History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages.
By Ferdinand Gregorovius. Translated by Annie Hamilton. (G. Bell and Sons.)—Dr.Gregorovius in this third volume carries on the history to the end of the tenth century. As he begins with the early years of the ninth we have the narrative of two centuries, centuries that were, doubtless, the very darkest period in the history of the Papacy. Our author is somewhat wanting in sympathy, not a thing to be wondered at when such a story has to be told, but yet damaging to the effect of the book. Every age is the outcome of what has gone before it, and the language of exclusive censure—that used about relic-worship, for instance —is always out of place. Dr. Gregorovius is to be seen to the best advantage in such chapters as the seventh in this volume, especially where he deals with the topography of the city. One or two errors needed correction ; " Bcetius " for " Boahius " occurs repeatedly, once to the ruin of the scansion of a line.
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