Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/930

920 Revieivs of Books entered into each composition, and the authors of each are established ; in the second place, the order of each of them is demonstrated. J- W. T. The Golden Sayings of the Blessed Brother Giles of Assist. Newly translated and edited, together with a. Sketch of his Life, by the Rev. Fr. Paschal Robinson, of the Order of Friars Minor. (Philadelphia, The Dolphin Press, 1907, pp. Ixiii, 141.) In the Franciscan order there existed from an early date a school of asceticism remarkable at once for elevation of thought and vivacity of expression. Of this twofold charac- teristic, one of the best exemplifications is this collection of sayings, which is ranked by the Bollandists at the head of its class. Giles was of the first company of St. Francis and outlived him thirty-five years. To him, as a link between the first and second generations of Francis- cans, many of the younger members of the order resorted for advice after the death of its founder, and Giles's replies to such inquiries are the genesis of this collection. Giles himself was unlettered, and the identity of the collector, or collectors, is unknown. The collection ex- isted, in manuscript, as early as the thirteenth century, and it was first printed, in Latin, at Mainz in 1463. Notwithstanding the mention by Sbaralea of an English translation supposed to have been issued at Douai in 1633, the present volume appears to be the first English edition. The Golden Sayings themselves are of historical value as illustrating the spiritual side of early Franciscan teaching, an aspect hitherto inade- quately recognized; and historians will appreciate especially the editor's scholarly introduction. Select Statutes and Other Constitutional Documents Illustrative of the Rcigus of Elisabeth and James I., edited by G. W. Prothero, Litt.D., Honorary Fellow of King's College. Third edition. (Oxford, Claren- don Press, 1906, pp. cxxv, 490.) This standard and indispensable work now appears in a third edition. The changes are few. One statement in the introduction has been modified, and six documents have been added in the appendix. The pagination of the body of the book remains unchanged in the three editions. None of the new material is here printed for the first time. Air. Lingelbach has made us familiar with the Charter of the Merchant Adventurers, 1564. There is a Letter of Marque of the year 1585, with two accompanying papers, which throw light upon the half-piratical methods of reprisal in vogue among reputable governments during the Elizabethan age. The Minute Book of the Dedham Classis, 1582-1589, throws light upon the introduction of Presbyterianism into England. The striking similarity between these " conferences " and the " exer- cises " authorized in the diocese of Peterborough in 1571, three years before Queen Elizabeth suppressed " those vain prophecyings ", makes clear how short the step would have been in those early years to com- plete Presbyterianism. The Commission for Depopulation, 1607, shows