This little volume will be found to contain not only some of the most forcible arguments for Christianity that have ever been advanced, but particularly a collection (in the first chapter) of testimonials from ancient heathendom to what is only realized in Christ and his religion. Nothing can be more interesting, surely, than the study of the great tradition of expectation which fulfilled the prophecy of the dying Israel: “And He shall be the expectation of the nations” (Gen. xlix. 10). Our noble author opens his first chapter with this sentence: “From the east to the west, from the north to the south, in every language, in the literature of all nations, with a voice spontaneous, universal, and unanimous, the entire human race cried aloud for the coming of a Divine Teacher.” And when we have delightedly perused this first chapter, we as heartily endorse its concluding sentence: “This we believe to have most clearly demonstrated that, ... with one voice, unanimous, spontaneous, and universal, the human race cried out for the coming of a God of revelation.”
The work is designed for a defence of Christianity against the infidelity of the day. And we think it a most able and a singularly attractive one. Let our young men especially read it. It will make them a match for any sceptical show of learning.
Catholic Worship. A Manual of Popular Instruction on the Ceremonies and Devotions of the Church. By Frederick Canon Oakeley. New York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1872.
Recent converts and inquirers after religious [pg 572] truth frequently experience some difficulty in understanding the ceremonies of the church and the various devotional practices of Catholics. We know of no more suitable book to place in the hands of such persons than this little treatise of Canon Oakeley. It is concise, clear, and methodical. Nothing is left unexplained, from the practice of taking holy water upon entering the church to the consecration of a bishop. This book will be found to be of great use not only to converts, but to Catholics in general, containing as it does a thoroughly reliable explanation of everything connected with our worship. This second edition is an evidence of the favor with which it has been received by the Catholic public.
The Shadow of the Obelisk, and Other Poems. By Thomas William Parsons. London: Hatchards, Piccadilly. 1872.
This modest volume is from the author whose translations from Dante, that have appeared in our magazine, are attracting deserved attention.
Mr. Parsons' powers as a lyric poet are considerable. His verse has, for the most part, the easy and often careless diction of a school which many think gone out, but which we believe destined to revive. Yet here and there we see the influence of Tennyson. The lines, “To Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,” are in the latter style. For strength his sonnets are his best efforts. We wish he had favored us with more of them.
There is ample variety in the pieces collected. The poet has travelled much. “The Shadow of the Obelisk” sets us musing in Rome. “The Birthplace of Robert Burns” takes us to “bonnie Scotland.” “St. James' Park” tells us the writer has philosophized in London. While the “Willey House,” “On the Death of Daniel Webster,” and “Hudson River” are themes from his native America. The lines, “On a Magnolia Flower,” are fragrant with the South—the pale, sad South—and one of the gems of the book.
Mr. Parsons is a Unitarian, as he takes care to indicate; but, like Longfellow, he has Catholic sympathies. However, there is one short translation from Dante, entitled “A Lesson for Easter,” the last two lines of which seem to talk Protestantism:
“Ye have the Testament, the Old and New,