New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-22
AMERICAN PROGRESS
A Study Relating Events to
Their Origins.

/ CAUSES AND EFFECTS IN AMERI-
CAN HISTORY. The Story Of the ORR
gin and development of the Nation. BY
Edwin w Morse. With Illustrations
facsimiles and maps. l2mo. PIP. NNNi.
SO2. Charles Scribner's Sons.
! This little book of scarce 600 pages
presents a remarka bly, full and concise
view of American history. The author
understands the art of omission. Nov
ing with really surprising rapidly
across an immense tract. from the MI
grafton of the Mortimer to the country
as il exists to-day. he brings into his
narrative only the great landmarks,
| leaving 2 multitude of subsidiary de-
! tails 10 take care of themselves. lie
/ gives us, in other words, a we'll bal
anced bird's-eye view of our national
development. and does so in such wise
| that salient events are not only de-
/ scribed but illuminated. Mr.. Morse
deals both with achievements and with
the motives behind them Though the
latter are not precisely philosophical,
J though the book as whole is not a
! book of general ideas. it succeeds in
showing TO a certain extent the play
. Of ideas among men.
| This is fairly obvious in the FIRST
. chapter, where the discoveries and
their aims are traversed: but not un-
| naturally Mr.. Morses calculations
prove more scrvicea bic when he comes
I 70 If
self on firmer ground. Here, too, ne
exhibits at its best his happy faculty
/ for packing quantities Of informatlo
| into little space. Nothing could he
clearer or more TO the point than his
I terse account Of the adventures who
swarmed over here early in the seven
! teenth century in search of wealth, de-
veloped the tobacco industry in the
! there. and when he turns to New Eng
/ land he is equally swift and lucid. The
| chapter on New France perfectly sus-
: tains the constructive informing move
ment of the narrative. From il we NAV
cite short passage illustrating Mr.
| Morse's treatment of the causes back
of his effects. OF the great French
colonizing enterprise he saws: "A
triple motive was the inspira ton Tor
this undertaking-religiou zeal for the
| conversion of the Indian to the Roman
Catholic faith, a desire to monopoliZe
| the rich fur trade of the Great Lakes
and the necessity of checking or nell
/ traliZing, in the interest of France. the
rapid growth of the English power
along the seaboard." There is nothing
new in this fragment, of course. out
what we especially appreciate in it and
in scores Of others like it is the sum-
the right point Of just the broad ele-
ments in the historical situation which
| the reader needs to take into considera-
ton.
! From Mr.. Morse's book he may in
couple Of hours learn not only how the
country has passed through this or
that crisis. but why. and in the process
he may apprehend not only events but
personalities. The great figures con
| cerned in the making of the United
States stay only for moment upon the
scene, yet they are justly character
lied and often wildly portrayed. In
framing his twenty-one chapters Mr..
Morse has done more than separate his
book into sections; the latter reflect a
good idea Of system, a good sense OF
! perspective. The illustrations, too, are
trate. This is altogether a useful COM
pendulum which should prove popular
in schools and among those busy read
ers who want TO get at the main out
possible research.