The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-07-28
SOME NEW HOOKS.
An Exhaustive History Of siaver-.

% look to Spain for the fruits OF accomplished
scholarship and comprehensive research II Is
true that Condo devoted his life to the discovery
and Interpretation ~ Arabic manuscripts re-
hitting to the lb"rian peninsula. and That his
history Of tho domination Of the Arabs and
Moors In Spain. published more than fifty years
nRo. has never been superseded But we know
Of no later book which could be compared
with Condos In scope or authority. un-
III Senior Saco undertook 10 write his
tory Of slavery under the infinite variety OF
types and conditions which human bondage
has assumed in different countries and ut dill
ferenl times. We have had OrcHsion TO notice
the two previous installmrnts OF this work. and
we would now direct attention To athird volume
which Inns Just been issued Mt Barcelona HIS
toria de La Esci1rHud desie los he,ppos mds
rrnOtos hdstd uuesbos didS. por u. JOSE An
TONIC SAco II Ia safe to say that no literary
project of larger proportions has been conceived
and pushed fnr ON the way toward completion
since Gibbon wrought out Of the crude fnrrago
OF Byzantine laws and chronicles his narrative
OF the Decline and Fall" When we copsider
the amplitude Of tho theme and the prodigious
labor cxacted for adequate treatment. we cannot
hut esteem Senior Saco's book remarkable
monument Of learning.
The present volume takes up tho history OF
sinvery in western Europe from the disintegra-
ton Of the Roman power. and tracing the
changes which the several forms Of servtude
underwent from Teutonic invasions and from
tho social transformation known AS the ieudal
system. dwells with emphasis on the stubborn
ness with which tho slave owner withstood the
Influence OF tho Church and the steadily in
rrcaslng pressure ofcnlightened ideas holding
his ground in Spain. as Senior Saco reminds us.
up TO the second quarter Of this century.
Nowhere. perhaps. has larger measure
OF industry and acumen boon rclul-
site than In diRcstng tho materials
Tor this part OF tho work. Be
sides consulting n multitude of difruse
and Grabbed annals in Anglo-SaXon. Old Ger
man. Provencal. and Old.Frcnch. II was neces
sary for the author to dccipher the texts Of
Frankish. Lombard. BurRundian. aud Nlsi-
gothic laws. recorded In monks Latin. but tecm-
ing with primitive Teutonc terms describing
extinct customs. or with hybrid words corro-
spending to transient social conditions of which
not trace remains We would not affirm that
the author. in such a labyrinth Of enigmAtic
terminoogy. does not sometimes seem to lose
the clue. but the dominant feeling In the read
er's mind IL one Of admiration for the patisnc.
that can truck from archive TO cartulary. and
through codcx after codex. some shade Of YER
bal meaning. which. however translated into
concrete fact may span tho whole in
terval between n moderate restriction OF
freedom and a state Of sheer and helpless
bondage. His analysis. for instance. of the
Fuero Juzgo. or cod Of the Spanish Vislgoths.
suggests some interesting deductions and
throws new light on civilization whose hui
mainly and splcndor have. owing 10 its early
overthrow. seldom been fairly appreciated. We
may add that in the chapters which portray the
institution Of slavery under the Mohammcdan
conquests in the West. Senior Saco oyinces an
extensive acquaintance with Arabian histor-
ans On this point IL Is enough to say that he
Is often able TO supplement the statements OF
Condo. and more than once to correct them.
The history OF scrvitude in Europe is brought
Town to the present time. this volume including
Rsuccnct but sufficiently ACCURATE sketch OF the
origin, notifications and abolition OF scrtdom
in Russia. to which. however. we will not -9fer.
since the reader will probably prefer Mackenzie
Waace's account Mother will We point out
Senior Saco's contributions 10 subjects on which
Hallam and Freeman have enlarged. namely.
the precise status Of the peasant bound 70 the
glebe." as it was called. and OF the vien in
Anglo-Saxon and Norman England. II might
seem no less supernuous to cite from chapters
which go over ground covered by Henri Martin.
and demonstrate how all the archaic or medie-
val forms Of servitude had well nigh disap-
peared from France long before the principle
OF slavery was cNtirpated by the revolution.
But there are parts Of this volume which
require particular notice because the in
formation supplied Is not easily accessible
elsewhere. One is tho authors demonstra-
ton in direct opposition to Guizot's familiar
theory. that the condition OF the servile popula-
ton was not amclioratcd. but greatly agra
waited by the substitution OF Teutonic mon
nrchies for tho Latin empire. Another curious
fact brought out in this work il the active and
INSCRIPTIONS part taken by Venice throughout
the middle ages and down TO period belong
ing beyond question To- tho modern epoch. In
the prosecution OF the Mediterranean slave
trade. Special attention. moreover might be
given with profit to those chapters In which
Senior Saco investigates the treatment Of Chris
tian slaves by tho Arab masters Of Spain. In
the course Of his inquiry We meet with some
novel and striking data touching the grade Of
civilization attained in the Caliphate OF Cordova.
IN contradistinction to Guizot Senior Saco af-
firms that the Roman slave throughout the
Western Empire lost rather than gained by the
Teutonc conqucsts. and this opinion he de-
tends by comparing. in all essential points. tho
status Of the servile population before the Ger
manic laws with that which il had occupied
under the Imperial system. Thus under tho
later Latin law there were cases in which a
slave could be sold against the masters will. in
order to relieve him from brutal oppression.
But this privilege was not conceded by any
Germanic code and oven the relatively mild
statutes Of the Spanish Nlsigoths express
ly deny it. although the slave might have
sought asylum in a church Again. an In
peral rcscrpt permitted a slaveto purchase his
freedom with his own private accumuatons,
or pecdhrn but this was not the case n the Ger
manic kingdoms, the Frank. BnyarlAn, and
Visgothic Legislators enacting that II the mas
ter wero ignorant that the price Of manumis-
sion came from the personal savings Of the
slave, the latter must remain In bondage. The
hardship OF this law will be made plain when
we call 10 mind that none OF tho nations named
recognized Il bondsman's right 10 a peculium.
and whenever the existence Of such n little
hoard came TO the knowledge OF his owner, it
was at once appropriated. According 10 n stat
ute OF Justnian. when Il slnye belonging TO two
or more owners was freed 10y ono OF thom. the
manumission was complete. and the other
proprietor must accept for his share a
money equivalent after nm established tariff. On
the other hand. the most humane Of tho Tcutonc
Main f.,,lt 81, a