We are greatly indebted to the courtesy of F. Curci in sending us a copy of this admirable collection of discourses. With the greatest modesty, the distinguished author apologizes in his preface for the defects of his work. To his readers, however, his name will be a sufficient guarantee of its excellence and ability; nor will a careful examination give them any reason to change their opinion. These are no ordinary Lent sermons upon the commonplace themes of exhortation which preachers are wont to handle during this holy season. They are profound, eloquent, and classically written discourses upon all the great Catholic doctrines and practices which are disputed or denied by modern infidels and rationalists; a specimen of that high, intellectual, philosophical, and, at the same time, thoroughly spiritual preaching which is so necessary in our day for the educated classes. If it were possible, it would be highly desirable and beneficial to have these volumes translated into English. If we are not able, at present, to have this done, it is only because of the very great cost of translating and publishing in this country a work of such a high class, the circulation of which would be necessarily limited to the clergy and a small portion of the most highly educated among the laity.
Italy, Florence, And Venice.
From the French of H. Taine.
By J. Durand.
8vo, pp. 385. New York: Leypoldt & Holt.
This is a companion volume to M. Taine's book on Rome and Naples, which appeared in an English dress about a year ago. The author visited Italy in 1864, (though the date, by a strange oversight, is not mentioned in the volume now before us,) and his observations upon the political situation of the country and such social peculiarities as arose from political causes, have now lost much of their value. These observations are fortunately few, nor were they ever very profound. M. Taine is not a student of public affairs, nor a keen observer of popular characteristics. Of Italian life and manners, he learned no more than the mere guide-book tourist can see in hotels, galleries, and public conveyances, and what he saw he tells no better than many have told the same things before him, and not so well as at least one or two American travellers whom we could mention. It is as a critic of art that he demands our attention, and in this particular he far surpasses nine tenths of all the writers on such topics with whom English readers are familiar. The eloquence and rapidity of his style, the refinement of his esthetic sense, and the keenness of his philosophy, invest his pages with an interest and a brilliancy which must charm every body. Yet there is something lacking in his appreciation of paintings, there is a coldness even in the midst of his enthusiasm, which leave the mind unsatisfied. The fact is, he writes like a man of the world, to whom the inner religious sentiment of art is only half revealed. He judges of paintings only with the head; but there are certain works—above all, for instance, those of Fra Angelico—which must be judged by the heart.
Love; Or Self Sacrifice:
a Story by Lady Herbert.
Published by D. & J. Sadlier & Co.
Price, 75 cts.
The life of Gwladys, the heroine of Lady Herbert's story, is made up of three important events; two marriages and the death of her lovely boy; and it required all of Lady Herbert's experience as a writer to fill a volume covering the space of eighteen years, with the joys and sorrows of her monotonous life. The book abounds in exquisite descriptive scenes and truthful narratives of the fatigues and incidents of travel; but there is a striking resemblance between many of the leading characters, and the episodes, in general, are unnatural.
These faults can only be accounted for on the supposition that the overstrained mind of the heroine did not preserve a perfect picture of each individual; their virtues and faults appearing to Gwladys in proportion to the amount of kindness they heaped upon her. Thus Lady Herbert was unable to paint them as they were in reality and contented herself by coloring them to suit the ideas of her much-loved friend. The external appearance of the book we cannot praise. The proofs must have been read by the "printer's devil," with malice prepense, for a more slovenly printed book it has never been our misfortune, as a reviewer, to have been compelled to read.
Die Alte Und Neue Welt.
Vols. I. II. III.
New York and Cincinnati: Benziger Bros.