Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/671

Franz: Kolonisation des Mississippitales 66 1 book may be read in a cursory manner, and even Germans will doubt- less feel like skipping the rather long account of Law's financial machi- nations in France, the deta'ils of which hardly find their proper place in this volume. If the author, however, has occasionally lost his sense of proportion, he is to be praised for recognizing the importance of the European background, and for explaining with commendable clear- ness the events that influenced history on this side of the Atlantic. The most satisfactory and valuable portion of Dr. Franz's work is that in which he discusses the economic conditions that prevailed in the Mississippi valley during the period of French colonization, and the causes of the failure of France to make that valley as prosperous as it became under the American flag. This was the special task that the author set before himself, and here he has met with marked success. The reviewer does not know of any other work that presents the facts so forcibly, or analyzes the causes of failure in so scientific a spirit. His keen criticism of the attempts to rehabilitate the repu- tation of Kerlerec, for example (pp. 278-279), is very refreshing: " Nicht Sieg oder Niederlage bedingen den geschichtlichen Ruhm, wohl aber das kiihne Ringen um ein hohes Ziel oder das tapfere Aushar- ren bei einer dem Untergange geweihten Sache ! — Und finden wir solches bei Kerlerec? " In explaining the causes of failure (pp. 426-427) the author very happily calls Louisiana " eine franzosische Kleruchie, d. h. eine Griind- ung der franzosischen Regierung, zugleich aber auch eine kanadische Apokie, d. h. eine private Schopfung kanadischer Waldlaufer." In fact France wished to increase the number of the royal provinces, to keep out the English, to secure the trade with the Spanish colonies, but she was not fitted to take advantage of the great opportunities that Louisiana presented as an agricultural region. She seized a larger territory than she could utilize : " Mai etreint qui trop embrasse ". The whole system of colonization collapsed when it met as a rival the English, who, says Dr. Franz, " colonized not with the sword but with the plow ". Yet the labors of France in Louisiana were not without benefit to the world. Her occupation of the valley, says the author, was a period of preparation. In fact the mission of France, as the reviewer once heard M. Jusserand remark, has been that of " a sower of seed ". Too often the harvest has been reaped by other nations, but her sowers were the brilliant pioneers. La Salle, Tonti, Iberville, and Bienville, who will always fill a large place in history. The book contains a copy of Bellin's map of 1744 and a good bib- liography, but no index. John R. Ficklen.