NEW PUBLICATIONS.
The Life of St. Thomas of Aquin. By Father Vaughan, O.S.B. London: Longmans, Brown, Green & Co. Vol. I. For sale by The Catholic Publication Society, New York.
This is a good stout volume, like St. Thomas himself. It is a book for its outward appearance such as we seldom see. We have many well-printed books, but this one is remarkable for its large, clear type, which makes it pleasant and easy to read. The subject is one of the greatest interest and importance. The life and times of St. Thomas have a peculiar charm about them, aside from the history of his genius, and of his philosophical and theological system. The two together make a theme which far surpasses in grandeur and attractiveness even the history of the majority of great saints. St. Thomas is the great doctor of the church. His intellectual sway is something without a parallel. The study of his works is on the increase, and he is likely to acquire even a greater and more universal sway than he enjoyed before the Reformation. We have never before had a really good biography of St. Thomas in English. Father Vaughan has taken hold of the work with zeal and ability. It is only half published as yet, but the first volume presents so large a portion of the angelic doctor's life before us that we can estimate its value as well as if we had the whole. An analysis of some of the principal works of St. Thomas is given by F. Vaughan, and he endeavors to present to the reader a picture of the times when he lived, as well as to describe the events of his personal history. Every student should have this book. It is indeed a wonderful thing to see such a specimen of genuine old monastic literature issuing from the English press. It makes us hope that England may yet become once more the merrie Catholic England of the olden time.
My Study Windows. By James Russell Lowell, A.M., Professor of Belles-Lettres in Harvard College. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. 1871.
Met with in the pages of a review or magazine, Mr. Lowell's prose is always sure to be more or less pleasant reading. His wit, his refinement, and a certain something which we are only unwilling to call his delicacy of appreciation, because, in spite of his generally acknowledged merits as a critic, he seems to us not always perfectly reliable in that capacity, always find him willing and amused readers. But when he shuts up too much of his work at once between a pair of covers, and gives whoever will a too easy opportunity of comparing him with himself, we doubt whether even his admirers—a class in which we are not unwilling to include ourselves—do not find him a little wearisome, and discover in him a poverty of suggestion and a timidity of thought which gibbet him as a book-maker, although, being in a measure counterbalanced by an abundance of lighter merits, they would have left him an easy pre-eminence over most of his contemporaries as a magazinist. Nor, if we may for once adopt a method of criticism from which our author himself is not averse, and trust our instinct to read between the lines, is Mr. Lowell altogether free from a suspicion that such may possibly be the case—and that, as affecting his own culture and habit of mind also, it was a far-reaching mistake in our Puritan ancestors to cut themselves quite asunder from the traditions of the past before they came here to establish free thinking and free religion along with a free government. However it may be with government, neither thought nor faith seems to flourish well without having its roots in the past. Like their transcendentalist sons, our New England progenitors were themselves "Apostles of the Newness," and simply antedated them by a few generations in the experiment of throwing overboard a great deal of valuable freight, and trying to right themselves by laying in a supply of useless ballast. The sentiment which they dignified by the name of trust in Providence appears nowadays under a less equivocal disguise as self-reliance; and while it produces certain easily appreciable results both in society and literature, it makes instability, a want of solidity, and an absence of germinative force permanent characteristics of both of them. Not, however, to make an essay on a sufficiently suggestive topic, but to confine ourselves to the particular matter in hand, it is perhaps Mr. Lowell's thin-skinnedness as an author, and a characteristic modesty as to the value of his utterances, none the less apparent for being put carefully out of sight, which give him, to our thinking, his best claim to the liking of his readers—while at the same time it is a modesty so well justified by the actual state of the case as to explain why it is that one is always more ready to accept with satisfaction what he has to say about an author whose claims have been tested by more than one generation of critics, than to trust him for a thoroughly reliable estimate of a literary workman of to-day. Even in the former case one inclines to believe that he may sometimes feel a just preference for his own opinions in contradistinction to those of Mr. Lowell—who is not, for instance, likely to elicit much intelligent sympathy with his verdict on the poetical merits of the "Rape of the Lock." By far the pleasantest portions of the present volume are the three opening essays, in which Mr. Lowell quite forgets that he is a critic, or, at least, that he is a critic of books. The essays on Carlyle and Thoreau contain also a good deal of sound, if not particularly subtle, criticism; and in general, although the book does not show Mr. Lowell in his most characteristic vein, it pleases us all the better on that account, as giving us what substance there is in his thought, with much less than ordinary of the technical brilliancy which wearies quite as often as it entertains.
Dion and the Sibyls. A Classic Christian Novel. By Miles Gerald Keon, Colonial Secretary, Bermuda, author of "Harding the Money-Spinner," etc. New York: Catholic Publication Society. 1871. 1 vol. 8vo, pp. 224.
Dion and the Sibyls is a work of uncommon merit, and may be classed, in our opinion, with Fabiola and Callista, which is the highest compliment we could possibly pay to a romance of the early period of Christian history. The Dion of the story is Dionysius the Areopagite in his youth, and before his conversion. The Sibyls are introduced in reference to their predictions of a coming Saviour of mankind. The object of the author is to exhibit the fearful need which existed in heathen society for a divine intervention, and the general, widespread desire and expectation of such an event at the time when our Lord actually appeared on the earth. This is done by means of a plot which is woven from the personal history of a nephew of Lepidus the Triumvir, a young Roman noble of Greek education, and an intimate friend of Dionysius, who came to Rome with his mother and sister at the close of the reign of Augustus, to claim the sequestrated estate of his father, one of the generals who helped to win the battle of Philippi. The appeal of the young Paulus Æmilius Lepidus to Augustus at a time when the latter was visiting the wealthy Knight Mamurra at his superb villa at Formiæ, and a plot of Tiberius Cæsar to carry off Agatha, the young man's sister, afford an occasion of describing the principal persons of the Roman court. This is done in a graphic and masterly manner. The representation of the aged Augustus is something perfect in its kind. The portraits of Tiberius, Germanicus, Caligula, then a child, the royal ladies, Sejanus the Prætorian prefect, Velleius Paterculus, Thellus the chief of the gladiators, and a number of other persons representing various classes of Romans, are admirably and vividly drawn. The breaking of the ferocious Sejan horse by the young Æmilius at the public games of Formiæ is a scene of striking originality and power. The campaign of Germanicus against the Germans is also well described. In fact, Mr. Keon makes the old Roman world reappear before us like a panorama. He shows himself to be a thorough and minute classical scholar and historian on every page and in every line. But beyond and above all this, he exhibits a power of philosophical reasoning, and an insight into the deepest significance of Christianity, which elevate his thrilling romance to the rank of a work of the highest moral and religious scope. The description of the demons by the Lady Plancina is an original and awfully sublime conception surpassing anything in the Mystique Diabolique of Görres. The author's great masterpiece, however, is the argument of Dionysius on the being of One God before the court of Augustus, a piece of writing of which any professed philosopher might be proud.
The history of Paulus Æmilius, who is really the hero of the work, brings him at last to Judæa at the time of the murder of St. John the Baptist, and the closing scenes of the life of our Lord. This gives the author the opportunity of describing a momentary glimpse which the brave and virtuous Roman was favored with of the form and countenance of the Divine Redeemer, as he was passing down the Mount of Olives. Mr. Keon undertook a difficult task, one in which many have failed, when he ventured on introducing the august figure of our Lord into his picture. We are fastidious in matters of this kind, and not easily satisfied by any attempt at giving in language what sculptors and painters usually fall short of expressing in marble and on canvas. Mr. Keon's bold effort pleases us so much that we cannot help wishing he would try his hand at some more sketches of the same kind. We should like to see some scenes from the evangelical history and the Acts of the Apostles produced under an ideal and imaginative form with an ability equal to that which our author has displayed in his pictures of the Augustan age. The success of Renan's Life of Jesus is due not so much to the popularity of his detestable and absurd theories, as to the attraction of his theme and the charm of a vivid, lifelike representation of the scenes, manners, and events of the period when our Lord lived and taught in Judæa. A similar work, produced in accordance with the true Catholic idea of the august, divine person of the Son of God made man, would do more to counteract the poison of the infamous infidel literature of the day in the popular mind than any grave argumentative treatise. We pronounce Mr. Keon's Dion and the Sibyls without hesitation to be a dramatic and philosophical masterpiece, and we trust that he will not allow his genius to lie idle, but will give us more works of the same sort. Whether the vitiated taste of the novel-reading world will appreciate works of so classical a stamp, we are unable to say. But all those who relish truth conveyed through the forms of the purest art will thank Mr. Keon for the pleasure he has given them, if they shall, as we did, by chance take up his book and peruse it attentively, and will concur with us in wishing that a work of so much merit and value might be better known and more widely circulated.
Literature and Life. Edwin P. Whipple. Enlarged Edition. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. 1871.
The essays contained in this volume are ten in number: Authors in their Relations to Life; Novels and Novelists; Wit and Humor; The Ludicrous Side of Life; Genius; Intellectual Health and Disease; Use and Misuse of Words; Wordsworth; Bryant; Stupid Conservatism and Malignant Reform.
Of these the first six were originally delivered by Mr. Whipple as popular lectures many years ago, and were collected and published in 1849.
The last four articles are later productions of the author, and are first published together in this enlarged edition of his early work.
In a somewhat extended notice of Mr. Whipple's essays on the "Literature of the Age of Elizabeth" more than a year ago, we pointed out some of his excellences and defects as they appeared to us. Both are perhaps even more apparent in this book.
Its style is marked by that command of expression for which the author is always so remarkable, and is at the same time clear, pointed, and unaffected.
Yet the essays sometimes bear marks of the object for which they were written, and one cannot help wishing that the author had not been so evidently restricted in the materials he used and in the characteristics of his style by the necessity of their adaptation to the audience of lecture-goers to which they were addressed.
The distinctively critical essays are the best, and it is in literary criticism that Mr. Whipple is always most at home.
His appreciative estimates of the genius of Dickens and of Wordsworth have, we think, been very seldom equalled in force and justice by any of the numerous criticisms of those authors which have been published.
Those who are familiar with Mr. Whipple's essays will be glad to see them republished in so elegant and convenient a form, and those who are not cannot now do better than to make their acquaintance.
Fifty Catholic Tracts on various Subjects. First Series. New York: The Catholic Publication Society, 9 Warren Street. 1871
The wish so often expressed of seeing "The Catholic Tracts" in a book form has been met by this volume. The variety of its contents makes it a book for circulation among all classes of society. Short, popular, and conclusive answers are given on questions of the day, making it of great value as a work of actual controversy, while not a few of the tracts are instructive and devotional, rendering it equally important to Catholics.
The volume is printed on good paper, and its price brings it within the reach of every one. We recommend it to the attention of clergymen, and the confraternities, sodalities, and Rosary societies, as a book for distribution among a reading and thinking people seeking after religious truth. We give the preface entire:
"In the spring of 1866, the Catholic Publication Society issued its first tract. Since that time it has published fifty tracts on different subjects. More than two and one half millions (2,500,000) of these short and popular papers have been sold and circulated. This is sufficient evidence of their value and popularity.
"Some of the ablest writers in our country have contributed to this work. Although we have never given the names of the authors, we feel at liberty to say that eminent prelates and learned theologians—men who have a world-wide reputation—have written many of these tracts. A well-written tract often costs more labor than an essay or an article for a magazine.
"Nor have these tracts been written and circulated without good effect. We know of Protestants converted and received into the church by their means. Countless prejudices against our religion have been removed, even when persons have not been led to become Catholics. Their minds have been thus prepared for accepting the truth at some future day. In addition to this, we must remember that many of the tracts are written for the instruction of Catholics. Numerous letters from those in charge of hospitals, asylums, and prisons, in various sections of our country, bear testimony to their value in this respect.
"An objection is sometimes made to the word 'tract.' We do not altogether like the word ourselves. If any friend can suggest a better, we will cheerfully adopt it. Until then, we must continue to use it. Surely Catholics have a right to any word in the English language. Sometimes an objection is made to the tract form of publication. Those who have scruples on this score are relieved by the publication of this volume. These tracts now form a book. No one can fairly object to the matter it contains.
"We trust, therefore, that they who find benefit from this little volume of tracts will endeavor to increase its circulation. To the clergy we recommend Tract 50 as one intended to place before them a practical method of circulating Catholic literature among their people. We cannot close without expressing the strong desire to see this volume spread over the length and breadth of our land."
Meditations on the Litany of the Most Holy Virgin. By the Abbé Barthe. Translated from the French by a Daughter of St. Joseph. Philadelphia: P. F. Cunningham. 1871.
This handsome work supplies a want long felt. It contains meditations on each phrase of the Litany from the Kyrie eleison to the Agnus Dei. These meditations are of suitable length for May devotions, and are admirable for their solidity no less than for their piety. The Abbé Barthe is an honorable Canon of Rodey (France); and we cannot do better than quote the letter of his bishop. He says: "I rejoice that a priest of my diocese ... has given to learned and Christian France a work which will be widely diffused, and which will make the august Mary loved, admired, and venerated in these lines, when, more than ever, we need to place ourselves under her glorious protection."
There are also letters of commendation from Cardinal Giraud, Archbishop of Cambria, and his grace the Archbishop of Paris, to which is added the approbation of the Bishop of Philadelphia.
May this "Monument to the Glory of Mary" (as it is called) meet in this country with the circulation it deserves, and be the means of spreading wide and deep the love and worship of her whose Immaculate Conception is our patronal feast.
The Wonders of the Heavens. By Camille Flammarion. From the French, by Mrs. Norman Lockyer. With forty-eight illustrations. New York: Charles Scribner & Co. 1871.
To those who take a delight in reading about the planets and stars, this work will prove both instructive and interesting. The illustrations are very fine, and the work is got up in uniform style with the other volume of "The Library of Wonders," noticed in these pages before, of which it is one of the series.
Thecla; or, The Malediction. By Madame A. R. De La Grange. 1 vol. 12mo. New York: P. O'Shea.
This is an interesting story descriptive of a family living in the Roman province of Cappadocia in the fifth century, giving quaint pictures of life in those early days, and lovely glimpses of the natural beauties of the country. The object of the tale is to illustrate the special judgments of Almighty God on disobedient children and an overindulgent parent, who out of a weak fondness put no restraints upon her children in their youth. The terrible retribution that follows a parent's curse, and the remorse and bitterness of heart that must be the portion of neglectful parents, are well portrayed by Madame De La Grange. The volume will be an excellent addition to our Sunday-school libraries.
We would suggest to the publisher the propriety of a thinner and better paper. It does not look seemly to print books on common paste-board.
The Theology of the Parables. By Father Coleridge, S.J. With an Arrangement of the Parables, by Father Salmeron. London: Burns, Oates & Co. For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.
This is a paper of no great length, but of great service to the cause of faith. It is in every respect worthy of the pen of Father Coleridge. He sets before us the parables in quite a new light, as meant to teach us the ways of God to men. Why our Lord chose the parabolic form of teaching and why he said so much about his Father are shown with great force and clearness.
Natural History of New York. Palæontology. Vol. IV. Part. I. Albany: Printed by C. Van Benthuysen & Sons. March, 1867.
This is a continuation of Professor Hall's able researches on the fossils of this state. It contains descriptions and figures of the Brachiopoda of the Helderberg, Hamilton, Portage, and Chemung groups. The plates are admirably executed, like those in the previous volumes, and the name of the author is a sufficient proof of the accuracy and value of the descriptions which they illustrate. The work is a solid and valuable contribution to science.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
From John Murphy & Co., Baltimore: The Child's Prayer and Hymn Book. For the use of Catholic Sunday-schools.—The Expiation. A Drama in Three Acts. Translated from the French by James Kehoe. Paper.
From J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.: The Virginia Forest. A Handbook of Travel in Virginia. By E. A. Pollard. 1 vol. 16mo, paper.—History of Florida from its Discovery by Ponce de Leon in 1512, to the Close of the Florida War in 1842. By George R. Fairbanks. 1 vol. 12mo.—The Conservative Reformation and its Theology: as Represented in the Augsburgh Confession, and in the History and Literature of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. By Charles P. Krauth D.D. 1 vol. 8vo.
THE CATHOLIC WORLD.
VOL. XIII., No. 76.—JULY, 1871.[107]