day, whether French or German, is inferior only to Gioberti,who in this respect is unrivalled, let him be what he may in others, and we commend his Etudes Critiques to all who are engaged in the study of philosophy, and especially to professors of moral and intellectual philosophy in our colleges, whether Catholic or Protestant.

7.- Lettres et Discours de M. Donoso Cortès, traduit l'Espagnol. Paris. 1850.

THIS is a brochure published by the Electoral Committee of Religious Liberty at Paris. Its author is the Marquis de Valdegamas, a distinguished Spanish nobleman, and Minister of Spain at the Court of Berlin. He is the Count Montalembert of Spain, and one of the most eminent Catholic laymen in Europe. We shall endeavour to seize an early opportunity to give our readers some account of his very remarkable and most deeply interesting Letters and Discourses.

8. — La Vérité sur la Loi de l'Enseignement. Par Mgr. Parisis, Evêque de Langres, Membre de l'Assemblée Législative. Paris. 1850.

We know not where one, anxious to obtain the materials for forming a correct judgment of the law on Instruction recently adopted by the French government, can better obtain them than in this pamphlet by the distinguished Bishop of Langres. We have read it with great care, and we confess, that, while the law strikes us as unnecessarily complicated, and far from perfect, we cannot but regard it upon the whole as a great gain for religion, and likely to have a salutary effect in its practical workings. Its restrictive clauses will, practically, operate only against Socialists and enemies of social order. The French bishops and clergy have been divided as to their opinions of its merits, but it appears to have been approved at Rome, and, in view of the peculiar circumstances of France at the present moment, the bishops are permitted to coöperate with the government in carrying it into effect. The Holy Father, however, exhorts them, where the result of the law would be mixed schools, to establish separate schools for Catholics. also admonishes them "to call often to the recollection of the faithful the fundamental dogma, — Out of the Catholic Church there is no salvation." We hope that those who have abused us for insisting on this dogma, and protesting with all our might against latitudinarianism and indifferentism, will hereafter be silent, or cease to

He

call themselves Catholics. It perhaps would not be amiss for the publishers of St. Vincent's Manual to take the hint, and leave out of their future editions the impertinent note appended to the Profession of Faith, or, as it is called, the Creed of Pope Pius the Fourth. Such notes are not called for, and if they do not make heretics, they tend at least to make namby-pamby Catholics. If the qualification called for is necessary, why did not Pius the Fourth add it? Why did he leave our profession of faith to be completed by an anonymous editor? The Holy Father is continually admonishing the bishops and clergy of the importance of impressing upon the faithful themselves the absolute necessity of the Catholic faith to salvation, and yet we can hardly take up a single prayer-book or manual of devotion which does not even go out of the way to assure the faithful, virtually, that the Catholic faith is not necessary except for Catholics, and we have in our possession a book in which the author, professedly a Catholic, teaches that a Catholic having become a Methodist may yet be saved, through invincible ignorance, without returning to the Church! The effect of these latitudinarian doctrines is seen in our own country, and in all Europe, and on four different occasions the present Holy Father has expressly warned the faithful against them, and we must believe it is time for us to pay some heed to his admonitions, even though by doing so we may have to confess past carelessness. It is only when we sleep that the enemy sows tares in our fields.

9. Loretto, or the Choice: a Story written for the Old and the Young. In four Parts. Baltimore: Heidan. 1850. 32mo.

Pp. 274.

THIS story must have been written by a man of real genius, a layman, and a man who is or has been in some sense a man of the world, a poet, and a musician; but also by a well-instructed Catholic, who loves as well as knows his religion, and does not disdain to practise it. The author is still young, and lacks a little that serenity and repose which belong to more advanced years, but he shows all the qualities in this little work necessary to place him in the front rank of contributors to the Catholic literature of this country. We have read Loretto with great care and with intense interest. It is happily conceived, and well executed. It indicates on the part of the author dramatic power of a high order. The characters are original, distinct, and sustained, if we except Melville. Mr. Almy is a real character, a living man, and one with whom we do not every day meet. Gabriel is a half-allegorical character, .sometimes apparently symbolizing conscience, at others our guardian angel. Clarence is a sweet boy, and we wish to hear more

He is

Lel is

of him. The Colonel must have been drawn from the life. the most natural and best sustained character in the book. the author's favorite, on whom he has bestowed the most pains and affection, but we prefer Agnes, "Sister Agnes," who, in defiance of the author, we maintain, is a character of a far higher order than Lel, and equally as lovely. But we have space for no further details. The story is Catholic in its tone, its morals, and in its tendency, but is not a "Catholic novel." It has no theological controversy with heretics, does not attempt to teach theology, but aims to guard youth against immorality, and to incite both old and young, without set exhortations, to the practice of their religious duties. It is a good specimen of the class of works we have repeatedly called for, and we have presented it as a birthday present to our only daughter. We trust it is but the harbinger of a series of popular works needed at the present time, and especially in this country, to counteract the evil influences on our youth of the profane literature of the day. It is not the best thing the author will do, but it is a noble beginning, and is the best popular Catholic story that has as yet been written and published in this country. As such we cordially commend it to the public, Protestant even, as well as Catholic. The author's descriptive powers are very superior, and his style is admirable, but we must caution against a too free indulgence of the former, and we notice in the latter some few verbal inaccuracies. We should know that the author was educated south of Mason and Dixon's line by his frequent use of would for should. I would, or we would, expresses a wish or desire, and should is the preterite of shall, as simply an auxiliary, as well as of shall in the sense of the German sollen.

Boston

10.-Mohammed, the Arabian Prophet. A Tragedy, in Five Acts. By GEORGE H. MILES. Phillips, Sampson, & Co. 1850. 12mo. Pp. 167.

MR. EDWIN FORREST offered a prize of one thousand dollars for the best original tragedy in five acts. About one hundred competitors sent in their manuscripts, and the volume before us is the one to which the prize was awarded. Mr. Forrest regarded it as decidedly the best that was offered, although he does not seem to have regarded it as so well fitted to be acted as to be read, - probably because the character of Mahomet is not at all adapted to his peculiar style of acting. We have read the poem, and have no hesitation in pronouncing it the best poem of the kind ever written and published in this country. It is happily conceived and felicitously executed throughout. It is a work of rare beauty, and of great

power, of deep feeling, and of deep truth. The view it takes of the character of the Arabian prophet is philosophical and just, and the reader will get from this poem a far truer and more complete conception of his real character than from all the lives of him hitherto published in our language. We cordially commend the work to all the lovers of good poetry, and are not a little gratified that so excellent a poem should be written by an esteemed contributor to our own journal.

From the PerBoston: Phillips, Samp

11. The Life and Religion of Mohammed, as contained in the Sheeâh Traditions of the HYAT-UL-KULOOB. sian. By Rev. JAMES L. MERRICK. son, & Co. 1850. 8vo. pp. 483.

MR. MERRICK is or was an American Protestant missionary in Persia, and has given us a work on the life and religion of Mahomet, Mohammed, as he writes,- from the Persian, which will, no doubt, be read with interest by many. It can hardly be called a translation, or faithful reproduction of the Persian work, which serves as its basis. Mr. Merrick tells us that he has taken some liberties with his author, omitting, condensing, paraphrasing according to his own judgment, and considering that judgment is the judg ment of a Protestant missionary, it can command no great respect. Nevertheless, the work possesses great interest, and as embodying some portion of the traditions of the sect of Ali, the Mahometan Protestants, it is an important accession to our literature.

We could n't, or would n't, read Festus, and we have not succeeded in reading this new volume by the same author. One of our friends, who occasionally reads for us the poetical works sent us, tells us that she found it exceedingly hard reading, and that the several poems are far below Festus.

BROWNSON'S

QUARTERLY REVIEW.

OCTOBER, 1850.

ART. I.-1. Del Primato Morale e Civile degli Italiani. Per VINCENZO GIOBERTI. 2 Edizione di Losanna. Losanna. 1846. 3 tomi. 8vo.

2. Introduzione allo Studio della Filosofia. Per VINCENZO GIOBERTI. 2 Edizione riveduta e corretta dall' Autore. Brusselle. 1844. 4 tomi. 8vo.

3. Del Bello e del Buono. Due Trattati. Per VINCENZO GIOBERTI. 1 Edizione di Losanna. Losanna. 1846. 8vo.

WE have, on several occasions within the last two or three years, introduced the name of Gioberti, sometimes with praise, sometimes with blame, and some attempt to appreciate his influence as an author, or to determine the practical tendency of his writings, can be neither misplaced nor mistimed; for he is, unquestionably, a man of rare genius, of acute and profound thought, a highly polished intellect, and various and extensive erudition. He appears to have mastered the whole circle of the sciences, and to have made himself thoroughly acquainted with the past and the present. He has studied profoundly the spirit of our age, and we have met with no one who better understands its dangerous tendencies. He possesses a genuine philosophical aptitude, and is unrivalled in his exposition and criticism of modern philosophy, especially as represented by the later German, French, and Italian schools; and as far as concerns the refutation of false systems, and the statement of the first principles and the method of philosophical science, he is eminently successful. The best refutation of sensism, pantheism, radicalism, and socialism, and the clearest and most satisfactory statement and vindication of the several truths op

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