NOTICES AND CRITICISMS.

HISTORY.

By

1. History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic. WILLLIAM H. PRESCOTT New and Revised Edition, with the Author's Latest Corrections and Additions. Edited by JoHN FOSTER KIRK. 3 vols., 12mo. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1874. 2. History of the Conquest of Mexico, with a Preliminary View of the Ancient Mexican Civilization, and the Life of the Conqueror Hernando Cortes. By WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. 3 vols., 12mo.

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ALTHOUGH these works have now been a long time familiar to the reading public, yet such a charm have they continued to possess that a new edition of them will be only too welcome. Of all American historians, Prescott is at once the most popular among the intelligent classes, and the best deserving of popularity among all classes. the impartial mind and thorough habit of research, which are required for the functions of an historian, Mr. Prescott adds the indescribable fascination of narrative, the grace of style, and the power of infusing life into his portraitures, that have rarely been equalled; among American authors, never.

Most of us can remember when the history, given to the student, was little more than a collection of dry details, to which the inquirer resorted for information, but with little idea of deriving other gratification than that which arises from increasing one's store of knowledge. At the present day, when it has become a requisite for every work to possess interest, historians have too often fallen into the opposite extreme, and, in their desire to gratify the public with an entertaining work, have overlooked the more essential features of accuracy and justice. Both these errors Mr. Prescott has judiciously avoided. While the interest of the story is never allowed to flag, the reader is never tantalized with a suspicion that the imagination of the writer has been allowed to trifle with his judgment, or that any fact has been stated that does not rest on good authority. Another distinguishing feature of Prescott's histories is their impartiality. While Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus and Cardinal Ximenes, Cortes and Montezuma, are all brought before us in the most life-like colors, there is no dwarfing of surrounding characters to exhibit the favorite in bolder relief; no denial of justice to those whose actions are most censured, and no suppression or evasion of the gravest errors committed by those who generally receive the highest praise. Even Isabella, who is justly the object of the historian's highest admiration, receives due censure for the great blemishes on her administration-the establishment of the Inquisition, the enslaving of Moorish prisoners, and the expulsion of the Jews.

The History of Ferdinand and Isabella will always possess a peculiar interest for American readers, from its intimate connection with the discovery of the American continent. But it contains, independently of this, much matter that claims the attention of the student of political history. The union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, laid the foundation of the greatness of the Spanish government. It is true that the substantial reforms which they were thus enabled to introduce were clouded by the establishment of the Inquisition, which is the darkest blot on the reign of these sovereigns. But it should be remembered that the thought of associating criminality with the idea of religious persecution was unknown in the middle ages. Strangely enough, even the persecuted heretics. generally recognized the justice of the principle of persecution, and were quite ready, if the opportunity offered, to become the persecutors themselves! To them the crime of their antagonists lay not in the act of persecuting, but-as they considered it-persecuting the true faith. It is further probable that, but for this very spirit of bigotry which kindled the fires of the Inquisition, the enthusiasm could never have been awakened which prompted the war with the Moors and the recovery of the provinces which for seven centuries had been under the dominion of the Moslem.

The story of the "Conquest of Granada" is one of the most poetical episodes in Mr. Prescott's histories. He seems to be perusing in it not so much an ordinary history as a marvellous epic poem, and a poem of which, unlike the epics of Greece and Rome, the grand central figure is a woman. It is certain that, but for the personal efforts of the heroic Isabella, the enterprise would never have been brought to its triumphant issue. It was she who, when the roads were dilapidated, procured six thousand pioneers to reconstruct them-bridged the rivers, opened passes through the mountains, bought up grain which she caused to be ground in her own mills-so that

"When the roads, which extended more than geven leagues in length, were completed, fourteen thousand mules might be seen daily traversing the Sierra, laden with supplies, which from that time forward were poured abundantly, and with the most perfect regularity, into the camp. ”—Vol. ii., p. 62.

The immense expense which all these measures involved were met by the efforts of the queen, who obtained loans from wealthy individuals and religious corporations, by mortgaging the royal demesne; and, when the supplies thus raised proved inadequate, pledged the crown jewels and her own personal ornaments to the merchants of Barcelona and Valencia.

"Such were the efforts made by the high-spirited woman for the furtherance of her patriotic enterprise. The extraordinary results which she was enabled to effect are less to be ascribed to the authority of her station than to that perfect confidence in her wisdom and virtue with which she had inspired the whole na

tion, and which secured their earnest co-operation in all her undertakings. The empire which she thus exercised, indeed, was far more extended than any station however exalted, or any authority however despotic, can confer; for it was over the hearts of her people."-Vol. ii., p. 63.

The same resolute and unflinching spirit which Isabella displayed in prosecuting the war against the Moors characterised the assistance which she rendered to Columbus in what was at the time considered his desperate enterprise in search of a western world. Here, again, the expense of the whole undertaking was borne by the crown of Castile-the funds advanced by Aragon being simply borrowed for the purpose. It is, therefore, to Isabella, as well as to Columbus, that the world is indebted for the discovery of the Western Hemisphere.

The character of Ferdinand does not compare favorably with that of Isabella in the brilliant pages of Prescott. Notwithstanding his consummate abilities, his was the spirit of egotism, self-centred and darkened by traits of perfidy and ingratitude to those from whom he had received the greatest services-such as Columbus, the great Captain Navarro, and Ximenes. From the death of Isabella, his popularity appears to have steadily declined; though, after his decease, his subjects soon learned to look back with regret on an administration of which they recalled only the glorious commencement. As our historian justly observes:

"Ferdinand, in fine, a shrewd and politic prince, 'surpassing,' as a French writer, not his friend, has remarked, all the statesmen of his time in the science of the cabinet, may be taken as the representative of the peculiar genius of the age; while Isabella, discarding all the petty artifices of State policy, and pursuing the noblest ends by the noblest means, stands far above her age.'”—Vol. iii., p. 417.

The conquest of Mexico opens a new field of interest in its account of the wonderful civilization of that region—a civilization whose origin is shrouded in darkness, except that tradition shows it to have arisen out of the ruins of a yet earlier civilization, possessed by a race which had become utterly extinct long before the arrival of Cortes, but whose traces still exist in the strange ruins found in the forests of Central America. Whatever may have been its original source, it is certain that the Spaniards found in Mexico something more nearly approaching the civilization of Europe than had hitherto been discovered on the western continent; and that in many of their customs were found singular analogies to Christian rites, for which it is difficult to find an explanation on any of the received theories. Such was the ceremony of naming their children in which

"The lips and bosom of the infant were syrinkled with water, and the Lord was implored to permit the holy drops to wash away the sin that was given to it before the foundation of the world, so that the child might be born anew.”—Vol. i., p. 67.

Equally remarkable were the traditions of the fall of man, the deluge, the ark, and the bearded white man who came from the East and

as mysteriously disappeared; while a coincidence, found in no other heathen religion, is in the ceremony in which

"An image of the tutelar Deity of the Aztecs was made of the flour of maize, mixed with blood, and, after consecration by the priests, was distributed among the people, who, as they ate it, showed signs of humiliation and sorrow, declaring it was the flesh of the Deity."-Vol. iii., p. 369.

It is probable that the Mexicans themselves had adopted these peculiar ceremonies and traditions, together with most of their civilization from the Toltec race which they exterminated, and which the sculptures in the ruined cities of Guatemala show to have been a race of the Aryan type. This is rendered probable by the fact of the evident traces of early barbarism which they still retained, especially the practice of cannibalism. In the accounts of the wars with the Spaniards it is noticeable how the instincts of savage ferocity broke through all the veil of apparent civilization, proving them to be not without affinity to the fierce tribes of the north west. This would confirm the theory advanced by Prescott himself, that the Mexicans were originally a savage or barbarous nation, like the North American Indians, who, having subdued a race of superior civilization, acquired by degrees a degree of their culture and refinement. But whence came the civilization of that earlier race? This continues to be one of the insoluble problems of history.

The new dress in which this edition of Prescott appears, including its clear, handsome typography, is not one of its least agreeable features.

The History of Greece. By Professor Dr. ERNST CURTIUS. Translated by ADOLPHUS WILLIAM WARD, M. A. Vol. V., 16mo, pp. 542.

New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1874. THE previous volumes of this work, having been already reviewed in our pages, it only remains to state that the present issue carries on the history to the treaty concluded between Athens and Philip of Macedon, which terminates the connected history of free Greece. The first chapter is devoted to Macedonia and the other kingdoms of the North; and we find here a congeries of nations, regarded by the Greeks as barbarians, differing from them essentially in language, manners, and customs, yet of a common stock with the Grecians; and in their political and social life, many of their usages, and even in their proper names, exhibiting a close analogy to the people of the heroic age as described by Homer and the Tragedians. Here we find in actual existence the very customs of which historical Greece shows no trace, but which her epics indicate as those of pre-historic times. Of these countries Philip, king of Macedon, had rendered himself master, and was now biding his time to extend his dominion in Greece. Well acquainted with Greek

statecraft, he availed himself, in the first instance, of the troubles in Thessaly, to establish his authority over that region; and thence, while threatening Olynthus, having conquered Amphipolis, awaited his opportunity to absorb, or at least reduce, Athens.

The second chapter exhibits the policy and intellectual life of Athens during the period preceding the appearance of Demosthenes on the public horizon. It is clear, from the progress of events, that the early vigor of Athens had been exhausted by her subjection to Sparta. Her policy was now fitful-controlled by outside influences, and each vigorous advance followed by a corresponding reaction. Party spirit had taken possession of the Athenians, and her policy shifted with the success of the Spartan or Baotian party in her councils. In her social condition a similar decadence was visible. Self-indulgence and ostentatious expenditure were the order of the day, and public spirit had become a thing of the past. Litigiousness had become a prevailing vice. The orators and the generals were perpetually at feud, until the latter became gradually estranged from the city, and thought only of personal power. Art, though still flourishing, was no longer as it had been in the time of Pericles. Philosophy and oratory alone maintained their high standard, and in the latter department a giant now arises, who, by his efforts, brings to pass a regeneration of the Attic commonwealth.

The third chapter brings Demosthenes before the people, and shows the manner in which he influenced the history of Athens. He began, remarkably enough, by withstanding a feverish war spirit which had arisen with regard to Persia. Demosthenes, however, knew that Persia was not the real foe that Athens had to fear, and saw the importance of her strengthening her hands for the hour of danger. Accordingly, he stimulated her energies in the direction of the necessary reforms; and, when these had been effected, he roused the people to proceed vigorously with the Macedonian war, which had dragged on a half-dead existence for the past six years. These orations were the celebrated Philippics. To the influence of Demosthenes may be attributed the resistance which Athens was enabled to oppose to the pretensions of Philip; and to the fickle and short-sighted policy, which led the Athenians eventually to disregard his recommendations, is due the delusive peace into which they were cajoled, and which paved the way for the ultimate triumph of the Macedonians.

The fourth and last chapter contains the final struggles for the independence of Greece. Philip had now obtained a position in the centre of the Greek world. He had established protectorates in many of the Greek States. The Athenians, however, appear to have been completely blind to his schemes, until Demosthenes once more aroused them to a sense of their danger. He succeeded in silencing a powerful Macedonian party which had grown up among the Athenians, and bringing