The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-15
SOME NEW BOOKS.


~ n contribution To the CeleDratlOn
~ the approaching centennial ami
vsrssry Of peace between Great Britain
and the United States. and at the re-
quest Of the Committee of one Hun
dred IN charge of the American pro-
grammc for the observance of that in
tcrestiuC occasion, GAIf.LARD Hunt.
specialist In materials of history" has
prepared an account of Life IN imcricd
one HHHdrcd Y'drS' ago OHarpcrs),
which is less notable for its accumula-
ton OF tncts. social. political and COM
mercial, than for a certain unobtrusive
philosophical presentation through these
facts of the development Of a charoc-
tcrlstiC. distinguishing American spirit"
The origins Of Institutions are easier to
get at and tr describe than are the
divcrRcnces from the parent stem that
initiate the process Of acquisition by
.olonial peoples of new national ways
~ thinking. governing and living. In
growing from colonies into states. from
states into q federal power tho people
" America travelled ~ Vcnturcful and
perhaps Providcntally guided way.
A. accurately rs any single year may
he 80 described. the year 1915 was one
~ those In which "thc old order
tNbnNflIls y lflul'IE Ilife W INV ~
affords more sharply defined border
line than can he fixed. say between
he Colonial and tho first national
ucriods. for they were rpoChs dispartcd
ny tho whole Revolutionary episode. and
hose who must mould history into =
framework of dates may arbitrarily
,huoso Lexington or the Declaration "r
Yorktown or tho treaty Of 1888 as
4 1. 81. ID.
Ghcnf the day before christmas. lNii.
of tho peace treaty. and the reception
no Washington in the following Fchru-
ary OF it, urws borne hv Henry Carroll
he American people entered definitely
upon "a career separate. Independent
and ne own" Tho Colonial and Rcvp-
lu'iouary generation was fast disap-
nearing. only six OF the "signcrs" Wcrc
san I'm the band Of the living. and of
HON only one was actively engaged In
public affairs. and he William Ellerv.
hold no more destiny shaping office than
hat Of collector of the customs At New
port The military leaders Of the Rcvc-
luton were gone. and in the Congress
of 1873 there were only two members
Nicholas Gilman If New Hampshire
ard Rufus King or New York. who had
r'INf'l li' NN' '''l' ill'' lldl ' RllEl U.s.
Eleven Of tho Constitution makers were
stll alive. hut were only slightly influ-
entail New men were in Office mon like
clay and Calhoun. q distinctly new era
wa opening.
Mr.. Hunt fixes tho transitional ma o.
ture of tho time rather strikngly: zone
hundred years ago there was not q
ivan In America over ;uIfy-oiGht wears
g 1. I, 4
not heon born colonial Englishman.
There was not % grown M man ~
American parcntare whose parents had
not been born the SUBJECTS Of a king
md nearly an ur the British king
Aftcr the Revolution there had been a
tendency 10 react not to the status but
To the Characteristics Of co,onia.s Ma
r.rial conditions. such as the dispersal
Of population over wide territory Mas
sachusctts had ~ To the square mile.
New York 20, Virginia oniv 10. and the
inadeduacy of means OF transportation
and communication, centred the inter
est of cltizcns upon each his own I'M
mediate surroundings. tended 10 develop
narrowly localized patriotlsms and. by
way Of common interest. To turn mems
thoughts overseas To- Europe. But the
couvincirGly the complete predominance
in the current Of feeling between Eng
land or France and America. " east
ward flow; and as Europeward looking
conservatism died out with tho colo
NAL generation. tho new gencration
rushed Into TN, war of 1872
When he country emerged from that
scantly GLORIOUS conflict Il had pop
MAJ ms, Of Y.', fsrb
and one of the millions was composed
81 negroes, most of them in slavery
Njrginia's population was 974622. New
Works., 959949; Pennsylvania. Sl0,O9l
Massarhusrtts's. $1,000. Virginia was
very black" ana in South Carolina Of
il511O people only 17,946 were white
In New England there We're fewer than
500 negroes. hut the middle" state,
had nearly $4,000. only per cent. of
he population was in cities: 9G.373 in
this town, 22i7 in Ph ladclpha. 4G.55'
in Baltimore. Boston had only $3.50
Charleston had 2I7li and New Orleans
lI24a. Salem and Providence were IN,
only other cities with more than 10000
inha btants, and from that down to the
1000 class there were only ten cities
The average value Of land for tho whole
country was so an acre. II was high.
rsl in Rhode Island, $39. The countr,
was agricultural. Manufacturing wa,
crude. by hand or water power though
steam driven machinery had come into
quite extensive use in England. The
American people was happily free from
The distressing problems OF industrial
communities.
What did our three or four times
great" grandfathers and grandmother
pay for the simple but sufficient con
venienceS Of their life? Land trave
was heaviest between New York anC
Philadelphia; four stages a day in each
direction, and the fare varied from s.
TO $40. The North River steam ferry.
boat, running every half hour. charged
~ cents for each foot passenger and
for vehicles 10 cents to $3.50 Between
New York and Brooklyn ferry pro-
PEELED by horses in a treadmill crossed
every fifteen minutes, charging a -four
cent fare. Road expenses for travellers
by stage ran about 62s cents for break.
fast. 10 cents for dinner and S7h cents
for supper and lodging. The run from
New York TO Albany, three days by
stage, began to he made by steamboat In
twenty-four hours. The Sound boats
brought New Haven within elghteer
hours of New York, and the fare was
So. The stage lines charged $16 for the
rip from this town 10 Boston, SIS tC