New-York tribune., 1907-04-24
Literary .Nese'.s and Criticism.

looks the fact that the Ouakers never. from the
hfst' formed the whole Of the population Of
pennsylvania. Dr.. Isaac Sharpless. in his
]uakeFism and Politics. gives 10000 as the
maximum number of Quakers at any time in
pennsylvania and the political and religious
equaNty extended to all elements in the popula-,
uoh makes il impossible to hold the Quakers re-
spohslole Tor all the shortcomings in the colony.
win the character of William Penn, AIr
Doyle has as little sympathy as he has with the
Quakers generally. His criticism is two-sided.
even contradictory. on the one hand he con-
oeihns him for lack of precision and for always
PreIerrlng the spirit to the letter, whether in a
constitution or IN his instructions to his dep
utles and colonists. On the other, ne condemns
the constitution Penn drew up for its too great
compleXity and detail, and for many elaborate
provisions which he shows TO have been un-
workable. Yet he can see no merit in Penn's
Willingness 10 accept changes and amendments
from the colonists who were to live under the
constitution. and he severely criticises Penn's
plea that it is not the form of government that
makes its excellence, but the spirit in which 1t
is worked. Mr.. Doyle somewhat sententiousIy
and irrelevantly remarks that Penn wholly
overlooks the fact that neither men nor gov
ernments are divided by a hard and fast line
INTO good and bad; he assumes that the individ-
ual and the state are each in a fixed condition
forgetting that in each at its best there are
evil tendencies which act and react on one
another" 1t would be hard for Mr. Doyle to
prove any such oversight on the part of Penn
Does he want his readers to understand that
there is no distinction between good and bad
government because evil tendencies may be
present even IN the best?
Mr.. Doyle's work is careful and scholarly. He
gives ample authority in his footnotes for the
Of
subjects these volumes cannot fail to appeal to
a large circle Of American readers. AS a writer
OF history however, Mr.. Doyle is not without
defects. His style is lacking in finish and fire.
quently in grammatical accuracy. The method Of
presenting his subject-colony by colony-entalls
much repetition, and he has not the art Of MAX
ing story sef-contained. To follow UNDER
standingly the history of New York. his reader
is expected to keep in mind the whole of the
previous volumes New England. and to
understand all illusions to PERSONS and incidents
described in them. AS has already been noted
Mr. Doyle also shows an inability TO understand
or to deal fairly with men whose standpoint diff
fers widely from his own. Again and again he
shows plainly that he regards the history Of the
English colonies in America from the point of
view Of an Englishman and an outsider and
that his idea of what might have been preferable
in their development by no means comedies with
the ideas ordinarily held by patriotic Americans
as, for instance. when he regrets the failure of
the British government TO unity the colonies
under one established episcopal church What
most interferes with the readers enjoyment of
the book is the authors habit Of telling what
ought TO have been done in all emergencies, in
stead Of what actually done Hindsight may
be better than foresight but IN many cases the
alternative conduct So strongly insisted upon by
Mr.. Doyle preferable TO the course adopted |
by governors, military commanders and colo |
nists only preserves an appearance of wisdom |
because # was never put TO the test. Ono can /
hardly find any cause for regret in the fact that
Mr.. Doyle was not at hand 10 advise, the colo
MES in every crisis Of their existence and devel-
opment. As a writer. he is at his best in the
chapter on the Colonization of Georgia Here
the story flows freely. continuously. and with |
sustained interest, and no character in all Mr. |
Doyles history Is more alive and human than |
James Oglethorpe whom he honors as tile |
founder Of modern philanthropy"
The value Of the volume on the Middle Colo |
MES would have been enhanced by a good map |
Of New York and another of New Jersey Penn |
sylvania and Delaware. The footnotes are full |
but this does not quite compensate for the alb |
sence of a bibiography, or list of sources and !
authorities. The worst defect I'm makeup as |
distinct from the actual writing of the volumes |
IS the poor and insufficient index.
-S