New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-22
JARED SPARKS.
An ELABORATE BIOGRAPHY OF THE FIRST
EDITOR OF WASIIINGTON'S
WRITINGS.

journals and correspondence, BY Herbert ei b.
Adams. Two volumes Up. H., 0'z; H'll'' o'3.
Houghton. Mifiin & co.
WHY should Jared Sparks have two volume
biography? This question, 1t is to be imagined,
will occur at the outset to every reader. He
was not q man of action in the ordinary sense
Of the term. His name il not intimately as
ISOLATED at all events. in the minds of the pop
ulace with any great political movement 1t
was comparatively late in his life that he won
distinction as a public speaker outside OF the
pulpit. and then his success was plainly an
affair Of matter. rather than manner. mem
DRY enriched by lifelong study OF varied
theme gave charm to an otherwise
colorless and almost monotonous style. HIS
acquaintance on both sides Of the Atlantic was
very large but mans biographical Value Is
rarely estimated by the list OF his friends'
Even the long series of learned honors that
fell to his lot would not warrant the present
elaborate treatment Of his career.
Professor Adams's work Is the best answer
to the question. Those who difier from mn,
as to the needs and methods of biography WI"
nevertheless be bound to acknowledge the In
trinsic interest of his subject as he mas pre-
sented it. largely in sparkss own words lie
does not appeal to the multitude, Dul Ia'"e'
TO that large and growing class whose tastes
ooa adrcation give them habits like those OF
Jared Sparks or endow them at least WIN
annreciation for his labors. People who nave
had training i'm library work will not SKIP
MANY paraCraphs in the story Of Sparkss re-
aaerches in the archives of various States, ana
in London and Paris Those who like TO watch
the conquest Of diplomatic difhculties VIII pe
gratifed by the story of quiet schoiar SUI
cess where the aspect Of men ana tnings at 'he
outset was most forbiddng Those VINO oe-
light in a startling discovery VIII never ioi
get the famous episode of The reo-hhe map
,rboso who love n self-made man In the good
sense of the word will admire the course vi
Sharks from the meagre environment OIL his
childhood up to wide opportunities OF presi-
dent of Harvard College.
No, that the story of Sparks's youth was
unusual. 1t was that Of many studious vi
gifted boy in past American He lie was
fortunate however, in cast Oh hhinu We"
shifted to his surroundings. youngs'er WHO
took delight in mathematics was sure 10 iiiiu
something to his taste in the Connecticut schooi
of early days. and books on that subject "eio
,,ora accessible than those on other topics
Those who remember the struggles OF s'uuous
hovbood will agree that the mere discovery Of
a given books existence, no matter ""a' ian
guage II is in. is half the battle with it. To
IN turn for it-that is the agony OF ignorance
With COPY Of FergusOn-a boy VINO was 'each-
ing himself astronomy could not have chosen
hatter book-young Sparks made a cross-stan
that served his purpose, and from the outset
hsgan to keen n record of his observations
l1,s vieils beneath the stars gave him strange
,anute among the supplemented neighbors.
"IIe had always been spoken Of as the genius
writes Professor Adams, but now men began
tn believe that he was an evil genius lie
had an intimate friend Ansel Young, VINO
shared his astronomical studies. Young
father solemny adjured his son, who had been
to sea and earned little money, not 70 lena
pcray OF 1t to that young Sparks. who plainly
was dealing with evil spirits"
Sparks developed as he grew older an aptitude
for general learning quite as remarkable as MS
early turn for mathematics. His first venture
with Latin under the guidance OF the Kew.
Hubbell LOOMS, father Of distinguished 1aie
professor and his first examination was con-
Quoted by the Rev. Abel Abbot. Though the
Young man had only been eight weeks at work,
he was already marching through Virgil to
the tune Of 200 lines a day. Mr.. Abbots IN
quest on his achievement led almost Immediately
to his going to Phillips Exeter Academy, which
was under the administration of the famous
Dr. Benjamin ABBOT. Sparks was then man
grown Doubtless he looked like giant among
his immature contemporaries. Most of them
were thoroughbreds, trained to careful study
and to quickness in the recitation room but
Sparks appears to have been by no means at a
disadvantage among them. After he Quilted the
Academy there seems to have been some hest
fancy between Yale and Harvard. but finally he
chose the latter. College life varied by in
tervals Of teaching. As tutor in private
family at Havre de Grace. Md. he witnessed
the outrages committed by British forces in the
War Of 1912, and his first contribution to Ameri-
can history was record Of what he saw on that
occasion. OF course he little dreamed then that
most Of his life would be given up to American
history and biography.
His ambition as young college man was to
become a preacher. He Joined with sedate but
gradually heightened enthusiasm the Unitarian
movement and after a course in divinity OBJ
tanned the pastorate Of a newly organized
church in Baltimore. As he took more or less
pleasure in good-natured controversy. the labors
of this position were for a time congenial to
him. But 1t was less as a preacher than as
an essayst that he displayed his power A
printing press was the indispensable adjunct
Of his labors. His two sermons week be-
came only trifing part Of his task The
greater part Of his energy and thought was de-
voted to a religious magazine which he founded
and carried on for period Of years. Often
he was himself his only contributor His first
book belonged to the field of religious polemics.
1t was entitled Letters the Ministry, Ritual
and Doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal
Church" 1t was this book which led Jefferson
to write to him: "In this see nothing in which
am likely to differ materially from you" In
deed many distinguished politicians in those
days seem to have had side for
Unitarianism. Calhoun even went far as
to predict its rapid spread over the whole coun-
try. Against considerable opposition Sparks
was in 1921 chosen to be chaplain Of the House
of Representatives. In short. during the whole
of his brief career as a pastor he kept up a
very decided religious movement. But so thor
oughly was he convinced at its close Of his