minent degree, the power of forming for himself a conception of his
subject as a whole, keeping it constantly before his mind in the
elaboration of the parts, and thus bringing it vividly before the mind
of the reader. Franklin's true place in history has never before been
assigned him upon such incontrovertible evidence.

If we were to undertake to name the parts of this work which have given
us most satisfaction, we should, although with some hesitation, name the
admirable chapters which Mr. Parton has devoted to Franklin's diplomatic
labors in England and France. In none of his good works has that great
man been more exposed to calumny, or treated with more barefaced
ingratitude by those who profited most by them, than in bringing to
light the dangerous letters of Hutchinson and Oliver. Even within the
last few years, the apologetic biographer of John Adams repeats the
accusation of moral obliquity in a tone that would hardly have been
misplaced in a defence of Wedderburn. Mr. Parton tells the story with
great simplicity, and, without entering into any unnecessary
disquisition, accepts for his commentary upon it Mr. Bancroft's wise,
and, as it seems to us, unanswerable conclusion. "Had the conspiracy
which was thus laid bare aimed at the life of a minister or the king,
any honest man must have immediately communicated the discovery to the
Secretary of State: to conspire to introduce into America a military
government, and abridge American liberty, was a more heinous crime, of
which irrefragable evidence had now come to light."

Never, too, was philosopher more severely tried than Franklin was tried
by the colleagues whom Congress sent him, from time to time, as clogs
upon the great wheel which he was turning so skilfully. And this, too,
Mr. Parton has set in full light, not by the special pleading of the
apologist, but by the documentary researches of the historian.

There are some things, however, in this work which we could have wished
somewhat different from what they are. Mr. Parton's fluent and forcible
style sometimes degenerates into flippancy. We could cite many instances
of felicitous expression, some, also, of bad taste, and some of hasty
assertion. "_Clubable_" is hardly a good enough word to bear frequent
repetition. "This question was a complete baffler" is too much like
slang to be admitted into the good company which Mr. Parton's sentences
usually keep. We were not aware that "Physician, heal thyself"