New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-29
Literary ,Nesvs and Criticism.

III spite or the fact that the Kings cause was
glarngly unjust and tyrannicaL The constitu-
tonal questions involved in the levying of taxes
without Parliaments sanction and in dictatint,
church laws for the Scotch were doubtless little
understood by the essayst nfallibility and,
even If comprehended, were deemed less i'm
portant than the abstract maintenance of royal
authority. Mr. Marriott does his best to prove
mat Falkland was carried away by his eager
ness FOR military service. His chagrn at being
deprived of his command in Ireland some time
previously and his anxiety to see service in the
Netherlands are cited 10 confirm this view. But
while this may we'll be true it does not mitigate
the charge that Falkland suffered himself to De
swayed by other things than mature consider
alton of the issues at stake in the great confiic.
between the King and the English people
Nevertheless. 1t soon became apparent that
Falkland was first of all intellectual man.
then moderate and last of all royalist He
did not hesitate to condemn the Kings blunders
and underhanded tricks even before the brief
and bloodless Bishops War" over. When
the Long Parliament convened and the famous
trial of STAFFORD aroused party feelings TO their
highest pitch, the young philosopher did not
surrender himself blindly to the cause Of the
Court by defending that great, bloody soldier,
but became the counsellor of moderation To
the great annoyance of Ppm and his followers,
Falkland insisted that STAFFORD be given a fair
trial and judged solely in the light of legally
admissible evidences. When these evidences
were IN Falkland voted for the defendants
death as eagerly as did Ppm himself although
the motives of the two men were very different
Inc same unwillingness TO be carried away by
party spirit ma infested itself in FaIkIand's later
attitude toward the irregular levying of ship
money which involved of the most vital
problems in English constitutional history. the
q n ion hD41
tive. While the legal problems involved wera
sadly confused by Falkland his philosonhic
mind saw the greater questions back of these
and he opposed vigorously the tyranniCal taxa
ton for the sake Of which only a short titnc
oefore he had been willing fight Above all
things Falkland was no bigot. During his brief
career he changed his opinions radically several
times and as result gained the reputation of
weak minded, vaclllating person. But as Mr.
Marriott presents the facts. this popular opinion
Is serious misjudgment: Falkland was the
rare man who changed his views to fit his IN
formation The pity that at a few crises
he did not have access to all the facts
But Falkand's political wisdom grew fast
even though 1t never reached full bloom 1t is
impossible TO read his speech against the root
and branch BILL" which proposed To abolish
utterly the entire English ecclesiastical system
without realizing how much the orator had
changed since his Great Tew days Though no
body fancied such radical measure could ever
pass Parliament. Falkland took il seriously In
MS address. evidently using the hearing as an
opportunity to publish his opinions on the rela-
ton of Church to State. The reader can
scarcely fail to be impressed by the crystalline
logic Of this short speech ara by the growing
practically Of the speaker. The socitude he
mere manifests for the large number of persons
whose estates and incomes would he wiped out
ny the measure was not mere charitable i'm
pulse and his denial Of the popularity of the
reform shows that he had learned to distrust
the huge petitions got up by zeaots Rut
lluch as he mad learned from his strenuous po-
htlcal experiences he had not acquired thor
oueh knowledge of his sovereign. Charles I
was dominated by the Queen not by his coun-
sellers. and he resorted TO violent foolish
underhanded means of maintaining his lettering
authority. The concessions he made 10 the
Long Parliament We're insincere and this both
Pym and Hampden knew; but Falkland did not
KNOW IT, When the Grand Remonstrance was
MADE therefore, and Parliament demanded that
the King surrender virtually all real political
power 10 II, falkland saw in the move only an
outburst Of rank, malicious craftsmanship AT
the parting Of the ways he chose the rovalist
PAIN ce1ended the Kings rights and. when the
breach between the Court and Westminster he
tary OF State, which post he firmly held TO the
end. Praying for peace. he exerted himself n
effect a compromise between Charles and Par
lament. but he was caught between these en-
emies as between mstones and comnleteIv
overcome Powerless to stay the rage of the
opponents by pleas for moderation and peaca
th9 secretary saw the years drag on without
bringing victory to either party. His death in
the battle Of Newbury may have been that of a
suicide or herot the records are not decisive.
although Mr.. Marriott does SHOW, the euioida
theory 10 be no more than possible one At all
events. the latter part OF Falklands life was fuI1
of melancholy and grief over his failure ~ tor
inmate the bloody contest so hateful 10 the ma
Jorfty Of Ergishmen Like Plato he saw HE
political theories put 10 test in parloue times
and found them mad aquato to the strenuous
situation. and 1t may we'll be that the man wb,
oeclared to his intimate. Clarendon that the
calamities and desolation the kingdom did and
must endure took his sleep from him and would
shortly break his heart, did rush into battle
with a reckless frenzy bordering on suicidal
despair. Even if. his biographer thinks he
was sanguine of victory, yet his final wild
plunge into the thick of furious fight was the
act of desperate man. a man perhaps dis
illusioned Of all his philosophy and appealing to
the ancestral gods of war to bring peace by
blood
Mr.. Marriotts bogra ply is essentially an his
torical study rather than character sketch
That it contains a good sketch of Falklands
character cannot be questioned but the manner
Of presentation is decidedly unfavorable to be
hasty reader. The very hasty reader, OF course
tha hooLy ha 81 cold