The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22

day. arise In a formidable shape. He foretold
that wealth would bring luxury and luxury
corruption. With regard. however. TO that pri-
vate morality which. OF all he found in Ameri-
ca. he approved the most, he did not venture
ON n snecinc prophecy. Il shall be told" he
wrote. that America will not always preserve
these simple virtues and these pure manners I:
but IL she preserves them only for a century
that. at any rate. will be a century gained"
III.
Sir George Trevelyan concurs with Senator
Lodge in his estimate OF the importance OF the
battle OF Bunker's Hill to the REVOLUTIONARY
cause. II Ia true that this importance was not
immediately recognized by contemporaries.
The author OF this book recalls that. after the
battle. although depression rcigned in the be-
lcaRuercd city, there was no exultatlon In the
camp OF the besiegers. The truth Is that.
in war as in politics. the morrow OF an
c~poch-making event is not always charac-
terlzed by CIVILIZATIONS. There is WEAKNESS
and disappointment and a consciousness that
the thing has not been completely done,
and an uneasy suspicion that It had better
never have been pied, Bunker's Hill.
the next morning. and even for some years
afterwards. presented to the o~olonists who had
taken a share In II the aspect OF something
very much short OF a Marathon. Contemporary
accounts OF the action we're In a tone OF apol-
ogy or even Of censure. The affair produced n
whole sheaf Of court martials No one came
forward to claim the credit Of II. and more than
one 18th Of June came and went without a pro-
posal being made TO keep the day as an ami
versary. The patriots had expected from the
enterprise tactical advantages which 1t was
not capable OF yielding. and they did not at
once perceive that. in its indirect results. 1t
had been the making of their cause. The true
Significance OF what had happened was first
detected by their adversaries. and the most
accurately by those who knew the country
best. A Massachusetts, loyalist. who fought so
we'll for King George that he rose to be a full
General in the British Army. regarded Bunker's
Hill as a transaction which controlled every
thing that followed. You could not" he
would say to his friends on the other side.
have succeeded without it. In the then state
Of parties. something was indispensable to fix
men somewhere, and to show the planters OF
the South that Northern people were in earnest.
That did the business for you" THE rebels
wrote Gage, a week after the battle. ARE
shown not to be the disorderly rabble too many
have supposed. In all their wars against the
French they have shown no such conduct and
perseverance as they do now. They do not see
that they have exchanged liberty for tyranny.
No people were ever governed more absolutely
NhiaA Wv AAAN 80 nv ~ SNSs 1880 80
reason can be given for their submission but
that it is a tyranny which they have erected
themselves" Our author deems these conclu-
sions just. though they were not expressed in
friendly words. Bunker's Hill had exhibited
the Americans to all the world as a people to
be courted by allies. and to be counted with by
foes; and it had done them the yet more nota-
BILE service of teaching them some home truths.
1t was a marvel that so many armed citi-
zens had got together so quickly. and q still
greater marvel that they had stayed together
80 long. Evsn a Cabinet Minister could not
now deny that. as individuals. they possessed
the old courage OF their race. They had dis
played. moreover certain military qualities OF a
new and special type. such as were naturally
by the local and historical conditions
under which they had been born and bred. No
one. however. who passed the early hours OF
that summer afternoon on the hill over Charles
town. and. still more. no one who witnessed
the state Of things In the rear Of the position
and among the headquarters staff at Cam
bridge. could be blind to the conviction that a
great deal would have to be done and undone
before the colonies were able to hold the field
the protracted struggle which was
now inevitable. The material was there. ex-
cellent, abundant and ductile. OF a national
army. with features Of It's own deeply marked:
but to mould that material into shape was a
task which would have to be pursued under
OF unusual complexity. The ar
titlcer was already found. The Second CONT
mental Congress had appointed George Wash
ington Of Virginia to the command OF the force
besieging Boston. and on the date of the battle
IF Bunker's Hill he was on his way to Cam
bridge.
The comment OF Frederick III. OF Prussia on
he evacuation OF Boston is made by Sir George
Treyalypn the text Of soma DaragraDhs with |
the present iDstallment Of his history
when / reflect" said Frederick.
on the conduct of that Government the Min
stry OF George Ill in the war with their
/ am almost tempted to say what
he theoloRians maintain with regard to Provi-
that their ways are not ours" Heartily
In this dictum. our author suggests
hat North and Sandwich resembled Frederick
Is War Ministers even less than Gage resem-
him as a General. or George III. as n
Bunker's Hill had been a soldiers
,attle; but the responsibility for the cam
,aiRn OF which it formed an episode lay with
he placement and their royal master. They had
'ontrived among them to bring about the dis
OF a valiant army. responsive to dis
ipiine and containing more than q due proper
ION OF distinguished and promising officers.
They had involved il in almost every calamity
which could befall a military force except dis
race. They had so managed matters that. in
region OVERLOOKING with plenty, their troops
lad been fed from Leadenhall Market. as an
rator Of the Opposition put it. Burke was re-
rorted to have said that. though f200 a man
ad been spent on salt beef and sauer-
raut. our garrison could not have remained
en- days longer in Boston unless the
eavens had rained DOWN quails and mama.
much as the English had suffered during
he course Of the siege fsom tho scarcity and
adness Of their food. they lost. In the last re-
the comparative satisfaction OF having
ielded to famine. and not to force. The Gov
rnment deprived Howe OF 1000 infantry at
he moment when he most needed to be strong.
no reinforcements which were sent from
ONE to fill the void arrived two months too
tie. and so IL came to pass that the ill-used
General was. In the end. not starved. but ma
nuvred out OF his position. The acts
I aggressive warfare sanctioned or con-
oned by the Ministers we're as futile as their
offensive arrangements. and had consequences
,oSt n isastrnus IN British interesta Thav bnd ,