New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-02-24

ancestors and, therefore, lhis ieno 49, -,
NJ Pc ricles what is il In comparison WITH an ehol
% h;.,nr,cai el.ouepce which should Justly SET |
forth the merits OF the heroes anq tne maiyIs oi
the American revolution! AM 1n1 t.a"eN VI ,JJ
ava Of the other Grecan Repuones' oelng iounoeu
- no,. democrscies without any principle otrepre-
sentatop. Was fitted only for smsii o'tee ING
exercise OF popular power In puiev ue , es
Town cannot be EXTENDED over coun'rles OF large
nn,1,t because In such countries, AL cannon hs-
ssmhle in the same place, 10 sote Glec1iy upoa
laws ard ordinances, and otner puohc questions.
~. -. ryincIne of representation Is expansive IL
49, he enlarged If not infinitely. yet indefinitely 20
meet new occasions and embrace new regions
While, therefore, the love OF hoerty ".s INC sfne,
and its general principe the same, IN tne eIfeclah
Repubic as with US, yet not only we're forms essen
tally differ eLf, but teat also was wanting, whlch
we have been taught to consider as lnolsPensa'S -
its seeurity--thst Is, fixed, settled, oeamte iuh-
dame ntal law or constitution, imposing hmtauons
and restraints, equally on governors ana goseIhe.'
We may therefore inhsle all the fnilness ana gIea.
ness of the GTecian spirit, but We necessarily give
its development a different form, and suOJec' l. W
But histors is not only philosophy teaching by ex-
ample its true purpose is, also 10 hius'asJ .h
general progress Of society in sno"l.oge anu Jug
arts ana the changes OF manners ana pursuits Vi
men. . .,h &, .nci.nt and
modem histories and those OF the best masters IN
this respect While they recte pubic iransa:tions,
they omit, in great degree, VIVA O1i en nd ma.
civil social aDc domestic progress Oh men Gnu "a,
tions There is not, so far as Know, eood c!vl
history of Rene, nor is there an account OF me
manners and habits IN social eno oonsSsic me- ;,;
as nav Inform us of the progress OF neI cl.izehs,
from the foundation Of the city 10 Inc uiIe Oh Ivy
and sallust in individual eXbIolrons OF character
We know, indeed, sometnlug Of me p,s sn c pn
mel cement OF the Empire, but we OBTAIN our hno"I
edee of these chiefly from the severe and indignant
1uyeta1 ~t Sfl,1St s9fa al eI saIlss VI
ments If arms and national alliances MI up the re-
| corded greatness Of the Roman Empire.
n is yery remarkable that, in this respect, Roman
Literature is far deficient than that OF Greece:
AyistoDhanes and other Grecian comic writers, nave
scenes richly filed with the deiineat0n OF sne nVes
and manners Of their own people Bat the Roman
imtaiors of the Grecian stage gave themselves up W
the reproduction of foreign characters on tneir own
stage and presented in their dramas Greclan man
| nefs also, instead OF Roman manners HOW nuch
| wiser was Shakspere who enchanted we atehlioh
nj his audiences and still eDchalns the attention OF
| the whole Teutonic race, by the presentation OF
English manners and English History
Falstsf, Justice Shallow, and Dogberry, are hot
shrubs of foreign growth transplaned into the pages
Of Shakspere, out genuine productions OF the SOIL
| the ere atoms Of his own home bred fancy:
| Mr. Banks has written Civil History OF Rome, out
it seems not to have answered the great END when
The Iabors of Niebuhr, Arnold and Merivale, have
accomplished much toward furnishing the materials
of such history, and Becker, In bis Gaus, has drawn
picture not uninterestng of the private lie OF the
Romans at the commencement OF the Empire.
Iknow nothing of fact, but once had an init
nation Il at one OF the most distinguished writers OF
| our time and OF our country has had his thoughts
tuneS to this subject for several years III this be
So and the work, said to he In contemplation, be
perfected il will be true, as have no doubt that the
Civil History OF the great Republic OF antiquity will
have been written not only with thorough research,
but also with elegance Of style, and chaste classical
illustration by a citizen of the great Republic of
modern times TRUST that when this work shall ep-
pear, IL it shall appear we shall not only see the
Roman Consul and the Roman General, the Comltla
and the Forum but that shall, also, see the Ro-
| man bear,hs and affairs, the Roman matron at the
head of her household, Roman children In their
schools of instruction. and the whole Of Roman life
ha tnrlal
now existing in separate and special works, afford
II is in our day only that the history and progress
of the civil and social institutions and manners OF
England have become the subjects OF particular at
| tenu0n.
Sharon Turner, Lingard, and more than ALL Mr..
| Hallam have laid this age, sad all following ages,
under the heaviest obligations by their abors In this
| field of literary composition nor would separate
from them the writings OF most leaned ana elo-
IN T2gls6o Midi suspthar sifli Wanting fLf. lfSr
ough and domestic, social account of our English
ancestors, that is, history which shall trace the
| progress of social life in the intercourse of man
with man the advance of arts, the various changes
in the habits and occupations OF individuals and
seGss Rs ySHa in SSSpsso s cicua
stances Of men in the lapse Of ages. We still have
not the means OF learning, to any great extent how
English ancestors at their homes, and in their
houses fed, and lodged, and clothed, and what
were their daily eDpio, menfs We want history
| Of fre-sides we want to know when kings and
liz
| and ceased to breakfast on beef ard beer We wish
| to see more, and to know more, of the changes
| which took place, from age to age IN the homes of
| England, from the castle and the palace, down TO
| the humolest cottage. Mr.. Heny's book, so far
il goes, is not without lis utility, but it stops too
soon, and, even in regard to the period which 1t en-
braces, it is Lot sufficiently full and satisfactory In
| its particulars.
| The feudal ages were military and agricultural,
bu, the spendoI Of arms IN the history of the times,
monopolized the genius Of writer's and perhaps ma
| terias not now abundant for forming a know
ledge OF the essential industry OF the country. He
would be public benefactor who should instruct us
in the modes OF cultivation and tage prevailing 10
| England. from the Conquest down. ana in the ai-
vance ment OF manufactures from their inception in
the tin Of Henry W. to the period OF theif consd.
efabe development two centuries aerward
There are two sources of in formation on these
subjects which have never yet been fully explored
and which, nevertheless. are Overlooking fountains
OF knowledge. | mean the Statutes and the pro-
ceedngs OF the Courts OF Law. At early period
OF life, REQUIRED, with some degree OF attention to
both these sources OF information not SD much for
professional purposes as for the eucida.on OF the
Progress OF Society. Iacquain,ed myself with the
object, and purposes, ard substance OF every pub.
lshed Statute In British Legislation These sac we'd
ne What the Legislature Of the coua,ry was con.
ctfned ID, nom time TO time and from year TO wear
And learned from the Reports OF controversies in
Inc Courts OF Law, hat were The pursuits and oc-
equations Of individuals, and what the objects which
most earnestly engaged attention. | hardly know
| anything which more repays research than studies
Of this kind. We learn from them what pursuits oc.
cupied men during the feudal ages We see the eff
olis OF society 10 throw of the chains OF this feudal
| common. We see too, in most interesting man.
ner the ingenious devices resorted to- to break the
thracem OF personal slavery. We see the beginning
OF manufacturing interests, and at length bursts uoon
US me iuli splendor of the commercial age.
Lrtleton, Coke Plowden, trhat are they how their
leaning fades away and becomes obsolete when
Holt and Somersand Mansfield arse, catching them
selves, and nfnsing all around them the Influences
and the knowledge which commerce had shed upon
| tie world - tsr, f
Our ereatttaetsIs and examples in the historical
am are, eoub,less,gthe eminent Historians of the
1ieek and Roman ages. In their several WAYS they
are The masters to whom all succeeding times have
iooheo ior instruction and improvement They are
me models which have stood the test of time and
IKE me glorious creations in marble. OF Grecian
genus nave been always admired and never sur.
passed. Si