New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-01
misanthropy, we must refer our readers 10 the VOL
ume itself, where we can promise them abundant
instruction and entertainment


ERTY IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES OF AMER
ICA. BY EBEN GREENoUGH SCOTT SVo. PIP NN''
33S. G.. =. Pntnam's Sons.
Mr. Scotts theory IS that the people of the United
States have passed through three stages OF DC
velopment: namely first, the Era Of constitutional
Development in England second, the Era oil state
Development in America; and Thru, the Era OF
Constitutional Development in America. Inc
mastering spirit OF the first was freedom OF con-
science of the second. tho growth OF tribal IN
sttutions and OF the third popular sovereignty,
the principle of individuasm lying at tho heart OF
all three In the treatment of this scheme Mr..
Scott contends that the settlement of America was
result of The contest between free inquiry and
credulity in Europe the wilderness waited long
after it's discovery. and Engishmen did not come to
possess it until the sudden expansion of the human
intellect consequent upon the Reformation taught
them TO be dissatisfied with the old condition of
society and TO seek elsewhere what they could not
find at home There is sometime in this postuate,
but not so much rs Mr. Scott suppOses, and we
refer 10 it chiefly as an Illustration of certain loose
ness of method which mars his interesting arRu-
ment. we mi-ht object at the start that
creduIty Is not the antthesis of free inquiry"
for have only to recall few OF the chief religious
vagarcs of our time TO realize that free inquiry
often results in creduty of the glossest kind Tue
principle which free inquiry opposes is that OF
authority; and IL Mr.. Scott had substituted this
word for crcduty he wOud have expressed what
is probably his true meaning. But the statement
that the wilderness waited until the spirit OF free
inquiry aroused the old world to desires cannot
be accepted the broad sense implied. rather than
distinctly asserted by our author. No one can be
ignorant of the influence of the Reformation upon
the American colonies but they didnot wait for it.
with Raleigh and the Pilgrims but with Columbus.
philosophical inquiry into the migration from one
hemisphere To the other must take account OF Span
ish and French enterprise well as English ana
We must rem mber that it for long time prob
able that the Latin race, certainly not animated
with tho Reformation spirit, was destined to dom
mate this continent. Although It may he true
therefore that the expansion OF the human intellect
consequent upon the triumph OF free inquiry was
the chief force winch decided the destnies OF Amor
lea we cannot say that it was the force which i'm
PEELED the white man to come here. II we narrow
inquiry to the Immediate motives of The settlers,
the necessity qualifying tie assumption hst the
settlement OF America was consequence OF the
struggle for freedom OF conscience becomes still
more apparent. What had freedom o. .ou7cence
to do with the settlement of virginia.
The blemshes we have indicated. however, do
net affect the substance of Mr.. Scotts book; they
are rather defects Of his literary method, like ms
occasional tuTgidity of style and they are fOuud
chiefly IN the first and hrefest part Of his treatise,
which relates 10 the OF constitutional develop
ment in England. The second part is devoted TO
state development in America. and here Mr.. Scott
takes up s0Gtim the SIX capital sources" specified
by Edmund Burke. rs the causes which made lib
crty in America fierce namely ~ descent (2) the
colonial forms Of government; l3 religion in the
Northern provnces a. manners in the Southern
tjl education and (G remOtcncsS of situation. Some
OF these points dismissed rather hastily. In con-
ncction with the second. the author exhibits the
fondness and capacity for sell-gOvernment which
distinguished all the English colonies, this as well
as their institutional character, being strong
mark Of the race. With respect to religion i'll the
Northern provinces. he observes at the outset that
its striking feature the principle of tclera-
ton" This evident mistake is only another in
stance Of the confusion of our authors method and
the looseuess Of his statements. lie takes great
pains to destroy his introdr ctOry remark by show
ing that while the principle of liberation was
honored in Maryland lat fIstl, Penusyl wanna, West
jersey ana Rhode Island, it not recognized "
the Puritan colonies. and It made its way among
them slowly and with difficulty The two chapters
on manners in the Southern province are the most in
tcresting and vivid in the book; but they are
hardly 50 complete or 80 exact as the admirable
picture of SCOUT arm colonial life given recently Ivy
MI Lodge IN his d" Short History OF the English
Colonies
The third part of the book comprises a review OF
the acts of the British Government which precipi
tatcd the Revolution. The conclusion of the whole
is that the history OF the United States is the
history for the time being Of the career of the
Spict of Liberty Is ii existed in the English tribe.
First OF her works came Freedom of Conscience;
next came the culture of Tribal Institutions in a
desert where there nothing to hinder their
growth and last OF ell, came Popular Sovereignty
founded upon Freedom of Conscience and sustained
bv institutions as cid and free the tribe ITSELF
pT- L "a II with or