New-York tribune., 1876-04-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MORsE,s LIFE OF HAMILTON.


The pont of view IN which this biography has
been composed is that of profound admiration for
the genius and character Of Hamilton. with a
fervent sympathy with the political principles OF
the iiustrous American statesman MI Morse mas
followed his career through ali its eventfu details,
presenting il in clear and impressive light, ana In
the unity of purpose which the fruit OF earnestness
of conviction. At the same time, he claims Tree
dom from prejudice which is guarantee OF impair
tality. Whenever he finds the subject OF Ills memoir
/, error he professes TO acknowledge the fact with
out attempting to conceal il by any false coorng OF
ingenious defense-a profession which is hardly
made good in all parts of the work. He has endeav-
ored TO avoid the strain of panegyric with which
Hamilton was overloaded by his cOtemporates lie
was a man who excited moderate feelings either
of affection OF animosity His adherents worsnlpeo
him as a god his opponents assalled Inn as menu
Mr. Morse has aimed at a moderate course Out mas
not always preserved his language from what may
be deemed an excess of encOmlum Against Ino
enemies of Hamilton he has been especially severe
To Jefferson and Burr, he shows no quarter le
evidently takes great satisfaction III DIS I'PuiS'0
sketches of their history and character which serve
tba nurnose if no other of enlivenng the monotony
of potical exposition which forms the staple OF his
work. Indeed he carries bis antipathy to MT
Jefferson so far, that he makes enmlty toward hin
the test of loyalty TO hs rival; -
Thomas jefferson alone stands in different relation
shptoward Hamilton from any otherofhis cotcnpoIares
AZ one cannot serve Masters 50 one caiet toepCt
both these men He must hate the one ana no ioNS ,h a,e
other he must mold 70 ,e one s, " during tie eight
years of his Presidency, that large number OF persons
tan s, i dnc I'm no small Measure 20 the fact that
during that period he Fe4png what hai!itot hsH
fo now up the field and with that SEED which
in earlier years he had declared to be alone III
for use As has been often observed oi Olher lnen
he who in opposition had been so radical, IN power
becsme quite e9nseHs'yS; snnt tue tn a.nest the Cen
trail Government Of none OF IT'S saOs.aauut PoMgns
mcnt The sansc,ofte Democrat during The DAYS OF tAc
French excitement presided over pure rpu9iG wltct
manifestinr ay anxiety 10 IcVOntlonZS H. Nncb ca
ing anasonism between Hamilton ana 1eersSn
and OF tne questions which DIVIDED he 81 ,hs s @ ~
that period, they appeared al snDse u'.c
cai chameleon md it is not fair m disegsrinS sny
particular m ms NE 10 cast over ~ te WI &C. ~
luz which belonged TO some other divSoh OF MS os
The character Of Jefferson's mind was peculiar lie
that vague aud extensive term Is wel 20 a, Sii"e
his intellect, also vague ana 9AaensNe M cod discuss
uTe thecTist, not lrae'tt NAL a. m h coJ adInin
lie Of governments better IMAM he co9'i "llh
lister aaiIs. His genus was Aoi eNeodtlNe. nc ""a!s
failed In energehces feil'Hs ts I'm, % in ti,e
the Of business - Governor OF Virginia al 'he
have thought that he dssr..c Am,et lie was man
of vide attanmonts knew languages Ica ln.il oooSs,
oabbled in many pursuits, ucned TO be g tloitulc
in his style YET had not an accurate and thoiousu
habit Of mind His specE1t9ns we're b2,d alG lhte.
ing cOnOclas1 age Gould nOi AWAY Keep i"Cc WIN
his reckless thinking when he dealt with facts It
was necessary 10 accept his statements with caution
Nearly act WasbngOn's Cabinet wac 10 pre-
pare a report concerning commerce lie bad Dccn tiet
70 be subjected 10 Ietn .Gatiny lie had motive,
certainly he had taArn plenty OF time, 20 ha4s J., =
thorough lnstruDil 1t. II was reloe VAIN eiabqiA9
theories aud plausibe advice bat in lts statistical a9d
narrative parts proved To be so fdi OF error 80 utter!
untFGstwOFthy, tiat supplementary reior; ii Tue n
ture of pages Of " Eirate' had 20 be furnished .
abity to nut il 70 practical use whcL bera ed the de
dceney in his intellectual structure he had an an uneon- ,o
eye reading, natural plau6iOiy, an astonishing n
oncy Win the pen, enabled him TO indulge largely III ms
try and in that foreign land Of France which for large
portion Of has life possessed halt OF ms nus In ThoIenSn @
schemes OF government nc naturally Turned hs .t,fh
plans quite fascinating upon paper snd lmreghdmo III
ersation, and having no worse i1t han at III Tue
world OF real men they Would MOI WOIA'
Mr.. Morse strenuously urges the charge of pcliti-
cal Inconsistency against the policy Of Mr.. Jefferson
He argues that if Jefferson had succeeded III Obtain
ing the control of the Government in 1883 he could
not have kept the States together without
sacrificing his principles. When lie sue
ceeded to the management OF national aiiairs,
and became the leader of the dominan,
party, he did not carry out his own theo-
res In the administration of the Government. III he
accomplished his own views in the politics OF the
day he adopted the system OF Hamilton in the pub
lie service. But although be was not an enlightened
and ClearheadeO StalctindnJ Nphc "C'"i'Ao
the distinction of being the greatest master OF party
politics that has ever been known in this country -
To whatever else be may have been blind, he
blind 10 the political aspect an0 bearings Oi measure
That he should have been dupe OF tool ~ DIT Of Po-
lucai ugrlcrY is altogether Incredible even though he
himself asserts IT, In partisan strategy lie was greatly
superior 20 Hamilton. Hc had always the appearance
and often the reality Of thorough belief In hS aE0wcG
doctrines. lie could use individuals with great s6 re
wardng them always, bat acknowledging or denyog ls
with them as he saw nt He underSt0ocdei
agogic as, though praccine them with his pen rather
than his tongue. lie was einenty successful ~ putting
himself INTO accord Witl tie mas OF lc Ico!y VIII Wiz
the educated few H. never on good trin nor conld
ever them from their allegiance 10 Hamilton Iut
nc was good saiheIci o tAe ftiS sees' C "SS
plant TO let conviction stand IN The way OF an e.
pcdeut action and he never de1oralizod his party by
leading it against strong gale OF unpopularity, but
made his forces lie down iii the hurricane was over
sparing be fully believed and freely spread AL III re
ports OF them, and eeaseesey sought then utter desr9c
fcive. not combining himself 10 charges eroulced III
fec!. bat drawing freely upon fancy, aud deeining II
fair ruse In political warfare disseminate false report
and leave the sufser clear himself u hc could. Ills
most striking faculty that OF Writing poisonous let
mans character in written words on sheet OF paper
with cOnsuinmatc suhety thNt the defendant hni-
sef with the sheet before linn could Sud no sehc sen
tenee on which TO ground chaIss OF pan Nm. "isoaD".
hended the situation, aud adapod his strategy 70 WIN
perfcct skill and saCacity He did not hglt hard All
along The ue. but regarding the Treasury SO long a.
Hamton Was int:euched therein, constituting the
kcy 10 the Fedorast position tie maintained an unincr
mtted series ATTACKS upon that pOsi-showing mat
the Opp1ston party 0Dsinateiy Geniei tho wisdom Of
cOncei:TaCn IN government, they at least iuy aQpre
ciated il In assault
OF Aaron Burr Mr Morse asserts that he was
early the object Of aversion both to Hamilton and
Washington They not only diStr.stod hin as
bad man. but feared him as a dangerous one. They
were gravely alarmed at the influence Of lis power
and prestige In the opinion of Nh Morse, they
were perfectly right. No efforts TO the men,
ory of Burr from infamy, he atirns have been at
4ondod with succesg The death of Hamilton was