"Sensible and understanding people will comprehend why I have not encumbered my text with discussions and bibliography, why I have not lingered long over the very first beginnings, and why, without entirely ignoring theologians and their work, I have not devoted overmuch attention to their quarrels." The book will well repay reading and re-reading, and it is worthy of a place on the permanent historical shelf. THE PATH WHICH LED A PROTESTANT LAWYER TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. TE This book is known by name and reputation to two generations. It was first published fifty years ago, and it is known wherever the English language is spoken. It could hardly be called exaggeration to say that it is a classic in controversial literature. It was never needed more than at the present time, when creeds are springing up and changing and dying with frightful rapidity. Dr. Brownson's review of the first edition is well worth quoting. He said in 1860: "The Appletons have, since the beginning of the year, published the anxiously looked for work of Governor Burnett, of California, giving his full reasons for becoming a Catholic. It is the work not of a priest, nor of a professional theologian, but of a clear-headed, strong-minded lawyer, who has not suffered the law to make him forget he has a soul, or to stifle his conscience. It is written in a clear, forcible and unpretending style, in a straightforward, earnest manner, and is to be judged not as a mere literary performance, but as the grave utterance of a man who really has something to say and is pressed by an internal necessity to say it. "What strikes the reader at a glance in this remarkable volume is its perfect honesty and sincerity. As you read it you feel that the eminent jurist is honestly retracing the path and detailing the successive steps by which he actually came into the Church. The argument of the book is presented under the legal form, by the Judge who sums up the case and gives his decision, rather than as presented by the advocate. It is an argument addressed to reason and good sense, not to passion and sensibility; and we cannot conceive it possible for any fair-minded man to read it and not be convinced, although we can conceive that many a man may read it and not acknowledge himself convinced." Such a review from such a man is the highest commendation. No one was better fitted to pass on works of controversy than Dr. Brownson. Time has required some changes, which have been is before a court of justice, on whose final decision depends the weal or woe of the whole human race. The book is also a commentary on the greatest drama which has ever been enacted. Even considered from a purely natural point of view, the Passion of Our Lord is a drama with which none other can be compared as regards the character of the actors, the magnitude of the action, the importance of the intrigue and the complexity of the plot. The unities of time and place have been preserved." HISTORICAL NOTES ON ENGLISH CATHOLIC MISSIONS. By Bernard W. Kelly, author of "The Life of Cardinal York," "The Conqueror of Culloden," "James III. and VIII.," "The Fate of Glengary," etc. 12mo., pp. 455. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. St. Louis: B. Herder. This is good historical work. Not pretentious or showy, but of a solid fundamental kind. The book is arranged in dictionary form, a short sketch of the missions being given in alphabetical order on double column pages. The work is by no means exhaustive, but some details have been given of the Catholic missions in the country from the breach with the Apostolic See to our own times. The story of the English Catholics, or the "Romance of the Recusants" as it has been termed, during that long period of trial and proscription forms as interesting a narrative as any to be found in the pages of modern history. The historical introduction of forty-three pages is very interesting and instructive and creates an atmosphere for what follows. The book is a valuable addition to a group that is growing and forming an historical groundwork on which future histories will be built. : THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE. By R. J. Meyer, S. J., author of "First This is the second volume of a series which deals with the all important question of man's destiny. The series is thus explained: "The volume herewith presented to the public is the second part of a work whose subject matter, as outlined in the general introduction, may be expressed in this one sentence: 'How man, such as he is, must rise above the world in which he lives, towards God for whom he was created.' The first part which appeared in print in the year 1902, treats of man, such as he is; the second part, which is now given to the press, treats of the world in which he lives; the third part, which is to follow in due course, treats of God for whom he was created." The ground covered is most important. Every man should keep |