Devotions to Jesus in the adorable sacrament of the altar. Derby: J. Richardson and Son. 32mo.

My Saviour's Tomb; from the French of Father Geramb, Trappist. Derby: J. Richardson and Son. 32mo.

Preparation for Death; from the French of Father Crasset, S. J. By Rev. R. Newsham. Derby J. Richardson and Son. 32mo. Tales designed chiefly for the young. By Canon

Schmid. Translated from the German, with numerous illustrations. Dublin: J. Duffey. Conformity with the will of God; from the Italian of St. Liguori. By Rev. J. Jones. Derby: J. Richardson and Son. 32mo.

For all the above mentioned volumes we are indebted to the kind attention of Mr. Cunningham. The first book in the list is a very solid and useful treatise on devotion to the mother of God, with excellent prayers for the practice of the same. The second is a manual of devotions for those who belong to the confraternity of the blessed sacrament. The third is a most instructive meditation on the passion of Christ. The fourth is a collection of prayers for obtaining the grace of a happy death, with admirable devotions for the sick. The fifth is part I of a series which will imbody the tales of Canon Schmid, whose extraordinary talent in writing for the instruction and entertainment of youth has won for him a wide-spread fame. The last is in the usual style of the sainted author. All these publications, the last excepted, are ornamented with handsome engravings.

An address delivered before the Mount Savage Catholic Temperance Beneficial Society, Oct. 5th, 1845. By P. R. Steck, Esq.

A vigorous and impressive appeal in behalf of the good cause of temperance.

The Catholic News-Letter. Edited by an association of gentlemen. St. Louis, Mo.

This is the title of a weekly paper, lately commenced in St. Louis, and published by Mr. W. J. Mullen, at $2,50 per annum in advance. Judging from the numbers of the News-Letter that we have received, it will be conducted with spirit and ability, and will be a valuable auxiliary in the cause of religion. We wish its conductors the most flattering

success.

The Ursuline Manual, or a collection of prayers, spiritual exercises, &c. Revised by the Very Rev. John Power, D. D., and approved by the Rt. Rev. John Hughes, D. D., bishop of New York. New York: E. Dunigan.

We have received from the publisher a copy of this new edition of the Ursuline Manual, whose merits as a book of devotions are universally acknowledged. The distinguishing feature of

the present edition is the richness and splendor of ornament which have been lavished upon it, and which render it unquestionably the most beautifully executed prayer-book that we are acquainted with. We are much pleased to see this increasing advancement in the decoration of works of piety. The elegancies of art can not be bestowed upon a more legitimate object, and we are willing to believe that, while such improvements bespeak a more correct and refined taste in the community, the labor and outlay of publishers who strive to meet the wishes of the people, will be rewarded with a generous patronage. Zenosius, or the Pilgrim-Convert. By the Rev.

Charles Constantine Pise, D. D., author of Aletheia, &c. New York: E. Dunigan. 18mo. pp. 279.

With this volume Mr. Dunigan has commenced the publication of his Home Library, a series of works suited to the family circle. We are pleased to find that the first in the list is so well adapted to the object in view. The plan of Dr. Pise's narrative is happily conceived and well executed. His Pilgrim-Convert is led from his native place to the eternal city, and, in the course of his progress, which is directed by the angel of peace, he discovers more and more fully the evils of sectarianism and the blessings of Catholic unity. His conversion to the true faith is sealed by the benediction of the holy Father, and he returns to his home, full of joy and gratitude. The style of the writer in this production is characterized by his usual grace and elegance, and, what seems to us a decided improvement, possesses a degree of vigor which renders it far more agreeable.

Father Felix: a Tale. By the author of "Mora Carmody," " Harry Layden," &c. New York: E. Dunigan. 18mo. pp. 219. Having been very favorably impressed by a former production of the author of Father Felix, we looked into this volume with high expectations, and we must say that we have not been disappointed. The narrative, which imbodies a good deal of instruction in relation to Catholic doctrine and practice, possesses a sprightliness, a variety of incident, and a naturalness in the characters, which can not fail to delight the reader. On page 30 the author mentions a precept of the church for the time of advent which we are not acquainted with. It is no doubt more edifying not to give or attend a soirée in Advent than to do so; but we do not think that there is any precept on the subject. Page 50, line 12, we would suggest the use of the conjunction or instead of nor. We are of opinion also that the expres sion on page 150, at the commencement of the second paragraph, is rather too strong. That the discipline of the secret regarded the eucharistic institution, is an historical fact; but the church does not exactly teach it. This volume is the second of the Home Library, and very neatly printed.

Other notices unavoidably omitted.

Rome as seen by a New Yorker in 1843-4.

"Roma! Roma! Roma!

Non e piu come era prima." New York and London: Wiley & Putnam. 1845. 1 vol. 12mo., pp. 216.

TOOK up this little volume with no slight feeling of curiosity to know what a citizen of our commercial emporium would make of the great "eternal city," the ancient capital of the Cæsars, and the present metropolis of Christendom. "Rome as seen by a New Yorker," we mused, must be a new Rome, altogether different from the old Rome we used to know, and in which we passed so many delightful years of our life. It is very difficult, if not bordering on impossibility, that one who was raised amid the perpetual changes and daily progress of a city which sprang into existence but yesterday, and yet has already become a giant, should estimate aright the oldest VOL. V.-No. 2. 6

city in the civilized world, and the most changeless one in modern times; or that one whose mind has been filled from earliest life with the mysteries of Wall street exchange, and with speculations in up-town lots, should properly appreciate a city remarkable for every thing else more than for a spirit of commercial speculation. Still more difficult is it, we thought, for a Protestant, reared with hereditary feelings of hostility to the mother church, to take an impartial view, and to form or present a correct estimate of the great centre and capital of Catholicity. To perform this task with success, the visiter of Rome should be not only a Christian, but a Catholic; otherwise it were vain to expect that he will enter fully into the spirit of the place or of the people; he may, indeed, see what appears externally, but he can not be expected to penetrate what is internal; he may examine and describe the mere shell of society; he can not taste himself, nor exhibit to others the kernel.

Such were our musings and anticipations when we entered on the perusal of the work before us. Nor were we wholly disappointed. The book is precisely what it purports to be," Rome as seen by a New Yorker;" that is, as the author himself candidly acknowledges in the preface, Rome as seen "with the ideas, prepossessions, and prejudices of an American and a New Yorker." It is also, as he admits with equal candor at the close of the work, a "superficial survey" of the "eternal city," though we could not understand why he adds that it was "necessarily" so. Surely we had already superficial books in abundance, without adding another to the list. Our age is so vastly enlightened, that it would really seem as if no book could prove acceptable to it which is not superficial. We are learned enough already; we have little time, and less inclination, to think on difficult subjects, or even to peruse those works which undertake to do our thinking for us by going to the bottom of things.

Still the book has its merits, and merits of a high order. It is, in the main, honest, candid, and correct in its statements, as far as it goes; and it is marred by about as little prejudice, whether religious or political, as we could have expected. Catholics are so much accustomed to misrepresentation and abuse that they generally feel grateful for very small favors, and are disposed to thank the writer who is honest enough to tell even a portion of the truth, and to abstain even ever so little from indulging in a rancorous and slanderous spirit. In this candor and exemption from prejudice, our writer is far in advance of-we are sorry to say it a fair authoress of our own country ;t while he compares most advantageously with most of the English travellers in Italy, of whose books we can scarcely speak with proper temper. If we except Mr. Eustace, and, perhaps, a few others

*

with whom we have not been so fortunate as to make an acquaintance, this class of writers has produced little else but malicious libels of Italy, and of every thing Italian; and their malignity has generally increased a hundred-fold when they came to speak of Rome. From the polished Mr. Addison, and the ill-natured and splenetic Samuel Sharpe, esquire, down to the sneering Lady Morgan and the veritable Mrs. Trollope herself, these gossiping Trollopes of both sexes seem to have vilified and calumniated the Italians in exact proportion to the liberality and kindness universally extended to them in Italy. Nor does this fierce spirit appear to have been softened by the progress of refinement which has softened every thing else. And what is most remarkable about these writers is the fact that, with scarcely an exception, their sympathies are more pagan than Christian. They discourse learnedly, eloquently, and impartially of pagan Rome, the splendid seat of the Cæsars; they have little but contemptuous sneers to bestow on Christian Rome, the no less splendid seat of the popes.

Truly gratified were we to find that our New Yorker had too much taste and good sense to imitate this herd of fashionable libellers. We opened his work with a feeling of impartiality for him, both because he was a fellow-countryman, and because he enters on his task with no pretension, and even with the candid acknowledgment recorded above. Hence, in our rapid review of his production, we are not disposed to be over-censorious, but rather, in accordance with the well known advice of Horace, "not to be offended with a few faults" interspersed with so much that is fraught with real merit. If, as impartial critics, we feel compelled to notice some blemishes of style, a few blunders in point of fact, and an occasional evidence of prejudice, we hope we shall do it in no carping spirit,

*So completely annihilated by Baretti in his work on Italy, published at London in 1760, in two vols. 8vo.