New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-25
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

SOLDIER. sAGE BY rsasant, s1 AVAIL , syS
PIP. 800. New York: Cdsweil Publishing TOM
pany
The author OF this biography Is not at fault FIR the
failure to produce agreeable study OF southern
character. Robert Toombs did not have the traits
OF character which could be softcned and localized
By the booxnakeI's art lie was. after Calhoun'S
DEATH the real leader OF tho slavcholdera cause
He was an orator Of splendid talent and politician
Of indeagable energy. who never lacked the courage
Of his copvictions. No southern statesman Oh 'ne
Secession excelled him in prestige ana influence
vet when the Confederate Congress elected ireS'
dent he was nominated only to bo Withdrawn ana
leader inferior In intellectual resources ana auhnnS
trative capacity chosen In his place r''""p,
the most marnarinous verdict which can be passed
upon his career Is that expressed by 'o'ohc' h"i''
ale was CAUTIOUS and safe In counsel whic WIG h,u
exasperatng in speech No southern ie""'i Vi HIS
generation was more incorporate In speech than
Toonbs and on this account he was not onv hateu nv
the Northern Abolitionist as the most ntoerant ol
fire eaters but also distrused among his own people
rs reckless and ungovernablc. While he was SEC
retary OF state under the Provisional Government
and general in the Confederate Armv his ScrNioes
10 the Secession cause were not commensurate with
the reputation which be had made in Congress as
a giant Of debate and the Mrabeau OF the South.
The author OF this biography does not attempt a
philosophical analysis of the character OF TINS south
ern statesman, but is content to compile pains'ah
ing
experience, earlier struggles at the Georgia par
election to the legislature House Of Representatives
and the Senate. and his participation In the great
debates OF the decade beginning with the 'oproh'se
of 1850 are described in detail. HIS experiences i'll
the Army OF Northern Virginia and win ue "eors'"
militia follow. aud very curious account Is gwen |
OF his escape from South at the close OF the Hnr
The authors STYLE is diifusc. and his method OF sum
morzinc speeches and debates somewhat exaspeiat |
Ing: but he has done great deal OF honest as well
as arduous work in this volume. There is no al
tempt to gloss Toombss worst vce-lh'emprr.
ance-and the treatment of the subject Is caldio
tbro,rbout The book is written primarily for
Ceorgtans and so,therners and that is mistake OF
Judgment In the republic ofletters amnesty lor
.nolitical offences was decided long ago. biography
Of one OF the most famous Of the saveownnG states
men did not need to be written for a sectional au-
dience.
rIIFNFIRsT INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY AN , the nE
COLONlzATION OF NEwENGLAH,D, NJ Llie o anu
Elizabeth Poor svo, PIP. 400. &. p. Pntnams
Sons. -, .s
profoundly Impressed in his youth with the magnitude
n, what was then a new method of railway transpora-
ron on April 16 1894, he witnessed the hrst
passarr OF a locomotive and train over New fhs'a"u
railway He Compounded al once the importance o.
the event and tcrsely described the new railway system
as the great achievement Of man, the most e1traordi-
He returned TO his home in Maine With an enthusiasm
on the subject OF railway progress which continued 10
tho end of his life lie investigated the subject OF
RAILWAYS in his own state from the highest point OF
view and in designing a system he was aided by
thorough acquaintance with the physical geography
and the commercial agricultural and manufacturing :
resources OF the undeveloped and thnly populated
In 1s43 he made public his plan 1or :
Two great railways cOnverging at Portland Tie east
prn terminus Of one railway was HALIFAX ana the
western terminus OF the other Montreal. TINS A
splendid scheme for linking together Canada and New
which seemed visionary when he pro :
ected f. he lived 10 see accomplished in less than
thirty years. II was his life work and his title TO y
lame.
Tie great lesson Of such life. as n Is sketched
With una fectcd simplicity In this volume i concen'-
ion of purpose After the project OF connecting Fort
and with Montreal by an international railway Ihd
AIKEN complete possession his mind. he suborinaed
Every other in life to that of accomplishing the
york He crossed over his projected route on horse
hack md on foot he traversed the valley Of the st.
lawrence from Lake Quebec and studied every
inch Of the ground; he addressed public meetings In
New England and in Canada; he prevented the adop-
ton of an alternative scheme, with Boston a the ter
minis by making midwiner journey 10 Montreal IN
a terrible snowstorm he lsbOreA necessarily with ,
tongue and pcn and succeeded largely BY virtue OF his
perseverance and commanding force Of
character The sketch OF his busy life gwen in this
volume follows in the main the admirable biography +
prepared by Charles W. futile, of Boston 1t is sup
plemented by a series OF the most important OF Mr..
Poor's writings such subjects International rail-
ways the northeastern boundary ransoontinenal rail
way communication and colonization in America =
Ill,