Page:English Historical Review Volume 35.djvu/302

 294 REVIEWS OF BOOKS April Surveys of Scottish History. By the late P. Hume Brown, F.B.A., LL.D., with an introduction by Viscount Haldane, O.M. (Glasgow : MacLehose, 1919.) The introduction which Lord Haldane has prefixed to this collection of essays and addresses is a graceful tribute to the memory of his friend, the first professor of Scottish history in a Scottish university. Lord Haldane lays just stress on Hume Brown's range of knowledge and width of outlook, and on the ' resolute self-discipline ' by which he ' equipped himself for the work to which he set his hand ', and he tells us of the charm of the conversation of ' the quiet self-possessed scholar '. In these miscel- laneous papers we can catch the note of charm which Lord Haldane recalls. The ' objective and impartial quality of his mind ' led Hume Brown to impose a severe restraint upon himself in his more formal compositions, and his clear, forcible, and refined style was an admirable medium of expression for his carefully considered views and statements. The force and dignity of his style are unimpaired in the papers in this volume, and anything meretricious or even rhetorical was always a physical impossibility for him, but in these occasional utterances he allowed himself something of the free play of suggestive fancy which marked his conversation. Most, if not all, of the papers have appeared in print before, and, by an unfortunate oversight, the occasions of their delivery or publication have not been indicated in their collected form. The first essay, on methods of writing history, was obviously its author's inaugural lecture at Edin- burgh. His plea for the special studies of his chair was characteristic of his attitude to the historian's task. ' Universities themselves ', he said, are the product of that very national life which it is the business of the historian to trace to its sources and to describe in its essential characteristics. If it were no more than as the interpreter of their own being, the subject of national history may claim an indefeasible right to a modest place in the universities of every nation. The speaker's own best claim to be the classical historian of his country lies in his power of describing the essential characteristics of the national life of Scotland at various periods, and, whatever modifications may have to be made in the light of future investigation, it is safe to prophesy that his book will always be read and valued for his presentation of the essence of the story ; in a phrase very familiar in Scotland, Hume Brown had history, which has set its mark upon many of his colleagues, interested him as the incarnation of different tendencies and ideals which for centuries have been part of the national life ; but he recognized the impossibility of any purely scientific treatment of such topics. It would require a recording angel to treat of mortal things with this degree of objec- tivity. ' A man cannot jump ofif his own shadow.'. . . There are persons and events that will not yield their secret to the best efforts of the analytic method ; after all the apparent factors have been detailed — of race, of moment, of environment — the insight which comes of impulse and imagination is needed to penetrate to the heart of the mystery. It was, perhaps, a defect of Hume Brown's qualities that he restrained his impulse and imagination in his History of Scotland, or it may be that limits of space are responsible for his decision ; but the operation of these
 * the root of the matter in him '. The ' rampant individualism ' of Scottish