The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-01-22
GREG'S U. s. HISTORY.
THE BooK Considered FROM A
CRITICAL POINT OF VIEW.
A valuable Contribution to Literature.
Essay Before the Literary Club by
Mr.. Roosevelt Page.

The Greek and the Latin have left his
tories which are to delight and instruct
the ages.
Therein we may see the life OF Gods
people. the giories OF the age OF Pericies.
the greatness OF the Roman Empire.
That the names OF these writer's tower
aloft upon the continent of time. is no
reason why credit should be withheld
from those less exalted. Mount Carmel
IS not 80 high as Mount Sinai. Hellicom
as Parnassus, Soracte as the Julian Alps.
Tho critics work is hard: 10 hold the
balances even, where ones own section
or country is a party, is a task so DIFF
fcult that the wisdom OF the law is there
~ exemplined. which declares that no
man ought TO be judge in his own case.
Friendship must not swervo him. ami
mostly must not impel him, thu cry of the
mob must not terrify him.
Ills reward will be only that which
comes 10 him who has labored to show
wherein any work falls short Of a high
and perfect ideal"
That the foreign writer ought TO be
more impartial than native may be adj
United. but want Of acquaintanceship
with the tone and temper Of those OF
whom he writes Is often as fatal TO his
work as a want of perspective is TO that
OF tho painter
The historian must not be astuated by
the spirit Of tho prosecutor, nor by the
zeal of the advocate. He must occupy
the position Of the Judge. and from criml-
nation and recriminauon sum up with
coldness and impartiality.
In some the love of country is so sincere
that no criticism Of her people, customs
or manners viii be tolerated
In others a zeal for independence OF
view finds subjects for criticism only
v,aop1a The trlfh lies
between these two extremes 1t is not
the Vision of the far-sighted man, nor
that Of the near-sighted which sees
things I'm their true proportions, but the
normal vision without obliquity or de-
ficiency-
Il may seem an ungrateful thing for a
Virginian TO criticise one who has been
such an admirer of his State and section.
I might have remained silent, but since
have been appointed TO this position l
shall speak the truth as / perceive IL.
Let us consider those qualities (which
are the distinctive support OF prose-the
form. the method of evolution, the pre-
cision, the proportions the relations OF
the parts TO the whole
To those who read this book carefully
Il IL apparent that the reference above
made 10 the impartiality OF the foreign
historian has peculiar significance In the
case OF Mr. Greg. That maxim or the
common law memo potest exuere pa
TRAM" applies with peculiar force 10 the
English mind. II is that trait when mas
made England whether at home or
obroad on land or sea. England is Eng
land. and the rest OF the world not owned
by her is the outside.
Wherever England comes in contact
with the United States. Mr.. Greg Sides
naturally perhaps. though not always
histor. Ally. with the mother country.
a TTVffad States
he is an Englishman; between the Puritan
and the Cavalier, lie IS a Cavalier; be
tween the Federalists and the Republic
cans or early Democrats, he Is a Fed-
eralist tempered by his horror OF Puri-
tanism; between Wing and Democrat. ne
IS a Democrat; between North anu SOu'H'
he is a Southerner
Patrick Henry's inexperience at the BAR
ard want Of general education account
for his part in the struggle Tor ihdepeh-
dence.
Tbe Fnglishman speaks. when in writ
ing Of the American Congress or the ne
evolutionary war. Mr.. Greg says: |
Great Britain could have been frightened
nv big words If high sounding resolutions
could have repealed her soldiers or sea-
men or sheltered New York from her
cannon. the assembled demagogues Oh
philadelphia might have put in a claim
70 the honors which posterity has lavish
ed upon their names" Page 200
The same speaker says: Ihe FRANK
,,rs Adamses and Rutledges perhaps
fancied for a moment, with subsequent
American historians, that ME-. JEFFERSON J
Undated rhetoric and lofty phrases mao
'converted' the colonies into thirteen
.sovereign and Independent STATES
Page 81. , ...,,o,.,o,
sneaking Of the Republican convention
Of 1856. he says Of the RepuDlcdh leauei y
the Federal compact
~ t7sQ They presumed to read the ioost
.braseoloev the declamentory perlods'
,be evcited nonsense and unmeaning piau-
tudes OF Jefferson's Declaration OF lhue-
incidence, an angry manifest drawn a.
the tempestuous passion OF an ihcn9 az y
rebellion by the most extraVasant u 80 -,
trinaires and adopted with an enemy a.
,beir Gates by a body which, Whatever
the misty halo cast around its memory
~ events in which II had little share
u,s regarded with almost unmixed con
tarnpt by those who heard II IN 90 1eDa''
and saw It in action" Page 1z1-l-S'
II Is apparent that precision anu p'0
nortions" are wanting mere. =.
sneaking Of the American army tx
says: -. .ho ,nsur
,.a,ts towards their loyal countryman wa
from first 10 last the disgrace % "a
American cause and people NOT 40 :
possible TO acQuit washington VI q ~
comrlicitv. which leaves blot on III
bigb and stainless character ascriDeu =
hin bv the partially Of his countryine'
and the generosity of his enemies. rag
And this. though Washington is one .
the few Americans of that peii'N
whom Mr. Greg speaks we'll
OF Jefferson he writes: - .,
"He received the British MINISTER =
81 narrow lobby. in slippers ana III VI
sstentatiously slovenly If not actuall!
dirty a dress in which no Virginlan &c,
,,eroon. no well-bred New England h'.l
cbsnt or land owner would nave "P
reared at his own table" Page "eo.
Speaking OF the war OF lSiS' ne sns .,
..Tn british ship struck her flag. no MAJ ia.
tor what the odds, till she was h.ue -
,cr tten a wreck, and the mere slausn '
- her crew rendered further IeSiS'"''N
imnossible" Page 400
oS the battle OF Lake Erie, ne ii nv.
..Tho Ndctory remained with the your,
A,arr,ccn Commodore Perry, a victory
american volunteers over Canadiah 10 10
men and gunners taken from the Ian
force" Page 4OI.
M Monroe, he writes: ~
Monroe. who then Represented the Gu 60,
ga ctstes nj the Court Of the FIRST Col
svi esve nerhaps the most signal PROOF
.hort-sightedness in lohs Sa4e0'
failure" etc. Page S14. 90