New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-08-12

The Middle Ages Up. XIX 49, N''"''"
Mr. Henderson calls his book an experiment.
He has been told by competent authority that
there is little interest in the history OF mediae'ai
Germany among those who read English. His
belief is that the lack Of interest Is due 10 'he
fact that the history has not been properly mar
rated That the story Of Germany In the Mioue
Ages could be made of absorbing interest Is GER
+o,r but I. Is not 50 certain that Mr.. Hender-
son has adopted the best method OF reiatihg H.
Az tho history has always been told, and as II
,s reiterated In this book, there are episodes OF
tho greatest interest, but the narrative as a
whole lacks form and continuity. The tale Is
me OF warning princes, of intriguing popes' ana
.ronarors hard beset Somehow the people OF
Germany rarely appear in the drama. whether
O. history of the German people i'm the Middle
Ages can or cannot be written is question lor
axperts II 1t cannot. then what Is written VIII
always be less attractive than 1t should De- Inc
author describes the vast quantity OF ma'er'a'
that is now accessible for recording every stage
~ German development; yet he has conpara-
tiyely little to say Of any except the pohlicai
aspect OF German life. In the case OF England
contemporary records furnish directly or ind'-
rectly the means for a comparatively compete
study of the social life OF the people from very
.r,,, +in,es The same can be said OF France
.rd of Snain so far as the history of the latter
country can be extricated from legend lhere
are. Of course. specific reasons why the TASK
sbo,,ld he harder In the case of Germany than in
that of other nations of Europe. From the out
act its record is one of disunlon. Ger
many had no natural boundaries except
TO the south and the north Even In Roman
times the country was inhabited by diverse
tribes, and 1t Is only on rare occasions 'ha'
leader appears capable of uniting the savage ana
warlike population. Ariovistus and Arminius had
no sooner disappeared than the political confcd-
eracies which they formed fell to pieces very
much the same must be said of the great rulers
In later times. Charlemagne's empire, ouilt up
with so much skill. practically destroyed by
hts death. 1t required ages of conflict and dis
cussion to create the feeling Of unity that I'M
doubtedly exists to-day in Germany
Germans received from Rome training differ
ant from that given to other races. Britain was
for many generations occupied by Roman troops
France and Spain were highly civilized districts
NJ the empire but the best that the Romans
could do in Germany 10 shut the fierce
tribes outside of the empire with a wall Other
tribes were trained in civilization as communi-
ties on their own territory. The Germans who
came in contact with the Roman power came
practically as individuals In the course OF time
BY mere stress Of numbers they held a large
place in the imperial organism They filled the
armies Of Rome and the civil offices and hnaiIy
took possession Of the empire They came as
colonists In such multitudes that Northern italy
was practically Germanized and yet they never
assimilated with the people among whom tney
settled Possibly even in those days no German
left his native country willingly. They may have
felt as Walter Won der Vogeweide felt long after
ward when he said: He who wishes to look Tor
virtue and for true love shall come to our iand;
there delight is to be found in plenty. Oh. that
I may live long therein" The natural processes
of German emigration were seen in the twelfth
century, when the people. especially the agricuit-
urists. felt themselves crowded and began 10
press upon their neighbors to the eastward In
the eleventh century Germany possessed, says
Mr. Henderson, little more than the lands be-
tween the Elbe. Rhine and Danube; By the four
teenth she had doubled her territory. had en-
tended her bounds to the Baltic and the River
Vistula and had peoped Bohemia, S!lesia and even
Transatlantic with her colonists" This conquest
of new territory was accomplished by muliitudes.
each individual Of which was acting on his own
responsibility The work went on without refer
ence to the politics Of the time. Manse was
added to manse and village TO village. and so the
boundaries were moved outward almost imper-
ceptibly There exceptions TO this peace
full movement OF population. When Albrecht the
Bear about 1884, took possession of the land be-
tween the Ebe and the Havel. and the region
now known as Altmark, he had to fight FOR part
of the new territory. The crusade In ll47 against
the Wends depopuated a country when was
soon to be filled with German coonists. In Inc
following century the heather tribes OF Prussia
we're practically destroyed by the Teutonc Order
and their places were taken by Christian immi-
Erants In spite OF such exceptions the process
AZ colonization went on in general without any
preconceived purpose. As Mr. Henderson de-
scribcs it. II Is not unlike the westward march
of population in the United States. What could
properly be called war was rare but the settlers
were as mercess toward the savages whom they
d,sn,aced as the Americans toward the redmcn.
'"The Slavs were treated by the Germans says
Mr. Henderson. much as the redskins by their
American conquerors: in certain districts the war
AGAINST them was one OF determination. In the
Co,,ntv Of schwerin, about the year NO. We hear
of an order being given that every Slav who
couId not answer certain inquiries about himself
shoud be strung up to the nearest tree While
tho ancient movements into Italy were rather
those OF organized masses yet the results were
.,rniIar to those of the later period. The land
hunger Of the Teuton had been the same In all
ages.
The Germany whose history Mr.. Henderson re-
lates IS the Germany Of the emperor. the princes
and the mobiles He describes In few paragraphs
the growth Of cities around the market-Diaces
established by imperial decree. and he aliudes
to the quarrel between Frederick IL and his son
Henry VII which marks the growth attained by
the municipalities early IN the thirteenth CEN
fury Frederick looking TO the past. defended
the ancient rights Of the princes and the landed
aristocracy His son would have restricted the
power of the nobility by enarging the privileges
of the cities The controversy was settled In
favor OF the mobiles, whose cause Mr.. Henderson
seems to advocate, but subsequent events must