New-York tribune., 1885-02-24
NEW PUBLICATIONS
TIE TlLERS.

~ TxIL
w 633 Richmond: whittet sheppersoh.
The TvIers commemorated in this somewhat
r,neccssar,ly ample work are President Tyler anu
his father John Tyler. the elder. was mellioer u
the Virginia House of Delegates during the he'o'u
tion: friend and associate OF PatricK iiohiS
Thomas Jefferson and other patriots nPeakc, -
the Virginia Legislature; Governor VI 'HN
from 1sOs to 1911; Judge of the Admiralty ana
General Courts and at the time OF mis- death' IN
1913. Judge OF the United States Dlstrict oo"i'.
He was a man Of mark in his day, both as a J"''''
and as a politician. aud his personal chai"o,''
seems to have been profoundly respecteu ny 'ne
people of Virginia; he was in short soou Vpo "
the centlemanly politician, strenuous rhetorica''
fona of theories and sincere in his devotion 10
them often wrong headed but haol'u"''y
bioh.mnded-a type of the politician VINO once
Aourisbed finely in Virginia follow ne tne u''S
of Marty "a a family inheritance and hahoihs
on his principles as highly respectaoie h0.,.
looms There Is something attractive in
The portrait of the old Judge. as IL Is orA"n W
tbis biographer Even the poetry which an unwise
nart;alitv has exposed to the cold light OF 'he
printed page is palliated by the domestic leeiins
which prompted its perpetration But IL hiusV Ds
confessed that Judge Tyler, after all mas peeh S,o
for him, makes no very large figure among .he ui,
t;ncuisbed men in whose labors he participated ana
become identified even with the measures for whicn
10 sought most earnestly lie was upright
stra;chtforward energetic and courageous, Bat no'
n mon of ORIGINAL force or of much polltical Saga
CITY He amused himself by claiming descent
from Wat Tyler, the rebel against h'charu II.
There is no certainty whether he dio 'hi' 'n J''
or in earnest but his son, the PRESIDENT acoop'"
the yenealogy seriously, and Mr.. Lyon Tyler the
biorrapher treats it with solemnity when Is
almost impressive We need hardly say that there
is not q particle of testimony in support VI 'i,''
claim nobody knows even whether Iylcr was 'ho
name or the trade of the English rebel; and there
Is trifing gap of two hundred and seventy wears
between him and the cavalier immigrant 10
Virginia with whom the history of the Americans
Tvlers really begins One cannot help smiling al
the impartial complacency with which Mr.. Lyon
TYLER prides himself upon the mythical ancestor
xho led the commons against the king In the 1our-
feenth century and the actual ancestor who'
having presumably f0nght for the KING agaihs'
tbe commons. in the seventeenth century. came 10
Virginia where the virgin air was not tailtea
with the breath OF a regcide and usurper
But it is a familiar fact that the Virginia gentle
men who were intensely aristocratic III tno'i
personal relations, and royalist IN their syih'
pathies during the struggle between the crown
and the Parliament were the first to revolt when
TO their own SOIL The Presidents father was one OF
the earliest most active. and most daring OF the
revolutionary party. His patriotism, remarks the
bioprapher. aamounted 10 Kind Of mysticism
which placed at his country's disposal his fortune
and his unremitted services" Patriotism amount
ing to " a kind of mysticism IS b" an Ill phrase
vile phrase" whose meaning we DO not profess "
understand We should describe Judge Tyler as
very practical patriot, who distinguished himself I'D
the Legislature by his zeal to provide money for
the revolutionary cause. The end OF the war ionho
him among the extreme advocates OF state sover'
eighty, OF a weak central government. OF Jealous
restrictions upon Congress; his hatred OF Oreal
Britain nearly amounted to raucor; his dread oi
British influence not only twisted his politics but
affected his theories and interpretations of law he
cherished an undying and vengeful animoslty
AGAINST the Tories and had no mercy for refugees,
nartly no doubt because he believed III dangerous
monarchical conspiracy among the federaiis'H
MANY excellent men hugged these same errors ana
the mistakes of Judge Tyler would not be worth
mentioning were not his biographer so sure that
they were marks of superior wisdom.
For Mr. Lyon Tyler seems to be just one hundred
wears behind his generation. lie, too, is sa'ishou
th.t Federalism was wicked plot against the
liberties of the country, that Hamilton was an
enemy of the Republic. that the whole course ol
constitutional development since the end OF the last
century has been wrong. that New England has
ALWAYS been given over to baseness and J0bbery
that Virginia is America. and that the greatest o.
mankind was Thomas Jefferson. With Nr'
ginians," he says :" it is disputed question which
has superior claims TO the tite Father oil Dis
country, Washington or Jefferson. They speak o
the calm equipoise of Washington but the Ge"'p
of jefferson" He regards the old Confederation as
vastly superior to the present Union OF States and
80. t1.af fixlor
shows. as even the most imperfect and prejudiceC
survey of the first years of our government muS
show, that the Articles of Confederation proved
disastrously inadequate to the needs Of the country
he insists that there was no defect in them which a
little easy tinkering would not have cured. anc
that the adoption OF the constitution was wicked
blunder Ii is curious fact that Judge Tyler was
unintentionally OF the principal agents IL
bringing about this very change. The Constlu
tonal Convention was the outgr0wth OF propose
for an interstate convention to devise Remedies
for the desperate condition of trade, and OF thai
proposal Judge Tyler was one of the most con
spicuous supporters. Mr.. Tyler is inclined to at
tribute the authorship of it to him. rather than t'
Madison for whom the credit has generally beer
claimed: but we do not think that he makes ou
his case Judge Tyler, at any rate. although h
was anxious to give Congress certain temporary
authority over trade always bitter opponen
of the Constitution which resulted from thi
scheme; point upon which his biOgraphc
enlarges in the following fine language: I" The lat
Speaker (Tyler had been the first TO detect defec
III one of the pillars that upheld the beauteou
edifce of the Articles of Confederation. who's
corner stone had been laid amid general rejoicing
Beyond any in Virginia he had tugged at th
bell in the tower to summon to consultation TIN
skilful mechanics Of the States; and. To- he marked
aghast an eager, frightened crowd tearing at tn
sacred structure dismantling the roof, and cuttn
down the massive pillars; while out OF the ruins Ia
SAVIOR thought lie saw-arsing the rugged orr