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686 Revietvs of Books Commission is building. There is almost nothing of the economic or commercial aspects of the Canal. Considerable space is given to description of the people, country, and climate of the little republic, and an appendix of forty-nine pages contains the text of treaties, proclamations, bills, etc. The book shows its newspaper origin by such glaring inaccuracies as those referred to above, by the fact that it comes quite down to the date of publication, by its newspaper English, and by its readability. It is interesting reading, and we need for easy consultation such an account of the origin and progress of the Panama Republic and its relations with the United States. T. Russell Smith. Minor Notices Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, new series, volume XX. (London, Office of the Society, 7 South Square, Gray's Inn, W. C). The presidential address by the Rev. Dr. William Hunt treats of the nature and claims of the study of history. In a valuable paper en- titled " A Chapter in Roman Frontier History ", Professor H. F. Pelham presents some of the results of the labors of the German Imperial Frontier Commission (Reichslimes-Kommission) revealing the succes- sive stages in the extension of Roman control over the territory east of the Rhine ; and the various measures employed for the defense of this territory. Sir Harry Poland give* the correct text (hitherto un- published) of Mr. Canning's "Rhyming Despatch" to Sir Charles Bagot, and defends Canning against the charge of ill-timed frivolity. Dr. J. Holland Rose shows that the secret intelligence received by Canning from Tilsit and elsewhere from July 16 to 23, 1807, although not logically complete, had a cumulative force which will make us hesitate to censure Canning for basing thereon his policy of coercing Denmark. " The Northern Policy of George I. to 1718 " is discussed by Mr. J. F. Chance, who has contributed several articles on various phases of this subject to the English Historical Review. Miss Violet Shillington traces " The Beginnings of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance " from the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth century. In his paper on " The Study of Nineteenth Century History " Mr. Percy Ashley laments the neglect by English students and investigators of the recent history of European states, especially those of the continent. He urges the importance of the study and tries to show that neither the nature of the material nor the difficulty of " detachment " presents insuperable obstacles to its scientific investigation. The Rfev. John Willcock's ac- count of " Sharp and the Restoration Policy in Scotland " reaches conclusions very unfavorable to both objects of his inquiry. The Alex- ander Prize Essay, by Miss R. R. Reid, is an interesting study of the local causes and aspects of "The Rebellion of the Earls, I56()." F. G. D.