Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/158

 148 Revieivs of Books duty " to defend and maintain it." Then came the period when mihtary power dominated the situation and in Boston at least, pamphlets and newspapers opposed to the crown were arbitrarily suppressed. The state constitution asserted that liberty of the press was essential to the security of freedom in the state and therefore ought not to be restrained. Unrestricted but undefined freedom of the press then be- came part of the organic law of Massachusetts. The author closes his exposition of the subject with a discussion of the law of libel in the state of Massachusetts from the adoption of the constitution to the present time. An appendix is annexed to the volume containing copies of docu- ments illustrative of the subject discussed. A second appendix has a valuable note on sources and a full list of the secondary authorities which are cited. A carefully prepared index closes the volume, which forms a valuable addition to the Harvard Historical Studies series in which it is published, and of which it forms the twelfth volume. Andrew McFarland Davis. Quakerism and Politics: Essays. By Isaac Sharpless, LL.D. (Philadelphia: Ferris and Leach. 1905. Pp. 224.) This modest volume comprises nine essays or addresses chiefly his- torical in character. The majority of these relate to features of early Pennsylvania history not usually emphasized, as the following enumera- tion of some of the titles will reveal : " A Government of Idealists ", " The Friend in Politics ", " A Colonial Peace Controversy ", " How the Friends Freed their Slaves ", " The Welsh Settlers of Haverford ". Two treat of subsequent periods in the history of the state; the one entitled " The Causes of Pennsylvania's Ills " was first published in the Atlantic Monthly as a reply to an earlier article on "The Ills of Penn- sylvania ", which had attracted considerable attention, in part by reason of its attributing the political ills of the state to the non-militant habits impressed upon it by its Quaker founders ; the other upon " The Im- provement of Pennsylvania Politics " presents a picture of political de- pravity during the years immediately following the Revolution. The two remaining papers, treating of " The Friends' Meeting " and " The Basis of Quaker Morality ", may be regarded as a presentation and justification of Quaker theory and practice. "As a whole", the author informs us, these essays " are intended to show that the foundation principles of the colony, on which it greatly prospered, — liberty, peace, justice to Indians and negroes, simplicity and fidelity in government — were logical outgrowths of the Quaker habit of mind and doctrine ". The papers relating to the early history of Pennsylvania, in the main, are non-controversial in tone and present a frank and truthful view of the part the Friends played in the politics of the colony. The author in- dicates how a great Quaker political machine was built up during the eighteenth century, and how effective it was in keeping control of the