SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.] The Strength of England. By J. W. Welsford, M.A. (Longmans and Co. 5s. net.)—Sir John Seeley said something to the effect that history was the politics of the past. Mr. Welsford's book is a. case in point. He gives it the sub-title of "A Politico-Economic History of England," and he means it to have a close bearing on the politics of to-day. Its speciality is the relation between the trade and the political actions of the European nations. Naturally the standpoint is England, but a careful account is taken of England's relations with other countries, the Low Countries being, it may be said, the most important. Mr. Welsford, whose premature death we join with Dr. Cunningham in deploring—Dr. Cunningham has written an appreciative preface—was a Tariff Reformer, or, to use the more expressive word, a Protectionist. So of Henry VII. he says :—" If it is possibly too much to claim for Henry VII. the inauguration of the protective policy, he and his descendants made England great by loyally adhering to it." Indeed, he seems to doubt whether a Free-trader can feel any genuine pleasure in England's great- nese. In the " Envoi" addressed to " British Free Traders " we
read :—
" If you are doubters, pray forgive what's said In praise of England."
Apart from this, though it affects more or less the whole book, there is much to be learnt from this history. Many things are put in a new light ; the economical aspect of the monastic v. secular controversy is one of them. We may not accept Mr. Welsford's conclusion, but it is impossible to read his work without profit.
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