econd
chronological; the third historical; the fourth topographical; the fifth
an onomasticon, or glossary; the sixth moral or dialectic, suggesting
topics for preachers.

Prefixed to each volume will be found a dedication to some of the
numerous patrons of the Bollandists, followed by an account of the life
and labours of any of their Company who had died since their last
publication. Thus, opening the first volume for March, we find, in
order, a dedication to the reigning Pope, Clement IX; the life of
Bollandus; an alphabetical index of all the Saints celebrated during the
first eight days of March; a chronological list of Saints discussed
under the head of March 1; the lives of Saints, including the Greek ones
discovered by Henschenius during his Italian tour, ranged under their
various natal days, followed by five indexes as already described. But,
the reader may well ask, is there no general index, no handy means of
steering one's way through this vast mass of erudition, without
consulting each one of those fifty or sixty volumes? Without such an
apparatus, indeed, this giant undertaking would be largely in vain; but
here again the forethought of Bollandus from the very outset of his
enterprise made provision for a general index, which was at last
published at Paris, in 1875. We possess also in Potthast's "Bibliotheca
Historica Medii Aevi," a most valuable guide through the mazes of the
"Acta Sanctorum," while for a very complete analysis of every volume,
joined with a lucid explanation of any changes in arrangement, we may
consult De Backer's "Bibliotheque des Ecrivains de la Compagnie de
Jesus," t. v., under the name "Bollandus."

But some may say, what is the use of consulting these volumes? Are they
not simply gigantic monuments of misplaced and misapplied human
industry, gathering up every wretched nursery tale and village
superstition, and transmitting them to future ages? Such certainly has
been the verdict of some who knew only the backs of the books, or who at
farthest had opened by chance upon some passage where--true to their
rule which compelled them to print their manuscripts as they found
them--the Bollandists have recorded the legendary stories of the Middle
Ages. Yet even for an age which searches diligently, as after hid
treasure, for the old folk-lore, the nursery rhymes, the popular songs
and legends of Scandinavia, Germany, and Greece, the legends of mediaeval
Christendom might surely prove in