to the defection about the same period of Lord Teynham, a collateral descendant of the Blessed Thomas More.

On the other hand, Catholics notably increased in some districts owing not only to immigration, but even to a steady flow of conversions. In 1743 Messrs. Evans & Co., of Bristol, imported a number of Flemish zinc workers, and among the clauses of the contract was one-illegal, of course, in the eyes of the law-allowing the foreign artificers the free exercise of their religion. Nearly forty years later (1780) Messrs. Bucknell & Blackwell, the potters, established a chapel at Cobridge (Staffordshire) for their Catholic working folk and otherwise promoted their spiritual welfare.

But such instances as those just given were like the proverbial visits of the angels. In almost every direction the terrible effects of the penal laws were to be seen in extinct missions, dwindling congregations and, as before observed, the total loss of the faith over entire districts. Father E. B. Newton, who was chaplain at Coldham Hall, Suffolk, the seat of the Rookwood-Gage family from 1772 to 1787, gives a sad picture of the state of Catholicism in those parts. This zealous priest had to traverse an area of some fifty miles, visiting en route Sudbury, Chilton, Clare and Melford, "where nothing is to be met with but ignorance, stupidity and sometimes a total neglect of religion." In one place the number of Catholics had fallen from 100 to 4.

But, on the other hand, the stream of conversions never ceased, and the list of those who thus nobly braved persecution, public opinion and the almost certain loss of worldly prospects was, all things considered, remarkably large. Bishop Milner's evidence as to this fact is tolerably well known, and in some few places the increase not only warranted, but even necessitated the establishment of a new mission. At Coventry the Catholics rose from six in 1757 to nearly one hundred in 1770. Mass was said at the house of a Mr. Bruckfield, a convert gentleman, who did much to improve the condition of his coreligionists. At Cowpen, in Northumberland, the number of the faithful also greatly increased a little later on, thanks to the fostering care of Mr. Marlowe Sidney, whose extraordinary conversion has recently been made the subject of a memoir by his granddaughter.

Needless to say, the missionary clergy in their peregrinations did not wear, or even, it may be said, openly carry anything that would in the least indicate their sacred calling. Even at Douay and the other foreign colleges the students were entered under assumed names, and this instinct of disguise, of course, became intensified on the mission. Thus Father Edward Coyney, who was at Draycott, Cresswell, during a large part of the eighteenth century, used to visit his scattered flock disguised as a peddler, as did the missioner at Hathersage, in Derbyshire. In other places the priest often passed as the attorney, surgeon or scrivener (stock broker) of the family, and in a few isolated cases as a naval or military officer on furlough. Sir George Mannock, Bart., the last of his family and a Jesuit priest, always dressed in the height of fashion, with powdered wig, lace ruffles, jeweled sword, etc., and, thanks to this aristocratic disguise, he was enabled to carry on his ministrations for many years, and even, it is said, to escape death at the hands of the "No Popery" mob during the Gordon riots. Not till about 1804 did priests in England begin to dress in black, and the Roman collar did not become fairly general till nearly forty years later. Bishop Douglass, of the London district (1790-1812), appears to have been the first of the Vicars Apostolic to wear his pectoral cross openly in every day life, and even this slight manifestation of episcopal rank was regarded by many of the older clergy as "a dangerous innovation." When the persecution was acute, which occurred during the reign of Elizabeth and under some of her successors down to Charles II., the utmost pains had been taken by the recusants to disguise as far as possible not only those places where Mass was said, but also the vessels and vestments used in the Holy Sacrifice. Special missals containing only the Ordinary of the Mass, the Proper of Saints and a few other liturgical parts had been authorized by the Holy See for use in Great Britain and Ireland. Pewter chalices and patens, as less likely to arouse the cupidity of the priest hunters, were also permitted, while vestments of gold and silk tissue, which could be easily packed away in unwanted receptacles, were also in vogue. For sick calls the priests often used oil stocks which screwed together lengthwise for the purpose of concealment in hollow walking sticks, riding whips and the like, and so on with the other vasa sacra et indumenta of the clergy. Specimens of these and other articles used in the days of persecution are preserved as thrice sacred relics at West Grinstead (Sussex), Sutton Park (Surrey), Stonyhurst and Lydiate (Lancashire) and at many other places where the lamp of the sanctuary flickered faintly on through the darkest hour of trial.

Though the ceremonies of worship were as a rule confined to the bare essentials of the ritual, the full grandeur of Catholic liturgy was occasionally seen even outside the privileged chapels of the Ambassadors. "Years before the mitigation of the penal laws," to quote from Dr. Oliver's "Collections," "Henry VIII., Lord Arundell, contemplated the erection of a splendid church ninety-five feet long in the interior, forty feet wide and as many in height." This daring project was carried into execution at Wardour Castle, and the fine church designed by Quarenghi was consecrated by Bishop Walmes

ley, V. A., of the Western district, on October 31, 1776, and next day, the feast of All Saints, the sacred building was opened with a pomp unprecedented since the restoration of the Catholic faith in the reign of Queen Mary. When this unique incident occurred the whole body of British Catholicism still lay under "the full unrepealed burden of the penal laws," but thanks to the growing liberality of the times and the excitement caused by the American war, then at its height, this technical breach of the despotic code passed unnoticed. At Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire, the personal friendship of George III. for the Weld family led to the erection of another splendid public chapel, and here in 1790, one year before the second relief act, was consecrated the Right Rev. John Carroll, first Bishop of Baltimore. Notwithstanding the utter exclusion of Catholics from the public life of the nation, some few even of the clergy came into prominence owing to circumstances and abilities which penal laws were unable to suppress.

Dr. Hussey, the friend of Johnson and afterwards first president of Maynooth and Bishop of Waterford, was employed by the government on an important diplomatic mission to Spain. Bishop Walmesley, F. R. S., the mathematician, was consulted by the Cabinet of George II. in 1750-1 with reference to the introduction of the "New Style" change in the calendar. Alban Butler's "Lives of the Saints" attracted the serious attention of Gibbon. The Rev. J. Berington, the historian of the Middle Ages, was well known in the literary circles of London long before the close of the century. Hugh Tootell, alias Charles Dodd, another Douay priest, was the author of numerous historical works, the most famous of which is the "Church History of England" from 1500 to 1688. It was this work that Dr. John Kirk, another sturdy old eighteenth century priest, wished to complete down to 1800, and though the project was never carried out, the extensive notes and memoirs collected for the purpose are among our most valuable documents. It is satisfactory to be able to state that these have quite recently been published by Messrs. Burns & Oates. Such names as the foregoing when coupled with those of the ever-to-be-revered Bishops Challoner and Milner, are more than sufficient to prove that the English Catholic clergy of the period were well abreast of their time in all that pertained to intellectual improvement, and its advancement by means of personal contributions to the common stock of knowledge.

The eighteenth century, if peculiarly the age of the depression of British Catholicism, was also the epoch in which were fostered those habits and conditions which in more recent and happier times have played so important a part in the history of the Church in these realms. The general scheme of missionary life with its connected

system of chapels, its voluntary subscriptions and the mutual dependence of clergy and people, received, so to speak, its finishing touches, and it needed only the genial sunshine of the "Second Spring" to bring to maturity fruit that had blossomed amidst the chill atmosphere of penal days. If the Catholics of England are so flourishing as a body to-day, it is because their forefathers, with the heroic optimism which comes from God, silently and amidst many tribulations, laid the foundations of what has gradually become a free Church in a free State.

England.

BERNARD W. KELLY.

Book Reviews

THE IIFE AND TIMES OF BISHOP CHALLONER (1691-1781). By Edwin H. Burton, D. D., Vice President of St. Edmund's College, Old Hall; Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. In two volumes, 8vo., pp. xxiv.+403 and viii.+367. Illustrated. Longmans, Green & Co., 39 Paternoster Row, London; New York, Bombay and Calcutta. 1909.

Another splendid addition to the many important books on the history of the Church in England has come from the press under the title "The Life and Times of Bishop Challoner." Indeed, it is probably the most important book of the kind in recent years, if any time limit is to be set to its excellence. The wonder is that it has been delayed so long. As to the immediate occasion, the author says:

"When, some twelve years ago, I wrote a short account of Bishop Challoner for the Biographical Series issued by the Catholic Truth Society, that pamphlet was compiled entirely from published sources of information accessible to all, especially the biographies written by Challoner's contemporaries, Bishop Milner, the Rev. James Barnard and Charles Butler, K. C. But the meagre character of these showed how desirable it was that a thorough examination of the unpublished documents relating to his life and times should be made, and a search for new materials instituted.

"The results of this examination and search are embodied in these volumes, though it has proved impossible to include within their limits the whole mass of material which has accumulated in my hands. This material has been drawn from very varied sources, among which the official papers of the Vicars Apostolic naturally are of chief importance."

What a consoling declaration in regard to an important historical period-too much material! Generally the historian has to complain of a dearth of material. This abundance of data is especially fortunate when we consider the period with which it deals and its effect on the Catholic Church in England in later times. The author shows this clearly in the introduction. He says:

"In the history of the Catholic Church in England there is a dark and depressing epoch, the duration of which can be clearly defined as lasting from the Revolution of 1688 to the Catholic Relief Acts which put an end to the penal laws at the close of the eighteenth century. There is no period of which less has been recorded. It forms the Dark Ages of our later history. The practice of the Catholic faith was proscribed by law and the Church was again in the catacombs. Yet this epoch, which has been so completely lost sight of, is the connecting link that joins our present history with that of