New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-06-15
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
JUSTIN II. McCARTHY'S CLEVER WOKh.


up. SOS Harper q Brothers.
No period in the worlds history is so attrac-
dive to the student, stimulating 10 the lmagi-
nation, SO impressive upon the emouohs, OF 80
irving to the Judgment, as that of the french
Revolution. No period has been exploited more
eagerly by well-meanng historians NO perlod
has had its every important character, event and
motive. interpreted described, explained in such
jrreconcilably opposite ways. II might he sald
without exaggeration that the more one reads OF
Revolution literature the more lncapaole one IN
evitably becomes of reaching fixed and clear con-
illusions about anything connected with IT, iet
10 the writer of strong Imagination and dramatic
tendencies il is almost impossible to keep away
from the subject, and even when the temptation
is yielded 10 without entailing COMMISSIONS ol
violent partsanship the hazy atmosphere sur
rounding the whole lurid scene OF turmoil mas
the most remarkable effects upon the intending
chronicer. 1t plungcs him into phantasma-
goric condition. so to speak, and lures him into
substituting for grave, measured and orderly mar
rative series of vivid and striking pictures, de
irving homogeneity far more from the harmonic
sense of the artist than from the substantial
warrant of verified facts.
Nor does it seem probable that the modern &C
cess of information on the Revolution, due TO the
patient. arduous researches Of whole school OF
specialists, will greatly facilitate the inquiries oil
such as seek the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth, this great and bewllder-
ing problem. At least it is already evident that
increase of information details has done niue
nothing to bring the contendng schools oil MS
try together, or to modify the extremity of their
views. 1t may very well be that this irrconcl-
ability is in part attributable to the peculiar cir
cumstanccs under which the old regime perlshed
Had the Revolution taken place at the death OF
Louis XIV or Louis XIV, there would have been
little or no room for sympathy with the over
thrown King and nobility. But it happened that
the old regime under Louis XVI really was some
what less obnoxious than il had ever been be-
fore that it was much less brazenly immoral;
that the mobiles had, in fact, begun TO perceive
the necessity for reform, and were preparing not
very cheerfully, indeed to tighten some OF the
popular burdens Now this being so, the de-
tenders of the monarchy are inevitably the more
exasperated by the terrible punishment measured
out by their friends; while the Revolutionary
champions unable TO meet the charges of their
opponents squarely, hardly he expected to
keep entire control of their tempers. One direct
result Of all this pickering and contradiction IS
that the world takes its theories Of the Revolt
ton very much as il pleases and Is lustlhed upon
grave authority no matter what views II selects.
Mr.. Justin ". Mccarthy has, we think, APP
preached the subject in very sensible way
Having famliarized himself with all the conflict
ing versions he refuses to take sides or 10 SIT IN
Judgment but contents himself with frank
Tecapitulation of the opposed theories and de-
clares his own inability TO determine where the
truth lies. Not that he is without his leanings
lie cannot, for example, believe the ,ngly stories
told concerning poor Marie Antonette beyond
certain point He is sure she was not the aban-
doned creature she was represented TO be during
that unparalleled orgie called the Terror. She
was he thinks, light, frivolous, eXtravagant and
most reckless and foolish often; but not depraved
When he comes TO the affair Of the Diamond
Necklace he is compelled to give up the task
of ests blishing any definite conclusion He can
not make up his mind what responsibility. if any,
rests upon the Queen in that tenebrous affair.
The notorious mendacity and general untrust-
worthiness of the principal actors in the case
and the early destruction of the Cardinal de
Rohan's and La Notes correspondence which
would have told much, have flung a thick
veil over the whole matter, and rendered it almost
impossible for the conscientious historian TO reach
q conclusion upon it. But Mr.. Mccarthy, while
cautious regards the final verdict, seems de-
sirous Of compensating himself for the restraint
by giving free rein to a decidedly unhistorical
penchant for strong language And this is the
most conspicuous defect in his book. Such
cpithets he hurls at the people he dslikes would
he sufficiently startling if applied by Wild West
ern politicians 10 one another in the heat of
close campaign: when employed concerning men
and women who died century ago, they appear
something more than extravagant. At times
forges the highly dramatic art of his tableau, the
effective touches with which he fixes personality,
the anecdotes with which he illustrates character.
the epgrammatic sentences in which he hits of
situation-in vexation at the wildness and excess
of his vituperative outbreaks. No doubt very
bad men and women were concerned in that dis
NAL tragedy: but it never help us TO under
stand the action and motives of the dramatis
personae to load them with verbal abuse and it
most certainly detracts from the force and effect
of the narrative. When Mr. Mccarthy writes Of
Cardinal de Rohan. This imbecile profligate com
mited the most imbecile of his life in desiring
TO commit the most profigate," the smartness Of
the phrase does not help us TO comprehend De
Rohan's character or motives. Neither is it in
the line of philosophy to write " He to
have lost the horror he called a heart TO Marie
Antoinette. One expects composition of this
extra~forid kind in what is called "penny-a-
lining" but 20 encounter it in what passes for
history is disconcerting.
Again told that certain letters "came
from the ruffian hand of "a scoundrel named Re
faux de Villette,' who really seems 70
have been quite commonplace swinder
unworthy such fiery cpithets. We do
not forget the cosency of the temptation
laid upon all who write of the Revolution to fall
into heroics, TO become excited, to attunc their
mood 10 the extravaganza OF the period Bnt
Mr.. Mccarthy is no amateur He has shown his
ability To write history soberly and with due re-
strant and moderation, and he is too experienced
an author not to know that intemperance of Ian
guage mars effectiveness. Why should his
toran think 1t necessary TO say of King of France
fhoi Ub 4 cuts hat" ba, Il
like poisoned rat? 1t is not nice expression
under any circumstances, and surely It is quite
out Of place in historical work 1t must be
said further that Mr.. Mccarthy does not appear
10 have given his proosheets the careful revision
which they obviously required. His composition