LITERARY NOTICES.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 29, 17 February 1863, Page 3

LITERARY NOTICES.

From Smith, Ejder &, Co.'b Monthty Oira&lar Jefferson and the American Democracy : An Historical Sticdy. By Cornells De Witt: Translated, with' the Author's permission; by "B." S; H. Church. Bvo, pp.449. 14s. , / America Before Europe. By Count Agonor de Gusparin. Translated by Mary I*. Booth. Po9t Bvo, pp..419. 9a. -. . The South Vhidicated : A Series of Letters torO? ten for the American Press during the Canvas for the Presidency in 1860; with a Letter to Lord Brougham on the John Brown Said ; and a Survey of the Result of the Presidential Con'test and its Consequences. By the Hon. James Williams, late American Minister to Turkey, Preceded by an Introduction by John Baker Hopkins. Bvo. 10s 6d. Theso three works together constitute a very good library of American politics. Tho historical study by De Witt was written previous to the civil war which now desolates the United States, portions of it having appeared in the lievue des Dexue Mondes, between 1857 and 1860. It is not, therefore, a work of passing interest got up for'the occasion, but treats with critical acumen of the evils to which the United States have been subject from tho very commencement of their history. The other two are partisan works, the one upholding the Forth before Europe," the other vindicating the South. It is possible, wo think, by a careful perusal of the three, to arrive at the juste milieu . It is generally well known that the opinions of Jefferson were strongly impressed on the principles of governmont and the early legislation of the United States. He is understood to have been a thorough republican, and the opponent of the federative party, though not in the same sense as ..the Into " Anti-Federalists," with their appeals to mob influence: It was ho who declared the first draft of the declaration of independence, which Frank' '. lin and Adams revised. He abolished primoganiture and the Church Entablishment, and did what he could to restrain the slave trade and abolish slavery itself, As a member of the " Old Congress," he wns employ* 1 d for two years with Mr Pendleton and Mr VVythe in revising and reducing to a sipgle code the whole body of the British statutes, the Acts of the Assembly, and some parts of the Common Law. His accession to power as Predent ia 1801 • 13, supposed to have .contributed greatly to the istaotlij^ oHhVconstitunon • and so great was his popularity that he held the office of first tnng'^trate for eight years. In. short, the fiajure of Thomas Jeiflforson in the 'history of the United States is of th'o-' -colossal order. Mr De Witt nevertheless attacks *the idol of democracy, and even accuses the celebrated historian, Mr Bnn- j croft, of " empty declamation" when he sounds his praises. Was freedom from enw, for example, a *' beautiful trait" of Jefferson's character, as Mr Bancroft, under the influence of a "sweet intoxication" tells, us ? exclaims Mr De Witt's, j translator, " to^gftore Jefferson's, epvy is to ignore;: a most important clue, to tho history, of thjq . times, , to overlook entirely the initiative of those bitter i party feuds which broke out even under Washing- j ton's presidency, and to, pass unnoticed the impellingcause of that disastrous hatred -of England which, beyond all question, lias bepn the bane and corruption of America." But we must cite more at large: — . ...,.- --" The results of his 'envy nave been formidable. To attain his ends, Jefferson, through hia friends,, got up a cry of ' the republic in flaTigfer. 1 But rhecry, by itself, would have been absurd ; and here was the .mischief To convert it intoa.poison, it was necessary to mix with it some noxious ingredients ; for to charge any one with desires to overthrow the republic, was to charge him with desiring to ccrmpaps an impossibility. Monarchy had noi been cashiered in America as a bad thing, but superseded because it Was an impracticable thin<r. To dis-crown and dis-coronet the British Constitution, in order to adjust it as far as practicable to American wants, was a supreme necessity ; to re-crown and re-coronet afler am.li an adjustment was a sheer impossibility. But let us hear Mr Bancroft :—' The insurgents, as they took up self-government, manifested no impatience at the recollection of having been ruled by a royril line — no eagerness to blot out the memories of o former-state;' in a word, to jiip - sede monarchy, most interesting evidence of which will be found in this work. In fact, as the same historian -observes, ' The" republic was, in Am *i., \ a godsend ; it came, though unsought, beccuze society contained the elements of no other, organizetion.' Jefferson, of course, knew tjiis, perfectly well. To call men monarchists was to revive no old hate, to tjrale on no old prejudices, to rc-ni-mate no extinct parties, to resuscitate no suspended fears. So, with a petty craft, which i3 very characteristic, he drops the word ' monarchists,' ard substitutes forit a word of his own introduction or invention, ' inonncrctt,' which, though etymologieally the same thing, yet, being less understood, might for shat reason, more csily pac3 with the mass for meaning something worse. But even when tricked out in this way, the charge of monarchism. would not have been sufficient of a bugbear. He was, therefore, obliged to coajoin with, it another term, not in nny wny connected with it,' in order to endow it with a full capacity of excitirig odium and alarm. To blacken the men who were in ins way, he called them not only ' monoernts' but ' Anglornen. 1 Hs charged them not only with wishing to substitute' monocracy for republicanism, but he also .-insinuated that their preference of the monocratic Form was synonymous with the desire to reimport and reimpose British supremacy; lie took for his .war-cry sonae supposed subservience to England, for some undefined purpose, and to give asperity to the charge it became necessary to footer j ami develop a furfous enmity against England herself, and to this he devoted himself with untiring zeal and fatal suecsss. " The times favored hiiri. American independence had been effected without leaving behind it any very malignant feeling against ' Great Britain, though it is probable Mr Bancroft somewhat overstates the case when, in order to illustrate the superior magnanimity of republicans, bo says, ' that no rankling discontent survived.' Still there might be no ilUwiil of any serious amount. But fortunately for Jefferson's future necessities, the French revolution broke out. Its dawn as pure and brilliant as its Setting waS dark and stormy, it touched the hearts of nations, nnd especially kindled the sympathies of the Americans. They mi-'ht well supposo that their example had not been. v--ithout influence on its development, and even look upon Lafayette as the electric wire that had conveyed the passion for liberty into the heart of France, They naturally made the cnuse of the Fremh revolution their own, and when they saw the kingdoms of Europe arrayed against it, their sympathies became so fully aroused that the pas-sions of France became their passions, and its enmities their enmities. It was. on this chord that Jefferson. skilfully and necers'arily touched. In lies letters and conversations, in .articles in the newspapers under. his commr.nd, through ivory channel at his disposa|, he wnn perpetually inciting his_ countrymen to -n more and more vehement devotion to France, and to a more and more passionate hostility to England. In vain did Hamilton, early prescient of the co ingcbao«, and, with his sensitive love of lihertv, horror-struck at the crimes he had foreseen, and were now being ' committed in hern* ■<e,' endeavor to recall the nation to moderation r-id good scDsc. The match was not equ 1. Tho appeal to reason gave way before the stimulus to the prssion3. Under the careful culture of Jefferson, tho masses in America became almost servile in Ihrisubmission to France, and frantic in their -hat red to England. The result was most disastrous. The American war, in 1812, was a direct and overmastering consequence of thi3 anti-English feeling, which, for the purpose of party warfare, had l.ften so insanely iristillid, and tended still, more, to embitter this mad and mischievous antipathy. J,ut there was another consequence far more serious than this." . „ . Our Waders will not be slow to perceive that a work which makes us acquainted with these historical facts, and whic'i discusses, without passion or prejudice, the public career of a man who made the evil use of his influence that is here indicated, must bo especially interesting at the present crisis. We may gather from its pages a shrewd suspicion of the manner in which the " fierce denioc- ey" is wielded by the Jeffersons (but without (he statesmanship of Jefferson) of the passing hour. The old hatred of England \s still tho alternative of hittr d of the South, and is truly characterised fii "a hideous mixture of idiotcy and mndnei :." If Jefferson is primarily to blame for it • exi tencc ? we must not forget that the- smouldering fire left by him as hia legacy to the republic has been since fpd by hordes of ignorant Irish and German emigrants; and that the statesmen who have followed in Jefferson's footsteps— that is, ' nearly a!l flip stat. amen who have directed the Union— nre precisely those who have been eager to avail themselves of the ignorant animosity and political exaggeration distinguishing the new imports* and now bearing such terrible fruit. Count; Ageftorde Gasparin, however, cannofmphold " America before Europe" without passing a isorero censure J on. England j attributing ;to the policy of this country either the actual jcommencS- . -ment^'or tb* prolongation of the civil yar?in'/!the: State*. Tho 'American' peoplejon 'his view*' haye boon cruelly dl^Tppoihtod-j "friendabip. h«w vm\

wounded and conßtlpnce mistaken." This part of his work "will hardly be read with pntience by Englishmen, yet those who desire to obtain a distinct view of 'the question from the Northern sirle, will dp well to consult it, hnvin^ first fortified their judgment by the calm historical statements of De VTitt.> Indivery way tho work of the latter will be found instructive; and it is a remarkable fact, that the translator, Mr Church, acknowledges himself bound to sympathise with the people of the in their defence of tho rights accorded to them by the original constitution. For particular information.concerning the institutions, the foGlin>rs, the history, and the prospects of the South, it must suffice to refer to tho work by tho Hon. James Williams.