New-York daily tribune., 1854-05-17
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
Mr.. BENToN's POLITICAL HISTORY

public. must obviously depend not az all upok
merits of the work, which nobody except few d,
friends of the author yet have had oppor,s. y
of testing but entirely upon the opinion en.ertai,a
the authors capacity for the task be has undersa
sud the degree of interest which his subject ess III
The fifty thousand subscribers obtained beforeh> j
Mr. B.ntou's work must according TO this We, n
set down. not 10 the credit of the book ITSELF n
the strong interest felt in = historical acccss y
cotsmporaueous politics and 10 the reputsts
Mr. Benton IS possessing qualities. and as hayS u.
loved opportunities. such as would enable hims
duce book on ths: subject not only nstracts u
also piquant.
MANY persons Will no doubt take sp this yolaas N
numbers rrobsbly, OF the subscribers have g~ n
their names in the expectation of finding ID il rI
full history OF the times to which il relates; not 81
satisfactory narrative Of the exterior OF e,,I
but an exhibition of the causes out of which Al
events grew, or az least curious develops
as 20 the motives aud character of some of the ~
ireut sectors. BUT whatever may se ts value in II
-espects-and we must not he understood ST L
tending t. imply that the subscribers to il viii ~
fully get their moneys worth u will not az all II
any one of these expectations. The hope Of beiS
least furnished with the means oi forming some h
rsblv distinct idea of the course and connecta
events. during the period 20 which this work rels
might naturally enough be excited by the first pa
the title-psge. Thirty Years View, or u Histoy
the Working of the American Government for
Years from 1920 to 1850" But the promise
out if the TILE stopped here. is very essentially
fed bv what follows: Chiefly taken FROM the aH
.egess debates the private papers OF General
",on and the speeches OF ex-senator Benton,
his actual view of men and affairs: with histoN
"u,tes and illustrations and some notices Of en-
deceased cotemporaries." The view then "a
expected in This work is not that wide panoramlc{ I,
of history which reveals to lis the whole sccu{{
events in all their relations and connections, a
which by lifting us somewhat above the ord
thorouehfares and stand-points enables us, not
10 take in the whole landscape but also 10 u
tain extent 10 see in the rear of things x
well as in front Mr.. Bcnton's view N
the other hand is restricted almost ex<
s,cly TO Washington, and to Washington e
in that very unsatisfactory and by itself alone with
tie necessary rectfcations, often very delnSye e6
bitten Of il, made in the Congressional debates.
Senate Chamber is the camera obscura, by the III
ing and always more or less distorted images W
walls at successive peeps, we are to obtain our
tions of what is going on in the world without; WI
Senator Benton himself looms up AS the dominant II
ure in most of the pictures thus presented TO v
vision Ii seems then that the book k-bnders it'll
that impressed on the back of the volume and wkI
We have placed at the head of this ARTICLES m
more correct one than that borne the title pa
besidos its superior merit in point of brevty. I'
work is in fact a republication of Mr.. Bentous SET
toria speeches with historical notes. The presf
volume includes, in seven hundred and thirtyu@
royal octave pages in double columns, the period
sixteen years, from MOnroes reelection as Presid4
to the retirement of General Jackson. But Of Il
space less than sixth part is devoted to the ei
years of Monroe and Adams, that the subj
chiefly treated of is General Jacksons administrat
That was no doubt very interesting and mpoa
portion OF history, but to any just comprehend
of it great many things will be needed of WI
little or nothing is to be found in ex-senator Bent
book The author indeed seems to imagine II
may Judge from paragraph in his concluding chap&
that this work of his is to prove permanent md
ment not only of his own fame in the character II
historian as well as of an orator. but to that Of q
eral jackson also History so he tells us, ''
l''ctry, oratory, marble and brass will hand down
military exploits of Jackson: this work will e
mennonite the events of his civil administration
less glorious than his military achievements" a
history Of General JacksOn's administration woh
to maintain permanent place in literature would 1
bOok-making enterprise have anything the -
success as this of Mr. Benton's, se much more q
We should be willing to PROMISE; nor would we adf ;
anybody to engage in it on that expectation. SUD V
the predominatng weight in this country of poltd
position that when noted politician undertakes
treat any subject, whether by way Of speculation
Of history he is sure to attract vastly OF att
tion quite independently of his literary merits, e
the ablest writer who lacks that advantage. As
manufacturers of quack medicines by their enorrs1
expenditures for advertisements, are able to Obtan
corresponding advantage over the regular practit@
ers, 10 our politicians, paraded as they are day a
daN, and that too without being obliged to pay fal
through the columns OF all our newspapers, gain
torety by means Of this gratuitous advertising Wild
30 far the sale of their writings il concerned. n
be more than offset to the fullest information
justeSt comprehension, the compac,est narrative
the niost ftultless style. But without yenturini
guara3see any considerable sale for such ws(
we cad still imagine q narrative of General Jack Il
adminik ktration which without being near 30 vol a
nous, should, at least to the limited class of thinI
and dis9 eliminating readers, be altogether more =
factory than this Of Mr. Benton's. Such history
be at all complete, ought to begin with the ssprat}
and ntr1gues for the presidency which immedisi1
foliowed} the reelection Of Monroe, and with an
count Of that state Of the public mind which resultl
in brngihg into the field no less than FIVE, utimatI
.howeyerl reduced to four, presidential candidsb1