New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-11-10

banners bore the inscription" Americans shant rule
us" he may be pardoned for having concluded
that the day Of wrath was not far away lhose
who to-day are fond OF exclaiming against foreign
rule in New-iork may be Interested IN TINS re-
minder that the cause of complaint Is at leAst d
tolerably old one and that they themselves 90
not belong TO the first generation that mas cn'ieu
against the circumstance. OF course Phlhp fiono
WAS accused OF being IAN arstocrat" Tor MS
opinions on this head, and when he yleideo 10 uh'
suggestions of his friends and allowed himseii "
be nut in nomination for the State Senate, he was
beaten worse than his ticket; which ought TO nave
convinced him that the inscription on the banner
was not joke. .
II is curious to see how stifly those venerable
Ncw-Yorkers adhered 10 tho most antique INGENIOUS
in finance and business: how deeply and DitnrV
they resented Jaclzson's policy on the bank issue
how they scofTed and sneered at the Sub treasury
scheme, and predicted It's failure; how they
chung to the miserable rotten system OF State
banks in spite of the overwhelming eWaence Oh
its untrustworthness; how little, in short they
learned from aflliction, and how eager most ol
them were to go on and repeat all the errors anu
folies which had prccipitated the collapse OF
1887. Philip Hone doubt represents very
faithfully the prevailing views OF his tune anu
circle; in fact he WAS 10 some extent raoner 'n
advance OF his generation The literary taste
which was strong in him was scarcely at all de-
veloped in the majority of his club friends ana
business contemporaries, and it is evident tha'
his visits to Europe and his extensive travel III MS
own country had broadcned his mind some
what striking evidence of this is his refusal 10
Join the general chorus of indignation ehci'eu py
Dickens's American Notes" Hone stoutly
10 ha1
down plainly what he saw, and that his worst
fault consisted in too hssty generalizanons upon
insufficient data Some experiences which par
alle those of Dickens are indeed chronicieo Ill
this diary in connection with Homes tour into
the West. an expedition the hardships Of which
brought on an illness from which he never re-
covered and which doubtless shortened bus LIE:
Frequent mention is made of the dolngs Oh
Congress in these volumes. Hone was oI'eh d.
Washington, and as often an interested slec'".odi
at the Capitol. The manners OF Congressuen anu
Senators were then much III need OF sweetness
and light, and the chivalry" of the South
certainly did not present the planest evidences Oh
high civilization. Both North and South, IN
deed, were gwen to an amount OF rowdylSm IN ue
bate which would be impossible now, ana III Is
difficult to distinguish between the behavior OF
such Northern men as benton ana sucn pou' ~
erne1s as Wise and Footc. Duelling was then IN
vogue, and Hone gives full account OF the Iatai
encounter between Graves and Cllley, III wllGh
perhaps the most significant circumstance Is the
defence made by Graves before the House, when
he threw the responsibility for the tragedy upon
that public opinion which ostracised the man VINO
refused TO obey the rules of the " code OF honor"
With the AbOlitionists the author of the diary
had no sympathy at all in fact he was thorough
Philistine on the subject of slavery, never gong
beyond what he evidently thought the lmpregnabie
position that slaves were property under the law,
and that the law must be obeyed. No doubt he
reflected the general opinion in this too. and CON
sequently he was vexed and disguised by the
persistent Congressional fight kept up by John
quincy Adams, who he thought, should have,
been expelled from the House. Yet he admired
and appreciated Adams, and the death of the
latter paid him the honor Of handsome eulogy.
Mr.. Tuckerman apparently did not think it
necessary TO annotate these records Of old New
York though there are many places which would
have been the clearer for explanatory or Illus
trative notes As u rule. however the diary
needs little Interpretation, and il may he wei
coined as an agreeable. gossipv contribution to
civic annals and pleasant record of citizen
of some distinction, parts, and usefulness in his
generation,