New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-10-17

MODERN ENGLISH HISTORY.

tolls rho story with the same remarkable succnct
ness which has made Dir Green's preceding vol
nmes so valuable and 1t includes everything Oh I'M
portance with n peculiar skill which we shoIho
hardly have thought possible. There Is nothing
bald or scrappy in these pages, ana, cro""eu do
they are, they 90 not lack IN plctutcsquoheSs nor
IN politcal opinion Of ueiinite and liberal knd
Nor is the purely literary criticisms without fresh
ness and otl er merits We quote the following
estimate OF Pope:
One NJ his finest characteristics indeed. was his
nigh sense of literary dignity. From the nrst ne
carried on the work OF Dryden by cIalming "pitn
and independence for literature ana nc DroAo WIN
dsdaiu through the traditions Of patronage WniSn
had DEGRADED men 81 letters into hangers on OF TUG
pTeat-with aims aud conceptions sucn rs bnoso,
Pope looked bitterly ont on the pndso Oh tL@lo'V'
through which English letters were passing. AS
VET his poetic works had shown little or th0 ken Ken
and ardent temper that lay within MN: 10y
promise OF his spring was not tnaI Oh ~
of fine brightest and most genial on verse WIteIs;
When after fancful reludes ms g9bluo puu
full utterance in 1872, II was IN the hape Vi Wy
ociS y and the Rape OF the Lock" was poelc
co nterDart OF the work OF the Essaylsts !. ~ 10
miss in il the personal and intimate charm OF Auu
sen or the freshness and pathos OF steele IL ptss
far beyond the work OF both IN the Drlilahcy ~ is
Wit in the lphtness and buOyancy OF It's tone IN us
atmosphere of fancy. it's giancing color. Jus OK
0nisite verse, its irresistible gaiety INC poein re-
mains PODes masterpiece 1t Il lmpossln'e 10 iol
il without feeling that his mastery lay III sociaI
and fancful verse, and that ne missed MS p1Io
path when he laid down the hulnorst lor ti,e piil0
nuhcr and the critic. But the state OF iettelS pr
sented an irresistible temptation TO crltlclsin' Al
Ponies nober feelings of loyalty to hIs arc t6N9iec
from the degradation OF letters whlch ne ~ 49,
him: and after an interval OF hackWOrk III Iail"e
iation of Homer he revealed his terrible power VI
sarcasm i'm his poem of the " Dunclad' ! ne Poetn
is disiigured by mere cutDnists OF persona t
and i'm its later form by attacks on men WO'e IiSs
fault WAS dulness. But in the main the Duhcidu
was noble yindication of literature from the neru
of billiards and ounces that had uslrped its name,
namphleteer of the compiler Of facts and dates, OF
thc grabber among archives, to the rank OK men VI
letters.
To the American reader the principal interest OF
this volume will be found in that part OF it which
treats of our own Revolution. Tho following
touches the state Of affairs at tho hrst meetl OF
the Continental Congress-:
The Congress was the beginning of American
union "Thero ought to be no New-EIgiiahdmai,
no New YOI ker known on this continents sald one
of its members but all of rs Amerlcans. Inc
news of IFS assembly reached England dJ Tue emu
Of tbc year and ucrplexed the Ministry, two of
whose members now declared themselves III iaNor
of repeating the acts. But Kockihghalh WouIu pro
misc nj most no more than suspension anu Wneh
the Houses net in the spring OF I1bb 10 voice Dut
SheIbnrncs was RAISED IN the Peers Tor repeal In
the Commons however. the news at once calico
PIT To the front. As a Minister he had long since
rejected similar scheme Tor taxing me coiohle9'
He had been i'll and 1hSent from rilahlehC "nen
the Starlp Act was passed. But ne adopted 10 IHe
full the constitutional claim OF America. lie
gloried n q resistance which was denounced IN
Parliament rs rebellion. In my opinion he sald,
" this kingdom has no right 10 lay tax on tne COZ
oues America is obstinate. America Is
almost in open rebellion. Sir rejoice that America
has resisted Three millions OF people 50 dead -
ali the feelings of liberty voluntarily to submit
TO be slaves would have been ht instruments 10
make slaves of the rest" lie spoke said
Inoker-Ou " like man inspired, and he ended ny
= demand for the absolute. total, and immediate
repeaI of the acts 1t is from tins moment that Tue
bitter hatred of George the Third to Pitt may De
dated.
After the contemptuous rejection by Parliament
of measures of Cancellation, the struggle DeSah'
Mr. Green, sketch of the character of Washington
will he read with pride and pleasure by Americans:
Tho CONGRESS- of delegates from the Colonial Leg
isIatnres AT once voted measures for general de-
fence ordered the levy of an army, and set George
Washington at its head. No n0ber hgnre ever
stood i'm the forefront of nations me- Mashlng-
ton was grave and courteous IN address his man
ner5 were simple and unpretendlnS; his SlenCe
and the serene calmness OF his temper sPoke oL y
nerfccr self.mastery But there was little in ms
outer hearing to reveal the grandeur OF soul WHICH
ms his figure with all the simple majesty Oh an
ancient statue out of the smaller FhSslohSJv b bnt
mpaner impulses of the world around MN ,Nhal
recommended him for command was SIMPLY MS
weight among his fellow landowners OF Virginia,
and the experience OF war when he hau 9alne% Wy
service in border contests with the french ahH w
Indians a. well as in Briddocks luckieSs eApe1-
ton against Fort Du4uesne. 1T was o 1i as ny
weary fight went on that the coloniStS discovered,
bowevrr slowly AMI imperfectly the greatness OF
teir leader his clear Judgment, his heroic ehdur-
ance his silence under difficulties MS claIhhesS IN
the hour of danger or defeat the patience WIN
which he waited, the qutcknesS ana hardness Win
which he struck the lofty and serene sense oil duy
tliat never SWeryed from It's task through resent
mt ar iealousy that never through war or peace
fclt the touch Of meancr ambition, mat knew no
aim save that of guarding the freedom OF MS lel-
low -countr mcn. and no personal longing Saw
that of returning to his own lrcslde When thelr
freedom was secured. Ii was almost uncohsclousN
that men learned to cling To washington WIN Il
F..t1 f,NN al
and 30 regard him with n reverence wll'th sun
bushes lis IN presence OF ms memory Dut even even
America hardly recognized his real greatness WINE
Le lived II was only when death set ITS seal on
him that the voice OF those whom he had served so
ionr proclaimed him the man first IN war. iirst
in peace and first IN the hearts OF his lelo" co''n
trymcn
The achievement OF American independence, Mr..
Green regards as of unequalled moment in the his
tory of the world If it crippled he says, " for
while the supremacy OF the English nation, it
founded the supremacy OF the English race The
t,nou.ing is the conclusion OF Mr.. Green's chapter
on the American war:
From the hour OF American independence the life
of fine Engsh people has flowed not III one current
but in two; and while che older has shown niue
SIGNS of esseuing. the Younger has last risen 10 q
greatness which has changed the lace OIL the Wofid:
In .i-Sk America was nation of three millions OF
Inhabitants scattered thinly along the coast Oh the
Atlantic Ocean. 1t is now nation OF iorty mi
lions stretching over the whole continent from
IN" Atlantic to the Pacific. In wealth and material
energy, as in numbers, it far snrPasses tue mother
country from which 1t sprang. IL Is already me
man branch of the English people; and in the
DAYS that are at hand the main current OF that
peoples history must run long the channel not OF
the Thames or the Mersey. but OF the hudson ana
the Mssissippi But distinct these currents are.
every year proves more clearly that IN spirit the
English people is one. The distance that parted
Em,Iand from America lessons every day. The ties
that mite them grow every day stronger. The
social and political differences that threatened a
INJURED wears ago to form impossible barrier
hctxe them grow every day Hess. Against this
silent and inevitable drift of things the spirit OF
narrow isolation on either side the Atlantic
struSoles in vain. It is possible that the two
branches of the English people will remain ioreyer
separate political existences 1t is likely enough
that the older of them may again break IN twain,
assert "a distinct national life the two English
peoples on either side the Atlantic. But the spirit,
1,fn all these hranceS will rrIna