Book Reviews 321 authors state : “Innumerable books and articles have been read ; documents studied ; the accuracy of statements thought- fully gauged; and it is hoped that the authors have ac- complished a purpose first attempted a decade ago : to present as real (and truthful) a picture as possible of the mother of one of the greatest Presidents of the United States of America.” Butler University Emma Lou Thornbrough Lincoln and Greeley. By Harlan Hoyt Homer. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1952, pp. ix. 432. Bibliog- raphy and index. $6.00.) Lincoln and Greeley, impressive in size and format, comprises part of the present avalanche of material on the Civil War period. The writer uses a simple scheme of treat- ment of parallel study, mostly from source materials, of these two great figures of: the time. He has no theory to promote, no special thesis to maintain ; he merely presents the two men in relation to the developments of the period of which they were a part, and occasionally offers pertinent comment. The two characters are first introduced as “Fellow Whigs”-young Whigs, disciples of Clay’s American system. Their first meeting, happening by chance, was at the Chicago Rivers and Harbors Convention and was not significant. The convention’s purpose could have split the Democratic Party, south and west, but neither Greeley nor Lincoln saw in it at this time more than good Whig politics. With this first casual meeting as an introduction the writer drops back and brings the political careers of the two men up to the point when the Whig Party was laid away and the Republican Party took its place. The author, in discussing “Common Grounds,” shows that Lincoln and Greeley had some generalities of background in common : ancestry, early environment, educational op- portunity, and struggle with penury. This almost takes the form of a thesis, interestingly put, and is a good review of the early lives of the two men. A quirk of fate brought them together as congress- men in the Thirtieth Congress-Lincoln, a member by the regular route of political victory ; Greeley, by appointment 322 Indiana Magazine of Histow to a vacancy. Lincoln’s work on the expansion issue, which it was fatal to attack at the time, was futile, almost entirely political. Greeley found busy work to do. His expos6 of mileage frauds caught Lincoln as a heavy offender but no personal animus was generated. Greeley’s attempt to change the name of America is not overlooked in this book. Neither Greeley nor Lincoln was returned to Congress. Taking up the significant slavery issue, Horner shows that Lincoln was not a sentimentalist about it, and Greeley, though using the subject as a publicist, was far from being Garrisonian. Lincoln’s political use of the subject is clearly set out and the reader realizes his astuteness in avoiding radical implication and his awareness of the value of the question for political purposes. The book’s chapter, “Fellow Republicans,” shows the two brought together in common endeavor, Lincoln wary in every step, Greeley plunging in like the crusader he was. Once committed, Lincoln was still all discretion. This reviewer is a little disappointed in the treatment of the period; the writer relies on James Ford Rhodes and Francis Curtis for the framework and consequently does not penetrate beyond the surface of events. It would be more satisfactory if the description of the Republican movement itself rested on less archaic references. Wittingly or not, the author brings out from sources one of Lincoln’s very greatest contributions to Republican emergence. Greeley supported Douglas in his stand on Lecompton. Lincoln stood clear of it and made a place for the Republicans to stand in Illinois and ultimately in the nation. The nomination and election of 1860 are written of in a chapter entitled, “Bigger Game.” The activity of the two men is again based on source material. Again the author quotes Rhodes on the election of 1860; Emerson Davis Fite might have been preferable. After the election came Secession and the problems it broached for the coming administration. There is no reference to David Morris Potter’s work in this, though the author does mention it in the next chapter. He offers pertinent criticism of Greeley for not using his powerful Tribune to sell Lincoln to the East in this interval. With war a fact, Greeley became a “Forward to Rich- fnond” advocate. He was early cured of his “Let the erring sisters go in peace” opinions and he came to Lincoln’s position Book Reviews 323 of saving the Union by force. Though a little disappointed in not being included in the administration, the great editor now undertook to push the conquest of the South and, like some others, essayed to direct it. Like others, Greeley was brought to hand and made to admit error. Lincoln treated emancipation as an element in the complex problems of war-making, always aware of its political impli- cations; Greeley approached it with crusader zeal. This phase of their relationship reached a climax in the late summer of ’62 (the dark days) with Greeley’s “Prayer of Twenty Millions,” which, with Lincoln’s epoch-making answer, are given in full in the book. In September, the Emanci- pation Proclamation was issued and Greeley responded with “God bless Abraham Lincoln.” The writer does not join some others in an effort to establish Lincoln as a sentimentalist about emancipation. The war rolled on, the nation became war weary, Lincoln persevered in his objectives, and Greeley indulged in peace overtures. Lincoln allowed Greeley to try his hand in the Niagara Negotiations and incidentally to make a fool of himself. Still, Horner isn’t sure that it was entirely political sagacity on Lincoln’s part and leaves open the possibility that Lincoln may have entertained the idea that negotiation was possible. The Jaquess Gilmore effort by-passed Greeley and involved another famous editor, Henry J. Raymond. Though Lincoln condoned these efforts, his position once stated rendered peace negotiations impossible. The South was never conceded to be a nation. Politics reentered the picture before the war was done. The American people had to decide whether or not they would carry the war on to the end. Greeley did not join the evangels of failure who brought on the dark days of the summer of ’64, but he did do a little king-making. He believed Lincoln a good man in the wrong place and went out after a suc- cessor to him. In this he developed such characters as Rosecrans and FrBmont. The nomination of Lincoln, the fall of Atlanta, the split of the Democrats, made Greeley’s support of Lincoln inevitable. When peace came Greeley joined in the celebration of the great triumph. With Lincoln’s assassination Greeley was second to none in lamenting the great good man. Greeley’s re- action to Lincoln’s successor makes the book’s epilogue. 324 Indiana Magazine of History Exceeded by none in his drift to the Radicals, he could stand but one term of Grant. A reader familiar with the period of Lincoln and Greeley finds in it numerous things that are new and many familiar things in a new context. This reviewer felt he had in it a splendid review of the period, interestingly told, and is will- ing to recommend it to others and to place it as a “must” in reference books for student reading. DePauw University A. W. Crandall Bibliographical Studies of Seven Authors of Crawfordavilte, Indiana; Lew and Susan Wallace, Maurice and Will Thompson, Mary Hannah and Caroline Virginia Krout and Meredith Nicholson. By Dorothy Rit’ter Russo and Thelma Lois Sullivan. Indianapolis : Indiana Historical Society, 1952, pp. xi, 486. Illustrations and index.) Since 1836, Crawfordsville has been referred to, off and on, as “the Athens of Indiana” and sometimes even ~t9 “the Athens of the West.” Mary Hannah Krout used the name, “The Hoosier Athens,” in a column she wrote for The Saturduy Herald of Indianapolis in the 1870’s. Now Mary Hannah Krout is one of seven authors included in a volume of bibliographical studies that is designed to perpetuate the legend. The others are: Mary Hannah Krout’s sister, Caroline Virginia Krout, who wrote under the pseudonym of “Caroline Brown” ; Maurice Thompson and his brother, Will Thompson ; Meredith Nicholson ; and Lew Wallace and his wife, Susan Arnold Elston Wallace. Each bibliography is prefaced by a short biography, which will identify some of the authors for non-residents of Indiana, and is composed of descriptive lists of first edition books, first edition ephemera, first edition contribu- tions, and first appearances in periodicals. There is a thorough index of forty pages at the end providing clues even for those readers who may wish to determine such matters as, for instance, the date when Mary Hannah Krout published a news item in the Chicago Inter Ocean stating that many prominent Indianans would not attend the inauguration of 1889. Indiana University William E. Wilson .