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Book Reviews

subject. Anyone who loves the grandeur of old houses or reads of the
gracious manner of living in the nineteenth century will feel a kinship
with i t all after a careful reading of this book. Those of us who look
with pride at our architectural heritage will read and reread it as we
have the wonderful books on the architecture of our early colonies.
Perhaps i t will help those over the state who a r e interested in preservation and restoration find a use for the remaining structures.

Indianapolis, Indiana

Edward D. James

The Canadian Identity. By W. L. Morton. (Madison: University of


Wisconsin Press, 1961. Pp. ix, 125. Map, notes, index. Clothbound, $3.50; paperbound, $1.60.)
The publications of W. L. Morton, former president of the Canadian
Historical Association, range from books and articles based upon exhaustive research to fresh, interpretive essays which develop a redefinition of familiar material. The four chapters which comprise The
Canadian Identity fall into the latter category. Despite the hazards
of historical synthesis, Professor Morton performs the task exceedingly
well. His high literary talent provides the reader with historical background to a peculiarly Canadian experience in clear-cut, direct statements.
Some of the best sections in the volume are presented in a refreshing compression of monographic detail into a brief but vigorous
review of Canadian history. In the first essay, for example, the author
considers the territorial evolution of Canada from the end of the fifteenth century to the 1846 boundary settlement between the United
States and the British Northwest Territory. At this point the author
endeavors to state the case early for Canadas northern destiny
(p. 4). Actually, the attempt is premature. The idea, however, is a
good one, and this major theme emerges at more acceptable times in the
succeeding chapters.
Clearly Professor Morton is not aiming at a re-interpretation of
Canadian history. His primary emphasis is on indicating a future course
for Canadians of all crafts and callings within the framework of
Canadas unique experience as a Commonwealth nation, on the limitations of Commonwealth unity, and on the frictions between Canada
and the United States as they have developed since 1941. These are
large problems. But the author believes that the key to Commonwealth
association can be realized in Burkes ideal of ties light as silk, but
strong as links of steel, mutual respect, mutual tolerance, co-operation
where co-operation is possible, understanding where it is not (p. 57).
On the question of Canadian-American discord, Professor Mortons
restraint f a r outweighs his criticism. Eschewing emotionalism, he
perceives clearly that what Canada fears is not the old America, but
America in its new role of world power (p. 84). To this reviewer,
the irritability of Canadians with American foreign policy has, in
this case, exaggerated the fear. But it encourages the author to propose
a simple formula: It is part of Canadas destiny to be a n independent
nation in America (p. 83).

168

Indiana Magazine of History

This book marks a daring departure for the author outside the
field of technical historical writing. Nevertheless, these essays-of
which the first three were delivered a s lectures at the University of
Wisconsin and the fourth as a presidential address to the Canadian
Historical Association-are a s comprehensive in scope as they a r e perceptive in conclusions. The dimension of the narrative should not
frighten the general American reader; for a n insider in Canadian
history, Professor Morton presents his material judiciously.
University of California, Santa Barbara

Felice A. Bonadio

Saints and Sectaries :Anne Hutchinson and the Antinomian Controversy


in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. By Emery Battis. (Chapel Hill:
The University of North Carolina Press, for the Institute of Early
American History and Culture at Williamsburg, Va., 1962. Pp. xv,
379. End maps, illustrations, notes, appendixes, bibliography, index.
$7.50.)
Professor Battis introduces Anne Hutchinson to the reader at the
time of her arrival at Boston from England. Then, using the flashback technique, he discusses her formative years, her marriage, and
her early religious views. What follows is a detailed account of the
role she played in Massachusetts, an account which covers the years
1634 to 1638 and which builds to a climax when she was excommunicated
and banished. A brief reference is made to her removal to Rhode
Island and from thence to Long Island where in 1643 she was tomahawked by the Indians. The last portion of the book contains a
sociological study of the background and conduct of the Hutchinsonians.
I n the concluding chapter the author comments about the impact of
the Antinomian controversy upon the Bay Colony.
Since much has been written already, why did the author attempt
to replow the same historical ground? He was striving for a new and
imaginative approach to this topic and, by applying the methods used
by scholars in the behavioral sciences, he was probing for deeper insights into the complexities of the Antinomian controversy. By a study of
the sociological implications and by a quantitative analysis of the population, he proves that the followers of Anne were not riff-raff but persons
of good political and socio-economic standing. He believes that her
religious views and actions were not the result of normal impulses but
were a n outgrowth of complex emotional pressures and psychological
factors. He does not believe that she was consciously promoting religious
freedom but was merely upholding her own independent views. Individualism and nonconformity, however, could not be tolerated by the
oligarchical leaders ; and, to them, divergent opinions were dangerously
heretical and seditious. Controversy might destroy their church and
state, their way of life. This was not an age of tolerance; there could
be no compromising. Nonconformists must either conform or leave.
The orthodox Puritans held fast, and their Zion in the Wilderness
was preserved momentarily. Nevertheless, the Antinomians, according
to the authors conclusion, had struck a heavy blow-if not for freedom

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