New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-09-02

OlS. VI. L. 1ulid1n SUNS.
1t is a far cry from the wholehearted
administration and enthusiasm of John
Lothrop Motley to this life Of William
the Silent, and In the cry are heard the
echoes Of the voices of many modern
historians, above all Of that Of the Dutch
professor of history at the University
Lothrop saw and limned a giant figure
looming on the horizon Of the modern
era, a figure without flaws, of great
virtues all compact. His was the his
torical perspective Of his day. He did
not approach his hero too closely, where
the flaws in his character and methods
and work would have become discerni-
BILE. But we have changed all that. We
are no longer content to see the great
men Of the past and their achievements
from afar; we must approach them, an
alyze their characters and their achieve
ments. We must reduce them to human
proportions, both the liberators and the
tyrants. the champions and the oppres-
and already the result has been much
revision of cherished traditions. Crom-
well has been subjected to the modern
scientific method and Washington, and
Lincoln. Flaws Of character, weak
nesses, mixed motives, plumbers and
temporary failures have been dragged
from the oblivion of time. For the i'm
peccable statues have been substituted
human beings fallible as we in all the
grandeur of their aspirations and
achievements; and If all the heroes, with
the possible exception of Washington,
have dwindled somewhat in the process,
the traditional monsters Of history have
gained. Philip III has been rehabilitated
by the modern historian; even Heliogab-
alus has found n champion.
William Of Orange has not escaped the
common lot. Miss Putnam finds him a
most complex, puzzling character; in
turns n crafty statesman of the end of
the Middle Ages and a contemporary
of ours in the breadth Of his vision and
ideas An opportunst she calls him in
diplomacy, champion of freedom Of
conscience. whose liberality was, at least
in the earlier years Of his career, based
chiefly on profound religious indiffer-
ence. She points out the Inconsistencies
of his position as German count and
French sovereign prince in the realm of
the Spanish King. and she traces, In the
midst of his unwearying labors for the
Low Countries. of all his sacrifices for
their cause, evidence of n consistent and
persistent determination to enhance the
power and the grandeur Of his house. IL
his policies were tortuous they were the
policies of his opponents, Of Philip and
Granvele; he needs must fight fire with
fire and the country whose fate he
guided was in desperate straits He
must use the means he found ready to
his hand almost from day to day, often
only to find them unreliable. But he
laid broad and deep the foundations OF
the work TO which he devoted his life.
At his death he left to Oldenbarheveld
the opportunity to complete the struct-
ure. With all her modern caution and
thoroughness, with all her weighing of
his limitations, with all her employment
of comparison with other historic fig
ures, Miss Putnam acknowledges the
greatness Of the man when judged by
his work, even though his character re-
mains an enigma to her.
This biography is especially satisfac-
tory in the care it devotes to the story
of williams four marriages. The po-
litical considerations Of his second mat
rimonal venture with Anne Of Saxony'
are well set forth. as is the unfortunate
ending of this match. The chapters on
his life with his third wife. the famous
"Abbess Of Jouarre," Charlotte de Bour-
bon. are excellent. She understood him
and sympathi2ed with his aims.
worthy helpmate and great lady III
the loyal, intelligent service she gave