Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-10-05
valuable Beck.

A0off61nsl FINES - ne Present
Day. By John Clark RIdpeth. IA.
M, Professor Of History aud HeiIeu-
Lettres, Indiana Ashufy UnIyes1ltv
Royal Octave. IIlustrntod No
maps, charts, p0rtraits and 5IarYone.
Sold only by suhscripiion.A Price
500 Jones Brothers y Cox Pbtla-
deiphia, Chicago and Cincinnati.
The circumstantiaI detail Of ss4
years-the years that have opened .
new world and created mighty ma
..on-was never given In better style
'nan In this work. when ws look
through the bulky volumes Of ham
croft we wonder that one man ,shouId
attempt TO write all the history OF our
country when the preliminary portion
OF II takes up 80 much space. But we
cannot see that Professor Ridpath has
omitted single material fact that Il
contained in Bancroft, while he hes
avoided that tedious detail which nm
nts the work of the latter for popular
use. The intrigues of the English
Court and Cabinet, the petty sauab-
bles of the House of Commons. the
rise and fall of parties in England,
which are supposed to have had an
influences on American affairs. these
arerindead omitted from Prof. Rid
paths work; but In their stead Is Civ
en- brief and masterly summary OF
the causes which led to the Americas
Revolution, which we venture to say.
conveys better understanding OF the
matter to ninety-nine out Of every
hundred readers. Take for Instances
the following extract: sa.e,
Another cause leading to the Rev
ofution was found in the natural d.
position and Inherited charucter Or
the colOnists. They were. for the moet
part, republicans In politics and dis
senters in religion. The people OF
England Were monarchists and High
Churchmen. THE Colonists had nev.
or seen a king. The Atlantic lay bs.
tween them and the British ministry.
Their dealings with the royal officers
had been such az to engehder dis
like for monarcial institutions. The
people of America had not for
gotten--c0uld not we'll forget--the
circumstances under which their an
cestors had come to the New World,
For six generations the colonists had
managed their own affairs; aud their
methods of government were necessa.
rily republican. The experience Of
the French and Indian War had
shown that Americans were fully
able to defend themselves and their
country
Az one important cause, IL not thst
more satisfactory than volume Of
The authors rare ability to eoudenss
a vast amount of information into q
single paragraph IL shown In any Of
his numerous, graceful biographies.
Take the following on Benjamin
franklin:
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, the author
Of the first treaty between the United
States and foreign nation, was born
I'm Boston on the 18th of January, 1905.
His father WAS u manufactured OF SOAP,
and candles. To this humble voca-
tion the young Benjamin was devoted
by his parents; but the walls of a.
candle-shop were too narrow for hn,
aspiring genius. At the age Of twelve
he was apprenticed to his brother to
learn the art of printing; but the
brother beat him, and he ran off to
New York. There he found no EN-.
In 1923 lie repaired to
Philadelphia, entered n printing Office,
and rose TO distinction. He visited
returned; founded the first
library In America; be-
came man Of science; edited Poor
AiPUdc; originated tho
American Philosophical Society; dis.
covered tile identity of electricity and
lightning; made himself known In
Df the patriots; and devoted the un-
impaired energies Of his old age To
perfectng the American Union. The
name of franklin il one of thu bright.
est In the history of any nation"
In this work Prof. Ridpath has
one difficulty which con-
fronts all historians; 10 set forth all
The iacts, Win ntting cOmmentS,
on the one hand making his
work too voluminous for common use,
DR. on the other making II a mere out
Inc Of dry and disconnected facts
A series of charts show the cotem-
Dorary men and events, aud colored
maps illustrate the changes In politi-
al boundries from time 10 time.
These arc OF great assistance to the
reader. In short IL Is difficult to find
. particular In which this History
ioes not meet every want Of the citi-
ten and patriot. II Is tho work OF
mind and careful historian,
md must take rank az the best Histo-
" Of the United States yet published.
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