ferring of the dignity. The letter of Cardinal Nina offering the hat, and Newman's reply, as well as his letter to the Pope, are given in English, while the Italian and Latin forms are found in an appendix. There, too, is another letter which caused so much heat and heart-burnings-that of Newman to Bishop Ullathorne, "the terms of which gave rise to the impression that the Cardinalate had been declined." It might well have taxed even Newman's powers to reply to so many addresses of the same character without repeating himself. Yet, although the sentiments expressed in all the replies are, necessarily, very much alike, the form of expression and the tone of the sentiments are adapted to each occasion with inexhaustible versatility. Many passages, too, are of the texture which Newman alone could weave out of English words. STUDIES IN THE PRO- By Dr. Harper. Dr. Harper's manual on the prophetic element in the Old Testament is a most valuable book. It is not a narrative history of prophecy, nor a properly so-called analysis of prophetic teaching. But it aims at guiding fairly advanced students of the Bible to a thorough and scientific understanding of the prophetic spirit and teaching as they existed among the Hebrew people. It consists of searching questions, for the answer to which the student must consult the Scriptures themselves; it consists, secondly, of illuminating paragraphs on the historical background of prophecy; and finally of bibliographical notices which put the reader in touch with the fullest modern researches in biblical criticism. Dr. Harper bases his book upon the documentary analysis of the Hexateuch, the late origin of the full Levitical system, and the composite character of even the later prophets. Doubtless many will condemn the work at once because of these points of view; but few, probably, who have a first-hand knowledge of Scripture will take issue with it on these matters. In fact, in reading this volume itself, brief as it is, one will find very cogent reasons for thinking respectfully of the quadruple document theory now admitted by nearly all specialists of every school and creed. For Dr. Harper enters very considerably into *Constructive Studies in the Prophetic Element in the Old Testament. By William Rainey Harper. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. hexateuchal criticism, although that is not his field of investigation. Still prophecy begins with the earliest books of Hebrew literature. J., E., and D. are prophetic documents through and through. And perhaps the most valuable pages in this book are those which describe the aim, spirit, and historical setting of those ancient strata in the Hexateuch. So much of the work indeed is given to this side of the subject, that only two of the writing prophets are discussed, Amos and Osee. A later volume will deal with the other prophets. For one interested in the analysis of modern biblical criticism, this manual will be in a high degree valuable; and if one is in an early stage of scriptural study, it will be almost indispensable. JOAN OF ARC. The paper on "Joan of Arc," which appeared a twelvemonth ago in the Nineteenth Century and Afterwards, from Mrs. MaxwellScott, deserves the more enduring form which it has now received.* It is a complete, though not very detailed, life of the Maid; and is written in a simple strain which well consorts with the character of the heroine. The author has taken her materials almost exclusively from Mr. Douglas Murray's Engglish edition of the most authentic records that exist the reports of the trial at Rouen, and of the Rehabilitation processes which, twenty years afterwards, cleared Joan's name from the unmerited ignominy which her enemies sought to fasten upon it. It is needless to say that Mrs. Maxwell. Scott is in fullest sympathy with her subject. Her love for the "Leal Northern Land" displays itself in giving prominence to the loyalty shown to Joan by the Scotch officers and men in the French service, and especially by the Bishop, John Kirch> michael, whose devotion to Joan is some sort of a set-off to the conduct of Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, who earned for himself pre-eminence of infamy in one of the most infamous affairs of history. STUDIES IN ANTS. The name of Father Wassman stands high in Germany among biologists, and is not without honor in America; witness the testimony of Professor Wheeler, of the University of Texas, who has declared in the American *Joan of Arc. By the Hon. Mrs. Maxwell-Scott, of Abbottsford. St. Louis: B. Herder. Naturalist that "Wassman, in his numerous writings, has undoubtedly done much, at least in Germany, towards the exposure of this psuedo-psychology (of Brehm, Buechner, and others) and a more rational conception of ant behavior." This volume is a translation of the second German edition of Father Wassman's study of ants which, for general interest and scientific observation, may rank with the classic work of Sir John Lubbock-we beg pardon, Lord Avebury. Besides its value as a contribution to natural history, it has another as a piece of apologetics. For the author marshals his facts to encounter a main tenet of evolutionism, that man is a development from the brute. To combat this, Father Wassman has gone to the ant, and studied its ways, which afford a double argument against the accuracy of our evolutionist pedigree; first, the ant instinct approaches nearer to reason than does that of mammals which are assigned to us as nearer relatives; second, between the wonderful instinct of these little creatures and reason, even as manifested in the lowest savage, there is a difference, not of degree, but of kind. LEX LEVITARUM. Every publication from an Episcopal pen receives, very properly, from the reviewer a measure of superlative commendation, dictated by reverence for authority irrespective of objective values. This good custom has one drawback. Like the exaggerated use of italics, it weakens one's resources when one wants to be emphatic. The worth of Bishop Hedley's volumet is such that the praise to which it, in strict justice, is entitled is exposed to be accepted by the reader as subject to some discount, because of the rank of the author. Had it appeared anonymously, however, we should not have hesitated to say that between the two parts which compose it there is no disparity of excellence -yet one part is that classic of Christian Theology, St. Gregory's Regula Pastoralis; the other, some practical applications of its teachings to the needs of to-day by Bishop Hedley. Spiritual insight, a knowledge of human nature, learning, zeal, • Comparative Studies in the Psychology of Ants and of Higher Animals. By Eric Wass. man, S.J. St. Louis: B. Herder. Lex Levitarum; or, Preparation for the Cure of Souls. By the Right Rev. John Cuthbert Hedley, O.S.B. With the Regula Pastoralis of St. Gregory the Great. New York: Benziger Brothers. VOL. LXXXII.-45 and, it might be added, a good dose of independence, are qualifications necessary for a man who would insist upon the ideal of spiritual and intellectual training required to fit the priest for his work at present. Bishop Hedley evinces these qualities, associated with a command of forcible and elegant expression. His treatise is a valuable gift to the students and professors of our seminaries. Priests engaged in the ministry, too, will be amply repaid for a study of it. It contains weighty chapters on Vocation; Virtue and Ordination; Purity of Soul; Sympathy with Souls; Seminary Life; The Principles of Study; The Study of Philosophy; The Study of Literature; On Learning; The Study of the Holy Scripture; Science; and the Priestly Office. Concerning the study of literature and science, to which he attaches great importance, Bishop Hedley offers many practical counsels, some of which have been given by others, but not so forcibly, and some will seem almost novelties to many a seminary graduate. For instance, he recommends that some weaknesses of ecclesiastical intellectual methods be rectified by borrowing from the scientists: "Among the great names of physical science, there is not one who has not been distinguished by exactness or accuracy. Physical research, whether chemical, biological, or astronomical, is carried on in regions almost beyond the ken of the senses, and depends on the verification of facts the most minute and difficult to grasp. Guess work will not do here; general ideas are useless and misleading; measurements, proportions, and quantities must be observed with the keenest eyesight, and noted with the most scrupulous nicety. Ecclesiastics, on the other hand, have to deal with laws, theories, and reasonings. Their accuracy of observation and exactness of description are not in constant training. But this may easily become a great misfortune. In dealing with men there are few mental defects which damage. a priest with cultivated men so so much as looseness of statement, a childish weakness of grasp in relating facts, the confusing of one name with another, and that general vagueness, too often met with, as to dates, circumstances, and localities." Again, after observing that magnetism, hypnotism, etc., are common topics, and that, while no priest is expected to know all about such things, every priest ought, at least, to know clearly something about the facts, and be able to lay down the Church's teaching on these subjects, the bishop continues: "But if he can only simper, utter crude negatives, or launch juvenile exaggerations or commonplace abuse, he is dishonoring the profession in which he is bound to be an expert." It is a novelty to find a bishop recommending our ecclesiastics to go to the scientists to take a lesson in caution and sobriety in statement and argument, as well as in respect for the opinions of others: "We can learn two important lessons on this subject from the so-called scientific spirit. One is, not to force our own pious opinions upon others; and the second is, to cultivate greater caution than our forefathers, considering the age in which we live. As to the second, it may be said, without fear of failing in spiritual learning, that in these days piety is intended to be more hard-headed than it formerly was. In the ages of faith, and in many European countries much later than the ages of faith, there was a prevailing childlike credulity. This credulity, like that of children and unedu cated persons, was not, in itself, religion or piety, although, for the most part, it came from piety. At best it was only the material cause of piety, just as an undeserving beggar may be the material recipient of the charity of a virtuous man. To be cautious is not to be less pious; it is only to be on the side of not allowing your piety to spread itself over too much ground." Elsewhere he earnestly exhorts the ecclesiastic, and especially the controversialist, to absolute honesty; never to advance as part of Catholic belief what is uncertain; and, above all, "never to propound views that tend to swell what we may call Catholic vanity, without having verified his facts and assured himself of their relevancy." The book would be well worth its price to some of our controversialists, did it contain nothing else than Bishop Hedley's advice to them to go only to first-hand sources. One opinion of the bishop will be challenged, in America at least, by many members of the hierarchy as well as by a large number of experienced priests. He writes: "Premature excursions into the field of active operations are a mistake, even if they were possible, in a seminary course. The novices of the Society of Jesus practise catechising the poor. With seminarists there would be inconvenience in this." As to the question of the possibility of such exercises being combined. with the seminary course-solvitur ambulando. The experiment has been made with satisfactory results. And the conviction is growing that the seminary course should provide some prac |