New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-06-11
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
AMERICAN SOCIAL LIFE TWO HUNDRED
YEARS AGO.

L!ppncott Company.
These volumes arc pretty in appearance, ana
It is no injustice to Mr.. Fisher TO say that they
are very prettily written He is no dry MS
.orian II ne Il. erudlte IL is In the spirit or the
unpretentious collector OF quaint old relics
While he recognizes what might be calico the
psychological differences between the various
social centres Of our Colonial existence ne Is 100
FOND NJ the pure picturesqueness Of On old story
70 let its Significance as psychological docu-
men,'. carry him far afeld. In short. he Cos
slps and gossips In diverting manner which
ought TO make his collection Of shreds and
matches more readable to many than Is the
stately narrative prepared by more solemn writ
crs The latter tell US much that s interesting
and for which we may add we are profoundly
rratcful-about the things which differentiated
straitlaced Connecticut from light-hearted and
liheral-mindcd Virginia. but is there not some
thing which passcth In elOquence all the PERIODS
of the schoolmen IN some such episode as that
OF the Connecticut mules and certain South
ern statesman who thought to make witty
play Ground them? Mules were bred In great
numbers in the Nutmeg State. and were SOLD
largely IN the Southern colonies. Here let MT
Fisher take up the tale: There Is good story
he says told OF John Randolph, OF virginia
who seeing a drove Of mules passing through
washington on their way to the South, said 10
Marcy. Of Connecticut. There go some OF your
constituents Yes say Marcy, going to VII
slnia to teach school" The anecdote nlus-
trates admirably the views OF one anothers rel
lows held by the dry Connecticut man and the
impus,ve Southerner
OF course the intercourse between the colonies
was characterized by much more than reel
proc,tv IN gentle sarcasm but there We're enor-
nous differences going straight down into the
inner life Of the people. "ln travelling from
Massachusetts to the Carolinas one passed
Through communities of such distinct individual
1ty that they were almost like different nations.
Each had been founded for g. reason and pur-
nose Of It's own" Each. Mr.. Fisher might have
added. was developed from different stock.
and IL the tobacco plantation was Responsible
for much in the South, fostering more urbane
life than could he expected to spring from the
struggles OF Massachusetts,. Connecticut ana
New-York to gain subsistence under less anil
able skies tho social ancestry Of each group or
colonists WAS r,spor slble for more. Mr. Fisher
heads his first chapter, which deals with VIZ
ginia, Cavaliers md Tobacco" he summarizes
the colonists OF Massachusetts under inc heau
of "Puritans and Philosophy" but tho distinc-
lions are not accurate enough England sent
one kind of man to the South. another KIND 10
New-England. and the Dutch set the pace IN
New-York That meant that Virginia was the
home OF a gracious scheme Of existence that
Massachusetts and Connecticut were developed
along much morr strenuous lines, ana tha'
New-York was unlike them both In many ways
that had nothing to do with climate or occupa-
ton. MIR. Fisher demonstrates this not by set
argument os We havs indicated. but by setting
forth the facts by telling characteristic stories
MR. hc Southern
New-England moralists, for example. are de-
ughtfully shown in this manner. The Virginia
cIcrgymen wcrs sometimes alarmingly lax.
Witness the following:
"Horseracng, gambling and drunken rcvels
wer. among their sins. One Of them was Tor
rnany years president Of Jockey club. Tney
encouraged among the people tho custom or
celebrating the sacrament Of baptism with fcs-
tivi;i.s and dancing. in which the officiating
clergyman often took part, a custom which
BY tn. wey shows SONS signs OF returning III
England One CT them is sold 10 have called
out TO his church warden during tho communion.
Here. George. this bread Is not ut for dog
Another fought duel In the graveyard ana
still another thrashed his vcstry, as no doubt
they deserved for 1t is said that the vestrles IN
Virginia exercised too much power. and tho
next day preached from the text. And con-
tended with them. and cursed them, and smote
certain of them. and pluckcd Off their hair
Mr. Fisher docs not pretend that behavior OF
this sort was universal among tho Clergy Of tho
South but it Yves not uncommon there, ana IL
was. on tho whole. unknown In New England.
Our authors chapter on tho Puritans rcnc"s
once moro the atmosphere Of deadly conformity
which envclopcd those extraordinary prccisians.
and he draws from Burnabys Travels In Amer
aca In 1859" n perfect pendant to tho passage
Just cited. For kissing q woman in New
England street IN the seventeenth century ono
might expect TO be summarly whipped or fined,
no matter how pious the salute might be- A
certain British captain. comUsrding one OF tho
royal men-of- war; left his wifs in Ioston while
ne went off on a cruise down the coast When
he returned she naturally went to the wharf to
meet him and there they saluted each other.
s'He was Immediately brought before the magis-
trates, who ordered him 10 whipped and he
was obliged to submit to the punishment" Now
whipping even public whipping. as Mr.. Fisher
reminds us. was not held TO be especially dis
graceful In Burnabys timo, and 1t seems that
the unfortunate Britishor was none tho worse.
socially for the chastiscmont no had received.
Nevertheless hs did not like It, ana bidcd his
timo with thoughts Of revenge. On tho day OF
his departure no invited his friends including
the MAGISTRATES. to an entertainment on board
ship. Just as she WAS the point Of sailing.
and after every one had shaken HANDS with him
and was going over the side. the magistrates
were se!zed by the crew and stripped to tbs
waist Each one was led to tho gsnSway. where
the boatswain gave him forty. save one on his
bare back, and then hustled him over into the
boat amid the cheers Of the whole ships COM
pany." So much for the Puritan clergyman
view OF the wickedness Of kissing and the like,
for its influence upon tho law Of tho time. and
for the why in which 1t struck the casual out
slider.
Mr. Fisher tells scores Of stories as amusing
rs this one, and his pages ore dotted with notes
on quaint traits and customs. He records that