New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-12-24


"While n firm conviction of the truth OF the
fundamental doctrine of Revelation as to the
corruption of mankind appeared to furnish 'he
true kew to the crimes and horrors OF the
French Revolution, another decline of Christianity
seemed 10 point equally clearly TO the antagonisc
principe which opposed and III the end obtained the
mastery of it. This was the Divine superintendent
of human affairs, acting through its means OF Tree
agents.
The first two volumes of the History were pub
lished in April 1888. The edition was Oh l'ooo
copies and Blackwood paid $50 guneas ior lheii'
Friends TO whom Alison sent the Irst fruits OF MS
toll replied with complaints of his stye' III Wnion
Alison admits there was some truth buo ho IT,
CARDS criticisms ON style as minute ana lIihg' aS
we'll he NAV. To the day of his death he never
Horned 70 write English. If he had allowed this
triA,pr consideration to influence him tne
History would never have been composed
Neither The Edinburgh nor The Quarterly took
tbe least notice of his two volumes The Edinburgh
made amends by a review of the book on its COM
nletion Gin a liberal and honorable spirit, Dut
The Otartrly never broke its silence. Alison thinks
this was because Croker, :" whose influence in the
direction of the Rerietc was paramount was
chacrined at having had subject taken out OF his
hands on which he had meant to write
and for which he had made large collections
now in the British Museum. 1t is doubtful" re-
marks Alison with mild vindctveness. whether
Croker could have made valuable History of the
French Revolution" Croker. in his opinion, would
have given himself the trouble of ascertaining by
parish registers the day when an Inn
porant parsonage born, aud the in
genuous Alison roundly declares that this
microscopic habit is dangerous at all times in
history, but in that of the French Revolution
would be fatal
BY and by comes another glimpse of Alisons
theory of historical composition He had reached
the period of the great campaigns of Napoleon, and
on this he entered with incredible ardor." For
now:
Il could afford to be graphic; the subject called
for mnuteness mot of the parish-register kind, |
supposed its splendor invited description Genius
and success had stamped great a character on
events that the historian would be felt to DO want
ing to his theme if he did not paint them with the
pencil of romance, heightened, where 1t was posi-
BILE, by the colors of poetry"
Written on these romantic principles the third
and fourth volumes, which appeared in 1884,
were very favorably received by the daily press,
moro So considerably, than the first had been"
Two thousand copies were not thought too many
to print; tie sale OF the first two volumes
being meanwhile augmented. Less than two years
thus describes the pace aud process OF his compost
ton:
THE progress Of my work had now become quite
regular volume took invariably eighteen months
to write and as each, at an average, consisted of
900 pages, this was at the rate of fifty pages a
month, or somewhat less than two pages a day, in
Guiding Sunday, on which / never wrote"
But the average really was four pages day
written when could get at it," for it now appears
that the small debt court and regis
tration court between them absorbed 80
days of the year, and so not more than
half the working days III the year could
be given to Literary pursuits" Carlyle thought
himself happy when, at the end of three weeks he
had written and copied out in far hand two
pages of his History. But. then, Carlyle was not
Alison.
Not TO linger over the successive volumes, each of
which had larger sale than its predecessor let Ms
come to the tenth and last, of which the compost
ton and conclusion are surely among tie most
surprising things known in literary annals. In
Nav. 1s42, Alison told Blackwood that he might
advertise the tenth volume for the end of
June. Blackwood, with managers eve
to theatrical effect. proposed June Is, ami
vcrsary of Waterloo, and Alison agreed
though fdreseelng severe strain. The
manuscripts had to be ready by the 9TH. For ten
days before that he scarcely slept" nevertheless
"on the morning of June c, the whole battle Of
Waterloo and secoud taking Of Paris remained to
be written, and ] had only twenty-four hours to
complete it," What in these stringent circumstan-
ces was human nature TO prove itself equal to,
Alison shall say in his own words
Being determined. if possible, to come up to
time | began on the last day of my labOrs in a
very busmes5-iike manner. 1 got my secretary
Mr. F. T. Young, most valuable and faithful
friend out to Fossil at % in the uerning of the
9th OF june and began to dictate the Waterloo
campaign With the exception of twenty min
utes that dinner lasted. dictated
without intermission TIL 3 next morning
when Mr. Young was so tired that he could write nc
more. Upon this l sent him to bed and sat down
myself and wrote TIL 6; when l reached the last
line Of the last page, being the description of the
second internont of Napoleon at Paris ending Will
the words No man can share the tomb of Alex
ander' / went up to Mrs. Alison TO call her down
to witness the conclusion and she tho last
words of the work written and signed her name Oh
the margin"
It is impossible not to admire the indCmitable
logged energy of the tough ScOtchman capable OF
debating and writing for eighteen hours without
cessation il is equally impossible not TO wonder al
the levity and thnness of mind which could
thus deal with the conclusion of what
Alison himself undoubtedly believed to he
great aud serious historical work BY
and by even Alison became sensible that this Wa
terloo performance needed doing again, as did
much else. To give him all due credit he was never
averse to revising rewriting and enlarging. AT the
moment, however, he is not only satisfied with hi,
prodigious feat, but regards it with uncOncealed
veneration. The chapter concludes with a com
parson between himself and Gibbon, and bur
eeque of one of the nobler passages in literature
that in which Glbbon describes the termination OF
his immortal toll. G. w, s.
HOW 4 NOVFIIST PREACHED