ard medical books, which without exception advise them to take the life of a dangerous foetus almost as unconcernedly as they might prescribe an active drug, or in any case to put utility before justice. There is, therefore, an urgent necessity that competent men fix that shifting part of ethics and moral theology called pastoral medicine, and these essays are presented as a temporary bridge to serve in crossing a corner of the bog until better engineers lay down a permanent causeway.

"Some may think that the authors are inclined toward an exaggerated charity in suggesting the measure of responsibility for many human actions, but the physician that is brought much into contact with those suffering from mental defects of various kinds soon learns how easily complete responsibility becomes marred. Responsibility is dependent entirely upon free will; and while the great principle of free will remains solid in truth, no two men are free in exactly the same manner. Physical conditions have not a little to do with the modifications of freedom of the will. To point out this fact to the clergyman and the physician has been our intention, for a proper appreciation of it will widen the bounds of charity and save many that are more sinned against than sinning from the injury of grievous misjudgment. It is better to run the risk of exculpating a few individuals whose responsibility is not entirely clear when the application of the same principles lifts many others above the rash judgment of those who can be of most help to them."

Apart from the information contained in this preface, it is useful as a specimen of the ability of the authors to think correctly and express themselves clearly. Both are able men, and their ability has been proved. Dr. Walsh needs no introduction to the readers of the QUARTERLY, for they have on more than one occasion been entertained and instructed by him.

The chapters of the book have the following headings: "Eotopic Gestation," "Pelvic Tumors in Pregnancy," "Abortion, Miscarriage and Premature Labor," "The Cæsarean Section and Craniotomy," "Maternal Impressions," "Human Terata and the Sacraments," "Social Medicine," "Some Aspects of Intoxication," "Heredity, Physical Disease and Moral Weakness," "Typnotism, Suggestion and Crime," "Unexpected Death," "Unexpected Death in Special Diseases," "The Moment of Death," "The Priest in Infectious Diseases," "Infectious Diseases in Schools," "School Hygiene," "Mental Diseases and Spiritual Direction," "Neurasthenia," "Hysteria," "Menstrual Diseases," "Chronic Disease and Responsibility," "Epilepsy and Responsibility," "Psychic Epilepsy and Secondary Personality," "Impulse and Responsibility," "Criminology and the Habitual Criminal," "Paranoia: A Study in Cranks," "Suicides," "Venereal Diseases and Marriage,"

"Social Diseases," "De Impedimento Matrimonii Dirimente Impotentia," "Bloody Sweat."

FREE WILL, and Four English Philosophers (Hobbes, Locke, Hume and Mill). By the Rev. Joseph Rickaby, S. J. "The belief in freedom is at the root of our entire conception of personality."-Mallock, "Reconstruction of Belief." 12mo., pp. 234. Burns & Oates, 28 Orchard street, London, W. Benziger Brothers, New York, Chicago, Cincinnati. Father Rickaby's introductory remarks are so very characteristic, and at the same time serve as a specimen of his style, while explaining his purpose and plan, that we subjoin them without comment:

"In their original form these pages were written in the years 1871-4. Since then they have been submitted to much castigation and amendment, less perhaps than they deserve, at the hands of the writer, then youthful, now an elderly man. This fact may account for some inequalities of style. Certain 'tender memories of the past' have stayed my hand from pruning away all traces of the exuberance of youth.

"Meanwhile, the importance of the subject has grown rather than diminished, chiefly, I think, owing to the prevalence of the Kantian philosophy. I may as well forewarn the reader that Kant is not discussed here, except indirectly, in so far the phenomenalism of Hume may be considered to have prepared the way of Kant. I have written elsewhere: 'Though men are slow to see it and are loth to own it, from reminiscences I think of the odium theologicum hanging about the question, free will still remains the hub and centre of philosophical speculation. In this work the subject is treated entirely on philosophical grounds; that is to say, there is no reference to grace, predestination or the Fall. Thus St. Augustine stands out of the controversy; so, too, Calvin and Jansenius. My method is to quote a passage from the English philosopher under examination, and then discuss it. The method has its drawbacks, but it ensures definiteness and seems about as fair to the philosopher discussed as any other form of procedure. It is not the writer's fault if the reader has not his Hobbes, or his Locke, or his Hume by his side, and does not read round and study in the context the extract presented to him.

"The fact that man has free will is far more certain-it is a point of Catholic faith-than any explanation how he has it. As to how free will works, the Church has given no explanation; there is much divergence even of the orthodox opinion, and, wherever my reading has traveled, considerable obscurity. The fact is usually proved by the indirect method of enlarging upon the consequences of a denial. of free will. That method I too have frequently employed. But

further, I offer some positive view of the precise working of free will. I have not borrowed it from Locke. The view I take is briefly this: To will at all, our will must be struck by a motive, which raises in us what I have called a 'spontaneous complacency.' As the four philosophers under review all agree, and I agree with them, this complacency is a fact of physical sequence, a necessity, under the circumstances. But it is not yet a volition. It does not become a volition until it is hugged, embraced, enhanced, under advertence, by the conscious self. This process takes time-I do not mean so many seconds measured by the watch, for thought time goes on other wheels than motion time-but still it takes time. Free will turns upon the absence of any need of your making up your mind at once to accept the particular complacency thus present in your soul; observe, you cannot here and now accept any other; you cannot here and now accept what is not here and now offered; you cannot just at present fling yourself upon the absent. Thus time is gained for rival motives to come up, according to the ordinary laws of association, perception or personal intercourse; each of these motives excites its own necessary complacency, till at last some present complacency is accepted and endorsed by the person, and that is an act of free will. Not to have a regressus in infinitum, we must further observe that no volition is requisite simply to hesitate, delay and withhold your acceptance of any present complacency-in fact, to remain undecided and irresolute. You may, of course, put forth a positive volition to wait and see more of the question; all I say is that such a positive volition is not indispensable; your will may hang fire without your resolving to be irresolute; which important point Locke never came clearly to remark.

"This explanation may not account for free will in God and in His holy angels; but in so difficult a matter it is much if we can form some theory which the philosopher may debate, and a sound theologian will not bar as heretical, 'erroneous' or 'temerarious.' I may add that while I am much concerned that my reader should not be a determinist, I am comparatively indifferent whether he accepts my explanation of free will, or any other, or regards the process as inexplicable."

A LIVING WAGE: Its Ethical and Economic Aspects. By John A. Ryan, S. T. L., Professor of Ethics and Economics in the St. Paul Seminary. With an introduction by Richard T. Ely, Ph. D., LL. D. 12mo., pp. 346. Macmillan Company, New York.

As the question of the relations between capital and labor are pressing harder each day, everything new on the subject is worthy

of serious attention. We shall never have peace between these two classes, so closely related and yet so far apart, until the question of a fair wage is finally settled. The term "a living wage" is misleading, because there are different standards of living. It is a mistake to say, as so many employers do, that they are justified in paying as low a rate of wages as men will work for. It would be nearer the truth to say that they are bound to pay them the highest rate of wages commensurate with a just compensation for their own services and a reasonable return on the capital invested. Moreover, they are bound to treat them as fellow-men and not as cattle. In other words, they must do more than pay them wages. They must take a personal interest in them and their families, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, at work and at play. All this is required on ethical grounds, and until it is done, it seems vain to hope that employers will treat employes fairly in the matter of compensation for labor. The employer may not do it directly; he may employ agents, but the balance will never be struck in any other way. Law cannot enter into the settlement of all the minute questions that arise in the transaction of any large business where the varying capacities of men and the constantly changing values of materials and products have to be taken into consideration. Unless the man in control desires to be just and tries to be just, according to the law of God, even when the law of man cannot reach him, we shall never be able to regulate capital and labor, for the court of last resort will be the court of might—not right.

Father Ryan's book is especially interesting because it deals with the ethical aspect of the wage question as well as with the economic aspect. It seems clear to us that there is no other reasonable way of dealing with it. The author understands his subject and he develops it well. His statements are direct, his reasoning logical, his language clear and his conclusions inevitable. This short quotation will serve as an example:

"This work does not profess to present a complete theory of justice concerning wages. It lays down no minute rules to determine the full measure of compensation that any class of laborers ought to receive. The principles of ethics have not yet been applied to the condition of modern industry with sufficient intelligence, or confidence, or thoroughness, to provide a safe basis for such an undertaking. The conclusion to which it would lead would either be too general to be of any practical value or too uncertain to yield more than a misleading approximation to ethical truth. At any rate, the doctrine advanced would probably fail to convince any considerable section of those to whom it was addressed. The great majority of fair-minded persons believe, indeed, that labor does not get its full

share of the wealth which it helps to create, but they are not agreed as to the precise measure of that ideal share.

"Upon one principle of partial justice unprejudiced men are, however, in substantial agreement. They hold that wages should be sufficiently high to enable the laborer to live in a manner consistent with the dignity of a human being. To defend this general conviction by setting forth the basis of industrial, religious and moral fact upon which it rests is the aim of the present volume. Several considerations have led the author to think that this task is well worth while. In the first place, the living wage doctrine points the way to a very considerable amelioration of the condition of millions of American workingmen; in the second place, a living wage would enable those raised to its level to improve their position still further; and, in the third place, this volume shows that religion as represented by the oldest and largest of Christian denominations progresses, nay, urges, a definite and considerable measure of industrial justice.

"While insisting that every laborer has a right to at least a living wage, the author does not commit himself to the view that this quantity of remuneration is full and adequate justice in the case of any class of laborers. His concern is solely with the ethical minimum."

ECCLESIA: The Church of Christ.

A planned series of papers_by_Dom. Gilbert Dolan, O. S. B., Father Benedict Zimmerman, O. D. C., Father R. H. Benson, M. A., Dom. John Chapman, O. S. B., Dom. J. D. Breen, O. S. B., A. H. Mathew and Father Peter Finlay, S. J. Edited by Arnold Harris Mathew. 12mo., pp. 182. Burns & Oates, 28 Orchard street, London, W. Benziger Brothers, New York, Chicago, Cincinnati.

This book deals with a very important question. We do not dwell enough on the teaching authority of the Church, in existence before the New Testament. Its excellence is indicated by these words of the editor:

"In arranging this volume my desire has been to provide a concise and simple explanation of what Catholics understand by 'the Notes' of the Christian Church. To the Reverend Fathers who have kindly contributed articles, written independently one of the other, I desire to express my thanks.

"The reader will do well to bear in mind that our Lord founded His visible Church and that it had become recognized, widespread and numerically powerful before any portion of the New Testament was written. The divine religion, inaugurated and provided with various marks and prerogatives by Christ, had no need of any books as sources of knowledge or doctrine, since it was endowed with the fullest deposit of revelation by our Lord from the beginning, together with the safeguards divinely appointed for the preservation and the transmission of that revelation to the human race for all time.