New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-08

mare robbery of their neighbors' territory. Ihere
was nothing in the Southern programme hot per.
foctly consistent, in short. and the annexation %
Toxos' and the wnr with Mexico simply rounded
-. ,siton the most sinister aspect and sig.
rNconcc Of which consisted not in these subsidiary
dovolounents. but in the main contention
NJ cobouIcr we think little harsh toward
tho carly Aboitionists. II is true that thesc
MOI, did not mince matters. They bodily asserted
,I,ot e1ovcrv was n crime that the slaves had
al, % freedom, and that they were warranted
IN emuloving any available means 10 loera"
themselves This, of course, was 1usuiylhB
slave insurrection, with all It's posSiole hoirofs'
Rut the situation was not one lor SUI "iA VI
further compromises, and il thht lacU was -, nVO
lui oioar then. it is clear enough now. This
So. his,or, shows that the crafty Southern states
NON wore working steadily from Jackson's hme
90 oxtond the area of slavery, to overbear the
- of rho free States TO establish by Congress
s1ovo oIioarchv against the tyranny oil winch
oo,st;,u,ioral resources would be useless All
.ais ,ras benr carried on in underhand more than
80, ,ravs and il was helped by the drugged
onatbv not alone of Northern POLITICIANS, but
90 ,bo Northern people. The churches OF the
Nor,l, which should have been in the van oil
,,,o,rrcss and reform. betrayed their trust and
croucbed placidly at the feet of the South Inc
Nor4born mudslls' Ignorant and 1mDruted
IMMIGRANTS in large part-cXhibited that singular
disnosition 10 inhumanity so often dlspmyed oy
tboso who have themselves suffered most from
it. That AbolitionistS should DC deNsted py
Sopthcrn slave-owners was natural cnough' Dut
that tbcv, should be mobbcd by the scum OF
,ba Northern cities-by men VINO never kh3"
liberty till they landed in the Unlted otiteS-
was naadoxical At this time, however, IL was
NOT only the ignorant newcomers VINO echoeu
tbc denunciations Of the Shareholders Inc III
..,,,aonoo orJ rosncctability of the North was in
.,.I,.r 20 tho ,isrrocc. Of the Republic well.
~. ,o,,, +bor had the national morality sunk,
- lo,,, necessary was it that sharp and
,,,rc ont remedy should be applied to the disease
,,hIob was eating out the Nations heart. Inc
c., ,rords IF Garrison, the blasting cloquencc
NJ Wendell Phillips, were precisely "hht WIS
roouired Nothing gcntlcr or less olrect anu
uncompromising could have stimulatea the Noroh-
orn conscience Mr.. Schouler remarks IN ono
rlaco that there could be no question aoouO
the abstract wrong of slavery. Inc expression
ill ,Jo controversies of the ante-bcllum period
Are there. then, abstract wrongs Whlch dO Viic
emo time arc concrete rights? Surely not; and
tho Ton, p,st-blasts of Garrison and his rlelos
were proclamations of truth, which, however
distasteful to those who had good cause for shame
and self-reproval, needed 10 be declared more
than aught else at that day.
Van Buren,, fatally handicapped by his own
renrtation and the sinister legacies Of Jackson
snoils system. failed in his ambition, and was
stranded at the close of his term. Mr.. Schouler
oives a spirited account of the Log Cabin cam
noirn of 1870 when the people virtually eschewed
all discussion Of principles, and carried General
Harrison into the White House on wave OF en-
tbpsiasm The sudden close Of this promising
Administration before it had well opened brought
q political revolution. Tyler, with none OF jack
sons ability. but much Of his stubbornnesS mixed
with a duplicity wholly foreign to the old hero
Of New-Orleans, essayed 10 throw over the Wings
in Congress. thwarted their policy, quarrelled
with Clay, undertook to create party OF his own,
and finally turned his coat and went over to the
Democrats Mr. Schoulcr is very severe upon thls
Administration but the evidences Of IylcrS perhdy
and dishonorable trickcry are too conclusive to
Justify any other position for historian VINO
means 10 be candid and who is not BIASED by
rarity prepos.eS,ions. The Wings were paralyzed
by the Presidents course for he controlled all the
Federal patronage; and, what was more serious
STILL the country refused TO draw distinctions pu'
held the party responsible for the acts Of an Adj
ministration with which it was at open war
TYLER could not secure second term for himself
Public opinion had passed sentence upon him early
in his term. But he could ruin the party he had
betrayed, and this was the practical outcome OF his
elaborate intrigucs and his bold attempts to In
trench himself in power.
The present volume brings us to the opening Of
Folks Administration, and to the development OIL
the Mexican War, the history Of which event can
never be agreeable reading for such rs love theli
country and are Jealous of its honor. The chronicle
of the Texan, Mexican and Californian episodes
has been so fully and eXhaustively written by Mt
H. H. Bancroft that all who wish to he thoroughly
informed on those subjects must go to his vol
| umes Mr.. Schouler has rsorted freely to thoS'
rich magazines Of historical information, and hl'
eptomzed account is accurate enough for genera
purposes, though considerations of space and TN
| plan of the work compel him to omit much detail
! throwing important light upon the political anC
! rilitary movements Of the period. lie pause
! OCCASIONALLY in his narrative TO bring up to dat'
| the record Of social, scientific, commercial anc
! literary progress and these interealated passage
serve to illustrate and give form and color to th'
| broad outlines of the history. The material ant
mental growth Of the country is thus made NOR
apparent and the effect of the railway, telegraph
and steamship upon society is brought out witt
special dstinctness. Mr.. Schouler, heretofore
CONVEYS the impression Of thorough honesty o
purpose and of a determination 10 judge right
eously. even If he should give offence His styl
| is, as a rule, plain and direct. Occasionally III
falls into slOvenly, and, less frequently into taw
dry expressions. and in one or two places he EN-
ploys slang phrases which have an unpleaan
effect As whole however his work is wei
done, and consclentously beyond doubt nor doe
he fail TO uphold the highest standard Of nationa
ethics or to rebuke cvil-doing, no matter wha
the alleged or real end sought, wherever it is en-
countered Another volume will complete thi
important and generally trustworthy history, tn
intention of the author being TO bring it down T.
the opening OF the Rebellion.