National Republican., 1884-11-01

THELETTERs AND TIMES OF THE TYLERs
By lNoNG. TYLER. Vol /. Whittct 4 SheT
person, Richmond, Va,

extraordinary qualities. The world is so
taken up in its consideration Of giants
that II does not pause very long to study
those who fall below that stature.
John Tyler has not been generally es-
teemed great man, although he occupied
for n season an exalted station and dis
charged its duties honestly. Possibly he
has been underestimatod, for the various
positions occupied by him in state and
national affairs were not such as are ordi-
narily awarded to small men. No fair
minded critic, at any rate, can read the
record of his life, letters and speeches,
without becoming convinced that his pur-
poses were honest and accompanied by
resOlute will. There are, and always will
be, two theories with regard to the posi-
tion of public representative man-the
one being that he should adhere strictly
to the policy and platform Of tho party
which elected him; the other that he
should he guided solely by his individual
convictions That Mr.. Tyler abandoned
his party and its principles does not,
therefore. provo that he was an unprin-
ciplcd man. The American people arc
becoming accustomed to the chameleon
In politics. Still it does seom somewhat
inconsistent that Mr.. Tyler should have
had so much respect for his state as to re-
sign his seat in the senate when he could
not obey its instructions and so little re-
spoct for his party Us to abandon it almost
completely on national issues, thereby
incurring the charge OF treachery and tho
desire to establish a new party in opposi-
tien to those who formulated tho plat
form upon which Harrison and Tyler
were elected after full aud fair discus
sion before the American people. Mr..
Lyon q. Tyler wiclds II facile pen and he
has made skillful, it unsuccessful, at
tempt to clear the memory of his ancestor
from all charges of Inconsistency aud
clothe him with the mantle of broad aud
liberal statesmanship.
The opening chapters of his book will
be read with great deal of interest. not
only by Virginians, but also by those de-
string to become more fully acquainted
with the earlier facts ofAmerican history,
the points of controversy in the adoption
OF our national constitution and the
character of the founders of that great
instrument. The story OF tho mutual
jealousies, the various shades of belief in
the rival theories of government and the
great difficulty of harmonizing all oppos-
ing elements is we'll told and will repay
perusal. In this connection the author
is to be congratulated for his painstak ing
collection OF interesting correspondence
between the elder Tyler aud his illustri-
Gus friends. The early history of Virgil
MIA Is that of the country. From the
foundation of the government until 1924,
with one exception, she gave the nation
its presidents, and has always aided its
deliberations with her most brilliant and
gifted sons. Mr.. Tyler has been at con-
siderable pains to narrate the events
leading to the Annapolis convention, the
Missouri compromise" and the
general history of tariff legislation from
1859 to later periods. The careful student
of history will not fail to discern that
during the opening years of our republic
and throughout its continuance mutual
concessions and compromises were neces-
sary. That there should have been differ
ences of opinion upon many questions
| between the several contracting PARTIES to
| the confederation is not to be wondered
at. The author, however, in his extreme
anxiety to defend his own section from all
blame and in his bigoted advocacy of ultra
state rights, neglects no opportunity of
slurring the northern members of the
republic and imputing to them on all
occasions the most coldblooded and mer-
cenary motives. Like the dog baying at
tho moon or the schoolboy making faces
at the urchin he could not thrash, he
serves, however, only to make himself
ridiculous by such utterances.
In regard to Mr.. President Tyler's
course upon the Missouri compromise he
says: "The action of the north in 1920 in
restricting slavery in the territories meant
from the first violence and war. good
could come from shutting up the negroes
in the old states, since it would serve only
to condense their numbers and render the
problem of emancipation the more ditIi-
cult to solve in the end"
More ridiculous twaddle was never
uttered. The truth is the old south be-
lieved in the divine right of slavery; its
clergy defended that institution by Bible
arguments, and any one questioning the
theory was looked upon US bold and un-
hallowed as he who laid impious hands
upon the ark of God. He also takes
rather pessimistic view of affairs when
he states that resistance in 1920 would
have preserved the south ana not have
disrupted the union. After that the ruin
Of one or the other was bound to follow. y
Mr.. Tyler has given us an interesting
review OF tariff legislation in its variou.
stages and the views and actions of hi
ancestors upon that great question. liz
writes, of course, from tho standpoint oi
free trade. and can see, as usual, nothin(
but selfshness and dishonesty upon tn,
part of those who preferred protection
But it is quite significant fact that q
the present day the sometime dream o
far-seeing southern protection statesmen
is being realized, and the factory is sprin
ing up by the cotton plant in the new south
J 50 that self-interest is rapidly transfer
ring free-trade sentiment into protec
ton theories in many localities. Hi
/ nf thu al snp r,
1910, and those preceding, and following
it, is very spicy and interesting, as Is tn
narration of the schemes, plots, counter
plots, and quarrels of Clay, Jackson, Cal
hOun, Van Buren,, and others. His recita
of the Texan annexation and the rise
troubles, aud decadence of the Unite,
States bank, and its effect upon parties i
most entertaining, while the various let
ters collected and published for the frs
time shed light upon that interesting
period of which he writes that has neve
hitherto been enjoyed.
; ALLAN DARE AND ROBERT LIE DIABLI
by Admiral PORTER, Part III, ID. Appleto
&Co., New York, w. IL, Morrison, Washing
. ton.
Admiral Porter has apparently an un
limited supply of characters to draw upor
for in number 3 they are so numerous 1
to render it difficult to keep the tangle
thread of the story in ones mind. Th
plot itself becomes more and more in
tricate and there is abundance Of incider
, of very startling character.
!. AT THE WORLDS MERCY. BY the auth,
. of "rhe House ON the Marsh" ID. Appl
= ton y Co., New York. W. IL. Morrison
Washington.
A rather unusual novel, told in a thor
: oughly natural and straightforward wa
that never causes US to forget the stor
= in the style. Delirium tremens and
= dipsomaniacs "Retreap are somewhi
- startling elements in romance but the
are skillfully handled. The heroine
Z an extremely nice girl, although she do
$ not say So in SO many words, as she tel
/, the story herself and she SuCreeda in pi,