The New York herald., 1922-02-12
MODERN ENGLISH STATESMEN.
BY G. r. Sterling Taylor. Robert
Mcbride 4 Co.

SeefnS mlSnOmer IN MI.
Taylor's chapters on English
statesmen. the reader expects muck
raking of personalities still upon the
field OF history. None of the SUBJ
Jects of the book is now alive. Mr.
Taylor starts with Oliver Cromwell
and ends up with Disraeli However,
his own attitude is modern. He
scouts general opinions. He upholds
the point of view of Belloc in a style
which resembles Chesterton's.
The Introductory chapter gives the
Keynote of the work. He says: "If
one gets away from the popular no.
tion of the. orthodox history books
that statesmen have been the chief
driving force in our national life: If
one can regard the whole scene of
history with an unprejudiced eye
then Kings and Governors will still
take a real and permanent place in
the picture-but will stand as mere
figures in a landscape, as it were,
with mountains and rivers of national
traditions far bigger than themselves
English history will be seen to be the
story Of a race and not a national
portrait gallery. 1t would not be too
extreme statement to say that
statesmen are only the trivial side of
history. 1t would be almost possible
to write an ineligible account of
the development of England without
mentioning personal names, except at
very occasional moments.
Mr.. Taylor takes a very unfiatter-
ing view of Oliver Cromwell. He
shows that he was fully as auto
cratic as Strafford. He says: "The
main points in dispute can be summed
up in the wide generalization that
Charles and Cromwell fought to de-
eide whether England should be gov
erned by monarch or by a middle
class" He shows that Cromwell was
essentially the champion Of the
trader. His summary is as follows:
THE orthodox tradition of Oliver
It is collated with the facts. They
leave US a fine soldier, an honest re-
hgious enthusiast, a man of broad
common sense, withal dangerously
near the border line of the insane,
and at least gorgeous dramatic fig
ure for a play. But those who de-
mand great craftsmanship in a man
who posed as statesman, those who
think that national leader must do
more than overcome the opposition
of battlefield, those who hold that
the work of great politician must
be able to stand the test of CEN
turies and not merely Of a decade;
all these will find Cromwell of sec
ondary Importance. He did succeed
in influencing the history of the sue
ceeding centuries, but it is open to
serious criticism whether all that was
permanent in his craftsmanship was
not primarily wrong"
For Robert Walpole Mr.. Taylor has
nothing but praise. He considers
him a we'll balanced man, unusually
honest and efficient. He finds that
Horace Walpole helps to interpret his
father. His character is in marked
contrast with the younger Pitt. In
his personal life Robert was free
from hypocrisy.
- Mr.. Taylor's account of the Pitts is
very jaundiced. To him they stand
for the extension of modern indus
triahsm. which he hates. He gloats
over the signs of neurosis which ap-
pear in the Pitt family history. His
portrait is a masterpiece Of vitupera-
ton
Edmund Burke does not receive
gentler treatment The author does
not grant him any claims to be con-
sidered liberal OF a man of broad
vision. He sees a clew TO Burke In
his book, the Origin of Our Ideas of
d. the Sublime and the Beautiful" and
points to the importance of fear and
horror in Burke's philosophy. He
shows that Burke's impeachment of
Warren Hastings was a fizzle and
that his attitude toward America was
determined by the interests OF the
trading classes. Burke's fear of the
French Revolution became an obses-
sion, and he thundered so loudly that
he won his point. He summarizes
Burke by saying: He began with
much talk Of freedom and ne ended
by being the mouthpiece of every
tyrannical instrument in Europe.
He began with the sublime and the