[Review of Frederick Douglass]

THE BEACON BIOGRAPHIES: FREDERIC DOUGLASS. By Charles W. Chestnut. Small, Maynard & Co. Boston. 75 cents.

It is the aim of M. A. DeWolffe Howe, in editing the "Beacon Biographies," to furnish a brief and authentic account of the lives of eminent Americans. Each volume gives a frontispiece portrait, a calendar of important dates, and a concise bibliography for further reading. This makes a valuable book of reference, especially in the case of persons who have so recently been in our midst that the information concerning them can only be gleaned from scattered articles in the magazines.

Mr. Howe is to be congratulated in having secured the services of Charles W. Chestnut (himself an Afro-American), in editing the life of Frederic Douglass. No one can read it without being impressed with the importance of Douglass' cause, and if Mr. Chestnut's enthusiasm seems to make him sympathize too deeply with the spirit of revolt, it awakens an echo in the heart of every one who loves liberty for its own sake. In spite of the fact that the size of the book leaves little room for more than the record of events in a particularly eventful life, there are, in descriptions of the ostracism to which Douglass was subjected, even when his position was recognized, several impassioned protests against race prejudice.