NEW PUBLICATIONS.Terra Incognita; or, The Convents of the United Kingdom.By John Nicholas Murphy. London: Burns & Oates. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)An unknown land indeed is this that Mr. Murphy traverses—unknown, it is to be feared, not only to his “Protestant fellow-subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, for whose information it has been written” and to whom it is dedicated by the author, but also to too many of his Catholic fellow subjects, as well as to Catholics generally. The book is, in brief, a history of the growth and spread of the religious Orders in Great Britain and Ireland, the greater portion of it being devoted to their work and increase since a removal of the penal statutes enabled them to return in safety to the United Kingdom. The interest of the narrative is simply absorbing. The work accomplished by the Orders in face of a multitude of difficulties and dangers seems little short of the miraculous. They crept back singly or in little groups from France and Belgium, whence the first French Revolution drove them out. Thither they had flown for refuge when the greater revolution of the sixteenth century banished them and their faith from what had been a land of saints. Units gathered units, brothers brothers, sisters sisters, Congregations other Congregations, Orders affiliated Orders, and within less than a century we behold the consecrated yet desecrated soil of England and Ireland dotted with religious houses, asylums, schools, colleges, where the old faith is taught and practised. Those who are in search of the heroic, the sensational, the pathetic, the marvellous, should read this book. Their appetite will be satisfied with a healthy food. It is the old story over and over again of what can be accomplished by those who are really inflamed with a love of God and their neighbor. No one can rise from the story ofSt.Vincent de Paul or Nano Nagle without a moistening of the eye and a better feeling in his heart.Mr. Murphy’s book was publishedsome years ago, and the extracts from secular and Protestant journals in Great Britain and Ireland show how truly he met a popular want at a time when men like Mr. Newdegate were bent on satisfying their own morbid curiosity and insane hatred of Catholicity by forcing themselves on the peaceful communities of Catholic ladies. If we have any Newdegates among us, they would do well to take up Mr. Murphy’s volume, and see for themselves how these “dark and cloistered women” spend their lives. The present volume is a new and improved edition. As the author tells us in the preface, “The statistics of convents have been largely amplified and brought down to the present day. Several chapters have been re-written, and eleven new chapters have been introduced.”The Catholic’s Latin Instructor in the Principal Church Offices and Devotions.For the use of choirs, convents, and mission schools, and for self-teaching. By theRev.E. Caswall, of the Oratory. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)Father Caswall has done the Catholic laity a great service by thisInstructor. As he truly observes in his preface, “A knowledge of Latin is not needed for Catholic worship.… Nevertheless, to those whose education admits of it an acquaintance with those portions of the Latin Liturgy which are in most frequent public use must ever be a legitimate and worthy object of interest.” Accordingly, he has put himself to the very considerable trouble of preparing a manual, which, although an experiment, will be found, we have no doubt, all that is needed for enabling the laity of either sex, who have an English education, to make themselves familiar with the language of the church’s liturgy. It deals with grammar as little as possible, he says, yet there will be found in PartII.more grammar than his words may lead us to suppose. Moreover, there areample directions given, at every turn, for the right use of the book.The work is primarily designed, as the title-page indicates, for choirs and mission-schools. With regard to choirs, it is superfluous to observe how much better and more pleasing to God is an intelligent than a non-intelligent singing of the Latin. With regard to schools, especially those where elementary instruction in secular Latin is given, “Catholics will enjoy,” says our author, “in thelivingcharacter of the language as used in the church offices, a great and singular advantage.” And further, “What betterfood for the mindcan we offer to our children,” he asks, “than the simple translation from Latin into English—after a method easy alike to girls or boys—of what they constantly hear and often join in singing in church?” Then, as to the adult laity, there is “a large class of persons who, while provided with missals and prayer-books abounding in Latin text and side-by-side translations, yet, from want of a very little practical insight, fail to derive from these manuals the advantage intended. Others there are, devout persons of either sex, who might greatly profit by the occasional use of Latin prayers, but are restrained (and ladies especially) by an idea that in order to this they must first have a complete knowledge of Latin. Such a bugbear—for it is little else—will, let us hope, quickly yield to a steady practice of the present exercises.”The work consists of two Parts: “PartI.containing Benediction, the choir portions of Mass, the Serving at Mass, and various Latin prayers in ordinary use; PartII.comprising additional portions of the Mass, Requiem Mass, Litany of the Saints, Vespers, Compline, and other offices and devotions, with a short Grammar and Vocabulary.”The only stricture we have to make regards the pronunciation ofA. The author says: “A, when fully sounded, is to be pronounced asainfar. Examples: Pater,Parter; laudamus, laudarmus; ora, orar.” This is a very strange mistake. Had he heard, as we have, “Gloriarrin in excelsis,” “Benedictarres,” “super omniarrest,” etc., he would never have directed that “ashould be pronounced asainfar.” We are aware that the Englishris fainter than the Irish or American. Still, should nothbe substituted forrin the above? Pahter,laudahmus, orahare the exact sounds.With this very small exception, then, we can only speak of Father Caswall’s manual with unqualified praise, and hope it may obtain the wide circulation it deserves.Ecclesiastical Discourses delivered on Special Occasions.By Bishop Ullathorne. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)“These discourses,” says their distinguished author in his preface, “are called ecclesiastical because they were either addressed to ecclesiastics or treat on ecclesiastical subjects. They form a volume embracing certain points of pastoral theology—a subject on which we have very little that is Catholic in our language, if we except the excellent little book by Canon Oakeley.” They will therefore be specially valuable to our clergy, while, at the same time, the bishop “trusts there is much in them which may offer solid instruction to thoughtful Catholic laymen.” One of the most important, and the one to which we particularly invite the attention of our readers, both clerical and lay, is that on mixed marriages, “delivered on occasion of the Fourth Diocesan Synod of Birmingham.” Bishop Ullathorne is not afraid to speak plainly on this subject. Indeed, his language is startling but leaves no room for question of its truth. He speaks, too, from an extensive experience of the evils resulting from mixed marriages. Here is a passage (the italics are our own),p.89:“It would be as unjust as ungenerous not to admit that thereareProtestants who loyally keep the promises they have made in marriage with Catholics, and who truly respect the faith and religious exercises of their Catholic spouse, and fulfil their pledges respecting the education of their children.Butprudence looks towhat generally happens, and not to the exceptional cases. And wisdom never runs any serious risks in matters of the soul.The individuals, and even the families, that have fallen from the church through mixed marriages, amount to numbers incredible to those who have not examined the question thoroughly; and the number of Catholics bound at this moment in mixed marriages, who live in a hard and bitter conflict for the exerciseof their religion, for that of their children, and in certain cases for the soundness of their moral life, could they, with all the facts, be known, would deter any thoughtful Catholic from contracting a mixed marriage.”The bishop has extended this discourse in order to give the early discipline of the church on the matter. He further makes his argument impregnable by citations from popes and councils. Moreover, he concludes the instruction “with an admirable passage from the synodal address published by the hierarchy of Australia”; and the condition of Catholics in Australia, as regards the ordinary excuses for mixed marriages, bears striking resemblance, be it remembered, to their position here.Every-day Topics: A Book of Briefs. By J. G. Holland. New York: Scribner, Armstrong &Co.1876.To one person at least, and to one only, this volume ofTopicsis likely to be of lasting interest. That person is the author. TheTopicsare short articles on a variety of subjects which have appeared from month to month in Scribner’s magazine. They are of about the average length of an ordinary newspaper article, and of about equal depth. They lack the newspaper liveliness, however, and the English is in great part of that slipshod style that is mistaken by so many nowadays for an evidence of careless strength. “Familiarly didactic” is the character that Dr. Holland in his preface seems to claim for this and others of his books, and the very phrase stamps the man. The book is tiresome, prosy, and fussy. Any one of the articles is too long for its purpose; what, then, must a volume of them be?Dr. Holland is apparently a Christian or nothing. He is for ever prating about “the church” and attacking “the world.” It is to be feared that his Christianity is of a very vague character. His zeal is unfortunately without knowledge. He is constantly making grave mistakes with the most solemn confidence in his own infallibility, and thunders away on every kind of subject with a “trenchant ignorance” that would be amusing did it not touch such grave matters. Dr. Holland may have the best intentions in the world, but he would do well to weigh his words a little before undertaking to champion “the church.” What particular“church” is he for ever defending? The Christian Church, he would doubtless reply. But which is the Christian Church? This is a question that Dr. Holland is quite capable of undertaking to decide in a future “Topic,” and he would do not only his own readers but the world at large infinite service by making this matter clear once for all.We are quite justified in putting this question to Dr. Holland; for everybody knows what a Catholic means when he speaks of “the church.” But in Dr. Holland’s “church” it is doubtful whether Catholics are allowed a place. At least, we should judge so from the manner in which he treats of them whenever their name occurs in theTopics.Linked Lives.By Lady Gertrude Douglas. New York: Benziger Brothers. 1876.The English Catholic journals greeted this story with such an unusual flourish of trumpets that we were led to expect something extraordinary in the way of novel-writing. It is extraordinary in no sense. It is not even extraordinarily bad. It is eminently dull, altogether commonplace, and only saved from utter insipidity by here and there an indication of real power.Of course it relies for its main interest on the good old English Catholic story-theme—conversion. To relieve the monotony of this subject, probably, the author sprinkled the narrative with dashes of what is meant for sensation. She takes us to the dens of thieves, to the reformatory, the prison, the court of justice. Such scenes may be rendered exciting—by a Dickens or a Victor Hugo. We are very happy to see that Lady Gertrude Douglas is not at all at home among them. All this portion of the book reads pretty much like an ordinary police report, and all the desire in the world on the reader’s part cannot invest Katie McKay or any of her companions with even a touch of the interest that Dickens threw around Nancy Sykes. Such themes should not be touched at all unless they can be made elevating. It takes a very experienced, strong, yet tender hand to bare the ulcers and foul sores of society. The process is a most delicate one. If well done, it excites pity, remorse, sorrow, indignation, that such things can be among Christianpeoples; if ill done, it is revolting and only excites disgust.Great pains have been bestowed on the delineation of the character of Mabel Forrester, and not without success. Indeed, she and her brother Guy, who is killed off too early, are almost the only interesting persons in the volume. By the way, what a lugubrious story it is! Everybody is constantly down at the mouth. Poor Guy is killed at a yacht-race, which he has just won. Katie McKay throws herself into the sea with her babe, which has been chloroformed (!) by Katie’s sister; and we could almost wish that Katie had been left in the sea. She is dragged out, however, to receive two years’ imprisonment. The rascal whom she married dies in prison. Her sister dies in her bed, but with a strong intimation that she is likely to be consigned to the lower regions. There are several other deaths of minor consequence; and finally, after being induced to accompany Mabel on a voyage to Australia, to assist at her wedding with her elderly lover, Hugh Fortescue—who, of course, is in the last stage of consumption at the time—the vessel takes fire and Mabel perishes. Equally of course, Hugh, as soon as he receives the news, dies also, “aged fifty-three,” as the tombstone erected to his memory in Australia informs us. Surely, after all this, we may say with Macbeth that we have “supped full of horrors,” and, like him also, we feel none the better for them.A great fault with the book, too, is that the fate of every one is foreshadowed early in the story, and the recurrence of such remarks as “But we must not anticipate,” “But of that anon,” is peculiarly exasperating when the whole murder is out in the very sentence that occasions such a remark. The convert-making is far too labored, and there is too much of it.We should not have been at the unpleasing pains to write of this book as we have done, did we not see signs in it of a really good Catholic story-writer, who is likely to be spoiled for any future work worthy of the name by the injudicious praise which has been lavished on this, which we take to be her first book. The lady can describe natural scenery well, can touch a tender chord with true pathos, can display strength at times. She only needs more interest of plot, and to avoid scenes and characters of whichshe knows little or nothing. All the plot in the present volume consists of the slowly-dragged-out conversion of Mabel to Catholicity—which religion clashes with the creed of the elderly and by no means pleasant parson to whom she is affianced—and the consequent breaking off of the match. Finally he also is converted, and thedénoûmentis as given above. To tag five hundred and twenty-five pages of a story on a plot of such very slender device is rather overweighting it. The French scenes are the best in the book, and even they are needlessly marred by what the author doubtless considers a beauty—the supposed literal translation of the French characters’ speech into English, which is a barbarism.The Illustrated Catholic Family Almanacfor the United States, for the Year of Our Lord 1877. New York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1877.The season would scarcely be itself without this admirable little annual. It is always bright, instructive, and amusing, and the number for the present year shows no falling off in these qualities. The first portion of theAlmanaccontains the usual calendars, astronomical and ecclesiastical, with the information respecting Catholic feasts and fasts necessary for the coming year. Among the biographical sketches, that of Dr. Brownson claims the first place. It is illustrated by an admirably-executed portrait. There are excellent portraits also of Bishop Verot, Archbishop Connolly of Halifax, N. S., VeryRev.Dr. Moriarty, O.S.A.,Rev.Francis Piquet, PiusVII., Vittoria Colonna, all accompanied by brief but interesting sketches. There are, as usual, pictures of old Catholic landmarks in this country, Ireland, and other lands, with pleasing descriptions. Among these, that ofSt.Joseph’s Church, in Philadelphia, is especially interesting. In addition to the complete and very valuable list of the popes, which was published for the first time last year, and is wisely retained in the present number, there is a complete catalogue of the kings of Ireland, from the Firbholg conquest down to the landing of HenryII.of England. To this is appended some valuable historical remarks. Indeed, there is not a page of thisAlmanacthat can be calleddull, and its cheapness happily places it within easy reach of every reader. We only wish that such cheapness and real excellence could be oftener combined in Catholic books.The Life and Letters of Sir Thomas More.By Agnes M. Stewart, authoress ofMargaret Roper, etc.8vo,pp.365. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.The lot of Sir Thomas More was cast in troublous times. He lived amid storms that wrecked many a noble life, and yet no man ever bore throughout a serener soul or a happier and gayer disposition. His character is a study of the most healthful sort; for it exhibits the rare picture of a man who deemed the sacrifice of power, wealth, place, friends, and life itself, to principle and conscience, too ordinary a duty to excite surprise. On whatever side we view the man, the hero comes to light. He lived in an atmosphere of his own creation, and whoever came within its influence left it a better and wiser mortal. He was, in the best sense of the word, a Christian philosopher and statesman. He would jest with Erasmus in antique phrase as though he had but returned from the portico, while a hair-shirt nettled his skin and his soul communed in frequent ejaculation with its Creator.As a letter-writer he will ever hold a foremost rank because of his sense, humor, wit, and grace of expression. Even the careless construction of some of his letters possesses a charm; for there you see the man disclosing himself without reserve—careful, indeed, that the picture be a true one, but indifferent as to the setting. What could be more delightful than his letters to his children while these were under the care of a tutor at home and he was engrossed by the weighty concerns of office? He flies to the pen as a refuge from distracting thoughts, and pours out his soul to his little ones with a sweetabandon; he is sportive and grave by turns and veils deep philosophy and wise counsels beneath the garb of a fresh and mirthful phraseology. He evidently believed with Horace:“Quamquam ridentem dicere verumQuid vetat?”“And how can you want matter of writing to me, who am delighted to hear either of your studies or your play, whom you may then exceedingly please when,having nothing to write of, you write as largely as you can of that nothing, than which nothing is more easy for you to do, especially being women, and therefore prattlers by nature, amongst whom a great story riseth out of nothing.” He then advises them to be careless in nothing, but to bestow conscientious pains on all their performances. The homelife of Sir Thomas affords us the best glimpse of the true character of this great man, and lends a new and sad significance to the scene which occurred between his heart-broken daughter and himself, as he tottered, haggard and emaciated, to the block. He loved his home as the pupil of his eye, and sighed for it when duty called him away. With even such a shrew as his second wife he contrived to make his a model household, where refinement, piety, and cheerfulness ever reigned. Smart retort and repartee, brilliant things and witty sayings, were the salt which lent savor to many a pious reflection and devout allusion while the family shared their daily meals. Thus did Sir Thomas, by being a devout Catholic and a lover of learning, convert a possible home of bickering and discontent into one which nurtured peace, contentment, happiness, and hope.Unless we pause to study Sir Thomas More in his home at Chelsea, we will fail to discern the peerless knight, the virtuous man, the lover of religion, the sententious philosopher (all which he was), amid the grime and lustful air of Henry’s court,“Where the individual withers, and the world is more and more.”Next to Sir Thomas as father, friend, and husband, the reader loves to view him in his exalted capacity of chancellor. From him indeed, the title has acquired its synonymous meaning with unblemished integrity and purity immaculate; for throughout his whole political career he never recognized friend or foe as such; he treated all alike with unswerving impartiality. And in pursuing this course he obtained the reward which he especially desired: the testimony of a good conscience. He felt that, though “there are innumerable hopes to innumerable men, he is happy who is happy day by day”; and this is just the sort of happiness which is born of a good conscience. His decisions bore the mark of his sterling sense and unyielding will, andthough many exceptions had been taken to his renderings by those whose interests he countered, not a single reversal could be obtained, while others degraded their high offices and stooped to pander to the lustful instincts of the king. More studied to grace the chancellor’s gown by the practice of every virtue pertaining to the dignity of his position, and shone forth more brilliantly by contrast with the pliant tools of Henry.“Velut inter ignesLuna minores.”The speech which he delivered on the occasion of his investiture will ever remain a model of dignity and modesty. While deprecating the praise bestowed on him by the Duke of Norfolk, he failed not to express his just appreciation of the high and important trust to which he had been called, and this in language so fitting and graceful that his admirers likened him to Cicero.Miss Stewart, who but a short time ago gave to the world a charming novelette with the title of theChancellor and his Daughter, addressed herself to the task of compiling these memoirs with laudable enthusiasm, such, indeed, as no one acquainted with the subject could fail to experience. Here is a hero-worship of the right sort, growing out of the virtues and learning of her idol, and so far not to be reckoned with Macaulay’s stupid admiration of WilliamIII.or Carlyle’s still more fatuous veneration for Frederick of Prussia. She has earned a new title to the esteem in which she is held in England. The book contains an admirable autotype fac-simile of the celebrated picture of the meeting between the chancellor and his daughter.The Science of the Spiritual Life.By Father Francis Neumayr,S.J.London: Burns & Oates. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)This is a poor translation of an excellent little book on ascetical theology. Francis Neumayr was born in Munich in 1697. Early in life he entered the Society of Jesus, and, having finished his studies, taught theology with great success during a number of years. He was then sent to fill the pulpit of the Cathedral of Augsburg, and during the ten years in which he held this position acquired an extraordinary reputation as anorator. He did not, however, confine himself to preaching, but wrote on various subjects relating to the religious controversies of his age. His writings were very popular in Germany, and some of them made their way throughout Catholic Europe.The Science of the Spiritual Life, which is one of his most widely-known works, is a compendium of what has been called the “science of the saints.” It is written with good judgment and a thorough knowledge of the subject, in a style which is concise without being obscure. There is nothing in it which the simplest cannot readily understand, and yet there is everything that the most learned could desire.Missale Romanumex DecretoSacros.Concilii Tridentini restitutum, S. PiiV.Pontificis Maximi jussu editum, ClementisVIII.et UrbaniVIII.auctoritate recognitum. Editio Ratisbonensis X. hujus forma altera missis novissimis aucta. Cum textu et cantu a Sacrorum Rituum Congregatione adprobato. 1876. Ratisbonæ, Neo Eboraci, et Cincinnatii: Sumptibus, chartis, et typis Frederici Pustet, S. Sedis Apost. et Sacr. Rituum Congreg. typographi.This beautiful and finely-printed Missal fully sustains the reputation that Mr. Pustet has already gained for his liturgical books. The paper on which it is printed is of the finest quality, and the type by far the best we have yet seen. Special praise is due to the printing of the notation in the prefaces and other musical portions of the work, which is singularly distinct and clear. The Missal is adorned with many fine and artistic pictures, and all the introits are embellished with finely executed initial letters. The proof-sheets have all been read by the Sacred Congregation and approved.Margaret Roper; or, The Chancellor and his Daughter.By Agnes Stewart, Authoress ofFlorence O’Neill,The Foster-Sisters, etc. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet &Co.1876.This little book will amply repay perusal. The heroine, Margaret Roper, the favorite daughter of Sir Thomas More, was the model of a noble Christian woman, worthy in every way of her gifted and heroic father. Sir Thomas Morewas, in the truest and broadest sense of the words, a grand character, a peerless Christian knight without fear and without reproach, true to his honest convictions, to his friends, true to the faith for which he died with the calm heroism of the early martyrs. His murder—to borrow the language of one of his biographers—was one of the blackest crimes ever perpetrated in England under the form of law. Time has only increased the admiration which his grand virtues extorted from his bitterest enemies, and the most bigoted Protestants venerate his name more than that of Cranmer or Cromwell, the unprincipled tools of the heartless tyrant, HenryVIII., who deluged England with innocent blood. His letters to his daughter, skilfully interwoven into the narrative, form a very interesting feature of the volume before us. The character of the greatest of English chancellors is sketched by the authoress with historical fidelity, and the picture of his celebrated daughter is drawn with equal devotion to historic truth.A Preparation for Death.Done out of French. Chicago: W. F. Squire. 1876.This is an excellent little book, quite cheap, and well adapted for the sick room. It was originally “done out of French” by a writer in Dublin and has been reprinted in this country by the present publisher. It consists of short prayers, exhortations, and reflections on the Passion of Our Lord. Theimprimaturof Bishop Foley is attached.Another work, though larger, which is peculiarly adapted for spiritual reading during the month of the Holy Souls is theLife ofSt.Catherine of Genoa, published by the Catholic Publication Society. This is not only a beautiful and interesting life of one of those great women who adorn the history of the Church in all ages, but contains in additionSt.Catherine’s treatise on Purgatory, which together with her spiritual dialogues, as is said in the introduction, “St.Francis of Sales, that great master in spiritual life, was accustomed to read twice a year.” And “Frederick Schlegel, who was the first to translateSt.Catherine’s dialogues into German, regarded them as seldom, if ever, equalled in beauty of style; and such has been the effect of the example of Christian perfection in our saint, that even the AmericanTract Society could not resist its attraction, and published a short sketch of her life among its tracts, with the title of her name by marriage, Catherine Adorno.” The words of the saints are always golden. One can never repeat them too often or ponder on them too long.Songs in the Night, and Other Poems.By the author ofChristian Schools and Scholars. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.Songs with a meaning are these, and full of sweet melody. The singer evidently feels. The feelings are deep, the thought deep also, and steeped in the purest well of religion. The versification is as varied as it is happy; and, indeed, for both thought and expression throughout this small volume we have nothing but praise. The title owes its meaning to the fact that “several of the poems were originally suggested by passages in theSpiritual CanticlesofSt.John of the Cross, whose use of the wordnight, in a mystic sense, is too well known to need explanation.” The opening poem, “The Fountain of the Night; or, the Canticle of the Soul rejoicing to know God by Faith,” gives a good idea of the tone and excellence of the volume:There is a Fount whence endless waters flow;There zephyrs play and fairest flowerets blow.Full well that crystal Fountain do I know,Though of the night.I know the verdant hills that gird it round;Its source I know not, for no thought can soundThe Spring whence all things first their being foundIn the dark night.I know no earthly beauty to compareWith that mysterious Fount, so calm and fair;All things in heaven and earth are pictured there,Though of the night.The tide wells forth in many a flowing river,Yet is the Fountain-head exhausted never;Onward it flows, for ever and for ever,On through the night.No cloud obscures, no passing shadows restUpon that Fountain’s clear, unruffled breast,Itself the very source of light confessed,Though of the night.Forth from this spring a sparkling Torrent flows;Who shall the secret of its birth disclose?And yet I know the source from whence it rose,Though of the night.I see from both a mighty River run,Yet dare not say when first its course begun;For Fountain, Torrent, River—all are one,Though of the night.I know that all are ours—all hidden lieIn form of Bread, hid from the curious eyeTo give us life. O love! O mysteryOf deepest night!And the Life seeks all living things to fill,To quench our thirst with water from the rill,To feed, to guide us, though in darkness still,As of the night.And ever of that Fount I long to drink,And ever of that living Bread I think,And linger by that flowing River’s brinkThrough the long night.The First Christmas for Our Dear Little Ones.By Miss Rosa Mulholland. New York and Cincinnati:Fr.Pustet.This beautiful book will be welcomed by the little ones, for whom it is intended, because, from the cover all the way through, it is bright and attractive, and each picture is a pleasant surprise. All the characters of the holy tale are made life-like and familiar, and the children may feel themselves at home with the white-winged angels, the eager shepherds, the stately Magi, and those nearer and dearer ones who attended the Blessed Infant’s earliest years.By parents this book should be welcomed, because anything that illustrates home-lessons and makes them charming is a valuable friend in the household, and because it provides an acceptable gift which will bring home to children’s hearts the true meaning of the holiday season. The verses are appropriate and not too difficult for the little ones to enjoy.Lectures on Scholastic Philosophy.By Father John Cornoldi,S.J.PartI.Logic. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.Quite a number of persons have recently undertaken the laudable but difficult task of preparing elementary works on philosophy. Cornoldi’s Lectures or Lessons in Philosophy are to be speedily published entire, in an English translation, making two small volumes of from 300 to 350 pages each. A large part of the work is devoted to Rational Physics. The Logic, just now issued, contains the simplest and most necessary part of pure and applied logic in abrochureof less than one hundred pages. It seems to be made as simple and intelligible to beginners as the nature of the subject permits. It is a defect, however, in the translation, that Latin terms are sometimes used withoutthe least necessity, and Latin quotations are left untranslated. We hope this defect will be supplied in a second edition.An Essay contributing to a Philosophy of Literature.By B. A. M. Second revised edition. Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger. 1876.The first edition of this solid and genial essay was noticed inThe Catholic World. We are happy to see that its merit has received a general recognition which must be gratifying to the author. It is a book which grows upon one the more carefully it is perused, and we have now an even higher esteem of its originality, sound learning, discriminating judgment and taste than we had when we first commended it as a work of genuine and rare excellence.The Voice of Jesus Suffering, to the Mind and Heart of Christians, etc.By a Passionist Missionary Priest. New York: P. O’Shea, 37 Barclay Street.Another excellent book on our Lord’s Passion; but it differs from the generality of such works in making our Lord himself relate the history of his sufferings first, and then helping the auditor to “Practical Reflections.” This is an admirable plan, in that it enables the reader to bring the divine Object of his thoughts so much more really before his imagination. This, together with the character of the “Practical Reflections,” will be found, we are sure, to make meditation easy to those who have hitherto given it up as requiring too great an effort. And if the pious author shall have done no more than succeed in thus facilitating devotion to the Passion, he will not have labored in vain.The Sermon on the Mount.(To the end of the Lord’s Prayer.) By Henry James Coleridge, of the Society of Jesus. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.This is the third division of Father Coleridge’s treatise on the Public Life of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are glad to learn that the reception of the preceding volume on the Beatitudes has “encouraged him to attempt a somewhat fuller treatment of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount than he had originally thought of.” Those who have read the volume on the Beatitudes need no insurancefrom us that they will find in this new work an abundance of beautiful lessons, and particularly some we much need at the present time. The nine chapters on the Lord’s Prayer (chaptersxv.-xxiii.) will furnish the devout with many helps to meditation on the clauses of this summary of prayer.The Life of the Very Reverend Mother Madeleine Louise Sophie Barat, Foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.By M. l’Abbé Baunard. Translated by Lady Georgiana Fullerton. Roehampton: 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)The original French edition of this admirable work has already been noticed at length inThe Catholic World. The English edition is brought out in two handsome volumes, and the distinguished name of the translator furnishes every guarantee for a faithful and excellent rendering of the original. So great has been the demand for the work that a large order was exhausted almost immediately on its arrival in this country.The Devotion of the Holy Rosary.By Michael Müller, C.S.S.R. New York: Benziger Brothers.Father Müller is a tireless writer. His works are for the most part addressed to those who are too often forgotten by Catholic writers—the ordinary classes. Hewho provides the people with books of devotion which they willread, and not put on the shelf, does a great and good work. Under a modest appearance Father Müller’s books conceal much learning and knowledge, the fruit evidently of very extensive reading, while the whole is pervaded with a spirit of piety and zeal. The present volume is devoted to an explanation of that most popular of devotions—the rosary. Those who care to satisfy themselves as to what the rosary is, what it is intended for, what it has done in the service of the church and for the salvation of souls, will find in this volume much to interest and instruct them, as well as to increase their fervor. The concluding chapter treats of the “Devotion of the Scapular.”Short Sermons preached in the Chapel ofSt.Mary’s College, Oscott.Collected and edited by the President. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)These sermons will be found very serviceable to our clergy, who are often sorely pressed for time to prepare their discourses. One instruction such as these is better than ten ordinary sermons of twice or thrice its length. Lay persons also will benefit greatly by making their spiritual reading from this volume. The subjects are wisely selected. There are twenty-seven in all, with two funeral sermons in an appendix.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.Terra Incognita; or, The Convents of the United Kingdom.By John Nicholas Murphy. London: Burns & Oates. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)An unknown land indeed is this that Mr. Murphy traverses—unknown, it is to be feared, not only to his “Protestant fellow-subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, for whose information it has been written” and to whom it is dedicated by the author, but also to too many of his Catholic fellow subjects, as well as to Catholics generally. The book is, in brief, a history of the growth and spread of the religious Orders in Great Britain and Ireland, the greater portion of it being devoted to their work and increase since a removal of the penal statutes enabled them to return in safety to the United Kingdom. The interest of the narrative is simply absorbing. The work accomplished by the Orders in face of a multitude of difficulties and dangers seems little short of the miraculous. They crept back singly or in little groups from France and Belgium, whence the first French Revolution drove them out. Thither they had flown for refuge when the greater revolution of the sixteenth century banished them and their faith from what had been a land of saints. Units gathered units, brothers brothers, sisters sisters, Congregations other Congregations, Orders affiliated Orders, and within less than a century we behold the consecrated yet desecrated soil of England and Ireland dotted with religious houses, asylums, schools, colleges, where the old faith is taught and practised. Those who are in search of the heroic, the sensational, the pathetic, the marvellous, should read this book. Their appetite will be satisfied with a healthy food. It is the old story over and over again of what can be accomplished by those who are really inflamed with a love of God and their neighbor. No one can rise from the story ofSt.Vincent de Paul or Nano Nagle without a moistening of the eye and a better feeling in his heart.Mr. Murphy’s book was publishedsome years ago, and the extracts from secular and Protestant journals in Great Britain and Ireland show how truly he met a popular want at a time when men like Mr. Newdegate were bent on satisfying their own morbid curiosity and insane hatred of Catholicity by forcing themselves on the peaceful communities of Catholic ladies. If we have any Newdegates among us, they would do well to take up Mr. Murphy’s volume, and see for themselves how these “dark and cloistered women” spend their lives. The present volume is a new and improved edition. As the author tells us in the preface, “The statistics of convents have been largely amplified and brought down to the present day. Several chapters have been re-written, and eleven new chapters have been introduced.”The Catholic’s Latin Instructor in the Principal Church Offices and Devotions.For the use of choirs, convents, and mission schools, and for self-teaching. By theRev.E. Caswall, of the Oratory. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)Father Caswall has done the Catholic laity a great service by thisInstructor. As he truly observes in his preface, “A knowledge of Latin is not needed for Catholic worship.… Nevertheless, to those whose education admits of it an acquaintance with those portions of the Latin Liturgy which are in most frequent public use must ever be a legitimate and worthy object of interest.” Accordingly, he has put himself to the very considerable trouble of preparing a manual, which, although an experiment, will be found, we have no doubt, all that is needed for enabling the laity of either sex, who have an English education, to make themselves familiar with the language of the church’s liturgy. It deals with grammar as little as possible, he says, yet there will be found in PartII.more grammar than his words may lead us to suppose. Moreover, there areample directions given, at every turn, for the right use of the book.The work is primarily designed, as the title-page indicates, for choirs and mission-schools. With regard to choirs, it is superfluous to observe how much better and more pleasing to God is an intelligent than a non-intelligent singing of the Latin. With regard to schools, especially those where elementary instruction in secular Latin is given, “Catholics will enjoy,” says our author, “in thelivingcharacter of the language as used in the church offices, a great and singular advantage.” And further, “What betterfood for the mindcan we offer to our children,” he asks, “than the simple translation from Latin into English—after a method easy alike to girls or boys—of what they constantly hear and often join in singing in church?” Then, as to the adult laity, there is “a large class of persons who, while provided with missals and prayer-books abounding in Latin text and side-by-side translations, yet, from want of a very little practical insight, fail to derive from these manuals the advantage intended. Others there are, devout persons of either sex, who might greatly profit by the occasional use of Latin prayers, but are restrained (and ladies especially) by an idea that in order to this they must first have a complete knowledge of Latin. Such a bugbear—for it is little else—will, let us hope, quickly yield to a steady practice of the present exercises.”The work consists of two Parts: “PartI.containing Benediction, the choir portions of Mass, the Serving at Mass, and various Latin prayers in ordinary use; PartII.comprising additional portions of the Mass, Requiem Mass, Litany of the Saints, Vespers, Compline, and other offices and devotions, with a short Grammar and Vocabulary.”The only stricture we have to make regards the pronunciation ofA. The author says: “A, when fully sounded, is to be pronounced asainfar. Examples: Pater,Parter; laudamus, laudarmus; ora, orar.” This is a very strange mistake. Had he heard, as we have, “Gloriarrin in excelsis,” “Benedictarres,” “super omniarrest,” etc., he would never have directed that “ashould be pronounced asainfar.” We are aware that the Englishris fainter than the Irish or American. Still, should nothbe substituted forrin the above? Pahter,laudahmus, orahare the exact sounds.With this very small exception, then, we can only speak of Father Caswall’s manual with unqualified praise, and hope it may obtain the wide circulation it deserves.Ecclesiastical Discourses delivered on Special Occasions.By Bishop Ullathorne. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)“These discourses,” says their distinguished author in his preface, “are called ecclesiastical because they were either addressed to ecclesiastics or treat on ecclesiastical subjects. They form a volume embracing certain points of pastoral theology—a subject on which we have very little that is Catholic in our language, if we except the excellent little book by Canon Oakeley.” They will therefore be specially valuable to our clergy, while, at the same time, the bishop “trusts there is much in them which may offer solid instruction to thoughtful Catholic laymen.” One of the most important, and the one to which we particularly invite the attention of our readers, both clerical and lay, is that on mixed marriages, “delivered on occasion of the Fourth Diocesan Synod of Birmingham.” Bishop Ullathorne is not afraid to speak plainly on this subject. Indeed, his language is startling but leaves no room for question of its truth. He speaks, too, from an extensive experience of the evils resulting from mixed marriages. Here is a passage (the italics are our own),p.89:“It would be as unjust as ungenerous not to admit that thereareProtestants who loyally keep the promises they have made in marriage with Catholics, and who truly respect the faith and religious exercises of their Catholic spouse, and fulfil their pledges respecting the education of their children.Butprudence looks towhat generally happens, and not to the exceptional cases. And wisdom never runs any serious risks in matters of the soul.The individuals, and even the families, that have fallen from the church through mixed marriages, amount to numbers incredible to those who have not examined the question thoroughly; and the number of Catholics bound at this moment in mixed marriages, who live in a hard and bitter conflict for the exerciseof their religion, for that of their children, and in certain cases for the soundness of their moral life, could they, with all the facts, be known, would deter any thoughtful Catholic from contracting a mixed marriage.”The bishop has extended this discourse in order to give the early discipline of the church on the matter. He further makes his argument impregnable by citations from popes and councils. Moreover, he concludes the instruction “with an admirable passage from the synodal address published by the hierarchy of Australia”; and the condition of Catholics in Australia, as regards the ordinary excuses for mixed marriages, bears striking resemblance, be it remembered, to their position here.Every-day Topics: A Book of Briefs. By J. G. Holland. New York: Scribner, Armstrong &Co.1876.To one person at least, and to one only, this volume ofTopicsis likely to be of lasting interest. That person is the author. TheTopicsare short articles on a variety of subjects which have appeared from month to month in Scribner’s magazine. They are of about the average length of an ordinary newspaper article, and of about equal depth. They lack the newspaper liveliness, however, and the English is in great part of that slipshod style that is mistaken by so many nowadays for an evidence of careless strength. “Familiarly didactic” is the character that Dr. Holland in his preface seems to claim for this and others of his books, and the very phrase stamps the man. The book is tiresome, prosy, and fussy. Any one of the articles is too long for its purpose; what, then, must a volume of them be?Dr. Holland is apparently a Christian or nothing. He is for ever prating about “the church” and attacking “the world.” It is to be feared that his Christianity is of a very vague character. His zeal is unfortunately without knowledge. He is constantly making grave mistakes with the most solemn confidence in his own infallibility, and thunders away on every kind of subject with a “trenchant ignorance” that would be amusing did it not touch such grave matters. Dr. Holland may have the best intentions in the world, but he would do well to weigh his words a little before undertaking to champion “the church.” What particular“church” is he for ever defending? The Christian Church, he would doubtless reply. But which is the Christian Church? This is a question that Dr. Holland is quite capable of undertaking to decide in a future “Topic,” and he would do not only his own readers but the world at large infinite service by making this matter clear once for all.We are quite justified in putting this question to Dr. Holland; for everybody knows what a Catholic means when he speaks of “the church.” But in Dr. Holland’s “church” it is doubtful whether Catholics are allowed a place. At least, we should judge so from the manner in which he treats of them whenever their name occurs in theTopics.Linked Lives.By Lady Gertrude Douglas. New York: Benziger Brothers. 1876.The English Catholic journals greeted this story with such an unusual flourish of trumpets that we were led to expect something extraordinary in the way of novel-writing. It is extraordinary in no sense. It is not even extraordinarily bad. It is eminently dull, altogether commonplace, and only saved from utter insipidity by here and there an indication of real power.Of course it relies for its main interest on the good old English Catholic story-theme—conversion. To relieve the monotony of this subject, probably, the author sprinkled the narrative with dashes of what is meant for sensation. She takes us to the dens of thieves, to the reformatory, the prison, the court of justice. Such scenes may be rendered exciting—by a Dickens or a Victor Hugo. We are very happy to see that Lady Gertrude Douglas is not at all at home among them. All this portion of the book reads pretty much like an ordinary police report, and all the desire in the world on the reader’s part cannot invest Katie McKay or any of her companions with even a touch of the interest that Dickens threw around Nancy Sykes. Such themes should not be touched at all unless they can be made elevating. It takes a very experienced, strong, yet tender hand to bare the ulcers and foul sores of society. The process is a most delicate one. If well done, it excites pity, remorse, sorrow, indignation, that such things can be among Christianpeoples; if ill done, it is revolting and only excites disgust.Great pains have been bestowed on the delineation of the character of Mabel Forrester, and not without success. Indeed, she and her brother Guy, who is killed off too early, are almost the only interesting persons in the volume. By the way, what a lugubrious story it is! Everybody is constantly down at the mouth. Poor Guy is killed at a yacht-race, which he has just won. Katie McKay throws herself into the sea with her babe, which has been chloroformed (!) by Katie’s sister; and we could almost wish that Katie had been left in the sea. She is dragged out, however, to receive two years’ imprisonment. The rascal whom she married dies in prison. Her sister dies in her bed, but with a strong intimation that she is likely to be consigned to the lower regions. There are several other deaths of minor consequence; and finally, after being induced to accompany Mabel on a voyage to Australia, to assist at her wedding with her elderly lover, Hugh Fortescue—who, of course, is in the last stage of consumption at the time—the vessel takes fire and Mabel perishes. Equally of course, Hugh, as soon as he receives the news, dies also, “aged fifty-three,” as the tombstone erected to his memory in Australia informs us. Surely, after all this, we may say with Macbeth that we have “supped full of horrors,” and, like him also, we feel none the better for them.A great fault with the book, too, is that the fate of every one is foreshadowed early in the story, and the recurrence of such remarks as “But we must not anticipate,” “But of that anon,” is peculiarly exasperating when the whole murder is out in the very sentence that occasions such a remark. The convert-making is far too labored, and there is too much of it.We should not have been at the unpleasing pains to write of this book as we have done, did we not see signs in it of a really good Catholic story-writer, who is likely to be spoiled for any future work worthy of the name by the injudicious praise which has been lavished on this, which we take to be her first book. The lady can describe natural scenery well, can touch a tender chord with true pathos, can display strength at times. She only needs more interest of plot, and to avoid scenes and characters of whichshe knows little or nothing. All the plot in the present volume consists of the slowly-dragged-out conversion of Mabel to Catholicity—which religion clashes with the creed of the elderly and by no means pleasant parson to whom she is affianced—and the consequent breaking off of the match. Finally he also is converted, and thedénoûmentis as given above. To tag five hundred and twenty-five pages of a story on a plot of such very slender device is rather overweighting it. The French scenes are the best in the book, and even they are needlessly marred by what the author doubtless considers a beauty—the supposed literal translation of the French characters’ speech into English, which is a barbarism.The Illustrated Catholic Family Almanacfor the United States, for the Year of Our Lord 1877. New York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1877.The season would scarcely be itself without this admirable little annual. It is always bright, instructive, and amusing, and the number for the present year shows no falling off in these qualities. The first portion of theAlmanaccontains the usual calendars, astronomical and ecclesiastical, with the information respecting Catholic feasts and fasts necessary for the coming year. Among the biographical sketches, that of Dr. Brownson claims the first place. It is illustrated by an admirably-executed portrait. There are excellent portraits also of Bishop Verot, Archbishop Connolly of Halifax, N. S., VeryRev.Dr. Moriarty, O.S.A.,Rev.Francis Piquet, PiusVII., Vittoria Colonna, all accompanied by brief but interesting sketches. There are, as usual, pictures of old Catholic landmarks in this country, Ireland, and other lands, with pleasing descriptions. Among these, that ofSt.Joseph’s Church, in Philadelphia, is especially interesting. In addition to the complete and very valuable list of the popes, which was published for the first time last year, and is wisely retained in the present number, there is a complete catalogue of the kings of Ireland, from the Firbholg conquest down to the landing of HenryII.of England. To this is appended some valuable historical remarks. Indeed, there is not a page of thisAlmanacthat can be calleddull, and its cheapness happily places it within easy reach of every reader. We only wish that such cheapness and real excellence could be oftener combined in Catholic books.The Life and Letters of Sir Thomas More.By Agnes M. Stewart, authoress ofMargaret Roper, etc.8vo,pp.365. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.The lot of Sir Thomas More was cast in troublous times. He lived amid storms that wrecked many a noble life, and yet no man ever bore throughout a serener soul or a happier and gayer disposition. His character is a study of the most healthful sort; for it exhibits the rare picture of a man who deemed the sacrifice of power, wealth, place, friends, and life itself, to principle and conscience, too ordinary a duty to excite surprise. On whatever side we view the man, the hero comes to light. He lived in an atmosphere of his own creation, and whoever came within its influence left it a better and wiser mortal. He was, in the best sense of the word, a Christian philosopher and statesman. He would jest with Erasmus in antique phrase as though he had but returned from the portico, while a hair-shirt nettled his skin and his soul communed in frequent ejaculation with its Creator.As a letter-writer he will ever hold a foremost rank because of his sense, humor, wit, and grace of expression. Even the careless construction of some of his letters possesses a charm; for there you see the man disclosing himself without reserve—careful, indeed, that the picture be a true one, but indifferent as to the setting. What could be more delightful than his letters to his children while these were under the care of a tutor at home and he was engrossed by the weighty concerns of office? He flies to the pen as a refuge from distracting thoughts, and pours out his soul to his little ones with a sweetabandon; he is sportive and grave by turns and veils deep philosophy and wise counsels beneath the garb of a fresh and mirthful phraseology. He evidently believed with Horace:“Quamquam ridentem dicere verumQuid vetat?”“And how can you want matter of writing to me, who am delighted to hear either of your studies or your play, whom you may then exceedingly please when,having nothing to write of, you write as largely as you can of that nothing, than which nothing is more easy for you to do, especially being women, and therefore prattlers by nature, amongst whom a great story riseth out of nothing.” He then advises them to be careless in nothing, but to bestow conscientious pains on all their performances. The homelife of Sir Thomas affords us the best glimpse of the true character of this great man, and lends a new and sad significance to the scene which occurred between his heart-broken daughter and himself, as he tottered, haggard and emaciated, to the block. He loved his home as the pupil of his eye, and sighed for it when duty called him away. With even such a shrew as his second wife he contrived to make his a model household, where refinement, piety, and cheerfulness ever reigned. Smart retort and repartee, brilliant things and witty sayings, were the salt which lent savor to many a pious reflection and devout allusion while the family shared their daily meals. Thus did Sir Thomas, by being a devout Catholic and a lover of learning, convert a possible home of bickering and discontent into one which nurtured peace, contentment, happiness, and hope.Unless we pause to study Sir Thomas More in his home at Chelsea, we will fail to discern the peerless knight, the virtuous man, the lover of religion, the sententious philosopher (all which he was), amid the grime and lustful air of Henry’s court,“Where the individual withers, and the world is more and more.”Next to Sir Thomas as father, friend, and husband, the reader loves to view him in his exalted capacity of chancellor. From him indeed, the title has acquired its synonymous meaning with unblemished integrity and purity immaculate; for throughout his whole political career he never recognized friend or foe as such; he treated all alike with unswerving impartiality. And in pursuing this course he obtained the reward which he especially desired: the testimony of a good conscience. He felt that, though “there are innumerable hopes to innumerable men, he is happy who is happy day by day”; and this is just the sort of happiness which is born of a good conscience. His decisions bore the mark of his sterling sense and unyielding will, andthough many exceptions had been taken to his renderings by those whose interests he countered, not a single reversal could be obtained, while others degraded their high offices and stooped to pander to the lustful instincts of the king. More studied to grace the chancellor’s gown by the practice of every virtue pertaining to the dignity of his position, and shone forth more brilliantly by contrast with the pliant tools of Henry.“Velut inter ignesLuna minores.”The speech which he delivered on the occasion of his investiture will ever remain a model of dignity and modesty. While deprecating the praise bestowed on him by the Duke of Norfolk, he failed not to express his just appreciation of the high and important trust to which he had been called, and this in language so fitting and graceful that his admirers likened him to Cicero.Miss Stewart, who but a short time ago gave to the world a charming novelette with the title of theChancellor and his Daughter, addressed herself to the task of compiling these memoirs with laudable enthusiasm, such, indeed, as no one acquainted with the subject could fail to experience. Here is a hero-worship of the right sort, growing out of the virtues and learning of her idol, and so far not to be reckoned with Macaulay’s stupid admiration of WilliamIII.or Carlyle’s still more fatuous veneration for Frederick of Prussia. She has earned a new title to the esteem in which she is held in England. The book contains an admirable autotype fac-simile of the celebrated picture of the meeting between the chancellor and his daughter.The Science of the Spiritual Life.By Father Francis Neumayr,S.J.London: Burns & Oates. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)This is a poor translation of an excellent little book on ascetical theology. Francis Neumayr was born in Munich in 1697. Early in life he entered the Society of Jesus, and, having finished his studies, taught theology with great success during a number of years. He was then sent to fill the pulpit of the Cathedral of Augsburg, and during the ten years in which he held this position acquired an extraordinary reputation as anorator. He did not, however, confine himself to preaching, but wrote on various subjects relating to the religious controversies of his age. His writings were very popular in Germany, and some of them made their way throughout Catholic Europe.The Science of the Spiritual Life, which is one of his most widely-known works, is a compendium of what has been called the “science of the saints.” It is written with good judgment and a thorough knowledge of the subject, in a style which is concise without being obscure. There is nothing in it which the simplest cannot readily understand, and yet there is everything that the most learned could desire.Missale Romanumex DecretoSacros.Concilii Tridentini restitutum, S. PiiV.Pontificis Maximi jussu editum, ClementisVIII.et UrbaniVIII.auctoritate recognitum. Editio Ratisbonensis X. hujus forma altera missis novissimis aucta. Cum textu et cantu a Sacrorum Rituum Congregatione adprobato. 1876. Ratisbonæ, Neo Eboraci, et Cincinnatii: Sumptibus, chartis, et typis Frederici Pustet, S. Sedis Apost. et Sacr. Rituum Congreg. typographi.This beautiful and finely-printed Missal fully sustains the reputation that Mr. Pustet has already gained for his liturgical books. The paper on which it is printed is of the finest quality, and the type by far the best we have yet seen. Special praise is due to the printing of the notation in the prefaces and other musical portions of the work, which is singularly distinct and clear. The Missal is adorned with many fine and artistic pictures, and all the introits are embellished with finely executed initial letters. The proof-sheets have all been read by the Sacred Congregation and approved.Margaret Roper; or, The Chancellor and his Daughter.By Agnes Stewart, Authoress ofFlorence O’Neill,The Foster-Sisters, etc. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet &Co.1876.This little book will amply repay perusal. The heroine, Margaret Roper, the favorite daughter of Sir Thomas More, was the model of a noble Christian woman, worthy in every way of her gifted and heroic father. Sir Thomas Morewas, in the truest and broadest sense of the words, a grand character, a peerless Christian knight without fear and without reproach, true to his honest convictions, to his friends, true to the faith for which he died with the calm heroism of the early martyrs. His murder—to borrow the language of one of his biographers—was one of the blackest crimes ever perpetrated in England under the form of law. Time has only increased the admiration which his grand virtues extorted from his bitterest enemies, and the most bigoted Protestants venerate his name more than that of Cranmer or Cromwell, the unprincipled tools of the heartless tyrant, HenryVIII., who deluged England with innocent blood. His letters to his daughter, skilfully interwoven into the narrative, form a very interesting feature of the volume before us. The character of the greatest of English chancellors is sketched by the authoress with historical fidelity, and the picture of his celebrated daughter is drawn with equal devotion to historic truth.A Preparation for Death.Done out of French. Chicago: W. F. Squire. 1876.This is an excellent little book, quite cheap, and well adapted for the sick room. It was originally “done out of French” by a writer in Dublin and has been reprinted in this country by the present publisher. It consists of short prayers, exhortations, and reflections on the Passion of Our Lord. Theimprimaturof Bishop Foley is attached.Another work, though larger, which is peculiarly adapted for spiritual reading during the month of the Holy Souls is theLife ofSt.Catherine of Genoa, published by the Catholic Publication Society. This is not only a beautiful and interesting life of one of those great women who adorn the history of the Church in all ages, but contains in additionSt.Catherine’s treatise on Purgatory, which together with her spiritual dialogues, as is said in the introduction, “St.Francis of Sales, that great master in spiritual life, was accustomed to read twice a year.” And “Frederick Schlegel, who was the first to translateSt.Catherine’s dialogues into German, regarded them as seldom, if ever, equalled in beauty of style; and such has been the effect of the example of Christian perfection in our saint, that even the AmericanTract Society could not resist its attraction, and published a short sketch of her life among its tracts, with the title of her name by marriage, Catherine Adorno.” The words of the saints are always golden. One can never repeat them too often or ponder on them too long.Songs in the Night, and Other Poems.By the author ofChristian Schools and Scholars. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.Songs with a meaning are these, and full of sweet melody. The singer evidently feels. The feelings are deep, the thought deep also, and steeped in the purest well of religion. The versification is as varied as it is happy; and, indeed, for both thought and expression throughout this small volume we have nothing but praise. The title owes its meaning to the fact that “several of the poems were originally suggested by passages in theSpiritual CanticlesofSt.John of the Cross, whose use of the wordnight, in a mystic sense, is too well known to need explanation.” The opening poem, “The Fountain of the Night; or, the Canticle of the Soul rejoicing to know God by Faith,” gives a good idea of the tone and excellence of the volume:There is a Fount whence endless waters flow;There zephyrs play and fairest flowerets blow.Full well that crystal Fountain do I know,Though of the night.I know the verdant hills that gird it round;Its source I know not, for no thought can soundThe Spring whence all things first their being foundIn the dark night.I know no earthly beauty to compareWith that mysterious Fount, so calm and fair;All things in heaven and earth are pictured there,Though of the night.The tide wells forth in many a flowing river,Yet is the Fountain-head exhausted never;Onward it flows, for ever and for ever,On through the night.No cloud obscures, no passing shadows restUpon that Fountain’s clear, unruffled breast,Itself the very source of light confessed,Though of the night.Forth from this spring a sparkling Torrent flows;Who shall the secret of its birth disclose?And yet I know the source from whence it rose,Though of the night.I see from both a mighty River run,Yet dare not say when first its course begun;For Fountain, Torrent, River—all are one,Though of the night.I know that all are ours—all hidden lieIn form of Bread, hid from the curious eyeTo give us life. O love! O mysteryOf deepest night!And the Life seeks all living things to fill,To quench our thirst with water from the rill,To feed, to guide us, though in darkness still,As of the night.And ever of that Fount I long to drink,And ever of that living Bread I think,And linger by that flowing River’s brinkThrough the long night.The First Christmas for Our Dear Little Ones.By Miss Rosa Mulholland. New York and Cincinnati:Fr.Pustet.This beautiful book will be welcomed by the little ones, for whom it is intended, because, from the cover all the way through, it is bright and attractive, and each picture is a pleasant surprise. All the characters of the holy tale are made life-like and familiar, and the children may feel themselves at home with the white-winged angels, the eager shepherds, the stately Magi, and those nearer and dearer ones who attended the Blessed Infant’s earliest years.By parents this book should be welcomed, because anything that illustrates home-lessons and makes them charming is a valuable friend in the household, and because it provides an acceptable gift which will bring home to children’s hearts the true meaning of the holiday season. The verses are appropriate and not too difficult for the little ones to enjoy.Lectures on Scholastic Philosophy.By Father John Cornoldi,S.J.PartI.Logic. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.Quite a number of persons have recently undertaken the laudable but difficult task of preparing elementary works on philosophy. Cornoldi’s Lectures or Lessons in Philosophy are to be speedily published entire, in an English translation, making two small volumes of from 300 to 350 pages each. A large part of the work is devoted to Rational Physics. The Logic, just now issued, contains the simplest and most necessary part of pure and applied logic in abrochureof less than one hundred pages. It seems to be made as simple and intelligible to beginners as the nature of the subject permits. It is a defect, however, in the translation, that Latin terms are sometimes used withoutthe least necessity, and Latin quotations are left untranslated. We hope this defect will be supplied in a second edition.An Essay contributing to a Philosophy of Literature.By B. A. M. Second revised edition. Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger. 1876.The first edition of this solid and genial essay was noticed inThe Catholic World. We are happy to see that its merit has received a general recognition which must be gratifying to the author. It is a book which grows upon one the more carefully it is perused, and we have now an even higher esteem of its originality, sound learning, discriminating judgment and taste than we had when we first commended it as a work of genuine and rare excellence.The Voice of Jesus Suffering, to the Mind and Heart of Christians, etc.By a Passionist Missionary Priest. New York: P. O’Shea, 37 Barclay Street.Another excellent book on our Lord’s Passion; but it differs from the generality of such works in making our Lord himself relate the history of his sufferings first, and then helping the auditor to “Practical Reflections.” This is an admirable plan, in that it enables the reader to bring the divine Object of his thoughts so much more really before his imagination. This, together with the character of the “Practical Reflections,” will be found, we are sure, to make meditation easy to those who have hitherto given it up as requiring too great an effort. And if the pious author shall have done no more than succeed in thus facilitating devotion to the Passion, he will not have labored in vain.The Sermon on the Mount.(To the end of the Lord’s Prayer.) By Henry James Coleridge, of the Society of Jesus. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.This is the third division of Father Coleridge’s treatise on the Public Life of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are glad to learn that the reception of the preceding volume on the Beatitudes has “encouraged him to attempt a somewhat fuller treatment of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount than he had originally thought of.” Those who have read the volume on the Beatitudes need no insurancefrom us that they will find in this new work an abundance of beautiful lessons, and particularly some we much need at the present time. The nine chapters on the Lord’s Prayer (chaptersxv.-xxiii.) will furnish the devout with many helps to meditation on the clauses of this summary of prayer.The Life of the Very Reverend Mother Madeleine Louise Sophie Barat, Foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.By M. l’Abbé Baunard. Translated by Lady Georgiana Fullerton. Roehampton: 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)The original French edition of this admirable work has already been noticed at length inThe Catholic World. The English edition is brought out in two handsome volumes, and the distinguished name of the translator furnishes every guarantee for a faithful and excellent rendering of the original. So great has been the demand for the work that a large order was exhausted almost immediately on its arrival in this country.The Devotion of the Holy Rosary.By Michael Müller, C.S.S.R. New York: Benziger Brothers.Father Müller is a tireless writer. His works are for the most part addressed to those who are too often forgotten by Catholic writers—the ordinary classes. Hewho provides the people with books of devotion which they willread, and not put on the shelf, does a great and good work. Under a modest appearance Father Müller’s books conceal much learning and knowledge, the fruit evidently of very extensive reading, while the whole is pervaded with a spirit of piety and zeal. The present volume is devoted to an explanation of that most popular of devotions—the rosary. Those who care to satisfy themselves as to what the rosary is, what it is intended for, what it has done in the service of the church and for the salvation of souls, will find in this volume much to interest and instruct them, as well as to increase their fervor. The concluding chapter treats of the “Devotion of the Scapular.”Short Sermons preached in the Chapel ofSt.Mary’s College, Oscott.Collected and edited by the President. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)These sermons will be found very serviceable to our clergy, who are often sorely pressed for time to prepare their discourses. One instruction such as these is better than ten ordinary sermons of twice or thrice its length. Lay persons also will benefit greatly by making their spiritual reading from this volume. The subjects are wisely selected. There are twenty-seven in all, with two funeral sermons in an appendix.
Terra Incognita; or, The Convents of the United Kingdom.By John Nicholas Murphy. London: Burns & Oates. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)
An unknown land indeed is this that Mr. Murphy traverses—unknown, it is to be feared, not only to his “Protestant fellow-subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, for whose information it has been written” and to whom it is dedicated by the author, but also to too many of his Catholic fellow subjects, as well as to Catholics generally. The book is, in brief, a history of the growth and spread of the religious Orders in Great Britain and Ireland, the greater portion of it being devoted to their work and increase since a removal of the penal statutes enabled them to return in safety to the United Kingdom. The interest of the narrative is simply absorbing. The work accomplished by the Orders in face of a multitude of difficulties and dangers seems little short of the miraculous. They crept back singly or in little groups from France and Belgium, whence the first French Revolution drove them out. Thither they had flown for refuge when the greater revolution of the sixteenth century banished them and their faith from what had been a land of saints. Units gathered units, brothers brothers, sisters sisters, Congregations other Congregations, Orders affiliated Orders, and within less than a century we behold the consecrated yet desecrated soil of England and Ireland dotted with religious houses, asylums, schools, colleges, where the old faith is taught and practised. Those who are in search of the heroic, the sensational, the pathetic, the marvellous, should read this book. Their appetite will be satisfied with a healthy food. It is the old story over and over again of what can be accomplished by those who are really inflamed with a love of God and their neighbor. No one can rise from the story ofSt.Vincent de Paul or Nano Nagle without a moistening of the eye and a better feeling in his heart.
Mr. Murphy’s book was publishedsome years ago, and the extracts from secular and Protestant journals in Great Britain and Ireland show how truly he met a popular want at a time when men like Mr. Newdegate were bent on satisfying their own morbid curiosity and insane hatred of Catholicity by forcing themselves on the peaceful communities of Catholic ladies. If we have any Newdegates among us, they would do well to take up Mr. Murphy’s volume, and see for themselves how these “dark and cloistered women” spend their lives. The present volume is a new and improved edition. As the author tells us in the preface, “The statistics of convents have been largely amplified and brought down to the present day. Several chapters have been re-written, and eleven new chapters have been introduced.”
The Catholic’s Latin Instructor in the Principal Church Offices and Devotions.For the use of choirs, convents, and mission schools, and for self-teaching. By theRev.E. Caswall, of the Oratory. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)
Father Caswall has done the Catholic laity a great service by thisInstructor. As he truly observes in his preface, “A knowledge of Latin is not needed for Catholic worship.… Nevertheless, to those whose education admits of it an acquaintance with those portions of the Latin Liturgy which are in most frequent public use must ever be a legitimate and worthy object of interest.” Accordingly, he has put himself to the very considerable trouble of preparing a manual, which, although an experiment, will be found, we have no doubt, all that is needed for enabling the laity of either sex, who have an English education, to make themselves familiar with the language of the church’s liturgy. It deals with grammar as little as possible, he says, yet there will be found in PartII.more grammar than his words may lead us to suppose. Moreover, there areample directions given, at every turn, for the right use of the book.
The work is primarily designed, as the title-page indicates, for choirs and mission-schools. With regard to choirs, it is superfluous to observe how much better and more pleasing to God is an intelligent than a non-intelligent singing of the Latin. With regard to schools, especially those where elementary instruction in secular Latin is given, “Catholics will enjoy,” says our author, “in thelivingcharacter of the language as used in the church offices, a great and singular advantage.” And further, “What betterfood for the mindcan we offer to our children,” he asks, “than the simple translation from Latin into English—after a method easy alike to girls or boys—of what they constantly hear and often join in singing in church?” Then, as to the adult laity, there is “a large class of persons who, while provided with missals and prayer-books abounding in Latin text and side-by-side translations, yet, from want of a very little practical insight, fail to derive from these manuals the advantage intended. Others there are, devout persons of either sex, who might greatly profit by the occasional use of Latin prayers, but are restrained (and ladies especially) by an idea that in order to this they must first have a complete knowledge of Latin. Such a bugbear—for it is little else—will, let us hope, quickly yield to a steady practice of the present exercises.”
The work consists of two Parts: “PartI.containing Benediction, the choir portions of Mass, the Serving at Mass, and various Latin prayers in ordinary use; PartII.comprising additional portions of the Mass, Requiem Mass, Litany of the Saints, Vespers, Compline, and other offices and devotions, with a short Grammar and Vocabulary.”
The only stricture we have to make regards the pronunciation ofA. The author says: “A, when fully sounded, is to be pronounced asainfar. Examples: Pater,Parter; laudamus, laudarmus; ora, orar.” This is a very strange mistake. Had he heard, as we have, “Gloriarrin in excelsis,” “Benedictarres,” “super omniarrest,” etc., he would never have directed that “ashould be pronounced asainfar.” We are aware that the Englishris fainter than the Irish or American. Still, should nothbe substituted forrin the above? Pahter,laudahmus, orahare the exact sounds.
With this very small exception, then, we can only speak of Father Caswall’s manual with unqualified praise, and hope it may obtain the wide circulation it deserves.
Ecclesiastical Discourses delivered on Special Occasions.By Bishop Ullathorne. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)
“These discourses,” says their distinguished author in his preface, “are called ecclesiastical because they were either addressed to ecclesiastics or treat on ecclesiastical subjects. They form a volume embracing certain points of pastoral theology—a subject on which we have very little that is Catholic in our language, if we except the excellent little book by Canon Oakeley.” They will therefore be specially valuable to our clergy, while, at the same time, the bishop “trusts there is much in them which may offer solid instruction to thoughtful Catholic laymen.” One of the most important, and the one to which we particularly invite the attention of our readers, both clerical and lay, is that on mixed marriages, “delivered on occasion of the Fourth Diocesan Synod of Birmingham.” Bishop Ullathorne is not afraid to speak plainly on this subject. Indeed, his language is startling but leaves no room for question of its truth. He speaks, too, from an extensive experience of the evils resulting from mixed marriages. Here is a passage (the italics are our own),p.89:
“It would be as unjust as ungenerous not to admit that thereareProtestants who loyally keep the promises they have made in marriage with Catholics, and who truly respect the faith and religious exercises of their Catholic spouse, and fulfil their pledges respecting the education of their children.Butprudence looks towhat generally happens, and not to the exceptional cases. And wisdom never runs any serious risks in matters of the soul.The individuals, and even the families, that have fallen from the church through mixed marriages, amount to numbers incredible to those who have not examined the question thoroughly; and the number of Catholics bound at this moment in mixed marriages, who live in a hard and bitter conflict for the exerciseof their religion, for that of their children, and in certain cases for the soundness of their moral life, could they, with all the facts, be known, would deter any thoughtful Catholic from contracting a mixed marriage.”
The bishop has extended this discourse in order to give the early discipline of the church on the matter. He further makes his argument impregnable by citations from popes and councils. Moreover, he concludes the instruction “with an admirable passage from the synodal address published by the hierarchy of Australia”; and the condition of Catholics in Australia, as regards the ordinary excuses for mixed marriages, bears striking resemblance, be it remembered, to their position here.
Every-day Topics: A Book of Briefs. By J. G. Holland. New York: Scribner, Armstrong &Co.1876.
To one person at least, and to one only, this volume ofTopicsis likely to be of lasting interest. That person is the author. TheTopicsare short articles on a variety of subjects which have appeared from month to month in Scribner’s magazine. They are of about the average length of an ordinary newspaper article, and of about equal depth. They lack the newspaper liveliness, however, and the English is in great part of that slipshod style that is mistaken by so many nowadays for an evidence of careless strength. “Familiarly didactic” is the character that Dr. Holland in his preface seems to claim for this and others of his books, and the very phrase stamps the man. The book is tiresome, prosy, and fussy. Any one of the articles is too long for its purpose; what, then, must a volume of them be?
Dr. Holland is apparently a Christian or nothing. He is for ever prating about “the church” and attacking “the world.” It is to be feared that his Christianity is of a very vague character. His zeal is unfortunately without knowledge. He is constantly making grave mistakes with the most solemn confidence in his own infallibility, and thunders away on every kind of subject with a “trenchant ignorance” that would be amusing did it not touch such grave matters. Dr. Holland may have the best intentions in the world, but he would do well to weigh his words a little before undertaking to champion “the church.” What particular“church” is he for ever defending? The Christian Church, he would doubtless reply. But which is the Christian Church? This is a question that Dr. Holland is quite capable of undertaking to decide in a future “Topic,” and he would do not only his own readers but the world at large infinite service by making this matter clear once for all.
We are quite justified in putting this question to Dr. Holland; for everybody knows what a Catholic means when he speaks of “the church.” But in Dr. Holland’s “church” it is doubtful whether Catholics are allowed a place. At least, we should judge so from the manner in which he treats of them whenever their name occurs in theTopics.
Linked Lives.By Lady Gertrude Douglas. New York: Benziger Brothers. 1876.
The English Catholic journals greeted this story with such an unusual flourish of trumpets that we were led to expect something extraordinary in the way of novel-writing. It is extraordinary in no sense. It is not even extraordinarily bad. It is eminently dull, altogether commonplace, and only saved from utter insipidity by here and there an indication of real power.
Of course it relies for its main interest on the good old English Catholic story-theme—conversion. To relieve the monotony of this subject, probably, the author sprinkled the narrative with dashes of what is meant for sensation. She takes us to the dens of thieves, to the reformatory, the prison, the court of justice. Such scenes may be rendered exciting—by a Dickens or a Victor Hugo. We are very happy to see that Lady Gertrude Douglas is not at all at home among them. All this portion of the book reads pretty much like an ordinary police report, and all the desire in the world on the reader’s part cannot invest Katie McKay or any of her companions with even a touch of the interest that Dickens threw around Nancy Sykes. Such themes should not be touched at all unless they can be made elevating. It takes a very experienced, strong, yet tender hand to bare the ulcers and foul sores of society. The process is a most delicate one. If well done, it excites pity, remorse, sorrow, indignation, that such things can be among Christianpeoples; if ill done, it is revolting and only excites disgust.
Great pains have been bestowed on the delineation of the character of Mabel Forrester, and not without success. Indeed, she and her brother Guy, who is killed off too early, are almost the only interesting persons in the volume. By the way, what a lugubrious story it is! Everybody is constantly down at the mouth. Poor Guy is killed at a yacht-race, which he has just won. Katie McKay throws herself into the sea with her babe, which has been chloroformed (!) by Katie’s sister; and we could almost wish that Katie had been left in the sea. She is dragged out, however, to receive two years’ imprisonment. The rascal whom she married dies in prison. Her sister dies in her bed, but with a strong intimation that she is likely to be consigned to the lower regions. There are several other deaths of minor consequence; and finally, after being induced to accompany Mabel on a voyage to Australia, to assist at her wedding with her elderly lover, Hugh Fortescue—who, of course, is in the last stage of consumption at the time—the vessel takes fire and Mabel perishes. Equally of course, Hugh, as soon as he receives the news, dies also, “aged fifty-three,” as the tombstone erected to his memory in Australia informs us. Surely, after all this, we may say with Macbeth that we have “supped full of horrors,” and, like him also, we feel none the better for them.
A great fault with the book, too, is that the fate of every one is foreshadowed early in the story, and the recurrence of such remarks as “But we must not anticipate,” “But of that anon,” is peculiarly exasperating when the whole murder is out in the very sentence that occasions such a remark. The convert-making is far too labored, and there is too much of it.
We should not have been at the unpleasing pains to write of this book as we have done, did we not see signs in it of a really good Catholic story-writer, who is likely to be spoiled for any future work worthy of the name by the injudicious praise which has been lavished on this, which we take to be her first book. The lady can describe natural scenery well, can touch a tender chord with true pathos, can display strength at times. She only needs more interest of plot, and to avoid scenes and characters of whichshe knows little or nothing. All the plot in the present volume consists of the slowly-dragged-out conversion of Mabel to Catholicity—which religion clashes with the creed of the elderly and by no means pleasant parson to whom she is affianced—and the consequent breaking off of the match. Finally he also is converted, and thedénoûmentis as given above. To tag five hundred and twenty-five pages of a story on a plot of such very slender device is rather overweighting it. The French scenes are the best in the book, and even they are needlessly marred by what the author doubtless considers a beauty—the supposed literal translation of the French characters’ speech into English, which is a barbarism.
The Illustrated Catholic Family Almanacfor the United States, for the Year of Our Lord 1877. New York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1877.
The season would scarcely be itself without this admirable little annual. It is always bright, instructive, and amusing, and the number for the present year shows no falling off in these qualities. The first portion of theAlmanaccontains the usual calendars, astronomical and ecclesiastical, with the information respecting Catholic feasts and fasts necessary for the coming year. Among the biographical sketches, that of Dr. Brownson claims the first place. It is illustrated by an admirably-executed portrait. There are excellent portraits also of Bishop Verot, Archbishop Connolly of Halifax, N. S., VeryRev.Dr. Moriarty, O.S.A.,Rev.Francis Piquet, PiusVII., Vittoria Colonna, all accompanied by brief but interesting sketches. There are, as usual, pictures of old Catholic landmarks in this country, Ireland, and other lands, with pleasing descriptions. Among these, that ofSt.Joseph’s Church, in Philadelphia, is especially interesting. In addition to the complete and very valuable list of the popes, which was published for the first time last year, and is wisely retained in the present number, there is a complete catalogue of the kings of Ireland, from the Firbholg conquest down to the landing of HenryII.of England. To this is appended some valuable historical remarks. Indeed, there is not a page of thisAlmanacthat can be calleddull, and its cheapness happily places it within easy reach of every reader. We only wish that such cheapness and real excellence could be oftener combined in Catholic books.
The Life and Letters of Sir Thomas More.By Agnes M. Stewart, authoress ofMargaret Roper, etc.8vo,pp.365. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.
The lot of Sir Thomas More was cast in troublous times. He lived amid storms that wrecked many a noble life, and yet no man ever bore throughout a serener soul or a happier and gayer disposition. His character is a study of the most healthful sort; for it exhibits the rare picture of a man who deemed the sacrifice of power, wealth, place, friends, and life itself, to principle and conscience, too ordinary a duty to excite surprise. On whatever side we view the man, the hero comes to light. He lived in an atmosphere of his own creation, and whoever came within its influence left it a better and wiser mortal. He was, in the best sense of the word, a Christian philosopher and statesman. He would jest with Erasmus in antique phrase as though he had but returned from the portico, while a hair-shirt nettled his skin and his soul communed in frequent ejaculation with its Creator.
As a letter-writer he will ever hold a foremost rank because of his sense, humor, wit, and grace of expression. Even the careless construction of some of his letters possesses a charm; for there you see the man disclosing himself without reserve—careful, indeed, that the picture be a true one, but indifferent as to the setting. What could be more delightful than his letters to his children while these were under the care of a tutor at home and he was engrossed by the weighty concerns of office? He flies to the pen as a refuge from distracting thoughts, and pours out his soul to his little ones with a sweetabandon; he is sportive and grave by turns and veils deep philosophy and wise counsels beneath the garb of a fresh and mirthful phraseology. He evidently believed with Horace:
“Quamquam ridentem dicere verumQuid vetat?”
“Quamquam ridentem dicere verumQuid vetat?”
“Quamquam ridentem dicere verum
Quid vetat?”
“And how can you want matter of writing to me, who am delighted to hear either of your studies or your play, whom you may then exceedingly please when,having nothing to write of, you write as largely as you can of that nothing, than which nothing is more easy for you to do, especially being women, and therefore prattlers by nature, amongst whom a great story riseth out of nothing.” He then advises them to be careless in nothing, but to bestow conscientious pains on all their performances. The homelife of Sir Thomas affords us the best glimpse of the true character of this great man, and lends a new and sad significance to the scene which occurred between his heart-broken daughter and himself, as he tottered, haggard and emaciated, to the block. He loved his home as the pupil of his eye, and sighed for it when duty called him away. With even such a shrew as his second wife he contrived to make his a model household, where refinement, piety, and cheerfulness ever reigned. Smart retort and repartee, brilliant things and witty sayings, were the salt which lent savor to many a pious reflection and devout allusion while the family shared their daily meals. Thus did Sir Thomas, by being a devout Catholic and a lover of learning, convert a possible home of bickering and discontent into one which nurtured peace, contentment, happiness, and hope.
Unless we pause to study Sir Thomas More in his home at Chelsea, we will fail to discern the peerless knight, the virtuous man, the lover of religion, the sententious philosopher (all which he was), amid the grime and lustful air of Henry’s court,
“Where the individual withers, and the world is more and more.”
“Where the individual withers, and the world is more and more.”
“Where the individual withers, and the world is more and more.”
Next to Sir Thomas as father, friend, and husband, the reader loves to view him in his exalted capacity of chancellor. From him indeed, the title has acquired its synonymous meaning with unblemished integrity and purity immaculate; for throughout his whole political career he never recognized friend or foe as such; he treated all alike with unswerving impartiality. And in pursuing this course he obtained the reward which he especially desired: the testimony of a good conscience. He felt that, though “there are innumerable hopes to innumerable men, he is happy who is happy day by day”; and this is just the sort of happiness which is born of a good conscience. His decisions bore the mark of his sterling sense and unyielding will, andthough many exceptions had been taken to his renderings by those whose interests he countered, not a single reversal could be obtained, while others degraded their high offices and stooped to pander to the lustful instincts of the king. More studied to grace the chancellor’s gown by the practice of every virtue pertaining to the dignity of his position, and shone forth more brilliantly by contrast with the pliant tools of Henry.
“Velut inter ignesLuna minores.”
“Velut inter ignesLuna minores.”
“Velut inter ignes
Luna minores.”
The speech which he delivered on the occasion of his investiture will ever remain a model of dignity and modesty. While deprecating the praise bestowed on him by the Duke of Norfolk, he failed not to express his just appreciation of the high and important trust to which he had been called, and this in language so fitting and graceful that his admirers likened him to Cicero.
Miss Stewart, who but a short time ago gave to the world a charming novelette with the title of theChancellor and his Daughter, addressed herself to the task of compiling these memoirs with laudable enthusiasm, such, indeed, as no one acquainted with the subject could fail to experience. Here is a hero-worship of the right sort, growing out of the virtues and learning of her idol, and so far not to be reckoned with Macaulay’s stupid admiration of WilliamIII.or Carlyle’s still more fatuous veneration for Frederick of Prussia. She has earned a new title to the esteem in which she is held in England. The book contains an admirable autotype fac-simile of the celebrated picture of the meeting between the chancellor and his daughter.
The Science of the Spiritual Life.By Father Francis Neumayr,S.J.London: Burns & Oates. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)
This is a poor translation of an excellent little book on ascetical theology. Francis Neumayr was born in Munich in 1697. Early in life he entered the Society of Jesus, and, having finished his studies, taught theology with great success during a number of years. He was then sent to fill the pulpit of the Cathedral of Augsburg, and during the ten years in which he held this position acquired an extraordinary reputation as anorator. He did not, however, confine himself to preaching, but wrote on various subjects relating to the religious controversies of his age. His writings were very popular in Germany, and some of them made their way throughout Catholic Europe.The Science of the Spiritual Life, which is one of his most widely-known works, is a compendium of what has been called the “science of the saints.” It is written with good judgment and a thorough knowledge of the subject, in a style which is concise without being obscure. There is nothing in it which the simplest cannot readily understand, and yet there is everything that the most learned could desire.
Missale Romanumex DecretoSacros.Concilii Tridentini restitutum, S. PiiV.Pontificis Maximi jussu editum, ClementisVIII.et UrbaniVIII.auctoritate recognitum. Editio Ratisbonensis X. hujus forma altera missis novissimis aucta. Cum textu et cantu a Sacrorum Rituum Congregatione adprobato. 1876. Ratisbonæ, Neo Eboraci, et Cincinnatii: Sumptibus, chartis, et typis Frederici Pustet, S. Sedis Apost. et Sacr. Rituum Congreg. typographi.
This beautiful and finely-printed Missal fully sustains the reputation that Mr. Pustet has already gained for his liturgical books. The paper on which it is printed is of the finest quality, and the type by far the best we have yet seen. Special praise is due to the printing of the notation in the prefaces and other musical portions of the work, which is singularly distinct and clear. The Missal is adorned with many fine and artistic pictures, and all the introits are embellished with finely executed initial letters. The proof-sheets have all been read by the Sacred Congregation and approved.
Margaret Roper; or, The Chancellor and his Daughter.By Agnes Stewart, Authoress ofFlorence O’Neill,The Foster-Sisters, etc. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet &Co.1876.
This little book will amply repay perusal. The heroine, Margaret Roper, the favorite daughter of Sir Thomas More, was the model of a noble Christian woman, worthy in every way of her gifted and heroic father. Sir Thomas Morewas, in the truest and broadest sense of the words, a grand character, a peerless Christian knight without fear and without reproach, true to his honest convictions, to his friends, true to the faith for which he died with the calm heroism of the early martyrs. His murder—to borrow the language of one of his biographers—was one of the blackest crimes ever perpetrated in England under the form of law. Time has only increased the admiration which his grand virtues extorted from his bitterest enemies, and the most bigoted Protestants venerate his name more than that of Cranmer or Cromwell, the unprincipled tools of the heartless tyrant, HenryVIII., who deluged England with innocent blood. His letters to his daughter, skilfully interwoven into the narrative, form a very interesting feature of the volume before us. The character of the greatest of English chancellors is sketched by the authoress with historical fidelity, and the picture of his celebrated daughter is drawn with equal devotion to historic truth.
A Preparation for Death.Done out of French. Chicago: W. F. Squire. 1876.
This is an excellent little book, quite cheap, and well adapted for the sick room. It was originally “done out of French” by a writer in Dublin and has been reprinted in this country by the present publisher. It consists of short prayers, exhortations, and reflections on the Passion of Our Lord. Theimprimaturof Bishop Foley is attached.
Another work, though larger, which is peculiarly adapted for spiritual reading during the month of the Holy Souls is theLife ofSt.Catherine of Genoa, published by the Catholic Publication Society. This is not only a beautiful and interesting life of one of those great women who adorn the history of the Church in all ages, but contains in additionSt.Catherine’s treatise on Purgatory, which together with her spiritual dialogues, as is said in the introduction, “St.Francis of Sales, that great master in spiritual life, was accustomed to read twice a year.” And “Frederick Schlegel, who was the first to translateSt.Catherine’s dialogues into German, regarded them as seldom, if ever, equalled in beauty of style; and such has been the effect of the example of Christian perfection in our saint, that even the AmericanTract Society could not resist its attraction, and published a short sketch of her life among its tracts, with the title of her name by marriage, Catherine Adorno.” The words of the saints are always golden. One can never repeat them too often or ponder on them too long.
Songs in the Night, and Other Poems.By the author ofChristian Schools and Scholars. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.
Songs with a meaning are these, and full of sweet melody. The singer evidently feels. The feelings are deep, the thought deep also, and steeped in the purest well of religion. The versification is as varied as it is happy; and, indeed, for both thought and expression throughout this small volume we have nothing but praise. The title owes its meaning to the fact that “several of the poems were originally suggested by passages in theSpiritual CanticlesofSt.John of the Cross, whose use of the wordnight, in a mystic sense, is too well known to need explanation.” The opening poem, “The Fountain of the Night; or, the Canticle of the Soul rejoicing to know God by Faith,” gives a good idea of the tone and excellence of the volume:
There is a Fount whence endless waters flow;There zephyrs play and fairest flowerets blow.Full well that crystal Fountain do I know,Though of the night.I know the verdant hills that gird it round;Its source I know not, for no thought can soundThe Spring whence all things first their being foundIn the dark night.I know no earthly beauty to compareWith that mysterious Fount, so calm and fair;All things in heaven and earth are pictured there,Though of the night.The tide wells forth in many a flowing river,Yet is the Fountain-head exhausted never;Onward it flows, for ever and for ever,On through the night.No cloud obscures, no passing shadows restUpon that Fountain’s clear, unruffled breast,Itself the very source of light confessed,Though of the night.Forth from this spring a sparkling Torrent flows;Who shall the secret of its birth disclose?And yet I know the source from whence it rose,Though of the night.I see from both a mighty River run,Yet dare not say when first its course begun;For Fountain, Torrent, River—all are one,Though of the night.I know that all are ours—all hidden lieIn form of Bread, hid from the curious eyeTo give us life. O love! O mysteryOf deepest night!And the Life seeks all living things to fill,To quench our thirst with water from the rill,To feed, to guide us, though in darkness still,As of the night.And ever of that Fount I long to drink,And ever of that living Bread I think,And linger by that flowing River’s brinkThrough the long night.
There is a Fount whence endless waters flow;There zephyrs play and fairest flowerets blow.Full well that crystal Fountain do I know,Though of the night.I know the verdant hills that gird it round;Its source I know not, for no thought can soundThe Spring whence all things first their being foundIn the dark night.I know no earthly beauty to compareWith that mysterious Fount, so calm and fair;All things in heaven and earth are pictured there,Though of the night.The tide wells forth in many a flowing river,Yet is the Fountain-head exhausted never;Onward it flows, for ever and for ever,On through the night.No cloud obscures, no passing shadows restUpon that Fountain’s clear, unruffled breast,Itself the very source of light confessed,Though of the night.Forth from this spring a sparkling Torrent flows;Who shall the secret of its birth disclose?And yet I know the source from whence it rose,Though of the night.I see from both a mighty River run,Yet dare not say when first its course begun;For Fountain, Torrent, River—all are one,Though of the night.I know that all are ours—all hidden lieIn form of Bread, hid from the curious eyeTo give us life. O love! O mysteryOf deepest night!And the Life seeks all living things to fill,To quench our thirst with water from the rill,To feed, to guide us, though in darkness still,As of the night.And ever of that Fount I long to drink,And ever of that living Bread I think,And linger by that flowing River’s brinkThrough the long night.
There is a Fount whence endless waters flow;There zephyrs play and fairest flowerets blow.Full well that crystal Fountain do I know,Though of the night.
There is a Fount whence endless waters flow;
There zephyrs play and fairest flowerets blow.
Full well that crystal Fountain do I know,
Though of the night.
I know the verdant hills that gird it round;Its source I know not, for no thought can soundThe Spring whence all things first their being foundIn the dark night.
I know the verdant hills that gird it round;
Its source I know not, for no thought can sound
The Spring whence all things first their being found
In the dark night.
I know no earthly beauty to compareWith that mysterious Fount, so calm and fair;All things in heaven and earth are pictured there,Though of the night.
I know no earthly beauty to compare
With that mysterious Fount, so calm and fair;
All things in heaven and earth are pictured there,
Though of the night.
The tide wells forth in many a flowing river,Yet is the Fountain-head exhausted never;Onward it flows, for ever and for ever,On through the night.
The tide wells forth in many a flowing river,
Yet is the Fountain-head exhausted never;
Onward it flows, for ever and for ever,
On through the night.
No cloud obscures, no passing shadows restUpon that Fountain’s clear, unruffled breast,Itself the very source of light confessed,Though of the night.
No cloud obscures, no passing shadows rest
Upon that Fountain’s clear, unruffled breast,
Itself the very source of light confessed,
Though of the night.
Forth from this spring a sparkling Torrent flows;Who shall the secret of its birth disclose?And yet I know the source from whence it rose,Though of the night.
Forth from this spring a sparkling Torrent flows;
Who shall the secret of its birth disclose?
And yet I know the source from whence it rose,
Though of the night.
I see from both a mighty River run,Yet dare not say when first its course begun;For Fountain, Torrent, River—all are one,Though of the night.
I see from both a mighty River run,
Yet dare not say when first its course begun;
For Fountain, Torrent, River—all are one,
Though of the night.
I know that all are ours—all hidden lieIn form of Bread, hid from the curious eyeTo give us life. O love! O mysteryOf deepest night!
I know that all are ours—all hidden lie
In form of Bread, hid from the curious eye
To give us life. O love! O mystery
Of deepest night!
And the Life seeks all living things to fill,To quench our thirst with water from the rill,To feed, to guide us, though in darkness still,As of the night.
And the Life seeks all living things to fill,
To quench our thirst with water from the rill,
To feed, to guide us, though in darkness still,
As of the night.
And ever of that Fount I long to drink,And ever of that living Bread I think,And linger by that flowing River’s brinkThrough the long night.
And ever of that Fount I long to drink,
And ever of that living Bread I think,
And linger by that flowing River’s brink
Through the long night.
The First Christmas for Our Dear Little Ones.By Miss Rosa Mulholland. New York and Cincinnati:Fr.Pustet.
This beautiful book will be welcomed by the little ones, for whom it is intended, because, from the cover all the way through, it is bright and attractive, and each picture is a pleasant surprise. All the characters of the holy tale are made life-like and familiar, and the children may feel themselves at home with the white-winged angels, the eager shepherds, the stately Magi, and those nearer and dearer ones who attended the Blessed Infant’s earliest years.
By parents this book should be welcomed, because anything that illustrates home-lessons and makes them charming is a valuable friend in the household, and because it provides an acceptable gift which will bring home to children’s hearts the true meaning of the holiday season. The verses are appropriate and not too difficult for the little ones to enjoy.
Lectures on Scholastic Philosophy.By Father John Cornoldi,S.J.PartI.Logic. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.
Quite a number of persons have recently undertaken the laudable but difficult task of preparing elementary works on philosophy. Cornoldi’s Lectures or Lessons in Philosophy are to be speedily published entire, in an English translation, making two small volumes of from 300 to 350 pages each. A large part of the work is devoted to Rational Physics. The Logic, just now issued, contains the simplest and most necessary part of pure and applied logic in abrochureof less than one hundred pages. It seems to be made as simple and intelligible to beginners as the nature of the subject permits. It is a defect, however, in the translation, that Latin terms are sometimes used withoutthe least necessity, and Latin quotations are left untranslated. We hope this defect will be supplied in a second edition.
An Essay contributing to a Philosophy of Literature.By B. A. M. Second revised edition. Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger. 1876.
The first edition of this solid and genial essay was noticed inThe Catholic World. We are happy to see that its merit has received a general recognition which must be gratifying to the author. It is a book which grows upon one the more carefully it is perused, and we have now an even higher esteem of its originality, sound learning, discriminating judgment and taste than we had when we first commended it as a work of genuine and rare excellence.
The Voice of Jesus Suffering, to the Mind and Heart of Christians, etc.By a Passionist Missionary Priest. New York: P. O’Shea, 37 Barclay Street.
Another excellent book on our Lord’s Passion; but it differs from the generality of such works in making our Lord himself relate the history of his sufferings first, and then helping the auditor to “Practical Reflections.” This is an admirable plan, in that it enables the reader to bring the divine Object of his thoughts so much more really before his imagination. This, together with the character of the “Practical Reflections,” will be found, we are sure, to make meditation easy to those who have hitherto given it up as requiring too great an effort. And if the pious author shall have done no more than succeed in thus facilitating devotion to the Passion, he will not have labored in vain.
The Sermon on the Mount.(To the end of the Lord’s Prayer.) By Henry James Coleridge, of the Society of Jesus. London: Burns & Oates. 1876.
This is the third division of Father Coleridge’s treatise on the Public Life of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are glad to learn that the reception of the preceding volume on the Beatitudes has “encouraged him to attempt a somewhat fuller treatment of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount than he had originally thought of.” Those who have read the volume on the Beatitudes need no insurancefrom us that they will find in this new work an abundance of beautiful lessons, and particularly some we much need at the present time. The nine chapters on the Lord’s Prayer (chaptersxv.-xxiii.) will furnish the devout with many helps to meditation on the clauses of this summary of prayer.
The Life of the Very Reverend Mother Madeleine Louise Sophie Barat, Foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.By M. l’Abbé Baunard. Translated by Lady Georgiana Fullerton. Roehampton: 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)
The original French edition of this admirable work has already been noticed at length inThe Catholic World. The English edition is brought out in two handsome volumes, and the distinguished name of the translator furnishes every guarantee for a faithful and excellent rendering of the original. So great has been the demand for the work that a large order was exhausted almost immediately on its arrival in this country.
The Devotion of the Holy Rosary.By Michael Müller, C.S.S.R. New York: Benziger Brothers.
Father Müller is a tireless writer. His works are for the most part addressed to those who are too often forgotten by Catholic writers—the ordinary classes. Hewho provides the people with books of devotion which they willread, and not put on the shelf, does a great and good work. Under a modest appearance Father Müller’s books conceal much learning and knowledge, the fruit evidently of very extensive reading, while the whole is pervaded with a spirit of piety and zeal. The present volume is devoted to an explanation of that most popular of devotions—the rosary. Those who care to satisfy themselves as to what the rosary is, what it is intended for, what it has done in the service of the church and for the salvation of souls, will find in this volume much to interest and instruct them, as well as to increase their fervor. The concluding chapter treats of the “Devotion of the Scapular.”
Short Sermons preached in the Chapel ofSt.Mary’s College, Oscott.Collected and edited by the President. London: Burns & Oates. 1876. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)
These sermons will be found very serviceable to our clergy, who are often sorely pressed for time to prepare their discourses. One instruction such as these is better than ten ordinary sermons of twice or thrice its length. Lay persons also will benefit greatly by making their spiritual reading from this volume. The subjects are wisely selected. There are twenty-seven in all, with two funeral sermons in an appendix.