P. S.--For example: If you know fully what a _Corsican_ is, you have
the key to the understanding of Bonaparte. He was a Corsican above all
things else, and not in the least a Frenchman.
So of Andrew Jackson: He was a Scotch-Irishman. Alexander Hamilton: a
Scotch-Frenchman.
* * * * *
NEWBURYPORT, MASS., _March 26, 1889_.
MY DEAR SIR: You can give a sufficiently "complete account" of an
event without giving a long one. Now, the duel between two such
persons as Burr and Hamilton _may_ be long, because it can also be
interesting. Readers are interested in the men, in the time, in the
scene, and the whole affair is surcharged with human interest. In that
Elmira trial, the chief interest will centre in your uncle's tact and
success. I should give enough of the trial to enable the reader to see
and appreciate his part in the affair. My impression is: Do not expend
many pages upon it, but pack the pages full of matter. You want all
your room for other scenes in which he displayed his great power in a
striking way.
Many qualities are desirable in a book, only one is necessary--to be
interesting enough to be read. The art is, to be short where the
interest is small, and long where the interest is great.
Your uncle's speeches do not need much "comment." Most speeches
contain one passage which includes the whole.