There is blest living here, loving and serving, And what if then, while the still morning brightened, And take my hand and say, 'My name is Death.'' ERNEST WHITNEY. THE GERMANIC CONSTITUTION.*-The author of this sketch of the Germanic Constitution is favorably known by his scholarly version of Eginhard's Life of Charlemagne, published some eight years ago in Harper's Half-Hour Series. The present work is a valuable contribution to the sources of information about the old Empire. Outside of the manual histories of Germany, there is very little of first-rate value in English on the subject. Mr. Bryce's interesting and stimulating "Holy Roman Empire" leaves little to be desired on the theoretical and philosophic side of the imperial history, but as it is not a constitutional history the details of the constitutional organization are rather meager. Our grandfathers had Pütter's "Historical Development of the Present Political Constitution of the Germanic Empire" (translated by Dornford, 3 vols. London, 1790), which is still useful for later imperial history, but of course antiquated in many points. Mr. Turner has supplied at once a very concise and convenient summary of German Constitutional history and a useful introduction to the more elaborate German works. He has relied upon the most recent and trustworthy investigators. Not simply that, but his references to the best documentary sources give one the assurance that his conclusions are based in some measure on first-hand study. To some the extreme conciseness of the book will appear one of its chief merits, but we wish it had been at least twice as long. Probably a larger work would have cost the author no more trouble. On page 42, in reference to the growth of the feudal system, through the increasing power of the Seniors, Mr. Turner says: "They consulted their dignity as well as their safety by having nu * A Sketch of the Germanic Constitution. From the Earliest Times to the Dissolution of the Empire. By SAMUEL EPES TURNER, Ph.D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. pp. x., 185. merous vassals, and granted their lands as benefices in consideration of military service. They had no difficulty in finding men to serve after the revolution wrought in the methods of warfare by the general use of cavalry, for so much money was required to purchase a horse and other equipments, and such long training was needed to become an efficient cavalryman that cavalry service was soon reckoned an honorable profession." There is another side to this social change toward feudalism which deserves attention. The obligation of military service in response to the royal summons became so burdensome to the small freemen, both on account of the loss of time and of the expense for horses and swords that it greatly promoted the growth of the feudal system and the extinction of the class of small freemen by commendation to the lords. By this means they escaped the royal service at the cost of their freedom, and into a position where they reënforced the lords. Mr. Turner makes of necessity such frequent use of the word "assessor" that it would have been well to explain briefly the functions of the assessor. They can hardly be familiar to those who will use his book as an introduction to the German Constitution. A full list of kings and emperors with their exact style, the dates of coronation as kings and as emperors, with the dates of birth and death, would form a valuable appendix, and we hope it may be added in a second edition. The use of the word "Grave" for count as a translation of "Graf" will perhaps be questioned. It is certainly very unfamiliar in spite of the obvious analogy to Palsgrave and Margrave. We have found the word only in Skinner's " Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicanæ " (London, 1670), and in Wright's "Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English," where it is given as a Yorkshire word for bailiff and also as Dutch, meaning a nobleman of the Low Countries. So that it is not a coinage but a revival of an old word which would appear to have been well dead and buried. Such revivals are worth while when the language is enriched or strengthened, but whether Grave can be restored to competition with the familiar and equivalent "Count," against which it once utterly failed to hold its own, is open to much doubt. We noticed one or two misprints, p. 21, Deutche for Deutsche, p. 68, Lehurecht for Lehnrecht, and p. 179, note 2, 1806 for 1804 as the date when the title Emperor of Austria was assumed. It seems to us that on p. 123 and 133, "Emperor " would be more exact than "King," and also that the use of "rachineburgii" for rachimburgii" is a needless if not an affected deviation from the ordinary form. Mr. Turner's work may be warmly commended to teachers and students as a thoroughly scholarly production. EDWARD G. BOURNE. THE ART AMATEUR for December furnishes a criticism of the paintings of the Russian historical painter-Vassili Verestchagin-who is now exhibiting a large collection of his pictures at the American Art Galleries in 23rd St., New York City. Verestchagin is one of those painters who uses Art for a purpose. He seeks by representations addressed to the eye to impress the spectator with the views which he has adopted with regard to the political and social problems of the day. For instance, as a soldier in the Russo-Turkish war, he had been a witness of all the horrors of war and had been convinced that it is neither more or less than wholesale murder. As an artist, therefore, he has sought to use his art to teach those who have never left their comfortable homes what war really is in all its revolting aspects. Mrs. Schuyler Van Renssalaer, in the Independent, says that in some of the German cities "soldiers were forbidden by the authorities to visit his exhibition, lest, in military phrase, they should be demoralized by the horrors it revealed." The Art Amateur gives an illustration of one of these pictures, "General Skobeleff at Shipka," which it declares to be even more truly "a polemic against war than a military picture." We will quote a few paragraphs from its criticisms. "The interest centres in the foreground, littered with dead and dying soldiers. The general and his galloping staff and the troops cheering and rejoicing over their victory are but an incident in it, less impressive than the frozen mountains that loom up in the background. A bitter feeling against the leaders and the governing classes, who, in the artist's opinion, are the cause of wars and the misery which accompanies them, is visible everywhere." "The oblong canvas which is entitled 'The Emperor Alexander II, before Plevna,' is occupied in the foreground by the broken slope of a hill, on the summit of which, at the extreme right of the picture, is seen the emperor, in a comfortable chair, watching from a safe distance the progress of the attack ordered in honor of his birth day, although the roads were thick with mud and the commander-in-chief had exclaimed that it was impossible for the men to advance. Thick clouds of smoke fill the valley between this position and the Turkish redoubts. The officers surrounding his Majesty, peering through them with their field-glasses, see that the Russian ranks are broken, that they run and that the day is lost. A companion picture shows somewhat of the result of the battle, 18,000 wounded men, and provision for 3,000 only." But these great historical war pictures form only a part of this remarkable collection. Verest chagin has traveled in India, and has sought to illustrate the history of the career of the English in that country. The picture, which bears the title of "The Entry of the Prince of Wales into Delhi," is a marvel, it is so resplendent with color. The Prince is seated in his howdah on the back of an elephant gorgeously caparisoned. Groups of Indian officers and dignitaries in flowing costumes of red and white, and bedecked with gold and jewels, surround him. The white marble walls and cupolas of the palace form the background. The most ordinary sketches appear to have been made with some ulterior motive. A study of a "Russian Coppersmith" is entered in the catalogue with the note, "he has made cockades all his life." It is to be remembered that the Art Amateur is a practical magazine, especially devoted to "Art in the Household." Among the subjects to which especial prominence is given are china painting; decorative flower painting; the processes of photogravure; crayon drawing; etching; tapestry painting; miniature painting; home decoration; furniture; brass hammering; embroidery. By those who have ever seen the magazine it is safe to say that it is regarded as invaluable. [Price, per year, $4; 35 cents a number. Montague Marks, 23 Union Square. The first number of the new volume for 1889, begins with December, 1888. To those who subscribe for 1889, before the first day of January, the numbers for the last three months of 1888, including four extra colored plates, will be sent without further charge.] MAGAZINE OF ART for December.-If the "Art Amateur" is all-important for those who are practically interested in "Art in the Household," the Magazine of Art is no less important for every one who would keep up an acquaintance with what is doing in the great world of Art in all the different civilized nations. In the first number (Dec.) of the new volume for 1889, is a full page engraving of a picture of Meissonier. There is also a full page engraving of a painting by Solomon J. Solomon of "Samson," recently presented to the "Walker Art Gallery" in Liverpool. There are engravings also of paintings by Sir J. E. Millais, Phil. R. Morris, John Philip, and J. C. Dollman, and four engravings of recent works in marble by Alfred Gilbert, A. R. A. A chapter on "the portraits of Dante Gabriel Rossetti" is illustrated by five engravings-one representing the artist as he was at the age of six, and another as he was at the age of eighteen. An article on "Wells and its Cathedral" is also especially interesting, and it is illustrated by five engravings. In every number are "art criticisms" and discussions of questions connected with art, written by persons who are considered to be authorities in matters of the kind. In the "Monthly Record of American Art" for the December number, a criticism of the paintings in the Lenox Library in New York, is given. [Cassell & Company, Limited; 104 and 106 Fourth avenue. Yearly subscription, $3.50; single number 35 cents.] NEW PUBLICATIONS.-Among important recent publications which our limits will prevent our noticing, but of which Reviews may be soon expected. We will mention: Delia Bacon. A biographical sketch. By THEODORE BACON. 8vo, pp. 322. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. The Life and Letters of Samuel Wells Williams, LL.D. Missionary, Diplomatist, Sinologue. By his son FREDERICK WELLS WILLIAMS. 8vo, pp. 490. G. P. Putnams' Sons. New York. The Life of Young Sir Harry Vane. Governor of Massachusetts Bay, and Leader of the Long Parliament; with a consideration of the English Commonwealth as a Forecast of America. By JAMES K. HOSMER. 8vo, pp. 581. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. The Pilgrim Republic. An Historical Review of the Colony of New Plymouth, with sketches of the Rise of other New England Settlements, the history of Congregationalism, and the Creeds of the Period. By JOHN A. GOODWIN, Boston. Ticknor & Co. 8vo, pp. 662. |