The Saint Paul globe., 1904-01-24

+ 1t was his strictnesS in the matter of
discipline that later aroused in his mill
tiamen Sccn a. spirit or INSTRUMENTATION
and distrust That Schuyler was at times
naughty and ~overbearing is shown by
letters from which Mr.. Tuckerman quotes,
but this does not eXtenustte. IN his opin-
ion the conduct of the volunteers, who
would lay down their lives for their coun-
try but would not brook authority AL
most from the outset of his career as a
Revolutionary leader Schuyler had
trouble with his men, His action at Ticon-
derogt in setting the New england troops
for the invasion of Canada, was bitterly
resented by many who looked upon him
as a tyrant. and did not realize that the
ills that were affecting them in bar
racks We're largely due to unaccuStom-
ed idleness Often Schuyler lost his pa
tieEce, and many We're the. unpleasant
tales concerning him mat uttered from
the barracks to the homes in New Eng
land adding to the prejudice already eX-
isting as a result of his unyielding pro-
New York attitude in the matter of the
Hampshire Grants Gradually these pref
udices crystaliized into definite suspicion
of his loyalty. and he was accused of en-
tertaining Tory sentiments. The truth,
Mr.. Tuckerman insists, was that from
the first he had taken patriotic stand,
and never were suspicious more unjust.
Their existence could not be denied,
and none resented them more bitterly
than Schuyler. TO add to his discontinue
he had a return of his malady, rheumatic
gout, on the eye of the departure of
the expedition to Canada, and was oblig
ed to abandon all idea or accompanying
Montgomery and the army of invasion.
Returning to Ticonderoga. he busted him
self with the work of collecting and for
warding supplies. and later rendered
sigma; service in insuring the neutrality
of the Six Nations. Meantime Sir Will
liam Johnson. the conquerOr of Lake
George had died. and his son had turned
| Tory. melting the red men to make war
;,Ie 70 thea fnAf hot
he had given Schuyler his word that he
would remain neutral. An expedition be-
| ing sent to arrest him he received warn
| ing and escaped. Forthwith the old
SCHUYLER and it was freely stated in
New England that his Tory sympathies
| had induced him to connive at the es
cape.
| From this point Mr.. Tuclserman devotes
| many pages to the discussion of New
| England Hostility and to the efforts Of
| Gates to supplant Schuyler in the COM
| mand of the Northern army. This por-
| ton of his volume is calculated to ag-
| grieve those who look at Schuyler from
| the New England point of view" but,
| as we have said, the author shows COM
| mendable degree of self restraint in de-
! Tending the general. He is not blind to
Schuyler's defects. He does not, with
| mistaken zeal. seek to elevate his hero
4 to a pinnacle far ABOVE his merit. InlS
| is his final verdict:
| His career, honorable to himself, use
| full to the community in which his lot
| was cast and to the nation which he
| helped to found. owed its success to ster-
| ling qualities of head and heart. Without
| genius without extraordinary talent in
| any particular. he had that combination
| OF ability and character which makes a
| trusted leader. a genuine love of coun-
| try lay at the base of all his public ac-
| tions The fair land which his ancestors
| had Travelled so far and worked so hard
| to possess, he rejoiced in possessing and
| improving The noble river, which was
| nearly concerned in all the interests of
| his later life; the forests and lakes and
I waterways OF the interior, beautiful to
| him as they stood in their wildness and
Inviting to development of infinite value:
| his neighbors, the Indians. for whom he
| felt an hereditary interest and response
| bility-all these were real and deep sour
| ces of attachment to the country of his
| birth. But beyond the advantages of
| beautiful and fertile lands. he valued the
| higher blessings of an enlightened liberty,
| of political rights, of q just and stable
| government For the security of these
| blessings he unhesitatingly placed his life
| and property in jeopardy, and bore with
| bored long and unselfishly not only to pre-
| serve them from foreign attack, but to
| establish them on the enduring founda-
| ton of the Constitution of the United
| States.
| With this verdict the unbiased reader
| will heartily agree. OF American fore
| fathers Philip Schuyler was assuredly not
| the least heroic. Mr.. Tuckerman renders q
| real service in doing for him what he has
| already done for other notable figures in
| the early history of the republic.