The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-03-02

The rapidlty OF the conquest OF the lind OF
the English by william the Norman used to DO
. commonplace OF popular histories. and 1t
was wont to be contrasted with tho exception
ally slow and literally age-long process by
which the same soil had been won by tho
English themselves from the native Britons
No trace OF this gross though familiar miscon.
eeptIon is likely to llnser even in tho school
books of the rising generation. for one Of tho
most indlsputable and most instructive results
Of tho researches OF Freeman and Stubs OF
Lingard. Turner. kemble. palgrave. and
Thorpe. Is the proof that the losing Of England
occupied well nigh as much time rs the gaining
Of Il; that almost as many years interviewed
between the irst descent OF Scandinavian sen
rovers IN 1877 and the landing OF Duke William
at Pevensey rs had passed from tho first settle-
mont OF Ju,cs In Kent to Egbert's attainment
Of ovcrlordship above all the petty realms
among which Englo. Saxon. and Jutlnnder had
subdisided Britain.
II WINS the Making Of England" or. In other
words. the patient winning Of the greater part
Of southern Britain by men Of German stock.
that was recounted by the late Mr.. J. II. Green
In the last work which he lived to complete.
But itwas his hope to supplement that mar
fative BY q reviow Of the equally stubborn and
finally successful attempt OF men Of Scandi-
havian descent to despoi aud subdue the Eng
lish even as they had overcome and thrust aside
the Britons Only part Of tho task contem-
plated WAS accomplished. and 1t is. therefore.
but fragment. which il now published By tho
historians widow. OF the Conquest OF Eng
land" tHarpers,. 1t is, however. u precious frag-
mont. for In tho first six chapters the only
chapters which present the dgested and do
libsrate conclusions Of the author are for
the FIRST time made accessible. in a pop
n1ap and attractive form thu fruita Of
the close investigation to which an i'm
portAnt period Of English history has
been subjected In recent times. These
six chapters cover the century and q half bo-
tween the assertion OF supremacy BY tho King
OF the West Saxons over the other small States
founded in Britain by emgrants from the Ger
man sencoast and the disintezrnton OF the
coherent monarchy In the weakened hands OF
Alired's descendants through the revival OF the
main local subdivisions In four great earl
doms. In the period here surveyed are en-
braced the successive inroads and invasions Of
the Norweguns and the Danes. which resulted
in the loyal creation OF the Danelaw: that is to
say. in tho formal REIMBURSEMENT OF nearly
half OF England to Scandinavian conquerors.
1t was. OF course the triumph OF authrum and
Iyar sanctioned by the peace Of Wedmore In
87S, that tempted and made possible the COM
pleto conquest OF England by Denmark. while
II was the Danish Kings lwho. with only
transient interruption. ruled the English from
10lz to 1O43 or up to a date but twenty three
years before the battle OF Senlac) that SIN oothed
the way for the acceptance OF Kings from Nor
mandy. who were themselves Danes by descent
We do not doubt that Mr.. Green would have
found occasion IL tho general uprising OF the
Danelaw In 1914 against the West Saxon royal
line OF Ccrdic-an uprising which. though 1t
nd h,rt ha Lam nNf Gr,at
made the conquest Of England by that monarch
and his son. Canute. possible and durable-to
examine carefully the extent. character. and
power OF the Danish element In Britain. and to
measure the social. ethical, and industrial
changes which It had undergone since its legal
lied reception some hundred and forty years
before. He would have essayed. at least to
answer many curious and interesting aues-
lions with regard to which our sources Of In
formation arc still but meagre, CONCERNING
the effect Of the infusion OF Danish blood and
the recognition OF Danish ieudal rights over
the land (which within the Danelaw seems
to have long survived the loss OF political
asoendancy) on the laws and customs.
the physical type the moral and
intellectual qualities. the industrial aptitudes
and proclivities OF the people OF East Anglia
the Five Boroughs. and Yorkshire. as distin-
guished from the English inhabitants OF south
ern and western Britain and from the Lowland
Scotch. Such inquiries. could they DO answered
definitely and fully. would throw light on the
'pscifc differences which mark Off the modern
Englishman 80 clearly from his congeners Of
North German and Dutch Lineage. for while
1t 10 probable enough that in the section OF
England lying west OF a line drawn from New
castle due south to the British Channel there
was considerable intermlxture Of Celtic with
the Engle and Saxon blood. yet on the eastern
coast. between the Tees and the Thames. the
composite English race must have derived an
even more important constituent from the
Scandinavian settlers.
Rut although the author OF this fragment did
not live to attempt definition Of the sense and
measure In which the modern Englishman can
be said to reveal his Scandinavian relation
ships. to point out In a consecutive and exhaus-
tive way the traces left by Norwegian and Dane
ON English history. there is many a hint
scattered through tho first six chapters OF this
volume which will be treasured BY the careful
reader as suggesting the judgment formed BY
Mr.. Green concerning some OF the obscure
questions to which we have referred. Speak
ing generally. We might say that his prevailing
tsndency-scarcely formulated. however. and
with the grounds for 1t not yet system atically
surveyed-is to miRimize tho imprint left b.
tho Scandinavian emigration and conquest on
the career and character OF the English people
considered as q whole. Within the country
indeed. lying between the Tees and the Hum
Dor. corresponding to the modern Yorkshire
and also within the bounds Of Lincolnshire. he
seems to recognize thorough leavening OF the
population by the Morse and Danish element
and almost as sweeping subverson OF the
extant civilization at the hands Of the heather
intrvders as had befallen the same region thre<
centuries before from tho inroads Of the
heathen Engle. But In the present countios o
Derby and Nottingham. Of Cambrldgehire. Nor
folk. and Suffolk. and Jortio,i in tho lands o
the Danelaw lying nearer to Waiting street. thu
old Roman road that struck across mid Britain
from London to Chester. Mr.. Green manifest,
thinks thatthe Scandinavian newcomers formed
q weak minority Of the Inhabitants. Con
venient ports on tho coasts and rivers ant
frontier fortresses commanding the great ave
nues OF travel might be occupied by oonsdera
BILE bodies Of the Mortimer. but over the broat
reaches OF farmed land the change effected b.