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the miraculous oil that "distils from the coffer in which her relics are enclosed in her church of Eichstadt." Cures are wrought by this oil to-day. We happen to know personally of one-the instant and final cure of a case of S. Vitus' dance by a drop of the oil received on the patient's tongue, after a novena and communion in the saint's honor.

The "Journey of S. Willibald to the Holy Land," which forms the second half of the little volume, was written at Heidenheim about the year 760. "It is interesting," says F. Meyrick,

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firming, by the testimony of an eye-wit ness a thousand years since, the Catholic traditions of some disputed localities, and as a specimen of a nun's composition in the VIIIth century."

THE QUESTION OF ANGLICAN ORDINATIONS DISCUSSED. By E. E. Estcourt, M.A., F.S.A., Canon of S. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham. With an Appendix of Original Documents and Fac-similes. London: Burns & Oates. 1873. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)

A controversial work written in a calm and mild tone is sure to claim attention and wise confidence, especially if that work deals with a difficult question, and one involved in much obscurity and uncertainty. Such is the style of the work before us, and such is the character of the question the Rev. Canon Estcourt treats -Anglican Ordinations.

This is truly a masterly work, and the author exhibits throughout that modesty which is the mark of a true scholar. But he does not condescend to his antagonist; he is fully aware that he is at warfare, but at warfare pro causa veritatis. He is a brave warrior, and wields a heavy weapon; he studies his foe well before he strikes, but, when he strikes, he strikes in a vital part.

We do not mean to say that he has finished the much-discussed question of Anglican ordinations, or that Anglicans will hereafter have nothing to say. They will always have something to say so long as the Establishment lasts. But we believe there are a large number of Anglicans who are serious and in earnest, and who conscientiously believe they have a priesthood, and it is among them we hope to see this book produce some practical result.

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troduction with a "statement of the ques tion" it is about to treat of, in which the author says he does not claim to bring forth much in the way of new facts or new principles, but aims rather at a more careful application of principles already laid down, and to show the real influence of the facts alleged by Anglicans (as, for instance, the consecration of Parker), even if true. It then states the Catholic doctrine on the question of holy orders, and finally lays down the principles of evidence to be followed in the investiga tion of historical facts.

The author commences with the "Origin of the Controversy," in which, after showing how the seeds of heresy were first planted by Wickliffe, and spread by the Lollards, and that the heresies on the Continent and in England were all one and the same growth-which Anglicans have so strenuously tried to deny-he exhibits the manner in which the Anglican rite was compiled, and shows that the form of ordination in the Edwardine ordinal was not primitive, but a compilation from the ritual of the Roman Church of the middle ages, there being nothing in it earlier than the IXth century, and most from the XIIIth and XIVth.

He then treats of the validity of the orders given in the new form, as tested by Queen Mary's reign and the acts of Cardinal Pole, and shows by a number of cases, and a careful analysis of the different classes the Cardinal Legate had to deal with, that both "the Papal brief and the cardinal's acts furnish the clearest possible evidence that the Holy See regarded the Edwardine ordinations as utterly worthless" (p. 40), and therefore that the Anglican claim of Catholics admitting these ordinations as valid is a false one.

The second, third, and fourth chapters are devoted to the "History of the Con troversy."

First, the mere matter of fact, with regard to those much-contested consecra tions, is discussed. As to Barlow, the author, while giving the Anglicans the full benefit of all their documents and proofs of this poor man so involved in mist, shows that his consecration at least cannot be proved.

The author very justly concludes respecting Barlow that while we cannot come to any positive decision, yet, “with so many circumstances of suspicion arisThe present work starts out in the in- ing from different quarters, yet pointing

the same way, it is impossible to admit the fact of his consecration without more direct proof of it" (p. 81).

Parker's case is next taken up. Of course, the author discards the Nag's Head story; and with regard to the mere fact of Parker's consecration having taken place, he acknowledges it must be admitted. But he shows that such a consecration, from the grave doubts whether Barlow was ever consecrated, and the manner in which ordinations of the Book of Common Prayer of 1552 were treated, was utterly worthless. After giving the testimony of contemporary Catholics in the matter of Parker's consecration, he says: But taking them all together, it must be granted that they admit the fact of the consecration having taken place as alleged, but it is also evident that they imply some serious difficulty respecting it, and apparently touching the persons acting therein; and, further, that this difficulty extended so far as not merely to render the consecration uncanonical, unlawful, and irregular, but also to affect its validity" (p. 126).

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Then having shown the practice of the church with those who returned to the true faith, he gives a list of the Anglican ministers who became reconciled to the Catholic Church down to the year 1704, and thus answers by facts the claim set up by Dr. Lee, founded on the alleged refusal of twelve converts to be reordained because they claimed to be true priests.

Next follows a short review of the controversy as carried on so far by both Anglicans and Catholics, after which commences what we consider as really the most important part of the book; for the rest of the work deals entirely with the validity of Anglican ordinations.

This second half of the work we look upon as instituting a new era in the controversy. Heretofore, writers have occupied themselves principally with trying to disprove the facts with regard to the Anglican consecrations, and have done very little to prove the invalidity of such consecrations, even if they took place. Canon Estcourt has entered into this very thoroughly, and made it clear.

He commences by an examination of the most ancient forms of ordination, and coming down through the various rites, and giving the teaching of the fathers, shows what the matter and form of ordination most probably consists in. Having established this, he gives the practice

of the church in her official decisions in two important cases.

The author has devoted a chapter to the refutation of the story of Pius IV. and Queen Elizabeth, which is the Anglican Nag's Head, and which we suppose is at least well to have repeated, as there may be some on whom this worn-out fable would still have an influence.

In the concluding chapters, the argument is summed up, and "the inevitable conclusion follows that Anglican ordinations must be considered as altogether invalid, and that there is neither bishop, priest, nor deacon in the Anglican communion. And the reasons for this conclusion may be stated in a summary way as follows:

"1. Because from the year 1554 it has been the unvarying practice of the Catholic Church so to consider and treat them.

"2. Because there are grave doubts whether Barlow, the consecrator of Parker, had ever himself received episcopal consecration; and, in fact, the probabilities of the case incline more strongly against than in favor of it.

"3. Because the Anglican forms of ordination have been altered from the ancient forms, both by way of mutilation and addition, in such a manner as to exclude, on the part of those participating in the acts enjoined, any intention of conferring or receiving a sacrament, or sacramental grace, or a spiritual character, or any sacerdotal or episcopal power.

"4. Because the same forms have been also altered purposely, with the view of excluding the idea of the priest at his ordination receiving power to offer sacrifice.

"5. Because Anglican bishops and priests, at the time of ordination, join in a profession contrary to the Catholic faith in the holy sacrifice, thus assuming on themselves, by their own act, the spirit and erroneous intentions with which the alterations were made.

"6. Because the meaning here attributed to the Anglican forms receives confirmation from the fact of its being doubtful whether the word 'priest' in the Anglican forms of ordination means a priest in the sense of the Catholic Church; that is to say, sacerdos, 'a sacrificing priest.'

"7. Because the meaning of the same forms is further illustrated from the 'Order of Administration of Holy Communion' in the Book of Common Prayer,

which is found to be contrary to the Catholic faith in the doctrines of the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist and the Real Presence" (pp. 373-4).

Let us leave the author's last words for those who are serious and in earnest, to meditate upon:

'What, then, Anglicans have to consider, the questions they have to ask themselves, are these: What do they really believe about the grace of holy orders, and even about the grace of the sacraments in general? and next, What are the conditions on which that grace is ordinarily given? And then to look whether those conditions are fulfilled within the Anglican communion. If they would seriously, as in the sight of God, consider these points, we might hope to attain to truth, which is before all things, and after truth to see peace following in her train, and union, not based on vague terms and unharmonious professions, but in one body and one spirit, as called in one hope of our vocation, one Lord, one faith one baptism'" (p. 379).

LECTURES ON CERTAIN PORTIONS OF THE EARLIER OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. By Philip G. Munro, Priest of the Diocese of Nottingham, and Domestic Chaplain to the Earl of Gainsborough. Vol. I. London: Burns & Oates. 1873. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)

This being but the first volume of a most valuable work, we shall wait for the whole to be completed before writing a lengthy notice. We will only say at present that the solidity of scholarship which the work displays, together with its entertaining style, make it a longdesired aid to the study of the Holy Scriptures on the part of our educated laity.

What we have been most struck with in the present volume is the simple yet masterly proof of a visible church-i.e. a teaching authority—having always existed from the time of Adam; as also of the coeval use of place and ritual for the worship of God.

THE PROPHET OF CARMEL. By the Rev. Chas. Garside. London: Burns & Oates. 1873. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.) This is a peculiar work, hardly classifiable under any conventional head in religious literature. It has the charm of

refined and elegant diction, joined to the weightier recommendation of practical usefulness. It is a history of the prophet Elias, following the startling yet meagre facts of his life as revealed in the Old Testament, and drawing from them analogies wonderfully suited to our own times, lives, temptations, and hopes. It is not one of the least perfections of that incomparable Book, the Holy Scriptures, that it should apply with such marvellous truth to any time, person, or circumstance; that it should offer as living a counsel, as efficacious a comfort, as dread a warning to every individual man in his own obscure orbit of to-day as it did thousands of years ago to exalted personages in unwonted trials. It is not only the political history of one people; it is the history of the human soul at all times and in all places. Thus, the author has drawn from the mysterious records of Elias-who at first would seem but a colossal saint, utterly removed from any appreciation that would seek to go be yond admiration-parallels between hu man duties and human weaknesses under the reign of Achab, and the same duties and weaknesses under the rulers of our day. There is something in this book of the alluring style of F. Faber's religious works, but without that floweriness of speech of which no one was a safe master but that prose-poet himself.

THE VALIANT WOMAN. By Mgr. Landriot. Translated from the French by Helena Lyons. Boston: P. Donahoe. 1873.

This collection of discourses, addressed to women on the duties of their daily life by the former Bishop of La Rochelle, now Archbishop of Rheims, is a most valuable work, and contains an epitome of everything woman should do, know, and teach. There can hardly be too much of the same tenor written on this subject, and all that is written should be sown broadcast over Christendom by the best translations. That before our notice seems a very terse one, faithful but not slavish. Indeed, a translator often has it in his power to mar the whole effect of a most important work by dressing it in such unmistakably foreign garb that it becomes unacceptable to the peculiar mind of this or that nationality. Mgr. Landriot's discourses, though addressed to French women and to provinciales, are couched in such broad terms, and inspired

by so comprehensive a spirit, that they are equally applicable to women of all nations, whether in populous cities or retired country towns. The conditions of all classes are also so delicately brought within the circle of his consideration that even poor and obscure women may find in them as effectual guidance as the wife of a cabinet minister or of a financial magnate. True Christianity alone can inspire true cosmopolitanism, and that without violating patriotism. The spirit of petty localism, or, in fact, of any narrow-mindedness on any subject, is foreign to the wise prelate's mind, and nowhere defaces his writings; yet, at the same time, he knows how to make skilful use of his surroundings, and take illustrations from objects constantly before the eyes of his immediate hearers. In the fourth discourse he expounds the text of Proverbs, "She is like the merchant's ship, she bringeth her bread from afar " (xxxi. 14); and speaking as the bishop of a seaport town to a community whose interests were probably in many cases connected with the sea, he draws the most original comparisons between an ideal woman and a perfect ship. Masts, helm, rigging, cargo, ballast, compass, chart, crew, etc., nothing is forgotten, and every detail tallies with some spiritual attribute of the life of a holy and "valiant"

woman.

In another place he compares woman to a bridge, the support and link of many souls, and makes the bold simile very plausible by his well-chosen remarks on the united flexibility and strength required in woman's character. There is not a point of domestic life which he does not touch upon fearlessly, not a duty he does not point out minutely. Sins of sloth, of vanity, of imprudent speech, of undue susceptibility, are all unmasked; the relations between woman and those who come in contact with her as wife, mother, mistress, or friend are all accurately sketched; her pursuits are regulated, but with no intolerant hand; her sphere mapped out, but with no niggardly restrictions. Country life and occupation are commended as healthful for the body, and leading to peace of mind and soul; good sayings, tersely expressed, are scattered here and there; as, for instance: Virtue and vice are distinguished by the quantity of the dose; put the right quantity, and you have a virtue; take away that quantity, or exceed it, and you have a vice." There is in the whole work a

tone of moderation singularly adapted to the needs of the day, a shrinking from exaggeration in any form, and a hesitancy in condemning anything the excess of which only can be styled a sin. The lecturer leans for these moderate views on the writings of S. Francis of Sales, that rare director of virtuous women in the world. One very beautiful idea, with which we do not remember ever to have met before in any shape, is that of the "divine magnetism" exercised by Providence, and which turns the bitterest draught of human woe into a delicious nectar for those who trust in God, while "the cup of earthly happiness" held to the lips of the "spoiled child of fortune has infused therein a poison to disturb and agitate the inmost depths of his being."

The picture of the valiant woman of the Proverbs is thus brought before the eyes of women of the XIXth century, not as something magnificently inimitable, as personated by a Judith, a Jael, or an Esther, but as a perfectly attainable state, as exemplified by S. Monica, S. Paula, S. Elizabeth of Hungary. Neither the heroic, the learned, nor the commercial side of life is shut out from them, although the domestic is specially inculcated; and in Mgr. Landriot woman will find a meeter and more dignified champion than in the prophetesses of "woman's rights." Our only regret is that such "valiant" and perfect women should be so rare among us. A few such Christian matrons would revolutionize their sex.

RUPERT AUBREY, OF AUBREY CHASE. By the Rev. Thos. Potter. Boston: Patrick Donahoe. 1873.

This a short historical tale of the latter end of the XVIIth century, and is put together from various records of known details of the Titus Oates plot. It was quite another phase of religious persecution from that prevalent a hundred years before under Queen Elizabeth, and Titus Oates, in his hypocrisy and meanness, forms a contrast to the more open though not less cruel inquisitors of Tudor days. The incidents of the story are, as facts, quite imaginary, though fashioned in accordance with probability and the known incidents of similar real vicissitudes; the style is very clear and agreeable, and the personages attractive in character, especially the old soldier and royalist, Sir Aubrey Aubrey.

The details of the martyrdom of the saintly Archbishop of Armagh,. Oliver Plunket, are beautifully woven in with the lesser but hardly less touching sorrows of the young Rupert, the hero of the tale. The end is bright and hopeful, unlike many of those solemn tragedies in days of old, but just such as is fitted to encourage the minds of our day. There is in the beginning of the book a very pleasant description of an old English village of Yorkshire, and a hint to travellers who, in frantic pursuit of distant pleasure, are whirled past such sylvan retreats on their way to fashionable places of "repose.",

A TREATISE ON THE PARTICULAR EXAMEN OF CONSCIENCE, ACCORDING TO THE METHOD OF S. IGNATIUS. By F. Luis de la Palma, S.J. With a Preface by F. George Porter, S.J. London: Burns & Oates. 1873. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)

It would be almost equal to the attempt "to gild refined gold" to speak approvingly of a work gotten up under the auspices and derived from the sources above indicated.

The Jesuits have always been accorded a practical eminence as father-confessors; and one who is familiar with the Spiritual Exercises of S. Ignatius and the History of the Sacred Passion of F. de la Palma will not doubt that he is, indeed, among the masters of the spiritual life while listening to the counsels contained in the present work.

SKETCHES OF IRISH SOLDIERS IN EVERY LAND. By Col. James E. McGee. New York: James A. McGee. 1873. The half-historic, half-conversational style in which these sketches are written makes good display of the author's undoubted powers; and this, too, in spite of some carelessness. With the exception of the unfortunate mention made of the share which Irish gentlemen took in the practice of duelling, the book is excellent reading. The subject is one invested with a sad charm for all who, by blood, or religion, or love of valor, can sympathize with a cruelly oppressed yet warlike and adventurous people. The author gives us only a small fragment of the history of Irish military exploits

some flowers," as the preface says, "culled from the immortal garlands with

which modern history has enwreathed the brow of Irish valor." Yet it suffices to produce a vivid impression of how Irishmen have done honor to their own race, and given generous and valuable service to the military enterprises of nearly every civilized nation. We hope that as good a pen and as appreciative a mind will some day give a complete history of the Irishmen who figured conspicuously in our late war. The author, indeed, dedicates his book to the memory of his countrymen "who fought and fell" in that great struggle, and refers specially to some few of them, while turning over to the future historian the task of doing them all full justice.

MEDITATIONS ON THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN. By Most Hon. Brother Philippe, Superior General of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Translated from the French. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet & Co. 1874.

This substantial volume bears the imprimatur of His Grace the Archbishop of Baltimore. And the other approba tion, by the Vicar-General of the Right Rev. Bishop of Versailles, says that the writer is officially assured that the work "will prove a new and most precious fountain from which pious souls may be abundantly supplied with the healing waters of devotion to the Mother of God." From what we have had time to see of the book, we also are convinced that it is a most solid and valuable addition to the best manuals of a devotion which can never be exhausted, but, on the contrary, is destined to increase till He who first came into the world by Mary shall in some sense come again by her.

We therefore welcome this volume very gratefully, and recommend it to our Catholic readers.

ANNOUNCEMENTS.-The Catholic Pub lication Society has in press, and will publish this fall, The Life of the Most Rev. M. 7. Spalding, D.D., Archbishop of Baltimore, by Rev. J. L. Spalding, S.T.L. It will make a large 8vo volume of over 500 pages, and will be brought out in good style. Also in press, The Life and Doctrine of S. Catharine of Genoa; The Illustrated Catholic Family Almanac for 1874; and Good Things, a compilation from. the Almanac for the last five years, making a handsomely illustrated presentation

volume.

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