A Memoir of the Honourable and Most Reverend Power le Poer Trench, last Archbishop of Tuam. By the REV. JOSEPHI D'ARCY SIRR, D.D., Vicar of Yoxford, &c. London: Longmans. 1845.

In this prolific age, when books drop from the press, " thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks in Vallombrosa," it seems hard to deny any one, especially an archbishop, the tribute of a memoir; and if it had been a duodecimo of eighty pages, no one would object to it, or think of enquiring whether the subject of it had any peculiar claims to public attention: the affection of friends and relatives would be sufficient apology for a brief memorial-for such history of a private individual as does not appear to make unusual demands on the public. But when "a memoir" appears in a goodly octavo of eight hundred pages, we expect something unusual in the life which requires so lengthy a memoir, and the public has a right to demand a sufficient reason for occupying so much of its time and attention. It really is necessary to enter some protest on behalf of the public, and some remonstrance in the name of those who, like ourselves, are in duty bound to read all these publications; since it appears from the preface, that we have had a hairbreadth escape from another volume on the present occasion, a deliverance for which we tender our hearty thanks to the booksellers.

"The manuscript, as originally sent to the press, has undergone a considerable abridgment, at the entreaty of the publishers, whose desire for the circulation of the work has outweighed the author's affection for the produce of his pen, and his anxiety to instruct the reader in all the particulars with which he is himself acquainted. The reader has been thus spared another volume!!!"

Moreover, in the putting out of this volume, the author has not shown sufficient respect to the public; but tossed it carelessly down, as if the crudest productions of his pen were quite good enough.

"If an apology be due for unavoidable delay in publication, a still larger apology is demanded for the many defects of the work itself, as a literary performance. Had the writer done justice to his subject, to the public, or to himself, he is free to acknowledge that he would have bestowed more pains on the composition. Neither his temper nor his leisure allowed him to revise his original copy-written in the midst of much distraction-as fresh material reached him, and which he has never yet read as a whole. For the very abridgment that has taken place, and which he in some respects deplores, he has been indebted to the kindness of an affectionate friend, whose judgment he preferred to his own."-Preface.

If these lines should ever meet the eye of the author, we beg

to assure him that, as far as our judgment and experience goes, there is no overwhelming necessity that he should write for publication; and we add, on the authority of Horace, and every one since his time who has written on the art of composition, or thought on what others have written, that the man who has not "temper," nor "leisure," "to revise his original copy," ought not to write for the public. Their temper will be still more tried, in having their leisure abused and wasted, in reading the first crude thoughts of any man-especially when they have to pay for it.

Nor does it appear that there was any paramount necessity 'for writing the life of Archbishop Trench at all, even if it had been written with proper care and with sufficient revision. The archbishop was, no doubt, a very good man, amiable in private life, correct in the discharge of his ecclesiastical duties; but he was no more he was not a man of mark-he has left no impress behind him beyond the private circle, or the sphere of his diocese: he was not pre-eminent as a scholar or a churchmanhe was not one of those who are spoken of as belonging "tout entiér a l'histoire."

The subject of this memoir was the third son of the Earl of Clancarty, and born 1770. "Of his early days very scanty recollections have been preserved." His education commenced at Wandsworth, then Putney, Harrow, and a "provincial school in Mayo." One of his schoolfellows says-"we were neither of us, at this early period of our lives, very diligent." He entered the University of Dublin as a pensioner, 1787.

"He does not appear to have applied himself with any remarkable diligence to the prosecution of his collegiate studies. He was at this period more addicted to country amusements, and to social intercourse, than to the acquisition of solid learning".. "His academic course held

out therefore no great promise of subsequent distinction; nor is the memoir I have undertaken to write to be embellished by the trophies achieved by a great literary and scientific genius; but it will be my province to trace trophies of a far higher order-to relate the history and describe the character of a man of God, whose exalted philanthrophy has been rarely equalled, and whose Christian virtues have never been surpassed."

No one doubts the superiority of moral worth: every one holds that the happiness of individuals and the welfare of society depend more on virtue than on talent. But just because this is the case, and because men in general find out what conduces to their happiness, therefore the majority of mankind act accordingly; and such virtues, being common, cease to be of public interest, and are not what we expect in a volume making such pretensions as this does. We know not what may be the case

in Ireland, but we hope the case is the same there as amongst ourselves; and sure we are, that in England the great majority of educated persons would not imagine themselves to be heroes, and worthy of public applause, for fulfilling their duties as men and as Christians according to the precepts of the Gospel; nay, we verily believe that nine-tenths of the parish clerks, to whom Swift refers in his celebrated memoir, would furnish similar records.

And when, in the conclusion of the volume, the author sums up the character of the archbishop, there is nothing very specific or peculiar, nothing beyond what others, placed in similar situations, have shown; not so much those kind of excellences which call for eulogium on the possessors thereof, as those which would bring condemnation on any that wanted them. The archbishop was what the age was-not a-head of the age. When the Church was torpid, he was as quiet as his brethren; and only when all around him were bestirring themselves did he do the same; rather roused by them than giving them energy, and doing in his place that which hundreds around him were doing each in their several places.

"The Church had slumbered long, and he had shared her slumbers." (p. 765). "Her dormant energies were gradually called into wholesome and active exercise. She awoke as a giant refreshed with wine.

Faithful witnesses for God appeared in all parts of Ireland ......Associations started into existence; the press teemed with religious tracts and pamphlets......College lectures were instituted-Scripture schools appeared in every direction. The clerical body was enlarged by the multiplication of curates-lay agency was resorted to; and home missions were organized. It was in this great religious movement that Archbishop Trench was ordained to take a great and prominent lead, and never was any man, by nature or by grace, better adapted for the post he filled." (p. 767).

All which put into plain language only means that he did not abandon the Church-did not leave her to fight alone, and that he did not misbecome his station as an arclibishop: but acted in his high place as any other man of right feeling would have acted under similar circumstances.

But though we are thus obliged to speak of this work as uncalled for in this ostentatious form, and as being also indifferently and carelessly executed-that is neither judicious, nor sufficiently elaborated-we are not backward in acknowledging that the archbishop possessed amiable and excellent qualities, and in his high station manifested very becoming diligence, and conscientiousness and humility. It seems that his duties were often multifarious and arduous; but, by method and diligence, he prevented his business from getting confused or into arrear. And all the appointments in his gift seem to have been con

scientiously bestowed-not from interest, not through solicitation or favour-but upon the most deserving, whose qualifications and piety he took all possible pains to ascertain. Many instances of his liberality, both personal and official, are recorded; in attending to the wants and rewarding the services of those employed by him, and in consideration of the circumstances of those who required leases or renewals of Church property. And yet he is reported to have been very rich. He was thought to be proud, but Dr. Sirr assures us that he was not so; and gives many anecdotes, which are amusing, to prove his humility, with one of which we conclude::

Soon after Dr. Trench's consecration (Waterford), he accompanied his father one Sunday to the Magdalen Asylum, in Leeson-street, Dublin, where his person being unknown, but his dress indicating his ministerial character, the sexton approached him respectfully, and requested that he would, in compliance with the general rule observed there when any strange clergyman was present, give his assistance to the chaplain. He instantly complied with the request, read the service of the day, and, after the sermon was concluded, he was told by the unceremonious clergyman that his duties were not yet over, and that he expected him to administer the Lord's Supper to the congregation. In fact (said his grace), the humblest curate in Dublin could not have more of the burden of the day laid upon him. However I did every thing he desired, and after service followed him into the vestry and disrobed, whilst he scarcely condescended to notice me. When I made my bow to depart, he said: Sir, I am greatly obliged-may I ask to whom I am indebted? The Bishop of Waterford, said I; and I shall never forget the poor man's countenance: he seemed thunder-struck, and I was glad to escape from the apologies he forced upon me." (p. 24).

Examination of a Tract entitled "Brief Observations on the Political and Religious Sentiments of the late Rev. Dr. Arnold," &c. By the Hon. and Rev. ANDREW GODFREY STUART, Rector of Cottesmore. London: Hatchard and Son.

THE friends of Dr. Arnold may justly be gratified by the attempt of one who is an entire stranger to them, to prove the injustice of the heavy charges brought against his principles by the Record newspaper, and subsequently published in a separate form. We recommend all those whose opinions of this eminently good man have been biassed, by the judgment of his harsh and slashing reviewer, to peruse Mr. Stuart's sensible reply. We have not the slightest idea that the fair fame of Dr. Arnold can be permanently injured from any such quarter; but as it is probable that some might be dissuaded from reading even the sermons of one so branded, we feel sure that Mr. Stuart has come forward in the cause of religion itself.

Henri de Clermont; or, the Royalists of La Vendee. A Tale of the French Revolution. By the Rev. W. GRESLEY, M.A. Rugeley: Walters. 1844.

THIS is a short tale, written in the clear and manly English style, by which Mr. Gresley's writings are so distinguished. Mr. Gresley's rare merit is, that while his language is so plain that youthful and simple readers may understand it, there is ever pervading his compositions a depth of thought which renders the plainest of them acceptable to readers of maturer age and more cultivated taste. We need not analyze the incidents of a tale laid at a well known period; but we will extract one or two specimens of the practical application of the past to the present, which Mr. Gresley so happily makes. The speakers are the Cure Seigneur of a village in La Vendee, in the winter of 1788;

So (said he) then it seems the king has summoned the Statesgeneral. Much good may they do him.'

"I thought it would come to this (said St. Pierre, earnestly), and only pray to God their meeting be not too late.'

"You speak solemnly, grave sir (said the Count). I am no politician. All I wish is that people would let well alone; we go on very satisfactorily as we are.'

"It is sometimes necessary, in fair weather (answered the curé), to prepare for foul. I wish I could think that the country was going on well. Know you not that the income of the country has been for some years unequal to the expenditure; that every attempt to equalize it has proved ineffectual. The people are taxed to the uttermost, and the nobles claim their privileged exemption, and refuse to contribute to the national revenue.'

"Ha! Monsieur le Curé, I fear you are beginning to be tinged with these new opinions they talk so much about."'

God forbid (said St. Pierre, fervently). Not the least part of my anxiety arises from the prevalence of these new opinions, partly imported from America, by our unjust interference in the war with England; and partly generated on our own soil, by the pestilent doctrines of Voltaire and Rousseau. These, I am sorry to say, have spread themselves over our towns, and even provinces, teaching men dissaffection to the Church, and disloyalty to the king. It is time that the privileged and influential classes set themselves in earnest to restore a healthier feeling, and gave the example of retrenching something of their luxury, and paid more attention to the moral state of the people. I would there were in the other provinces of France the same spirit of loyalty and religion which characterizes our simple peasants here; and that the nobles and gentry looked to the welfare of their people and dependents, as they do in this province. But alas! I fear a very different spirit prevails throughout France; and we may be assured that the curse of a demoralized population will one day fall with dreadful severity on those who have neglected to guide and instruct

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