LOTHIAN PRIZE ESSAY FOR 1881. BY EDWARD H. R. TATHAM, B.A. BRASENOSE COLLEGE. Vincenzio da Filicaia , Canzone . OXFORD: A. THOMAS SHRIMPTON & SON, BROAD STREET. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. 1881....

Strangeness of Polish history. The Kingdom or Republic of Poland has always seemed a strange phenomenon in European history, partly from the aboriginal character of its population, and partly from its exceptional constitution. The ancient Sarmatians, who occupied the same territory, had no share in the old Roman civilisation, but rather, by their constant irruptions upon the empire, were mainly instrumental in its downfall. Christianity was introduced in the tenth century; but, until recent time