Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-07-04
A Wrecked Nation.

A Wrecked Nation.
A book more readable than most of
the current fiction may always be ex.
pected from Mr.. Froude, ami book
less trustworthy than great deal of
the fiction it is almost equally certain
to be. Impartiality is apparently an
impossible virtue with him. His par
tisanship runs through all his histories
like the sunset tinge of a landscape
but his partisanship is a part Of his
brilliancy, II part of his enthusiasm,
and. adorned by his pictorial style and
his copious learning, fascinates the
reader with power akin to genius.
All those gorgeous and delightful de
fects as historian, which make him 50
charming writer, will be found in his
latest and ripest work. His abundant
and industrious research, his graphic
style, his pungent criticism. his faculty
of transfusing the life of the nineteenth
century into the mummies of the tif
tenth or the first his wonderful talent
for clear, continuous narrative, sensa
tional and alluring as the plot of
novel, runs with unfatiguable Zeal all
through this attractive life of the great
Caesar, 1.-THE foremost man of all this
world" And yet, since Abbott's Life
of Napoleon" or the life of this self
same Caesar by Napoleon Ill, there
has been no such unblushing apology,
no such thick-and.thin eulogy, no such
hopeless idolatry, no such glowing col.
Grafton ami painting out OF bad spots,
as this portrait of Caesar all of which,
however. it should be said, add to,
rather than subtract from, the attract
iveness of his picture.
He calls it SKETCH" because time
has destroyed too much of the litera-
ture and records of Caesars day to per-
NIT full or satisfactory history of him
to be written. What remains swarms
with legends, scandals, gossip, un-
worthy to form any part of a true esti-
mate. The only original authorities
now extaDt are Cpsar's and Cicero's
writings, the history of the Alexandrian
war, of the African war, and the War in
Spain, written by persons who took
part in them, q few hints from Livy,
and speech contributed by Sallust.
The remainder are collection of anec-
dotes and narratives derived second
hand by Plutarch, Suetonius and other
writer's. They were written from $50
to 300 years afterward, or as long after
the time of Caesar as Macaulay's history
of James H., or as Froude's own his
tory of Queen Elizabeth and Henry
VIII. were written after the reign of
those monsrchs. In this sketch of
Caesar Mr.. Froude makes short work of
the many pleasing and time honored
stories of"the mighty Julius" The read
or misses the tale of the boatman in
storm whose courage was strengthened
by the great captain s saying, You car.
ry Cesar, and Caesars wish to be first
man IN the provinces rather than Sec
ond man in Rome" Mr.. Froude dis.
misses in few words the story of youth
appearing on the banks of the Rubicon.
playing soft music on a pipe and then
suddenly shouting through war trum-
pet, wheteupon Caesar cried. "The die
Is cast, and then crossed the Rubicon.
1t is unauthenticated," he says, lend
not at all consistent with CAESARS char
acter." Another story relates that when
Caesar was in Egypt the enemy pursued
MIN on the water and captured ship
IN which he was present. He had to
swim for his life, holding his celebrated
Commentaries in his hand. This
legend, says Froude, is unusually alb.
surd. " 1t pretends that he swan with
one hand and carried his commentaries
above the water with the other. As if a.
general would take his manuscript with
him into hot action !" Caesars in.
timacy with Cleopatra has been gener-
ally regarded as very important und
influential incident in Caesars life.
Merivale regards it as the turning point
in his career. for although the marriage
relation was quite lax among the Ro.
mans, there was an intense prejudice
against any kind of connection with a
foreigner it was regarded as mon
trous and degrading as the union in the
middle ages of noble Christian with a
Jewish damsel. Cesar cared nothing
for these ancient superstitions and
prejudices, but he chilled the applause
OF his countrymen by thus trampling
upon their sentiments. His intimacy
with Cleopatra, says Merivale, vitiated
his tastes. imbued him with the selfish
ness of Oriental despotism, made him
destinations, arrogant, harsh, restless,
tretful. After knowing her, his conduct
became tainted with contempt for man
Kind. 1t Was also said that Caesar had
an illegitimate son by her called Casa
rion. But Froude dismisses all this
sort OF criticism as the scandal of Roman
fashionable society who hated Caesar
and any carrion was welcome to them
which would tint his reputation.
Caesars most intimate friend, Oppius,
proved that the child could not have
been his-of course, therefore, that the
intrigue was fable, and the boy was