ever, contains a beautiful thought, nearly always of a devotional nature and melodiously uttered. The writer shows habitual elevation of thought as well as much skill in giving to it brief and crisp expression. The technique as a rule is perfect. . although there are occasional flaws, especially the rather too frequent use of what may be called expletives. The defects. however, are but trifles, and will only serve, perhaps, to make the reader advert to the otherwise general perfection of the work. We hope the book will have a wide circulation.

6. Blessed Margaret Mary. By Mgr. Demimuid. Translated by A. M. Buchanan, M.A. London: R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 2s. 6d. net.)

There is room, we think, in spite of the existing books on Blessed Margaret Mary, for this brief, interesting, and very pious study of her life and revelations. The principal objects of the author are to set forth the character of the saint and to examine the wonders of the supernatural action of God in her soul. He realised to the full that he was writing for an incredulous age, an age that scoffs at such divine manifestations. Indeed he hesitated, in face of such a widespread attitude, at undertaking the work at all; but taking his courage in both hands, he faced the issues. He attacks the problem boldly; instead of trying to explain away the marvellous by natural causes, he accepts and strenuously defends the supernatural as the only reasonable explanation. Perhaps the most interesting portion of the book, after the full and detailed account of the great revelations, is the story of how Blessed Margaret Mary was misunderstood and opposed by excellent nuns of her own community, some of whom even took the idea that she was possessed by the devil, and sprinkled her with holy water. Like the rest of the series, the book is tastefully produced.

7. On Sorrow's Harp. By Francis Edward Albino. London: R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 2s. 6d. net.)

The twenty odd poems published under this title are, for the most part, neither above nor below the average standard of the verses produced in such abundance at the present day. Some could have been well omitted, while here and there we come across a line or stanza well above the ordinary level of the work. The sentiments are pure and mostly inspired by religion.

8. In the Watches of the Night. Devotional Poems, by E. M. R. Forster.

This is another little volume produced by Messrs. Washbourne,

and costing a shilling net. It contains many prayers and devotional recollections put into verse. The work is not ambitious, and the simple lines run smoothly. Some pieces seem to have been suggested by the poems of Father Tabb, and if so, they have not improved upon their model.

9. Lives of the English Martyrs. Second Series. The Martyrs Declared Venerable. Vol. I. 1583-1588. Edited by Edwin H. Burton, D.D., and J. H. Pollen, S.J. London: Longmans, Green & Co. (Price 7s. 6d. net.)

The men whose lives are recorded in this solid volume are among the Church's heroes, and of their heroism Catholicism may well be proud. No greater proof is needed of the irresistible appeal of Our Blessed Lord and His teaching than the readiness with which men are ready to sacrifice life for Him. Even so within a brief five years (1583-1588) no fewer than sixty-eight martyrs watered England with their blood. We have nothing but praise for the way in which the editors have done their work. Their method is critical and historical, but it does not lose sight of the demands of a reading public. Documents have been carefully studied, and the results of research unobtrusively embodied in the several narratives that make up the volume. Dr. Burton and Father Pollen and their learned collaborators are to be heartily congratulated on the excellence of their work.

10. The Office of Holy Week. With an explanation of its Ceremonies and Observances, by the Rev. Father Crasset, S.J. Dublin: James Duffy & Co., Ltd. (Prices 6d., IS., and 2s.)

Messrs. Duffy & Co. have been well advised to bring out this new edition of The Office of Holy Week, revised in accordance with the latest Papal Decree. The Latin and English are in parallel columns. Such a work materially helps the laity to follow with profit the beautiful rites of the Church during the sacred and solemn days which St. John Chrysostom called the Great Week.

II. The Treasures of the Rosary. By the Very Rev. Charles Hyacinth M'Kenna, Preacher-General of the Order of Preachers. With an introduction by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. New York P. J. Kenedy & Sons. (Price, cloth, $1; paper, 25 cents.)

There is little need to convince Catholics of their duty to the Rosary. But there may be need to convince them of the

manner in which this tribute to Our Lady should be paid; of the magnificence of the treasures which the very simplicity of this prayer may help to conceal; of the wonderful spiritual effects which advertence to the mysteries of the Rosary is certain to produce. Hence we warmly welcome this admirable book by a distinguished member of the Dominican Order. He has succeeded in combining, simply and naturally, devotion and instruction, and enlivened his remarks by apt thoughts from Scripture and the Saints.

12. Breaking with the Past. By Abbot Gasquet. With a Preface by His Eminence Cardinal Farley. New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons. (Price 60 cents.)

Dr. Gasquet needs no introduction to the Catholic world. That he should be almost equally well-known among nonCatholics is due, in large measure, to his historical gifts. His scholarship is such as to command respect; and his well-known impartiality has done more-it has won men's confidence. When we remember that he chose the period of the Reformation as the field for his researches, we can better appreciate the tribute implied in such confidence. During his stay in America Abbot Gasquet preached four sermons on subjects connected with the Reformation, and he has now published them under the above title. Perhaps we should rather call them lectures. Their object is not precisely to point contrasts in a strictly devotional manner; it is rather to fix our attention on some great facts of Catholic teaching that the reforming enemies of the Church flouted and rejected, and to show us what they substituted in their stead. Papal Authority, The Mass, The Priesthood, The Church by Law Established are the four subjects discussed by Dr. Gasquet. He brings to them his wonted lucidity and learning, and their lesson, if not professedly devotional, will assuredly be a greater and warmer loyalty to Christ's True Church.

13. Kikuyu, or, A House Divided. London: Burns & Oates, Ltd. (Price Id.) This is a sermon, preached last January, by Father Bernard Vaughan, S.J., in the Church of the Holy Name, Manchester, in which he effectively emphasizes the moral of the Kikuyu controversy. He drives home the point that Protestantism cannot speak with authority very clearly and vigorously-indeed, the Anglican Guardian is moved to call his style" sledge-hammer." The pamphlet has gone through several editions already.

14. A Modern Franciscan. By Father Dominic Devas, O.F.M. London: R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 2s. 6d. net.)

While not disputing the maxim that canonized sanctity is the best form of biography for spiritual reading, we may safely assert that much profit may be derived from reading an account of uncanonized holiness practised in our own days, such as is put before us in this life of Father Arsenius, O.F.M., which Father Devas has abridged and adapted from the French life by Father Norbert, O.F.M. Born in France in 1859, Father Arsenius made his studies as a Franciscan in France, Spain, and England, and was ordained in 1886. He was appointed Superior at Saltash, in Cornwall, in 1887, first Superior of the House of Recollection at Le Puy in 1888, Guardian of a large community at Clevedon, in Somersetshire, in 1891-here he had charge of two parishes with the added burden of having to build a college; in 1894 he was sent to Canada as Guardian at Montreal; and he was Provincial of the French Province from 1895 until his death in 1898 at the age of thirty-nine. He was a man who gave himself unreservedly to God and worked untiringly and indefatigably for the salvation of souls. He practised, in addition, very severe austerities, just such as one reads of in the lives of medieval saints, and it is very good for us to learn that these things still happen—that the race of heroes is not extinct. At the same time he was tender and loving to those in his care; he corrected them, too, with the courageous zeal of love, but always with sweetness. In a word, he was a man after the heart of St. Francis of Assisi.

15. Back Home. By Charles Phillips. New York: P. J Kenedy & Sons. (Price 60 cents.)

This little poem should prove of interest to Irish readers. It is the author's graceful and loving tribute to the memory of his parents, who, having left Ireland for the United States, became settlers on the Wisconsin prairie. The different aspects of pioneer life, its labours, and its homely pleasures are vividly and touchingly described in verse as smooth and pleasant as the train of images in the author's memory. The poem is now in its fifth edition, for it has deservedly acquired great popularity in America. The author is editor of the Monitor, the excellent and well-known Catholic weekly of San Francisco.

THE IRISH MONTHLY

MAY, 1914

THE CENTENARY OF AUBREY DE VERE

By REV. GEORGE O'NEILL, S.J.

[The centenary year of Aubrey de Vere must not be allowed to pass unnoticed in a magazine which is so closely linked with his name and which owes so much to his assistance as the IRISH MONTHLY. While its first number was in preparation, in June, 1873, he wrote to Father Russell offering to send him poems for it whenever he wanted them; and he added, "I do think that you have a great task before you, and shall think it the highest honour my poetry could have if it assists ever so little in so good a work." This generous offer was faithfully made good; beginning with two sonnets in the first number, he continued a frequent and-needless to say-a most valued contributor. A further link with him is made by the numerous literary studies of his poetry from the pens of highly qualified critics which have appeared in our pages; and yet another which we may refer to is the series of his most interesting "Unpublished Letters," to be found in the last two volumes which Father Russell edited. Add to all this that he is undoubtedly one of the greatest of Anglo-Irish poets, unsurpassed in loftiness of inspiration and refined dignity of utterance, that he cherished a deep and true love of Ireland-no poems came more intensely from his heart than those dealing with Irish history-and that he was a most fervent and devoted Catholic, and we realise how many additional claims he has on our attention.-ED. I. M.]

THE

HE first centenary of a poet's birth, especially if his life. have been a long one, not unfrequently coincides with the lowest ebb of his reputation; and there is reason to think that this has been the case with Aubrey de Vere. Very

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