Milton, and a third author whose condemnation has in like manner been cancelled is Leibnitz. The Index of Leo concerns itself, further, with the correction of certain condemnations that had been made, under general decrees, of books having to do with questions that had finally been adjusted through some later utterances of the Church. In 1661, Alexander VII had condemned in a general decree all writings having to do with (either for question or for defence) the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. In 1854, this doctrine was accepted by the Church as a dogma and the decree of Alexander was thereby cancelled. The Index of Leo recalls the prohibition of the books previously condemned which had defended the doctrine. The great number of Italian books which swell, in the Leonine Index, the list of modern publications, are very largely concerned with the issues, that have been fought over and that are not yet adjusted, which arose from the development of the Kingdom of Italy. The condemnation in 1871 of two essays by Lord Acton was due to the approval given by Acton to the doctrines of the group of Catholic reformers led by Döllinger. The comparatively small selection that has been made in this Index and in those that more immediately preceded it of works from the countries outside of Italy was due to the fact that the examiners of the Congregation have felt under responsibility to pass upon only those books which were directly brought to their attention. “The Index,” says Hilgers, “has never given consideration to the person or authority of the author. The decision has always been arrived at purely on the basis of the influence, bad or good, of the book. It has not hesitated to condemn utterances of the theological faculty of the University of Paris on the one hand, or acts of the Parliament of Paris on the other. It was ready to condemn ordinances of Duke Leopold I of Lorraine, the treatises of James I of England, and the works of the ‘Philosopher of Sans-Souci.’ It would be difficult in fact to contend that the material contained in these last was not likely to exert a pernicious influence. The royal writer of Sans-Souci scoffs at the immortality of the soul and, with his leader Voltaire, defends a religious nihilism. He who is concerned with maintenance whether of the throne, the altar, or the State, who feels a responsibility for the welfare of the people, will hardly guide his actions by the philosopher Voltaire.”[168] In December, 1901, a journal printed in Rome for English-speaking readers, under the title of the _Roman World_, prints the following comment on the Index of Leo, a copy of which had, as the writer of the article reports, been placed in his hands by a book collector of New York: