■,o6 



The Review of Reviews. 



Xoiember 1, 1906 



man Hunt's autobiographT, though with a word of 

 censure for his tliinly-veilecl animosity towards Dante 

 Gabriel Rassetti. Anine Vivanti writes of C'arducci, 

 not as of a poet of world-wide glory, but as "the 

 adoretl friend, the ideal of my dreaming cliildhood. 

 the second father of my orphaned youth." and de- 

 scribes in vivacious style the terrors of her first in- 

 terview with the great man. There is also the first 

 instalment of an extremely suggestive study of the 



fiolitical and literary influence of Italy upon Engli.sh 

 ife and civilipation during the fifteentli and six- 

 teenth centuries. To the friars and traders who, 

 from vei'.T different motiv-as, ventured across the 

 Channel in the fourteenth century England was a re- 

 mote and barbarous land — to the prelate.s and ad- 

 venturers and men of letters who followed i!i Tudor 

 times it was mainly a land in which fortunes were 

 easily made. Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, a gene- 

 rous patron of learning, was a warm friend of Italy 

 and invited many Italians to his court: but it was 

 not till the reign of Henry ^11., who might himself 

 almast have passed for an Italian prince of the Re- 

 naissance, that Italian influence in the world of let- 

 ters and learning be.gan to make itself stronglv felt. 



The Civiltd Cattoiica (August 18th) prints the 

 Italian vereion of the much-discus.sed Encyclical of 

 Pius X. on the education of the clergy. Liberals and 

 Protestants have been so occupied in denouncing as 

 reactioiuary the regulations laid down concerning 

 the prevailing '" spirit of insubordination and inde- 

 pendence " that tliey have overlooked the equally 

 important paragraphs admitting that " in many 

 dioce.ses the number of priests is far superior to the 

 need.s of the faithful," and urging the bishops in 

 consequence to much greater circumspection in ad- 

 mitting candidates to holy orders. This pontifical 

 direction, if acted on, ought to remedy many of the 

 abu.ses now prevailing in the Church in Italy. 



Etnporhim (July) prints a pleasantly-written and 

 illustrated article on Mrs. Humphry Ward and her 

 novels, but the author is evidently under the im- 

 pre.ssion that Humphry is the lady's Christian name. 



The EassefVw yazioiwle (August leth) prints a 

 tr.'inslation of an article by one of the Paulist Fathers 

 of New York. Father Conway, in which he says all 

 that can be said in defence of the Church and the 

 condejnnation of Galileo, and establishes clearly two 

 points — first, that the condemnation in no way 

 touches the question of Papal infallibility, and, 

 secondly, that Galileo himself never pronounced the 

 fateful word.s "E pur si muove.'' which were placed 

 on his lips by a later biographer. Other noteworthy 

 articles deal with the composition of the present 

 House of Commons by the Italian .senator. G. Son- 

 nino, and an introduction to a new study of the Gos- 

 pels bv the distinguished Milanese priest. Don Luigi 

 Vitnli. 



THE REVUE DE P4RIS. 



In the two August numbers of the Berve de Paris 

 Elie Halcvy writes on the Birth of Methodism in 

 England. 



A NATION OF PURITANS. 



'Phe Engli.sh nation, remarks this writer, is a na- 

 tion of Puritans, and Puritanism is Protestantism in 

 all the rigoui- of dogma, its theological es.sence : it is 

 adhesion to the dogma of justification by faith. We 

 are not saved by our acts, but by the immediate and 

 mysterious communion of the individual soul with 

 the Divinity. Hence the principle of tolerance insep- 

 ai'able from Protestant mspiration. As a religion it 

 is cold and severe: it cannot attain to the sublime. 

 Protestantism and Catholicism are as far apart as 

 Chri.'stianity and Mahommedanism. The Puritap- "''e 



a sort of Mussulmans of the North, grave, silent, 

 proud, and as intrepid as the Mussulmans of Africa. 

 Neither the progress of the mercantile spirit and 

 industrial civilisation, or the development of the 

 scientific spirit and critical rationalism, or even the 

 prestige and the poujp affected by Anglo-Catholicism, 

 has prevented England from remaining a nation of 

 Puritans. The religious conscience has not evolved 

 on this side of the Channel, as in the other Conti- 

 nental countries of Europe. 



RAILWAYS. IN TURKEY IN ASIA. 

 Victor Berard discusses in both August numbers 

 the que.stion of Arabia and its railways. He says the 

 intrigues of Muktar Pasha and the German agent, 

 M. viin Oppenheim. are only part of Turco-German 

 enterprise in the Levant. The real cause for alarm 

 is the policy invented by Abdul Hamid and encou- 

 raged by the Kaiser. This policy, which is directed 

 against Eg,vpt and England, includes the making of 

 a railway between Me<lina and Mecca, and the Tabah 

 incident has already shown us the importance of the 

 scheme. To the religious and political significance 

 must be added the economic significance of this rail- 

 way to Mecca, for if Mecca was not the Jerusalem 

 of Islam, it would still be the geographical centre of 

 the Arab world, and one of the vital centres of the 

 commerce of the Levant. The writer describes the 

 railways of Asia Sliiior which have already been 

 made, and remarks that the railway between Khaifa 

 and Akabah, from the Mediterranean to the Red 

 Sea. places the route to India under the menace of 

 Turkey and Germany. 



SAINTE-BEUVE AND ALFRED DE VIGNY. 

 Sainte-Beuve and the poet Alfred de Vigny were 

 at one time intimate friends, ret of all the poets de 

 Vigny seems to have received the worst treatment 

 at the hands of Sainte-Beuve. The critic spared noth- 

 ing of the poet's genius or personality. In the second 

 August number of the Kei-ue de Paris we have some 

 of Sainte-Beuve's letters to Alfred de Vigny, written 

 when the two were friends. 



THE REVUE DES D£UX MONDES. 



Writing in the first August number of the Bevue 

 des Deiix Monilcs on the prenaration for reduced ser- 

 vice in the French Army. General Liebermann says 

 that the strength of the German Army rests with its 

 officers. The great numl>er of candidates and the 

 selection resulting from it develops in a high degree 

 a spirit of emulation. 



THE FUTURE FRENCH ARMY. 



The Fiench officers are so alive to the disasters 

 which the army has suffered that they are anxious 

 to make every effort to efface those disastere. But 

 the recruiting of the officers depends ou social con- 

 ditions, and, though it may at present give satisfac- 

 tory results, the future seems less certain. There are 

 so many other careers open, more rapid and more 

 lucrative, for the intelligent and educated youth, 

 that a gradual diminution in the number of capable 

 officers is to be feared. 



If reform is needed in the education of citizens, it 

 is indispensable in the education of the future sol- 

 diers. The early training should teach the soldier 

 how to think, and to exercise his judgment and dis- 

 cernment. This is the only way to develop personal- 

 ity and character, and put an end to routine by sub- 

 stituting confidence in him.self. Thus prepared by 

 the elementary school, boys from fourteen to sixteen 

 will be ready to profit by the preparatory training 

 for r'"''tary service. 



