstance into account in estimating actions and policies. Elsewhere, however, and notably in the thorny subject of Maryland, he displays a ready discernment and an irreproachable calmness of judgment, and the verdict must be, on the whole, favorable. Professor Andrews's volume, which follows, is noteworthy as presenting the best account of its period that has yet come to our notice. New light is thrown on such important events as the New England charter struggle, the English con

quest of New Netherland, the founding of Pennsylvania, and the attempt to consolidate the northern provinces into one government under Andros, whose picture, by the way, is softened by touches invisible in that commonly accepted as the authoritative portrait. A prominent feature of this, as of the last of the six volumes, is the presentation of the English point of view concerning the tendencies of the colonies to self-government and the measures taken to strengthen and extend the powers of the crown. Indeed, the central theme of the sixth volume is stated to be "the essential difficulty of reconciling imperial control with the degree of local responsibility which had to be accorded to the colonies," as revealed in the happenings of the fifty years 1690–1740. This period, sometimes termed "the forgotten half-century," in allusion to its hitherto inadequate treatment, is convincingly developed by Professor Greene, who has overcome the obstacles to its successful exposition in a way that calls for high praise.

It thus becomes apparent that the first six volumes of "The American Nation" meet the need for "an intelligent summarizing of the present knowledge of American history by trained specialists," and that they may be warmly recommended as aids to exact and comprehensive study. It is not so certain, however, that, viewed as a whole instead of individually, they form the ideal "complete work, written in untechnical style, which shall serve for the instruction and the entertainment of the general reader." This is not the first attempt at a history on the co-operative plan, and experience has shown that such a work tends to lack philosophic unity and that literary distinction which counts for so much in the treatment of history, and to become encyclopædic in character, disconnected, and abounding in repetitions. In the case of "The American Nation" the second of these objections loses much of its force, so ably has Dr. Hart discharged his duty of linking together the contributions of his colleagues. But the first may properly be advanced. It is, in fact, difficult to perceive how it could be over

come without the exercise on the editor's part of more than editorial functions. Where so many minds engage, it is virtually, impossible to secure either complete unanimity of opinion or the sustained interest of a flowing and vivid narrative. Precisely here "The American Nation," like its predecessors, is wanting, and it is as a helpful work of reference rather than as a "popular history, in the usual acceptation of the term, that it will deservedly win a place on the library shelves.

An excellent example of the popular history is Dr. Avery's "A History of the United States and its People." This is a work which has been awaited with not a little curiosity. It was known that with it the author would make his début as a historian, and that he had been actively engaged in its preparation for upwards of twenty years. Examination of the first volume discloses that he has used the time to good purpose. He has not, as have the writers of "The American Nation," made a point of going to original sources, but he has been judicious in his choice of authorities, has been scrupulous in verification, and has enjoyed the advice and active assistance of many specialists, who, by checking off the facts in the light of modern research, have enabled him to place himself abreast of the ripest scholarship. He is, then, accurate. He is also the possessor of a very agreeable style. It is not, as his publishers would seem to imply in their prospectus, equal to that of Ruskin or Froude or Hawthorne, but it is picturesque, vigorous, and flexible. In a word, it is a style which, appealing to the imagination, engages the interest and stirs the thought. The tone, too, is such as to carry conviction, being eminently just and imbued with a determination to place frankly before the reader all sides of the many questions still eluding inquiry. There is, however, one fault of an extremely serious character, in that it indicates deficiency in philosophic grasp. In the volume before us this fault betrays itself most strikingly in the discussion of the circumstances conditioning the discovery and settlement of America. No fewer than six chapters are allotted to Columbus and his several voyages,

while "The European Background of American History," as Professor Cheney has well described it, receives scant attention. It may be that in the following volume Dr. Avery will make amends for this neglect and allow the student to obtain what he certainly misses here—a clear view of the influence exerted on the early history of the New World by the social, economic, and political conditions of the Old.

A few words as to contents: After two chapters largely occupied with a statement and comparison of the conflicting theories regarding the knotty problems that center about the prehistoric Americans, Dr. Avery propounds and scrutinizes the various post-Columbian claims of ante-Columbian discovery, from the shadowy rumors of Phoenician and Greek adventurings to the more tangible reports of the visits of the Norsemen. Thence he approaches the period of Columbus through two chapters detailing early geographical knowledge and the work of Prince Henry of Portugal and his navigators. To Columbus, as has been said, six chapters are given, and these constitute one of the most graphic and searching accounts of the great Genoese we have yet seen. The voyages of the Cabots, the Cortereals, Vespucius, and Magellan, and the achievements of the long line of Spanish pioneers, from Las Casas, Balboa, Ponce de Leon, and Cortes, to De Soto and Coronado, are also vividly depicted, although it is noticeable that a clear idea of the relative importance of the different exploring expeditions is not always afforded. Dr. Avery then turns his attention to the Canadian discoveries of Cartier, to the ineffectual attempts of the Huguenots to establish settlements in Florida, and to the exploits of Hawkins, Drake, Cavendish, Gilbert, and Raleigh; closing, curiously enough, with a monographic chapter on "The Indians of North America," a splendidly condensed study of their origin, customs, religion, etc., but a study which should logically have found place immediately after the discussion of "The Neolithic Americans."

Unlike Dr. Avery and the writers of "The American Nation," Professor Chan

ning develops the initial volume of his "A History of the United States somewhat closely along traditional lines, beginning with a brief analysis of what is known concerning the voyages of the Norsemen, summarizing salient events and incidents connected with the discovery and with the explorations of the Spaniards and the French, and then narrating, in successive chapters, the founding of the English colonies and their history to the middle of the seventeenth century. To put it otherwise, Professor Channing essays to cover in a single volume the epochs to which Professors Cheney, Bourne, and Tyler devote three volumes. But if the treatment is both less complete and in some respects -e. g., the discussion of European conditions, of the Cabot controversy, of the demarcation line of Alexander VI., of the religious troubles in Massachusetts and Maryland, and of the administration of New Netherland-less satisfactory, the book is of no uncertain usefulness. Its plan, aim, and spirit are made plain in the preliminary statement that "in treating the subject, the word 'history' is understood in its larger sense denoting not merely the annals of the past, but as describing the development of the American people from the inception of the colonizing enterprises which resulted in the founding of the thirteen original States and the formation of the Federal Union. The growth of the Nation will, therefore, be treated as one continuous development from the political, military, institutional, industrial, and social points of view. . . . The guiding idea in the present work is to view the subject as the record of an evolution, and to trace the growth of the nation from the standpoint of that which preceded rather than from that which followed. In other words, I have tried to see in the annals of the past the story of living forces always struggling onward and upward toward that which is better and higher in human conception. It is only in this way that justice can be done to the memories of those who have gone before and have left for us a splendid heritage. They treated the problems which arose in their time by the light of the age in which they lived. To esti

as

mate them by the conditions and ideas of the present day is to give a false picture to the reader and the student." It is in this constant striving to grasp the spirit of the times and to assist to a better understanding of movements and events as they appeared to those participating in them that the special significance of Professor Channing's work lies. One result of his researches

which include the delving through original records as well as the examination of secondary authorities—is to present a much more sympathetic, and we must believe more just, picture of the fathers of New England than that painted by President Tyler. At the same time it can hardly be doubted that it errs somewhat in the direction of intensifying the "halo" of which the author of " · England in America" has so diligently endeavored to relieve them. In marked contrast with the treatment of the Puritans stands that of the Dutch in New Netherland, and more particularly of "The Misrule of Peter Stuvyesant." No overweening desire for fair play is in evidence here. Happily, such lapses are exceptional.

To Messrs. Chancellor and Hewes's "The United States" a less cordial reception must be extended. Not only does it suffer by comparison with the three foregoing histories, but it is defective in almost every essential. We had hoped that the blemishes apparent in the first volume, and to some of which we drew attention in our brief notice of a few months ago, would be remedied as the work progressed, but the second volume shows no improvement. The basic principle of the work-the presentation of "the history of the American people in the form of a series of panoramas displaying the progress of American civilization "—is faulty, resulting in a disjointed and badly proportioned narrative, the perspective being still further distorted by a seemingly irresistible tendency to lay stress on themes of dramatic interest, irrespective of their intrinsic importance. This is accompanied by an uncontrolled indulgence in "fine writing," in superlatives, and in overstatements; in all of which, it is needless to say, the critical attitude of the