Atkinson: JMicJicl dc P Hospital 127 Michel dc I' Hospital. Being the Lothian Prize Essay, 1899. By C. T. Atkinson, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford ; late Demy of Magdalen College. (London, New York and Bombay : Longmans, Green and Co. 1900. Pp. viii, 200.) The important part taken by the great Chancellor in the exciting drama of the French political and religious struggles of the sixteenth cen- tury amply justifies the production of this little book, and might have warranted the composition of a still larger work. In the madness of the contending parties, 1' Hospital perhaps above all others strove to hold a position of serene impartiality and imperturbable conviction that in the end righteousness would win the day. "Patience, patience, all will come out aright," was his frequently repeated motto. That it did not, was no fault of his sagacity, but the result of circumstances beyond his control. Mr. Atkinson has told with care and with accuracy the story of the short but eventful period to which his activity was limited. He has added to the picture as usually drawn some traits derived from a particu- lar study of the Chancellor's own works, which are, however, of Hmited scope. More that is striking has been obtained from the recently pub- lished volumes of Hector de la Ferriere devoted to the letters of Catha- rine de' Medici, forming part of the magnificent Collection de Documents Ini'dits issued by the French government. The result is a compact volume which will prove serviceable not less as a sketch of the course of events in the reign of Francis II. and the first years of Charles IX. than as a partial biography of 1' Hospital. We rise from a careful perusal of It confirmed in the impression of the perfect honesty and integrity of the Chancellor and of the misfortune it was to France that from the very first he was engaged in a hopeless endeavor. This is much, even if Mr. At- kinson has not made any sensible addition to our stock of knowledge on this point. He well observes that " the clue to all I'Hospital's measures and to his general policy is to be found in his absolute identification of religion, justice and toleration. He was jus: because he was religious, he was tolerant because he was just." Yet, strange to say, neither friends nor enemies were agreed as to what I'Hospital's particular re- ligious views were. His wife, daughter and son-in-law were all Hugue- nots, but he certainly was not a Huguenot, not even a crypto-Huguenot. Mr. Atkinson enthusiastically finds "ample justification in his works for the conclusion that 1' Hospital was no bigoted Catholic but no Calvinist, still less an atheist — a Catholic rather than a Huguenot, if one must place him on one side or the other, but above all a sincere and devout Christian " (p. 173). Mr. Atkinson's style is simple and unadorned. He tells the tale he has taken in hand without over-great excitement ; so quietly in fact as to appear unmoved by its thrilling incidents. The language is that of every -day life and we are scarcely surprised at the use of expressions ap- proaching contemporary slang. On page S4 we read that religion was
