free chapels, although it seems that the seizure of the plate and ornaments of these latter did not take place until early in the reign of Edward VI. It is easy to see that this work of sacrilege and confiscation was not likely to stop short of parish churches, and it began to be extended to them at the very beginning of the reign of Edward VI. Enquiries as to the goods of parish churches were made of the bishops in 1547, and early in 1549 a commission for making inventories was issued to sheriffs and justices of the peace."

These inventories were made, and the actual seizure of all valuables followed, only the barest necessities being left for the use of each church. The plate was sent to the Jewel House in the Tower of London and melted down; the vestments and the inferior metal work were sold locally; the linen given to the poor. Thus the sacrilege was complete.

This great series of sixteenth century inventories, despite its shameful origin, is of the highest legal, historical and liturgical value. The editor very well says:

"Until all such inventories are printed accurately and published in an accessible way, it is impossible to form a just estimate of their contents, or to write a detailed history of the spoliation of our churches by Henry VIII. and Edward VI., or, indeed, to deal properly with the subject of church furniture and ornaments in the sixteenth century in England as a whole."

The Alcuin Club intends to do this as soon as possible. It has already brought out two such publications, and we have the third before us.

THE CATECHISM IN EXAMPLES. By Rev. D. Chisholm, priest of the Diocese of Aberdeen. Second edition. In five volumes. Vol. I. Faith: The Creed. Vol. II. Hope: Prayer. 12mo., pp. 438. Benziger Brothers, New York.

This book will be universally commended. Without one dissenting voice, all will agree that suitable stories to illustrate the catechism, are very important and most desirable. It is not easy to find them. The author succeeded.

The unprecedented success which attended the publication of the First Edition of "The Catechism in Examples," and the demand which is now being constantly made for the book, has induced the author to undertake the publication of an entirely new edition, in which, while adhering to the original plan, he has not only thoroughly revised, but also considerably developed, the contents of the work.

The book in its first form found its way literally into every part of the world, and demands for a re-issue have recently reached the author from almost every country in the continent of Europe, as well as from America, Australia, Africa, North and South; Ireland especially has been most zealous in its propagation in the past, and in present demands for its re-appearance.

St. Gregory the Great tells us that more men are drawn towards heaven by the force of example than by the effects of argument. If this be true in reference to mankind in general, it is especially so with regard to the child. The child is formed on example. The truths of faith learned in catechism are for the most part unintelligible to him. He requires to have them sketched out as in a picture before he can take in their meaning. Children delight in stories, and they are not slow to catch the moral sense these are intended to convey. If these stories are life-like, and within the reach of their own practice, they try to imitate what is told in them. Long experience and the example of great and holy men, who have in this, as in other things, followed the example of Our Blessed Lord Himself, have convinced the author of this book of the necessity of bringing out in bold relief, by means of examples, the truths contained in catechism.

It was this that induced him to undertake this work. Each example has been carefully chosen to bring home to the mind of the child some one of the great truths of our holy Faith, and fix it there.

This new edition consists of five volumes, corresponding to the five parts of the catechism; each volume containing about four hundred examples, interspersed with moral reflections, so that each part of the catechism is gradually set before the mind of the child in such a way as to captivate his attention in a practical and pleasing manner, and enable him to understand more easily and more clearly the explanations given by his pastor and parents.

DANGERS OF THE DAY. By Mgr. John S. Vaughan. With an Introduction by Mgr. Canon Moyes. 12mo.. pp. 239. The Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Ind.

Monsignor Vaughan does not need an introduction to American readers. He is already well known through his several books, and especially "Thoughts for All Times," "Faith and Folly," and "Concerning the Holy Bible."

In the eight sermons or essays, which make up his book, the author treats of "Our Environment," "The Enchantments of the World," "Calling Good Evil, and Evil Good," "The Inordinate Love of Money," "Indiscriminate Reading," "Knowledge That Puffeth Up," "Intemperance," "Impurity, the Sovereign Seduction." Pregnant subjects-all. As Canon Moyes says in the introduction: "The eight chapters of this book are as so many danger signals, pointing to the perils which surround us in the life of to-day."

The first chapter, on "Environment," is a fair sample, and it is a clear, startling statement of the effect of the atmosphere in which we live, no less, detrimental in the moral order than in the physical, but rather more so. He says, and it applies to America as well as England:

"Our lot is cast in a non-Catholic country; we are constantly moving among Protestants, Jews, agnostics, unbelievers. We frequent their assemblies; we share in their amusements; we visit their houses; we correspond and transact business with them; we interchange courtesies, in fact, we live on terms of familiarity with all sorts and conditions of men, and are glad to number them among our friends, associates and companions."

The press, the magazines, the books of the present day, are, for the most part, Protestant and heretical, non-Catholic or anti-Catholic, unmoral or immoral. And thus we find the whole moral and intellectual atmosphere in which we live heavily charged with the poisonous exhalations and noxious vapors of every variety of heresy and infidelity, and erroneous opinion, both old and new.

The danger we have especially to guard against is that of adapting ourselves too readily to our present vitiated and irreligious environment.

The author develops his subject along these lines very logically and very convincingly. The other chapters are not less important and interesting, and the book will do much good.

FOUR-SQUARE, or, The Cardinal Virtues. Addresses to Young Men. By Joseph Rickaby, S. J. 12mo., pp. 93. New York: Joseph F. Wagner.

The Preface is characteristic of the author; it says: "These addresses have appeared in the Homiletic Monthly. They are written rather with an eye to scientific accuracy than to unction, eloquence and rhetoric; for surely conduct is a matter of science."

Those who have known Father Rickaby by his philosophical writings only, and who recall the subtlety of his reasoning requiring the training of a philosopher to follow him, will be surprised to learn that in these addresses he speaks to young men who have no philosophical training, but who are equipped with an ordinary education and common sense. They appeal to the intellect rather than the heart, or rather, they appeal to the heart through the intellect, which is a method well adapted to this intellectual (?) age. It has almost become fashionable in the smart set to deny or ignore fundamental moral truths, and, sad to relate, children of the Church of Jesus Christ are sometimes tainted with this smartness. Father Rickaby's addresses are for just such persons. This book should be part of the curriculum of every educational institution in this country. But that is too much to hope for. If it could be placed in the hands of all the Catholic students of non-Catholic educational institutions throughout the country the result would be splendid.

As the review in the Month says, "the book is a model of luminous exposition, both convincing and stimulating." And again: "The apt example, the crisp phrase, the shrewd qualification, the sane outlook, the lucidity and moderation of the whole make these discourses delightful reading."

Finally, they are not intended for men only, but are equally applicable to both sexes and all ages.

ANSELM'S THEORY OF THE ATONEMENT. The Bohlen Lectures, 1908. By George Cadwalader Foley, D. D., Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Care in the Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. 12mo., pp. 327. Longmans, Green & Co., New York.

As to the occasion:

"John Bohlen, who died in this city on the 26th day of April, 1874, bequeathed to trustees a fund of one hundred thousand dollars to be distributed to religious and charitable objects in accordance with the well-known wishes of the testator.

"By a deed of trust, executed June 2, 1875, the trustees, under the will of Mr. Bohlen, transferred and paid over to 'The Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia,' in trust, a sum of money for certain designated purposes, out of which fund the sum of ten thousand dollars was set apart for the endowment of THE JOHN BOHLEN LECTURESHIP, upon the following terms and conditions:

"According to the conditions, the income from this fund is to be given each year to some qualified person, clergyman or layman, for the delivery and publication of two or more lecture sermons on such subjects as are chosen for the 'Bampton Lectures,' at Oxford, or any other subject distinctly connected with or relating to the Christian religion. The appointing board consists of the Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of which is the Church of the Holy Trinity; the Rector of said church; and three professors of the Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia."

As to the book: we must confess we feel like asking, "cui bono?" For the Catholic, Anselm's theory of the atonement is the Catholic theory of the atonement, and we fear that the author has wandered afar for an explanation which was quite near. The Catholic doctrine of the atonement has been the same from the beginning; will be the same until the end. The development of doctrine is quite different from change of doctrine or difference of doctrine. This is a truth which should be easy to learn, and yet it seems to present insurmountable obstacles to many.

We are quite sure this book will not be of any use to Catholics, and we are not quite sure it will be of use to anyone else.

LE COMITE DE SALUT PUBLIC. Par Marcel Navarre. One vol. in 12. Bloud et Cie, editeurs, 7, rue Saint Sulpice, Paris.

M. Marcel Navarre retraces in this book the history of a revolutionary institution which was particularly active and flourishing in its kind. Its first formation, its work under the preponderating activity of Danton, and afterwards under Robespierre's dictatorship, the circumstances that brought about the loss of its influence and its final extinction after the 9 Thermidor-all these successive events are detailed by M. Navarre with exactitude and impartiality. Although he recognizes the incontestable grandeur, as he considers it, of the French Revolution, he cannot refrain from expressing his horror and execration of this reign of hatred and tyranny at the conclusion of his sketch, thereby recalling the view of Joseph de Maistre, who stigmatized it as "satanical."

A COMPENDIUM OF CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION. Edited by Rev. John Hagan, Vice Rector of the Irish College, Rome. The Sacraments, Parts I. and II. 8vo., pp. 244 and 292. New York: Benziger Brothers. "To each chapter, or part of chapter, of the 'Catechismus Romanus,' is appended the corresponding portion of the 'Compendium of Christian Doctrine,' prescribed by Pius X, in 1905, for use in the various dioceses of the Province of Rome, and, accompanied by the earnestly expressed desire to see it adopted by at least all Italy." Then follows one or more instructions or sermons on the Sacraments in general, or on some particular Sacrament. So that we have the Catechism of the Council of Trent, the Catechism of Pius X., and the Instruction or Sermon by Raineri, we presume, although there is nothing to indicate what part of the work Father Hagan has done, except the announcement that he has edited it.

The instructions are the only new feature of the work, and they are very good. An objection might be made to twenty-two pages of catechism and eleven pages of instruction, which is the proportion of space devoted to the Sacraments in general, but such objection would probably come with most force from priests, who have the Roman Catechism, and others, in their libraries.

The objection might be made with more force since the Roman Catechism is so very full, and since the author of the Instructions repeats it to a great extent.

The book is excellently made, and presents an attractive appear

ance.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL DIRECTOR'S GUIDE TO SUCCESS. By Rev. Patrick J. Sloan, author of "The Sunday School Teacher's Guide to Success." 12mo., pp. 271. Benziger Brothers, New York.

To afford some assistance to those who are laboring in the work of teaching Christian doctrine, is the sole purpose of this volume. The principles and methods of catechetical instruction found therein have been carefully and deliberately gleaned from the various sources. The best of experience has pronounced them to be most practical and efficacious. They are expressed in a form as clear, direct, concise, and yet comprehensive, as was found possible, and are submitted to the serious and prayerful consideration of pastors and Sunday-school directors. These methods may be old, but they are of vital and supreme importance, and adapted by wise usage to new needs and conditions. They have brought great success to many; if rightly followed, under like circumstances, they will bring a similar success to all, by pointing out and lighting up the way along which the little ones of Christ may be led nearer unto His sacred Heart, and more surely and safely into heaven.

THE CASUIST. A Collection of Cases in Moral and Pastoral Theology. Vol. II. 8vo., pp. 317. New York: Joseph F. Wagner.

This second volume of cases in moral and pastoral theology is an improvement on the first volume, because about one-half of the cases have the author's names attached. It could be still further improved if the name of the author appeared on the title-page, or if it were attached to the other cases. The subjects are well chosen, the cases are all practical, and they are all skilfully handled. The author or editor quotes approved authorites in a clear definite manner, but he ought to go a step further and sign his work. It is not always convenient to verify quotations, and many priests have not the books quoted. The name of the author would be a guarantee of faithfulness, and beget a confidence which is very important in matters of this kind,