In the evening the historical association met in the new building of the New York Historical Society to listen to various accounts of the work of foreign historical societies. Prof. Prothero spoke of the work of English societies, Prof. Meyer of that of the German societies, Monsieur Enlart of the French societies,2 Dr. Colenbrander of the Dutch societies, and Prof. Altamira of those of Spain.1 A striking difference between the foreign societies and those of America is the greater part played by the national Governments in their direction. In wealth and membership the American societies are perhaps rather better off than those of Europe, but in the production of useful historical material systematically planned and edited with a high degree of scholarship they are undoubtedly far behind. Following this session was a smoker at the City Club. On Wednesday morning there was a joint session of the historical and political science associations with the general topic, "British constitutional and political development with especial reference to the centenary of Gladstone." Prof. Dennis in his paper on "Tendencies in British Foreign Policy since Disraeli " surveyed the advances within 30 years which have been made in the problems connected with Egypt, South Africa, and Afghanistan and in relations with France, Germany, and Russia. Prof. Wrong, of Toronto, followed with a paper on "Canadian Nationalism and the Imperial Tie."5 Mr. Porritt's paper on the "Paradoxes of Gladstone's Popularity was from the point of view of a former Parliamentary reporter. Mr. Fisher, of New College, Oxford, spoke of the South African Union. He described the difficulties in the way of such a uniondifficulties brought about by the fact of recent war and by differences in nationality, language, and race; and dwelt upon the various compromises of the constitution-the dual seat of government, the suffrage, and official use of two languages. The final paper by Mr. Bryce dealt with "Recent English History in its Constitutional Aspects," with especial reference to the centenary of the birth of Gladstone. Speaking as one who had been a personal friend of the English statesman, Mr. Bryce was able to make his paper of unusual and vital interest. He spoke of Gladstone's trust of the people, which was the basis of his desire to extend the franchise, and of his large conception of the Empire and of England's relation to her colonies. Following this session there was a breakfast, presided over by Prof. Sloane. The speaking which followed was participated in by Prof. Hart, who welcomed the foreign delegates; by Mr. Henry Higgs, of the Royal Economic Society, responding on behalf of these latter; and by Prof. Van Dyke, Prof. Dewey, and President Hadley. 1 Printed below, pp. 229 ff. Printed in American Political Science • Printed below, pp. 115 ff. In the evening there was a reception given by the ladies' reception committee, preceded by representations of the work of the City History Club and by historical tableaux, in which the characters were in large part personated by their actual descendants. On Thursday morning the historical association held four simultaneous conferences. That on ancient history, of which W. L. Westermann of the University of Wisconsin was chairman, opened with a paper by Dr. A. T. Olmstead on "Western Asia in the days of Sennacherib of Assyria," which is printed in full in the present volume.2 Next followed a paper by Prof. W. S. Ferguson, of Harvard, on Athens and Hellenism, in which he sketched the attitude of the Hellenistic powers toward Athens and described the reaction of Athens to the innovations of Hellenism in politics, government, and social and religious life. A third paper, by Prof. Nathaniel Schmidt, of Cornell, related to the "Hellenistic Influence on the Origin of Christianity." Prof. Eduard Meyer, of the University of Berlin, described some of the papyri of the Jewish colony at Elephantine, of which a large number exist dating from the fifth century B. C. Many of these papyri are in small fragments, but they have been put together with great skill, and in some cases nearly complete documents have thus been restored. Most of them are in the Aramaic dialect, which was used as an official language of the Persian Empire. Important among the documents are applications for personal safety which contain illustrations of a pre-Deuteronomic form of Jewish cult. Such an application on the occasion of a conspiracy was made to the high priest of Jerusalem in 411, but remained unanswered, the Jews making it being regarded as heretics. An interesting document is the Story of the Wise Ahikar, a sort of Persian chronicle, in which the Assyrian kings are turned into conventional heroes. This book was read by the Jews from the fifth century, and some of the Hebrew writings show a close relationship to it. Ahikar was introduced into Greek story as Democritus and the traditions of his wisdom can be traced in Hellenistic writings. The story of Ahikar is the first oriental book outside of Egypt and Babylon that has come down to us and it shows the universal background of the specific development in the various countries. The conference on mediæval history, of which Prof. Emerton was chairman, was a joint session with the American Society of Church History. In the first paper Prof. E. B. Krehbiel, of Leland Stanford University, dealt with the degree to which the great interdict laid upon England by Innocent III in the reign of King John was observed. A close examination of the records had satisfied the 1 The account that follows is taken in part from the American Historical Review, 2 See below, pp. 91 ff. Printed in the American Historical Review XVI, 1 ff. (October, 1910). 1 writer that the rewards which John bestowed on those who violated the interdict and the punishments he inflicted on those who observed it caused a considerable amount of disobedience among the clergy. The second paper, by the Rev. Edward W. Miller, of the Auburn Theological Seminary, treated of the origin and historical importance of the medieval trade guilds and of the religious character and fraternal spirit of the craft guilds. These had their patron saints and usually one or more chaplains, and performed various religious or philanthropic acts, undertaking important charities even outside the circles of their members. Prof. Sidney B. Fay, of Dartmouth, treating of the "Roman Law and the German Peasant," argued that there is no contemporary evidence for the commonly accepted views that the introduction of the Roman law tended to depress the German peasant of Luther's time into the condition of a Roman slave, that there was a popular opposition to the Roman law, or that its introduction was a cause of the Peasants' Revolt of 1525. Monsieur Camille Enlart made a plea for the study in America of the history of medieval art, tracing the development of that study in France during the last 30 years.2 Prof. A. C. Howland, of the University of Pennsylvania, illustrated the special tendencies of the reform movement of the eleventh century in southern Germany-the fostering of an active intellectual life and the inculcation of practical morality-from the life of Othloh, a monk of St. Emmeram, in Regensburg, whose writings contain much autobiographical material. The conference on American history dealt with the westward movement. It was presided over by Prof. Paxson, of the University of Michigan. Papers were read by Prof. Hodder on the "Attitude of Missouri toward the Compromise of 1820," by Mrs. Mathews on "The Erie Canal and the Settlement of the West," by Prof. Bretz on "Some Aspects of Postal Extension into the West," and by Prof. Meany on "Morton Matthew McCarver, Frontier City Builder," " three of which are printed in full in the present volume. A full report of the proceedings of the conference of archivists is contained in another part of this volume. The importance of this conference should not be lost sight of. It marks one more effort on the part of the association to secure practical results, which should be of the greatest value to the future of American historical studies. 1 See American Historical Review, XVI, 234 ff. (January, 1911). 2 M. Enlart's paper is printed below, pp. 103 ff. See below, pp. 151 ff. 4 Printed in a volume entitled The Holland Land Company and Canal Construction in Western New York, Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society, XIV, 187–203. It is to be hoped that the conference may become a permanent feature of the meetings of the association and that it may be the means of securing proper provision for the care and administration of American archives. During the afternoon four conferences were held. That on modern European history was presided over by Prof. Robinson, of Columbia University. The first paper, by Prof. Ferdinand Schevill, on the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was designed not so much as a historical study as to represent the political impressions of a traveler. Bosnia, he said, is the Orient, and in considering it one must abandon western standards. Three principal issues hold the foreground in the public interest. The first of these is the agrarian question; the second is that of the Bosnian constitution; and the third is that of the incorporation of the Bosnians in the Hungarian half of the dual monarchy. Prof. Ford's paper on " Bismarck as Historiographer" is printed in full in the present volume.1 Under the title "Recent Progress in Modern European History," Prof. Lingelbach showed, by means of comparative statistics, the growth in the study of modern history, both in undergraduate and graduate courses. This progress is particularly noticeable in Paris, as evidenced especially by the activities of the Société d'Histoire Moderne. As regards the sources of modern history, he pointed out that there is actually a plethora of them, both manuscript and printed, and he emphasized the need of organization for their effective exploitation. There is also need of means of orientation as to conditions and work being done by others in this field. Speaking on "A College Course in Contemporary History," Dr. Carlton H. Hayes described a method practised in one of the courses presented at Columbia. This course, he said, had been regarded as an experiment, but it had had a remarkable success- -a success attributable in the first place to the inherent interest and importance that attach to the contemporary period and its problems, and in the second place to certain departures in the method of instruction. While the general history of the British Empire and the Continent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is covered, emphasis is laid on European affairs since 1870 with the purpose of providing a useful training for college men and of supplying a unifying force in the heterogeneous curriculum. Instruction is given in two distinct parts-lectures and "laboratory" work. The laboratory is the most important factor in the success of the course. Each member of the class clips articles relating to foreign affairs from American newspapers and once a week classifies them. Twice a month he prepares 1 See below, pp. 125 ff. 2 Dr. Hayes's article is printed very nearly in full in the History Teacher's Magazine for February, 1910, pp. 127, 128. a review of current events in a given country based on the clippings and on his reading in works of reference and in the foreign newspapers kept in the laboratory. By means of personal consultations and discussions of special topics the course becomes an organic whole, the historical setting of European problems is explained, and a sound critical habit of mind in newspaper reading is inculcated. An interesting discussion followed the reading of the last paper. Upon the question being raised as to whether such a course interfered with other college work, Prof. Robinson expressed the opinion that departments of history had always been too modest in their demands for a due proportion of the student's time, and in particular too modest in their demands for equipment. Prof. Ford questioned the use of newspapers as a primary basis for the study of modern history, and suggested that while New York had unusual facilities in this respect, it was possible for too much newspaper reading to result in a certain degeneracy of work. As to the trustworthiness of newspapers, Prof. Robinson thought that, as compared with the medieval annals, the advantage was rather with the former. Prof. Anderson, speaking of the limits of a course in modern European history, said that he had found difficulty, starting with 1789, in bringing the course down to the present. He was planning, therefore, to give an additional course from 1878 to date. The conference on ethnic elements in the history of the United States, of which Prof. Greene was chairman, considered the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian elements, papers being read by Profs. Goebel and Faust, Mr. Dieserud, and Dr. Colenbrander. The papers by Prof. Goebel and Dr. Colenbrander, together with one by Miss Putnam, which there was not time to hear, are printed in the present volume. President Babcock was not present but sent his paper, which was not read in the conference, but which will be found in the American Historical Review.2 The conference of historical societies, of which Prof. Sioussat was chairman, considered the general subject of publications. A full report of the proceedings of the conference is included in this volume.3 A conference on the work of history and civics clubs, presided over by Mr. Frank B. Kelley, naturally centered about the work of the City History Club of New York. There were papers by Miss M. Elizabeth Crouse on the "Aim and Methods of the City History Clubs," by Mr. A. L. Pugh on "A Practical Program in Municipal Civics for Clubs," and by Mr. Howard C. Green on "Actual Work Done in Civic Clubs." 1 For these three papers see below, pp. 181 ff. 2 See American Historical Review, XVI, 300 ff. (January, 1911). |