An historical research, respecting the Opinions of the Founders of the Republic on Negroes as Slaves, as Citizens, and as Soldiers. Read before the Massachusetts Historical Society, August 14, 1862. By George Livermore. Boston: John Wilson & Son. 1862.
Within the past two years we have met with two pamphlets referring to the negro question during the days of the Revolution—the one being a reprint with comments of the celebrated Laurens letter,[9] the other containing information as to the part taken by blacks in the struggle.[10] We inferred from these works that much remained to be told, and find our surmise verified by an examination of the neatly printed octavo of 215 pages, now before us, in which is given a mass of information, fully establishing the fact that the negro played no mean part in the army of the Revolution, and, we may add, suggesting the reflection that he may only need proper encouragement to do as much, again, unless he should have strangely deteriorated from the original stock of his ancestry. Such a work as this, thorough and full of plain facts, telling their own story, was greatly needed, and we congratulate all who are interested in the future of this country on its appearance. Published under the auspices of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and warmly approved by Edward Everett and the venerable Josiah Quincy, the work in question possesses, of course, the highest claim to consideration as a well written and perfectly digested resumé of its subject. It is curious to observe, from its documentary proofs, how fully the slave-holding arguments of the present day were once negatived by the experience of the past; and it is almost bitterly amusing that men can learn so little from experience, and that in one generation the dense clouds of ignorance should gather so thickly over a subject of the most vital importance to the country.
From this work we may learn that 'no language of radical reformers in recent times surpasses in severity the honest utterances' of the first men of the Revolution on the subject of slavery. It is worth knowing what Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Laurens, Pinckney, Randolph, Sherman, and a host of others said—to realize that slavery was regarded by them as a curse; and it is grievous to learn that 'circumstances,' local feuds, and bewildering side-issues should have interfered to prevent 'abolition' at a time when it might have been safely carried out. The vast amount of historical research on this subject, and its results, are well set forth by Mr. Livermore; and had his work been limited to these chapters alone, it should have won him a distinguished place among those who have cast a light as of life upon the obscure difficulties which now beset the great question. More encouraging and extremely interesting is that second portion of the work which gives the opinions of the founders of the republic respecting negroes as soldiers, and facts establishing their military ability. That the first fight of the Revolution should have been led by a negro, who was its first martyr, is of itself deeply significant: so is the fact that the most remarkable incident at Bunker Hill—the death of Pitcairn—was due to the bullet of a brave black soldier. With the exception of the two Tory States, Georgia and South Carolina, blacks, slave blacks, were enlisted from all the States in great numbers, and fought well. It is remarkable that in the beginning the same absurd objections to employing them were raised as those which still abound in our 'Democratic' press; and it was not, indeed, until forced by stern experience and dire need, that 'the States' found out the folly of their prejudice.
All of these data in the history of slavery, and with them several of minor importance, are remarkably well set forth in the present volume, which may fairly claim to be the first work on the subject ever published—the 'Historical Notes' already referred to having been suggested, as we are told, by Mr. Livermore himself, and forming an avant courier to the 'Historical Research.' It is needless to say that we commend it with our whole heart to all who would study the question of negro slavery from the beginning in this republic, and know, what few do, the extent and importance of the early troubles on the subject, or settle for themselves the greatly vexed question whether negroes, when treated as men, will or will not fight. It is all there.
Like and Unlike. By A. S. Roe. New York: Carleton. Boston: A. K. Loring.
Mr. Roe's novels are of the manufactured kind. Like those of many others who are in the business, they give the impression that they are easily written, and might possibly be turned out by a machine, had invention progressed a little farther than it has. Still his piéces de manufacture are very good of their kind, and sell very well—like the moral romances in China, which are disposed of by weight and in fragments, in such vast quantities, and which are so entirely a matter of mere pastime that the authors never think it worth while to affix their names to them. Like and Unlike may be safely intrusted by the most fastidious aunt to the most unsophisticated of nieces—and it is not unlikely that the niece would greatly enjoy its perusal. It is by no means devoid of interest, and indicates in many particulars that familiarity with the press which preserves any work of its nature—so far as style is concerned—from harsh judgment. There are better books—but certainly there are thousands which are much worse.
Titan. From the German of Jean Paul Friedrich Richter, by Charles T. Brooks. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1863.
To many men Jean Paul has always been the greatest of German writers, however they might protest their preference for some other idol. Carlyle knows and names GOETHE as the intellectual culmination of the past age—and yet shows in every sentence the influence of The Only One, with very barren traces indeed of The Old Heathen; reminding us of those devotees who profess a faith in God, but manifest it in the worship of some congenial saint. At the present day, Richter, instead of being overrated, is neglected. Already thirty years ago Hauff bewailed that his works were not taken from public libraries; and yet it is as true as ever that he is, if not the greatest of German writers, at least the most German among the great ones of his fatherland. And it is here that the drawback lies—he carried to such excess all the peculiarities of his very peculiar country, and was a giant of grotesqueness. No one can really know German literature who knows not Jean Paul.
The work before us is Richter's masterpiece, which cost him ten years of labor. We could sum up of his other writings some thousand or two of pages which we read with more pleasure; yet still commend 'Titan' as the best beginning and ending for those who intend to go through all of Richter's writings. It is a romance sui generis—in the world, and yet most unworldly—full of unusual characters set forth in more unusual language—refreshing and delightful to the initiate, and most wearisome to commonplace minds. As regards the merit of the translation, we can only say that, having compared the first hundred pages with the original, we find them admirably and accurately rendered, and presume, of course, that the remainder is equally excellent. Will not Mr. Brooks at some future time give us a translation of Richter's Vorschule der Æsthetik, a work sadly needed by some of our art-critics?
Lines Left Out; or, Some of the Histories left out in 'Line upon Line.' New York: Harper & Brothers. 1863.