New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-11
DIR. Won HOLSTS HISTORY.
THE CONCLUSION OF A GREAT WORK.

Chicago Callaghan & Co.
With this volume Dr. Won Hoist brings TO a
conclusion the important work which has occupied
him for more than twenty years. He carries his
history down 10 the Inauguration Of Abraham
Lincoln and the beginning of the Rebellion. But
in his predatory letter addressed TO DIR. Helnrlch
Won Sybel he says: 1T does not, as my readers
will probably expect, follow the course OF events
I'D to the actual outbreak Of the Civil War. AL
though that event for very Ineligible reasons
has been considered hitherto as the end OF the Ola
Union and the beginning of the ncw nave
deemed il best to stop short Of it. The deeper
made my studies and the more | endeaVored 10
comprehend the essence of things, the less couu
/ accept that view; and still, so far as am AWARE
its correctness has never been questioned Nat
urally there can be only very partial Justllica-
ton for assigning any particular day as Vhc
boundary between the two so far, however, as
it is proper to draw such dividing line al all IL
seems to me that the grave closed over the comm
which slavery had made for the Union under 'he
Constitution of 1889. not amid the thunder Of
cannon of the 18th of April, but amid the leslai
music of the 4th of March. 1851. Yet see the
decsive element. not in the fact that Abraham
Lincoln took the place of James Buchanan, put
simply in this that by the constitutional ehd OF The
yXXVIth Congress the way cleared for the
collision of the Rebellion and the Federal UoV-
eminent" -
The fixing Of epochs is generally an unprolit-
able business, and the readers oil TINS Noiume
might find in it's pages more than one reason ior
dsagreeng with the author on this qucstloh. Inc
fac. is that the coming on of the Rebellion was
gradual process, and that 1t is scarcely poSSiple
TO determine when the point was reached al WHICH
il had become first inevitable. Thus 1t might De
argued that the moment any of the Southern
hn
die was cast: or that the passage of the ordinance
of secession by South Carolina marked the moment
of change; or that the withdrawal of the Southern
members from Congress was the crucial event
But clearly no decision can he come to which VIII
be generally accepted Both North and South
wore msled at the time, and, as DIR. Won Hoist
observes. neither had the remotest idea concern
ing the extent and magnitude of the strife to
which they devoted themselves The South did
not believe that The North would fight. The North
thought that the South was gasconading. After the
first battle of Bull Run the South actually
IMAGINED that the war was over, and there was
talk at Richmond of disbanding the Confederate
forces 1t took long time 10 get out OF the
realm of illusions for all concerned.
The subjects with which the historian is prin-
cipally concerned in this volume are-the agita-
ton over Hinton Helpers book. "Ihe Impending
Crisis John Browns Harper's Ferry raid, the
FIGHT over the election Of Speaker of the Thirty
Iytb Congress the Charleston. Chicago and Bal
timore conventions the Presidential elections, the
eourse Of Buchanan during the closing months
of his Administration, and the final and utterly
futile efforts at compromise which were dissl-
pated by the attack on Fort Sumter Won Host
examination of the Impending Crisis episode Is
very severe upon Helper, though he nnds tnat
despite the dishonesty of the plan upon which
his book was written, it was extremely difficult
for the slavocracy 10 meet the charges. what
rave political seriousness TO the incident was the
fact that seventy-eight Republican members oil
Congress had signed recommendation OIL the
book: and, of course, the Southern members made
all the capital possible out OF this shorsghted act
They rendered the situation embarrassing for their
ANTAGONISTS who representing a young, and as
vet. INFESTED party, found themselves accused OF
violating the principles professed In its PLATFORM
and of making sectional attack upon the oouth'
Some of the accused declared in their confession
that they had not read the book, which represen-
tation naturally did not appear to oner Justih-
cation for recommending it. Under other clrcum-
stances the answer to the South might nave Dccn
plain enough, but at this period, the hapit OF
trucking TO the slavOcracy at the North han hoe
been outgrown, and the Republican leaders had
GOOD cause to- apprehend the loss of Northern
xofpS
tbe South had been wantOnly assailed. DIR. Won
IIo,ss account of the Harper's Ferry raid is sym
nathetic. His admiration of John Brown is hearty
and frankly expressed. He has no doubt OF ms
;rterritv and sincerity and his criticism OF Cover
nor Wise and the rest of the slavocrats tine word
is his own is mercilcss. He puts his finger upon
the blunder they committed, and ascroes IL 10 thc
true cause. All this parade, this ealing OUT 0l
,egiments this concentration Of military force
upon Harper's Ferry this giving of National I'M
nortance TO the trial and execution of John Brown
had its genesis in guilty conscience. LIE
olovocracv were stricken with panic and fear
They lost their heads. The fact was 'hao
DESPITE themselves, they recognized certain moral
right in John Browns course; they realized uhao
his legal delct did not and could not eXtihguiSn
that element Of ethical justice
This perturbation was made visible to the whole
country. and John Brown the gallows be-
came a more important and influential inquire
than he had ever been living If the South was
excited almost to frenzy, the North underwent an
awakening The Northern doughfaces. indeed
thought the occasion good one for the display OF
their sycophancy. OF these, Farley Gray wrote
TO ex-President Tyler: Many are as Woleht
as any Southern man could be"-and declared that
ian army Of fifty thousand men, l am persuaded.
could be raised here lin New-York at the tap or
drum to march to your aid, if necessary.
But the great heart of the North was true IN
spito of the self-degradation of men like Charles
O'Conor and Others. These had their reward
The South repudiated their ignobe sacrifice mus
"The Baltimore Patriot" told them. We are
filed only with disgust when we lick the dirt oil
our Shoes" and further observed: If there be
any character in the world that we have con-
tempt for, it is the officiating doughface of the
Free States He has no real regard whatever for
the South and its institutions, and yet. under
pretence Of sympathy for them, he will proclaim
himself our friend, keeping his eyes steadily all
the while upon the pecuniary benefit TO be de-