New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-26
A VITAL PERIOD.
DIR. SLOANE'S EXCELLENT HISTORY
THE FRENCH WAR AND TIE REVOLUTION. BY
William Mlligan Sloane. PHI D., l.. ii. ID. VIII

THE FRENCH WAR AND TIE REyoITTIoN. u.RN
William Mlligan Sloane. PHI D., j.. ii. d. VIII
Maps. i2mo. PIP. 4Vo
This is the second volume of The American
History Series" and il is more Interesting, AMI
presents acutcr and frrsher Views. than the vol
ume on the Colonial era, which preceded IT, The
author has evidently taken very great pain-
with the work he has Undertaken, ana ne
has above all, laborcd TO set forth ideas whlch
might afford something ike complete eNpla
nation of those frequently ohscur" Influences
and causes which are liable not only 70 be missed at
tho time Of action. but to be overlooked sub5c-
aucntly, oven by keen and conscientious students
Dr. Sloane has 10 deal with the most significant
and the most important epoch Of American MS
torv-tbc period, that is TO say, which Wit
messed the development Of disunion between tie
colonies and the mother country. and that which
saw this djsunion swcIlcd into all the proper
sio,ls 0! war.
II waa the most critical stage IN th" history
OF the country and it must he regarded as Ger
tain that nothing less than the peculiar pr"pa-
ration which tho colonies lad been quite IN
consciously undergoing from their foundation
could have enabled them TO Withstand the strain
when tine tHt came 10 be applied For 1t was
DO ordinary conjunction OF circumstances WINCH
recommended dsnniOn, then rebellion. then s'pa-
ration, to a people who. from the character OF
tlc;r traditions, might have hccn thought too
deeply s,opnlcd i'll loyalty and love TO the parent
country 10 venture upon so radically defiant
n coursc. But DR.. Sloane well points out
that. while 'hcre was anotlcr England in Amer
lea, il YVES by no rcans the same England a.
that in Britain. Tie worry presence OF the col
on:sts on foreign sod was IN great measure, u
protest They we're sill monurchical in theory.
hut their king was 1900 miles away; they
o5cycl laws Of their own making. the Test Act
had no validity in their Commonwealth, and
their rmniiatc allegiance was TO Il taxing power
instituted AMI controlled by themselves. Neither
feudalisn nor p,i"stcraft had made the voyage,
and woaId have been stihcd in the air OF Tin"
wilderness il thcy bad. Labor, too, was free :;
no mcdiaeval craft OF guild could survive III Il
society where every mans labor was directed 10
what he must do. ard not TO what l,c wished
10 do or could do icing in the main OF Ger
manic blood whether from England. Germany,
Holland or Scandinavia, they were believers Of
one religion. They were Christians in III" high
est sense OF that word for the sens""iism "'
the school OF Locic and the dcs.n Of ohat',burY
had left them untouched. Navy had crossed TIE
seas for principle which they still cherished
As their most valuable possession. and their lives
we're guided and fashioned ander the influence oil
IDEALS which had long since dsa pprared or changed
among their kindred"
This long extract may DP excused, because IL
.hc.vs with particular force and clfa'nrss Inc
character of the authors reasoning, and the pcnc-
tr.t;on Of the historic judgment which he has
brought to bcag upon the curly stages OF Ain"ri-
can history Without j"st this light, rcve''
comparison would rest upon the most important
of these tcgnnDas; as. 10 fact, IL has rested
hitherto in TIE imperfect ard erroneous conccp
lions c! most Eng!ishmrn. Thcec. AZ an early
period. resolved TO believe that the whole o. the
colonial positioE was explsinabls solely OIL III"
theory O. pervrrsity ard wrong hcnd"dnce~ Th''
would not for u moment admit the possibility that
Fugland had been in tic wrong. On the contrary,
they insisted that she Rad beer only too mag
unanimous and itdu'gert, AID trat she was met by
tie bne,st inerati,uce. The world al large may
be asid 20 have got well over that stagc OF crude
tceory hut il would be mistake tn conclude
that il was wholly abandoned and in an
American textbook il il still desirable. IL not
necessary for the Fundamental! truth. OF history
&c be put well md clearly IN evidence.
This is what Dr. Sloane has erGcavOred 10 do in
the work before us. and os lie strikes the key
note full and clear 50 be carries the narrative
no less crlspiy and positively. Tho primary at
titude Of the colonies in the dispute with Eng
lauh clearly goes to the very bottom OF ali the
questions In dispute between the two count rie;--
one might, even 20 far back, almost he warranted
In saying the two nations. For the colonies had
progressed and changed, and the mother country