Concilien Geschichte. Hefele. Vol. vii. Part I. Council of Constance. 1869.
This part of the learned bishop's great work is especially interesting at the present moment, on account of the pretence raised by a certain number of persons that the Council of Constance was, in all its sessions, œcumenical. It is, besides this temporary interest, of lasting and intrinsic importance, for reasons well known to every scholar. Dr. Hefele not only gives us a learned and accurate historical work, but also a graphic picture of the intensely exciting and interesting events of the great Council of Constance. We cite the author's concluding sentence on the authority of the decrees of the council: "That (Eugenius IV.) intended to exclude the decrees of Constance respecting the superiority of general councils over the pope from his approbation is indubitable. In accordance with this, and according to modern law, which declares the papal approbation of general councils necessary in order to make them such, there can be no doubt that (a) all the decrees of Constance, which are not prejudicial to the papacy, are to be considered œcumenical; on the other hand, that (b) all which infringe against the jus, the dignitas, and præeminentia of the apostolic see, are to be considered as reprobated." This is in harmony with the sentiment of all the soundest canonists and theologians, namely, that which excludes the Council of Constance from the number of the councils strictly called œcumenical, and relegates it to a second class of general councils some of whose decrees are rejected and others approved.
The Status of the Catholic Clergy in the United States. Bishop McQuaid!—Father O'Flaherty!—The Imbroglio in the Diocess of Rochester.
This vile anonymous pamphlet, printed without any publisher's name and signed, "Priests of the Diocese of Rochester," is a disgrace to its authors, especially if they are really priests. A publication of this kind, which is in itself a grievous offence, cannot claim even a hearing for any thing it may contain. If any priests of the diocese of Rochester have so far lost all sense of sacerdotal duty as to put forth this pamphlet, taking advantage of their bishop's absence, it is evident that a little more application of ecclesiastical discipline in that diocese will prove salutary.
The Byrnes of Glengoulah. A True Tale. By Alice Nolan. New York: P. O'Shea.
Sally Cavanagh; or, The Untenanted Graves. A Tale of Tipperary. By Charles J. Kickham. Boston: Patrick Donahoe.
The foul wrongs to which the existing laws between landlord and tenant expose the peasantry of Ireland are made the ground-work of both these stories of Irish life. While these wrongs are familiar to all, so also are their sad effects, as narrated in the volumes before us. Of these, the former is undoubtedly more racy of the soil; though the latter, we think, will leave a more pleasing impression on the reader. The great fault with Miss Nolan is a talent for exaggeration; her favorites are always right; their enemies are ever harsh in word, cruel in act, and villainous in appearance. The landlord's victims are almost too ethereal for humanity—only a little less than angels; he and his myrmidons too diabolical for fiends.