The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-16

What was Witnessed in the three CEN
turtles which form the specific subject of
DIR. Hills second volume was the passing
Of medievalism and the growth of national
sentiment. The practical restriction of
the Holy Roman Empire TO the kingdom Of
Germany, the disruption of the Papacy
by the Great Schism and the triumphs of
the national monarchies over feudalism,
mark the decline Of the institutions char
acterizing the period known as the Middle
Ages, the period Of about a thousand years
intervening let VIZ on the dissolution of the
Roman Empire in the west and the or
ganization of modern national States.
Our author reminds us that in the Middle
Ages life and society were essentially
corporate. Neither the State as a political
organism nor the individual as a social
unit had any proper existence. The most
universal corporation was the Church, in
which every person had an assigned posi-
ton. Kings and princes were its instru-
ments. but their authority was conceived
Of as derivsiive, not inherent and in isola-
ton from communion with the Church
even they we're outcasts Next in import
ance TO the Church was the feudal rela-
kJh Wy VIII WY 'h"H W hhN paw
in the social hierarchy. Even in the trans
formation by which feudalism was disin-
tegrated and finally destroyed the principle
Of corporate association formed the medium
81 deliverance: for in the process OF eman-
c~ipation from feudal servitude the cor
porate idea as embodied in the
the trade guild and the municipality fur
pished the only avenue of escape from
-
world. on the other hand. is characterized
by the freedom and the initiative OF the
Individual, unfcttered by corporate re-
strictions and rendered secure by organized
public protection. Thought, literature. art.
industry and commerce, which in medieval
times were subject 10 the rules of special
societies formed 10 promote and protect
chem, nave with the advent Of the modern
era derived their chief impulse from I'M
trammelled individual intelligence pursuing
its own unobstructed path.
A chapter devoted to the diplomacy Of
French expansion begins with an outline
OF the condition OF France at the end Of
the Hundred Years War with England.
by 1859, when the English had been expelled
from all Of their French possessions except
Calais. France had acquired more COM
pletely than any other country of Europe
the essential qualities of a modern State.
The administration of Charles VII. aided by
able Minister'S, had developed a financial
and military organization superior 20 any
other then existing. The acquisition Of
q standing army. supported by a fixed rev.
enue, enabled the French Kings 10 exercise
sn almost despotic sway over their people
and at the same time to carry on enter
prises OF territorial expansion n foreign
adventure which previously had been
impossible. The initiative now taken bv
France created a rivalry for power thai
gave a new character to the relations of all
the European States. The increased neces-
sity for Information regarding the activities
Of friends and enemies led 10 the mutiplica-
ton OF diplomatic missions, and the CON
slant contact with Italy maintained after
che invasiono Of the peninsula by Charles VIII.
opened the way for the adoption of Italian
methods OF statecraft and Italian notions
Of political equilibrium. In DIR Hills
opinion. however, II was the example Of
Louis XI., even more than the precepts
formulated more than a quarter Of a century
afterward by Machiavelli, that made the
roison d'Etdt the foundation Of European
politics for centuries. In bis vocabulary