of the carnal in the spiritual being, a steady unfolding of faculties, so rare, so manifold, and so adequate to every exigency, that men looked upon him with reverential love, as though he had descended from the sanctuary of a higher world to win all by his presence to sanctity and glory. His resplendent genius embraced everything, ancient as well as modern: history, philosophy, theology, arts, and sciences. This vessel of election was SO moulded by the unerring pressure of God's grace into a condition of surpassing beauty, that the whole moral being of Augustine shot up into the stature of a mighty saint, so that ere it ordinarily could have been hoped that the water of baptism had produced a springtime of virtue, the choicest nourishment of heaven had ripened his soul into the richness of summer, and hoary saints and profound scholars reaped spiritual harvests from a soil in which the world could never imagine that even the seeds had been sown. Whilst his tears were still flowing for the failings of his early life he was promoted to the priesthood. Never has there been any one since the days of the apostles more distinguished in that ministry so awfully defined in holy writ as being "a preaching of the word of God, and a dispensation of the mysteries of the kingdom of God." And so truly was this the case that he was soon by acclamation of clergy and people raised to the episcopal chair of Hippo. Thenceforward his life proceeded in a career most saintly and useful, like those rivers which deepen and expand the further they extend from their source, and which carry wealth and prosperity to all the regions through which they flow. From that time he lived only for the glory of God and the welfare of the Christian Church. Having the dignity and power of a sover

eign, he lived the life almost of a pauper, so simple his habits, so abstemious in his frugal fare. His mind and heart fully displayed their noble energies. His counsels were regulated by justice; he solaced the widow, cherished the orphan, and all the distressed approached him with confidence. He had for his friends all who by virtue and sanctity were illustrious in the church; he had for his enemies all who by immorality and heresy tried to destroy the kingdom of Christ. His activity was directed in part to the inner organic polity and wellbeing of the Church, and partly to literary labors, but most of all to the refutation of heretics, who threatened the integrity of the Christian fold.

What the genius and piety of St. Augustine effected in scientific disquisition, in pastoral instruction, in support of virtue, in correction of vice, we know by the vital energy which he has transmitted through the life of the Church, and which has in unimpaired vigor survived the demise of so many generations. The substance of his sermons is now preached in the languages of every Christian people; the canonical regulations of the Church are still framed according to his wise provisions for ecclesiastical polity. The daring speculations of infidelity are daily overawed by the prowess of truth, with which he prostrated Manicheans, Pelagians, Donatists, and other numerous hosts of unbelievers. For every convicted penitent the bitterness of remorse is assuaged in the sweetness of holy contrition, by his Confessions; whilst those who are privileged to seek union with God, and the rich entertainment of heavenly prospects, his Meditations open out vistas through which are seen the orb of celestial light, and transfuse an unction through all the sensibilities of the soul. How

delightfully do we trace the effects of grace on the pages which record the effusions of his mind. His His words flowed from a heaven-born principle, apprehending truths above the ordinary ken of the human intellect, and catching glories that defy the power of imagination. The most fertile in genius, the most toilsome in learned labor, have been astonished at the sight of the numerous and ponderous folios into which the pen of Augustine crowded disquisitions in every department of science and literature. We can look nowhere throughout the Church without perceiving vestiges of his apostolic zeal. He has inscribed his fame in the numerous charitable and religious foundations which owe their existence to his model for the regular observance of Christian life: innumerable are the churches, schools, &c., which come into into being under the augury of Augustine's name, and are to this day, in every circle of civilization, monuments of his energetic benevolence.

In 430, Hippo was besieged by Genseric, the Vandal king, but before it fell the fleshy citadel of its bishop was stormed and carried by the arch invader, Death, who spares neither civilized nor barbarian, nor saint nor sinner. After ten days' illness, spent in prayer and penance, with the penitential psalms affixed for convenience to the wall by his bedside, on the 28th of August he laid down the burden of his seventy-five years, and passed victorious on from life to life. His vacant bishopric had no successor. Africa fell into the hands of Genseric. That cherished jewel of the

Roman empire sparkled awhile in the diadem of the Vandal. The Greek supplanted the Vandal, the Saracen supplanted the Greek. Africa was blotted out from the map of Christendom, but Christian Africa had produced one plant whose fragrance escaped the desolations of the sword, and whose seed has survived the dissolutions of time. In Bona, to this day, the memory of Augustine endures as that of the Gheber Saint who taught the religion of the Son of Mary before the birth of Mohammed.

Most precious to us that

great memory. We admire the mighty energy which bore the earthly accidents and name of Augustine; we honor the laborious and unwearied devotion to Christ and the Church, which knew no pause and asked no reward but the rest that remaineth for the people of God; we revere the steadfast virtue which, by grace abounding, could trample at once on lusts long indulged, and walk unswerving in the teeth of such passions the elected path of ascetic abnegation. To all Christendom for evermore the name of Augustine stands for a spiritual fact of holiest import. A conversion more satisfactory and complete, with such antecedents, on such a level of intellectual life, the annals of religion do not record. Here is a man who was dead and lived again; who, past the bloom of life, turned right about in the path he was treading, and ever after, with his back to the world and his face toward God, for forty long years, made every day of his life the round of a ladder by which he climbed into glory.

WE have before us a pile of college catalogues and school circulars; a huge pile made up of contributions from the four quarters of the great republic; pamphlets, speaking of the labors of the sons of Loyola, the disciples of Augustine, and the followers of La Salle. In all may be found proofs of the zeal which inspires those willing laborers in the most trying portion of Christ's vineyard. In some there is doubtless greater evidence of system, the fruit of experience, but in all it is apparent that if good be not accomplished, the upright intentions of presiding rectors or directors, call them as you will, is in no way to be questioned. In many of these catalogues we notice that the nursery of learning is placed by the side of the church, carrying out the practice of the Middle Ages, in which the monks held their duty only half accomplished when they had erected a temple to the Creator, and only resting when to this they had added the seminary, whence were to proceed the future monks and laymen whose knowledge and virtue were to be the chief supports of the Church. While we find so much in these catalogues to recommend their compilers to the confidence of the public, it would be wrong to say that many of them do not offer a wide margin for criticism. As it would be unfair to look upon the bright side alone, we may devote some attention to what one may judge open to review in these pamphlets, reserving a sufficient portion of our article for reference to the many agreeable facts and statements they contain.

At first sight we are struck by the comparatively small number of students attending the older institutions. How to explain it we know

not. Is it that the professors have become careless, and rely too much on the prestige of the name won years and years ago? or is it that the younger institutions, full of the vigor of youth, and feeling the necessity of greater exertion, surpass in industry their older competitors? We leave these questions to be answered by those more intimately acquainted with the particulars of the case. There may be some explanation of this state of the question, however, in the fact that the old institutions are no longer centrally situated, or that the late war, having broken the tide of prosperity, this has since flown into other channels; and yet we may be able to give a partial explanation for this anomalous condition of things by another statement. In olden times, many of these institutions employed a considerable number of ecclesiastical students in the intermediate classes, young men who obtained their own education by devoting a certain portion of their time to teaching in the primary departments. But these men were distinguished alike for their strength of character and brightness of intellect. Look back to the days when Hughes and such were teachers, and shall we wonder that they made a name for the institutions to which they were attached? The same practice still holds in these institutions, but we doubt if the same standard is required either in the assistant teachers or his pupils. But this will not explain why all the older institutions are falling off in numbers. It certainly will not remove the astonishment we experience in seeing in the Georgetown College Report for 1872-73 that this institution, renowned throughout the

entire land, and deservedly so, can only present a roll of one hundred and eighty-seven students. No one has even whispered reproach against this venerable nursery of learning, and we must anew express our surprise at the smallness of its numbers, for it must not be forgotten that fully ten per cent. must be allowed off all college rolls for scholars who have only spent a portion of the year in the institute, leaving in the case of Georgetown say an average attendance of one hundred and seventy scholars, many of these (forty?) day-scholars, we believe, from Washington or Georgetown, exclusive of the law and medical departments, which do not strictly belong to the college. Of Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmetsburg, the same must be said. Its numbers are very small, and the home which once harbored and now prides itself on such students as Hughes and Purcell, no longer counts as many students as colleges whose years can be numbered in less than two decades. It is not pretended by any one that this venerable cradle of the Catholic Church in America is not deserving of the greatest patronage. Never did president deserve greater praise, or bring more wisdom to his position, than Dr. McCaffrey, who, during so many years, guided its destinies. Nor can it be said that it is no longer esteemed by the highest functionaries of the Church. To none do more of the first dignitaries of the Church attend, than at the closing exercises of classic Mt. St. Mary's. Proceeding east, and examining the catalogues of the old institutions, affords no relief to the aspect. Here we will find one, directed by as learned a body as can be shown in any institution, counting only some ninety students, this number including the ecclesiastics studying in the novitiate attached to the college, and yet it has one of the most beautiful

sites, and is situated in as healthy a locality as can be found, notwithstanding which its numbers are still on the decrease. This state of affairs presents itself between the old and the new institutions, even where both are directed by members of the same order. Thus in Chicago, St. Ignatius College, of quite recent origin, shows a most healthy condition of progress, while the institute bearing the same name in Baltimore, is evidently not meeting the same measure of success, if we compare this year's catalogue with former ones.

The Christian Brothers' College in St. Louis also shows smaller numbers, due in part, no doubt, to the opening of two select schools by the Brothers in other parts of the city, though this is not sufficient reason; while Manhattan College, New York, and Rock Hill College near Baltimore, show higher figures than in any previous year. The same is true of Notre Dame University, Indiana. Here also we may mention a remarkable phase in the question of numbers. The graduates from these various establishments seem to be in an inverse ratio to the numbers attending. Thus in those having but small proportional attendance, the graduates are "turned out" by the dozen, while those having largest numbers appear most sparing of their honors. With all due respect to the managers of these various institutions, we suggest that by requiring harder work and being more positive in their refusal of collegiate honors to all but really deserving students, the first step toward an improvement of patronage will have been effected.

In many of these catalogues we look in vain for information which will give a correct idea of how the institutions are directed, or the particular features distinguishing one from the others. This is to be regretted, for education is a ques

tion of so much importance that each individual has a claim on the experience and information of others engaged in a like occupation. The true educator desires not only his own personal success, but the general good of the cause of education. Hence, when any particular plan has been pursued in the study of a specialty, the same proving successful, we hold it an understood duty between Catholic teachers, that such plan and its method of adaptation should be made public property. This would do more toward improving colleges than any number of conventions at which but few persons can attend. Were such a plan adopted, some catalogues would be more than a mere pamphlet containing a synopsis of the course of studies and a list of students. To intelligent teachers and parents it is a matter of the greatest indifference whether John Smith lives in Brooklyn or St. Louis, but it is of the greatest interest for both to know what method is pursued in teaching John Smith history, grammar, or natural philosophy. It will, doubtless, require a great amount of labor to prepare a catalogue containing even a short sketch descriptive of the methods pursued in each branch, but this difficulty might be overcome by dividing the labor, or by presenting only a part of the system each year.

Thus we would desire nothing more than professional friends' views as to the best method of teaching history: whether it should be as a memory lesson or studied in connection with reading; if it should be combined with geography, or made a part of the English literature course. In like manner could the subject of geometry be taken up and discussed. Should this branch be taught theoretically, as in Loomis and Robinson, or should each problem or each book be followed by practical

applications, as in Brooks's latest work. Here are but two branches, and yet what a field for interchange of ideas and results? Who will be the first to act on the suggestion? Some of our Protestant friends have already carried out this plan, but it yet remains partially undeveloped.

It may be replied that such an interchange of ideas could be best carried out through some scientific journal. This is partly true, and yet we are not certain that our professors would encourage such a method of communication. When such information appears in a catalogue, the credit is more direct, and the bona fide character of the suggestions far greater than any that might be furnished through the press. Such an interchange of sentiment would also tend to harmonize the general character of the teaching in all our Catholic colleges, and would thus prepare students better to meet afterwards in friendly contest in the various societies which are becoming so general throughout the country. And, if the question of a Catholic university should ever take a practical shape, then students coming from various colleges would be better prepared to enter a common course without the many disadvantages which now arise from the multifarious systems and text-books in use.

This will demand, of course, concession from all parties; but no one is worthy the vocation of teacher who is not disposed to learn from any one who has information to impart. The road up the hill of science is tortuous, and no one should be so foolhardy as to prefer finding a path for himself rather than follow a guide, however uninviting his appearance. In the counsels of many there is found wisdom, and in scientific and literary teaching, as in all else, he