In 1548, however, as a result of a petition of the Cortes to Charles V, vigorous measures were taken against indecent performances; and between 1587 and 1600, such effective destruction was made by the clerical commissioners of dramatic productions that of a series of forty-three volumes, there remained copies of but ten.[154] =3. The Theatre in France, 16th Century.=--The French Church of the 16th century did not manifest antagonism to the stage. The edict of 1548, which, for the purpose of protecting religion against indignities, ordered that dramatic performances should be restricted to subjects that were “profane, decent, and free from scandal,” emanated not from the divines, but from the Parliament of Paris. The Church councils of the provinces restricted their interference to the prohibition of the use for such performances of consecrated buildings.[155] CHAPTER XI THE LITERARY POLICY OF THE MODERN CHURCH 1. The Indexes of Leo XIII 1881–1900. 2. Index Revision and Reform 1868–1880. 3. The Index and the Liberal Catholics, “Romanus” and the “Tablet” 1897. 4. The Present Methods of Roman Censorship =1. The Indexes of Leo XIII, 1881–1900.= Rome, 1881, 1884, 1896.--_Index Librorum Prohibitorum sanctissimi Domini nostri Leonis XIII, Pont. Max. Jussu editus, cum appendice usque 1895, Augustae Taurinorum. Typog. pontif. 1896._ Rome, 1900.--_Index Librorum Prohibitorum SSMI D. N. Leonis XIII, jussu et auctoritate recognitus et editus; praemittuntur Constitutiones Apostolicae de examine et prohibitione Librorum. Romae, Typis Vaticanis, 1900._ The two Indexes issued by Leo XIII, the first compiled in 1881 and reprinted in 1884 and 1896 with supplements, and the second in 1900, constitute at the date of this writing (December, 1906) the latest expression of the censorship policy of the Church of Rome. It remains to be seen whether Pius X (who is not credited with any such measure of literary interests as characterised his scholarly predecessor) will undertake the production of any addition to the long series of Roman prohibitory Indexes. The first of the two Indexes of Leo is, bibliographically speaking, a fairly creditable piece of work. The titles are, with few exceptions, correctly presented, and in this respect it makes a noteworthy exception to all the preceding Roman Indexes, excepting only that of Benedict, issued in 1758. Its typography is, however, undignified. The volume contains in all about 6800 entries. The number of separate works considered is, however, very much smaller, as in a large number of instances each book is entered twice in the alphabetical list, once under its own title, and again under the name of the author. The volume of 1896 presents as front matter: