The Washington times., 1902-03-23

! But the real flnoness of the book lies
| in the brilliant light OF imagination which
plays over il. bringing out points of in
1 tcrest. and lending a magical fascination
to things which might otherwise seem
dry In the story OF the battle of Mon
mouth she has. of course, picturesque
subject. The passage describing the re-
treat is as follows:
The retreat, by this, was a panic. The
troops fed like an army of terrified rab-
bits. with that reversion to the simplicity
OF their dumb ancestors which induces the
suspicion that all the manly virtues are
artificial In times of panic man seems
to exchange his soul for tail. These
wretches trampled each other into the
shifting sand, and crow led many more
into the morass. The heat was terrific.
They ran with their tongues banging out,
and many dropped dead.
Washington heard of yhe retreat be-
fore Hamilton found him. He was push
ing on to Lees relief when a country
man brought him word of the disgraceful
rout. Washington refused to credit the
report and spurred forward. Halfway be-
tween the Westinghouse and the morass
he met the head of the first rctreating col
umn. He commanded it to halt at once,
before the panic could be communicated
to the main army; then made for Lee. Lee
him coming and braced himself for
the shock. But il was a greater man
than Lee who could stand the shock of
Washington's temper. He was fearfully
reused. The noble gravity of his face had
disappeared. 1t was convulsed with rage.
Sir he Numbered I desire to know
what is the reason of this? Whence
arises this confusion and disorder?
Sir stammered Lee, sir He
braced himself and added impudently. 4
thought it best not to beard the enemy in
such a situation. 1t was contrary to my
opinion
Your opinion!' And then the chief
undammed torrent of profanity Wash
ingtonian in its grandeur.
He wheeled and galloped to the rally
ing OF the troops At this moment Hamil-
ton rode up. He had ridden through the
engagement without a bat. 1t seemed TO
him that he could hear the bubbling of
his brain, that the very air blazed. and
that the end of all things had come. That
day of Monmouth ever remained in his
memory as the most awful and hopeless
OF his life. An ordinary defeat was moth
ing. But the American arms branded
with cowardice, Washington ignobly de-
posed. inefficient commands foUndeTing
for a few months before the Americans
were to become the laughingstock of Eu-
rCpe--the whole vision was so hideous /
and the day so hopeless in the light OF /
those cowardly hordes that galloped /
through the rain of British bullets. pray
ing for death; he had lost all sense of |
separate existence from the shattered .
American cause
But the authors talent of making
things wildly interesting shines more
brightly in describing such things as
Cabinet meetings. the ways and means of
establishing the Treasury Department,
the pros and cons of all the measures
incident to the making of the new ma
ton. It is her purpose to bring out
clearly the part which Hamilton took in
this, and she has certainly been success
full. There may be some controversy over
the historical accuracy of the book, since
the estimates of some OF the characters
in Mrs. Atherton's book are decidedly diff
ferent from those accepted in ordinary
but at any rate nobody can
deny that it is brilliantly clever piece
Of work. New York: The Macmillan
Company