Page:Journal of Negro History, vol. 7.djvu/132

116 York. After having written the first edition the author made further investigation and had other reflections which led him to think and to see things from a different angle. He was impressed, moreover, with the fact that, being now further removed from the Civil War, persons have learned to think more seriously with regard thereto and to consider the value of the deeds of the participants therein in a more sympathetic manner. This work, however, has not been so very much enlarged; for it has only eighteen pages more, but unlike the first edition it has an index. Hoping, however, to give the subject of this sketch a larger place in American history and to popularize the story of his career this revised edition has been given to the public.

The work is not set forth as a scientific study. It is rather an abridged account which may be read without much difficulty by the average student in quest of concise opinion concerning one of the most important American characters figuring in that great crisis between 1830 and 1860. On reading this work, one receives the impression that the author has done his task very well. It borders somewhat on hero worship, however, as is evident from the use of the following language: "If one could see a mystical presentation of the epoch, one would see Garrison as a Titan, turning a giant grindstone or electrical power-wheel, from which radiated vibrations in larger and in ever larger, more communicative circles and spheres of agitation, till there was not a man, woman, or child in America who was not a-tremble." He says further: "We know, of course, that the source of these radiations was not in Garrison. They came from the infinite and passed out into the infinite. Had there been no Garrison they would somehow have arrived and at some time would have prevailed. But historically speaking they did actually pass through Garrison: he vitalized and permanently changed this nation as much as one man ever did the same for any nation in the history of the world."

The book gives a good background and then dramatically stages Garrison as a striking figure. Next follows a dramatic presentation of the antislavery struggle with pen pictures of the participants. The story finally reaches the crisis when Garrison stood as a central figure. The work contains a retrospect and a prospect, an excellent account of the man in action, the Rynders Mob, Garrison and Emerson, and foreign influence. The story closes with a summary and an impressive epilogue. Although not a scientific treatise it certainly furnishes stimulus to further study, and when a student