The new volume of the "Ancient and Modern Library of
Theological Literature" (Griffith, Farran, and Co.), is The Lives of the Popes, translated from the Latin of B. Platina, and edited by the Rev. W. Benham. It takes us down as far as Alexander VII., • 1073, and therefore stops just short of the great Hildebrand. It is curious to note the number of the Popes in the various centuries of our era,----2nd, 10; 3rd, 15; 4th, 11; 5th, 12; 6th, 13; 7th, 20; 8th, 12; 9th, 20; 10th, 26. The tenth century was the most degraded in the history of the Papacy (so degraded as to present a most serious practical difficulty to Roman theories of its functions), and it used up the Popes at the rate of one in four years.—In "Bohn's Shilling Library" (Bell and Sons), we have The Queen's English, by Dean Alford, a "seventh edition," and The Life of Thomas Brassey, by Sir A. Helps, a "seventh edition" also.
Previous page
