Page:English Historical Review Volume 37.djvu/440

 432 REVIEWS OF BOOKS July now familiar expression ' the Absolute '. We may find in his writings anticipations of Leibniz's doctrine that no two individual things are exactly alike, and of Hegel's criticism of the principle of contradiction ; the notion of development, however, does not appear to be discoverable in him. In the period which followed his own his influence on the most adventurous minds was considerable ; Leonardo da Vinci, Giordano Bruno, and Kepler are known to have been among his admirers. The above account may give our readers some notion of the contents of Dr. Vansteenberghe's book. We have already found him disposed to judge his hero from the standpoint of a Koman Catholic of to-day, which was far from being that of Nicholas himself. The curious eirenicon called De Pace Fidei, in which the Cusan imagined a congress of religions under the presidency of the Divine Word, especially scandalizes him. For here not only does Nicholas pave the way for Luther by insisting upon justification by faith rather than upon good works, and show himself ready to reduce the number of the sacraments and even to consider circumstances in which the Eucharist itself might be dispensed with, but, as Dr. Vansteenberghe exclaims, ' Que devient, des lors, la hierarchic catholique ? II n'y a pas un mot sur le Pape, ni sur l']glise dans le De Pace fidei.' No one, however, will be in danger of being misled by this undisguised parti pris. But caution should be used in reference to Dr. Vansteenberghe's statements about authors read or used by Cusanus. They do not suggest a great familiarity with classical and medieval literature. What is the Horloge de saint Anselme on p. 262 ? Horologium in the list of books recommended by Gerard van Groot to the Brothers of the Common Life is probably a mistake for Monologium. From a remark on p. 282 one suspects that Dr. Vansteenberghe is acquainted with Mon- taigne's essay on Raymond de Sebonde, but not with the Theologia Naturalis itself, about which there is nothing at all sceptical. Nor does the allusion to Plato's Parmenides on p. 431 suggest a first-hand knowledge of that dialogue. Gassendi, by the way, is mentioned on p. 444 as if he were the contemporary of men who flourished a century or more earlier than he. One would wish for further evidence of the Cusan's acquaintance with the ' maitres chartrains ', Thierry of Chartres and Bernard of Tours. At first sight it seems decidedly improbable. On p. 5 we should apparently read ' Marguerite ' for ' Catherine ' (in view of p. 4) ; and in the quotation from De Docta Ignorantia, p. 324 n. 3, the comma after ' Phaedone ' should be placed after ' Chalcidius '. There are misprints of ' patriotique ' for ' patristique ' on p. 216, and of e'oo-is for eWis on p. 388. The long list of authorities consulted con- tains no English books, though two English periodicals, the Dublin Review and the Church Quarterly Review, are included. C. C. J. WEBB. The King's Council in the North. By R. R. REID, M.A., D.Lit. (London : Longmans, 1921.) IT is with great pleasure that historians, and those of the north in particular, welcome the publication of Miss Reid's long-expected work on the council in the north. It fulfils all expectations, and those were great, for it is a most