=Summary=.—From this it will be seen that while England had a musical people composed of a mixture of the most musical peoples of Europe, yet because of geographical position, political disturbances, religious troubles and wars, she was never able to produce a great and commanding school. She did not lack force, but it was directed into other, and for the time being, more important channels. Almost everything of an artistic nature was borrowed, or was a transplanted culture; and while the art of music never lacked men to cultivate it, yet these men were not of the calibre of the men employed in the other works of the nation, so that so far as the Polyphonic period is concerned, England is not important, and but for such men as Dunstable and Purcell and the canon “Sumer Is Icumen In,” England might be completely ignored in respect to her influence on polyphonic development. REFERENCES. Crowest.—The Story of British Music. The entire book. Davey.—History of English Music, Chapters I to V inclusive. Grove.—Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Article on Schools of Composition, relating to England. Naumann.—History of Music, Vol. I. Oxford History of Music, Vol. I. QUESTIONS. Why did Music have so uncertain a growth in England? What is the earliest English composition of value? What were the causes for the loss of early English music manuscripts? What principles are shown in this old Canon? Who were the leading composers in England in the period considered in this lesson? LESSON XII. THE SCHOOL OF THE NETHERLANDS. =The Dominance of the Netherlands=.—The most important asset of a nation is its commercial activity, for upon that depends its art life. The fine arts are to an extent luxuries, and until a nation has, by commercial activity, acquired wealth, they cannot be earnestly cultivated, for all arts require from the artist his entire time and life, and until there is money and inclination enough among the people to support an artist in his commercially non-productive state, there can be no art; hence we see a shifting of art centres in the Middle Ages, just as the commercial centres changed.