New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-26
AMERICAN HISTORY,


rnE FRENCH IN THT HEART OF 'Nf cs.yl.
By John FINLEY svo ~. A.
Scdbnsrs Sons
Dr Finley divines the West That IS
not an easy achievement, nor ire
ouent one. Perhaps il is less frequent
among Westerncrs themselves Una"
among those who regard the west from
e. mir, Of view Of visitors and stu-
dorts. for an obvious reason. ~" nat
sbopld they know Of England who only
rrclsrd know? ." Dr. Finley has, how
oyrr the advantage Of the double point
- ,,;cw Bv birth and early training
10 lie Westerner; by mature life and
long practice and vocation ne IS cos
r,onolitsn. Thus he enters into the IN,
innate sympathies which only the emu
can know and feel for the parent "h'Ie
=, tho same time he has the perspective
,,d ran exercise the unbiased Juog-
rent Of the detached observer
Il Is well that such an authority
.ho,,Id write such a book as this, be-
c.use the West-mcaning now the MIS-
sjssjppi VALLEYS at once IN man;
snects the most important and tne leas'
sppreciated part of the Union. It's par
in making the history OF TINS nation
80 even Of the history Of the world
bos heen immense, almost beyond the
NEVER Of exaggeration. It was IN
r;yalrv for the possession OF that re-
rinr that the French and Indian war
was waged, and in that war was IN
VOWED that Seven Years War whlch re-
made the map Of Europe and gave
Prussia her place in the sun Cp0h
,ha disposition Of that territory depend
"a the making and the terms OF peace
=, tho end Of our Revolution. The pro-
vision Of government for the Nof'h"es'
Territory shaped the whole future 90
res.ic nolicy Of the nation, forecast
mo the fundamental principles OF the
Constitution itself. The controversy
over the navigation Of the Mississippi
had a simply inestimable enect upon
our foreign relations, and caused some
~ the most important expositions OF
constitutional principles IL was pc
tween the Alleghenies and the ROCKY
Mountains that the struggle over
slavery chiefly occurred, and II was
there tndl lHe OENNN'''N
War was determined.
DR.. Finley reminds US, too, that the
West is, of all our domain, pre-eml-
nentlv the land Of romance, OF ADVENT
ure. of heroism and Of sacrlhce. II was
a great thing for the kngNsh ana Duteh
coionists TO establish their settlements
along the coasts, and there 10 hoIu
their own against all foes pul Ihe!
were there always in touch WIN 'ne
sea which was their refuge ana theIl
line Of communication with theiI Ohse
81 supplies. Far greater was It 1or the
cavaliers and the missionaries OF France
10 plunge into the unknown wilderness
Of the heart of the continent, out OF
communication with home and beyond
leach Of succor or supply. There are
mo names more splendid, in all the
annals of imperial adventure, than
those Of Cartier, Champlaln, NicoIet,
Marquette. Joliet. La Sale and thelr
compeers, and American history with
them omitted or dwRrfed is not history
hut traducement. Yet far too much 10
the average American mind they are
names. and unfamiliar names, ana no'h-
ing more.
Nor will il do 70 pretend that our
history begins with the Revolution ana
is confined 10 a continuation OF the
history of the Thirteen Colonies. We
have already suggested the great part
which the trans-Appalachian region
PLAYED in our history, the history OF
the littoral colonies, before the keVo-
luton. When a: last we received that
region as our own, 1t came to us al
rectly from France, without anything
more than nominal Intervention IN any
Of il and none at all IN most OF II
The ante-United States history, tradi
tions and genius of all that vast re-
zion are wholly French-and aborigi
nal. To that extent this Republic /:
the child not of Stuart and Hanoveriar
England, but of Nalois and Bourbon
FraAce. Il will be well for US while
cherishing the one descent not TO for
get the other.
Chateaubriano once described the
Valley of the Mississippi as missing
and grieving for the spirit-the genius
Of the French. We are not sure thai
the average busting and practica
Westerner agrees with him, or think:
that any injection of that spirit of 70
nance, Of beauty and of vision woult
be desirable addition TO the life o
the region. II not, so much the NOR
demonstration OF our former PROPOSE
ton, that Westerners seldom divine III
West Not so DR.. Finley. however
With all his loyal appreciation Of tn
greatness OF his old home land, he i
not blind TO its faults; let US say, L
its failure to improve its opportunities
and to its sadly urgent need Of som
Of those elements which are character
istic of the French. These are by n
means, either, all of an artistic or di
lettante type. Perhaps nothing is NOR
typical Of twentieth-century WeSterl
hustle" and enterprise than the "Gul
20 Lakes Deep Waterway scheme; Blu
that is after all merely a revival o
Joliet's designs Of 1878. There is onl.
a.. ,,,.h truth ia tho raprpach If uCli