19 NOVEMBER 1870, Page 23

The Spaniel Inquisition. By Janet Gordon. (Nimmo.)—This is a good

little book of its kind, not dwelling more than is necessary on the horrors of the subject, and, though manifestly Protestant in tone—and it is difficult not to be Protestant in talking about the Inquisition—not marked by any particular bitterness of theological feeling. Miss Gordon indeed seems glad to escape a little from her subject. The life of Don John of Austria occupies a considerable part of the valance, and with it, except as regards the obscure intrigues which preceded his death, the Inquisition had very little to do. Of the other lives, that of Archbishop Carranza is perhaps the most interesting, and is well told, though the curious parallel between him and his contemporary Cardinal Pole is missed. Both prelates had reforming tendencies which they were not courageous enough to carry into action; both fell under suspicion of heterodoxy on the same point of doctrine, namely, justification by faith, and under the same circumstances, the debates of the Council of Trent ; and both were driven to vindicate themselves from this suspicion by persecuting those to whom they felt themselves only too dangerously akin. Why, by the way, in talking of English matters, is Mary called "the heiress of England" ? When sho married Philip of Spain, and that is the time spoken of, she had been Queen for some months.