space to quote some of the best by name: The Sleeper's Sail, Unseen yet Seen, The Skeleton at the Feast, Mother's Corner, Called and Chosen, Misunderstandings, Fiat Voluntas Dei, Saint Martin's Summer, The Fate of the Fairy Swan, and, last but not least, in the hearts of many readers, In Memoriam, Rev. Felix Joseph Barbelin. Of these, Unseen yet Seen, Misunderstandings, and Saint Martin's Summer, are of superlative merit. The last if shown to us with the authorship unknown we should unhesitatingly credit to Mr. Longfellow's pen. Indeed, the similarity of style between America's Laureate and Miss Donnelly is strongly marked through all her book, yet in a way that fully proves the latter's originality. The tribute to the venerable and beloved pastor of St. Joseph's, Father Barbelin, is soul-touching in its appropriateness to the subject, but is slightly impaired by what might be casually considered as a broken metaphor in the opening stanza.

We beg leave also to draw the attention of the authoress to several instances of bad rhyme by the use of plural nouns with the verb agreeing, when the singular number would have served as well and avoided the difficulty.

In freely noticing the few trifling defects as well as the overshadowing merits of Miss Donnelly's beautiful volume, we have no intention of being either disparaging, discourteous, or hypercritical, but rather of doing our part as critics towards removing any, even the slightest blemishes from a work which is so near perfection, that we see no reason why in future editions it should not become completely so. As we regretfully miss from this collection many familiar pieces which have delighted us from time to time, in the secular and religious journals, we sincerely hope that the success of the present volume will be so great as to cause the authoress to speedily follow it with a second one, giving us all that has come from her attractive pen. Miss Donnelly, we may say, for the benefit of those who are not intimately acquainted with her, is a talented member of a talented Philadelphia family, and a sister of the Hon. Ignatius Donnelly of Minnesota. To Philadelphians she has long been endeared by her rich poetic gifts, and though her reputation may have been slow in extending to other portions of the country, it is not so much from any lack of power or brilliancy, but rather from the modesty which, ever accompanying true merit, scorns to resort to those tricks for gaining popularity which less worthy but more pre

tentious artists unhesitatingly adopt. Miss Donnelly is a devout Catholic, and while much of the superior excellence of her poems is attributable to the heavenborn inspiration acquired from her faith, yet there is nothing in her writings to render them distasteful to those who are separated from the mother and mistress of all true art, the Church of God. These beauteous "songs and visionary things" will rather serve to impress the world at large with the superior excellence of Catholicity, and as such we hope and believe that

"Not in vain each tender strain

About the common air shall blow."

We cannot better close this extended notice than by briefly saying that the publishers have done their part towards the success of this book in every way worthy of its contents.

THE IRISH RACE IN THE PAST AND PRESENT. By the Rev. Augustine J. Thébaud, S. J.: New York. D. Appleton & Co., 549 & 551 Broadway, 1873.

This is one of the finest historical works that it has ever been our pleasure and good fortune to read, certainly the most able work on Irish topics which ever issued from the American press, and we seriously doubt if it has often been excelled by the productions of any European writers, even a native Irish penman, for it is a singular fact that its author is a Frenchman, and he has treated what might naturally be considered a worn-out theme with a freshness, a vigor, an originality, and a profundity and spread of thought, which makes of his subject the most readable of books. It is not properly speaking a history, but rather a collection of historical considerations upon a theme which has busied the brains of some of the world's brightest intellects, namely, the marvellous characteristics which make the Irish a comparatively isolated people, solitary in their glory, in their endurance, in their intrepidity, in their learning, in their imperishability, in their faith, in their unstained national honor. In a word, he shows that this nation, despised by the mass of continental Europe, always has been, is now, and ever will be what her most ardent admirers and most enthusiastic sons have ever claimed her to be, the greatest nation of Europe, and, by her growing influence in American affairs, the conqueror queen of both hemispheres. He does not do this with the

senseless and extravagant rhodomontade, which by being too often adopted as the main element of Irish laudation, has like "vaulting ambition overleapt itself.” and made a glorious theme disgusting to well-balanced minds. His arguments are so new and profound, and delivered so pointedly, yet so chastely and dispassionately, as to carry conviction in the historical truths he inculcates home to the most prejudiced minds, while those who have hitherto felt no interest pro or con in the matter, can hardly fail to have a substantial enthusiasm awakened in their minds for this fairest daughter of Europe, this brightest gem of the sea. The great secret of Fr. Thébeaud's success in thus convincing his readers, is that he does not content himself with broad declarations and baseless statements, but by a generous and copious use of the why and wherefore of his reasonings, proves that history is indeed " philosophy teaching by example." The keynote of his work is the sentence of Count Joseph De Maistre: "All nations manifest a particular and distinctive character, which deserves to be attentively considered;" and regarding Ireland as the best exemplification of this truth, whether viewed by herself or in her relations with other nations, he proceeds to the historical analysis of her characteristics.

To this literary banquet we invite not only all true friends of Ireland, but also all who make the destiny of the human race, as exemplified in the story of the nations, their study.

A GRAMMAR OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE. By G. K. Bartholemew, M.A. Wilson, Hinkle & Co., 137 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, and 28 Bond Street, New York. 276 pages, half roan, 12mo.

There is, fortunately or unfortunately, as the reader may please to determine, no dearth of Latin grammars. What need then for a new one? is naturally the question; to which we answer, that while there may be no positive necessity for any addition to the present stock, the advent of this one is highly desirable, inasmuch as it is highly advantageous, because it initiates a new era for a large number of classical students, by introducing a new and improved method of teaching the royal language of ancient Rome. It is well known that there has long existed a wide diversity in the opinion of professors as to what really is the correct pronunciation of Latin. Before the days of the so-called Reformation, when the Church was the universal

teacher of secular as well as Divine learning, there was but one system of pronunciation, that which we now call the Continental system, modified perhaps by some local peculiarities of speech, but when the insane desire for a spurious reform bewitched the minds of men, then again was repeated in a certain sense the sad miracle of Babel. The pronunciation of Latin became anglicized in the great universities of England, and has in this form ever since been adopted in all Protestant schools. Thoughtful men have however seen the wisdom of returning to the old and beautiful method of the Catholic schools, and the agitation of the question has been sufficiently strong to justify the publication of a book, in which the pure Roman pronunciation, as far as we can now judge of its purity, is distinctly inculcated.

The second recommendation to which this book can justly lay claim is that the verb, being the base of the sentence, is logically treated first, an advantage which we would advise all future grammarians of any language to carefully regard.

The conjugations, declensions, syntax, and prosody are each treated of with many improvements, tending to facilitate their study. The syntax is especially remarkable for its minuteness and copiousness of detailed explanation, which renders the work invaluable as a book of reference, or a class-book for advanced students.

MEDITATIONS ON THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN. By Most Hon. Brother Philippe, Superior-General of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Translated from the French. Baltimore: Kelly & Piet.

We notice with undisguised pleasure, as a most promising omen for the new incumbent of the metropolitan see, that one of his first approbations should be affixed to a work on the Most Blessed Virgin, issued in his own Archdiocese, whose crest bears the fitting inscription, "AUSPICE MARIA." The approbation is happy in more than one aspect. At or about the time of this approbation, the Christian Brothers, assembled in chapter in their Mother House at Paris, refused unanimously to accept the resignation of the author of these Meditations, Brother Philippe, an old man, weighed down by the responsibilities of thirty-six years as Superior-General, but the vigor of whose intellect is best indicated by the fact of his having within the last ten years written" Meditations on Our Last End,"

It is divided according to the festivals of the year; also according to the subjects embraced, from Mary Predestined to be the Mother of God" to "The Assumption of Mary." Next come Meditations on "Her Virtues," followed by others on "Her Greatness and Patronage," concluding with fifteen Meditations "Devotion to Mary."

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The field covered, it will be seen, is a wide one; original in division and treatment, and differing materially from any other work on the subject.

There is an almost entire absence of any allusion to the much-used field of the miraculous, the author preferring, it would seem, to found his reasoning on certain accepted and dogmatic principles, building on these principles a beautiful superstructure of devotional reasoning, still devoid, as we remark, of anything purely assumed. To pastors whose month of May exercises call for instruction for their flocks, we know not any work more to be commended. The treatment of the subjects will be found in keeping with the middle and higher class of intelligence, while it will not fail to greatly edify even the most illiterate.

Every lover of Mary, and none who are not her lovers can claim partnership with her Son, will hail this new work. Its preface is among the most beautifully worded we have ever noticed, and will amply repay for the space taken up in a partial insertion of its contents.

"The faithful children of the Church, throughout the Catholic world, as well as every true religious, cherish the devotion to the Most Holy Virgin, strive to obtain its true spirit, and observe all the practices it enjoins, because they feel that this devotion satisfies the innermost wants of the soul, opens up an unfailing fountain of divine grace, and procures

for us the purest, the most inexpressible joys."

Each meditation is followed by an Application of the subject, and a Prayer. As a specimen of the devotional character of the latter, we here furnish the dedicatory aspirations of the author:

"And now, O Blessed Mother, prostrate at thy sacred feet, with the most fervent desire and the fullest confidence

that thou wilt hear my supplication, I beseech thee, Most Holy Virgin, to accept this work, which has been undertaken solely for the glory of God, thy honor, and the salvation of souls, and grant that its objects may be fully attained. Bless thy poor servant who, alas! has but this humble offering to present to thee, and who is but too sensible of the feebleness of his powers in the presence of so grand a theme. Bless each one of his brethren, whose sanctification he so ardently desires, as well as all who may make use of this book. Oh! sweet and loving Mother, obtain for us all the grace whereby we may prove ourselves thy worthy children, and merit thy powerful protection through life, and especially at the hour of our death. "B. PHILIPPE."

The work is for sale by all our Catho lic publishers.

THE LIMERICK VETERAN, OR THE FOSTER SISTERS. By Agnes M. Stewart, authoress of Florence O'Neill. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet & Co., 174 West Baltimore Street. 1873.

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This is a sequel, and in all respects, literary and typographical, a panion work to Florence O'Neil, The Rose of St. Germains. Miss Stewart sketches in this volume, with her usual graceful style, the fortunes of that lovely lady and her gallant husband after their happy union. Another interesting character of the former work, Grace Wilmot, appears again in the present tale, the scene of which is naturally carried over into the reigns succeeding William and Mary, and its plot is developed amid the stirring scenes in which were cast the fate and fortunes of the Jacobites under the standard of the Pretender.

WE remember it distinctly, very distinctly, in fact we have never forgotten how, when we were about half through our collegiate curriculum, it was our fortune, good or bad, as the case may be, to be placed under the tuition of a certain respected professor, with whom we didn't get along very well; in fact, we do not think any of his pupils ever did. Socially he was all right, amiable, intellectual, painstaking; oh, yes! painstaking enough, nobody could gainsay that-at least he intended to be so; but the trouble was that he didn't take pains in the right direction. The boys, too, were quick, bright, and docile, and would have been studious had their ambition been properly aroused; but the best boys in the world will not apply themselves assiduously, unless their preceptor possesses the ingenuity, or tact, or savoir faire, as the French so aptly style what in vulgar English we commonly designate the art of how to do it. The good man, whose memory we revere, did not possess this happy faculty.

VOL. V.-17

Like so many others who, while endowed with the highest talents for acquiring knowledge, are totally incapable of imparting it to others, he could not throw himself into the spirit of his duties. To have taught small children would have been for him a physical impossibility, hence he was usually called upon to preside over more advanced students, but woe to those students if they had not learned much before coming under his tuition; they would, indeed, have so many pages of study appointed them, and when the hour of recitation came would receive a not impatient hearing, but there was no explanation, no effort to make their studies enticing. What intellectual ground they went over in his class-room, had been practically trodden before, and when they left him for a higher class, it was simply because promotion was in the natural course of college life. Hadn't the pupils gone through all the books? They knew what those books had been able to convey to

them, but they knew it parrot-like, by rote, if at all; but for the majority of them, the harvest of knowledge for that year had been plentiful in quantity, but insipid, tasteless, and generally poor in quality. Some few, indeed, of the pupils of lofty aspirations had taken matters into their own hands, and burnt not the midnight lamp in vain. The professor declared they were splendid fellows, hugged them to his bosom, and took the credit of their personal labors as his own. But alas for the intellectual hobbledehoys, who comprised the vast majority of his pupils, and who studied in the otium cum dignitate style of an ordinary graduating class; alas! we say for them, when they had stumbled over recitation after recitation of dry lessons, what did he do to them? Well, sometimes he fired up with anger, raised superciliously his aristocratic eyebrows, which said as plainly as words, "Woe is me that a man of my calibre should be condemned to this humdrum business of teaching you blockheads; now you shall suffer for your laziness!" and then some punishment would be inflicted, which would satisfy in the conferring his passing anger, but which, when that anger had died away, he was too comatose, not to use a harsher expression, too comatose a character to seriously enforce. Of course, the gentlemanly victims were not such blockheads as not to see their teacher's weakness, and avail themselves of it, and so both trotted through the rounds on the gee-up principle, like donkey, like man. We have said that this was what he sometimes did, but such an effort was too excessive to be often repeated, so he generally contented himself, when vexed with the blunderings of some pupil who did not wish to usurp his teacher's prerogative, he generally contented himself, did this frightfully placid man, by throwing his arm up in the air, like Mary Anne,

in Dickens's "Mutual Friend," clenching his fist, and flinging it around in that elevated position, at the same time that he gave a peculiar stoop of the shoulders and forward rock to his body, and not forgetting the aforementioned twist of the eyebrows, would bring his clenched hand down again with a whack upon his knee, exclaiming, with a peculiar roll of the voice as he did so, "Ooh for a leetle GUMPTION !" to which some at least of the boys mentally responded, "Amen, for yourself as well as for us;" and then after this supreme effort of activity he would relapse into his native humor.

How often in later years has that sentence rung through our memory, as we viewed the things of life in their false position of lifeless things! Oh! for a little gumption to revive their flickering spirit. A noble soul is wasting or misspending its energy, a noble deed remains unwrought, mighty things lie unaccomplished, for the want of a master spirit to bring them to the light of perfection. The huge block of marble remains a misshapen mass, because there is no artistic hand to deftly carve therefrom the delicately chiselled statue. The canvas is there, the palette, the colors, some daubster tries his hand upon them with the impudent self-assurance that he is a painter; needless to say, his achievement is a brilliant failure; no fault of the materials, they were the best of their kind. Yonder ragged little fellow watches the would-be master. In his absence, like Murillo's mulatto, Sebastian Gomez, he seizes the selfsame brush and colors, and with a few strokes, not so much of his pencil as of his genius which guided it, has wrought a masterpiece of painting, or mayhap, like a Watteau, or a Giotto, with a piece of charcoal and the surface of a stone as his only utensils.

Yonder stripling, confined by