New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-07

spOnslp'''' ,o,od ar misunderstood He sees
Tory mas i" clever. ambitious man with an
the ''' .ovaee sense of hcmor an explosive
al"Os. and a painful disease; faitkiul py NAT
temp ,,e King and to all that 'he court
uTe persuaded that his duty was 10 90
impiN Kidding He was courageous ana
the n He had genius for the terrlpie'
eloqu' IN overawe the men and women
anu hofore him to be judged; he believed
brous" - roscals and in many cases rascais
the" "Rv the sheer genius of his per-
the hv that great gift Of character by
sopa"'' whatever their moral excellence
W. ,ou,v men can hope to survive in the
Of me- .r, he has raised his trans
pates ont OF the dull obscurty of ordinary
t..y;or and lent to the deterioraune CIR
ms'," aro.s Of his situation an eloquence, an
'-,o,sity and vigor OF performance 'ha' eAa"
f'" s,o,e the fleeting mediocrity of Scroggs,
Iarhardemont or Fouqufer-llnV''ie' IL Is
', ,ro NAV say SO, a rather lame ana inhPo'en'
conclusion
,are and impotent for the reason that
.nor all we did not need Mr. irving TO tel
.. ,,ese things What we did need-acc"rdng
u ,;, assumption-and what he set out
&C was some sort OF proof that JEFF
&c had been the victim OF serious Wiscoh-
..,,;ors that some Of the essential tru'hs IN
~. mans history had been missed or distorted
-, n all recognition Mr.. Irving does not give
-. this proof His book is negation oi much
w.. hoe heen written before but not OF any
-. ,hat relates to the last esst ntlal more or
-, o,, NJ Ieffrevs Suppose he was not al
w.. tho brovbeating rufan on the bench that
,,.oo,,,ov would have us believe he was. Does
,,a, lessen his moral responsibility for the
..u,narv treatment he dealt out to the King
..nr,ieso II is perfectly plain, and Mr.. Irving
oornot disprove il. that Jenreys was before
.m disc doer Of the Kings dirty work. and
chat his whole tone was that Of one VINO never
allowed any considerations OF justice 10 s'aho
be,veen him and the execution OF MS TASK
", Irving NAV prove over md over again 'ha'
tho victims Of the King deserved their la'e
I'm, be never can bring positive evidence l"
chow clearly that the Judge was an honest
man Here is where as il seems TO us. the
whole argument talls 10 pieces and leaves Jet-
,revs precisely where We found him as serious
character in history. The trappings or Inc stage
bogey have TO "A certain extent, bceh s'rlppeu
from him. but Mr. Irving is wrong In thinking
that the traditional judgment on Jenreys ~
solely the fruit Of recoil from murderous
and awful personality. Men have turned IN
horror from the bloody butcher Of the histories.
but take away the obviously disgusting eie-
ments and the vile soul still remains.
We are not sure in fact, but that Mr.. Irving
will in the long run find that he has done ms
hero an i'll turn. for at the end Of this book we
feel that somehow the Judge was more deadly,
more quietly and contemptbly unIrinciplcd
than We had taken him 70 be before. The gross,
shouting butcher Of the popular imagination
is revolving enough but is the t:mc-Ser'ing
courter. aiming solely at his own advancement
all his life long. from the vantage ground OF the
Bench ruthessy wreaking his cruel temper on
his enemies. any better? He seems To US 10 be
rrcb worse Expcdiency was his Watchword
and an attentive perusal Of Mr.. IrNine's pages
has failed to develop a single incident IN Which
JefreyS would appear TO have actcd from 'h-
trely upright motives. shortly hcior" Ms
downfall he showed some disposition to Win
stand the King, and il is perhaps possible 'ha'
his devotion to the Church Of England might
have led him into even more open ccnhct WIN
James but Fate mercifully saved nm lToi"
being put to the test. We say mercifuIly De
cause. We repeat there Is nothing in TINS al
m!rable record Of his career to show mat ne
would have stood his ground II once James
had made up his mind 10 fight him to the bl''er
end The King would have deprived HIM OF ms
power. and Jefreys dreaded disgrace as men
dread the plague. If | had been among y"u'
and she had been my own mother, ne declared
to the jury that had reluctantly condemned
Alice Lislc to death. Il should have found her
guilty" and. judging from the mans genera
disposition there is no doubt that h. W"uid
have sent his mother TO the block with hFh'
bear, :. ,h.t had hc.n necessary TO gain him