22 AUGUST 1896, Page 25

Pope Leo XIII. By Justin McCarthy. (Bliss, Sands, and Foster.)—This

volume belongs to the " International Series of Public Men of To-Day." The word "Public" differentiates it from other lives of the Pontiff,—from Dr. Reilly's, for instance. Mr. McCarthy, in fact, gives us a series of political disquisitions on the policy of the Papacy as it has been carried out by Leo XIII. Some chapters are specially interesting,—the eighth, for instance, in which the writer describes the action of the Pope in reference to Ireland. Then again there is the eleventh, dealing with the Pope's encyclical on "Liberty." The two do not quite harmonise, it is true, for the Pontifical view of liberty is something like this, "I am free to command, and you are free to obey," and Mr. McCarthy would except the case of Ireland. The encyclical is well summed up in the sentence, "Be of my flock ; God bless you." Of course there is something about the temporal power. It would be extremely interesting if some one would draw up a Constitution according to which the States of the Church, suppose them restored to the Pope, would be governed.