New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-01-01
ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES II
THEME THAT DESERVED MORE CARE
FCL TREATMENT.

to The L ReTo nM BY Wm ccnnor
sydney. PIP. 463. Macmillan d Co.
Mr.. Sydney remarks very properly that {" he
who would understand Alright the circumstances
which have tended to elevate Great Britain to
her present position among the nations must first
Get himself the task Of understanding the causes
OF that development" Properly understood this
means that writer though he chose to begin
his book with the Restoration. should be familiar
with the history, the state Of society, tine laws
and indeed all that can be known Of the periods
preceding that event. II is not at all clear that
Mr. Sydney has taken the trouble TO master these
antique details He observes that monks. as long
"A the old religious houses continued IN existence,
kent in rcpar the roads and bridges that IN
many instances had been erected entirely at their
own cost" From this statement as 1t STANDS inc
inference would he natural that the monks maze
these improvements out Of sheer benevolencc' ~
Q matter of fact, the duty one which they
owed the State in return for money obtained
under the laws from the people
The book would have been better il the manu-
script had been revised with more care. For evan
pie this sentence occurs on page %: Inc prague
carts had no sooner ceased to go their ghas'E
rounds than confagration unparalleled IN It's
nature and uncquallcd in its extent lay me en-
tire city in ashes from Southwark to Aldersga'e
and from the Tower TO Temple Bar" The word
"lay" in the past tense is not transitve Vero.
Speaking of the County of Lincoln on page 3d. the
author remarks, with what may be caNed super
duty of the comparative degree that no 'rao'
Of land in the British Empire can lay greater
claim to be considered moro fertile On page
a. contrasting the present with the past. he asks
the pregnant question. Are we any much better
than they weIe?' Tho answer seems easy. nut
then one has to pause and ask ones self what SORT
of a trap is concealed by the queer dom any
much" Shadwell, the dramatist. is quoted on
page &c as saying Of his Psyche" that this is
a. much play as could be made upon this sub
iect," where he evidently meant to say that 1t
was as moral play Crticsing Macaulays MS
tory Mr.. Sydney says on page l64, many mis-
takes aud some exaggerated statements ABOUND
in it," How Macaulay would have TUNED over
the superfuons adjectives in that clause. lhihk
Of Bunyan putting upon his LITTLE Autobiography
cal tract the title "Somc Grace Astounding
Again on page 2S7 good old John Evelyn Is made
ia say that certain highwaymen in wait 1or the
bearers Of tax money from Hertfordshire stopped
all travellers on the road to prevent the news get
ting abroad, and when the exploit was done and
tho treasures taken they killed all the horses of
those whom they Stayed to hinder pursuit"
Hero read stayed" for "slayed' ard you get the
idea which Evelyn meant to convey.
Other cratic phrases might be added. but the
tack eeems an invidious one. 1t must be added,
however, that if Macaulay We're alive he would
retort the words mistakes" and "exaggcra-
tons with interest. He would. perhaps, look
twice to see il he read Alright paragraph which
contained the statement that " the London OF the
present day bears about as much resemblance 10
the London of the Restoration age as the natives
of Central Africa bear to those of Greenland.
9TH 0tpal
Mr. Sydney could have hit npon. This is his
argument: THE progress which scientific dis
covery has made in the invention of gas, ana OF
;npumerablo other convenicnces of social life, to
say NOT word respecting tho various applications
Of steam and electricity has effected not only
complete Transformation in the Typographical
aspect of the English capital, hut liz the pubic
and private life of the city Also But they have
not turned the black men to reddish brown, nor
white men to black, nor modified any other racial
trait Even II the plant of Englishmcn be true
that the Saxon blonde type of women has we'll
nigh disappeared it would be rash TO attriou's
the change to coal gas and electricity. The fact
OF tho case Is that Mr.. Sydney has hastily chosen
his standard OF comparison without thought OF
its real meaning With the knowledge which
recent investigation has put within easy reach
OF every one, such writing at random on social,
economic or racial questions is incXcusable.
These examples are sufficient perhaps, to indl-
cate the defects which the reader must be on the
alert to correct in making use of Mr. sydney
book On the other hand. the author is deserv-
ING of high praise for the industry shown IN the
collection Of his materials and-with marked
Standardization the intelligence with when ne
has arranged and dgcsted them. His quotations.
from writers of the times he discusses show vivldiy
the decay Of morals. of manners. OF learning ana
. h.
examines in detail by means Of contemporary
authorities the condition of manufactures, agri-
culture and trade in the various parts OF Eng
land. and though his phraseoloey often makes
The pictures darker than his figures warrant, ne
Ia happy in choosing examples which enable the
reader 10 glance at both sides OF the case. Thus
he SAYS: Tho agricultural laborers were poor,
responding. gaunt and hagGard,' and ai.e'
illustrating this with an abundance OF details
adds. "he who should suppose that the farmers
and the small frcehcldcrs Of England from inc
Restoration 20 the Revolution stood on hlehef
elevation than the class which we have Just oech
considering would fall into very gray" error
Those classes of society were undoubtedly in
ynore favorable position for obtaining what are
reoarded az the necessarics and the comforts OF
human cxistcnce but their social position was
.,ros. IN n mar with those who were their de-
ronderts. and who received from them a scanty
wage, This statement, too, he renders viva
nv a review OF the conditions under which these
reonle lived. But when you have concluded that
the farmers and frecholdcrs of Old England must
have been wrctched TO a degree, he turns upon
vou with the exclamation primitive as WAS
their social condition, VIC shonld be wrong IN
concluding that the farmers were low anu
DEGRADED class. Far from it, Ana again i'
Illustrates the point with new and interesting dc
ta;s The result Of this process is a series of
..;o,ont contrasts. from which the iudcious reader
must mako his own estimate OF the actual state
~ things or the country gentlemen he saws
that "in ninety-ninc cases out of hundred