10 OCTOBER 1896, Page 12

moves on towards the completion of his task at the

same leisurely pace and in the same discursive fashion that have become habitual to him. He regrets that he has " not been able to complete the work in three volumes." There must be four, and four, with nearly two thousand pages between them, are more than an ample allowance for fourteen years. But how could it be otherwise, when Mr. Wylie treats the Papal Schism with as much detail as he would use in describing the battle of Shrewsbury ? This history of his is a most careful, laborious, and meritorious work.

The array of authorities is astonishing, and the author refers to them with a conscientiousness that is beyond praise. (In chap. 35 the references equal in bulk of printing the text.) But it is not the sort of book that makes its way.