American Biographies

For a peculiarly political people, we lave unquestionably the most indif'erent stories öf political leaders. "What 30iiUosiiS-i'icííi5tiir.e%aue figure in our iigraphy shall the young student be réEerred?' How positive, and in the course of events almost sinister, a power was Mr. Calhoun ! But there is no tolerable life of him. Going further back, tliere is still a singular paucity of good memoirs of public men. Mr. Charles Franois Adams' life of his grandfatlier, the heroic John Adams, is perhaps the best of its kind. Irving's "Washington" is charming, but Irving had no taste for politics, and a glance at Van Buren's ''Origin of Parties" shows at once the inadequacy of Irving's account of the political part of Washington's career. Mr. Morse's'life of Hamilton is theonly one worth consideration. But, admirable as it is as a contribution to the siibject, it hardly fulfills the conditions. Randallïs "Jefferson" is a laborious and ampie work, but it has little other attraction than that of the events themselves. John Jay's memoir, yell written .by his son, is valuable for its facts, but not interesting as a story or a Ure. It will not hold its own witli the young American reader against the life of Eomilly. Sparks' life of Gouverneur Morris is a collection of material, it is not a memoir. Madison is wholly without an adequate biography. The bulky volumes of Mr. Bives, so far as they go, supply ouly valuable information, but teil no story. The stately volumes of John Quincy AcTams' "Diary" are a mine, but not a biography. The life of Webster j is not yet written. Mr. Parton has given us memoirs of Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jaekson, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron BttnS The first of tliese is among the best of all American biographies, and the secoml is an illustration, in many ways, of the general manner in which politieal biography should be treated. The other two are very interesting and entertaining, but they seem too partial, and are read with a distrusting protest. Edmund Quincy's life of his father, Josiah Quincy, is a model ; and Mr. Cabot Lodge's life of George Cabot is among the very best memoirs, -while his magazine sketch of Timothy Pickering is masterly. As yet we have bnt one volume of Mr. Seward's life: and we have two of Mr. Sumner's, which do not extend to his public career, but which are singularly delightful from tlieir glimpses of the best European society of his youth. These are a few of the biographies of our public men. But no one can run over the list of our noted political names without confessing that the memoirs are singularly wanting in that fascination which is feit in the story of English statesmen and statesmanship. -" Editor1 s Eamj Cha ir," in Harp er' 's Magazine for December.