BOOKS.

FINLAY'S HISTORY OF GREECE.*

NOTHING can be more opportune than the republication of Mr.. Finlay's works by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press. Those who take an interest in the fortunes of the populations of the Levant have reason to be especially thankful, for the writings of Mr. Finlay, which besides being almost the only books of any im- portance that have appeared in English on the Byzantine period, are invaluable to all who are not sufficiently masters of foreign lanuages to read the classical treatises on the Eastern Question which have appeared in French, German, and Italian. But even a knowledge of the works of Continental writers would not enable a real student to dispense altogether with those of Finlay. It is true that since he completed his labours, several very valuable books on Byzantine and Grecian history have appeared. It is * Finlay's History of Orme. Vols. I.-1711. New and Revised EditionovIth Notes,. by the Rev. H. F. Tozer. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

hardly an exaggeration to say, as the editor does, that Hopf has re- constructed the history of the Frankish and Venetian occupation, in

his Qeschichte Griechenlands vom Beginn des litittelalters ; Herzberg's

writings contain a large quantity of new material ; M. Rambaud, in a book of great learning and ability, Constantin Porphyrogenete, has given by far the best account of the state of things in the Eastern Empire during the tenth century ; and finally, Hirsch's Byzantinische Studien, only quite recently published, is the pro- foundest investigation yet made into the sources of Byzantine history.

These writers have treated portions of the subject more fully than Mr. Finlay, and more than one of them had access to sources which he did not consult. Nevertheless, his statesmanlike per- ception gives a peculiar value to his works, and the manner in which he has treated some of the economical problems of the Eastern Question is so complete, that some of his volumes may be compared, in their way, to the classical books of Fallmerayer, Wurm, and Eichmann. During the latter part of his life, Mr. Finlay • revised his writings with a view to their republication, and rewrote almost the whole of the four first volumes and the greater part of the three last. The present edition has been revised with great care by the Rev. Mr. Tozer, of Exeter College, Oxford, who has enriched it with valuable notes.

It has often been said that to understand a book, it is necessary to have some acquaintance with the personal

character of the author and the general circumstances of his life. Although this canon of criticism cannot be accepted without reserve, it is certain that the number of literary productions which can be regarded as isolated works, complete in themselves,

is extremely limited. Books which have had the profoundest influ- ence, and which at first sight may seem exceptions, will be found

not to be so on closer examination. The Wealth of Nations is an instance in point. This was long considered as something quite distinct from the earlier essay of its author on the Theory of Moral Sentiments. But Dr. Oncken, of Vienna, in his interest-

ing treatise, entitled, Adam Smith and Immanuel Kant, has recently shown that a very intimate connection exists between

these two books, and that the teaching of the Scotch philosopher has been misunderstood and narrowed, in consequence of this having been ignored. Mr. Finlay's historical writings have no pre- tensions to the pre-eminence of the great work of his distinguished

countryman, and his peculiar education and external circum- stances influenced his literary labours to a degree more than

usually great. Indeed, some knowledge of his life would seem almost indispensable, to comprehend how it came to pass that he wrote concerning some historical phenomena with exceptional

success, and at the same time overlooked or neglected certain great, determining causes, in a way very surprising in so eminent a man.

George Finlay was born in the last days of December, 1799, and had the misfortune to lose his father, a scientific officer of some distinction, when still quite a child. The years of his boyhood were spent in the house of his uncle, Mr. Kirkman Finlay, a successful man of business, and the representative of the Glasgow District of Burghs in the Imperial Parliament. Mr.

K. Finlay was a man of sound judgment and of more than re- spectable talents. He had a considerable knowledge of English

history, and was well acquainted with the principles of economic

science. This latter accomplishment was rare in those days, nor is it by any means so common even in our time as

is generally supposed. Before, however, the little boy went to live with his uncle, his mother had been in the habit of reading to him the history of England, explain- ing it in a way that made it interesting to a child, and

to this circumstance he himself always ascribed his love for his- tory. But it was from his uncle that he acquired the habit of

connecting the knowledge learnt from books with political and economical thought and experience, which give a real value to his writings. This employment of political economy in solving historical problems is a leading feature in Mr. Finlay's method of investigation, and he has made use of it with extra- ordinary success. The most striking portions of these volumes are certainly those in which he treats of questions of com-

mercial policy, and to take only a few examples at random, his description of the political consequences of the depre- ciation of the coinage by the Roman Emperors, his expla- nation of the commercial interests connected with the origin of the Crusades, and his account of the Maona of the Giusti- the famous Genoese trading company, would alone suffice to secure him a place of high rank among those who have I devoted their lives to recording the actions of mankind. The

consequences of the depreciation of the Roman coinage have not been treated by historians in general with the attention they deserve. Still there is no doubt that the financial policy of the Emperors, and particularly that of Caracalla, was one of the chief causes of the impoverishment and depopulation of the Empire, through its tendency to destroy capital and diminish the demand for labour. Mr. Finlay's account, therefore, of the monetary frauds which the Emperors systematically perpetrated on their subjects supplies a real want in English literature, and the pages which he has devoted to it in his first volume, and the appendix, "Roman and Byzantine Money," may be read with profit even by those who are acquainted with such works as Monunsen's Ucher den T'erfall des Manzwesens in der Kaiserzeit, or Cohen's Description des Monnaies frapp'es sow.- l'Empire Romain.

The commercial interests which helped to originate the Crusades have also been very generally overlooked. A few historians and some economists have indeed taken pains to describe the extent to which the conditions of trade were altered, improved, and widened by them. M. Perin has devoted some remarkable pages of his book, De la Richesse dans la Societe Chre'tienne ; and M. Michaud two elaborate chapters, in the fourth volume of his Bistoire des Croisades, to a careful analysis of their commercial results. But neither the economist nor the historian has insisted with equal force on the commercial interests which, in reality, had as much to do in producing the Crusades, as these expeditions had in extending the relations of trade. Mr. Finlay, though he has described this more carefully, has not, unfortunately, quoted his authorities. There is, however, no doubt of the fact. Long before the time of the Crusades, the productions of Asia had excited the attention of Europe. Gregory of Tours tells us that the wine of Gaza had a considerable reputation in France in the reign of Gontran, and the courtiers of Dagobert adorned them- selves with the rich silks of the East. The Kings of France had always near them a Jewish merchant, who was charged to go every year to the East, to buy the luxuries only to be had there. In the year 870 a French monk, Bernard by name, went to Palestine,with two companions, one an Italian, the other a Spaniard. The account of his journey may be found in the Acta Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, and we learn from him and other writers that in the ninth century Venetians, Genoese, and merchants of Pisa. Amalfi, and Marseilles had counting-houses in Alexandria, in other maritime towns of the Levant, and in the Holy City itself. It was the derangement in this trade caused by the conduct of the Seljouk Turks which determined many to take the Cross. The yearly fair held at Jerusalem was in danger of being closed, and the trade between the East and the West, as far as it was likely to be allowed to continue at all, of becoming a monopoly of the Greeks. It is therefore certain that the commercial necessities of the times, as well as the Northern spirit of adventure, sentiments of piety, the sup- posed interest of the Catholic Church, or the fiery eloquence of Peter the Hermit, must be taken into consideration, in deter- mining the causes of that mighty movement of the eleventh century to chase the Paynim from the country where the Re- deemer had lived. Those of our readers who may desire to pursue this subject further will find valuable information in a book written by the Abbe Culler, and published at Amiens in 1756 ; and also in a learned dissertation by M. de Guignes, in the thirty- seventh volume of the 31Cmoires de l'Acadende des Inscrip- tions et Belles Lettres.

This side of the Crusades escaped even the penetrating glance of Gibbon, and that it was not ignored by Finlay was owing, no doubt, to a great extent, to the impressions de- rived in the great house of business in Glasgow, in which he spent his boyhood. It was also his keen commercial in- stincts which saved him from neglecting to notice one of the most remarkable Governments which ever existed in the Levant, and which, strange to say, has also been passed over in silence by the illustrious historian of the Decline and Fall. Yet the Genoese domination in the island of Chios always merited particular attention, for it is, we believe, the very first example in history of a mercantile company of shareholders conducting the ad- ministration of a distant country. The origin of this Com- pany was entirely accidental. In the year 1316 an expedi- tion against the declining Empire was fitted out by the Republic of Genoa, at a moment when the public treasury was entirely exhausted. The funds for fitting out the expedition were raised by private persons, who subscribed the money in shares. The Republic pledged itself to secure these citizens against all loss, and mortgaged a portion of the annual revenue to pay the interest on the money advanced. Chios and Phocma were conquered, but when Vigniosi, who commanded the expedition, returned to Genoa, he found that the State was unable to refund the expenses. He then concluded a convention between the subscribers and the Government. The former were constituted into a joint-stock company, and recognised as the pro- prietors and governors of the island of Chios, under the suze- rainty of Genoa, for a period of twenty years. During that time, the Republic of Genoa reserved its right to assume possession, on payment of an adequate sum of money. The Republic, however, was not able to pay its debt, and the shareholders of the Com- pany acquired the right to administer the revenue of Chios. Their government lasted for upwards of two centuries, and was remarkable for the excellence of its administration, and its com- parative freedom from oppression. It offers more than one point of resemblance with that famous English Company which re- ceived authority to exercise territorial government in 1624, and which before it ceased to exist, in 1858, had founded one of the greatest empires ever known to the world. And we may remark in passing that, had Mr. Mill been ac- quainted with the history of the Maona of the Giustiniani, he might have strengthened his argument as to the manner in which a free country can best govern distant dependencies, in his well-known chapter on this subject in Representative Government.

Finlay went for the first time to Greece in 1823, and made the acquaintance of Lord Byron, Frank Hastings, and other Phil- hellenes. His visit was a short one, but soon after his return to Scotland he went out again, and made Greece his second home. He bought a landed estate in Attica, and when order seemed to be established under King Otho, he engaged in farming, but lost his money. It was then that he turned his attention to study and resolved to write the history of the Greek Revolution. This gradually grew into the great work now before us. From 1864 to 1870 he was Correspondent of the Times at Athens, and now and then from 1842 he contributed to various periodicals articles which, collected and published in a convenient form, would do much to enlighten the public on the Eastern Question. He has been reproached with having used hard language to the Greeks, but it must not be forgotten that he was a sincere well-wisher of the Grecian cause, the wisest and most sober of Philhellenes, and his sound political judgment convinced him that the development of the Hellenic kingdom and the solution of the Eastern Question in the Hellenic sense depended, not on intrigue, but on the establishment and working of an honest Government, that should present to the Christians of the Levant the spectacle of a well-governed, intelligent, and free community. He knew too well that the character of the emancipated Greeks was the chief obstacle to the progress of their State, and the greatest prop of the Ottoman Empire.

It would not be fair to our readers if we did not allude to the deficiencies in Finlay's history, and the more so, as these were also owing to his Scottish education. The first and chief one is the meagreness with which he treats the ecclesiastical side of history. This is the more to be regretted, because religious differences have had so overpowering an influence on the politics of the East. Finlay was, of course, too eminent a man to share the narrow prejudices of his countrymen against the Catholic Church ; he does more than justice to the Eastern policy of the Papal Court, and is not stingy in his praises of the efforts made by the Latin clergy in the cause of civilisation in the Levant. But his Scotch contempt for ritual causes him to be specially severe on the Orthodox, and the religious narrowness of the Scotch mind prevented him from gauging the political importance which theological disputes have often had. In this respect, his history is infinitely inferior to that of Gibbon, who still merits the eulogy pronounced on him by Dr. Newman, of being almost the only ecclesiastical historian in the English language worthy of the name.

There is another point in which Mr. Finlay betrays his insular origin, and his want of comprehension of European politics. The diplomatic portion of his work is anything but satisfactory. Prince Eugene, who really gave the death-blow to the Turkish Power, is only mentioned as " an experienced General " and "able statesman." It will not surprise our readers, after this, to learn that the effects of the peace of Carlowitz, although that treaty marks a turning-point in the history of • South-Eastern Europe, are entirely ignored. The policy of the Emperor Joseph is passed over almost in silence, and no mention whatever made of the diplomatic and political relations between Catharine IL and Frederick the Great, although it would be difficult to exaggerate their influence on the destinies of the populations of the Balkan Peninsula.

Finlay died at Athens in 1876, and notwithstanding the dark shadows which he saw gathering round his adopted country, he never for an instant ceased to hope that happier times, and perhaps even brighter destinies, were in store for Greece. " Two thousand years" — these are the closing words of his history— " of the life of the Greek nation have been passed in Roman subjection, Byzantine servitude, and Turkish slavery. During this long period, Greek history is uninviting, even when it is most instructive. The efforts the Greeks are now making to emerge from this state of degradation will supply materials for a valuable chapter in the history of civilisation. conclude with the sincere wish that these efforts may not be in vain, and that their complete success may find an able historian."'