Few names are so familiar as that of Machiavelli, who has given at least an adjective to every European language, and few books have been subjected to such intense scrutiny and such industrious commentary as his most impressive work, The Prince. It may well be thought that there is nothing more to be said about either the author or the book, and that an apology is needed for adding even an ephemeral address to the enormous mass of literature about Machiavelli. My apology or explanation is a simple one. The great majority of the critics and commentators deal with problems which are of great interest in themselves but do not concern my immediate object. One of these is the ethical question as to how far the supposed interest of the state—the raison d'état—justifies a departure from the ordinary accepted canons of morality or honesty. Another is the place of Machiavelli in the history of what is called Pohtical Science. And a third very fruitful topic is the influence of Machiavelli's teaching upon political action in successive generations after his death. I do not propose to deal with any of these matters, but to concentrate attention upon the narrower problem of the motive and purpose which induced Machiavelli to write one particular book, II Principe. This problem, in comparison with the others to which I have referred, has been largely neglected or obscured because most commentators have treated the book, in connection with the Discorsi, as a deliberate statement of Machiavelli's views as to the methods which should be adopted in founding, extending, and maintaining a principality.

When Stephen was crowned King of England, there were only six English earls: Chester, Buckingham, Surrey, Warwick, Leicester and Gloucester; whilst the King of Scots held the earldoms of Northampton and Huntingdon, which he had obtained by his marriage to the elder daughter of Earl Waltheof. Three of the six earls, it may be added, belonged to a powerful family group, for Leicester was twin-brother of the Count of Meulan, Surrey was their stepbrother and Warwick their first cousin.

Christianity approached the Scandinavian lands but tardily. By the time of Anskar's death in 865 there were churches at Birka in Sweden, at Hedeby in Schlesvig and at Ribe in south Jutland…. It was not until about 1150 that any effort was made to introduce Christianity to Finland.

The story of Cromwell's seizure of Jamaica (May, 1655) has been told in detail drawn from English and from Spanish sources. Far less has been written of the hard fighting, by sea and land, which the invaders found necessary during the next five years, because of the Spaniards' resistance to the English occupation. It is the purpose of this contribution to describe that resistance, especially from March, 1656, when the Jamaicans took the offensive (after receipt of some small relief from Cartagena de Indias), to May, 1660, when Don Cristóbal Ysassi Arnaldo, last Spanish governor of the island, withdrew to Cuba, undone by the disaffectionof the negroes who had been his chief support.

On August 24, 1851, Narciso Lopez, Venezuelan by birth, Colonel in the Spanish Army by merit, Governor of Madrid, Field-Marshal and Senator in the Spanish Cortes, by royal favour, and chief of the filibusters against Cuba by predilection, was captured by Spanish troops in his third attempt to destroy the sovereignty of Spain over that island. Although the President of the United States had solemnly proclaimed the illegality of such expeditions departing from Southern centres as New Orleans, the Government of the United States had taken no measures to prevent such departures and the abiding apathy of the American administration, together with the annexationist tendencies manifest throughout the preceding decade of American history, had rightly aroused Spanish suspicions concerning the true intent of the United States.

I have chosen the dates covered by the title of this paper for two reasons which seem to me to be cogent. The earlier History of the British Customs has been dealt with already in considerable detail by Dr. Hall himself in his authoritative work on the subject, but he will be the first to admit that in his work the later developments are hardly more than touched upon and in addition there is the important work of Professor N. S. B. Gras on the subject, which, though some of his conclusions may be re-considered, yet contains a fund of information, and from these and the State Papers it may be possible at some future date to solve the remaining problems on this aspect of the Revenue.

On 9 March, 1804, by an overwhelming majority of its few electors, the little Cornish borough of Liskeard chose William Huskisson to represent it in Parliament. Huskisson at once found himself entangled in a complicated quarrel that was none of his making, for the election was a mere episode in the midst of a long-drawn battle. Even a smashing poll was not conclusive, and with great ingenuity Huskisson was kept out of his seat for more than three months. Meantime there raged as pretty a contest as ever delighted a House which took unholy pleasure in disputed returns.