New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-19
rHE FRENCH REVOLUTION
a NEW ENGLISH HISTORY.

,N "A ;,,nortant events IN til" career OF human
a., a. must remain inexhausnbc reservoir o, io'
..rcrion upon the possibilities OF human soc'ai OF
c.u.z,tior Nor has there ever peeh petio" w"
inc the hundred years which have e'"pseu s'"oo ''
occurrence when it's lessons had moro sienihcahoe
Co. the world than at present For. as Mr. stephens
ohserves IN his original preface: Nearly every
.~red,ent whether sociaiistc or purely oehlo-
~at,c which has been proposed of recent years '"r
h.ra6ting the condit on of the psooie was trieu
between 1889 and $780, and 1t history mas an'
value at ALL 1t is this period which ought 10 w ca
....a ,,fora any other in order TO learn the polt-
900, Lessons which il teaches" IL ls rue' i"ueo''
thai the leaders of the Revolution had before 'no"
the examples Of Greece and Rome. and 'h't NV
withdrawing the waroing conveyed In 'ao'o GA
amnles they set themselves to reproduce the post
fatally hopeless of the anc'en: cohduons'
In., On there was 10 be seen in this country lew
years AGO G. ass OF people who Obstinately icnof-
spg the teaching of French revolutionary hnance'
ed in believing that theories, the faiacv OF
which France proved to her cost at the close OF the
last century could be introduced here and carrier
TO O successful issue.
N,.rtbe,ess the French Revolution must con-
Time our richest treasury OF facts regafd''g III
social potlcaI I'd financial experiments an i'no-
yations In that time OF storm aud stress' wiz" "
classic enthusiasm was united TO 80 fierce e lousy
vers,ye ideas were adopted often solely to secure
the widest separation from the past. there was
fraer field for the trial of plans than Is ever
bkelv TO be available again. A whole Datioh
aaturated with The enthusiast OF humanity huhe
itself without reserve into the most audaclous ana
upheard of essays at social regeneration. ihis WIS
declared to be the duty and iunction OF the stare
I'm theory the programme was lofty. Poverty was
20 be abolished. Inequalities of social CONDITION
were 10 be done away with. Liberty ana
fraternity were the watcbwords of the dHv
Never Was there such opportunity for test
ing the value of doctrines. and never did
doc,u,es M sicnalIy fail to stand the test The
inherent INEQUALITIES of nature dominated AL artl-
6c,al sfatutes and DEGREES. The rights OF man
moved incapable of determination by conventions
and assemblies The resort t. force which was the
logical and inevitable outcome OF the prevalent
attempt to remould humanity, first dlsgraced the
Revolution by hideous crime aud then be rayed IL
into the hands of new deSpotsm
10 those who come into the world long enough
after this great convn sion to have lost tough with
its reaction nothing can be more useful and Gu
Tightening than careful stu ly of the period FOR
we have arrived a. another critical point once
more world which lgnores the past is dreaming vt
possibilities the futity of which France demon
strated century since. Once more the revolt "1
man against the memorable fate which apportions
results to capacities aud Furnishes all ineihCieney
Ms crime Is being raised. and realiz ttion OF the
gulf which divides the broadcast political liberty
from control of the laws of nature IS producing m
impotence of circumstances which may issue I'D
fresh experiments of the old kind Against error
vuch as this study of the French Revolution Is the
soundest Of remedies and the new work whose
first volume is before promises to be one OF Inc
most instructive because based on the
Coz fha npO M
histories OF the period exaat In bis origina preface
the author modestly dlsclains any profession o
ranking with the great historians but in this he
does less than Justice to himself, His apology for
writing is ample justification. During the past
forty years the study OF the Revolution has pro-
duced an immense mass OF new material oil the mos'
Important character Specialists, writing scIen'lh-
caliy have elabOr ated hundred points OF conse-
auence. The provincial histories have been en-
Eiched greatly tins way and such mass OF prac-
tically unedIted matter has accumulated that the
revision of tue standard histories has become almost
o necessity.
Beside this vas the consideration that none OF
The great French histories were free from fauIts
winch intersered seriou'ly with their usefulness
while Carlyles brilliant work was scarcely pr0salc
and detallel enough to preclude the necessity Tor
more precise and sober record. These things 10
cether. acting upon a personal enthusiasm for the
occupation " many years. persuaded him TO under
take the preparation of a new history Judging
from this first volume, Mr. stephens NAV
count with some confidence upou supeis ding
all of his predecessors in the field VITA the
exception OF Iaine. The latter Is sometimes
hampered OF less by poiltical preconceptions-
we will not say prejudlces, but his philosophy and
hi view are frequently broader than the English
maus The latter in turn has the advant age or
more complete impartiality. lie has also PROBABLY
covered the field of provincial history more fully
than NJ. Tame. Both authors have perceived the
full significance of the new light upon depart
mental action, and have gwen the latter its due
weight in estimating causes. Perhaps however.
Mr. Stephens shows mos clearly the falacy OF the
old notion that Paris made the Revolution, or even
the Terror. JacObinlsm, insisted upon by NJ. lame
as the most potent agent IN the eavenlng OF france
with the new IDEAS was not as Mr.Stepnens demon
ytraies, so capital q promoter OF the revolution,
though unquesdonably very influential The iusur-
tectionary spirit of the rural districts had really
been rising for years 1t was stimulated by the
fatally FOOLS fiscal policy of the first session OF the
Btates-eueral it was still further strengthened hy
the various jacqueries which spread so rapidly and
produced 50 much lawlessness 1t is curious.
though not incomprehensbe. that no historian
has vet been able to determine whether the rising
of tne people was promoted by secret agents d.
rected from Paris, or was sponf aneons Inc rumors
of the time freely credited prominent men ana rae
tlons with secret Vaccinations Orleans. Mlraoeau,
the Jacobin Club sad to have been instruments
oil in the revolutiouizng the departments. Doubt
less revolution was III the air. The Government
Itself had imported IT with the return of Lafayette
and his comrades from the War of American lnde-
pcndenoc. Apropos of the American contributions
70 the great event, Mr.. Stephens holds that Willie
ct the beginning American ideas were very popu-
lar. so much so that he Assembly wasted precious
weeks and months in debating declaration OF the
nights Of man. when the Revolution came to be IN
iull swing American ideas were dropped, aud had
little or no representation in the later constltu-