Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/685

 Smith : Parties and Slavery 675 ume of national history than the colonization and boundaries of Texas. This may be hypercriticism, for the admirable chapters upon Texas give so much important information not easily attainable elsewhere that one is glad to have them perhaps even at the expense of the other topics. There is, also, a lack of proportion in the treatment of the Mexican War. No attempt is made to describe in any detail the campaigns of Taylor and Scott. The events leading to hostilities, notably that of Slidell's mission in 1846, are set forth minutely and withal interestingly. Professor Garrison's familiarity with the Texan and Mexican archives is apparent in the fullness of his treatment r)f the Texas question. In his account of Polk's administration the in- valuable diary of that President has been used to great advantage. References to it are frequent, and by it the causes of the Mexican War are shown in a new light. Polk determined to accomplish certain definite things, of which national extension to the Pacific was the most important. The author's use of Polk's diary shows how the programme was stubbornly and almost relentlessly carried out. The merit of this volume is the thoughtful and judicial treatment of a period of com- plicated political conditions and of problems new to the national life. If any fault is to be found with the book, it is in its lack of pro- portion. This, however, appears to be due rather to the plan of the work than to the author's execution of it. Tesse S. Reeves. The American Xatioii: a History. Edited by Albert Bushnell H.RT. 'olume 18. Parties and Slaz'ery, i8fio-i8jp. By Theodore Clarke Smith, Ph.D., Professor of American His- tory in Williams College. (New York and London: Harper and Brothers. 1906. Pp. xvi, 341.) The title of the book. Parties and Slaz'ery, calls attention to the fact that during the decade preceding the Civil War party readjust- ment on account of the slavery question filled a prominent place. The volume is by no means limited, however, to the topics suggested by the title. Besides dealing with the various phases of party relations and the questions directly involved, the author gives chapters on political leaders, diplomacy, railroad-building, the panic of 1857, " Social Fer- ment in the North ", and finally a critical essay on authorities. The text is illuminated by several maps. The book does not profess to be a complete history of the decade which it covers, since other volumes in the series deal with closely related subjects. There are only oc- casional references to the work of the abolitionists, for example, that topic being more fully treated in volume 16 of the series. There is evidence of a large amount of thorough and conscientious work on the part of the author. Many illuminating passages have been culled from newspapers and other contemporary publications, and there is throughout a discriminating selection of materials. There is a re-