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 156 Reviews of Books judgment on the leading characters. There were no secret manoeuvres to describe, no dark or devious methods in pubHc poHcy, in pohtics, or in foreign relations to be brought to light. The nature of the leaders made them open and expressive. Jefferson put upon paper his inmost thoughts, and wrote much more than was to the purpose. Hamilton has given the best possible exposition of his financial measures, and of his own ambitions or wishes in administration and political activity. No one ever justly brought against Washington or Adams a charge of con- cealment or of finesse. The acts of the twelve years of the Federalist regime are well known and the relations of the leaders well established. It only remained for a writer to present a point of view that may contain enough of personality to color the narrative of facts. In this Professor Bassett has been fairly successful. The space allowed was barely suffi- cient for the marshalling of the incidents, and some criticism might be made over the selection of those incidents. No two writers would give the same relative importance to what was to be told. Apart from that the writer has preserved a catholic spirit, never severe in condemnation or extravagant in praise, and thus the book reads well, and is a careful presentation of the course of Federalism. The style is clear, and the selection of authorities excellent. That it is a full history of the time no one can assert, for the limitations of space are very evident. Nor was it possible to characterize individuals, a matter of some importance when the policies in state affairs were so represented by a small number of persons of strong personality. The government once organized, the public credit and the foreign com- merce were the two leading subjects of legislation and diplomacy. The entire service of the three administrations may be said to have turned upon these two matters. The writer gives full credit to Hamilton's ability and keen political foresight in framing and defending his financial measures. Hardly enough credit is given to the great secretary in his sinking fund, which embodied the very sound principle that every crea- tion of debt should be accompanied by the means of extinguishing it. The opposition of the South to Hamilton's acts is properly traced to an entirely different economic practice and basis of society. Gallatin was the one great master of finance among the Republicans, and his doctrine of economy offered a wholesome check to Hamilton's tendency to ex- travagance and state intervention. Hamilton's own venture into do- mestic manufactures under his own tariff is not mentioned. Professor Bassett writes as a protectionist, believing in Hamilton's wish to do away with the concentration of the people upon agriculture. The first tariff, he asserts, contained incidental protection, but did little to en- courage manufactures. Yet his account of the rise of the cotton manu- facture shows that the field was ready for industries without protection. On the foreign relations Mr. Bassett retells the story of our entangle- ments with France and our rebuffs from England, on which almost nothing could be said outside of the acccptcil iiilerpretation of the lead-