Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEWS

The Planting of Civilization in Western Pennsylvania, By SOLON J. BUCK and ELIZABETH H. BUCK. (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1939. xiv, 555 p. Illustrated. $5.00.) This book embodies a penetrating and skilful synthesis of the history of western Pennsylvania from the earliest beginnings to approximately 1820. An impressive and convincing work, it bids fair to become the authoritative one for the field which it covers. A common criticism, usually justified, of most state and sectional histories has been the absence of perspective, inadequacy of sources, and frequently the failure to grasp adequately the significance of the sources used. The present instance is distinguished by the opposite qualities. The clarity of expression and the generally unhurried narrative, packed though it is through twenty- three chapters with a multiplicity of factual matters, will appeal not only to the general reading public for whom it is intended but to the scholar as well. No selected frontier area can be sharply delimited, and in the present instance Dr. and Mrs. Buck, while necessarily drawing arbitrary lines, have included the counties of Potter, Cameron, Clearfield, Blair, and Bedford on the eastern fringe as one boundary of the section under survey; the entire area of the state west of this line, including the drainage basin of the Ohio, becomes the center with which the principal part of their story is concerned. At the outset there is laid before the reader a panoramic view of the physical environment which was to be the scene of warfare, settlement, the evolution of frontier government, and ultimately the beginnings of a.highly civilized community within the period treated. In this regard there are stressed the significance of the Appalachian system, the outline of primitive trails, and the river systems, forests, and other natural resources which were important factors not only in the early stages of this particular area but also in the future industrial and social development of the State. Not unconnected with this phase was the Indian culture, which properly receives one lengthy chapter containing a review of the best modern knowledge on that subject. It is pertinent to observe in this connection that the authors have adopted a moderate viewpoint; they follow the views neither of those who profess to believe that the Indians have always been unjustly treated, nor of those who have assumed that the savage race had no ethical or legal rights which white people were bound to respect. As an example of the tone of the discussion, reference may be made to the view expressed that the Indian did have, theoretically, a good case for opposing an invasion of his lands, yet those lands which he sought to protect were actually not more than hunting grounds and in no sense were they used for homes or for agriculture except in and about widely scattered villages. The Indian question is not entirely disposed of in one chapter. The subject appears again and again in succeeding pages. It was not in fact until about 1795

270 I94O BOOK REVIEWS 271 that the Indian problem ceased to be an issue. Of course the two great episodes in western Pennsylvania with international repercussions were the conflict between France and England for control of the forks of the Ohio, and the American Revolution. In both wars the Indian was necessarily a partisan: he espoused the cause of the French in the first and that of the British in the second. He was thus a constant factor in both periods. The authors state that the founda- tions for the planting of civilization in western Pennsylvania were laid by the English occupation of the site of Fort Pitt in 1758. This was true to the extent that the French menace was definitely removed. But other obstacles were yet to be met and overcome before the area was ready for white occupation. The appearance of the Indian uprising of 1763 came perilously near to erasing the English in the western country, including the region under consideration, and was only suppressed by regular troops under Henry Bouquet. The fact of this widespread Indian revolt led to the further intervention, this time by the British government, in the issuance of the royal proclamation of 1763, to which one chapter of the book is devoted. The effect of this proclamation on Pennsylvania is succinctly stated. According to one of its provisions the Appalachian divide was indicated as the line beyond which land purchases and white settlements should not for the present be made without the consent of the crown. But this line in Pennsylvania was within the charter limits of that colony. Whether the proprietors of Pennsylvania could successfully ignore the proclamation in grant- ing lands, as was their right under the charter, was "never brought to an issue." At the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768, however, the Penns succeeded, with the co-operation of the crown, in purchasing from the Indians a great strip of territory, known as the "New Purchase." Henceforth the area in question, which included a wide stretch of land extending across the colony from the extreme northeast to the southwest corner, was understood to be open for settlement, even though the proclamation of 1763 was not formally rescinded. Although the authors have not elaborated on the point, it is the reviewer's belief that they have reached as sound a conclusion as is at present possible with respect to the applica- tion of the proclamation to Pennsylvania. Incidentally, Fort Pitt was within the so-called "New Purchase." The way was therefore open for pioneer settlers to penetrate the new country. Prefatory to a fairly detailed account of this expansion there appears a chapter on the "Cultural Heritage of the Pioneers" which suggests not only the influence of Old World factors but also that of the old colonies of Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia, especially the back country of the colonies mentioned. This is for the most part well-travelled ground, though the approach is fresh and the conclusion interesting. "The trans-Alleghany West did not introduce a new manner of life; it merely spread a manner of life that was already flourishing just east of the mountains." The Virginians were the first to enter the region as agricultural settlers. The significance of this becomes apparent in the subsequent conflict between Virginia and Pennsylvania over their respective claims within the present boundaries of 272 BOOK REVIEWS April the latter. The story of this emergence of divisive forces, leading almost to civil war, is told in some detail. The settlement of southwestern Pennsylvania took place in the years 1769 to 1774. The predominant element in the stream of migration into this region was English; but the stolid, neat, and industrious Ger- mans, the irrepressible, far from neat Irish and Scots-Irish were also elements in the population which in the end exercised a large influence. The fact of the ultimate mergence of these diverse groups is also stressed. Space forbids more than a brief reference to other phases of the history of the region which are developed in these pages. The manner in which settlements expanded, necessitating the creation of new counties, the development of transportation, the evolution of local government, the emergence of radicalism cul- minating in the Whiskey Rebellion, and the final victory of Jeffersonian democracy over Federalism are some of the subjects which receive careful appraisement. To some readers perhaps the most attractive features of the book will be those chapters dealing with the commercial, domestic, community, intellectual and religious life of the people, all of which phases are an integral part of the evolution of civilization in any region. All in all the book is more than an informative chronicle; it is a story of human fortitude, of reckless faith and courage; and of steady growth from savage conditions to a stabilized society. In the minds of the authors western Pennsylvania was clearly a proving- ground for the struggle farther west; it was another cycle in the recurring pat- terns of culture. This is no doubt true in so far as these cycles had already occurred. The reviewer is moved, however, to venture a warning that the char- acteristics of the frontier so accurately described in the present book will not necessarily be found in later frontier areas. In certain respects quite the contrary situation will be found. And so the reader must not assume because individualism, for example, flourished so notably on the Pennsylvania frontier that it was to become an equally marked feature of succeeding ones farther west. To that extent the Turnerian thesis respecting the significance of the frontier, which the authors of this book have amply illustrated, is subject to considerable modification. In short the reader should not be tempted to read into this work an interpretation which can be similarly applied to other new sections of the country. The scholar will miss the customary citations to authorities, the complete absence of which is not due to the choice of the authors. Some compensation for this loss is found in a comprehensive forty-three page essay in the end-pages on the bibliography of the subject, which is in itself a notable contribution. While the omission of direct citations in no way lessens the present significance of the volume the fact remains that it was an unfortunate decision of the sponsors and publishers; it is a reflection on the growing appreciation of the lay public which is no longer dissuaded from reading books which contain these implements of scholarship. The book contains fifteen useful maps and more than one hundred illustrations. There is a moderately good index. Department of State, Washington CLARENCE E. CARTER I94O BOOK REVIEWS 273

Benjamin Franklin in Scotland and Ireland 1759 and 1771. By J. BENNETT NOLAN. Foreword by SIR JAMES C. IRVINE, Principal and Vice Chancellor, The University of St. Andrews. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1938. Pages vii, 229. Illustrated. $2.50.) Every admirer of Benjamin Franklin owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Nolan, who has with great industry and charm pieced together a myriad of obscure facts concerning "Poor Richard's" trips to Scotland and Ireland. Such an account was needed because all biographers of Franklin have compressed the story of these trips into a few sketchy pages (if they have mentioned them at all). As Sir James Irvine has stated in his foreword, "A true appreciation of any man can be found only when we know the details to visualise the day-by-day conditions of his life—the houses wherein he dwelt, the streets through which he walked, and the people with whom he mingled." Handicapped by a "dearth of fundamental data," Mr. Nolan has, by the use of "local records, observations of contemporaries, a few scattering notices in the newspapers of the period, and from the correspondence of Benjamin's fellow tourists," reconstructed a "fairly cohesive recital" of the trips. Only a few letters written by Franklin concerning these tours are extant, and these contain ex- asperatingly few details. The author is much concerned about the paucity of letters by Franklin, but he uses the few to excellent advantage. The reader is introduced to the Colonial Agent at his menage in Craven Street, London, in the summer of 1759, when fortuitous circumstances and the com- ing of fine weather freshly awakened the "inveterate tourist with an insatiable interest in strange places," to take a journey to Scotland. Leaving London on August 8, 1759, accompanied by his son William, Franklin pushed northwest- ward through Birmingham, Derby, Sheffield, Liverpool, thence to Carlisle and Edinburgh. Enroute Franklin stopped in Birmingham to visit John Baskerville, celebrated printer and type founder, and Mathew Boulton, silver stamper and experimenter with models for a steam engine. Near Derbyshire they made a side- trip to purchase some pottery at Staffordshire, and when in Derbyshire it is probable that they visited nearby some mines to study their operation. During the last week of August the travellers were in Liverpool and on the twenty- ninth they set off by the western road through Lancaster to Edinburgh. The sojourn in Edinburgh was marked by the admission of Benjamin and William as Burgesses and Guild Brothers of the city. Here too they became guests of Sir Alexander Dick at his estate at Prestonfield. In Edinburgh Frank- lin met old acquaintances and made new friends—the Reverend Dr. William Robertson, the Reverend Alexander Carlyle, Professors Munro (father and son), Adam Ferguson, Joseph Black, Cullen and Russell and that eccentric, Peter Williamson. In late September they were in Glasgow where they visited Alexander Wil- son, the father of Scottish type founders; the printers, Andrew and Robert Foulis; Professor Anderson; and Adam Smith, who was strongly impressed by William's affability. 274 BOOK REVIEWS April

After a fleeting tour of the Perthshire Highlands, father and son, accompanied by Professor Anderson, hastened to St. Andrews where the elder Frank- lin was elevated as a Guild Brother of the town and also honored with the degree of Doctor of Laws by the University, an event of much importance in the life of "Poor Richard." Although their stay was brief, it was replete with events which were to stir up memories for many years. Leaving St. Andrews, the Franklins returned to Edinburgh where the days, filled with a round of sociability, were "to melt away like cough drops on the tongue." On the occasion of this second visit Franklin was entertained by Henry Home, Lord Kames, at Berwickshire. This visit represented one of the brightest spots of the whole tour and led Franklin to write: So that whenever I reflect on the great pleasure and advantage 1 receive from the free communication of sentiments in the conversations we had at Kames and in the agreeable little rides to the Tweed-side, I shall forever regret our premature parting. When they departed from the Kames' estate, they followed the road leading through Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, where they made a study of the weaving industry with particular reference to American trade; but the travellers did not tarry long for the first of November found Franklin in his rooms in Craven Street after having covered 1500 miles through England and Scotland. The busy twelve-year interlude between the first and second tour to the north, Mr. Nolan skillfully knits together by telling his readers, among other things, of the many ambitious American youths who sought Franklin's counsel concerning their education in Europe. Here too is told the interesting story of the negotiations which led to the election of the Reverend John Witherspoon of Paisley as President of the College of New Jersey at Princeton. Franklin played a part in the negotiations but not at the request of the trustees of the Presby- terian college who were "skeptical of Benjamin's religious convictions and dis- trustful of Governor William Franklin, whom they suspected of a design for betraying their Presbyterian college to the Episcopacy." (p. 113 and cf. p. 73.) Recent researches of Professor Wertenbaker of Princeton University, who is preparing a history of that institution, seem to support Mr. Nolan's contention that certain Anglican ministers hoped to wrest Princeton college from the Presbyterians and bring it under their control. The pressure of political duties bore heavily upon Franklin and in the spring of 1771, in order to refresh himself, he took a short tour through the Midlands, travelling to Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, and Manchester, accompanied by his grandnephew Jonathan Williams, Jr.; the Dutch scientist, Dr. Ingenhousz; and the pedagogue, John Canton. While at Leeds, Franklin called upon Priestly. On June 4 they were back in London to celebrate the King's birthday, but Franklin soon packed his bags to be off to visit his dear friend, Jonathan Shipley, Bishop of Asaph's, at Twyford, where he spent several delightful weeks and worked on his autobiography. I94O BOOK REVIEWS 275

Various forces urged him to take the long contemplated trip to Ireland and thence to Scotland. In company with Richard Jackson, in late August, 1771, Franklin began his second tour, via Birmingham, Holyhead, Dunleary, Dublin, Hillsborough, and Donaghadee. The most interesting incident during the visit to Hibernia was Franklin's experience in the Irish Parliament, so ingeniously described by "Poor Richard" in his letter of January 13, 1772, to Thomas Cushing of Boston. A visit was made to the home of Lord Hillsborough, which was an interesting interlude in the journey from Dublin to Donaghadee, but barren of any political significance. The second sojourn in Edinburgh was spent in the home of David Hume. It is interesting to speculate "what a wealth of interest must have lain in the talks of these two philosophers . . . " (p. 173) during the following fortnight. Four days after arriving at "Auld Reekie," Franklin was joined by Henry Marchant, of Rhode Island, and Edward Church, of Boston. Now the story becomes more detailed because Mr. Nolan culled much valuable material from the diary of Mr. Marchant. The reader follows Franklin and his friends through the round of social affairs at Edinburgh; to the cattle fair at Falkirk; to the manor of Blair Drummond, the seat of the Kames family; once more to Glasgow where Frank- lin again spent happy hours with Alexander Wilson and eccentric Professor John Anderson; to the famous Carron iron works; and back to Edinburgh for several more days of glorious entertainment. On the return trip to London in Novem- ber of 1771, Franklin stopped off at Preston where he met the Bache family and first met his son-in-law Richard Bache, who was his companion on the last leg of his journey. This is a bare sketch of the two tours. Mr. Nolan has embellished the narrative at every point with fine descriptions of the countryside, the public build- ings, cities, universities, places of public interest, and with excellently drawn thumbnail sketches of the more important personages. It is a re-creation of the times, places and people from the viewpoint of Mr. Nolan rather than that of Benjamin Franklin. At times the narrative becomes discursive, but mostly justifiably so. One inexcusable instance is when the author traces the lineage of Lord Elphinstone from 1771 to "the great-great-grandson [who] is brother- in-law to the present Queen of England" (p. 195). If the space devoted to Lord Elphinstone had been used earlier in the narrative to point out the fact that during the exercises held in Philadelphia to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin, "Poor Richard's" great granddaughter, Agnes Irwin, then Dean of Radcliffe College, was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from St. Andrews, it would have been more germane to the subject! In an otherwise admirable book, Mr. Nolan leaves a hazy idea in regard to the place of the residence of Bishop Shipley as he confuses Chilbolton and Twy- ford (pp. 2, 4, 6, 127, 136). Furthermore, although he does stress the importance of the contacts Franklin made on his tours, he does not show sufficiently "the bearing these friendships had upon his subsequent career" (p. 1), and there is 276 BOOK REVIEWS April wanting too an estimate of the degree to which men like Dick, Robertson, Hume, Smith, Wilson, and Anderson influenced the political and social ideas of "Poor Richard." There are six illustrations in the book, two of which are attractively drawn black and white outline maps showing the routes followed by Franklin on his trips of 1759 and 1771 respectively. There is an index but it is lamentably sketchy, and in the reviewer's opinion it is as faulty as would be a production of "Hamlet" sans Hamlet as there is no listing of Benjamin Franklin. Nor is there any entry for William and Temple Franklin, although the Bache family is listed. The bibliographical notes attest to the variety and range of materials used, and contain interesting and pertinent comments. There is not, however, any reference to the valuable records of The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, nor to those of the Dr. Bray Associates. The originals are located in the S. P. G. Archives in London, and also are available in transcript form in the Division of Manuscripts, the Library of Congress. Had Mr. Nolan made use of these records he would have given a better account of the Princeton episode and would not have written that "... Franklin seems (italics mine) to have been much concerned with clerics at this time" (p. 113). He would have made a positive statement to that effect. Easton, Pennsylvania RICHARD I. SHELLING

Printer Strahan s Book Account. A Colonial Controversy. By J. BENNETT NOLAN. (The Bar of Berks County: Reading, Pennsylvania, 1939. ix, 143 P.) One of the reasons for this book is that it illuminates another facet of the many- sided Franklin. Mr. Nolan has heretofore depicted Benjamin Franklin as a "General," and as a traveller in Scotland and Ireland. Here he is in the un- enviable role of bill collector. For the title is intriguing rather than descriptive; the subject of the volume is not so much Strahan, the King's Printer, as James Read, erstwhile Prothonotary of Berks County. A relative of Mrs. Franklin, James Read ran a bookstore next door to that of the Franklins. Though given many favors by the famous printer, Read crossed him later in life,,.and allowed his conduct to become a subject for the philosopher's censure. Upon this hangs the tale. James Read met William Strahan, the rising young Scottish printer of Lon- don, upon a visit to England, and through this received a large consignment of books, thus starting an account of about £132. Whether or not this was too great a debt is not clear, but Read carefully avoided payment. Strahan finally empowered his friend, Franklin, to collect the bill and even gave him a "Letter of Attorney," which the good doctor never used. Perhaps it was too much to expect, to ask him to prosecute his wife's relative. At any rate, Strahan turned to David Hall, his former apprentice and Franklin's partner, with no better luck, for Hall and Read had married sisters. Strahan's next agent was Captain Walter Stirling, who was notable because he eloped with the daughter of a re- i94O BOOK REVIEWS 277 spectable Philadelphian, and later in London became a bankrupt, with Strahan as one of his creditors. Meanwhile Read had become a persistent office seeker, and was rewarded by his appointment to the clerkship of the court newly established at Reading in Berks County. There he became one of the first citizens of the frontier community. Yet his London creditor sought him out, and through a better agent, the Quaker Thomas Wharton, who knew how to handle unwilling debtors, a payment of <£6o on account was made, and a bond was given for the balance, secured by Edward Biddle. It seemed that Printer Strahan was in a fair way to get his due, but it was not to be so. The Revolution intervened, in which Read was an outstanding patriot, while Wharton was a Tory, and Strahan was denounced, even by Franklin, as a Parliamentary supporter of Lord North. This changed the whole aspect of the situation, and Strahan died without the solace of further payment. The vicissitudes of this "Book Account" on the ledgers of the influential King's Printer provide Mr. Nolan with the means of illuminating the career of a local figure of no little importance. Drawing his data from a wide range of sources, he discourses pleasantly and informatively on many men and events. His familiarity with the contemporary scene often tempts him to digress, but the result is so delightful that one is loath to complain. He has provided another choice bit of Frankliniana, and the volume is so beautifully printed and illustrated as to delight the bibliophile or collector. Albright College MILTON W. HAMILTON

Biography by Americans, 1658—1936: A Subject Bibliography. By EDWARD H. O'NEILL. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1939. x, 465 p. $4.00.) This compilation is a product of work on the bibliography and history of American biography extending over nearly ten years. Mr. O'Neill, a member of the English Department of the University of Pennsylvania, published in 1935 the first result of his labor in this field, A History of American Biography, 1800- I935J which is the most useful book on the subject. As the title indicates, his present compilation is broader in scope, going back to the beginnings of Amer- ican biographical writing. The organization of the volume is simple and renders it easily usable. It is divided into two parts: the first, to which 410 pages are devoted, comprises individual biographies, and the second, contains 707 titles of collective biographies. The titles in the second part are numbered, in order that analytical references can be made to them in the first part. Within the section on individual biographies the titles are arranged alphabetically according to the name of the subject, while the collective biographies are arranged according to the name of the author, the editor or the first word of the title. Where there are a number of biographies for a single person, they are arranged alphabetically by the authors' names. The entries include only a minimum of information, as follows: title, author, place and date of publication, and pagination. The date is that of the 278 BOOK REVIEWS April

edition available, not that of the first edition. No annotations are given for the titles listed. Space has thus been saved at the expense of making the work less valuable to the professional bibliographer, or cataloguer or book collector. Library location symbols accompany each title, but the number of libraries for which locations are given is very limited, including only the following: Library of Congress, New York Public Library, American Antiquarian Society, Hunt- ington Library, University of Pennsylvania, Burton Historical Collection, Wil- liam L. Clements Library, and the John Carter Brown Library. The list might have been greatly extended through the use of the Union Catalogue of the Library of Congress. The existence of this catalogue, however, and of other regional ones, in Philadelphia and Cleveland, renders the inclusion of library locations of less importance. Although no attempt has been made to include every biography written by an American, this is the most extensive compilation that has been published. The volume lists biographies of persons in every walk of life, both men and women. For the most famous persons only the important books have been listed; for others the listing is complete. The selection of titles for the famous persons has been well done. Autobiographies, diaries and journals have been excluded, yet the total number of titles approximates seven thousand items. Biographical sketches in periodicals have not been included, for the evident reason that their great number would extend the volume beyond reasonable limits. Concerning many figures of lesser importance, however, they are the chief sources of biographical details readily available. Since the bibliography is one of biographies by Americans, it includes numerous titles for books about persons of other coun- tries. Most of the famous characters of the world's history have attracted Ameri- can biographers. Thus in looking through the volume one finds listed works about Joan of Arc, Marcus Aurelius, Simon Bolivar, Catherine the Great, Garibaldi, John Huss, Louis Kossuth, Ignatius Loyola, Mesmer, Xerxes, and Zwingli. Although the titles concerning foreigners are numerous, they are far out- numbered by those for Americans. In addition to the great and the near-great, many obscure figures are represented. This collection will prove a useful tool to scholars, readers and librarians alike. Its usefulness would have been increased by the inclusion of an index of authors, inasmuch as the titles are listed by subject. No references to bibliographies about individuals are given, consequently it would have been well to have added a bibliography of the books in which these can be found listed. Under Mr. O'Neill's direction there is now being compiled at the University of Pennsylvania by a large group of W.P.A. workers a comprehensive bibliography of writings by American authors as well as writings about them from the early seventeenth century to the present. As this is to include periodical material it will constitute an expansion of the titles relating to literary figures in the present work. It is to be hoped that this compilation will be made generally available. The National Archives HENRY P. BEERS 1940 BOOK REVIEWS 279

A Diary of the French Revolution, by Gouverneur Morris, IJ 52-1816, Minister to France during the Terror, Edited by BEATRIX CARY DAVENPORT. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1939. 2 vols., xlv, 618; 652 p. $9.00.) In February, 1789, Gouverneur Morris arrived in Paris. After brilliant service in helping to establish the independence and frame the government of the United States, he had abandoned politics for business and, with certain projects of his own to promote as well, sailed for France as an agent for Robert Morris. Having taken up his residence at the Hotel de Richelieu, presented letters of introduction, some of which were from Washington, and made two business calls, Morris went shopping and bought a blank-book bound with applegreen vellum. In this, March 1, he made the first entry in his diary. This was continued in four volumes, the last of which was concluded January 5, 1793, with the words: "The Situation of things is such that to continue this journal would compromise many People, unless I go on in the Way I have done since the end of August, in which case it must be insipid and useless. I prefer therefore the more simple Measure of putting an End to it." If a fifth volume was written, it is quite unknown. Under label of Volume VI he resumed his diary as he was leaving France in October, 1794. It was kept during the remaining years of his stay in Europe and after his return home, the last entry being in 1816, the year of his death. Much of the material has been used before, a part of it over a century ago by Jared Sparks, when Morris* widow let him see the journal, "having," as she wrote, "obtained his promise not to put it in any other hands." When a granddaughter, Ann Carey Morris, published the Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris in 1888, the work took the form of a narrative with extensive quotations from the journal, the greater part of the second volume being based upon the entries resumed in October, 1794. Now for the first time is an unexpurgated edition of the Paris Diary, "trans- cribed, translated and annotated," under the able editorship of Morris' great- granddaughter. A clever introduction, lively footnotes and attractive illustrations, add much of interest. She tells us that certain inked-out passages could not be restored, even by infra-red photography, but are probably small loss. The omission of these, and a few details of health are, she assures us, the only curtailments of the original text. The result is much additional detail regarding the men and manners of the first three years of the French Revolution. Whether it be shrewd observations day by day on political changes, Paris salons, London parties or Dutch farming; conversations with Lafayette, Talleyrand or Madame de Stael, the whole is better than the part hitherto available. The entries on the original pages frequently begin "This morning write." An early riser, Morris achieved a prodigious amount with his pen, by way of long letters, often in duplicates and triplicates, financial statements, reports and plans, 280 BOOK REVIEWS April

besides a voluminous diary. Business affairs kept him engaged much of the time in trying to extend the tobacco trade to Americans on better terms, supply wheat to the French market, sell American lands and transfer to private individuals, including himself, the debt of America to France. In addition he had a multiplicity of social contacts, not only in Paris but also in London and elsewhere, that must have been extremely time-consuming. With a reputation for successful constitution making and an aptitude for the French language that was an inheritance from his Huguenot mother, versatile and ready witted, charmingly gracious, yet self-assured, Morris found a ready welcome to the inner circles of French society. That he was little interested in the people, and became more and more convinced that government should not be entrusted to the illiterate and inexperienced, did not endear him less to those whom he met daily. Flattery doubtless increased a< self-confidence that readily found expression in advice to those in high places and in frequent appraisals of men and measures. In the light of a fuller text, mistakes appear more frequently, the prophet more fallible. The French minister to England said in 1790 that "your extraordinary statements always come true," but Miss Davenport concedes that in 1792 "his knack of prophecy is not functioning." Apparently not much interested at first in French politics, he became later surprisingly active in intrigue. When Washington named him Minister to France early in 1792, the nomination was so strongly opposed in the Senate that it was carried by a vote of only 16 to 11. After having received a kind but earnest letter from Washington recounting the criticisms against him for alleged levity of conduct, aristocratic tendencies and unfriendliness to the French Revolution, Morris promised that his "Sense of Integrity" would thereafter enforce "Cir- cumspection of Conduct." Meddling in politics had become so habitual, however, that in the fateful summer of 1792 he was working hard at plans to save the King and the monarchy. The editor herself says, "As minister to post-August France, Morris will be out of tune, out of date." Yet it is doubtful if any other American could have so well represented his country during 1792—94, when he was the only foreign minister who remained in Paris. That the Diary and Letters were so edited as to protect the reputation of a grandfather and save the sensibilities of contemporaries is proven in the present volumes, where certainly no squeamishness is evident. Though the editor tells us we are "prying at keyholes," she must be laughing in her sleeve, in view of the verbal exposure of cynical voluptuousness on the one hand and of fair frailty on the other. It may be true, as she suggests, that Morris confined the almost clinical details of his liaison with Madame de Flahaut to the pages of his journal, but it is perhaps easier to forgive the sins of that menage of four, than the monotonous repetitions of the complacent egoist who hides nothing from himself, his diary or posterity. ANNA LANE LINGELBACH i94o BOOK REVIEWS 28l

Three Americanists: Henry Harrisse, bibliographer; George Brinley, book collector; Thomas Jefferson, librarian. By RANDOLPH G. ADAMS, Director of the William L. Clements Library; Rosenbach Fellow in Bibliography. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1939. 101 p. Illustrated. $1.50.) The three lectures delivered by Dr. Adams in Houston Hall, January 18, February 1, and February 16, 1938, have been brought together, fortunately for bibliographers and students of American history, in this volume under the appropriate title of Three Americanists. The three representatives of certain types of literary endeavor in the United States, such as bibliographical research, book collecting, and librarianship, have been well chosen. The study of Henry Harrisse does ample justice to a man, preeminent in American bibliographical scholarship, whose personal peculiarities did much to deprive him of deserved recognition in his lifetime. Dr. Adams recounts how Harrisse opened up to the learned world the literature relating to America of "the lost century," and how he stimulated a re-examination of the sources, manuscript and printed, touching that neglected period of exploration by European navigators. Few American historical students are aware of the service rendered by this brilliant man, through years of unremitting devotion and toil. A restatement and reappraise- ment of his work was needed, and this Dr. Adams has accomplished. The effort of a successful business man, such as George Brinley was, to provide an attractive recreation for himself by collecting books on American life, and its result in stimulating a widespread appreciation of American literature and history, is most sympathetically presented. No one knows better than Dr. Adams how permanent the effect of the Brinley collection has been upon American bibliography, and American librarianship. Here was a Connecticut collector, following his own native bibliographical instinct, selecting as his field for collecting, not only the older states, but also Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, and, in truth, all the West, when few college and university libraries of that time paid any attention to literature about that region. This collection, especially at the time of its sale, aroused an enthusiasm for acquiring books about all sections of our country that has never declined. Dr. Adams gives us an insight into the methods Brinley used in purchasing his books. Startling it is that this benefactor of American literary life has been so little known in recent years that his name was omitted in the Dictionary of American Biography. George Brinley is an illustrious example of a courageous and enlightened group of wealthy men in the United States who have followed the pursuit of book collecting with keenest pleasure to themselves and with an everlasting profit to the literary institutions of their country. Thomas Jefferson was so many-sided that we are not surprised to find that Dr. Adams styles him a librarian, and writes about him from that point of view. He was gifted with unusually alert and inquisitive faculties, which were accentuated by association with such men in Williamsburg as Dr. William Small, 282 BOOK REVIEWS April

Francis Fauquier, George Wythe, and others, who read books, enjoyed them, and talked about them. Jefferson began his career as a collector and as librarian when a young man. He saved the session laws and journals of the General Assembly of Virginia and preserved the numbers of the Virginia Gazette. He lent his file of the Gazette from 1740 to 1760 to John Daly Burk, who was writing a history of Virginia. Burk was killed in a duel, leaving a small estate. What became of this precious file of the Gazette no one has discovered. Jefferson is discussed as a book buyer, as a book lender, and finally as a book distributor through the dispersal of his library to the Library of Congress and elsewhere. Most impressive is the story of the purchase of Jefferson's library in 1815 by Congress, the details of which are now forgotten. Objections were raised on the floor of the House, because many of the books were in foreign languages, because some authors such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Rabelais, were immoral and atheistical, and because other authors such as John Locke were heretical in their political philosophy. Dr. Adams analyzes the vote of both House and Senate on the question of purchase. The states voting against the purchase were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. Those voting for the purchase were Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Vermont. There were ten graduates of Harvard, and eleven of Yale in Congress; they all voted against the purchase. Four of the five graduates of Dartmouth, the two graduates from Columbia, one from Brown, and one from Rutgers voted against it. Six of nine graduates of Princeton, three of four graduates of University of Pennsylvania, one from Dickinson, William and Mary, and University of North Carolina, voted for it. Dr. Adams is an independent thinker along bibliographical, historical, and library lines, and for that reason will always have attentive and delighted readers. He is aware of the present danger of mechanistic and robot ideals in librarianship, and at opportune times perforates a few bubbles of complacency. His style is coruscating, flashing light into unexpected corners and dark places of research. These lectures by one thoroughly imbued with the highest bibliographical ideals, and with rare experience in one of the foremost libraries, indi- cate a new and commendable trend in the interpretation of literary America. All honor and praise to Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, the founder of this series of lectures; to the University of Pennsylvania; and to the lecturer, for their courage in venturing in this new direction. College of William and Mary in Virginia E. G. SWEM

The Constitutional History of the United States. By HOMER C. HOCKETT. (New York: Macmillan, 1939. 2 vols. xiv, 417; xii, 405 p. $3.00 each.) The tradition of constitutional history in the United States is an honored one. Until recent years, this type of national history was looked upon as embrac- ing the most significant features of American advance. The way in which the great experiment of self-government had developed was a source of much pride and satisfaction and historians shared the popular taste and enthusiasm*. 1940 BOOK REVIEWS 283

Notable American historians from the days of George Bancroft have devoted their best talents to explaining the intricacies of our constitutional dialectic in the various phases of its complex development. Dr. Hockett joins in this noble tradition. This work is planned in a series of volumes of which two have appeared. The first, "The Blessings of Liberty," covers the period 1776-1826, the second, "A More Perfect Union," 1826-1876. In the first volume, the author has been happily inspired to trace American political ideas and institutions to their European, mainly English, sources. Such a plan illuminates the Revolution and the period of constitution-making. He details the character of British liberalism and points out its middle-class character. It was a weapon of the bourgeoisie with which to fight privileged aristocracy; it was not a democratic philosophy. Neither was the American Revolution a democratic enthusiasm. To be sure there were some levelling tendencies, but the responsible man of property was looked upon as the one to be entrusted with a voice in the government. The Constitution was a conservative document and the partisanship which developed over its adoption and construction failed to embrace a real conception of democracy despite Jefferson's individualistic philosophy. The main question was how to create an orderly and potent republic capable of realizing the blessings of liberty. The evolution of these ideas from English experience adjusted to American conditions and the accompanying institutions are carefully analyzed. Emphasis is placed upon political philosophy and the decisions of the Supreme Court, but the main steps in political history are described as well. The second volume naturally is concerned largely with the struggle over the definition of the Union. The growth of the states rights idea as a protection against the tendency toward nationalism which was pushing ahead under the impetus of swiftly increasing population and the new machinery of democracy worked itself out in both philosophy and political maneuvering. When this con- test between the slow and the fast moving sections of society in the United States adopted the vocabulary of the slavery issue with which to battle, the situation became more and more dangerous. The political and legal wisdom of the day was insufficient, neither Calhoun's resolutions, Clay's compromises, Douglas' squatter sovereignty prestidigitation or the pontifical pronouncement of the Supreme Court were sufficiently potent to combat the natural forces which were brewing a civil war. This conflict and the succeeding period of reconstruction ended after terrible prostration of normal constitutional forms and ethics in a more perfect union. This analysis is made with great care and clarity. Some attention is paid to the onward march of social and economic development which conditioned the constitutional evolution; more consideration of this connection would have added to the meaning of the constitutional forms, dialectical argumentation and political maneuvering so carefully described. But constitutional history has been somewhat lifted out of its traditional vacuum and society at length recognized as having a vital influence. University of Pennsylvania ROY F. NICHOLS 284 BOOK REVIEWS April

Historic New Jersey in Pictures. By JAMES F. CAWLEY. (Princeton: Prince- ton University Press, 1939. 96 p. $3.75.) Moving pictures have trained millions to use their eyes. The successful pub- lisher of a tabloid newspaper is well aware of this fact. As yet not all historians have taken advantage of the opportunity which the picture presents not only for purposes of accurate recording but also for human interest illustrating of the text. Mr. Cawley is apparently not only a capable historian but also a student of the history of New Jersey. He has travelled thousands of miles on and off the beaten track and has offered in this attractive volume a fair sampling of one hundred and sixty-eight photographs taken on his trek. What is left of colonial New Jersey lives again in these pictures, many of them artistically made. There are pictures of such well-known places as the barracks at Trenton, the home of Governor Livingston at Elizabeth, Trinity Church at Swedesboro, and the McKonkey Ferry House at Washington's Crossing. However, there are many excellent views of little known inns and taverns, old homesteads, monuments, mines, forges, churches, schools, bridges, and Main Streets. We should like to see specialized volumes of pictures covering small districts. NATHAN G. GOODMAN

Antislavery Origins of the Civil War in the United States. By DWIGHT LOWELL DUMOND. Commonwealth Foundation Lectures, University College, Lon- don, Second Term, 1938-39. (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press; London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1939. vii, 143 p. $2.00.) Professor Dumond's little book is evidence that the pattern of historical interpretation is still changing. After a decade of emphasis upon the economic aspects of the struggle, he reminds us that it was the slavery issue, after all, which broke the union. He doubts that the impulses behind the antislavery crusade were economic, and asserts that the defense of slavery was "of a social system and a system of racial adjustment, not of an economic institution." This volume interprets the antislavery movement more fully and more satisfactorily than it does the origins of the Civil War. Much of its material is already familiar to American readers through the work of Gilbert Hobbs Barnes; the emphasis is upon the Weld-Birney group, almost to the entire neglect of the Garrisonians. Some sections of the work are of unique value; it would be hard to find a better brief discussion of the character of the colonization movement, or a more penetrating analysis of the aims, problems, and techniques of abolition propaganda. Professor Dumond stresses the importance of the attacks upon the abolition- ists' civil rights in bringing them recruits and enlarging their influence. He traces the process by which the abolition leaven worked in the northern consciousness and became a political force of some power. He concedes that the "one-idea platform" of the Liberty Party had to be abandoned in favor of the more moderate program of Congressional exclusion of slavery from the territories 1940 BOOK REVIEWS 285 because it was insufficient to sustain a great political movement. He admits too, that the homestead issue played a vit-*i role in the sectional conflict, but does not seem to feel that the presence of such an ecorvmic issue involves a substantial modification of his central thesis. The moral and religious revulsion of a large part of the North from the South's peculiar institution is found to be the true matrix of the free soil movement, and its penetration of the Republican party is offered as an explanation of the failure of attempts to compromise the sectional struggle on the eve of war. The prime reason for secession, the author believes, was the South's fear that "the antislavery forces would introduce the debate into the South, build up their party there, set non-slaveholder against slaveholder," and bring about abolition by means of state constitutional action. Professor Dumond exposes himself to the charge of having overestimated the extent of direct abolitionist influence by regardihg the free soil movement as nothing more than the extension of the original moral crusade against slavery. His use of the term "abolition" is somewhat sweeping. Thus he speaks of Douglas as having "an abolition technique without an abolition philosophy," and offers a vigorous dissenting opinion to the effect that Lincoln was an outright abolitionist, who went to Washington with war against the South as a determined policy. Such criticisms, however fundamental they may be, are less important than the fact that fresh impetus has been given by this stimulating work to the study of the abolition movement. The time has come to integrate new points of view on the abolitionist movement into the general picture of American history in the antebellum era. Brooklyn College RICHARD HOFSTADTER

Iron Brew. By STEWART H. HOLBROOK. (New York: The Macmillan Com- pany, 1939. 352 p. $2.50.) Iron Brew, by the author of Holy Old Mackinmv, is a popular and anecdotal story of certain aspects of the growth of the iron and steel industry in the United States. A large part of the book, and by far the best part of it, treats the development of the ore regions of the Lake Superior district. While the story of the ex- ploitation of these vast deposits is not complete in any way, the narratives of the discovery of Marquette and other ores, the rise of mining towns, the problems of creating a civilization in a wilderness, the mingling of races, the technology of mining, mine disasters and superstitions, serious labor disputes and strikes, and the development of transportation on the Great Lakes, are presented in a vivid and entertaining manner. The second part of the book treats "Steel." It begins with the experiments of William Kelly in the backwoods of Kentucky about the middle of the nineteenth century. Kelly hit upon the same idea as Bessemer in producing steel by forcing through molten ;ron a stream of cold air in order to burn out the carbon and other impurities; but Kelly was not as successful as Bessemer in capitalizing on his discovery. In the following chapters the author gives brief glimpses into the Pittsburgh steel region, the Homestead Strike, labor troubles in the Chicago 286 BOOK REVIEWS April area, the United States Steel Corporation, the "Steel Barons," and the surpris- ing developments of recent years in regard to labor organization in the steel industry. The chief merit of the book is found in its atmosphere. The author is an artist who can create color and can indeed present dry facts in a most dramatic and interesting way. This is often accomplished through journalistic flourishes and climaxes, as well as through vivid description. It is to be regretted that most scientific historians do not possess a similar type of skill in presenting the results of careful research. The method of research used by the author has been to some extent that of interview: "A great deal of this book came out of the memories of veteran iron miners and steelworkers, many of them dating from the time of Captain Tom Walters and even Captain Bill Jones, both celebrated men in their respective lines. ... I talked to these old-timers in deep holes, in mine dryhouses, in front of open-hearth furnaces and Bessemer converters, on Great Lake boats and ore docks, and in the homes of many who had been retired by age." The bibliography presented is a scant one and raises the question as to why important secondary books like J. M. Swank, Iron in All Ages, LaVerne W. Spring, Non-Technical Chats on Iron and Steel, and many others were not included. It is unfortunate that the historical section of the first chapter of the book appeared at all. Under the heading, "A Bessemer Blows at Aliquippa," a few pages are devoted to the early history of the iron industry in America. This introduction shows a lack of knowledge of facts and also haste in putting the materials together. As a result, the brief sketch contains many errors. For example, to mention one, the early "ironworks" erected in Virginia did not operate for three years because they were destroyed by the Indians during the terrible massacre, a very short time after the fires were lit in 1622 (p. 8). The records of the Vir- ginia Company which contain the details are available in printed form in most large libraries. In these introductory pages of Iron Brew the author constantly confuses the terms "furnace" and "forge." The book contains a good index and the format is excellent. In many ways the work is a contribution to the history of the iron and steel industry in the United States. University of Pennsylvania ARTHUR C. BINING

The Baltimore and Ohio in The Civil War. By FESTUS P. SUMMERS. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1939. xii, 304 p. Illustrated. Maps.) This book is a sober narrative of the leapfrog the boys in blue and the boys in gray played over the suffering form of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Pro- fessor Summers begins with a scholarly account of the economic and political history of the road to 1861. He closes with a good chapter on the formation of West Virginia and another mistakenly called "Influence on National Railroad Policy" —influence, that is, of the experiences of the B. & O. in the Civil War. Between are five chapters neatly summarized by the titles of two of them: "The Con- federates Attack," and "The Federals Defend." 1940 BOOK REVIEWS 287

This is military not economic history. Professor Summers says in his Preface: "This book belongs to the history of the Civil War rather than to the history of transportation." As such, if it were written with more imagery it might have been more interesting; at best it remains a painstaking inquiry into facts of no general importance. The Civil War has little to say to military strategists today. Even that little Professor Summers avoids, drawing no general con- clusions from his array of military information. At the start of the Civil War, says Professor Summers, "three-fourths of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lay on Virginia soil." That soil was so located that the road was as vulnerable strategically as it was politically. Military depredations upon it—especially upon the Washington Branch that gave the B. & O. sole access to the capital by rail—inspired Congressional attacks upon its monopoly. These were fought with more spirit than the road itself was de- fended. Between the war in Congress, then, and the war in Virginia, the Balti- more and Ohio from 1861 to 1865 had an exciting career. What influence did this have on "national railroad policy" ? It is difficult to answer from the chapter nominally devoted to this question. Here Professor Summers tells of the efforts of different interests to get federal charters for competing roads. He tells of the "darkest dreams of the railway owners," when in January, 1862, "a measure [soon passed] providing for government operation of railroads, was introduced in the Senate." He writes: "When the Civil War ended in April, 1865, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad still held a monopoly on travel to the capital of the nation. It had successfully opposed the schemes of other railroads to encroach upon its territory; it had held high the right of private operation in a period when government control threatened; and, despite strained capacity of its Washington Branch, it had exerted strong influence on the makers of national railroad policy. ..." What this influence was he does not say. Again Professor Summers writes: "In the larger field of government policy the road was a determining factor in situations which more directly affected public interest." This sentence introduces a section devoted to the value of the road: (1) in defending Washington, (2) in cajoling public opinion in pro-southern Baltimore, (3) "in the pacification of Maryland," (4) in restraining secession in western Virginia. These refer only to politics and war. What have they to do with "national railroad policy" ? Professor Summers offers many interesting obiter dicta. But without support they are unconvincing. Professor Summers called his last book "A Study in Individualism." This one might have been called a study in private enterprise. Certainly there is here high praise for the energetic administration of war-president John W. Gannett of the Baltimore and Ohio. But Professor Summers makes no comparison between that administration and the operation of roads by the government. Edwin A. Pratt (The Rise of Rail Power in War and Conquest, 1833-IQ14) notes that the government, under the act of January, 1862, took over 2,105 miles of railroad during the Civil War. Professor Summers does not mention this. Pratt says that many of the roads taken over by the government "were in so defective a condition that it was imperatively necessary to relay them.... In still other instances, 288 BOOK REVIEWS April lines which, though begun, were not finished, had to be completed; in others new lines had to be constructed throughout or extensive sidings provided; so that/1 he concludes, " ... we see that it was not then simply a question of the Federal Government taking possession of and operating an existing complete and efficient system of railways." Professor Summers does not mention this. When the bill for government operation was introduced in the Senate in January, 1862, Pearce of Maryland ''immediately attacked" it. He ''stated his objections . . . in summary form. He prophesied that the assumption of government control over existing lines, then in excellent condition, would result in a loss of efficiency in operation; he foresaw trouble for the government when it attempted to handle the complex financial arrangements of the railroad companies." Professor Sum- mers does not discuss the truth or falsity of these prophecies. He does state that the Baltimore and Ohio was placed "under War Department control on May 25, 1862 . . . with the tacit understanding that the road would be permitted to operate as a private line as long as it satisfactorily met the demands of the government. . . . The presumption is strong," he continues, "that this change of status gave new verve to the company's loyalty, certainly to its efficiency; its desire to retain control of its lines goes far to explain its unvarying support of the Union and cooperation thereafter in the conduct of the war." Professor Sum- mers lists the achievements of the management of the Baltimore and Ohio. Among these we have noted: "... It had held high the right to private operation in a period when government control threatened " Professor Summers notes the presence of competition with the B. & O. during and before the Civil War. But when he quotes income statistics, he makes no comparisons with the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Erie or the New York Central. In a footnote to the "iniquitous and burdensome" charges of the monopolistic Washington Branch, he gives its freight and passenger rates but offers no comparison with those of other parts of the Baltimore and Ohio or any other line. The war experiences of the B. & O. in some respects were similar to those of the Louisville and Nashville. The latter is barely mentioned by Professor Summers and in his "much abbreviated" bibliography, he omits R. S. Cotterill's article on its career, 1861-1865 {American Historical Review, 1924, v. 29). He mentions now and again the great cost of war damage to the road. Did this fall upon insurance companies or upon the road itself ? The answer to this is not in the book. Professor Summers has corralled his material with care, mainly from original sources. These are noted, with secondary works, in a selective list at the end of the book as well as in footnotes to the chapters. Military historians may find interest in the book. Political historians will be enlightened by the chapter on West Virginia. Those concerned with the general question of the impact of war on economic organization will be disappointed. There is nothing here about labor, technology, or finance in relation to war and transportation. Even the simple development of the commutation ticket, noted by Hungerford as a product of the war, gets no attention from Professor Summers. University of Pennsylvania WILLIAM MILLER i94o BOOK REVIEWS 289

Revolution in Land. By CHARLES ABRAMS. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1939. xiv, 320 p. $3.00.) The traditional, or qualitative, type of historical narrative records the kind of events that have happened, but neither tries to give them any definite statistical weightings, nor to predict any future direction. A new approach has been growing up during the last decade, however, that might, by way of contrast be called the quantitative style. The writers of this latter school, probably more interested in the future than the past, use the historical technique to weigh and analyze events chiefly for the purpose of establishing trends. Such an approach has been encouraged by the amassing of great quantities of government statistics, par- ticularly from President Hoover's time on, and much of the writing has been done by men directly connected with the government services. The sorry plight of land owners, rural or urban, has led Charles Abrams, Consultant to the United States Housing Authority, to bring the new type of historical analysis to bear upon their problems in a book of first-rate importance. The isolated facts that lie back of the "revolution in land" are fairly well known, but their cumulative or quantitative significance comes as a distinct shock. For example: "The conclusion that land ownership has gradually faded out of the picture as a definite controlling force, shaping the currents of economic history may seem far fetched to some. Yet the facts seem to leave little room for any other conclusion/' Only "scarce" factors are powerful in our economy, and land is ceasing to be scarce. What with increasing agricultural productivity, a nearly stationary population, and slowly decentralizing industry there is reason to sup- pose that most acreage will ultimately lose all scarcity value. Even strategically situated urban property may succumb to the suburban drift of both industry and population, and the nearer suburbs in turn will lose their special values with im- proved transportation. Looking some distance into the future, Abrams remarks: "If in the end we conclude that the nationalization of land is probably approach- ing, the outlook must arouse a certain sardonic amusement when we see that this policy, advocated by Henry George because of the excess profits from land, is likely to be adopted for the opposite reason that land today yields excess losses." Among the problems common alike to city lots, and country farms are mortgages and taxes. Industrial society has necessitated larger and larger governmental expenditures for schooling and public welfare, yet industry itself has been able to shift most of the burden onto the land. The collection of state and local personal property taxes is notoriously farcical, while there is practically no way of dodging real estate levies. The result is that land which constitutes only about a third of the national wealth bears most of the burden of local taxation. Nor is the state income tax altogether a panacea, as the income from land must pay this tax also; although from the landowner's point of view even this double taxation is preferable to bearing the whole burden alone. Mortgages are necessarily based on the expectation of either stability or in- crease in the value of land, yet as noted above, just the opposite trend is predicted for the future. Fixed mortgage interest, rising taxes, and a declining market tend to make urban real estate equities into liabilities too expensive to hold during 29O BOOK REVIEWS April the downswings of the business cycle. With over half the new HOLC mortgages defaulted or foreclosed by June of 1938, the Federal government is willy nilly becoming a great property owner. The usual method of "purchase of a home is a form of installment buying, but with a viciousness multiplied many times; for installment buying of articles like furniture, radios, and automobiles repre- sents an investment in the hundreds, but buying a home now means an obligation running into the thousands, an obligation spread over a long term, and almost certain to go into default on the downswing of the cycle." Furthermore the bad organization of the construction industry places the minimum cost of a new home beyond the means of the average citizen, so that he must either get on with inadequate housing, or else assume an obligation that he can't expect to meet save by unusual good luck. Nor is the danger of overcommitment and consequent loss of equity in any way confined to urban property. The same problem is if anything accentuated on the farms by the revolutionary changes taking place in agricultural technology. Abrams estimates that the small wheat farmer is already doomed by conditions that make 5,000 acres the optimum sized farm, and a large investment in machinery absolutely essential. To place his operations on any such scale the ordinary farmer must raise money by mortgages, yet once he assumes this burden of fixed charges, the fluctuations of the market, and the narrow margin of profit, at best, spell ultimate default and foreclosure. The corrective measures suggested in the last section of the book involve alterations of governmental procedure probably too fundamental to be achieved in any brief period, yet there is virtue in any specific program for dealing with so vast a mal-adjustment. Abrams proposes the establishment of regional land authorities with power to acquire land, through eminent domain if necessary, and to lease it to farmers under proper regulation as to kind and quantity of crops. The authorities would exercise similar powers in urban areas, establishing zoning ordinances to govern utilization. But in all possible cases actual operation would be left in the hands of private purchasers or lessees. If eminent domain seems too dictatorial in such matters we must remember that according to his predictions the Government will soon have quite a start in land acquistion through the necessary foreclosure of their mortgages on forty per cent of the rural and fifteen per cent of the urban property of the country. He further suggests a rather drastic series of reforms in governmental practices: the activities of life insurance companies and other credit pools should be regulated by an agency similar to the SEC; real estate equities should be insurable; taxes on real property should be based on real income; and all taxes should be initially col- lected by the Federal Government, with the proceeds assignable to the states on the basis of their needs. Some of these dire predictions, and heroic remedies may arise from an overly pessimistic view of the situation, but the long run trends on which they are based seem indisputable. We have a land problem more baffling than that of any other country, because it is a problem of abundance rather than scarcity, and we are not conditioned to deal with such problems. So far the Government has simply I94O BOOK REVIEWS 291

refused to face any long run solution, and has gone on bolstering up the situation from year to year. But, as the author warns us, such a policy may be more dangerous than positive action. "Will protest not come to seem increasingly logical with the passing years? Will the clamor for extreme modifications not grow in intensity, and the tide of change rise, until not only the old world of entrenched privilege but the democratic system itself is finally submerged ? And with its passing, will not a supreme opportunity for the development of a new way of life, organized effectively yet essentially free in spirit, be lost, perhaps forever?" New York University THOMAS C. COCHRAN

Jedidiah Morse: A Champion of New England Orthodoxy. By JAMES KING MORSE. Columbia Studies in American Culture, No. 2. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1939. ix, 180 p. $2.50.) The decade of the nineteen thirties had its shortcomings, but in its contribu- tions to the history of American culture it has no peer. This biography of Jedidiah Morse is a welcome addition to American church history for the period 1783 to 1819, the years in which Morse was a valiant champion of Trinitarianism in New England. Jedidiah was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, of an influential family. Woodstock's famed historian, the late Dr. Clarence W. Bowen, says that the elder Morse "held about all the offices in the town that he could lawfully hold, and was deacon of the First Church for 43 years." At the age of eighteen in 1779, young Jedidiah entered Yale College and through his father had received from Governor Trumbull exemption from military duty. His college career was distinguished by piety in an age well known for its infidelity. In a letter to his parents dated November 28, 1779, he wrote: "I stand in great need of them [the prayers of his parents] amidst thousands of temptations, where scarcely anything is to be heard, but cursing and swearing and taking God's name in vain. There are some in our class which use such language in all their discourse. I desire therefore, that you would intercede at the throne of Grace for me, that God would lead and direct me in the path of life and keep me from all temptations to sin. So I conclude, subscribing myself your dutiful and obedient son.'1 (pp. 19-20) He remained among the happy few at Yale who did not bow the knee to Baal (p. 22) and appropriately wrote in a letter of April 11, 1784, to his parents: "You are by this time assured, I hope, that I am determined to spend my life, my abilities and my all in the glorious Cause of the King of Kings." (P. 25) "While pursuing his theological studies, Morse also engaged in teaching a school of young girls in New Haven. It was during this time that he realized the need for more adequate geographical information relating to this country. As a result he gathered all the information he could and compiled it in the form of lectures to his school. Other schools felt the need of similar information so that Morse was led to publish his lectures in 1784, entitling them: Geography 292 BOOK REVIEWS April

Made Easy, This was the first geography to appear in America and its author has often been called 'The Father of American Geography.' So enthusiastic was the reception of this work that Morse was inspired during the rest of his career to devote a great deal of his time and energy to future revisions and similar works. The success of his geographical pursuits was destined to have a very significant part in his theological controversies. It opened the way to his accep- tance by the educated, cultured, and often liberal groups in New England. His correspondence and contacts brought him intimate relations with a number of influential scholars both in this country and abroad. His numerous journeys in quest of information gave him a firsthand knowledge of the sentiments of the nation. Undoubtedly his successful geographical labors set for him a practical course of action rather than a speculative course of theological musing." (p. 26) After tutoring at Yale, being ordained, making a trip to Georgia, preaching in various places, marrying a granddaughter of the President of Princeton, the Rev. Mr. Morse became pastor of the First Church in Charlestown, Massachu- setts, in 1789. The first Sunday after his installation he preached a sermon on the text: "For I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him Crucified." (pp. 42-43) This set the keynote of his ministry: the promotion of revivalistic religion. Since the upper class Bostonian clergy were strongly inclined toward Unitarianism, Morse's evangelical religion was not appreciated by them. "All expressions of this type of religion were associated with the illiterate, itinerant preachers and the New Light extravagances." (p. 45) In a letter dated February 7, 1791, he wrote sadly that he stood "solitary among my brethren in the public defense of this doctrine [the Trinity]." H