FREEMAN'S CHIEF PERIODS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY.•
Ma. FREEMAN has so often aid that the history of Europe is an unbroken tale, that we know that we must not expect from him divisions into separate self-explanatory periods. Notwith- standing their title, the lectures in his latest volume contain a general survey rather than a series of pictures ; and the author lingers with manifest preference over the abiding or reappearing features of the history, not on the transient characteristics of epochs. On the question of periodicity in history, recently discussed by Dr. 0. Lorenz, he says nothing, and he would probably rule it to be outside his province. The old division of history into centuries was certainly misleading, for a century does not oblige historians by closing a chapter at its close, or by turning over a new leaf at its beginning. But, as Dr. Lorenz points out, there are indications of natural periods in history. Three hundred years commonly exhaust the living force of certain ideas and institutions; in six hundred years a larger transformation takes place. The coming in of new forces and the waning of old appear to be governed by fixed laws.
Mr. Freeman's division has the merit of simplicity ; and it brings into unmistakable prominence the great dividing lines. According to his view, the history of Europe is the history of Rome with a prologue,—Europe before Rome ; and an epilogue,—Europe Homeless. He does not undervalue the great, in some respects unrivalled, importance of the period in which Rome had not yet arisen, which was a brief, brilliant summary of all that man has done or can do. The nations of the world can strive after no higher ideal than to reproduce on a large scale the political life of Hellenic cities. In the first period, as in those that follow, the eternal Eastern Question played its part ; and the Aryan family had not only to develop their common institutions within their borders, but to defend them against the barbarism of the East. Mr. Freeman's views on every phase of the Eastern Question are as rigid as a Crusader's. We ought always to rejoice in the victory of the men of the West, whether at Troy, Marathon, or Zama. He
• Ti,, Chief Periods of European History. Biz Lectures. Head in the University of Orford, in Trinity Term, DMA By Edward A. Freeman, M.A., Hon. DAIL,. Regius Professor of Modern History. London: Macmillan and Oo. DK
will not consent to relax the rale even in favour of the solitary invader of Europe who has gained the admiration and sympathy of European men. Of the strife between Hannibal and Rome, he writes
:- "Never, in truth, was the Eternal Question so near to its solution so near to a solution which might have stifled the life of Europe for ever, as when Hannibal debated in his mind whether he should march straight from the field of Cannes to the gates of Rome. It was a moment like that when it rested on the vote of the polemarch machos whether the thousands of Athens should meet the tens of thousands of Persia on the day of Marathon. It is not for us to say whether each a march would have turned the destiny of the world for ever; it is enough that all that formed the life of Europe, all that was to form the life of Christendom, seemed at that moment to hang on the balance. The difficulty is fully to take in that Hannibal and his kinsfolk, the great house and the greatest of its eons, were, in truth, fighting in the same cause as the mere barbarian destroyers against whom the strife had to be waged at other stages of the long tale. Yet so it is ; when we see Rome, with her citizens, colonists, and allies, holding up against the mercenaries of Carthage ; when we contrast the votary of Jupiter with the votary of Moloch, we shall soon see on which aide it was the abiding interests of mankind truly lay. It was, after all, in the worthiest of causes that the first of cities was pitted against the first of men. The overthrow of Carthage enabled Rome to go on to the overthrow of Greece ; but if Greece was to have a conqueror, it was well that she should have a conqueror who could become a disciple in a way such as the Phoenician never could be. It is hard to name Hannibal along with Attila, or even with Abd-al-rahman ; yet the day of Zama, or rather the long endurance which made the day of Zama possible, must be set down by the still abiding world of Europe as a great salvation, a crowning mercy, alongside of the work of lEtius and Theodorio and the work of the elder Charles."
We do not venture to meet Mr. Freeman's view with a negative, for the historical argument is on his side ; but is there not a little danger at present of our falling into a mood of racial fanaticism for the Aryans, not in harmony with faith in the unity of the human family, or with the aspiration of our poet,— "All men to be
Will make one people ere man's race be run "?
According to the commonly accepted theory—for the view of Geiger and Penka has few adherents—the Aryans came originally from the East, and became what they are largely through the influences of the West. Is it certain that later conquerors from the East or South, had they effected permanent settlements in Europe, would not have accommodated themselves to the Western surroundings P The history of the Ottoman Turks does not, we confess, favour this conclusion.
The Roman period at first sight appears an advance on the Greek. The practical, persistent Roman welded Greek ideas into system and spread them over the world. The efficiency of Roman rule and the comfort it brought to the peoples cannot but excite admiration. Not lees admirable were the wisdom and self-control exhibited by a naturally grasping people in acquiring their wide dominion. In the second century B.C., the Roman Senate became a Court of International Justice, to which kings and peoples flocked, because it was the only power in the world that could enforce its decisions. Gradually it was able to connect nation after nation to itself by all sorts of ties ; one nation or city was a friendly ally, another enjoyed less privilege, a third still less ; and the variety of the relation proved a safety for Rome, as the dependants of these various allies were less likely to make common cause against it. But it is only the intellectual wisdom of the Romans that we can admire. They were destitute of the deeper moral wisdom which teaches men to refrain from wronging even the weak. The Greeks scorned the barbarians ; but the fine in- tellectual scorn of the Greeks became, in the coarser-grained Roman, a base passion, partly love of power, partly greed of gain, to possess themselves of the rights and property of others. Friendly allies were degraded as soon as they ceased to be use- ful; and the central Government, as well as the provincial Governors, kept a vigilant outlook for opportunities to encroach upon human liberty. The gusts of generous feeling which moved Greek assemblies seldom disturbed the selfish consistency of Roman policy, although there was a party in the Senate in the later Republic which professed to watch over the interest of subject-races.
Mr. Freeman's remarks on the rise of Christianity will be read with interest, as giving the views of a writer who rarely touches upon the religious side of history. They are characteristic ; for while it was impossible to describe Christianity as a product of the Aryan family, Mr. Freeman is careful to note that they almost alone have proved their elect character by accepting it ;-
" In the highest teaching of all, Roman and Goth had to become the disciples of the Jew, but of the Jew speaking only by the mouth of a Greek interpreter. Before the Aryan world of Europe could truly do its work, it had to take to itself a Semitic, creed. It had to take to itself that Semitic creed so fully, so exclusively, as to make it by adoption the creed of Europe, to make it before all things the creed of Rome. For the last twelve hundred years the Eternal Question has taken the shape of an abiding strife between two creeds alike of Semitic birth. But of those two creeds, one has become Aryan by adoption ; the younger races accepted the gift which the elder cast aside as the birthright of Edom passed to Israel, so the birthright of Israel passed to be the common heritage of the Greek, the Roman and the Teuton. Rome is not Rome in all her fulness, she has not risen to the true height of her mission in the world, she is not fully mistress and teacher of the nations, till she has cast aside her old gods and has bowed to the spiritual mastery of a. despised sect from a despised corner of her dominion. The miracle of miracles, greater than dried-up seas and cloven rooks, greater than the dead tieing again to life, was when Augustus on his throne, Pontiff of the gods of Rome, himself a god to the subjects of Rome, bent himself to become the worshipper of a crucified provincial of his Empire. The conversion of our own folk, the conversion of any other barbarian folk of Europe, was no marvel. Where Rome led, all must follow,—Celt, Teuton, Slave, eaoh in his turn. That Christianity should become the religion of the Roman Empire is the miracle of Watery ; but that it did so become is the leading fact of all history from that day onwards. Explain the fact as we Christianity ie the religion of the Roman Empire, and it is hardly more. It has been accepted by every land which either became part of the Empire or came under its influence ; that is, it has become the creed of Europe and European colonies."
The Mediaeval Empire is, of course, spoken of as a continuation of the old Roman Empire. It was so in name ; and later theorists desirous to glorify the Empire elaborated a theory that the Emperor represented that "holy and glorious people" the Romans, who established their power solely for the good of humanity 1 Rome was the crowning-place of the Mediaeval Emperors, but neither their capital nor the seat of their power. Mr. Freeman admits that whatever power they had, rested upon their position in Germany ; and Germany, not Rome, was the civil head of the world in the Middle Ages, unless we understand Rome in a non-local sense.
In the concluding lecture, attention is drawn to a difference between the North and the South which bee greatly affected history, although perhaps its explanation belongs to anthro- pology. Southern races have made the city the centre of social, and political life ; but Northern men, especially the Slays and Teutons, start from the tribe. Tribes are easily fused into nations, but it is hard to unite sell-governing cities without. giving some degree of superiority to one over the other. In consequence of this, free cities have often proved to be the greatest obstacles to the unity of nations. In the concluding lecture, notice is also taken of the resemblances between our Romelees world and the first period. Then, as now, the world had no head. International law was, in consequence, at once important and difficult. Every Greek State was bound by certain rules and customs in its dealings with other Greek States ; the difficulty was to enforce compliance when a powerful State chose to disregard them. We are confronted with the same difficulty. We can control Greece and Bulgaria by despatches and threats ; but we have as yet found no means of controlling a master of legions if he desires to gain a province or avenge a slight.
We cannot pert with the Lectures without expressing our sense of their value. Readers will not fully appreciate their persistent correction of popular misconceptions until they return to other histories, and then they will find bow much they have learned from Mr. Freeman. The lectures delivered on Gregory of Tours are not to be published ; but a promise is given that they will be incorporated in a larger work, in which the author purposes to exhibit in detail the circumstances of the early Teutonic settlements in Gaul, and to contrast them with the lees known Teutonic settlements in England. Meanwhile, he indulges in a parting shot at his literary antagonists, who are informed that he has nowhere said, because he never thought,. that every one Briton was necessarily killed even in those parts of Britain which became most thoroughly Teutonic. Perhaps not; but he has made some rather strong statements on the subject, and many will be glad to see detailed proof of them. It is from the history of the analogous settlements in Gaul that the difficulties connected with the English settlements can be best cleared up.
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