libraries. For this translation into English we are indebted to Brother Arnold, M. Sc., Principal of La Salle Institute, at Troy; it has also an able and interesting introductory notice by Brother Potamian, D. Sc. THE HISTORY OF THE At a moment when the question of the day in France is the complete divorce of Church and State -a question not merely of national, but of European, even of ecumenical importance-a complete history of the Concordat and a thorough study of its workings is, emphatically, a timely book. Such a book is the work of M. l'Abbé Sévestre.* Within its six hundred closely printed. pages is to be found everything of interest bearing on the Concordat and upon the story of the relations which have subsisted between the Catholic Church and the French government for the past hundred years. A tripartite division of the subject, as suggested in the title, has contributed greatly to the lucidity of the treatment, enabling the reader to tread his way without confusion through a maze of events, continually complicated by political changes and juridical, canonical, and theological problems in which the factors were almost constantly shifting. The first three chapters of the introductory part relate, in almost minute detail, the negotiations between Napoleon I. and the Pope; the ratification of the treaty at Rome, and its subsequent publication in Paris. The author next pursues its fortunes through the subsequent reign of Napoleon, who endeavored to nullify it by the application of the articles organiques; then he narrates the futile attempts of the half sceptical Louis XVIII. to set it aside, as a Napoleonic monument, in favor of one to be ratified by himself. The revival of Gallicanism among the clergy during the Restoration, the persecution of 1830, the events of Louis Philippe's reign, including the formation and fall of Montalem bert's Catholic party, are related with admirable conciseness. The writer dwells pointedly on the happy relations which existed between the clergy and the Second Republic. He traces clearly the march of events during the reign of Napoleon III., who, after having shown himself the munificent benefactor of the * L'Histoire, Le Texte, et La Destinée du Concordat de 1801. Par l'Abbé Em. Sévestre. Paris Lethielleux. Church, and having reaped from the hierarchy, and such leaders as Louis Veuillot, an overflowing measure of adulation, coached in terms that recall the court of Byzantium, became the patron of freethinkers and Italian revolutionists. Finally, we follow the last act in the drama from the close of the war of 1870 till to-day, during which period the enemies of Catholicism have proceeded steadily on their destructive career, augmenting their forces and extending their arms at every step, till they have at last set about severing the bond which so long united Church and State. For every view that he advances, and for every statement that he makes, the author offers copious evidence; and to the name of every person of importance that enters into his narrative, he appends a biographical note-a courtesy for which foreign readers especially will feel grateful. The second part consists of a study of the Concordat itself, by comparing it with other Concordats, as well as with the articles organiques, and by examing the purport of various negotiations and juridical and theological interpretations to which it has given rise. Finally, in the third part the author essays a depressing forecast of the evil results that the rupture will inflict on the French nation and on French Catholicism. In the copious appendix the reader will find the text of every significant document bearing on the relations of Church and State in France, from the declaration of the Gallican clergy, in 1682, down to the present legislation. Enough has been said. to give at least a fair idea of this fine work. We have only to add that the interest evoked by its matter is enhanced by the charming lucidity and simplicity of the style, the author's knack of artistic arrangement, and his attitude of dignified calm and impartiality, which, however, never for a moment suggests a doubt on his loyalty as a churchman. The American reader will close the book satisfied on every question, except one, that he could possibly propound concerning this subject. And the unanswered question is just the one whose answer would contain the most valuable practical instruction. What we would all fain inquire, is the adequate explanation of how it came to pass that within the comparatively short period that has elapsed since the rise of the Second Republic, the bulk of the French people, then staunchly. Catholic, should now be so alienated from the clergy that the government of the country is, at present, safely lodged in the hands of infidels? The National Assembly that met at the close of the Franco-Prussian War was strongly conservative; religious interests were well represented in it; and some of its most honored members were clerics. At the same time, it was a true representative of the prevailing sentiments, ideas, and aspirations of the French people. Yet, in a very short time, that same people began to look with a suspicious eye upon the trend of ecclesiastical activity in political affairs. Events occurred which the radical party were easily able to represent to the country as proofs that the "clericals" were the sworn foes of the existing government, and cherished aims incompatible with the welfare of France. The abbé's exceedingly full and vivid history of the subsequent thirty years leaves us still in the dark as to how it happened that the anti-religious party found it such an easy task to convince the majority of French electors that a profound political truth was epigrammatically expressed in Gambetta's war cry, "Le clericalisme, voilà l'ennemi." We cannot, however, permit ourselves to treat M. l'Abbé Sévestre's reticence on this matter as a reason for diminishing the measure of thanks due to him for his splendid piece of historical work. Long years must yet elapse before a French ecclesiastic may, without ignoring the dictates of ordinary prudence, write, in full, and without reserve, this last sad chapter in the Gesta Dei per Franços. ENGLISH MARTYRS. This section of England's roll of honor bears twenty-four names, beginning with that of Blessed John Felton, the layman, who, "the five and twentieth day of May, 1570, betwixt two and three of the clock in the morning, set up on the gate of the Bishop of London his palace," the Bull of excommunication launched by St. Pius V. against Queen Elizabeth. The last name is that of Father Richard Thirkeld, a secular priest, who suffered at York in 1583. The lives are written with great fulness; every document available has been searched, with the result that these biog *Lives of the English Martyrs. Declared Blessed by Pope Leo XIII. in 1886 and 1895. Written by Fathers of the Oratory, of the secular clergy, and of the Society of Jesus. Completed and edited by Dom Bede Cam, O.S.B. Vol. II. Martyrs Under Queen Elizabeth. New York: Benziger Brothers. raphies are much more complete than the corresponding ones to be found in Bishop Challoner's collection, and some names are included here that were not recorded by Challoner at all. The value of the book to those who are not thoroughly acquainted with Elizabethan history is considerably augmented by a carefully prepared Introduction, written by Father Pollen, S.J., for the purpose of explaining the origin, nature, and tendency of the quarrel in which the martyrs lost their lives. He explains the conditions that marked Elizabeth's settlement, the effect of the Northern Rising in 1569, the results of the excommunication, the subsequent increase of missionary zeal, and, consequently, of persecution in 1580. Here he notes the errors committed by Catholic politicians and the Papal Government. By an analysis of the facts Father Pollen demonstrates that those who suffered under Elizabeth were put to death, not because they were politcal offenders, but because of their fidelity to their religion. Father Pollen thereby deprives Protestants of one of their well worn subterfuges from the charge of having stained their hands in religious persecution. We exonerate the Church from the blood of the Albigenses and the victims of the Spanish Inquisition, on the grounds that these people died because they were enemies of the civil government or offenders against the secular law. Protestants argue that the same view holds good of the English martyrs; hence, it is of consequence that an essential difference between the two cases should be clearly established. The scholarly contributors to this volume deserve thanks for a piece of work which, considered either as history or hagiology, is of permanent value, and, in all probability, is not destined to be superseded by any future work on this subject. INFALLIBILITY. OXFORD CONFERENCES. the other lectures were Although these two publications treat of closely related subjects, and hail from the same source, no organic continuity exists between them. The audiences to which, in the first instance, the one and the addressed, represented, respectively, * Infallibility. A Paper Read Before the Society of St. Thomas of Canterbury. By Reverend Vincent McNabb, O.P. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. Oxford Conferences on Faith. (Summer term 1903.) By Fr. Vincent McNabb, O.P. St. Louis: B. Herder; London: Keegan Paul, French, Trübner & Co. widely different mentalities, aud, as one might expect a teacher of Fr. McNabb's intelligence would do, the lecturer varied his point of view accordingly. The paper on Infallibility—a very modest designation for a solid pamphlet of eighty pages-was read before an Anglican audience. The Society of St. Thomas of Canterbury has for one of its principal aims the removal of obstructions to Reunion by the substitution of conference for controversy, and by conducting discussion on the basis of expositions of doctrines made by properly qualified representatives of them. The precise purpose of the lecture is to explain the Catholic doctrine concerning the Infallibility of the Teaching Church, as distinguished from the Church taught. Though not neglecting the historical aspect of his theme, Fr. McNabb devotes his attention chiefly to the theological side. The tone throughout is, it need hardly be observed, conciliatory; the reasonableness of the Catholic claim, and the arguments that establish it, are unfolded clearly, and adequately insisted upon, without undue exaggeration. In conclusion the author notices briefly the objections usually urged against papal, and conciliar Infallibility; and, without undertaking to refute or criticize them seriatim-a task impossible within the time at his disposal-he suggests some broad general views which tend to reduce to negligible proportions the historical difficulties which are magnified to the vision of the opponents of Infallibility. The other volume consists of a series of lectures, eight in number, addressed to the Catholic students of Oxford University. The titles are: The Problem of Faith; The Object of Faith (Mystery); The Light of Faith; Authority; The Will and Faith; The Door of Faith (Conversion); The Scruple of Doubt; the Life of Faith. The first lecture begins with a world-embracing review of the historical fact that "at all times, and especially since the coming of Jesus Christ, men have been found to profess or deny the objective existence of supra-rational truths, and the subjective existence of a peculiar power or faculty for believing these truths to be true." Next follows a statement of the present crisis for religious belief, natural and supernatural. Afterward Fr. McNabb dwells chiefly on some psychological aspects of his subject; especially in the views which he puts forth when he faces the problem of the part played by |