acters are frequently omitted, but when we remember the multiplicity of English spies, especially at news centres like Paris, Rome and Venice, and the high price paid by the English Government for information about Papists, we are not surprised.

"It is to be regretted that we do not know more about the lives of these religious heroes. The letters and memoirs here printed form their best, perhaps their only monuments. Of none of them do we possess a portrait. Yet as we look at the pictures of the now ruined castles, halls and towers in which they once lived, sometimes as chaplains, sometimes as prisoners, we can realize how Spartan, even at the best, their lives must have been, how unendurably oppressive, when incarcerated in them, the victims of the religious passions of those days.

"In an appendix will be found a series of chronological notes of the legal proceedings adopted against Catholics, which proceedings Pitcairn considered as 'forming a prominent part of the ecclesiastical and political history of the country."

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of this valuable addition to the true history of the persecutions of Catholics for the faith, which is gradually being completed and which is astonishing all thoughtful, serious men, irrespective of creeds.

Those who are building up libraries for themselves and others should take care to get possession of books like this at once, for if they have been long in making their appearance, they will be more eagerly sought and may go out of print early. They are not likely to be reprinted in the near future.

EUCHARISTIE UND BUSZSAKRAMENT in den Ersten Sechs Jahrhunderten der Kirche von Jerhard Rauschen, Th. D., Ph. D. Freiburg (i. B.), Herder (St. Louis, Mo.). Pp. vi.+204. 1908. Pr., $1.40.

Few if any subjects connected with the history of dogma are so important or so difficult as those which concern the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Penance in the early Church. Hence the ever growing literature centering thereon. Probably one of the most widely known of these works is the late Mr. Lea's "History of Auricular Confession" (N. Y., 1896). Mr. Lea has in his three volumes brought together a very large mass of material, much of which is drawn from original sources and is set forth with an appearance of judicious scholarship. On the other hand, it is now well known that Mr. Lea was very imperfectly acquainted with Christian antiquities. He seems to have known very little of the classic work of Mormus (Commentarius historicus de disciplina in administratione sacramenti paenitentiae, Paris, 1651). Moreover, he treats almost entirely of the history of confession in mediæval and modern times. While excluding the Protestant literature on the subject, he lacked that insight into Catholic teaching and practice which would have enabled him to interpret accurately the pertinent Catholic literature. Hence he finds difficulties where there are none and exaggerates what there are. He is convinced that the obligation of confession as a divine institution was first taught by Hugh of St. Victor and Peter the Lombard. It is not to be expected, of course, that Mr. Lea had a high appreciation of the moral influence of the confessional or that he should have been able to make statistics prove, satisfactorily to himself, the contrary. The foregoing is the estimate passed by Professor Rauschen in the volume at hand. Confirmation of this estimate may be had by a study of the present work and more explicitly from a critique to which he further refers (Boudinhon: Sur l'histoire de la pénitence à propos d'un ouvrage récent, a paper which appeared in Revue d'histoire et de litterature religieuse, Paris, 1897).

The present work is divided about equally between the two subjects-the Sacrament of the Eucharist and of Penance. In the first part the early Christian teaching on the Real Presence, on Transubstantiation, the essence of the Sacrifice of the Mass, the origin of the Canon and the Epiklese (invocation) is summarized and analyzed. The second part does the same for the Sacrament of Penance-the early penitential discipline, the doctrine on sin, the practice of public and private confession, these being the main lines of discussion. The sum of testimony adduced establishes the final verdict that the dogmatic teaching of the Church on the two sacraments has perdured from the very beginning unchanged, though the unessential modifications of the conditions required for their valid and licit reception and ministration have varied with time and place. In presenting this mass of evidence the author, while critical throughout and thus meeting the demands of the professional student, has not overladen the text with technicalities. The book is therefore one which the educated general reader will be able to utilize with profit and edification.

THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA. An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline and History of the Catholic Church. Edited by Charles G. Herbermann, Ph. D., LL. D., Edward A. Pace, Ph. D., D. D., Thomas J. Shahan, D. D., Conde B. Pallen, Ph. D., LL. D., John J. Wynne, S. J., assisted by numerous collaborators. In fifteen volumes. Royal octavo. Vol. VI.: Fathers-Gregory. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

As one places this book on the table before him he notices that it is as large as previous volumes; that the paper is the same firm, clean

sheet that presents a surface sufficiently hard to take impressions from type and plate without yielding to them or scattering them; that the full page pictures are on the same highly calendered paper that gives perfect results; that most of the distinguished names of contributors to previous volumes appear again, and that new ones, equally distinguished in their particular fields, are being added; that the work is progressing steadily and successfully along the original lines, coming down in this volume to Gregory; and that it grows in interest and value with each succeeding volume.

As we open the book at the first article, entitled "Fathers of the Church," by Rev. John Chapman, O. S. B., prior of St. Thomas' Abbey, Erdington, Birmingham, England, with its sixteen pages of closely printed, double column, large octavo pages of well written and well condensed matter on this interesting subject, and its page and a half of still more closely printed bibliography, we appreciate the Catholic Encyclopedia. Where else could the ordinary reader find that information in such form; and, for that matter, where could the extraordinary reader get it without access to the authorities mentioned in the bibliography, which are accessible to a very few persons only, and which require a scholarship in the student that is rare? This article is a good illustration of the value of the Encyclopedia. It is bringing to our doors from all over the world the best knowledge on Catholic matters a knowledge which heretofore has been to a very great degree almost inaccessible, and it is perpetuating it in a form which will preserve it forever.

We cannot imagine any one, even moderately interested in Catholic affairs, who becomes even casually acquainted with the Catholic Encyclopedia and who does not want to possess it and keep it near him. It must not be imagined, however, that the first article in this volume is exceptional. All that we have said of it could be said as truthfully of all the leading articles in all the volumes, and we have this one as an illustration because it is the first.

We might have turned to the end of the book and taken the sevenpage article on Gregory the Great, by Rev. Gilbert R. Hudleston, O. S. B., Downside Abbey, England, or the four-page article on Gregory VII., by Rev. Thomas Oestreich, O. S. B., Maryhelp Abbey, North Carolina, to illustrate the same truth.

We feel that attention cannot be called too often to the care that is given to subjects of comparatively minor importance, for we believe that this is one of the best tests of a book of the kind. There is good reason to fear that in the making of encyclopedias very often the shorter articles are entrusted to persons who have no special fitness for writing them, and who merely transcribe the required number of words from any author who happens to be at hand. A glance at the short articles in the Catholic Encyclopedia will show that they receive great attention, and are generally done by men with international reputations for learning.

We shall close with another repetition-each volume has a distinct and independent value, and therefore the book should be bought as it comes from the press.

BOUDDHISME OPINIONS SUR L'HISTOIRE DE LA DOGMATIQUE. Par L. de la Poussin. Paris. Gabriel Beauchesne et Cie, rue de Rennes, 117.

In this publication the author resumes the lectures which he delivered at the Institut Catholique in Paris during the sessions of May and June, 1908. In a very interesting preamble he calls attention to the fact of the remarkable sympathy and indiscreet zeal evoked by Buddhism in European countries and elsewhere, especially in America, England and Germany; whereas, the other Indian religions meet with indifference even on the part of studious and inquisitive readers and scholars. For any one who is familiar with the literature of India there is no doubt that Vedism, with its grand mythological and divine figures; Brahmanism, with its profound theories and rational discipline; Hindooism, with its humble and fitful devotions, are all much superior in many respects to Buddism, in which everything is offered, so to say, at second hand-mythology, doctrine and piety. But people indulge in strange illusions on the subject of Buddhism. Many writers attribute to it the unique privilege heard of in history of religions, viz., that it possesses a purely rationalistic philosophy, an ideal compatible with modern science, a morality devoid of God and of the soul. Moreover, they pretend that having been organized several centuries before the Christian era, it made its way in the West as far as the Mediterranean. Hence its success and the honors indiscreetly paid to it. It merits our attention, however, though not for these reasons. Its legend, its humanity, its depth, its historical character, its founder, its brotherhood, its canons and its sects, its iconography, bringing it into dependance on Grecian art, its power of propagandism and its wide conquest of the far East, all these are titles which demand recognition from the student who is concerned with the history of religions. The interest evoked by Buddhism in some scholars goes so far as to make them believe that Europe itself should go to the school of Cakyamuni.

According to the writer of this book, Buddhism must be of deep interest for the reason that its votaries, richly endowed with the gifts of nature, are familiar with almost all the ideas and all the aspirations of which human thought and human heart are susceptible. They afford a striking confirmation of the principle "anima naturaliter

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Christiana." Besides the introduction, the work comprises five chapters, as follows: 1. "Teaching of Cakyamuni." 2. "Metaphysical Systems of Buddhism." 3. "Philosophical and Religious Buddhism." 4. "Career of the Future Buddha." 5. "Buddhism and the Supernatural Hindoo Tantrisme."

A COMPENDIUM OF CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION. An English Adaptation of
Very Rev. Angelo Raineri's Work. By Rev. John Hagan, Vice Rector of
the Irish College, Rome. Large 8vo., two volumes, 536 pages, net, $4.25.
New York: Benziger Brothers.

The common objection will probably be made to this book that we have enough catechisms already, and while we must confess that we think it best for every man to select one standard work of this kind and stick to it in practice, we must at the same time acknowledge that the field is practically exhaustless, provided only that he who tills it knows how to handle the plough. If he doesn't, he will soon find himself lost in the weeds that will grow up about him.

The Holy Father's Encyclical, "De Christiana Doctrina Tradenda," has been the occasion of much industry in this field, and it has brought the present work before English readers.

Says the announcement: What the Papal Decree has shown the necessity of is not so much books that supply outlines, or amplify material, as the application of the material already at hand in the Roman Catechism to a course of simple, plain, sound, effective and intelligible instructions.

Such a work is confessedly a desideratum, and such a treatise -an English adaptation of Very Rev. Angelo Raineri's workwe now beg to offer to the English-speaking clergy, under the Editorship of the Rev. John Hagan, Vice-Rector of the Irish College, Rome.

Father Raineri's Masterpiece was the result of forty years' incessant study of the Roman Catechism in the shape of practical instructions which rendered his name famous in his day, and attracted thousands upon thousands to the Cathedral of Milan, and which, in their collected form, constitute what competent authorities describe as the very best Course of Catechetcial Instruction.

The following approbation of the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan is prefixed to the Sixth Edition:

"Optimum praedicti Operis iterum edendi, emendandi et adaugendi consilium summopere commendamus, novamque editionem subjicimus examini Reverendissimi Domini Friderici Sala,