fabric then seems to ignite, and to burst forth into a splendid conflagration.

A flood of vivid light soon spreads itself over surrounding objects. At a distance, not unlike an aerial phenomenon, spangled with stars, the fiery dome seems to be agitated by a mysterious hand, and to hang suspended from the vast canopy of heaven.

The Vatican home of Christ's Vicar upon earth suggests some discursive, and not uninteresting, reflections did time and space now permit to turn over the wide pages of its history.

Chattard confesses that his (three octavo volumes) description of the Vatican cost him sixteen years'

labor. This will, perhaps, not astonish when one reflects that, be sides the Basilica fifteen-fold larger than Solomon's temple, he had also two church-like chapels, twenty-two court-yards, twelve assembly halls, 11,000 chambers, several galleries, twenty-two immense staircases, not to mention other minor avenues, to measure and survey.

To form an adequate idea of the Vatican's extent and size, an ob server should survey its churches, chapels, piazzas, colonnades, galleries, libraries, museums, offices, gardens. Let him also bear in mind that the site of all these irregular buildings is said to cover a space as large in circumference as the old city of Turin.

A HISTORY OF THE IRISH BRIGADES IN THE SERVICE OF FRANCE from the Revolution in Great Britain and Ireland under James II to the Revolution in France under Louis XIV. By John Cornelius O'Callaghan. New York: P. O'Shea, Publisher. 1874.

If

We regret that our space is not sufficient to enable us to give a thorough and more complimentary criticism to the splendid work, rich and massive in its exterior adornments, but far more valuable in its intrinsic wealth of historical lore and soul-stirring sentiment. there be one thing that more than any other proves the patriotism of the Irish race it is their zeal in preserving as monuments of former glories the records of her national existence, and though they perpetuate many a tale of sadness, the very earnestness with which they are collated and preserved prove that they can never cover a tale of shame. There is a quaint old rhyme which says:

If I were King of France,

Or what's better, Pope of Rome,
I'd have no fighting men abroad,
No weeping maids at home.

This certainly was never the spirit that actuated the English government in its policy towards Ireland, for while in time of peace England's cruelties drove her Irish subjects from their homes by thou

sands to seek relief in emigration, so in time of war she, through the same tyrannical conduct, lost their services as soldiers. The mistake she made was like all the mistakes and selfish shortsightedness of meanness, and rebounded to her own disadvantage. The weeping maids" of Ireland became, in the lands of their exile, the mothers that reared a foeman host to weaken Britain's power, while the Irish "fighting men abroad" proved the most valiant heroes of the irresistible of the champions in the forcountry that adopted them, and the most eign armies against which England bad to contend.

We need not pause upon this old, old story of Irish valor in war. Every student of history knows it, every poet has sung it, every orator has grown eloquent over it, every modern battlefield of both continents has given the proof of it, but Mr. O'Callaghan has, following up the example of so many of his own race who, as we suggested above, love to repeat the story of Erin's glory, selected this special portion of it, as exhibited in the armies of France, as his theme, devoting to it twenty-five years of labor and research, in order that the treatment might be full, copious, and every way worthy of the subject. Such labors of love could not be and have not been in vain. THE AUTHOR HAS SUCCEEDED., Where now

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. By Mgr. Gaume, Prothonotary Apostolic. Translated from the French. Philadelphia: Peter F. Cunningham & Son, 29 South Tenth Street. 1873.

The publication of The Christian Cemetery in the Nineteenth Century, which we reviewed in the June number of THE RECORD, has drawn our attention to this companion work of the same author, and we hope some of these days in the near future to be able to direct our critical notice to the third sister volume, The Angelus in the Nineteenth Century, which has as yet failed to appear in English dress. All these books of Monseigneur Gaume are beautiful in style, exhaustive, and original in research. They open up new pathways of charming, instructive, and impressive thought, on subjects which, from close familiarity, have become commonplace to our minds, if we may apply such a term to sacred themes. Moreover, they come upon the literary world at a moment when their religious truths are especially necessary of inculcation as a counteracting influence to the persisting tendencies of modern infidelity and uncontrolled immorality. The all-conquering banner of the cross is the symbol of Christ's triumphant march in every period of ecclesiastical history. Through it the Church was established Under it the soldiers of the Christian warfare must ever rally to the perpetuation and extension of Christ's temporal kingdom Soldiers do not rally round a folded standard, emblem of grief and distress; therefore, to inspire the combatants of the present era, Monseigneur Gaume has, as it were, unfolded anew, in the strong sunlight of beautiful inspiration, this labarum of the heavenly hosts. His reasons for undertaking this noble effort, and the occasion which first called it forth, he gives us succinctly in the preface, and in proof of the admirable effect of his work, Our Holy Father, Pope Pius IX, has crowned it with a commendatory briel, and enriched, at the suggestion of Monseigneur Gaume,

the Sign of the Cross itself with a special indulgence.

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF SAINT CATHERINE OF GENOA. New York: Catholic Publication Society. 1874.

Mystical works, we are well aware, are not to the taste of a large majority of appointed place and mission in the secular readers, yet they have their economy of the Church, serving to raise many souls even from amidst the distractions and temptations of mundane affairs to a high degree of spirituality, and it is only because, by indiscriminate and injudicious use, they affect badly balanced or unoccupied minds, and sometimes intoxicate even strong ones, that their perusal should be at least undertaken with great caution and very sparingly. It is somewhat strange, however, that this saintly daughter of Genoa la superba, should present in her own career all the vicissitudes of a life, ranging from the extremes of worldliness to that of spiritual sublimity, a checkered career as daughter, wife, and widow, displaying in its phases how temptation, under the insidious form of worldliness, may at times fascinate even the most devout and sober minds, yet how in the end, conformity to the inspirations of grace will snatch the weakened soul like a brand from the burning.

St. Catherine of Genoa was no silly ecstatic, no New England transcendentalist; her practical experience and knowledge of the horizon shades of the spiritual life was sufficiently extensive to neutralize with a tinge of sobriety its zenith splendor of mysticism, and prevent it from reducing her soul's activity to a state of balmy noonday la-situde. Thus, it was her all-conquering patience

in the hour of trial that merited for her the grace of being caught up like St. Paul, and to be allowed to tranquilly revel, not as a natural effect, but as a special reward, in the illuminating centre of

celestial light.

Rev. Father Hecker contributes a fine

preface to the work, which we gladly rec

ommend to those whose tastes run in the line of reading it represents.

GERALD MARSDALE, or the Outquarters of Saint Andrew's Priory; a tale of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. By Mrs. Stanley Carey. New York and Montreal: Sadlier & Co. 1874.

A well-written and interesting story, although a hasty perusal leads us to infer that the language and mannerisms of the characters are perhaps too much modern

ized to be suitable to the period in which the plot is laid, which, however, is but one fault amid many merits.

THE HISTORY OF PEDAGOGY. By W. N.

Hailman. Cincinnati and New York:
Wilson, Hinkle & Co. 1874.

Twelve lectures delivered before the Teachers' Institute of the "Queen City of the West," and serving to sketch in a concise form the gradual growth of the leading principles of modern education, and by the example of the labors of the most prominent thinkers and workers in the field of Pedagogy, to revive the spirit and instruct the minds of modern teachers in regard to the noble aims of their profession.

THE READING Club.

THE COLUMBIAN SPEAKER.

These are the titles of two excellent little books, devoted to the compilation of selections in prose and poetry, humorous, serious, pathetic, patriotic, and dramatic, suitable for declamations, readings, and recitations The former edited by Geo. M. Baker, the latter by Loomis J. Campbell and Oren Root, Jr. They are from the publishing house of Lee & Shepard, Boston, and are well arranged and carefully edited, the collections including some of the newest and most popular pieces for reading, and very convenient in the size of the volumes miss, however, from both the very popular farm ballad of Will Carlton, Betsy and I Are Out. Perhaps we shall find it in a new edition.

We

THE PEOPLE'S MARTYR; a legend of Canterbury, by Elizabeth M. Stewart. One vol., 16mo. New York and Mon

treal: Sadlier & Co. 1874. CLOISTER LEGENDS; or Convents and Monasteries of the Olden Time. By Elizabeth M. Stewart. One vol., 16o, cloth New York and Montreal: Sadlier & Co. 1874.

THE KING AND THE CLOISTER; or Legends of the Dissolution. By Elizabeth M. Stewart. One vol., 16mo, cloth. New York and Montreal: Sadlier & Co. 1874. All received through Cunningham & Son.

Three beautiful volumes of stories illustrative of English history in the days that tried the souls of the children of the English Church. We know not why, but somehow themes of story which are cast in "merrie Englande of ye olden time" are peculiarly grateful, but when they delineate in addition the struggles of that unhappy land ere she surrendered

her faith, they fire the imagination and heart with electric brilliancy and fervor. These three books may be most appropriately classed together, for though the historic epochs they intend to portray were wide apart, yet the theme of which they treat, namely, the contest between the Church and the throne, which resulted in the terrors of the Reformation and monastic dissolution, that crown with culminated horror the days of the Eighth Henry, was but the natural result of the conflict begun by the second monarch of that name, which was temporarily stayed by the firmness of the great Chancellor A'Becket, whose self-sacrificing devotion and crying martyr-blood procured for his unhappy land this respite from the accumulating wrath of heaven. We cannot too deeply impress upon our readers the worth of these little volumes; rich in correct historical lore, as fascinating in style and as exciting in plot as any of Walter Scott's more pretentious tomes. In descriptions of sunset effects, ruined abbeys, and scenic climaxes, the authoress seems to possess a charmed potency of grace and versatility. The only possible objection which can be brought against these stories being that some of the plots may be too tragic. Let the young be trained in the lessons of history and in the glorious inspirations of faith from such books, while adult renders will find in them a refreshing exhalation of pure literature which cannot fail to revive minds enervated by the deteriorating influences of most modern publications The People's Martyr deserves special mention for its handsome cover, adorned with a gilded vignette, representing the martyrdom of the saintly Archbishop of Canterbury.

THE AMATEUR ACTOR. A collection of plays for school and home. By W. H. Venable, author of June on the Miami, and other poems; A School History of the United States, &c. New York and Cincinnati: Wilson, Hinkle & Co.

Just the book for these days of the ever popular and delightful style of entertain

ment known as "amateur theatricals" Such domestic efforts at "stage business" are frequently accompanied by many drawbacks in the details of scenery, dresses, and all the countless little minor arrangements Such difficulties it is the aim of this book to remove, besides furnishing a short selection of brief parlor and school plays. It is replete with numerous fine woodcuts explanatory of the instructions it gives, and on the whole we gladly recommend it.

It is not the mission of a monthly periodical to report the incidents and accidents of the time, and to discuss their merit with some active and well-informed contemporary. These offices belong to the daily and weekly papers, and it must be confessed that they are not deficient in detail nor backward in the discussion. If they find no idea, or a contemporary that they may oppose, or no fact that they may deny, they reassert and correct their former statements, and discuss in a new light or from another standpoint the principle involved, or its moral effects. This seems approved by the reader, and is hence profitable to publishers.

The public mind has been for some time agitated by certain disclosures in the city of Brooklyn, Long Island, and as that city is really a part not an appanage of New York, the sensations were pulsated in the great commercial metropolis, and communicated throughout the whole body of the

VOL. VII.-17

country. About the facts of that case it is neither our duty nor our purpose to speak. Of the actors in the drama we have nothing to say personally. They are human beings, and with those of them who have suffered wrong we sympathize. For those of them who have done wrong we grieve. They are before the world, and endure the judgment of the time, and feel that public censure is a terrible affliction, and public approval is so often mingled with and directed by personal interest, that it is itself too often a dangerous result. As condemnations are sometimes reconsidered upon a reviewal of testimony, so acquittal may come to be regarded as the favorable results of friendly interference and the fruits of convenient circumstances. The public may have little interest in the facts or persons of an event, while important general principles are involved in the cause or the procedure, and it is only in their effects upon society that we now

notice the events to which we have alluded.

A great scandal has been disturbing the public mind, and the friends of sound morality feel that the exposure of the offence and the punishment of the offenders are very weak barriers against future assault. If the cause exists, if the inclination to do and to receive that which produces the scandal abounds, the detection and punishment are of only temporary effect.

Those who look back to exciting movements in the city of New York four or five years ago, and to the extension of the wave of agitation into other parts of the country, which seem to echo all that is disturbing in the American metropolis, will see how easy it is to connect the scandals of this year with the movements of those times. Nay, how evidently all these scandals are the natural fruits of those

occurrences.

Spiritualism and the miserable branches of that shameful deception, "Free Love," and the half restrained indulgencies that are connected with that abomination, "Liberal Christianity," and the abuses that result from that heresy, are among the proximate causes of what religion and morals have been called to suffer; and while it is not pretended that all those who may have suffered most by the impoisonment of public opinion have most distinctly participated in all the promulgations of the doctrines or shared in the abominations to which those doctrines lead, yet it cannot be denied that the public mind has been so debauched, that men of learning, position, and popular talents have been appealed to to sustain the doctrine, by argument or endurance, and have suffered to an extent that reaches beyond individuals into societies, and, if not to the extent of poisoning general public opinion, at least to the dilu

tion of that spirit of morality that is necessary to political existence.

Above we have said that the bad doctrines of certain persons have led to abominable practices. might, without exaggeration, extend that idea, and say, that the general promulgation of the doctrines has been the result of private practice of the errors, and the offenders have formulated a creed that will justify their acts. In that lies a part of the secret of success. Thousands who err feel that their acts are offensive to the laws of morality, but they trust with grateful feelings to the talented and the learned, who can show that the indulgence which they loved is not only consistent with propriety, but is a right of their own and a duty to others.

Until the advent among us of Fanny Wright and one other, the idea that the bands of matrimony were to be dissolved at the pleasure and for the pleasure of the parties was scarcely known, never publicly promulged; yet the success that followed their mission of vice shows not only their power of argument and the ignorance that prevailed among people as to the nature of the marital relation, but also and especially an extent of the vitiation of the principle of domestic life: they were ready to receive and practice the new commandment, which seemed to abrogate the old law, that a man should leave father and mother and cleave to the wife, and substitute therefor a rule that a man should leave his wife and cleave to his mistresses. Now, taking this cited example and connecting it with the scandal in Brooklyn, we find how dangerous is a bad doctrine, especially if ably espoused.

But it is said, and often urged as a triumphant argument, that, closely viewed, society fifty years ago exhibited a vast number of instances of marital infidelity on