New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-07-18
TIVE pANsFATIC LEAGUE.

cvpoxrC1rs OF THREE FREE CITIES:
USN;Ei-RG BREMEN LUEbECh; ~
WILSON King. onc-time Consul oI
United states az Bremen. III. ~
PRODUCTION by the Rev -, Ms Vii
snn Kins and others Svo.. pp. ~ AVA
r. Y. button & GO
With the publication Of this welcome
work Mr.. King adds his name TO the
long list Of diplomatic and consular
representatives Of TINS country VINO
have served literature in its widest
sense. The tradition is a fine one, as
old as the Republic itself, since it began
with BENJAMIN Franklin, and II has IN
scribed on its roll of honor the names
of Motley, Lowell. John Hay, Howe!is,
Bioelow. TO mention only Few among
SO MANY. Mr.. King moGestly dlsclslmS
al credit for original research. he mas
cone TO the best historical authorities
found in Germany, driven 10 MS 'ash
nv his discovery OF the scarcity OF
works on the Hanseatic League ana us
members in the English language
scarcity that was all the stranger De-
cause the story Of the great med!sNal
German trading towns OF the North
Sea and the Baltic is closely inter
woven with that OF the birth ana
growth of British maritime commerce;
The book is, in a way, history OF
the Hanseatic League, but II ls chlen!
concerned with the fortunes OF the
three great centres of its prosperity
and power named in its title. IL Tens
their story from their foundation !VS'
in the mists of earliest saxon setlie-
r1ents. down 20 their decline during the
Tbirty Years War, the death blows
dealt TO them by the Napoleonlc regime
and. finally, the revival that came 70
Two NJ then, with the foundation OF
the new German Empire. Bremen ana
hamburg have opened new chapters OF
their history; Lubbock has failed TO re-
new the rlories and profits Of the olden
davs II has become a monument OF
mast erandeurs. historic survival, IKE
The cities of the Zuider Zee. some oil
which. TOO. have their page IN the an
nails Of the Hanseatic League. Inc
cbronicles Of these three cities are
flled with enterprise and war ana
n;rorv with defiance Of great poten,
istes' with commercial rlyalTles, ana
With instances Of violent measures IN
restraint or the promotion Of TRADE,
which prove that what has happened
in our own day is but a repetition IN
modern form and with new weapons Oh
economic struggles of long ago:
The German Emperor's words. Ger
nany's future lies on the ocean, nave
echoed around the world. and seem
destined 70 become historic. MI Ming
reminds US that the empires 1uture
Law there hundreds OF years ago; tnst
II might have Grasped It then. ana lnaI
II failed in retaining the grip Oh VIZ
worlds trade II actually dld secuIY
only because II lacked a great cehIia a
nov;er 10 uphold il. the very power
iprL;ch +o-day forwards and fosters the
commerce Of Hamburg and Bremen, the
newer which England had securely eS-
,sbI;sbed AZ the end OF the Middle
Ages. and which the great Colbert en-
ployed in France. NJ
From sill another point OF view III
Kings work is of interest. II ADDS
80 our knowledge and understanding
of the meaning OF the rise or the ihiuc
die class in medieval Europe, ana o.
no mart plaved b. the merchant IN US
oco,oroic and social development. I'M
nbase of history has been MADE
fsn,iliar 10 US in the case OF the grea'
.~adinr towns OF the Belgian Ne'ner-
lands and Of England; at the oi1eI
nnd 81 the Continent Italy mas adoeu
i,a evidence. but the record is not CON
nlete without the chronicle OF VIA
was done By the merchant pa'rlclaL
~ Northern Germany, VINO IN an I'M
no,ent. divided empire. estaohsheu d"
,nnerium OF their own. whose i 3lI
my. cached from the interior Of Rus
en- 70 their clubhouse IN London
s sTh manners and habits Of the better
IN ~ citizens Of Lubbock or Bremen
g. - .birteenth and fourteenth cen
,nriasp writes Mr.. King, were su-
nerior 70 those OF the courts OF berllh
or Bayreuth in the eighteenth cenluIs
- ve can believe the contemporary aC-