Book Reviews : Treason. By NATHANIEL WEYL. (Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press. 1950. Pp. x, 491. $4.50.) The Federal Bureau of Investigation. By MAX LOWENTHAL. (New York: William Sloan Associates. 1950. Pp. x, 559. $6.00.) The Loyalty of Free Men. By ALAN BARTH. (New York: Viking Press. 1951. Pp. xxxi, 253. $3.00.)

• Published date: 01 September 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400329
• Author: Harvey Wheeler
• Date: 01 September 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

514

Treason.

By

NATHANIEL

WEYL.

(Washington,

D.C.:

Public

Affairs

Press.

1950.

Pp.

x,

491.

$4.50.)

The

Federal

Bureau

of

Investigation.

By

MAX

LOWENTHAL.

(New

York:

William

Sloan

Associates.

1950.

Pp.

x,

559.

$6.00.)

The

Loyalty

of

Free

Men.

By

ALAN

BARTH.

(New

York:

Viking

Press.

1951.

Pp.

xxxi,

253.

$3.00.)

The

problem

of

loyalty

and

the

definition

of

treason

have

been

at

the

heart

of

much

of

the

formal

literature

of

political

theory.

Francis

Bacon

in

his

In

Felicem

Memoriam

Elizabethan

was

one

of

the

first

to

analyze

the

problem

in

its

modern

setting.

A

somewhat

extended

quota-

tion

from

Bacon’s

essay

on

Queen

Elizabeth

may

be

worth

a

moment’s

consideration:

... Her

intention

undoubtedly

was,

on

the

one

hand

not

to

force

consciences,

but

on

the

other

not

to

let

the

state,

under

pretence

of

conscience

and

religion,

be

brought

in

danger....

Up

to

the

twenty-third

year

of

her

reign

there

was

no

penalty

of

a

grievous

kind

imposed

by

previous

laws

upon

popish

subjects.

But

just

then

the

ambitious

and

vast

design

of

Spain

for

the

subjugation

of

the

kingdom

came

gradually

to

light.

Of

this

a

principal

part

was

the

raising

up

within

the

bowels

of

the

realm

of

a

disaffected

and

revolutionary

party

which

should

join

with

the

invading

enemy;

and

the

hope

of

this

lay

in

our

religious

dissensions....

Priests

were

sent

over

into

England

for

the

purpose

of

kindling

and

spreading

a

zeal

for

the

Romish

religion,

of

teaching

and

inculcating

the

power

of

Romish

excom-

munication

to

release

subjects

from

their

obedience,

and

of

exciting

and

preparing

men’s

minds

with

expectation

of

change....

Now

the

plan

was

to

dispose

and

prepare

everything

by

the

agency

of

private

persons

and

men

of

small

mark;

and

that

too

without

their

having

any

communication

or

acquaintance

one

with

another;

but

all

to

be

done

under

the

seal

of

confession....

*

There

was

no

remedy

for

it

but

that

men

of

this

class

should

be

prohibited

upon

pain

of

death

from

coming

into

the

kingdom

at

all;

which

at

last,

in

the

twenty-seventh

year

of

the

reign,

was

done....

And

yet

what

her

own

natural

disposition

was

appears

plainly

in

this,

that

she

so

blunted

the

law’s

edge

that

but

a

small

proportion

of

the

priests

were

capitally

punished.

All

which

I

say

not

by

way

of

apology;

for

these

proceedings

need

no

apology;

since

the

safety

of

the

kingdom

turned

upon

them....

This

is

perhaps

a

classic

statement

of

the

conflict

between

raison

d’etat

and

constitutionalism.

It

is

precisely

that

problem

that

forms

the

central

preoccupation

of

the

three

books

reviewed

here.

Nathaniel

Weyl

attempts

to

discuss

the

problem

in

its

perspective

of

American

history

and

constitutional

law.

His

is

a

more

difficult

task

than

confronted

Bacon,

however,

for

Weyl

undertakes

the

apparently

impossible

task

of

justifying

prosecutions

for

&dquo;cold-war

treason&dquo;

in

a

coun-

try

with

two

stubborn

traditions:

a

deep-seated

regard

for

the

dissident,

and

a

strong

constitutional

tradition

in

favor

of

the

narrow

and

rigid

legal

definition

of

treason.