New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-02-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS
LIFE OF GENERAL GREENE.

TIE LIFE OF NATHANIEL, GREENE NAJoR-G
ERAL N THE ARMY OF TIE RKXnl IrtnN nv GEOI

ERAL IN THE ARMY OF TIE REyoauT1oS By GEORGE
s waS, g Ss Tlree Volumes Vol l.
The work of which the present volume forms
the first installmcnt is the cOnsumnate production
Of many years assduOus preparation, guided by
t.;,hfnl strdy of original documents and inspired
by profound reverence and affection for the subject
Of the biography. Even in early youth, the inten-
tion Of writing the life of General Greene was con
eeived by the author and has been steadily kept III
view through all the changes of his subsequent eA
perence. Many favorable circumstances nave com.
bined 10 facilitate the successful accomplishment VI
his plan. His youthful imagination was kindred ny
n familiar acquaintance with the persons VINO kho"
General Greene in his public and private reia'ionS'
aud whose admiration of his character mauo pro
found impression ON the memory OF MS suScePuoie
kinsnan The family papers afterwaTd passed into
hrs hands and from that time became the ooject Oh
CRigent study with view TO the composition Oh
work which should at once illustrate the history of
the Revolution and the services of one of the prom
Spent leaders in that protracted struggle. The por
tion now given to the public affords ample evidence
Of the ability and zeal which have been brought by
Sine author TO tue performance of his task. I'm the
construction of the narrative, great has been
made Of the voluninOus correspondence OF General
Greene the story is often told III his own words but
the connection of the several parts and the unity OF
che whole attest the literary skill of the author, as
wei as the P%Sf'A
tons with which the subject has arranged itself in
his mind.
In the present volume the private life of General
Greene is brought prominently before the reader,
illustrating the personal qualities which enabled
him TO take such conspicuous share IN the conduct
sf the war. Although of Quaker birth and educa
ton his boyhood soon exhibited abundant signs that
the old Adam; was not extnguished in his nature.
He entered with keen zest into the rural sports and
Iecreations which were tolerated even under the
austere rule of the ad-brimmed fraternity and
was never more delighted than when the merry husk-
ings of an October evening wound up with
dance. As this amusement was an abomlnatlon IN
the pious eyes of the hardfavOred followers of Fox
and Penn. young Greene was obliged 10 use not
little fnesse in order to eude the vigilance of pa
rental authority. " His father kept regular hours,
and long before the first set in modern bali would
be started his orderly family supposed to be
nbed and asleep Then il was that the truant would
slip softly from his pillow put on his clothes, silently
raise the window. and let himself cautiously down
upon the soft grass of the yard Thus more than one
merry evening gained, and the future straegist
had got almost to look upon himself secure from
detection, when, returning one night from distant
excursion what should he see by the clear starlight
but his father-horsewhip in hand, pacing with
sminous patience 10 and fro beneath the tell-tale
window 1t was very clear that. If any Scripture
text was the subject Of the venerable preacher med
itatiOns at that nauspicous moment IL must have
been Solomons warning to those who spare the rod
1t evidently was not to be spared on this Occaaon
but might il not he deprived of its sting Thus far
The cuprt had not been Close by on the other
side of the house, there was a bundle of shingles
With quickness of thought that stood him well i'll
stead on many worthier occasion. he stole softly
round the corner stuffed as many shingles under his
he NODDED IN form cOrselef then
coming forward with wefeigned terror, submitted
TO his chastisement not forgetting that vehement
Obs and Ahs were essential part OF the comedy
Nor was the religious sect, whose privilege 1t is
70 be unpote" any more favorabIy disposed toward
literary culture. Everything like accomplishments
IN letters was deemed the work Of the devil, al
though an itinerant teacher was employed TO teach
the boys 10 read enough to spell out the Bible, and
70 write and cypher for the transaction of business
This was the amount of Greenes knowledge at the
ACE of fourteen nor did the little bookshelf inthe
corner of the room contain anything to awaken
desire for further progress.
One day. however, in Winter ramble, chance threw
into his P6 ySST T n@ o East a G Haf 81 Sh taxing
20 him abGut college ana S9gg ~ e a never eT
Yanses forever. Nathaniel Greene returned 4Eop that
Sm and Tf The 4 10 iis station at the anvil and his seat
by the hopper but not to the content OF being foremost
at his DALI work aud leader in the morning and evening
sports Of his companions As he looked upon the running
stream the growing grain the mysterious light and mo
ton of the he watched the revolving wheel
and the reddening iron, or shaped WIN his pondeIOns
hammer the anchor which TO fastcn its pointed huke
oozy bottom OF distant seaquestons and
doubts and ODgings came cr0wdlng upon MS mnd, ana
had neither book friend 20 answer them. The day
Of unquestioning faith passed Henceiorth 10 be-
heye, he must first understand.
He now demanded Of his father the for a
wider range of study, The old Quaker, though mar
Iow-mnded aiid full Of prejudices was Just man in
III al, 49,
his son. lie was permitted TO take lessons of old
Scotch schoomaster in the neighborhood, and under
his guidance, began the study of LATIN aud geome-
Try. Though he made little Roadway in the classics
he soon formed saving acquaintance with Euclid,
and in tiiae became an.expert geometrican. " Heb
bought the volume with his own earnings solid
octave stoutly bound in dark sheepskin, and he de-
voted himself to the study Of il with the ardor of
vigorous mind in it's first taste OF positive science
It became his companion at the forge and In the MILL
Aad in my boyhood his brothers stl loved 10 point
out the seat by the forge where he would study 1t
whethe iron was heating, and tell with proud com
placency how when his turn called him 20 the grist
mill he would often forget himself in his book long
after the last kernel had been shaken from the hop
per-
A COSY picture of the circle before Rhode Island
freside in those primitive days is given in the flow
ing prose Of the author who has borrowed some
touches Of which he makes due acknowledgment.
from Whitters characteristic descriptions in Snow
Bound
summer brought no relaxation In his daily labors but
I Inn ta account No part of New life was
more erse, or has left deeper impression than
WAS All alaze by the cracking wood IRE; and the tai
low candles gave dim Light the freight on the walls
the room that seldom failed to awaken kindred glow In
fhe heart In corner sheltered from the draft
.rf,g.. HaTr