6. The Life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Duchess of Thuringia. By the COUNT DE MONTALEMBERT, Peer of France. Translated by MARY HACKETT. The Introduction translated by MRS. J. SADLIER. Second Edition. New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Co. 1857. 16mo. pp. 427.

We cannot speak of this work in higher terms than it deserves. It is marked alike by faith and solid learning, by genius and piety, and is a model in its way. If the illustrious author had done nothing else than write this book, he would deserve to be held in grateful remembrance, through all time, by the Catholic world.

7. A Life of the Right Rev. Edward Maginn, Coadjutor Bishop of Derry, with Selections from his Correspondence. By THOMAS D'ARCY M'GEE. New York: P. O'Shea. 1857. 16mo. pp. 306.

We received this work at too late a day to be able to do more than glance at a few of its pages. We have a profound respect for the high character, and religious and patriotic labors of its Right Reverend subject, who died too soon for religion and for his country. Its author is no friend of ours, but as far as we have read, he appears to have acquitted himself of his task in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactory to the numerous friends of the late Bishop of Derry.

8. Roman Vesperal; containing the Complete Vespers for the whole Year, with Gregorian Chants in Modern Notation. Baltimore: John Murphy & Co. 1857. 16mo. pp. 264.

9. The Life of our Lord Jesus Christ; or, Jesus Christ revealed to Childhood and Youth. By the ABBÉ F. LA GRANGE. Translated from the French by MRS. J. SADLIER. New York: D. & J. Sadlier. 1857. 24mo. pp. 318.

10. The Sufferings of Jesus.

By CATHERINE EMMERICK. Translated by a Sister of Mercy. New York: P. O'Shea. 1857. 24mo. pp. 187.

11. The Three Kings of Cologne. By REV. TITUS JOSLIN. New York: E. Dunigan & Brother. 1857.

12. The Creator and the Creature; or, the Wonders of Divine Love. By FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER, D.D. With an Introduction by an American Clergyman. Baltimore; Murphy & Co. 1857. 16mo. pp. 414.

13. The Complete Works of Gerald Griffin. Parts I.-XII. New York: D. & J. Sadlier. 16mo.

We welcome this new and complete edition of the works of Gerald Griffin, now in the course of publication by the Messrs. Sadlier & Co. We read The Collegians, when it was first published, with a pleasure we have never forgotten, and which we have found increased at every repeated perusal. Ireland has produced many geniuses, but rarely one, upon the whole, superior to Gerald Griffin. When we have his life, and the publication of the edition is completed, we shall endeavor to render our tribute of gratitude to the memory of the gifted author.

14. Concilium Baltimorense Provinciale VIII, habitum Anno 1855. Baltimore: Murphy & Co. 1857. 8vo. pp. 40.

We find in this pamphlet the following Decree, which, as it applies to the whole United States, we take the liberty of copying. "DECRETUM Concilii primi Provincialis Sancti-Ludovici, quod S. Sedes adprobavit, et per alias quoque Provincias servari mandavit quoad Ecclesiastica judicia.

"Sacerdotes, quibus per Ordinarii sententiam sacri ministerii exercitium interdictum fuerit, nullum jus habent ad sustentationem ab eo petendam, cum ipsi se sua culpa missionibus operam navandi incapaces reddiderint. Ut autem omnis occasio querelarum tollatur, censent Patres omnino expedire ut Ordinarii in causis criminalibus clericorum aut presbyterorum servent certam judicii normam, quæ ad formam a Concilio Tridentino (Cap. VI, Sess. XXV, de Ref.) præscriptam, quam proxime accedat: scilicet, ut Episcopus, seu Vicarius ejus Generalis, de ipsius commissione, duos ejusdem Episcopi Consultores (ex eis quos, juxta alterum Baltimorense Concilium pro gravioribus negotiis pertractandis designatos habet), nec semper eosdem eligat, qui ei presbyterum criminis postulatum judicaturo, coram Notario tamen ipsius Episcopi, assistant. Unum autem sit utriusque votum, possitque alter Episcopo accedere. Quod si ambo ab Episcopo, seu ejus Vicario, discordes fuerint, tertium tunc ex prædictis suis Consultoribus ipse eligat, et juxta eam partem cum qua tertius convenit, causa terminetur. Si autem contigerit omnes Consultores ab Ordinario electos, ab ejus sententia dissidere, tunc ad Metropolitanum causa referri debet, qui sententiarum motiva expendet, et judicium feret. Quando autem quæstio erit de subdito Metropolitani, criminis postulato, et omnes Assessores Metropolitani, modo prædicto ab ipso designati, ab ejus sententia dissenserint, tunc appellatio fiat ad seniorem Episcopum comprovincialem, cujus sententia finalis erit, salvis semper Sedis Apostolicæ privilegiis et auctoritate."

BROWNSON'S

QUARTERLY

REVIEW.

OCTOBER, 1857.

ART. I.-The Catholic. Letters addressed by a Jurist to a Young Kinsman proposing to join the Church of Rome. By E. H. DERBY. Boston Jewett & Co.. 1856. 12mo. pp. 293.

CATHOLIC Controversy changes its form with the circumstances of the age and the country. When Catholics in the United States were few, and generally regarded as idolators, ignorant, degraded, superstitious, and base, controversy very necessarily and properly assumed an apologetic tone, confined itself to the work of self-defence, and aimed simply at proving that Catholics are not so bad as they have been represented, and may prudently be suffered to live and act as freemen in the same community with Protestants. When by natural increase, conversions, and immigration they had become a notable part of the population, and capable of forming a body able in some measure to suffice for itself, it became equally necessary for their own security and progress to make them feel their independence in the face of Protestantism, and induce them to rise to the level of their position as free and equal citizens of a free republic. This has continued long enough; an impulse has been given which may now be safely trusted to itself. Very few Catholics now in the country are likely to feel ashamed of their religion in the presence of non-Catholics, or that it excludes them from their rights as men, or their equality as citizens. It is time now for our controversy to assume a new phase, and leaving the question of self-defence, as well as that of infusing the spirit of inde

NEW YORK SERIES.-VOL. II. NO. IV.

28

pendence into Catholics, aim at the conversion of Protestants, or producing on their minds an impression favorable to our holy religion.

Mr. Derby has written his book, not to induce Catholics to turn Protestants, but to prevent Protestants from becoming Catholics. Much the same may be said of nearly all the works written against us, that issue from the American press. The aim of the Protestant controversialist is not primarily damage to Catholicity, but the preservation of Protestants in their allegiance to the Reformation. This proves that a spirit of inquiry, a tendency to Catholicity, is at work in the Protestant community, and that without extraordinary exertions on the part of its leaders, considerable defections from the Protestant ranks are to be feared. At the same time that it proves this, it indicates the tone and direction that our own controversy should take. The works written against us, being written for Protestants, should be answered for Protestants, not with a view to preventing Catholics from abandoning their religion, but with a view to bringing Protestants to the faith, or at least rendering them less indisposed to examine its claims. If our aim were merely to prevent Mr. Derby's Letters from exerting any unfavorable effect on the Catholic mind, a few words would be amply sufficient, and we could not justify ourselves to our readers in devoting so much space as we have done to them; but when it is understood that we are replying to them for the sake of the Protestant mind, no reasonable Catholic can blame us.

Mr. Derby's book, though it contains some things the ordinary Catholic may not be able to answer, can make no impression on Catholics unfavorable to their religion. But worthless as they are in the estimation of the Catholic, his Letters are not wholly worthless in the estimation of Protestants, and their reasoning passes with them for solid and weighty, for it chimes in with their preconceived notions of Catholicity. The book simply tells what Protestants already believe, or are fully prepared to believe. Books like Mr. Derby's circulate extensively among Protestants, confirm their prejudices against Catholicity, and do much to prevent them from coming to the knowledge of the truth. It is this fact that gives them importance, and renders their circulation a source of grief to the Catholic; for these

Protestants have souls as well as we, and their salvation is not less dear to our Lord and his Church than ours. It is this fact, also, that makes it our duty to do all we can in truth and conscience to counteract their influence, not on those within, indeed, but on those without the Church.

Mr. Derby is not a great man, nor a great theologian, but he is a man of respectable standing in society, and has in his Letters collected, combined, and presented in a plausible manner nearly all the objections popularly urged against us, or which are fitted to have weight with the ordinary Protestant mind. If we regarded only the influence they may have on the Catholic mind, a witty retort, a newspaper paragraph, a sneer, or a squib, would be all, and more than all that would need to be said in reply to them; but regarding their influence on the Protestant mind, or the influence of the same objections as urged by other authors, and which may as well be refuted in him as in another, it is hardly just to accuse us of spending too much ammunition in their refutation, or of breaking "a fly upon the wheel." The blame which has been bestowed on us in certain quarters proceeds from mistaking our motive, as well as from a certain forgetfulness of the great mission of Catholic controversy. We English speaking Catholics have so long been accustomed to regard only our defence, that we almost forget that the Protestant mind is not wholly unimpressible, and that Catholics may do even much to remove its prejudices. We have insensibly fallen into the habit of treating anti-Catholic books chiefly from our own point of view, as they affect us, and seem to conclude that when we have warded off the danger they threaten us, we have done all that can be required of us. This is all that could be required of us some time ago, but not all that is required of us now. We beg the attention of the Catholic press to this important fact. In replying to books against us with a view of benefiting the non-Catholic community, it is of far more consequence to consider what is objected than who it is that objects. Truth is objective, and is independent of your personal character or mine. I do not necessarily establish my own character by damaging the character of him who assails it, for he may be a knave without my being an honest man. Controversy should deal with reasons, not