Page:English Historical Review Volume 35.djvu/147

 1920 REVIEWS OF BOOKS 139 The Autobiography of Phineas Pett. Edited by W. G. Perrin. (Navy Records Society, 1918.) The original manuscript of this autobiography is now in the British Museum (Add. MS. 9298). It has hitherto been most generally known from a bad transcript (Harleian MS. 6279), and it is an advantage to have a full and correct version of it edited by an expert naval historian. The introduction, besides an account of Pett's family, contains a full account of the shipwrights of the royal navy, the development of shipbuilding, and the office of master shipwright. There is also some account of the attempt to form a corporation of shipbuilders, and the charters to the shipwrights' company granted in 1605 and 1612 are printed in the appendix. The volume is, therefore, a contribution to economic as well as to naval history. Phineas Pett was concerned in building or rebuilding some nineteen ships, including those two famous vessels the Prince Royal and the Sovereign of the Seas. There is a detailed description of the launching of the first in 1610, and Prince Henry's traditional interest in naval affairs is illus- trated by a number of instances. To ' the death of that ever renowned branch, Prince Henry my royal and most indulgent master ', Pett traces ' ray ensuing misfortunes, and the utter downfall of all my former hopes ' (p. 100). The autobiography is full of disputes about technical questions of shipbuilding at issue between Pett and other designers, and it relates several inquiries into the administration of the navy. The author con- tinually complains of the plots of his malicious enemies, but it is clear that one source of his troubles was too large a view of his due perquisites (p. Ixxxix), and that some of the attacks were legitimate controversies about technical questions of naval architecture. Pett was to a certain extent an innovator ; he introduced modifications into the methods followed by older shipwrights and made new experiments. The editor's verdict is : 'It is probable that he was slightly in advance of his contem- poraries in the profession of shipbuilding, but not to the extent commonly supposed ' (p. civ). The elaborate inquiry into the building of the Prince Royal is illuminating ; the result was in favour of Pett as a designer, but it was clearly shown that while Pett was right as a designer, his opponents were justified in criticizing him for using bad and unsuitable materials and for too lavish expenditure. In the end James took the case into his own hand. According to Colonel Perrin he ' seems to have conducted the inqmry with moderation and skill, and if he had remained content with weighing the evidence, and had not attempted to decide some of the technical points in dispute himself, his decisions might have received universal acceptance ' (p. Ixxxi). The same failure to recognize the limitations of his own knowledge nullified the real acuteness of James when he endeavoured to decide constitutional or theological questions. As an autobiography, apart from its historical value, Pett's account of his own life is rather an apology than a confession. ' It seems to have been written ', says the editor, ' in order to convey a favourable impression to the reader, and explain away doubtful deeds, rather than as a real revelation of self.' But in one way he resembled Pepys. ' I was contented ',