The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-02-04

e(~h SAAhA(ASCa I'LL oEa0ly III l1e HOIIR
while many publications have given 1t
gracious. good words. That IL has err
rors may be conceded. II Is known to
lie the fate Of all historians that errors
snail creep into their works. Hume.
Macaulay. Green. Froude Freeman.
and the others. have been handled for
errors. But as a whole their produc-
lions are of very great Importance and
the first three named are Of marvellous
eToquence n power. Let US quote
here from a scholarly Presbyterian au-
thor and. we believe. historian. Rev. r.
X. Howison. IL D.. of Virginia He
-ead the two large volumes n some
time last year wrote a two column re-
view Of The Story OF France" for the
Charlotte Presbyterian Standard. We
would like to o at length but must
content ourselves now with a few pas-
sages taken here and there. DR.. Howl
son writes:
AS the book is one Of immense power
ii its array of facts and differences,
and is written in a style of picturesque
and beauty. and as il will, as
FAR as 1t is read. END 10 the overthrow
OF kings and kingly governments. and
OF the unhallowed union between
church n state, and OF every form
CT feudal oppression and invasion of
the just rights Of the people, we may
nope for its success. And yet
as a whole it is probably the strongest
book against monarchy, priestcraft.
persecution. feudal oppression. caste
and pride, aristocratIc exclusions. and
the selfish cruelties which come from
these causes. and in favor Of %elevating
the crowded masses of the human race,
by giving to them vested rights. and
the means Of wholesome education,
that can be found in the English Ian
Suage.
THE style of the writing will. at
once. draw attention. 1t is lucid. free
and easy. yet often rising to passages
OF eloqIence and power. But
ihls second volume is a potent and
Successful vindication of the motives
and deeds of the men who led the
french revolution, and a demonstration
almost mathematical. and the scenes
OF bloodshed and horror which be-
cloud that period were not chargeable
ON the Sieyes. the Condorcats,
Fayettes-the Rolands of that age; nor
even on the Mirabeaus, Dantons, Ma
rats and Robespierre5. The true au-
elors OF all the massacres and atroci-
ties were those who set in motion
against The people of France the ar
mics numbering in AL S0O,0 900 men who
marched from the e~nvtroning monarch
ies-from Prussia. from Austria. from
the German principalities. from Italy
md from Spain to crush all attempt
CT the people Of France to reform the
rulnous evils and expressions of their
own government, n to give to the
tt ~wn-trodden masses their just rights"
We repeat. our advice Is to read the
work. 1t must have wide reading vet.
1t is too virile, too candid, too arnes
luminous, too intense. too COM
Inanding and imperious in its sweep
to arrest the attention of lovers of
good books and seekers after truth.
from the first to the last it is remark
ably entertaining and instructive. Few
writer's have more terseness. more fer
or more actual simplicity. more
graphic portrayal, more imaginative
IuIce. more rhetorical attraction. more
more irony, more wit. We |
from two northern sources. The
New York Outlook is much given to
literature, Mr.. Mabie, the distinguished
author. is Of the staff. 1t says of the |
work in hand and the extract Is felici- |
and informing:
An exceptionally entertaining mar
alive. The author touches nothing
nat mas no a vital interest either as
h life Of the age he is
or as effecting the life of
ne ages that follow. By means of
concrete pictures rather than abstract
5Cneralizations he depicts the history
Il c~lVlilzatlon. His own intense SYM
'athy with the cause of the oppressed
his constant finding OF parallels,
the battles against privilege ir
lSes gone by and those of today, make
ne description OF the dead past read
IKE a description of the living present."
Inc Philadelphia American often dis
uses literary matters with incissive-
less and elaboration. 1t says of this
YORK by a southern author:
Many histories of France have been
'fltten. many in the English ougue
'ut none thai can olnpar with this.
4 more brlef, direct, yet readable his
Dry leaving a vivid impression upon
ne mind Is scarcely imaginable.
. For u part we look upon his
ely as an art, by the study of which
'e may learn to govern ourselves in a
'av to avoid the pitfalls that have
cen the undoing Of great peoples. of
rmly established governments
II is so that Mr.. Watson regards
lstory. so in his own inimitable style
hat he has written the history of
The great house OF Macmillan in
lew York and London is the publisher.
t was in its third edition, we were
leased to see, quite q wear aeo r,
eserves to outsell any historic work