OUR LITERARY CORNER.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14686, 7 June 1913, Page 9

OUR LITERARY CORNER.

THE INTERNATIONAL HISTORICAL CONGRESS

(By J. W. Jovnt, M.A.)

It is an age of International Congresses. Ono of the most remarkable features of our time is the extension of tho principle of international solidarity and co-operation in all that pertains to learning, discovery, and tho complex machinery of civilisation. And this happens while the nations are glaring at each other, each preparing cither to make a spring at the throat of its neighbour, or to receive and repel a Bpring directed against its own throat. It is all very curious and bewildering. To see an international assembly of savants in a congress room, wreathed in smiles, tinging with friendly enthusiasm, each showering compliments on tho work of the other nations than his own —and then to read a chauvinistic articlo in a French or German newspaper, makes one realise how far removed our international politics are from tho sereno and unimpassionod atmosphere in which the real intellectual work of tho world is done. However, we cannot pursue these reflections hero. It is enough to say that in the matter of friendliness and heartiness of cooperation, and tho nbsenco of petty national prejudices, the Historical Congress just held in London worthily uphold the traditions of such assemblies. Hero in England there is a deep feeling that tho effect of tho meeting will bo to give an immense impulso to study and investigation over the whole field of History, besides enlarging the bounds, and improving tho perspective, of tho historical sense. Tt wa3 my privilege to attend this Congress as delegate from tho University of New Zealand.

It was the fourth of tho quinquennial International Historical Congresses. The first was held at Amsterdam in 1898, tho second at Rome in* 1903, the third at Berlin in 1908. The organisation of tho present meeting was chiefly in the hands of tho British Academy, and its secretary was the secretary of tho Academy, Professor Israel Gollancz, of King's College, generally known as tho editor of the little Temple sories of books. Tho President of tho Congress was the Right Hon James Bryce, British Ambassador to tho United States, whoso recpnt visit is, I havo no doubt, fresh in the memory of New Zealanders. Unfortunately Mr Bryce was unable to ho present, having been detained in America longer than he had anticipated; . and the Presidential duties wero discharged, and the Presidential Adda-ess read, by Dr. A. W. Ward, Master of Peterhouso College, Cambridge, and President of the British Academy. As we sit waiting for the opening of tho proceedings, let oa glance round tho assembly and pick out a few of the more prominent personages. Before" us are many of the historical luminaries of Europe. 7 ;~ And first, of the foreigners: There is Wilamowite-Moellcndorf, of the Prussian Academy', perhaps the most striking figure of the Congress. There is yon Gierke, the great jurist from Berlin, and there aro Liebermann and Ediiard Meyer, also from Berlin (though tho latter confessed that ho, had done all his early study of antiquity at tho British Museum). There aro ;Rostowzew, from St. Petersburg, Kosohaker, from Prague, Poussin and Pirenne, from Belgium, Cordier from the French Institute, Davidsohn from Florence, La Scala from Innsbruck, Lamprecht from Leipzig. Of foreigners teaching in England there are Vinogradoff from Oxford, and LehmannHaiipt from Liverpool. Tho British schools make a brave show. There aro Bury of Cambridge (the successor of Lord Acton), Firth of Oxford, Mahaffy of Dublin, Holdsworth of Oxford, Lodge of Edinburgh, Prothero ofiCambridge, James Murray of the great Oxford Dictionary, Sir F. G. Kenycn, Director of the British Museum, Percy Gardiner of London, Sir George Trevelyan (still brisk, and putting us in touch with Macaulay), Frederic Harrison (octogenarian Positivist, Social reformer, historical and literary freelance), J. Holland Rosa, Julian Corbett, Oman of Oxford (who tortures New Zealand candidates far History!), Gwatkin, the great ecclesiastical ■ historian, and so on. One other group excites interest: the women. We notice Gertrude Lowthian Bell (who has done some good travelling and exploration), and somo bearers of great names, such as Mrs Mandell Creighton, Mrs J. R. Green, Miss Alma Tadema, Miss Holman Hunt. The work of the Congress was divided between general meetings and sectional meetings. The general meetings, at which all members and delegates ■wero supposed to attend, were mostly held in the Great Hall of 'Lincoln's Inn, a noblo and beautiful chamber, and well suited to the dignity of such an occasion. At these meetings papers of a general or comprehensive character were read, and were not followed by discussion. They were presided over by the Acting-President of tho Congress. The sectional meetings were severally occupied with special departments or periods of history, and each had its own president and secretary. It was in connection with these sectional meetings that the only serious inconvenienco of tho Congress manifested itself. There wero nine sections, three of them being divided into three sub-sections each, making fifteen in all to bo provided for. It proved impossible to get accommodation for ■ more than two or three in any ono building, the result being that they were scattered over a considerable area of tho city. Some were held at University College, some at King's College, somo at Burlington House, some at the Royal United Service Institution, somo at tho Royal College of Physicians. These places aro a good way apart, so that one's freedom in visiting more than two or three sections was limited. Sometimes one saw on the time-table two papers, ono immediately following the other, both of which one greatly desired to hear, but tho localities of which were, perhaps, a mile and a half apart. However, cheerful peoplo (especially the foreigners) made tho best of such inconveniences, and the taxis profited largely by the meeting. Then thoro

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED MATTER.

NOTES ON BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

was the social side—always a big factor in those London gatherings. Every moment of the five days and eveniigs seemed to bo provided* for. Even for tho lunch interval there were invitations co visit some special collections not generally known, or some special processes, or soino city localities of special historical interest. For the evenings there wero dinners and recep- j tions. generally two-deep. ! When one contemplates the actual work covered by the deliberations of tho Congress, one is almost staggered by its vastness and diversity of scope. From ancient Oriental history down to tho latest pha.so of colonial legislation; ironi tho coinage of Athens to tho rise ■ of modern Socialism; from the jurisprudence of Babylon to the latest de- j voiopruont ot British naval strategy; from tho tribes of Western China to { the distribution of classical manuscripts —in tho Middle Ages; from the origin of numbers to the armouries of the lower of London; from Tiberius to Walpolo; from the literary problems ol Buddhism to "English i'duscopul Kegi* tens—but one migut go on interminably with the exLrernivs touched by those two hundred and twenty papers and subsequent discu--f:iori3. And when we consider that <.very reader was an expert, and every paper a research, one may realise, however dimly, how immense and how varied a contribution to historical j knowledge and to the elucidation of historical problems this vast aggregate represented. The latest disclosures ot" tho spa\lo, the latest results of personal travel and exploration, tho latest collection of manuscripts, the latest comparative study of origi-ial authorities: all were laid before us, and (what enhanced tho Interest) by the individual men themselves who had done the work. Tho dim, i'ar-off things of history were brought into vivid relation with tho problems and interests of modern times. Muman history seemed to unfold itself beforo us, not in a broad, sweeping panorama, but in illuminated patches, absolutely heterogeneous, and yet each instinct with a life which it shared incommon with all the others.

The only attempt one can make at a I synopsis of such a programme is to J give the departments of history with which tho sections severally occupied I themselves. They were as follow:—! Section 1., Oriental History, with j Egyptology; Section 11., Greek, Roman, j and Byzantine History, Section 111., ) Mediaeval History; Section IV, Mod-i crn History: History of Colonies and ) Dependencies: and Military and Naval] History; Section V., Religious and Ecclesiastical History; Section W., Legal History, and Economic History; j Section V1I. ; History of Medkeval and i Modern Civilisation: Section VIII., j Archaeology, with Prehistoric Studies i and Ancient Art; Section IX., Related and Auxiliary Sciences. Two of theso were new, that is, added to the programme of the Congress for the first time; namely, Naval Hiotory .md Colonial History: no doubt, in compliment to Britain's achievements in both. Tho i President of the Naval Sub-section was Princo Louis of Battenberg, and of the Colonial Sub-section, Sir George Reid. Each reader or speaker spoke in his own language, except that, of course, tho Russian and Poles spoko French. | The languages to bo heard wero Eng- I lish, French, German and Italian. Next i to English, German was the most com- | mon; in fact, tho Germans read more papers and made more speeches j tnan all the other foreigners put j together. In somo departments I they quite outnumbered tho Bri- ! tish contributors. Somo of them were much easier to follow than others; but, on'the whole, I think their elocNi- | tion was better than that of the Brittish. In other respects, too, there was a remarkable contrast, which, no doubt, others also have noticed; who have attended lectures from German professors. The German professor is much more animated and dramatic in his manner than the British. He gives one the impression that ho means to get what he is saying into you, whether you will or no; that it is a living thing for him. and ho means to make it a living tiling for you., Tho British manner is more casual and perfunctory; tho man may know his subject just as well as the other, but ho does not seem to strike lire out of it, as the German does. The German professor is not afraid to rise to eloquence. At the Congress ono paper by WrlamowitzMoellondorf on a purely antiquarian subject was an oratorical treat of tho first order. Probably the majority of his auditory did not understand a word he was saying, but he seemed to kindle them all by tho pure fervour of his eloquence. An English scholar, delivering a paper on the same subject, j would have stood at his reading-desk, turned over his pages like a schoolboy, carefully controlled thei inflections of his voice, and, when finished, have sat j down without moving a muscle of his j face. Yet, let there be no misapprehension, this only applies to the manner. Many of the, British papers read at the Congress were at the very top of contemporary scho'nrship. and obviously made a deep impression on tho foreign scholars who listened to them. One other contrast struck sharply on the ear; namclv. that between the British and Continental methods of pronouncing Latin and Greek. For the elder generation of British ■ scholars Ftul adhere to what is ca'led the old pronuirinrion. Whatever may be the philological rights and wrongs of the matter, there is no doubt ns to which method is the more sonorous and improprive. . Beforo concluding it may be of interest to snv a word or two on Mr Brvce and bis Presidential address. Since the brilliant achievement oi his enriier years. "The Holy Roman Empire " Mr Bryce has chiefly devoted himself to the great modern national movements in Constitution-making and State-building, such as the United States of America, South Africa, and (quite recently) the Republics cf Soutn America. And, therefore, it was natural that in this address he should ask leave to speak as a traveller, not as a student of manuscripts or printed liooks. He first indicated the three main hncs on which advance has been made in recent years in our knowledgo of mans doings on the globe. First, there was the vast amount of material which archaeology has accumulated for the study of Primitive Man. Secondly, tho iast"sixty yeais have added to our knowledge of early Mediterranean civilisations more than did ail the cen turies that had elapred since the days of Macedonian and Roman conquests. Third y, geographical discovery, followed by settlement., has brought within our ken the habi. f .s and manners, the religious ideas and rudimentary political "institutions, of a large number of backward races and tribes scattered over the earth. Having developed them, Mr Bryce looked jround him on the world as it is. He'found, in the first place, smaller, weaker, or more backivard races, changing or vanishing, l>v absorption or otherwise, under the impact of civilised man. Ethnologists, philologists, and students of folk-lore are at work recording these expiring forms of speech and embodiments in custom of primitive human thought, Historians also havo their duty in trying to save those precious relics. After dealing with var ous problems opened up by this race-study. Mr Bryce passed on to another striking feature of th« [ world as it is. The world is becoming [ ono in an altogether new sense. Th« European races havo now gained do minion over nearly the whole of the ' earth. Africa has been practical^

partitioned between three European Powers. Al mfcs t even,- pare of the earths surface, except the territories ot China and Japan, is either owned or controlled by hv 0 or six European races. Light great Powers sway the destinies ol the gobe In consequence of this narrowing, the movements of policies economics, and thought in our region became more closely interwoven with those of every other. Whatever happens in any part of tho globe lias now a significance for every other part. "The great wave that swings round the world makes its last ripples felt in the worlds remotest corner. In regions till lately j unexpored, in the sombre depths of , African or Brazilian forests, or on the oases that lies scatter.*! along the ' dreary deserts of Mongolia, the forj tunes ot native tribes are affected ov what passes in European Capitals." After enlarging on this new solidarity of world-interests, and its transforming effect on tiie perspective of History, ;Mr Bryce concluded with an appeal to I historians to make Truth and" I ruth j only their aim and, not only so, but to j strive that the common devotion to j truth which unit™ the students of nil ; civilised peoples may operate also in disI polling those jealousies and lnisund-r----i standings, which threaten the concord !of nations.