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THE CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS. By F. J. Powicke, M.A., Ph.D. (J. M. Dent and Sons. 7s. lid. net.)—In this book Dr. Powicke, already known for his useful study of Richard Baxter, describes the chief characteristics of the Cambridge Platonist group, the most dignified and intel- lectual of the innumerable religious movements and sects which flourished in England in the seventeenth century. The rather high-brow and aristocratic spirituality, of these excellent men, who appeal so strongly to the Dean of St. Paul's, is here presented to us in all its rigour. Sometimes treated as English mystics, they might, as a matter of fact, more properly be called religious rationalists ; for it is hardly the mystical aura of Platonic thought which mainly appeals to them. Indeed their Platonism—as Dr. Powicke does not hesitate to say—shows itself mainly in a passion for ornamenting their discourses with short quotations from Plato and Plotinus. The specimens here given prove that they were unfortunately no more exempt than other divines from a love of theological platitudes. There is a good introductory account of the general outlook of the group, followed by detailed studies of Cudworth, Henry More, Smith, Whichcote, Culverwell, and the obscure but lovable Peter Sterry.
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