Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/140

 1 30 Reviews of Books a nearly correct view was set forth by Rait and many years ago by Cosmo Innes. Then comes the process by which Parliament threw off its bond- age to the Articles, and rose " to a reasonable level of procedure with the English Parliament ". There is slight contribution, to be sure, on the two constitutional revolutions. Gardiner, for example, explains the essential facts of 1640, and those of 1689-1690 are well known. What Professor Terry does show is that Parliament made a great advance in procedure in 1640 and the years immediately following and held much of that gain between 1660 and 1689. The evidence for all this is scat- tered through several chapters, and some minor positions (for example, see the first half of page 146) appear mistaken. Also the more inde- pendent procedure of Parliament is not reconciled with its political docility. This illustrates a general limitation of the book — too few ex- planatory references to political history. Nevertheless, the general con- tribution of the later chapters is of highly substantial value. The book ends with a patriotic lament. "Pathetic in other aspects, the Union is tragic in this, that it forever closed the career of Parlia- ment at the moment when, after long preparation, it was ready and able to play a fitting part in the nation's history." All of which is, no doubt, affecting; still it seems possible that Professor Terry and those who share his regret might forget their tears by contemplating the present supremacy of Scotsmen in the British Empire. Joseph Parker Warren. Histoire de France depiiis !es Origines jusqu'd la Revolution. (Publiee sous la direction de M. Ernest Lavisse.) Louis XIV.: La Fronde, Le Roi, Colbert (164^-1685). Par E. Lavisse. (Paris: Hachette et Cie. 1906. Pp. 404.) As the supplementary title implies, this volume has to deal with the institutional history of France during the period of Louis XIV.'s reign, prior to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The following is an analysis by chapters. " Livre I., la Periode Mazarine: Avant la Fronde, La Fronde, Apres la Fronde; Livre II., V Installation du Roi: Le Roi, le Premier Ministere, L'6tat en 1661, L'Offre de Colbert; Livre III., le Gouvernement economique : Finances, Travail, Grand Commerce et Colo- nies; Livre IV., le Gouvernement politique: Reduction a I'Obeissance, Lois, Justice et Police; Livre V., le Gouvernement de la societe: Artisans et Paysans, I'Ordre des Officiers ; Noblesse, Clerge." The fact that this volume is from the pen of the editor-in-chief and projector of the series of which it is a part gives it great interest. The historical world has known that M. Lavisse has been devoting his time for some years past to the reign of Louis XIV. Intimations of this have been conveyed to the public through the medium of essays from his pen bearing upon this period, which have appeared in various re- views from time to time, and M. Lavisse has lectured upon it at the Sorbonne.