This is a very excellent book of meditations, well translated, and published in the best style; to be completed in thirteen numbers. The proceeds are to be devoted to the building of a church annexed to the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, in Cincinnati, to be called "The Church of the Atonement," and to be devoted especially to the adoration of the Sacred Heart of our Lord, in reparation of the injuries and outrages which it suffers from the neglect of tepid Christians and the more open sins of the wicked. The book is one which will be very useful to those who desire to practise meditation, and the object to which the good sisters intend to devote the profits, which we hope they may receive from it abundantly, is one that must commend itself to the heart of every good Catholic. We give them our best wishes for their complete success, and recommend their book most heartily to general circulation.
An American Woman In Europe.
By Mrs. S. R. Urbino.
Boston: Lee & Shepard.
A journal of two years and a half sojourn in Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy, in only 338 duodecimo pages, is, as things go and as people write, really very moderate. It is a simple, straightforward story of what the authoress saw and heard, with a variety of practical information that many Americans on a first European tour might find useful.
There is no affectation of style or sentiment in the book, and the authoress may be said to belong to the realistic school of travellers, who keep a bright lookout for railroad fares, hotel bills, and the prices of things in general.
With disquisitions on art, Mrs. Urbino does not trouble us much, although she admires the works of that queen of Jarleys, Madame Tussaud, whose name she ungratefully prints Trousseau. At p. 228, the authoress indulges in this reflection: "How out of place crosses look in the Coliseum! I cannot see why they were put there, since there are a sufficient number of churches in the city." The good lady does not appear to be aware of the fact that if the cross had not been placed in the Coliseum, we people of the nineteenth century would never have seen the noble ruin of that grand monument.
Service Manual;
for the instruction of newly-appointed Officers, and the Rank and File of the Army, as compiled from Army Regulations, the Articles of War, and the Customs of the Service.
By Henry D. Wallen, Brevet Brigadier-General United States Army, and Commander of the General Service Department, Fort Columbus, New York Harbor.
1 vol. 8vo, pp. 166.
New York: D. Van Nostrand. 1869.
General Wallen has compiled this excellent manual from the authorized sources, and added to it the fruit of his mature experience and intimate practical knowledge of the subject. The work possesses value, not only as an authentic guide to the young officer in all the details of company, camp, and garrison duty, his relations of subordination and responsibility, and his duties and obligations to those above and below him in the military order, but also is mellowed and animated by a spirit of kindness and good-will, and that genuine characteristic of the good soldier and thorough gentleman to whom duty is honorable, and both command and obedience acceptable for their own sakes and the inherent virtue they imply. This spirit animates this work throughout, and gives to it a character far superior to ordinary dry regulations. General Wallen is well qualified for the task he has undertaken. He is an old and faithful officer, and intimately acquainted with the service in all its branches and ramifications. He served with credit in the war with Mexico, and was one of the pioneers of the settlement of Oregon. Owing to the fact of having been born in Georgia, General Wallen was distrusted during the late war by Mr. Stanton, and ordered to New Mexico. General Grant, who is his life-long friend, as soon as he came into power, ordered him to the East, and did what he could to repair the injury he had experienced from the suspicious disposition of the late secretary of war.
This work is of equal value to soldiers and officers, and will have a tendency to promote that mutual goodwill and cordial sympathy between the two classes growing out of the faithful performance of their respective duties, which we alone need to make our military system perfect, and absolutely invincible in war, as well as an example of honor and fidelity in peace.