bout six pages. Properly
described, the work deals with New England history, of the most romantic
character occasionally interspersed with a great deal of very tedious
moralizing,--a blemish of style which Mr. Drake seems quite unable to
avoid. The book, despite many features which annoy, is valuable, and
ought well to repay publication. To the young especially it ought to
prove interesting, since it makes plain to them many familiar tales of
early childhood. The publishers, as usual, have done their level best to
make it a very beautiful book, and have of course succeeded.

The second volume of the _Life and Times of the Tylers_[9]
concludes the work. It is the volume which is the more important and
will prove the more interesting to readers in general. It comprises the
events and incidents of the public life of John Tyler,--from his
induction into the Presidency in 1841 to his death while a member of the
Confederate Congress of 1862. It must be remembered that these volumes
are edited by a member of the Tyler family; a fact, which leads us to
say that an impartial history of President Tyler's administration of the
pertinent matters which preceded it, and of the reflections upon its
policy, cannot be naturally expected from a person interested, or from
an actor in the politics of that period.

By the operation of the Constitution alone, Tyler became President. At
that time, he was not considered by his party, and, after he had
obtained the office by the death of General Harrison, he straightway
placed himself in direct opposition to the party which had nominated and
elected him Vice President. The son, who is the author or editor of
these volumes, appears to be forgetful of this fact; for on no other
ground can we account for the bias which he exhibits from the first page
to the last. His duty, he thinks, is to defend his father's
administration, and this idea leads him into trouble at the very
beginning. He says: "The Whig party of 1840 had nothing to do with bank,
tariff, or internal improvements,"--when all the world knows the
contrary! There can be no doubt,--indeed there never was any doubt--that
the Whig leaders of 1840, no matter by what pretexts they gained votes
and power, were committed to a national bank, to a protective tariff,
and to internal improvements. The measures, which the Whigs in Congress
introduced and passed,--only to be vetoed by the President--were Whig
measures, and would certainly have been