The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-04-04
Rev Books

| History OF The american CirA var. by
JnnH WILLIAM DRAPER, NJ. D., LII. d.
| &c. In three volumes Volume III. Con-
tanning the Events from the Proclamation
| of the Emancipation Of the slaves 10 'n !.
| cna Of tho War. New York: HARPER q
| BROTHERS. 1870.
| Every reader remembers the story OF tiie
notwithstanding man who, upon peins
| called upon to state what he supposed ~ o'
the reason that the sand had ohstruc'eo NV
passage of vessels to his town, repiieu ina.
i was the stccpc of n church which hao
hcen hu;lt some years before. DR.. DRAPERs
loric is like that old mans. His theories
are f,rciful. unsubstantial, absurd. lie Is
| nor \ hi: tori.n, but partisan. In tracing
out what he calls the philosophical con-
uect;on" of tie events Of the war, he takes
rood care to make everything contribute to
| the support of his silly theories. To show
tic contemptiblc narrow-mindedness OF
DRAPER, and his utter untitncss to perform
the task which he undertook, and which he
HIS finished after fashion, it is not ne
ccssary to refer back to the first two vol
umcs Of his so-called "history." The
volume before us furnishes evidence enough
10 convict him of being mere partisan
such as those who in writing in the seven
iccnth century the history Of the Great
Rebellion in England set down CRoN-
WELL, and HAHpDEN, and FAIRFAX, and
all the noble army of martyrs to a
good cause, as wicked rebels, seeking
their own elevation and their country's
ruin. But the crude performances, non
scnscal imputations, and reckless charges,
Of which said historians were guilty against
good men, have been long ago buried in the
dust, and been substituted by histories
written by such giants as CARLYLE and
MAcAULAY, and which show that the men
who planned and carried out the Great Re-
bellion in England were pure patriots, and
were, in fact, finally successful in all their
undertakings, though they seemed at the
time of the Restoration to have failed. Dr..
DRAPER does not hesitate to write himself
down IN Mss by using such language as the
following:
What was it that they who provoked
this civil war proposed? r Almost
from the foundation of the Republic its
places of profit and power had been chiefly
in the possession of southern politicians !;
but when it became clear that the rapid de-
vclopmrnt of tho North and West would
| end this state Of things, such persons re-
resolved on attempting a partition of the
| Union, expecting that Ill new government
| their influence and cmoluments would be
perrctuatcd.'
4 man whose horizon is so limited that
| he cur see no further than DRArER can is
not capable Of Writing history. Let him
stick 10 his rctorts concrete. He may be a
good chemist. lie certainly is not philo-
s,phcr nor historian. His book ought not
| to fad a single purchaser in the South. 1t
might profit q southern man to read Il really
philosophical history of the war written
by northern man; hut it can do us no
GOOD to read the twadllc Of mere MIN
comroop.
i Hrarc Laay. By the author of John
Halifax, Gentleman Same publishers.
This is, Of course, good novel. The
publishers names are sufficient evidence Of
the fact, if We did not know the author to
be ono of the best noyclsts Of the day.
Haod- Of he Sulphur Cure, as appli-
cable 10 the Vine Disease in America, and
Diseases OF Apple and other Fruit Trees.
By WILLIAM J. FLAGG, author Of Three
Seasons in European Vineyards" New
| York: HARPER & BROTHERS. 1870.
! All Of the ajove-namcd books are for
sale by lIcssrs. BATES s WADDT BROTHERS,
Main street.