Page:English Historical Review Volume 35.djvu/592

 684 REVIEWS OF BOOKS October described as a branch of science, would be sorry if he left the impression that these contingencies, although ' compatible with the strictest inter- pretation of the principle of causation ', are sufl&cient to render all scientific treatment of history impossible. Contingency or chance is only a phrase used to cover a part of our ignorance. Many of the * optimists ' referred to in this volume may have forgotten its existence, and it is perhaps fortunate that they did, for nothing is so likely to militate against the advance of knowledge as a continual reflexion on the insignificance of its present size in comparison with what has still to be found out. So too we may be serious students of history, impelled to it by the conviction that something at least can be found out about the past, without claiming to be prophets as to the future in any but a very general and carefully guarded sense. P. V. M. Benecke. A History of Penance, being a Study of the Authorities for the whole Church to A. D. 450, for tKt Western Church from a. d. 450 to a. d 1215. By the Rev. Oscar D. Watkins. 2 vols. (London : Longmans, 1920.) The title of this book hardly does fvJl justice to the contents. Each chapter in chronological order is prefaced by a full collection of passages bearing on the subject in the original languages : these extracts are discussed, and generally translated, in the course of the chapter, and the final chapter of each volume summarizes the conclusions derived from the evidence that has been adduced. Thus the historical student who is not interested in doctrinal minutiae can read the two review chapters, checking conclusions by reference to the detailed studies ; others will take the chapters and authorities in order, while the theological student will find a catena of references conveniently arranged. With some exceptions, such as the fatuous story of the priest-penitentiary of Constantinople, which Mr. Watkins repeats from Socrates and Sozomen, authorities are employed with careful attention to the value of each citation. Thus the evidence of Chrysostom at Antioch is distinguished from that relating to Constantinople, in view of the diverse characteristics of the populations of these cities ; and, when Gregory Thaimiaturgus appeals to the Bible and to principles of equity, it is evident that he is building up pro- cedure, and not (like Basil a century later) developing a system already in force. The facile method of quoting * make exomologesis before a sacerdos ' as though in Cyprian's time it was the equivalent of ' make private confession to a priest ' finds no encouragement in Mr. Watkins's pages. Indeed, he sometimes rather imderrates the available witness. He lays stress upon the paucity of evidence for the prevalence of the system of graded penance established in some Asian provinces ; but where would evidence be extant, except in notorious cases such as that of Theodosius after the massacre at Thessalonica, or in the private corre- spondence of an ecclesiastic, of which the few surviving collections (Cyprian, Basil, Jerome) show that similar discipline was by no means abnormal ? A student of biographies in Who's Who ? might fail to find evidence of expulsion from school or college ; but he would be rash to conclude that such things were unknown.