New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-07-06
THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE.
DIR. BURCKHARDTS EXCELLENT BOOK.

1t is strange that the American puDlc shoulu
have had 10 wait SO long for an edition Oh SO
important work Burckhardts "Civiiizauoh
of the Renaissance in Italy the more especlails
since Middlemore's excellent translation was pun
lished in England far back as 1873. bo. III
case of this kind it is decidedly better la'e IMAM
never, for Burckhardt offers to the general student
survey Of one of the most interesting PeIo"'
in history such as can be found IN no other
work Of like compactncss; and one which is dis
tinguished by n spirit of broad and judicial I'M
uartialitv and a clearness of arrangement 10 DE
sought in vain elsewhere. Those who desire
fuller details and greater picturesqueneS oi
narrative must of course, go TO SymondSs mohu-
mental work; but for the general reader tha'
may be found too bulky. while its cost alone IS a
hindrance TO the majority In tins handsome anu
well-printed sngle-volume edition OF BurcKharo'
every necessary help to the study OF the henals-
sance in Italy is embraced and the reaoer Is ho'
likely to complain of the difficulty or the dryness
of a STYLE which, though singularly restrained is
at once lucid and expressive
Symonds has treated the Renaissance period
rather in q series of monographs than as con-
tinuous narrative; and, indeed, this pan naCIaiN
suggests Itself in dealing with an epoch marheu
by 30 many and remarkable phenomena each
Of which seems TO demand separate treatment.
GlDD0n 0cNOlcu CWO CHdpttlo ~ " Gun ~ -
Italian Renaissance and as far as they go those
chapters 1.-THE sixty-ninth and seven'le'm are
mastery. But modern research cannot rest CON
tented with mere sketches of so interesting ana
significant period and though the data are
wanting for several important features of the
investigation land particularly for that knoweu&e
of the intimate life of the people when the
democratic spirit of this ace above all craNeS''
the material available in other respects is SO
abundant that special studies are certain 10 he
more and more called for. Burckhardt mas
planned his history mcthodically, as may he seen
By glance at the table of contents lie mVldes
n into six parts. which arc again subdivded into
chapters Thus he deals successfully with Inc
State as a Work of Art: The Development OF
the Individual; The Revival Of Antiquity
nThe Discovery of the World and of Man So
ciety and Festivals and Morality and Religion
Such an attempt TO make an orderly arrangement
is very necessary in describing period when,
until carefully studied is so apt 10 appear niue
moro than an anarchic hurly-burly. world
Turned UPSIDE down. from which all moral sense
seems to have been eliminated. and in which the
widest contradictions are dsplayed-the most
colossal crimes and frauds and viocnces side by
side with the most audacious pretences of reilglon
and virtue.
II is rot until we realize that the period OF
thc Itnlian Renaissance was one Of formation that
we begin 10 see something like processes OF evolu-
ton in il nor can we appreciate the natural
drift OF these processes unless We constantly bear
in mind tie historic truth that they were fatally
interrupted Ivy similar external influences llad
Italy been left 70 work ont her own saivn'Ion' IL
is a fair presumption that she would have sue
cccded but the bliehting and paraiyzng Spanish
influence stopped her development midway sup
pressed al her healthy tendencies. and threw her
hac!; into state Of stupOr from which II took nor
cqntYrics to emerge. She passed on the Renals
sancn 10 The rest Of Europe, however. The move
,ncnt she had begun was carried to successful
end by more fortunately situated nations; ana
to-day the fact that she did inangnratr That great
movement of emancipation from Mcdioevalism
constitutes the strongest claim upon her interest
Italian Renaissance, too. invites attention because
we have not here to Investigate The breaking up
Of a system analogous to the icudalisn Of Ger
many. France or England. but quite distinct
order Of government IN Italy we find The curious
coincidence Of democratic spirit with despotic
methods Nowhere perhaps. has the doctrine of
equality been more fully acted upon than in l'ay
from the thirteenth 10 the sixteenth ccntlrlos
II is DISTINGUISHING mark of that period that
throughout 10 men were esteemed Tor what they
did. and not for the rank or place they heid.
So ia was THIS +hcoTy extended that for long
tirc 20 disi inc .3n woS made between legitimacy
and illcGitin,acy II birth. The Italian despots,
both great ard small, made nothing Of hastardy.
No doubt this practice was in part due to TIE
ycncral prevalence Of force as the dominant agent
The man who could seize and hold was the only
one TO he recognized: and nature put no brand Of
physical or mental inicriority upon the bascly
born.
IL is rot always possible 10 discover the ad-
vantage. to the individual. Of life in the so-caled
free cities over life under tie great or petty des-
potsms of the period. In the cities there were
always warning factions. and often the municipal
governments were not less partisan and despotc
than those Of the ancient Greek republics. But
j; was an age Of rampant individualism. when
convention had no; moulded any community;
Wien men and women scorncd to take pattern
after one another: when there was tat least for
the mem no " fashions" when character, whether
coed or bad, displayed not merely without
disguise, but with positive strenuousness ana an
ins stcncc upon idiosyncracies. One explanation
Of this is that the despOtism which produced such
chaotic results grew largely out Of the demo-
cratic spirit. There could be no rea! respect for
rank or Station in a rime when any bold brigand
might win his way To power and sovereignty {;
and as almost any man of thews and sincws might
aspire 10 he leader OF condOttiere, virtually al
most all places were in competition. II is more
difficult to understand how the arts could have
fiourishcd and commerce. when there 50
little security for life and property but history
shows that man is an eminenty adaptable animal,
and we may remember that a; the height OF the
Reign of Terror the theatres Of Paris remained
Omen and were even more thr0ngcd than usual.
1t was clearly an outcome of democratic scnti-
hot Italian took ia
patronage Of learning. This was perhaps the only
way in which they could create All impression of
their superiority. Physically all men were equal
who were not cripplcs. Intellectually there was
still room for distinction The same spirit doubt
less tended TO encourage the rcvcrsion 10 antiquity
which characterized the emcrgcncc from the Mid
die Ages, and it received powerful impulse, il
not its generating force. from the decline and cor
rnnfinn of the Church Dr. Bnrckhar,lt hobbs that