New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-05-17

author himself, who personally super
vised and authorized whatever abridg-
ments were made in his English version.
The nations of the Old World and tho
New have been busily rewriting their
histories during the last fifty years by
the light Of the scientific historic method.
History Itself has assumed n new signih-
canoe. expressed first of all and with IN
creasing frequency in tho words the
people" IN the titles Of the works II In
spires. Professor Blocks is "a History
Of the People Of the Netherlands" his
tory Of its social economic and cultural
development as well as Of the part II
PLAYED in the affairs OF war and peace
Of Europe and the modern world. and.
finally. history OF the rulers and lead
ers that led II on TO its position in the
family Of nations at the beginning OF he
twentieth century.
The eminent Dutch historian was the
right man in the right place at the right
moment when he began his task. Dutch
history urgently needed rewriting. A
wealth OF new material. Of new docu-
mentary evidence and studies Of various
periods and pcrsonages based thereon
had gradually accumulated in mono
graphs, the pages Of periodicals and
other unrelated forms. The modern In
vestigators had been busy. and 10 good
purpose. A well stored brain and n
trained hand were awaited to co-ordi-
al III
so much OF revision Of accepted tradi-
lions, opinions and interpretations. and
! to weave 1t into an organic whole. Pro-
fessor Biloxi undertook the task consci-
entiously, regardless Of national sus-
capabilities. and with the authority Of
, fulness of knowledge.
The sources OF information concerning
the beginnings OF the people Of the Low
Countries have remained as scant as they
were before the modern historian Il
tempted to lift the veil. Cesar and
Tacitus still are our chief informants,
together with some minor Roman
writers. Nor do we know much more If
| the Dark Ages I'm the Netherlands. The
lives of the missionaries To the heather
here are of chief value Suffice II TO say
that out Of the minging Of Franks Sax
ons and Frisians sprang the later
Dutch stock. Feudaism had its day
Of counts and dukes, OF the beligerent
bishops Of Utrecht, OF free lords of all
degrees. until toward the end of the
Middle Ages, the foundations were laid
OF the prosperity and strength and DO
litical Importance Of the Low Countries
by their union under the rule of the
House Of Burgundy, from which, by in
heritance. they passed into the hands OF
charles V. 1t Is worth noting that the
influence Of politics upon the social and
economic evolution OF a people was more
direct and marked in the Netherlands
during the fifteenth. sixteenth and seven
teenth centuries than almost anywhere
else In history.
The interest OF the world at large in
the history Of the Netherlands centres
In the war with Spain and the glorious
career of the republic during the seven
teenth century. The struggle for re-
ligious and political freedom made the
country. In the late Professor Thorold
Rogers's words, the Holy Land Of the
modern world" The republic took the
lead. under William III, In the struggle
for the preservation of the balance Of
power in Europe against the vaulting
ambition Of Louis xiv. 1t exhausted its
strength and wealth, It lost it's interna-
tional authority in the protracted effort.
which was matter OF national life or
death. England. not Holland, profited In