The inhabitants of this vast province, who had come from Europe, were at that time all Catholics. In addition to these, many zealous missionaries had converted a great number of the savage aborigines. On the whole, the great body of the population is Catholic, although scattered among them may be found a few Protestant English. By provision of the fourth article of the above mentioned treaty, they are to enjoy the free exercise of the Catholic Religion. And in fact it is known from letters received but a short time ago from those parts that, not only do they profess with perfect freedom the Catholic Religion, but they exercise it in the same public manner in which they were accustomed to do while under French rule. But the Indian missions have suffered very much

from the calamities of the war.

There is an Episcopal See at Quebec, the capital of the Province. It is believed that its jurisdiction extended over the neighboring provinces of Nova Scotia and Acadia, which the French had claimed. The last Bishop died a short time after the city of Quebec had fallen into the hands of the English. Jurisdiction is exercised at the present writing by Capitular Vicars-General.

There was at Quebec a seminary under the direction of the celebrated congregation of Saint Sulpice of Paris; the same priests had another house at Montreal, a city situated on the St. Lawrence River at a distance of more than one hundred miles from Quebec. The writer believes that these two institutions are still maintained.

II

In the Provinces of Nova Scotia and Acadia there are a few English settlements. The principal settlements of the English are those of Halifax and Annapolis; the inhabitants are Protestants. But in the other parts of the country there are many settlers of French origin, who before the last war were called the neutral French. The majority of these are Catholic and are ministered to by priests sent to them from Canada. However, they do not enjoy the same freedom in professing the Catholic Religion publicly.

III

The large island of New Foundland is almost deserted, although belonging to England. It is impossible to say whether there is a settlement of any considerable size besides the city of Piacenza; it is likewise impossible to say whether there are any Catholics there. Nothwithstanding this an Irish Augustinian, several years ago, received faculties from the Vicar-Apostolic of London to administer the sacraments, as he desired to settle on that island to take care of the spiritual wants of many of his countrymen who flocked thither every year to take advantage of the good fishing to be had in those parts.

IV

Now, coming to the rich and populous provinces of New England and of New York, one may find a Catholic here and there, but they have no opportunity of practicing their religion as no priest visits them, and if we are to judge of the future from the present conditions of the inhabitants, there is not much likelihood that Catholic priests will be permitted to enter these provinces, for the

reason that the majority of the inhabitants are strict Presbyterians, or belong to other sects which are likewise most bitterly opposed to Catholicism.

V

Among the old possessions of Great Britain on the continent of America, the only colonies in which priests are permanently located are the provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania. In the latter, the Catholic Religion is formally tolerated by law. In Maryland, the laws are opposed to it, as in England; however, these laws are rarely put into execution and usually there is a sort of tacit toleration.

It is claimed that in Maryland there must be around sixteen thousand Catholics, of whom about half approach the sacraments. To take care of these there are twelve missionaries of the Society of Jesus.

The number of Catholics in Pennsylvania is between six and seven thousand. They have a public church at Philadelphia which is the capital of the province. They are ministered to by four priests, likewise Jesuits. These religious manifest great zeal and lead edifying lives.

There are besides some Catholics in Virginia, on the confines of Maryland, and in those parts of New Jersey which border on Pennsylvania. But they have no priests permanently residing among them, their spiritual wants being ministered to by missionaries from the two provinces above mentioned. As to Carolina and Georgia, it is impossible to say whether there are any Catholics there or not. One thing is certain, there are no priests in those provinces.

VI

Florida, a province ceded by Spain in the same Treaty of Paris, already mentioned, is almost a wilderness, but the few Catholics who have remained there are allowed the freedom of practicing the Catholic Religion in the same manner as the inhabitants of Canada.

VII

Louisiana, or the Province of Mississippi, which formerly belonged to the French, has for the most part been ceded to the English by the same treaty, that is, up to the Mississippi River, which gives the province its name. The same freedom of worship has been granted in favor of the Catholic inhabitants, of whom there must be considerable number. But as to how they are taken care of spiritually the writer has no information whatsoever.

VIII

On the islands the condition of worship is much worse than on the continent. The Catholics, both lay and clerical, who are almost all of Irish birth or descent are not in the best condition, morally: let us enter somewhat into detail.

In Jamaica there are a few Catholics. Of late, two priests have tried to settle there, but they have not succeeded in doing so. The inhabitants of that island are generally regarded to be of very loose morals.

In Barbaba, a short time ago, an Augustinian turned apostate. However, the Catholics that are there are being taken care of at the present time by

missionaries who live on the island of Monserrato. This island, which is one of the smallest of the English islands, has, nevertheless, the greatest number of Catholics. They are between three and four hundred and they are ministered to by three or four Irish missionaries. But they have no consideration or solicitude for their negroes, of whom there is a great number.

On the island of Antigoa there are also some Catholics of Irish origin. They were taken care of spiritually a few years ago by a Dominican father of the same nationality, who being in London on some business gave to that VicarApostolic rather unfavorable account of the moral condition of his fellowcountrymen.

The island of Saint Christopher also contains some few Catholics whose spiritual needs are tended to by the missionaries stationed on the island of Monserrato.

IX

But besides the islands above mentioned which have been under English rule for a long time, there is the island of Granada with islets called Granadine ceded to England by France in the Treaty of Paris, already mentioned, in which there is the usual stipulation for the free exercise of the Catholic Religion in favor of the inhabitants, who at that time were all Catholics. By the same treaty, the three islands of Saint Vincent, La Dominiga, and Tabago, which formerly were called neutral, have been ceded to the absolute dominion of Great Britain. The island of Tabago was without inhabitants, but the other two contained many Catholic inhabitants of French descent. And although these have not the same assurance of religious freedom it is to be hoped, if we may judge from the present moderation of the English governor, that they will not be disturbed in the practice of their religion.

X

Among the various islands and provinces, there is surely no province which merits more the attention of the sacred congregation than that of Canada, by reason of both the immense extent of its territory and the great number of the faithful included within its borders, and on account of the flourishing condition of the Catholic Religion at the time when it passed under English rule. The death of the Bishop of Quebec under those circumstances was, doubtless, a great misfortune. If the conditions, which up to the present time have prevented the appointment of a successor to him continue, it would seem necessary to send there at least a Vicar-Apostolic, to maintain good order, to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation, and to appoint new pastors in the places of those who have died or who are dying daily. When sending a Vicar-Apostolic there it would be a good plan to extend his jurisdiction over the neighboring provinces of Nova Scotia and Acadia; and all the more so, since the Catholics who live there must be of French descent.

The King of France, when creating the Diocese of Quebec, had the two abbeys of Benevento in the Diocese of Limoges of the order of Saint Anthony, and of Letrec in the Diocese of Evreux of the Cistercian order, added to the Episcopal revenue, the income from the above benefices, amounting to twelve thou

sand francs. But the present state of those abbeys is entirely unknown to the writer of the present account.

XI

The Vicars-Apostolic of London since the time of King James II have always had authority over the English Colonies and islands of America. But, whereas, the reason for this custom was not evident, the Sacred Congregation of Propoganda in the month of January, 1757, secured from Benedict XIV, of happy memory, a decree in favor of Monsignor Benjamin Petre, Bishop of Prusa, at that time Vicar-Apostolic of London, giving him for six years jurisdiction over all the colonies and islands of America under English rule; and after the death of that prelate the same decree was confirmed, March 31, 1759, for another six years in favor of Monsignor Richard Challoner, Bishop of Deboren, at the present time Vicar-Apostolic of London.

The same Vicar-Apostolic, far from having any ambition or desire to increase his jurisdiction in those parts, would regard with evident pleasure an act of the Sacred Congregation relieving him of a burden which is already too great for him, and to which he is unable to give the necessary attention. The great distance of those provinces from his residence in London hinders him from visiting them personally. And, therefore, he cannot have the information necessary to know abuses and to correct them; he cannot administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to those faithful who remain totally deprived of this spiritual aid; he cannot furnish them with priests, partly for the same reason of remoteness and partly because of the lack of the necessary means to meet the required outlay.

If the sacred congregation, moved by these considerations and by others which will easily come to mind, considers it meet to create a Vicar-Apostolic over the other English colonies and islands, it seems that the city of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, would be the place best suited for him to reside in, for the reason that it is a very populous city and is moreover a seaport, and consequently is convenient for the easy exchange of letters with the other provinces of the mainland, as also with the islands. To these various reasons may be added the fact that there is no place within the English dominions where the Catholic Religion is exercised with greater freedom.

(Given by the Agent of England.)

BOOK REVIEWS

The Writing of History: An Introduction to Historical Method. By F. M. Fling, Ph.D. Yale University Press, 1920. Pp. 195.

I count this book a distinct failure-in form, make-up, style, and in choice of examples. Dr. Fling says that it is not a revised edition of his Outline, which has been out of print a score of years, but that it is an entirely new work. Bernheim, to whom the book is dedicated, would hardly approve the title selected by Dr. Fling. The two terms: Writing of History and Introduction are not synonymous. There is a constant parallel in these pages to the rigid technical work done in the chemical laboratory. The simile is not a mistaken one, but the processes carried on in the laboratory are not wholly identical, except in the imperious necessity of accuracy and patience which rule the test tube and the reagent. Dr. Fling has not given us the textbook for historical method we need, and need badly, in our classes. He was one of the first to make Bernheim's Lehrbuch known to students in the United States, and his Outline of Historical Method, published in 1899, still holds the field as a very practicable manual in English. If I might sum my criticism up in a word, it is this: in the Outline, the author visualized a help for beginners; in this latter volume he has forgotten the beginner, and visualizes the finished scholar. The chief defects of the books are the lack of typographical aids and the limited ambitus of source-examples. No one would publish for the student a textbook in Chemistry in this way. The style is involved. There is no aid to the eye in the pages, and entirely too much is taken for granted. For one who has finished his study in historical method, the book would be a valuable Vade Mecum, but no teacher could use the book for a class, even of graduate beginners. Any one of a half-dozen works on the same subject would fill our need much better. Battaini, Manuale di Metodologia Storica; Albers, Manuale di Propedeutica Storica; Benigni, Historiae Ecclesiasticae Propaedeutica; Fonck, Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten; Villada, Como se aprende a trabajar cientifiamente, and especially Deschepper, Inleiding tot de Studie der Kerkgeschiedenis, are all of more in