acquainted with. The half pay allowed them will make their situation tolerable, which I apprehend would otherwise have been much otherwise. Her son Stephen1 lately sailed with his wife and four children for Quebec, to look out for the means of living when he gets there. Her son Oliver20 has been turnd off of the old family estate at West Chester since the cessation of hostilities, by commissioners acting under authority of the state, who gave him and several others a severe whiping, lest they should forget the Orders they had got to remove. Oliver had given his Mother a great deal of uneasiness not long before by a most foolish and disagreable marriage. My sister herself was threatend with the loss of her estate at West Chester, Union Hall,21 and to secure it has been obliged to remove there with her Daughter Nancy.22 It is a most horrid place to be in at present. They have been very quiet since they got there, now about three weeks, under the protection of some of the American Army who are stationd there to curb the lawless Bandittie who had got possession of the Country. Her son John23 is in New York, but I immagine he will not remain behind the British Army. Warner you recollect is in the 17th Dragoons.24 My brother Cad'r25 is in New York, his wife and family returnd to his estate at Coldingham26 after the peace, where they were well received and have met with no disturbance. He cannot go home himself to [till] the banishing act is repeald, and is advised to go out of the way, somewhere, when the evacuation takes place, till the act is repeald. His son Thomas27 and his wife intended going to Nova Scotia, with the Regt. who said a few days since, but Thom has been ill, and is not sufficiently recovered to undertake the voyage, and the difficulties they must encounter, not having the least corner prepard, or a spot of cleard ground, where they are going. Capt. Willett28 has got leave to go to England. 19 Stephen DeLancey, a lawyer, and recorder of Albany and clerk of Tryon county, N. Y. 20 Oliver DeLancey, a lieutenant in the royal navy, but resigned because he would not fight against his native land, America, in the Revolutionary War. The "foolish and disagreeable marriage" was presumably to Rachel Hunt, of West Farms, Westchester county. 21 Union Hill, West Farms, Westchester county. 22 Nancy DeLancey is not named in her mother's will. 23 John DeLancey, an officer in the British army. 24 Warren DeLancey, a cornet in the 17th Dragoons. 25 Cadwallader Colden, son of Lieut.-Gov. Cadwallader Colden and his wife, Alice Christy. He was born in New York, May 26, 1722, and married in 1745-6 Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Ellison, of New Windsor, N. Y. He died at Coldenham, Orange county, N. Y., on February 18, 1797. 26 Coldenham. See foot-notes 10, 25. 27 Thomas, son of the above Cadwallader and Elizabeth (Ellison) Colden, was born in 1754 and married February 16, 1781, Anne, daughter of William and Alice (Colden) Willet. During the Revolution he served as an officer in the New Jersey Volunteers and the Pennsylvania Loyalists, being a major on halfpay until his death, March 30, 1826, at New York. 28 Capt. Gilbert Colden Willet of the 2nd battalion of DeLancey's Brigade, son of Col. William Willet and his second wife, Alice, daughter of Lieut.-Gov. Cadwallader and Alice (Christy) Colden. He married Susan, daughter of Robert Murray, of New York, and was a vestryman of St. Mark's Church in that city in 1799. Now for myself, here am I, condemnd to suffer death, if ever I am found in the State of New York; and yet my determination is to put them to the test. They have condemnd me, while living at my usual place of residence, without calling on me to appear and take a tryal. I am not guilty of the treason alledged against me. My going or staying will not I conceive affect the recovery of my estate. If they are determined to have it, they surely will let me off with my life at any time. My family will be inerted [?] in certain distress if I leave them, which they may escape if I stay with them. This, and a consciousness of innocence, determines my present resolution to keep possession of that part of my estate where I lived before and during the war. I am glad to close this gloomy letter with a subject of another kind, the marriage of one of your connections. Rich'd Harrison29 was married last week to Miss Ludlow, eldest daughter of the Judge; she went to England in June. I am happy to hear of the progress your sons make in their learning. My wife and children join in very affectionate remembrance of you and them. Please to present my respectfull compliments to your father, and do not forget to give me credit for the length of my letters, tho' you cannot for their frequency. Let me stand credited likewise for being Dear Niece To Mrs. Henrietta Colden Your affec't Uncle and most humble Serv't 29 Richard Harrison, a lawyer and member of the New York bar, who married Frances, daughter of George Duncan Ludlow, the Loyalist, afterwards chief justice of New Brunswick. Cadwallader Colden, the eldest son of David Colden, the writer of this letter, commenced the study of law in the office of Richard Harrison upon his return from England in 1785. REVIEWS OF BOOKS BOOKS OF MEDIEVAL AND MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY The Baronial Opposition to Edward II., its Character and Policy: a Study in Administrative History. By JAMES CONWAY DAVIES, Emmanuel College, Cambridge. (Cambridge: University Press. 1918. Pp. x, 644. $4.00.) BISHOP STUBBS's opinion of the reign of Edward II. was that it was an age when the public life of England stood at a very low level, and most readers feel that it is one of the most dreary of historical periods. Nothing has been done since Stubbs wrote to modify that particular opinion, but much has been recently done to show that the reign is more important in the constitutional history of England than we formerly supposed. This is especially true of the work of Professor Tout; and now Mr. Davies has published a minute study of most of the reign, showing similar conclusions. These studies are peculiarly welcome because they concern the differentiation, of which we know almost nothing, of administrative institutions from feudal forms of government. The process, as a differentiation, is made to stand out clearly by Mr. Davies. His book in general is one to be grateful for, though it is not easy reading. It attends strictly to business and eschews all graces, and even sometimes carefulness, of expression. His main thesis is that the barons, recognizing the importance of the administrative system, tried to get control of it in order to control the government. His method is to take up one administrative institution after another, to state one after another his conclusions regarding it and its operation, and to illustrate each point with numerous detailed instances. Mr. Davies has subjected the records of the reign, the "Rolls" of all kinds, to a minuteness of search which is impressive but seems sometimes too fully reproduced for the reader. The result is, however, that much new light is thrown on the operation of government and also upon facts not particularly noted or in the intention of the author. He shows for example how Edward got business done which he did not wish to do himself, and gives us the impression that the king did more of the work of his office than we had thought. The royal prerogative, the position of the earl, the serjeanty tenure as the feudal endowment of administration (not quite so logically developed as it should be), the work of the executive and the use of the seals, the chamber as a financial institution, the work of the household and the transformation of its great offices into empty titles, chancery and exchequer, and many other topics receive full illustration. Although the process going on in the reign is constantly referred to as one of differentiation, the necessary unconsciousness of this fact on the part of those carrying it on seems to be overlooked, and with it the hold which the old ideas would have over their minds. This is particularly true with regard to the "curious combination of council and parliament " (p. 291) and to the relation of exchequer and chancery to the council. To the men of the time the process was not one of confusion (p. 290). The confusion is ours because we cannot get clearly into our minds all that is involved in the differentiation. The author's facts show Parliament and council growing more apart, but the differentiation still incomplete, as we should expect. If Mr. Davies intends to imply (pp. 291–293) that the name Parliament was then restricted to meetings in which the new representative elements were present, the fact would be surprising, but he is probably only making a distinction of his own. It is also not to be thought strange that exchequer and chancery still occasionally act as council; it would be strange if at that date they had not now and then done so. It must not be inferred that the book deals with institutional details only. It states clearly the constitutional significance of the age and strongly supports past conclusions as to its contribution to this side of things. Indeed Mr. Davies shows more fully than has been done before how the opposition carries forward the tradition begun by Magna Carta. In his interpretation of the fundamental principles of the Great Charter and of the details of their development during the thirteenth century, his discussion is closely parallel to that of the reviewer's Origin of the English Constitution, though he does not refer to that book. He sums up in these words (p. 542): The best that can be said of the baronial opposition in general is that it sought to subject the king, no less than his people, to the rule of law. The great principle contained in Magna Carta that the king was under the law, was very open to misinterpretation, and the policy of the barons. partly laid them open to this charge. Viewed from the best light the aims of the opposition were to secure the omnipotence of law and to lessen the powers the king might exercise to the detriment, or in negation, of law. G. B. ADAMS. Isabel of Castile and the Making of the Spanish Nation, 1451–1504. By IERNE L. PLUNKET. [Heroes of the Nations.] (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1919. Pp. xi, 432. $1.90.) THIS is an exceedingly well-written book, and it comes as near to serious historical presentation as a work of a semi-popular character can do. The author's method of handling her subject inspires confidence, even though she refrains from the use of page citations and foot-notes. And, indeed, there are many lengthy and well-selected quotations from sources that are well-known to him who would even be critical in this field of history. Andres Bernaldez, Pulgar, Sabatini, Zurita, and Marineo Siculo form the basis of the work, and in thrilling parts even Prescott and Washington Irving are not excluded from quotation. The work well belongs in the Heroes of the Nations series, for Isabel is the heroine of the story and Ferdinand plays the opposite part as king, husband, and even as villain. At times, however, the author draws the curtain aside and we see Isabel in a less sanctified garb, as for example: It must not be inferred . . . that the Castilian princess had been endowed with a love of truth under any circumstances. Her life had been spent for the most part in an atmosphere of treachery, where he who was the least reliable or conscientious scored highest in the game of politics; and, when necessity forced her to play a hand as in the case of her marriage, she had proved herself capable of "bluffing" with the best. The threading of such intricate mazes was an ordinary statesman's career, and Isabel had been born with an aptitude for statecraft. What was worth a great deal more to Spain was her aptitude for kingship. And from this book we realize more than ever that she was a wife and mother, with all the feelings, the disappointments and sufferings of one of that age; she was first and always queen and guiding spirit of Spain, and to these all other considerations were secondary. The first three chapters of the book deal with the background of Isabella's reign. The institutions of early Spain, the kingship, the nobles, the municipalities, and the Church are seen in conflict, and through the chaos of this period the need of an organizer is evident. These conditions were especially aggravated by the misgovernment, anarchy, and civil war of the reign of Henry IV. (1454-1474), whose period was given over to dynastic quarrels and who was continually under the influence of political favorites, ambitious nobles, and belligerent churchmen. The most far-reaching event of this epoch was the betrothal and the final union of Ferdinand and Isabel. Some attention is also paid to the antecedents of Ferdinand, to Aragon's policy in Navarre, and to relations with France and Portugal. The political events of Isabel's reign divide themselves, according to our author's argument, into three main divisions. We first note the culmination of Castile's policy in her triumph over Portugal and the ending of all hostility through the subsequent betrothal of the younger Isabel to Dom Affonso, heir to the Portuguese throne. At the same time, La Beltraneja, Isabel's only rival, was buried in a convent at Coimbra. Secondly, the combination of Isabel's strong passion for the political union of Spain under Castile and her love for the Catholic religion led to the Moorish wars. Considerable attention is given to these and the capture of Malaga and Granada. They are picturesquely described and add to the interest of the story. After the Moorish wars come the Inquisition and the final expulsion of the Jews and the Mudéjares. The economic results of the expulsion are noticed, though hardly sufficiently. Ferdinand and Isabel needed money, after all their wars, and the Jews were not given time to get away with their wealth. The spot-light is rather focussed on the queen's religious devotion, and her gentle submission, during her later years |