CURRENT LITERATURE.
The North British Review. October. (Edmonston and Douglas.)— Every one should read the article on the "Vatican Council," which we- may take to be an authoritative exposition of the views and feelings of the minority, while giving at the same time an account of the aims. and policy of the dominant faction. It is obviously inspired by the knowledge of an acute observer who had the best opportunities. We can scarcely say that it throws any absolutely new light on the matter but it puts the whole history very:clearly and distinctly. And there are,. by way of illustration, some very remarkable extracts from the speeches of some of the liberal leaders, some of which are, we believe, questioned by the other side as of very doubtful authenticity. The upshot of the whole,. as far as the genuinely liberal section is concerned, seems to be that it re- fuses to allow the ecumenicity of the Council, a new proof of the vanity of these attempts to bind the human conscience and reason. Another notable article on ecclesiastical subjects is that on "The Russian Church and Clergy," a picture unfavourable, but not, we should think, judging from. the information that comes to us from other sources, too unfavourable a sketch of the position of the secular clergy of Russia. A "Papa" or- Parish Priest seems little more than a machine for administering the Sacraments. All the ability of the Church is to be found among the. Regulars, to whom alone indeed its great careers are open. The other- articles on "The Moabite Inscription," "The Poems of Shelley," " The Growth of a Trade Union," "Philosophy, Psychology, and Metaphysics,'" and "The Uses and Requirements of English Diplomacy," seem quite up to the mark of what is a very able Review, though a little wanting in variety.
Previous page
