The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

 alters and Tobacco.' V#A
 treating of Virginia, is WA the most attractive, for it has been patently to the
 author a labor of love. His sympa- thies are entirely with the independent aristocratic Virginians, he has good word even for their foX-hunting parsons and he completely blots out the accepted portrait of the goody-goody Washington l of cherry-tree fame:
 "The stupid. wooden sancumonlous ] character into which he has been manu- I factured to suit modern hypocrisy is not ! in accordance either with his own account of himself or with statements of his | contemporaries" And strafghtway we have sketch of the true Washington, the sociable. courte- ous gentleman of superb physique, who loved his cards and his glass, who rode to hounds and danced all night whenever he had the chance. who trained horses and led men with equal success, and who 1 came to the front without effort, from 1 sheer force of character and healthy, all- round development. Washington is to MT. Fisher but a type of the true Vir- l ginian, a natural evolution which he ex- plains very succinctly:
 ''No amount of book-learning, no col 1 lege curriculum initiated from plodding, mystical Germans, no cramming and ex- aminations, and mo system of gymnastic | exercises can be even a substitute for ] that Virginia life which inspired with vigor, freshness and creative power the | great men who formed the Union and 1 the Constitution
 'There is no mystery about 1t. There is no need that we should wonder that such men should come from a place we l know is now incapable of producing them. As soon as we unravel the details of Fanla ltrl1 fA sr7 that same mingling of sport, scholarship social intercourse, and knowledge of the world in country life which has made England the leader among nations; and i the Virginians had the advantage of a new country, easily acquired wealth, the freshness of the wilderness, and a cli- mate which sharpens the intellect"
 In this passage the author strikes an- 1 other characteristic note rarely heard in America; his enthusiasm for England | English character and English ways is | absolutely unbounded. Every virtue of the republic owes its origin to the good old English blood flowing in the veins of pure Americans, every vice or shortcom- i ing is attributed to the foreign taint which has crept in. For the Irish immi- grant he has unfeigned aversion, for the 1 Dutch settler unmitigated contempt. and | his chapter Manhattan and the Tappan Zee" is a scathing indictment of the pu- Slllanimous aVarice of the Knickerbocker race.
 Indeed, when showing up iniquity. MT | Fishers pen is unsparing, even to his | heroes. While his sympathies are with | shareholders in the days of settlement
 he does not ignore the dark side of slav-
 cry and the details of brutal cruelty in
 some of his pages are appalling. Not more appalling, however, than other de-
 tails given in his chapter "Puritans and l Philosophy" on the Massachusetts meth cd of administering religious freedom In that happy region, where 1t was criminal
 to think, let alone speak for yourself. i banishment was a mild punishment for ! independent thought; imprisonment
 whippings and other cruelties were com mon, execution was not unknown, and a
 refined, cultured woman like Mrs Anne
 Hutchinson could be mentally tortured. T communicated and exiled with none daring to protest. As for the witchcraft persecution, its horrors equal those of the
 Inquisition, and make as unpleasant reading as certain pages of Uncle Tom S
 Cabin"
 Some of our authors most charming
 passages are devoted to the women of
 colonial days. Cavalier or Puritan, Re
 publican or Royalist he makes us love
 them all with their brave hearts and in-
 nate refinement, their social distinction
 or religious devotion, their love of gay
 apparel and desire for culture their apti-
 tude for luxury and fortitude under re-
 verse of fortune. Even the Dutch vrouw
 he deals with tenderly; and we become
 familiarized with more than one romance
 of those early days. Lack of space for
 bids further quotation, but we advise our
 readers to procure the work for them