than a story of embassies, the negotiation of treaties, exchanges between nations of views on matters of common interest, and an investigation of the circumstances through which the management of such business came to be a special branch of statecraft. As Mr. Hill conceives his task, a history of European diplomacy, besides all this, must give an account of everything embraced in the complexus of international activities that have brought the various polities into relation with one another. Such a history resembles a general history, in much the same way as a geographical map of a country resembles a geological one. Such charts have the same extent, they show the same conspicuous landmarks and divisions; but they present the land from a different scientific point of view. All development, progress, or retrogression in internal affairs, whether religious, moral, social, or economic, wars, notable personages, fall within the purview of the diplomatic historian only just so far as they have significance for the relations of State to State.

A favorable indication regarding Mr. Hill's fitness for the task that he has undertaken is the fact that he has ignored the conventional opinion which assumes that the history of European diplomacy begins with the treaty of Westphalia. A scientific knowledge of modern conditions is to be obtained only by tracing them from their beginnings, through their subsequent developments-which means that one must go back to the period when, in the decadence of the Roman Empire, a new order, dominated by the spiritual power of Christianity, arose to renew the face of the earth; when, we quote from Mr. Hill, "freed from the restrictions hitherto imposed upon it, inspired by the universality of its own ideals, the Church began its splendid task of winning the population of the empire to its creed, and gathering the lowly and the great within its fold."

Accordingly, this first introductory volume is devoted to the rise of the temporal papacy, the renewal of the idea of the empire, the subsequent struggles between pope and emperor, the disappearance of the imperial idea, and the rise of independent kingdoms. The plan of the author comprises future volumes treating of the diplomacy of the age of absolutism, of the revolutionary era, of the constitutional movement, and of commercial imperialism. The present volume may be considered a complete work.

Discerning with a sure eye the steady persistence of cer

tain dominating ideas and principles, amid superficial fluctuations, and following the essential onward march of forces under many incidental retrogressions and divergences, the author throws a steady light on what may be called, though he does not employ the term, the providential guidance of events which has resulted in the establishment of modern Europe. By neglecting whatever does not bear on his subject, and resolutely condensing when surveying matters of minor importance, he husbands his space in order to treat fully every event of significance.

A recapitulatory paragraph at the end of each chapter, and an introductory one at the beginning of the following one, fixes the reader's attention on the thread which guides him through the labyrinth. When events are reached which contribute strongly to determine the subsequent course of history, such, for example, as the treaty of Verdun, he is careful to point out their influence with special emphasis.

This kind of history serves much better than the more general form to bring into prominence the part played by great minds who formulated far-reaching plans, or helped to establish, or to defend some dynamic idea. Hence great churchmen, like St. Leo the Great, St. Gregory, St. Bernard, Innocent III., and Boniface VIII., loom large on Mr. Hill's canvas. And, faithful to the spirit which, on the whole, is cherished by our present-day historians of the first rank, he is looking, not for facts or appearances to prove some pre-conceived theory, but for truth. The result is that the papacy and the Church are treated by him with a measure of justice which, hitherto, they rarely received from a non-Catholic writer. Seldom, at the hand of any one who considers it to be an axiomatic truth that modern liberty is the most precious gain of advancing civilization, has the Pope who denounced Magna Charta as a vile, despicable, and iniquitous pact, been so handsomely appreciated as he is in the following passage: "It would be an injustice to the character of Innocent III. to regard him as the mere incarnation of worldly domination and political intrigue. If he carried the idea of temporal power to a greater length than any of his predecessors, it was because the aspiration for power was the characteristic of his time, and the possession of authority seemed the only way to insure the right regulation of the world. It is necessary to judge the sentiments and ac

tions of an age by the standards of the time. Thus judged, Innocent stands out as the embodiment of religious enthusiasm raised to a position of high potentiality. The Church was the only really European institution of the day, and the Papacy was the almost universally recognized authority in the Church. To extend and strengthen its powers, and to bring all men under its sway, were, therefore, from the papal point of view, the highest services that could be rendered to humanity."

Our students of ecclesiastical history who are condemned to depend, in most instances, on works absolutely devoid of scientific method, will find this work valuable for two reasons: it will enable them to acquire a clear, luminous view of the secular activities of the papacy in the widest field on which it was displayed; it will, furthermore, provide them with an excellent object lesson in the method of studying history.

Nowadays, when one hears so much of the demoralizing effects on character of American public life, it is refreshing to find one of our public men willing to devote his energies to scholarly occupations, and able to produce a work of such high excellence as, judging from the first instalment, Mr. Hill's History of European Diplomacy promises to be.

ROSE O' THE RIVER. By Kate Douglas Wiggin.

*

This first rose of autumn is a young Maine girl, pretty, of course, lively, good natured, and a firstclass housekeeper. What wonder that she was sought by all the young men along the river. The river is the Saco, down which in the springtime float the great rafts of logs destined for the sawmills. The breaking up of the jams that occur during the passage of the rafts is the chief object of local interest, and the finest opening for native heroism and intrepidity. Young Stephen makes such good use of his opportunities here that he obtains from Rose a promise of her hand. She, however, remains subject to vague aspirations after the delights of city life, of which she has heard something. Then appears on the scene a Prince Charming, in the person of a clerk in a Boston department store, who causes a very serious jam in Stephen's love affairs. But the marriage bells which have been postponed for a little

* Rose o' the River. By Kate Douglas Wiggin. Illustrated by George Wright. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

ring out merrily in the end. With a slight plot and commonplace incident, the author, through her clever delineation of Maine manners and peculiarities, makes up an amusing story that may be read in a couple of hours.

LETTERS ON THE SPIRI

TUAL LIFE.

By l'Abbe de Tourville.

This volume of spiritual direction * consists of two series of letters addressed to two nuns. The author,

who died in 1903, was a priest distinguished for his learning, zeal,

and piety-gifts which enabled him to exercise a deep influover a circle much wider, and, intellectually, more important, than that which fell within his humble official range.

ence

In the first series, addressed to a person addicted to scruples, the method of authority is steadily resorted to, and if we may judge from the gradual subsidence of the note, with satisfactory results. The general tenor of the direction is in accordance with the maxim of St. Paul: Rejoice, again I say to you, rejoice, supplemented by that of St. Augustine, Ama, et fac quod vis. There is a constant insistence upon the dangers of paralyzing one's spiritual energies by a morbid indulgence in introspection, and of frittering them away in gathering up the mint and cummin of petty externalities, instead of devoting them to the cultivation of the wheat of the Gospel, loving confidence in Jesus Christ. As may be seen from both series, the writer believes that the true scheme of religious perfection for those engaged in active work does not call for the absolute extirpation of one's individuality, or the suppression of all personal initiative. Corresponding to the value assigned to cheerful, loving service in personal development, the abbé advocates the cultivation of an inspiring optimism towards outside life. When his correspondent deplores that some of her relatives have forgotten her convent in their wills, he advises her not to be afflicted, for, nowadays, private fortunes in the world can be of more service than if they were handed over to religious institutions; and, he adds, funds devoted to religious foundations, in the long run, always find themselves diverted to ends quite different than those for which they were intended. Is the taxgatherer too much in evidence? "Do not be downcast. There are worse evils for a convent than the tax-gatherer."

* Piété Confiante, Lettres d l'Abbé de Tourville. Paris: Victor Lecoffre.

When he finds a tendency to expand into jeremiads over the evil conditions of the day, he writes: "There is no need to weep over the world as if it were lost. We witness simply a crisis between the old spirit and the new; and the crisis becomes more acute as the old spirit perceives that nothing is any longer adjusted to its point of view."

Apart from its utility as a piece of direction, the following passage is interesting for the vistas of which it affords a glimpse: "If you are troubled by clouds gathering over your faith, it is merely because that subject has been so poorly taught in view of actual needs, that one cannot always know where one stands. On this account I have been driven to begin again all my theological studies, in order to come to solid ground. Some day I shall put you au courant, for it is a deplorable thing to leave souls unstable on those bases of their faith which are in themselves as solid as a rock. The little ones have asked for bread, and there was no one to break it to them.' In this age everything is to be recast, even those things which, in themselves, are unchangeable. Has nature changed? Nevertheless you perceive that our methods of interrogating it, through chemistry and physics, have changed. Our methods improve and we see better the same things. This, precisely, is what is needed in regard to doctrine."

The reader of this volume is prepared to learn that the author, a disciple of Le Play, was a deep student of the social sciences, and has left some valuable work on questions of sociology, which his editors promise to publish.

LETTERS OF JOHN OF
AVILA.

To a great number of us John of Avila is best known, perhaps, by the fact that he was the person selected to pronounce upon the supernatural experiences of St. Teresa; and that it was for his information she undertook to write her famous autobiography. But he has other claims upon the admiration and gratitude of the reader of ascetical literature; though, until the present time, there has been little of his writing available to the modern English world. The volume before us-with its interesting account of his life from the pen of the Abbot Gasquet—will,

Letters of Blessed John of Avila. Translated from the Spanish by the Benedictines of Stanbrook. With Preface by Abbot Gasquet, O. S. B. New York: Benziger Brothers.