506 MISCELLANEOUS RECOLLECTIONS -II 



evolution of mediaeval history, discarding all excepting 

 the leading points in chronology, and bringing out clearly 

 the sequence of great historical causes and results from 

 the downfall of Borne to the formation of the great 

 modern states. And there might well be brought into con 

 nection with this what Eobertson did not give namely, 

 sketches showing the character and work of some of the 

 men who wrought most powerfully in this transition. 



During my stay at the University of Michigan, I made 

 a beginning of such a history by giving a course of lec 

 tures on the growth of civilization in the middle ages, 

 taking up such subjects as the downfall of Rome, the bar 

 barian invasion, the rise of the papacy, feudalism, Mo 

 hammedanism, the anti-feudal effects of the crusades, the 

 rise of free cities, the growth of law, the growth of litera 

 ture, and ending with the centralization of monarchical 

 power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. But the 

 lectures then prepared were based merely upon copious 

 notes and given, as regarded phrasing, extempora 

 neously. It is too late for me now to write them out or to 

 present the subject in the light of modern historical re 

 search ; but I know of no subject which is better calculated 

 to broaden the mind and extend the horizon of historical 

 studies in our universities. Provost Stille of the Univer 

 sity of Pennsylvania did indeed carry out, in part, some 

 thing of this kind, but time failed him for making more 

 than a beginning. The man who, of all in our time, seems 

 to me best fitted to undertake this much needed work is 

 Frederic Harrison. If the general method of Robertson 

 were combined with the spirit shown in the early chapters 

 of Harrison s book on &quot;The Meaning of History,&quot; the 

 resultant work would be not only of great service, but at 

 tractive to all thinking men. 



And, last of all, a project which has long been one 

 of my dreams a &quot;History of Civilization in Spain.&quot; 

 Were I twenty years younger, I would gladly cut myself 

 loose from all entanglements and throw myself into this 

 wholly. It seems to me the most suggestive history now 



