The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-11-05
SOME NEW BOOKS.
John Randolph OF Roam oke.

say romantic figure in American political his
tory has at last been adequately portrayed by
Mr. HENRY ADAMS in his sketch Of John Ran
dolph now published in tho American States
men" series by Houghton. Mnin n Co. Tho
extraordinary character OF Randolph the man
is drawn for us with n vivid yet colorless fdel-
fly that reflects credit on the candid and lib
eral spirit Of the biographer. Mr.. Adams
can DO at once incisivo and sympa-
thetic. and while no attempt is made
70 Disguise his subjects shortcomings.
the final impression left on tho reader
" ono OF kindly appreciation tinged with in
voluntary regrets. No less striking is the large
and impartial view here taken of the political
principles OF which John Randolph was the
most strenuous champion during his public
life. Whether or no his opinions were mis-
taken. they are treated in this volume with tho
respect which is their due. for whatever fault
or failing Randolph may be Justly charged
with. he WAS. at all events, statesman in u
high and honorable sense at an epoch when
Aaron Burr was only the most dexterous OF
many INSCRIPTIONS politicians.
or tho light thrown upon the private life and
personal character OF Randolph by this admir-
able biography we can give no glimpses here.
but commend the reader to the book itself with
the assurance that 1t will seize md hold attcn-
ton with flrmer grasp than many OF the nov
els OF tho day. We would rather indicate the
more substantial merits OF the volume by show
ing with how much ability and equity Mr..
Adams discusses the constitutional questions
raised by the public action Of the Virginia
Observation-Disclosures Of broad and permanent
Importance. which. Notwithstanding decisions
OF the Federal Supreme Court. and constitu
Nonal amendments. will never cease to be- de-
bated until our organic law has grown into
something very different from tho existing
Constitution.
It is in the chapter on virginian politics
during the administration OF John Adams that
the biographer discusses the doctrine of State
rights 1t was. we need not say. the doctrine
OF which Randolph was throughout his life an
uncompromising and enthusiastic advocate.
Amid all tho surface Inconsistencies and
strange eccentrcities OF his political career
he never swervcd from the anti-Federalist
view of the meaning OF the Constitution
but ended rs he began. trying to set
bounds against the power Of the national Gov
eminent Mr.. Adams is careful to remind us
that in 179s'99 Randolph's opinions were en-
pressed with the utmost clearness and empha-
sis. not by him alone but by the Legislatures
OF more than one State and. as he was not thsir
author. so he Is not to be judged harshly for
accepting or adhering to them. That he
has not found harsh Judge in his
present biographer will be made sufficiently
apparent by two or three extracts from the
pages in which the fundamental question
touching the construction to be given to the
Constitution is examined. Mr.. Adams does not
overlook the fact that as time passed and cir
cumstances changed. Randolph figured as a
political Quxote in his championship of States
rights. which became at the end his hobby. his
mania; that he played tricks with it till his
best friends were weary and disgusted;' but it
is insisted that so far as his maynard life had
meaning or a moral purpose. this lay in his
strenuous effort to bar the path Of that spirit
OF despotism which. in every other age and
land. had perverted government into u curse
and q scourge." The difference between Ran
dolph and contemporary Virginian states
mon was that he remained faithful to
the end whereas the Democratic Republican
party. after it acquired power in 1901. modi-
fed the rigor of it's principles and showed it.
self at times not unwilling to profit in its turn
by a loose construction Of the organic law. 1t
ts not always easy to recognize in Mr.. Jeffer-
Ron after he became President. the author OF
the Kentucky resolutions of 1898. and Mr..
Madison when he became Chief Magistrate
must be held to have diverged still more wide
ly from the views expressed by him in the Vir-
ginia resolutions concerning the limitations OF
the Federal Government But to Randolph
the doctrine Of States rights was always AN
inspired truth which purified and elevated his
whole existence" and this central fact of
steadfast loyalty to the faith OF his youth i'm
pels the biographer to offer some explanation
OF such enthusiasm and to point out how it
came to pass that thousands upon thousands
OF simple. honest. plain men have been willing
to die for phrase.
During the administration OF John Adams
the Democratic Republican party had taken
great pains to express its ideas about the rela-
tion OF the States to tho central Government
with much clearnesS that no man eoull
misconceive 1t. Mr.. Madison and Mr.. Jefferson
induced the Legislatures OF Virginia and Ken
lucky In 1898 to assert the right Of resistance
to national laws, and. although they may have
chosen to be ignorant OF the arrangements
made in Virginia for armed resistance, it is
certain that Monroe was privy to these warlike
preparations That the constitutional prin-
ciples formulated in these resolutions were at
that time acceptable to the great ma
jority Of American citizens seems to be
demonstrated by the overwhelming sue
cess OF the Democratic Republican candi-
dates at the next Presidential election.
A dissolution OF the Union was averted by the
triumph OF the very men who had protested in
resolutions which the Federalists denounced
as reasonable against the encroachments of
the central Government 1t will not do. there
fore. for any student Of our political his
tory to treat with derision or disdain opinions
WHICH, III loOl NJ ul eNeHts. Wueu most
OF the trainers OF the Constitution we're
still living were professed by the bulk OF
the American people. 1t is certain that Mr..
Adams has no mind to treat them in the cursory
and contemptuous fashion OF which We have
seen 80 much in recent years. He perceives
that. at the bottom Of the States rights doctrine
propounded by Jefferson and Madison. lay
rs q foundation the historical fact that
political power had in all experience
tended to grow at the expense OF human
liberty" Every Government Of which men
have record had evinced propensity toward
despotism, had contained somewhere a su-
preme. irresponsible self defined power called
sovereignty. which sooner later held human
rights at it's mercy. Now eighty years ago the
great majority Of Americans believed that the
liberties Of this continent depended on fixing
a barrier against this supreme central power
called national sovereignty. which, II left to
grow unressted. would In the end. they felt
convinced repeat here all tho miserable expe-