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 5 go Reviezvs of Books recognized code of procedure ; at forty, voted a gold medal by Congress, at forty-one, a vice-admiral in the navy of an empire ; at forty-three a prominent figure in the overture of that tremendous drama, the French Revolution — and dead at forty-five. ' ' In acting as the biographer of a man whose career runs such a gamut Mr. Buell has not been able to conceal or hold in check his admiration for this distinguished naval officer and he speaks for Jones as though he had the knowledge of all the reasons and impulses that governed or in- fluenced him in most of his acts and on many of which Jones himself is silent. This is a most natural consequence in biographical writing, but the determination with which they are expressed warrants a clearer state- ment of the facts on which they are founded. The title to the work, Paul Jones, Founder of the American Navy, is open to criticism. In what sense was Paul Jones the founder of the American navy? To be sure at the request of his most intimate friend, Joseph Hewesof the Continental Congress, a member of the Naval Com- mittee of June 14, 1775, he was invited to express his views on the kind of ships necessary for the first squadron to be placed in commission by the United Colonies, and later at the request of this committee, and largely through the influence of Mr. Hewes, he labored diligently, examin- ing vessels, supervising alterations and determining armament, and his labors no doubt were of the greatest aid in getting this hurriedly equipped squadron to sea. He never held any active official position in relation to the navy until the middle of December, 1775, when he was commis- sioned a first lieutenant, the sixth on the list of commissioned officers. If he had been regarded at the time as the one to whom, more than any one else, was due the credit of organizing this squadron, would he not in consequence thereof have been entrusted with its command or would he not have been honored with a higher rank? At any rate if to Jones is to be given the title of " Founder of the American Navy " it must rest upon a more substantial foundation than the title-page to a book, and the ab- sence of foot-notes in' the first six chapters leaves the reader in the dark re- garding the authorities on which the author relies to substantiate this claim. Mr. Buell handles with rare delicacy and tenderness that portion of his private life which is open to criticism and his conclusions seem war- ranted by the little that is known of the actual relation between him and Aimee de Telison. Much would have been added to the value of his work if the author could have pursued his researches to the extent of locating the burial place of this naval hero. The two volumes are writ- ten in a style that commands interest and which is sustained until the end. Edward Field. American History told by Contemporaries. Edited by Albert BusHNELL Hart, Professor of History in Harvard University. Vol. HI. National Expansion, 1783-1845. (New York: The Macmillan Co. 1901. Pp. xx, 668.) One of Dr. Hart's pieces is Sydney Smith's well-known diatribe in the Edinburgh Revieiv, in which he asks the famous question as to who