The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-06-01
LIT E R A T U r E.
Mr.. MotIey's Life of John Of
BarneveId.'
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR.

THE THIRTY YEARS WAR.
Mr.. Motley's countrymen, and the republic Of
letters to which he Is well known, win meet him
with courteous and cordial greetings his return
to the deld in which he has won the most brilliant
and valuable part OF his reputation. 1t is fortunate
for our national literature which Mr.. Motley is
one OF the most dlstinguis living ornaments.
that he quarrelled with Secretary Fish ana was
driven out OF the London Mission to take refuge
IN the historical researches in which he Is ad
mirabiy qualified to shine. But az he retired
grudgingiy and angriy, with an unseemly explO
sion, and amid bitter recrimna tons, from his
high diplomatic post, there Is reason to fear that
his indignation Is not yet soothed and that he has
prosecuted the labors he UNIV ilingly resumed with
mind deeply tinged with ranking DIT ternese. We
are sorry to perceive that occasional marks OF II
deiace the interesting work ne has just
published No intelligent reader on this
side OF the Atlantic, at least, will doubt that the
following sarcastic passage (vol. l, p. 157) Is q
thrust ct secretary Fish:-"His was not one OF
those easy posts. not unknown in the modern
administration OF great affairs, where the subor-
dinate furnishes the intellect, the industry, the
experience, while the bland superior. gratifying
the world with his signmanual appropriates the
applause" This contemptuous Ming Is quite un-
called Tor by the exigencies OF Mr. Motley's mar
rative into which 1T Is too obviously injected by
personal soreness and spite. He had been remark
ing In the context on the tireless industry of
Barneveld IN the preparation OF diplomatic and
other of1cial papers. There is no instance in the
age with which this and Mr.. Motey's two former
histories are concerned OF a statesman taking
credit for documents or negotiations not his
own. nor is the prolific industry which
he ascribes TO Barneveld without even more
conspicuous examples In Mr.. Motley's own
pages. William the Silent, the great hero Of
Mr.. Motley's first work, 1.-THE History OF the Dutch
Republic" Is praised at greater length, and with
more elaborate pomp OF eulogy. for the endless
productions OF his indeatp able pen and Williams
bigoted adversary, Philip H., OF Spain, spent the
greater part OF his waking hours In original writ
ing. The TACT that Barneveld wrote the State
papers he signed has nothing IN it SO peculiar as
to suggest Mr.. Motley's saJirical contrast. And,
IN point of fact, he does not contrast Barneveld
with any statesmen OF his own period, but with
some '.not unknown in the modern admnistra-
tion OF great affairs, }" thus expressly bringing the
application or the satire to our own times Whom,
then, does he mean9 Not Won Beust, certainly,
who was Minister OF Foreign Affairs when Mr..
Motley represented our government at Vienna;
not Mr. Seward, from whose restless pen LIE and
all our other diplomats received exhaustless CON-
munications marked by a style which attested
their originality not Earl RUSSELL not Clarendon,
not Granville, not Bismarck, nor any contemporary
European statesman who has dealt automatically
with great AFFAIRS" BY process OF reasoning
known as the method OF exhaustion, we may safely
conclude that this contemptuOus shalt Is aimed
solely at Secretary Fish. In running through the
list OF contemporary statesmen we find that every
one is shielded by his well known reputation for
original ability with this single exception. That
posthumous speech OF the late Senator Sumner,
which was so injudiciously and unJustlfably pub
lished, proves that Mr.. Motley drew his own in
structions to London, which Mr.. Fish fathered and
signed and II mas long been believed In certain
circles that Mr.. Bancroft Davis and Mr.. Caleb
Cushing were the real authors Of Mr.. Nsh's most
important Official productions. Mr. Motley has
evidently taken advantage OF that impression
to Inlet sting whose application no one will fail
to recognize No matter what the public may be-
Meve respecting the correctness OF this disparag-
ing portrait we think all disinterested people will
find that Mr. Motley has committed grave fault
Of taste in making the history of distant age the
vehicle of his personal animosiy. They will SEQ in
such illusions only proof that the author Is still
smarting from the wounds and humiliation Of that
removal from the London mission to which we are
indebted for this earliest fruit Of his resumption Of
literary activity.
The passage we have quoted is by no means a
solitary ebult.on OF the vindictive feelings and
irrepressible spleen Of the historian. The following
embittered remark lvol. l. p S7S,) stands, for ex-
ample, as an unsighty symptom Of mind dis
eased :-"There Is nothing less surprising nor more
sickening for those who observe public lie or
wish to retain taith In the human species
than the almost infinite power, OF the meanest OF
PASSIONS" mere literary man, calmly survey
ing past transactions at distance Of nearly three
centuries, does not naturally express himself with
so much acerbty 1t Is not the appreciated and
caressed man Of letters, but the unappreclated
statesman and displaced Minister that speaks.
The context in which this mlsanthropic remark
occurs relates TO the 'Jealousy' and the "envy"
by which Barneveld was INSTRUCTED. Mr.. Mot
ley's impression OF "the almost infinite powerr Of
these 'meanest OF PASSIONS would seem to have
been derived from MIR. Fish's determination to
transfer the Alabama negotiations from London to
Washington, and thereby take away from the en-
voy the credit Of the treaty and assume 1t for the
Secretary Of State. The history Of Mr.. Motley's
difficulties with the administration elucidates the
meaning he attaches to the words 'jealousy'' and
''envy," and explains his suggestive innuendoes.
lie is entirely too astute and intelligent not to
have perceived that his countrymen would read
between the lines, and as he could have expunged
such excresences without any detrlment to his
narrative, ne cannot be acquitted OF this grave
fault OF cooring history with his exasperated feel
ings and personal grievances.
Batting these occasional disfgurements, Mr..
Motley has enriched our literature with work of
remarkable spirit and ability and enlightened re-
search. In this, as well as In his former works,
his chief merit consists In the free use he makes
OF original materials not accessible to- or at least
not used by, previous writer's. He is not his
torian OF the order Of Hume, whose depth OF pene-
tration causes mis- work to be valued in
spite Of superficial investigation and frequent
errors Of fact Hume had a profounder
insight into the bearings or great movements and
measures than the actors themselves, and such a
OF To oil q vol