New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-19

VARIOUS PHASES OF NATIONAL LIFE DIS
CUSSED.

H5sToRY v Of ssa TIE Rst rTTrB B. f H E VIII FIX
Topical Analysis. Suggestive Questions and Di-
fss0 5 F for x 5safa By FGan Mn @
THE STORY OF THE CIVIL VAR Concise
Account of the War. in the United sta, states s,o OF
nam nam Ropes Win Maps ana Plans Part l. IT. TO
"a g. T. Putnams Sons.
THE UNITED STATES; Facts ana FS S so innS
trang the physea GeogTaphy 81 2nn me
Population Immigration. Irrigation. ~ j. D.
WRitney. PIP xxvii 32i Little. Brown 60.
JOHN t EKoW yKET AM2NG B TE ivns & cnmsa
PIP. 239. The Historical Department Oh IOWA"
Des Mones
Professor Fjske's little book is adapted to other
uses besides those for which it is mainly de-
signed. The text in itself contains as much as
most small histories Of the United states. but
the apparatus for the use of teachers FURNISHES
memoranda systematically arranged not 10 pe
desp,sed by an experienced reader In search Oh
directions for topical study and OF BOOKS 10 DC
studied In this matter he has had the ASSIST
ance Of DR. Hill, to whom, as 70 Professor r'SN''
written history presents itself not merely as
something to be committed TO memory Du' as 'he
record Of development a chain of causes and
effects appealing TO the reason and the ulder-
standing The more important facts become IN
.h, ,,,ou ~ the matter the centres about which
Gather those of less significance The memory
annea,ed TO indirectly by investigation which
r,uses the whole mind, eagerly seizes and retains
what II would have merely taken up as burden
under ordinary conditions. The history OF
nation II fully told would comprise the doings OF
every human being and not few of the winged
and four-footed creatures. beside changes IN the
tnanimate things within its borders Out Oh
these infinite details comparatively few are ever
recorded and from the record the most VoIufh-
inous historian has hitherto selected only a TACT
here and there. These few facts he must arrange
90 ~ thew were linked to each other. The most
important events may have escaped MIN alto-
eether simply because they attracted NOBODY 5
attention at the outset. Nevertheless II with
such material as he has he does not make out
narrative of orderly sequence, he is not writing
history Those who follow him sometimes
abridge the list Of facts still more, but they also
are amenable to the demand of the mind for APP
parent continuity; and the individual reader. VINO
NAV remember even less in quantity than the
smallest written synopsis. is impelled TO syste-
Matte the little that he retains. Thus. while II
Is not sure that any given theory of history IS
correct some theory is Indispensable. Given
INV well-worked-out and rational theory. ana
the facts which were before mere Opaque rag
ments. become luminous and attractive. In TINS
way the main purpose of history as study Is
attained which is the awakening of the NINA
and its cultivation by means of a logic which
NAV be less definite, but which Is cer'aihIv
broader than that Of the sciences.
The scholar who studies all the authorities
cited In this volume will have covered the entire
field of what may be called secondary research
that is all short Of the original records. and some
OF these besides. In making up an independent
opinion Of his own. he might be better OH win
this book. which in disputed matters is compara-
lively coloress, than with some more pretentlous
work Sometimes there is a tinge In what Pro-
lessor Fiske has TO say. but whether II Is due 10
brevity in expression or to an intentional turn in
thought would be hard to decide For example,
he SAYS of John Brown that he was Connecti-
cut man by BIRTH and religious fanatic by ma
ture, curious compound of self-devotion and
ruthlessness"; and the reader pauses for mo-
ment to think over the exact purport of the al
lusion TO Connecticut in these balanced phrases
For the sake Of brevity, too. Browns invasion or
Virginia is described as IAN insane piece OF 1olly
But this is not to judge Brown as every man
has right to be judged. namely, by the view
which he himself soberly in the conditions that
surrounded him took of his plans. The paper
which gives title to Mr.. Richman's thoroughly
original contributions TO history shows that
Brown cannot be measured by the usual stand
ards and that he gauged more accurately than
he seemed to the real feeling in the North against
slavery 1t required more than his death, more
than the death of many like him, to bring that
feeling to the surface: but when the Nation got
slap in the face at Fort Sumter it famed out
hoty enough. Mr.. Rchman tells story that
has been missed by others interested in Browns
career. 1t relates to Browns sojourn in Fremont
s,.- e1- lf,rr nm
the autumn Of 1856 and the spring Of 1850. The
village Of Springdale in Cedar County. was in
hab:ted by Quakers and they ali sympathzed
with Brown on the slavery question and on the
score of his operations in Kansas. Here he
found a refuge. as well as at Tabor. Fremont
County where he was among people whose ideas
had been formed in Oberlir, Ohio. Mr.. Rich
mans paper shows that Brown had thought
much upon his Virginia plan as early as 1891. and
It indicates that he had taken for his model in
warfare the Italian leader. Garibadi. When he
made the acquaintance of an Anglo-ltalian,
Hugh Forbes, who had served under Garibaldi
and had written manual for guerilla warfare,
he lost no time in hiring him as drill-master.
He then meant to secure formidable a force
as possible and to have his men trained in readi-
ness for his enterprise. But he could only ac-
complish this slowly. Men willing as himself
10 give up their lives in order TO shake the slave
holding power were only to be found here and
there 1t is needless to say that he never did
get such force as he Gimed at. but the small
group Of men whom he gathered in the unknown
village Of Springda,e was remarkable one.
Most OF them followed him later to Harper's
Ferry 1t was to his humble friends in Spring
dale and not to the abolitonists of Boston that
he first disclosed his plan, and among them his
words showed that he had coolly estimated the
value of his own life and had come TO the con-
clus.on that he could open the struggle which
would destroy slavery. Such man was prob
ably useless for the ordinary purposes OF civil
and National life. But ne knew his power 10
rouse the Nation to bring IL face TO face with its
!, a