Any one may find much literary amusement in the volume, and to the Latin scholar in particular it affords material for many an hour of pleasant relaxation.
The Taking of Rome by the Italian Army, considered in its Causes and Effects. By C. M. Curci, S.J. Translated from the Italian by the Duke Della Torre. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1871.
It is a matter of congratulation that we have among us at least one Italian gentleman of high rank, character, and education, who is a thoroughly loyal and devoted adherent of the Holy See. We are greatly indebted to the Duke Della Torre for translating F. Curci’s brochure, prefixing to it a most sensible and excellent preface, and getting it published by our most eminent New York firm. The pamphlet itself is an able production of an able and celebrated writer. The only great fault in it is the discouraging tone it
takes regarding the prospects of the temporal sovereignty of the Pope in the future—a point which has been strongly animadverted upon already in Europe. In so far as past facts are concerned, it is a thorough and unanswerable exposure of the fraud, violence, and perfidy of the Sub-Alpine government, and of the treachery and timidity of the policy of other European cabinets in their relations with the Pontifical States.
Florence O’Neil; or, The Siege of Limerick. By Agnes M. Stewart. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet & Co.
The eventful life and troublous times of James II. of England must always be a period of history mournfully interesting to every Catholic heart—those days of persecution, when throughout England a price was set upon the head of any priest who dared labor for the salvation of souls, all the penal laws against Catholics (some of them but lately repealed) being in full force.
The touching story of Florence O’Neil, who is represented as living in very constant intimacy with the royal exiles, carries us through those dark days, and gives us pictures of the court of the reprobate, hard-hearted daughter of James, where Florence was kept an unwilling captive for many months. Her journal during that time is written with charming simplicity, and the whole story has sufficient mingling of truth with the narrative to fill us with pity even for those crowned heads who lived harassed with anxious fears lest the sceptre so hastily and unjustly assumed should be as hastily snatched from their grasp; trusting nobody, never at rest from plottings and replottings even in their own household. In contrast with this, we have the devoted domestic life at the Château St. Germaine, sketched with a delicate and refined touch, giving us a lovely picture of wedded bliss in the union of James with his beautiful and tenderly attached wife—more
perfect than usually falls to the lot of common mortals, not to speak of royalty. It is cheering to know that these good hearts, to whom life brought so much disappointment and trouble, found rest and peace and hope in the bosom of the church, which offers to her faithful children the kingdom of heaven and an imperishable crown. Florence O’Neil appears in a beautiful dress, and is well worthy of careful perusal.
The Rise and Fall of the Irish Franciscan Monasteries, and Memoirs of the Irish Hierarchy in the Seventeenth Century. By the Rev. C. P. Meehan, M.R.I.A.
A Memoir of Ireland, Native and Saxon. By Daniel O’Connell, M.P. Dublin: James Duffy. New York: The Catholic Publication Society.