New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-30

Man nay ir Rw Various Writer'S Edited by n
; Trail D. oI Il sO% Vol H. f FTom the &C.
81 POI Of s Eay ST. e i PStna% S:"
Mr. Trails plan for relating the social history
y England becomes more attractive DIS 'ne VIZ"
,roceeds While 1t cannot be SAID tha' "'e
md volume is more interesting than ls P'
cessor. nevertheless It shows by mere rcpe"'lu"
Tho advantages Of composite authorship. Inc
changes Of style are felt by the reader as re-
uef IN so large book. Practically the deV'ce
..o,,n,s ~ this that a series Of treatises on the
nolitics the religion the law. war on iahu anu VII
60 or, learning science literature, agriculture
.odo nublic health and social life. OF Ehsia"u
80 haen divided into contemporary sections anu
.o,sed with reference to the most striking lac's
q, tho respective periods TO which the fragments
he,one Some concessions have evidently pee"
made TO the individual prejudices oil au'"oi'
For example the word basinet is speiieu Wy CIV.
writer bascinet, and by another' passi'e'' Wv
,ba only serious discrepancy Is SHOWN III INC Vie
crssion of the Black Death. TINS Is 'he '"e'''
n the second chapter OF the present 'oiu'"'
(which Is introduced by c. Creighton WIFI '"o'
essav on the ravages of the disease' Ns 1"a
49,. I'D svmntoms its origin in the East, us
march westward. its progress IN Ehsia'u on"
as,,rrates Of the number of its victims Mos'
Of
With Mr. Creighton that the greatest events III
the later half Of the fourteenth cehtur! s'''"
into ins!gnifcance in presence OF ca'""
,.hicb changed the whole face OF rural Eheiaio'
.,d nv Transforming her agricultural sss'ei'i
r,ve q new direction to her industries lei'
,asting impress on her laws, her arts anu He'
manners and. in word. profoundly ana per
,nanently affected the whole future course u "e'
nol,tical social and economic life
on the other hand w. A Hewlhs' III '''"'e
Of the commercial history Of the periou' span
If the disease as only one among the oauses q"
fecting the business life 81 the nation ie
the traffic in wool criterion ne Poiii'' Wv
that the lowest prices were reached III io1'' 'i'
wear after the advent of til Black Dea'"' Inc
nrnc,pal causes Of the depression lie '"""
wore four in number. In the hrst place uo"h ~
tho wear 1928 the policy of the Government i'
garding the staple had been emphauca"S pr
,oc,ive and the result had been steady growth
Of the staple system. In that year however '"e
King Edward III. tried an experiment IN Tree
.ao ~, oho,ishing all staples. This legislation
os renaated in 1894 Mr. Hewns's opinion Is
.hot these statutes were premature He NAM
,a,ns that some regulation of commerce was hec-
ssor,. at that perod in behalf Of the traders
,,auseivas The natural result was confusion
and uncertainty in which merchants We're UNI
willing 70 incur the risks of foreign trade Inc"
IN 1896 Edward complicated matters SUI iu' '"e'
nv prohibiting all commerce between Ehsianu'
the home of the wOol-growers, and flahueIs' ''e
home of the weavers. That this was "'rec'
cause is shown by the fact that wneh the en-
hargo was raised five years later uaue iapiui'
improved a few years later civil war III i"''-
ders. whieh practically put an end for the "'"e
being TO Flemish weaving, was loHo"eu DH
fall in the demand for English WOOL Inc "''''
result of this was that famous incident III e'oho-
mic history the settlement OF F.emlsh worhI"e"
On england at the invitation Of Edward Ill Dur
ing all these years Edward was at war Will
France. but Mr. Hewins holds that this war
,.a, hv NO means an unmixed evil. Though busy
in a foreign conflict. England was at peace "i'"'"
hor o,r borders and this fact was doubtless an
;nnor,ant consideration with the men from ran
aers Incidentally the war led 10 disastrous
defeat for the pirates who infested the chahheI
and had inflicted great damage on Engnsh CONF
merce Calais the home Of he worst oil THESE
robbers was captured and converted ih'o d"
English port In the light Of these iacts MI
Hewins thinks that the importance OF the BLACK
Death as a cause Of the business DEPRESSION
though great has been exaggerated py hls'o-
rians Had the disease never appeared ne sees no
reason for supposing that subsequent commercial
DEVELOPMENT would have been materaii! uiiieI
ont and he adds: "In his commercial policy Ed
ward III does not appear to nave oeeh lh""-
enced by the great calamity. The prices Of the
wear l349 show that it caused RESTRICTION u
tho foreign demand for English goods, and Of the
SUNNY of foreign commodities, but SO iar as loi-
eign commerce was concerned the effect OF the
p,acr Death was immediate and temporary only
IT had none of those far-reaching consequences
In this sphere of economic activity when mace
u a turning point in agricultural history Inc
depression was. for the time, rendered more
severe than it otherwise would have been, bu' II
is noteworthy that the decline OF trade was at
tributed not to its influence. but TO the TACT t"at
the staple was out Of the country
This volume includes both the close Of the
mediaeval period and the opening of the history
of modern England and IT cxemplihes ane" no"
artificial the division is between mediaeValsh
and modernity. To the man living al the close
of the fifteenth century there was no sharp line
indicating the beginning Of new era. Inc age
y, Henry VII was. as A. l.. Smith remarks. a
perlod OF transition. 1t is marked by new IDEAS
and new influences: but they are only as yet in
germ The printing press Is at work. but us
first result is destructive. almost paraiyzns' 10
literature America is found both South and
North but the effect English Industry ana
commerce is hardly marked till Elizabeths reign
The New Learning had made its way to OXFORD
with Colet and Erasmus; but no breath OF nos
filthy can vet be detected against Church dogma
'There were indications that the era OF dipio-
macy was coming IN. but 1t was to be long oefore
the balance Of power would be adopted as a
clear principle. long even before Popes and leg
ates would be replaced by conferences and diplo-
matists out of this transitional character of
the times there arose some strange contrasts
The first free trade treaty was almost sinful
taneous with a law prohibiting usury. "A cru
SADIE and search for the Northwest Passage
tostled against each other The mediaevai is
constantly confronted with the modern Inc
Kings own character seems to reflect now tne