SAUL K. PADOVER (Ed.). The Washington Papers: Basic Selections from the Public and Private Papers of George Washing ton. Pp. 430. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1955. $5.00

• Date: 01 July 1955
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625530000136
• Author: Cecil Johnson
• Published date: 01 July 1955
• Subject Matter: Articles

144

lazily

through

New

York

and

Pennsylvania

and

briefly

through

Maryland

until

it

en-

ters

Chesapeake

Bay.

Its

course

roughly

approximates

that

of

the

Greek

sigma.

Never

important

as

a

means

of

transporta-

tion,

with

the

possible

exception

of

the

ark

and

raft

era

of

the

early

lumbering

days,

the

Susquehanna

becomes

important

and

colorful

chiefly

in

terms

of

the

people

who

have

lived

along

its

banks.

Mr.

Carmer

tells

the

story

of

the

river

in

twenty-three

chapters,

of

which

the

first

twenty-two

oc-

cupy

roughly

two-thirds

of

the

volume.

These

twenty-two

chapters

contain

many

unusual

and

colorful

tales.

Beginning

with

John

Smith

in

1608,

Carmer

writes

of

the

strange

doings

of

Lord

Talbot,

and

of

the

romantic

story

of

the

French

nobles

who

founded

the

Gallic

city

of

Azilum.

Here

are

thundering

good

tales

of

the

Revolu-

tionary

era,

of

Tory

and

of

Whig.

The

activities

of

the

Molly

Maguires

and

the

Pinkertons,

the

massacre

at

Wyoming,

the

struggles

over

conflicting

land

claims,

the

rumors

that

turned

to

panic

when

it

ap-

peared

that

the

Confederacy

had

success-

fully

invaded

(and

colonized?)

the

peace-

ful

Susquehanna

valley-all

of

these

are

good

reading,

good

folk-history

in

the

tra-

dition

of

the

series.

The

final

chapter,

a

third

of

the

volume,

follows

the

river

down

stream,

recounting

story

and

myth

as

the

river

flows

along.

In

many

ways

this

is

the

most

interesting

part

of

the

volume.

No one

can

doubt

that

Mr.

Carmer

is

an

excellent

writer.

His

volume

about

the

Hudson

River

is

one

of

the

best

in

this

series;

his

Stars

Fell

on

Alabama

and

Listen

for

a

Lonesome

Drum

entitle

him

to

his

high

place

among

American

folklor-

ists.

Yet

this

is,

in

spite

of

interesting

sec-

tions,

a

disappointing

volume.

The

early

pages

contain

much

forced

writing,

a

seem-

ing

attempt

at

scholarly

and

thorough

pres-

entation

that

results

only,

it

seems

to

this

reviewer,

in

clumsy

and

dull

passages.

There

is

a

single

and

unsatisfactory

map.

Yet

there

are

sections,

the

last

chapter

in

general

and

the

description

of

Coopertown

in

particular,

that

are

fascinating.

Mr.

Carmer

can

certainly

write

superbly;

it

its

unfortunate

that

he has

not

chosen

to

do

so

throughout

this

volume.

If

not

the

worst

in

the

series,

this

is

far

from

the

best.

RALPH ADAMS

BROWN

State

University

of

New

York

Cortland

SAUL

K.

PADOVER

(Ed.).

The

Washington

Papers:

Basic

Selections

from

the

Public

and

Private

Papers

of

George

Washing-

ton.

Pp.

430.

New

York:

Harper

and

Brothers,

1955.

$5.00.

The

character

of

this

volume

and

the

edi-

tor’s

purpose

in

producing

it

are

clearly

in-

dicated

in

the

concluding

lines

of

the

Intro-

duction.

&dquo;Here

are

Washington’s

speeches

and

addresses,

his

essential

diaries,

many

of

his

more

important

letters

and

com-

ments.

The

editor

has

tried

to

eliminate

the

irrelevant

but

to

omit

nothing

that

is

of

importance

for

an

understanding

of

the

essential

Washington.

Here

we

see

him

in

his

capacity

as

surveyor

and

planter,

as

general

and

patriot,

as

President

and

Statesman,

as

family

man

and

friend.

The

editor’s

aim

has

been

to

produce

a one-

volume

treasury

of

Washington,

to

show

him

in

his

fullness

and

many-sidedness.&dquo;

The

Introduction

contains

an

excellent

character

sketch

and

Parson

Weems’

clas-

sic

of

the

cherry

tree

which

Dr.

Padover

calls

the

&dquo;most

famous

Weemsy.&dquo;

The

papers

are

arranged

topically

and

there

is

a

minimum

of

editing;

characters

are

rarely

identified;

seldom

is

background

material

furnished;

and

extracts

of

letters

are

usually

given

without

regard

to

con-

text.

One

may

question

whether

a

differ-

ent

plan

of

organization,

which

would

have

presented

complete

letters

in

chronological

sequence

connected

by

brief

explanatory

notes,

would

not

have

resulted

in

a

work

of

more

interest

to

the

general

reader.

Washington’s

cumbersome

eighteenth-cen-

tury

style

does

not

contribute

to

the

gen-

eral

readability

of

the

volume.

The

papers

show

that

Washington

was

proud

of

the

new

nation

which

he

had

helped

to

bring

into

existence

and

that

he

had

optimistic

expectations

of

its

economic

and

political

future.

His

trials

in

the

Revolution

as

well

as

the

weaknesses

of

the

Confederation

had

impressed

upon

him

the

need

for

a

strong

central

administra-