New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-10-18
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
prCrNT MONOGRAPHS ON AMERICAN HIS
TORY

Within tho past fifteen years the methods OF
Coaching history and political science IN America"
colleges and universities has undergone SURPRISING
changes in the right direction. and what Is ca''co
the modern scientific method" prevails III every
institution worth the name. Topical studies ana
co-operative Investigations form part OF the new
system but the secret and source OF It's power "o
in the German seminar and in the deVeioPmen'
of the movers of the student by guiding hih l"
lines of original research. This method requires
the greatest skill and enthusiasm on the part vi
teachers aud thoroughly equipped libraries
and il also involves the necessity OF system
atic publication of results. It's danger
,h rbvs,col sciences is that
young men with little general training
or culture" will too soon become specialists nut
the fields of the social sciences lie close to those
of literature that the danger of narrowncss can
easily be avoided The universities of Bonn, Der
lin. Heidelberg Liegc Paris Oxford and many
others in Europe. and those of Harvard. Michigan
California. Nebraska and Johns Hopkins in the
United States teach history and political science
bv the comparative method. and aim rather 10
cucidate great underlying principles and 10 'eacn
how history is made. than to impart mere text-Dooh
knowledge The right use of books, the true rela-
tionship of facts are gained by work upon this
broader level.
OF late wears a number of monographs studies in
political historical and economic fields, largely 'he
work of students trained under this new method,
have appearcd in England and America. The series
that have been most successful and that Will
prove most interesting to Americans, are those pub
,shcd under the auspices of Johns Hopkins Univer-
sitv and edited by DR.. Herbert b. Adams. The
first series of eleven pamphlets, one a double num-
ber one consisting of two essays, and several con-
taining valuable supplements. aggregates 4'o
pages devoted to Local Institutions" The sec
ond series now nearly complete contains several
studies in economic science. beside those
devoted TO history. Begun in January, 1888, these
publications will furnish, before the close Oh INC
year. nearly 900 pages of painsfakiAg ana care
fully edited work by thirty or forty Investigators
in American fields. To this we may add, because
produced under the same influence. two note
worthy monographs upon early Maryl md history,
published few weeks ago by the Historical So
ciety of that state but written by members of the
Johns Hopkins seminar
Professor Edward A. Freeman wrote the intTo-
duction to the studies calling attention 10 the
value Of such Investigations as bearing upon
world history and showing how extensive was the
field for earnest workers in America. Dr. IL. Is.
hdams's four pamphlets upon tho Gefmanic Ori-
gin of New En- gland Towns" Saxon llthmg Men
in America" Norman Constables in America ana
"Villagc Communities of Cape Anne and Salem"
the "survivas, in New-Eneland. of institn-
tonal forms of an earlier age. Several
pamphlets of the series are written
by professors from other institutions. Two of the
most extended ones are DR.. Adams's Methods of
Historical Study and Dr. Ely's Past and Present
of Political Economy both of which, though very
interesting and valuable contributions to cduca-
tonal literature, not properly within the scope
Of the SERIES which loses its Significance the
moment il leaves the field of original
tnvestigation Dr.. Adamss own studies
IN early New-England history, the adj
mirable monographs unon local government i'll
Illinois, Pennsylvania Michigan, South Carolina,
and the studies" of Parish Institutions. and of
Old Manors in Maryland, are entirely il :Ae line of
original and important work that must be done
soon if at all, and best be accomplished in the
atmosphere of great university. Mr.. JohnsOn's
study of the genesis" of Connecticut and DIR.
Claiming able "Toppan prize essay" upon Town
md County Government" in the American
colonies are also true historical Investigations
All these are the results of the most painstaklnG
diligence labor with old records, manuscripts and
documents of every description. Professor Henry
C. Adams's study" of taxation in the United
States 17s0-1S16l is in its way original and val
liable as are the Local Institution pamphlets for
he places new interpretations upon the rise Of the
American policy of protection, and its political re-
latons at the beginning of this century The other
volumes of the series are mere magazine articles
Professor Hosmer tells nothing that is new about
Samuel Adams, and, to quote from one of his own
sentences, he is stited up on high rhetorical
soles" in all his "Folknate" talk. Professor
1iacy's essay upon the Claim Associations" ana
other organizations of the pioneers of Iowa has a
certain institutional bearing, but it is open to the
fatal objection that nothing Of permanent value
has grown from these abortive g6inis. NJ. "ee'i=
ems essay upon Indian Money" is one of the
weakest in point Of style that the series contains,
and it is fairly loaded down with notes the greater
part of which might be dispensed with to the maii-
Test improvement of his pages.
The two publications of the Maryland Historical
Society to which have alluded represent
highly interesting investigations made by young
Maryland historians. The first captain Richard
Jingle" 0arge octave, 50 pp.l, is an attempt to re-
verse the generally accepted opinion of historians
regarding the acts and motives of one of the re-
markable men of early colonial Maryland.
"Pirate.D Rebel" Ungrateful Villaine" are
specimens of the terms that have been applied to tins
contemporary of ClaibOrn +, of Kent Ireland Com
missioner Corvallis Governor Leonard Calvert,
and Colonel Nathaniel Ute, of Spesutia. The old
colonial records used in this monograph go far
coward clearing the character of the doughty cap
tain of two centuries ago, and we understand that
DR. Browne in his forthcoming volume on Mary
land Commonwealth Series has quietly ignored
Che pirate and villain" clause concerning Richard
Snele.
The second of these Maryland Historical Society |
publications that upon "Sr George Calvert" is all
in all one of the best pieces of local historical work
that any American graduate student" has done
of late years. Here is large octave, 172 pages,
with few notes but ample list of authorities and
illustrating every page the close application,
6deity to facts, and sound judgment that such
work requires 1t is an honor 10 Johns Hopkins
and 10 tho Historical Society Of