New-York tribune., 1885-09-20
NEW PUBLICATIONS
ucNAsrER's HISTORY.


x or THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED
sTafE s9e RsyOg,0Sa ave 20 Soinmes SSs Volume
goISo DE- BAon aD W. xs.. e56 d. Appleton Co
n.L;nr Of James Calender, hack wT'tef
-;rad nv Jefferson, Mr.. McMaster says
pa,,s h~s,,e.s was to gather all the pop1eai
..naol all the foul abuse, all the hoeis' al 'ao
seanua,, ." .,,o. e;rcnlsted through the press 70
noan a.. -,a.s;onal speeches to nisinterpret good
e's~' =. at,rihpte false motives to digest tne
rr,,;tv of The aurora of The Argus. OF ."e
r.de,e.deaf Chronicle, and once year senu 'u' -
-hoIe mass in the form OF book' We w
.nsnect Mr.. McMaster Of conscious hisie
s;ona but in other respects his business - '"0
=. Calender's His volume reeks WIN niuoA'
collected from scandalous Journals ""r
80. sNo man." he exclaims, "who mas no'
.,ro,ob the potical literature OF the CLOSING
"a ~ .ho last century can form any conception
.ha aenths of falsehood. of knavery' OF caiuihS'
hamefrl abuse to which it Is possible LOT "ri'eis
of namnhlets and editors of newspapers 10 acscehu
~ m ~ cams In have soaked himself In this pooi,
and nerbaps we ought to admire MS couraso' Du'
4. - ,ot pleasant object as he comes out anu We
ot v;,l,ng tn accept the dirt which ne heaPs
,ur moses az a fair sample of life, character
"a nonners in the infant Republic. ie"
snee;,nens of the controversial styie u 'no u",
,ro,ld NOT have been amiss. ana 'wfahg"s wn'0"
had important public consequences shouio ha'o
beer described; but Mr.. McMaster mas goho i"'
bevond these limits. and it is hardly an exagsera-
sion to saw that the principal part Oh MS ooVA
translation into what has oeen Wen ca'ioo -.
&c Macaulayesen of the railings OF partisan
--;tars the slanders of election campaigns ana
A.. ...vo,ad and improbable debates OF Congress
IT, .h;s be has added a copous account OF personal
o,,oonn,ers and scandals and he has been SO busy
so,,oo,ino rnbbsh that he has almost entirely over
,Lad the real course of National development Vi
o,tical ideas of material prosperity ana OF soe'ai
nrogress. He has applied to history the sioS'
natnralistic method of Zola- ii we took niin ioi
go ,ride we should have to set down the entre
xuarican peope of the time of Washington, ADAMS
and Jefferson as community OF ioofs anu "i"0A
puards led by knaves and liars
An example of the falsity OF Mr. McMas'ers
method is found in his FIRST chapter in the treatment
of Hamiltons funding scheme and the BANK no'l
80 measures had far-reaching and importart
consequences, and the funding Dill IN pa'uoo''i
vos one of the most brilliant and ingenious
sorv;ces rendered by its ilustrious author to the
,olitcs no less than to the finances Of the Naton'
Noth,ng In either measure. however seems to nave
,ressed Mr. McMaster except the accidental anu
eom,orary impulse which they gave to speculation.
He is not ignorant of the higher significance OF
svents but it does not interest him. lie H ai"ays
ready to drop politics for dog-hght.
His over-attention to the miserable newspapers ol
The time goes far to account for MS lack ol con
struetye skill. His narratives break OIL Abruptly
and irrelevant matter is thrust into the chasn ohy
hecause IL happened to become subject OF conee-
bouse chatter or to be recorded in the press mus
ne is telling the story of the intercepted dlspatch
frnm the French Minister, Fauchet, which LED 10
Tamrrd Randolphs resignation of the Attorney
10 1
;ntereeted: aThe very day that Washington
.hoyvea 70 Randolph the captured dispatch of
Fanehet West Indian merchantmen made fast to
one Of the wharves at New-York Her name was
the xephyr Her cargo consisted of coffee, sugar
ond hides But before many days had gone by,
che became both the talk and the dread OF the
townD Let not the reader suppose, however, that
he is to have the story of the Zephyr IN hurry
For here Mr. McMaster breaks OF again. Inc
mention of New-York suggests description OF
tbe CITY. An allusion to the Assembly Room
Involves tedious synopsis of religious dispute
Tb; Loads TO an account of taverns, and trade and
Je,sev butter and oysters and Ii is only at the end
of eight pages that we caJch sight OF the zephyr
AGAIN. and learn that she brought yellow fever
Porelv two pages suffice for the story OF the
epidemic TINS elaborately prefaced. As for the
Randolph episode, we never hear of ii again.
ara under review, and the influence which some of
them certainly have exercised upon the whole sub
seonent HISTORY of the Republic. Mr.. McMaster has
NO conceptlon He admires nobody Toward those
whom he does not abuse he is cold and indifferent.
We can recall in his thick book only one cordial
expression toward an American leader and that Is
not we'll considered. The career of Andrew Jackson
belongs TO later period. but Jackson Is briefly
introduced as a lad, Ewhose intIepidlty, whose
energy whose fiery temper and intense love
of right made him in after years the most remarka-
BILE man the Republic had yet produced" This ia
not true Jackson was not the most remarkable
man the'Republic had produced; Ear from 1t; and
he was distinguished for his intense though ignorant
love of wrong Upon Hamilton Mr. McMaster
happily refrans from passing Judgment Jefferson
was dishonest and malicious, and mad no title to
the name of statesman. Madison was dishonest.
Monroe was of small ability and mean spirit; in
France he was not true to the cause of the United
etates he was neither patriot nor an honest man.
The death of Washington calls forth no other
comment than the following shameful passages
He died in his sixty-eighth year, and in the hey
day of his glory and his fame. Time has since
dealt gently with his memory, and he has come
down to us as the greatest of all leaders and the
most immaculate of all men. No other face is so
familiar to us. His name is written al over the
map Of our SoI1r of s 6h bs
are known to every schoolboy in the land. Yet his
true biography is still to be prepared. General
Washington is known 20 us and President Wash
ington. But George Washington is an unknown
man When at last he is set before us in his habit
rs he lived we shall read less of the cherry-tree
and more of the man. Naught surely that is heroic
will be omitted, but side by side with what is heroic
will appear much that is commonplace. We shall
behold the great commander repairing defeat with
marvellous celebrity, healing the discussions of his
officers and calming the passions of his mutinous
troops But we shall also hear his oaths, and see
him In those terrible outbursts of passion to winch
Mr. jefferson has alluded, and one OF which Mr..
scar has described. We shall him refusing to
be paid for his services by Congress, yet exactlng
from the family of the poor mason the shilling
that was his due. We shall know him as the cold
and forbidding character with whom no fellow-m