New-York daily tribune., 1856-04-22

NuJ,t,ey until within few years, mas sno"n
,,,, G,,Ic interest in her own history Smiths
New jersey is a valuable authority frequently re-
ferr,d 10 by historians; 80 Is Gordon history
Muliord's History OF NewJersey also shows con-
Siderable research From these, unless we except
po,bour and Howe's work, no book attempts the
,,ne,al history of The State. Under present cir
c,m,t,nc.s il would be almost Impossible to write
such history, because the preliminary WORK OF
gathering iuto accessible forms the histories OF VII
Iaoes. twns, and counties, except to limited ex-
tom, has not been doue. The Rev. Dr. Stearns
hiss ,roc, d the beg nDing of Newark in his First
Cburcb ~ with admirable skill and great general
corr,ctusss: MIR Whitehead has written the hls-
ton, Of East Jersey under the proprietors, ~orK
f,ll of rest arch and low standard authority, and
M, Idss. of The SUSSEX Register, has given to the
mess ske,eh of the history of Sussex County,
aup phlet which is credit to his diligence ana
z.sl: bat so far as we now recOllect these are the
oply to ks which profess to do much 10 the way OF
gathering local history. 1t is true the Proceed
mos of the New-J-rsey Historical Society " con-
taiu many valuable papers, and several hiseorich
sermons have been published which throw light on
the ,eneial history Of the State, but these cover
oul, small part of the ground. The pastor oi the
Bloomfeld Church has published history OF Ms
church. which contains more piOns reflections than
hi,tr,. and is excessively meager even for local
history. The Madison pastor has done better, ran
sackDg the garrets aId old memories IN his congre
ca,ou for traditions and documents, and compiling
the whole into readable narrative. Here and
IL ere is TO be found sermon of this kind, and yet
the paucity of valuable materials may be seen py
,ny ore who has had occasion to consult the library
of the Neg.Jersey Historical Society. DIR. Murray
of Elizsbethtown has done something for the his-
tor, of that place, but Morristown has not scrap
10 SUI ", aud cannot prove by any document in ex-
istence that it had any beginning or founders. DIR.
historical paper on Princeton College, but refused
t. give it TO the press that the historian of New
jersey is none the wiser for his researches TAX
ing into the potton of the State be-
tween New.YOrk and Pennsylvania necessarily
making it's history part of theirs, the fact that
New-Jcrsey was the field on which some of the
most ,mportant parts Of our Revolutionary War
were fought out, involving the inhab tants in the
most trying difficulties; and further considering
the very interesting contests between popular rights
and the prerOgatve contests which date back al
most TO the first settlement, cannot sufficiently
express our surprise at this culpable apathy in
gathering and preserving all the facts which might
enable the historian to write history too noble to
be lost.
1t is for this reason that the lover Of local history
will cordially welcome the present work The
author i. the Corresponding Secretary of the New
Jersey Historical Society, and, as we understand,
10 entirely devoted to the work which that AssO-
ciaiion is so woIthily attempting Like Charles
Lamb lie is tied to the desk during business hours,
and fills up his leisure hours in searching ancient
manuscripts, records aud books, and in disentsn-
Cling from them the thread of history. HE patience
10 OF iron character, and his zeal for truth pro-
verbal. He may have made mistakes, bat if so,
they are not the result of careessness or reckless
ness. "Tbe contributions -" these crude me-
MORALS Of the past as the author modestly calls
them-are of greater general interest than the
title indicates. It's sketches of public men, and
rome original documents, published now for the
first time, are Of much more than local interest.
Amboy, described by the proprietors as "a
sweet, Wholesome and delightful place, was for
many years the capital of the Province, aud was,
in the plans Of its founders, "the intended London
of America" but Samuel Groom, Surveyor-Gen-
eral in 1854, wrote to the proprietors Ii help
comes it will be long ere Amboy will be built as
London is MARX the prophetic spirit of that
Mr. Whitehead has traced the settlement of the
town IN a condensed narrative which has cost him
great labor He then sketches the early settlers
and the old families of AmbOy, such as Simlel
Groom, William Hsige, William Dockwra, I" who
tecur ,ome fame to himself BY having originated
the Penny Post in London, Benz. Clarke, George
Keith, a Boted character 10 his time; the Camp
bells an intensely interesting sketch OF some noble
Scotcbmen whom New-Jersey gained by the disas-
trous expedition of their chief the Duke of Ar
gle, in 1885; Garret and Walter Wall, the former
OF whom is the ancestor Of our Minister at Berlin.
No tmall portion Of this volume is made up Of
materials not before published, In the fine sketch
OF the SkInDtIs OF AmbOy We fnd some interesting
passages CortlaBdt Skinner, the eldest son Of the |
Rev. Wm. Skinner Rector Of ST. Peters in Am-
bOy, became a royalist but at first was strongly
opposed to the eDcroachments Of the British MIN |
isuy upon the liberties of the Colonies" A" Ia thi,
sketch We have letter from Skinner to Governor
Booze, describing the effect Of the Stamp Law
ND Mutiny Bill on the people OF New-Jersey.
The letter, a. al original, is interesting.
"Ug0h these laws, WI tcs Mr. Skinner, "all |
restraints were broken through, ard the paper will
bundnlffly show yOu ths violence sud fary nf the