New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-14
Literary Nese,s and Criticism.


told The nature Of the task that MONTGOMERY
had undertaken is not even suggested; where
and how he fell are not indicated and Mr.
Hunts presentation Of the attempt Of the Amer
lean forces to storm the Gibraltar of the North
American continent is fat and colorless read
ing an auctioneers catalogue. He acknowl-
edges the help OF an ex-officer of the royal ar
tillery in writing his story OF the war in Amer
lea He ought to have had help with the topog-
raphy. 1t is vague IN spots, as, for instance,
when he states that "in Rhode Island the peo-
pie seized the cannon mounted for the defence
OF the harbor'; and again he writes that the
Count d'Estaing, who in July. 177s lay off Sandy
Hook. sailed away southwark; for Washington
persuaded him to attack Newport In conjunc-
ton with an army under Sullivan"
In dealing with the English phases of the Rev.
olution Mr.. Hunt lays much stress on the pop
ular1ty Of the war against America until near its
close From the viewpoint from which he
writes he Is entitled to make the most of this
part OF his case. but readers of Horace Wal
poles Letters and George IT'S Letters to North
will feel disposed to call for some authority for
Mr.. Hunts statement that loyal addresses in
support Of the war which poured in on the King
were unsolicited; and those who are acquainted
with the political condition Of Scotland in the
eighteenth century will scarcely regard it as
land was unanimous in support of the war with
out adding a word two as to the methods by
which political thought and movement In Scot
land were controlled by consummate Parlia-
mentary bosses such as Argyll. James Stuart
Mackenzie and Henry Dundas
Mr.. Hunts history of political development in
England is distinctly good in places-notably
when he is working out the development Of the
system Of government by Cabinet; the breakup
Of government by the Wing leaders and their
connections, and the reVivtfying of the Tory
party under the leadership of Pitt. England's
connection with India and the changes which
the old East India Company underwent between
1850 and 1900 well told and the narrative
Of events in Ireland from the OctenniaI act Of
176S up to and including the union, considering
the space that was available. is one Of the most
commendable sections of the book. AS whole
however, the work is uneven in merit, and does
not come up to the standard of inclusiveness to
be looked for in history on such q scale. For
instance, in the survey of the religious life OF
England between 1760 and 1900 there is not
even e mention Of the Nonconformist churches
The Methodists come in for q brief reference,
but there is not word about the other free
churches the Baptists. the Congregationalists,
the Quakers the Unitarians, although all
these churches were at this time growing in
numbers and power and exercising marked in
huence on the political, social, commercial and
industrial life Of the country. Neither is there
anywhere in Mr.. Hunts pages a reference to the
growing power of the daily press. although the
daily press Of England and it's service in po-
utical life dates from the early years Of the
reign of George III
The only volume in this series to be contrib
uted by American is the second, written by
L0rNf Of Lalo Tho iOd
from the Norman Conquest in 1866 to the death
of King John In 1916 few months after his
signature OF the Magma Charta- Professor
Adams brings out clearly the fact that these
years were the formative period of the English
nation. The Norman Conquest marked the SUI
perinposition Of a foreign element and Of new
forces and institutions: but this element did not
remaip foreign did the life Of the nation
remain bound and oramped by alien laws and
institutions. Already in the reign Of the second
Of williams sons to occupy the throne Of Eng
land the old national life surged up and en-
quilted the foreign clements; and the English ma
ton came into existence profoundly affected in
its tendencies its institutions and its constitu-
tional life by the new elements that had ANAL
garnated with it. but one nation-not sullen
and conquered people kept down by foreign
garrison
The story Of England during this eventful
period is the story of the feudal system and its
notifications. Yet 1t is not story of a small
number OF feudaI lords. their rising and
waning power. their petty wars their quarrels
with and defiance of their suzerain, such as was
the story Of France at the same time. Lords
there WERE and their power was sometimes
greater, as in the troublous reign of Stephen.
and sometimes less when controlled by the
strong hand of Henry I Nor yet is the history
nd coTta ined JIMMY
the wars the conquests. and the defeats of her
kings. All these Professor Adams tells with
graphic vividness But beneath the superficial
history OF battles and adventures he makes US
feel the constant presence of the nation, that
great democratic Anglo-SaXon force that kept
England from becoming the arena of pure des-
potisTn whether. the despotism OF petty baron
or of an absolute king; that moulded the insti-
+utiens Of the country into workable machinery
of governmental self-g government that be-
-a, not with the Reform Act nor with any
eighteenth or nineteenth century extension OF
nop,1lar liberties. but that had its roots deep
down in Anglo Saxon institutions, and that was
,,o,,rished and kept alive by the Norman con-
cuerors through their intuitive recognition of
+,a fact that their strength lay in balancing the
mass of the nation against the power OF the
barons Through the reigns of the Norman
kings It was usually king and nation against
powerful or turbulent barons. But when the
+,yrant John oppressed alike the nobility and the
comnonalty there had come into existence
enough of what we should call public opin-
ion to support the barons in their demand for the
NSagna Charta, and thus to make a precedent
Co. the demand of the nation that the King
should keep the law.
Almost equally important with this phase OF
national growth is the gradual evolution of the