Simple Sketches of England and her Churchmen in the Middle
Ages. By " L. G." (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co.)—This little history opens with the reign of William the Conqueror, and ends with the martyrdom of William Tyndale in 1536. The author has no reason to conceal his name, for the interesting story is related with a charming simplicity and with sufficient fullness and attraction to win the attention of the youthful reader, for whom it is principally designed. But there are few students who will not read the book with advantage, for it contains within a small compass a large amount of information, gathered, indeed, from familiar sources, but so presented as to leave a vivid impression on the mind. Is the author correct in saying that William the Conqueror was devoted to Rome and bent upon bringing the English Church under the control of the Pope ? This is scarcely consistent with the statement of Bishop Stubbs that " William had no intention of following the papal guidance further than was convenient to himself." It may well be doubted, too, whether, as the writer says, Henry II. was " right " and was not rather moved by superstitious fears, in giving up the Constitutions of Clarendon, which restricted the freedom of the clergy ; for those Constitutions, as Stubbs has pointed out, were part of a great scheme of administrative reform intended to settle the debatable ground between the spiritual and temporal powers. If a second edition of the " Sketches" is called for, as it probably will be, we hope that the author will supply an index.
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