438
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. x. NOV. 29, 1902.
daughter of Loth, the traditionary king and
eponymus of Lothian. People who travel to
Glasgow from London by the Midland
Kail way leave St. Pancras station and arrive
at St. Enoch's a striking example of the
permanence of ancient names. Some trains
stop outside Glasgow for the collection of
tickets at Strath bungo, i.e., srath Mungo,
Mungo's meadow Mungo being the endear-
ing appellative and synonym for Kentigern.
HERBERT MAXWELL.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
The Cambridge Modern History. Planned by the late Lord Acton. Edited by A. W. Ward, Litt.D. ; G. W. Prothero, Litt.D. ; Stanley Leathes, M.A. Vol. I. The Renaissance. (Cambridge, Univer- sity Press.)
THE scheme of which the opening portion is before us is ambitious and encyclopaedic in character. It had long been meditated by Lord Acton, Regius Professor of Modern History in Cambridge, who is, it may be assumed, responsible for the lines on which it is to be carried out. It is, or should be, a magnificent undertaking, the advantages and disadvantages of which have no doubt been closely studied, but concerning which the last word has not been spoken. The aim of the work is to supply, practically in a dozen volumes, a ' Universal Modern History,' which, besides being a standard work of reference, shall record in a continuous development the history of Europe and its colonies from the period in which the great problems in the study of which we are still wrapt first came into conscious recognition until to-day. This is to be the work not of one, but many hands. For each separate phase of the great undertaking acknowledged experts are chosen, the responsibility for the homo- geneity of the whole resting with the editors, each of whom is a practised historian, familiar with the latest results of that historical research which is a conspicuous feature in the progress of the last half century. Works similar in aim to the present have been produced in Germany and in France. Co-operation in literary effort is no new thing, and but slight knowledge is necessary to recall a score instances in which, apart from all question of ency- clopedias, collections, biographies, and works of similar importance, historical undertakings have been begun by what in France is called " une societ^ de gens de lettres." If no very conspicuous success has attended such efforts, it must be re- membered that a certain amateur element has generally been present. For the first time, so far as we are aware, an historical task, intended to be consecutive and thorough, has been undertaken by the men presumably the most competent in the king'dom.
Deeply interesting are the problems raised. As regards what is herein called " the revelation of truth" the gain from collaboration must needs be immense. How far this will compensate for the absence of the special form of philosophic grasp which attends a labour excogitated and accom- lished by one brain it is difficult to say. Works
such as the histories of Tacitus and Gibbon will
always be the delight of the philosophical student.
On the other hand, the searcher after facts will be
tempted to regard with favour undertakings such as
that now begun. Very much is to be said on both
sides, and space fails us in the few columns that can
be weekly devoted to current literature to open out
a subject that might perhaps profitably be debated
in the body of our pages. In favour of what is
called " a series of monographs conceived on a
connected system," Bishop Creighton, in the intro-
ductory note, speaks with much weight, and the
same authority questions the advantage of the
domination of one intelligence, however great that
may be, "striving to express the multifarious
experience of niankind in catejgories of its own
creation." This is well put. There is, however,
much to be urged on the other side.
Twelve volumes will, as has been said, constitute the entire work. Of these the first, not- wholly because it is explanatory, but because of the deeply interesting ana constructive epoch with which it deals, may well be the most stimulating. The very word Renaissance is full of promise. An apology is offered for the fact that no place has been found for a separate account of " the development of the pictorial,plastic, and decorative art of the Renais- sance." To have included this would have been to enlarge hugely the scope of the work by making it comprise a long history of artistic progress. What is specially sought in the first volume is to arrange upon the chessboard the pieces by which the his- torical problem has to be carried out. The title of the opening chapter, 'The Age of Discovery,' shows the period at which the history begins. A conspicuous landmark, which separates the Middle Ages from modern times, is the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (called, with just a sus- picion of pedantry, Cristoforo Colombo) in 1492. With this are associated the feats of Vasco da Gama and other great explorers of the most adven- turous of ages. This chapter and the following on the New World, which ends with Bacon's prophecy that the great inheritance of the West and of the East must devolve upon the Anglo-Saxon, is by Mr. E. J. Payne, for the continuation of whose ' History of the New World, called America,' we still wait. 'The Ottoman Conquest, 1358,' is in the hands of Prof. Bury, of Trinity College, Dublin, whose contribution ends at the time when the conquest mentioned had attained its meridian splendour. The dealings with the Greek Church are praised for astuteness and wisdom, and the conditions under which occurred the settlement of the Phanariots are shown. Several chapters are devoted to ' Italy,' one to ' Italy and her Invaders,' two to ' Florence, Savonarola and Machiavelli,' one to ' Rome and the Temporal Power,' and one to 'Venice.' 'Germany,' 'The Catholic Kings,' ' France,' and ' The Nether- lands ' follow before we arrive at ' The Early Tudors,' the history of which, by Dr. James Gairdner, begins with results of the Wars of the Roses. Following chapters are on 'Economic Changes,' 'The Classical Renaissance,' 'The Chris- tian Renaissance," ' Catholic Europe,' and ' The Eve of the Reformation.' How hopeless is the task of dealing with the volume as a whole is shown by the fact that each separate chapter would repay analysis, and some notably Sir Richard Jepb's 'Classical Renaissance' make almost irresistible appeal. Profoundly interesting is the study of the
