The San Francisco call., 1904-03-06

power SO tnat the least should be great
est, irrespective of its effect. the pc
culiar system Of land tenure - these
were the ills brought on by the Qua ker
principles Of William Penn. according
to Buel
He accomplished nothing" says the
author in reference to PENIS second
residence in Pennsylvania, except to
demonstrate further - had further
demonstration been needed-the futility
of trying to adapt the doctrines OF John
Saltmarsh to the problems of popular
government He found that. no
matter how beautiful his theories of
universal toleration and unrestricted
suffrage. he practicall-- had 10 deal with
an .Esta blished Church in fact if not in
name. The Established
Quakerism OF Pennsylvania was in the
air. spiritual. elusive TO the sight, i'm
palpable TO the touch and irresponsible
to itself or anybody else: but still an
establishment. capable of thwarting
everything, though incapable of Gre
ating anything"
throughout the whole of his biog-
raphy, even in those parts wherein
Penn does not appear in the uncouded
glory which beats about the throne of
greatness. Mr.. Buell. sustains, above all
else. the quality of honesty, cardinal in
a biographer. His effort has been to
show william Penn the man only
through the works of William Penn
the founder of new empire and ruler of
men. His biography is more historical
than intimately personal IT is every
where well written and of an absorb
ing interest.
Cd. Appleton & Co., New York; price,
81 25.D
OF a far different sort of man than
William Penn, the gentle Quaker, does
Harriet Cooper have to write in her
biography of James Oglethorpe, found
er and first Governor of the royal col
ony of Georgia. Each builder of the
new empire across seas, each an or
ganizer. legislator and executive Of
rare ability, the supreme difference be-
tween the two lay in this: Penn, the
man of peace, had the desire for push
ing back the frontier softened by the
gentleness Of religion; Oglethorpe, the
warrior, was ever ready to carve out
a larger destiny for his colony by the
sword blade
This biography, one of the Appletons
Historic Lives Series, is not so pre-
tentious as the work mentioned in the
foregoing; this partly because of the
purposely elemental nature Of all the
works in this series and partly on
account of the necessary restrictions
placed upon the scope of the work by
the comparative meagerness of original
sources. With no detraction from the
credit due the author. be it said that
her work Is more compilation from
and condensation of all authorities
than the attempt at any original re-
search. Here again the character of
the Historic Lives Series-designed as
ii is to give first gIimpses at little
known haracters-prohibits in a large
measure any deeper treatment
One Of the most interesting passa ges
in the authors book is that describing
the conception of the Georgian project
in the mind of Oglethorpe and the car
rying into execution by himself and
others of the scheme of philanthropy
Of which was born the new colony 1t
is a fault which should be remedied
that the first impression of Georgia
colony gained by young America from
his school history is that Of a penal
settlement, an early Botany Bay, in
fact, where dangerous criminals from
the purlieus of London were shipped in
chains. The biographer clearly points
out in her opening chapters the fact
that OglethorDe's design for the coloni-
zation Of Georgia was purely a phil
anthropic measure far in advance Of
the humanitarian thought of the time.
and directed solely to the betterment
OF those unfOrtunateS imprisoned for
debt No convicts or desperate char
acters were allowed to embark for
Georgia. The colonization was open not
only to the debt-ridden English, but TO
the prosecuted Protestants Of Europe.
The hardshiDs of the first settlers at
Savannah, the incursions of the In
dians. wars with the Spaniards. the
mutterings of a new stirring of liberty
and the final overthrow of the royal
government-these scenes, in which
Oglethorpe played an active part, are
detailed clearly and completely by the
author When she has completed her
work the result is a brief, correct and
lively account of the part one man
played in laying the foundation of the
republic.
Cd. Appleton & Co.; price 81