La Rochelle, N.Y. New York: P. J. Kenedy and Sons. (Price 25 cents.)

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Although Sir Aubrey de Vere's fame as a poet is quite overshadowed by that of his illustrious but untitled son, he was undoubtedly a poet of real distinction. His drama, Mary Tudor," was pronounced by a very competent critic, Judge O'Hagan, to be "certainly a great dramatic poem and of a very high order of merit," and to be superior in essential respects to Tennyson's drama on the same theme. The adapters have taken the first part of the play; and wisely, for it is the more dramatically effective; it possesses a unity of interest and closes with a climax.

The eighteen characters include the principal historical personages of the period. Act i. opens with the death of Edward VI., who has signed the document appointing Lady Jane Grey his successor. In the last scene of Act iv. Queen Mary expresses in vivid language her remorse for signing the death-warrant of the unfortunate Nine-day's Queen,' who was more sinned against than sinning. The scenes lend themselves to most effective staging, and the play is well suited for school or private dramatic performances, and ought to be eagerly welcomed by those who are interested in such. Louis XI. From the Original of Casimir Delavigne, by W. R. Markwell. New York: P. J. Kenedy and Sons.

(Price 25 cents.)

This play of the distinguished French writer is well known in England, where many actors, including the late Sir Henry Irving, have won distinction in the title rôle. The action centres round the efforts of the Duke of Nemours to avenge the murder of his father, which had taken place through the King's instigation. At length the King falls into the power of his enemy; but the Duke, whose first intention had been to kill Louis, now decides to spare him, for he sees a better vengeance than death in a life which must be dragged on in misery, in broken health, and in the tortures of remorse. Nemours then endeavours to escape from the palace, but is captured and imprisoned. In the last act, Louis, whose mind has been impaired by the shock of certain revelations made to him by Nemours, first orders the instant execution of the Duke, but, finding himself face to face with death, the

fear of which has terrorised him throughout his wicked life, he yields to an old priest's entreaties to spare his enemy. Nemours, thus reprieved, comes in to witness the last moments of the King-moments made terrible by the recollection of so many crimes. The play, which is full of dramatic situations and of plain forcible dialogue, makes a good acting play. The part of the Duke, full of energy and resolve up to the fourth act, comes to a rather tame and disappointing conclusion, but the part of Louis sustains its interest to the end. The play is here adapted for performance by male characters only; there are fourteen parts in all, excluding the requisite accompaniment of pages, knights, peasants, etc. The action is worked out in five scenes, some of which should be very effective.

5. The Mystery of the Faith. By Kenelm Digby West, Priest of the Oratory. London: R. and T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 2s. net.)

This little book on the Blessed Eucharist is the outcome of a long life of study and teaching of the great Mystery of Christianity. Many others besides those friends who urged him to publish the book will find profit from its perusal. The work is divided into four parts. I. The Holy Eucharist in the Scriptures, in which the promises of the Old Testament and their fulfilment in the New are explained. II. The Holy Eucharist in the Church, in which we are given an explanation of the place the great Sacrament holds in Catholic worship the Real Presence, the Mass, Holy Communion, Benediction, and Visits to the Blessed Sacrament. III. Some thoughts for each day during the Octave of Corpus Christi, which form short meditations on the Blessed Sacrament. IV. Eucharistic Aspirations and Meditations on Psalm xli. Then comes L'envoy, consisting of devotional verses addressed to Our Lord, His Blessed Mother, and St. Joseph. This part will be read with particular pleasure by lovers of Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist. The work is well produced and bears the imprimatur of the Westminster Diocese.

6. Within the Soul. By the Rev. Michael F. Watson, S.J. Fourth Edition. London: R. and T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 2s. 6d. net.)

Those of our readers who are familiar with the Australian

Messenger will be prejudiced in favour of any work coming from the pen of Father Watson, S.J., who has so long and successfully conducted that periodical. Nor will they be disappointed in his latest volume. This "Book of Little Essays," to give it the author's modest title, treats simply and in the most helpful manner of many of the doubts and difficulties which daily assail us, and of the varied phases of life" within the soul." The spirit pervading them is above all one of courage and hopefulness, as will be seen from such essays as those on "Life and Happiness," "Glad Service," "While there is Life there is Hope," "Motto: Grip Fast," "Courage," and "Serenity of Character,' "For God's sake and that of your fellow-men, learn to smile," is a rule laid down by Father Watson. The essays are full of ripe thoughts, expressed with the lightness and literary finish that show the well practised hand of their author. The book was first published in Australia, where it has become a great favourite, and has already gone through three editions.

7. The Shield of Silence. M. E. Henry-Ruffin. New York: Benziger Brothers. (Price 5s. 6d.)

The scene of the story is laid partly in the United States and partly in the North of Spain. In the latter picturesque country Mrs. Ruffin finds the setting for some vivid pictures of life among the Basques; and the political conditions in Spain, the Barcelona riots, and the influences that lead up to them, furnish stirring chapters. The chief interest of the story lies in the fact that the knowledge of a crime had been entrusted to a priest under the seal of secrecy: the chief moral pointed is that every crime brings its own punishment, and that the prick of conscience and the memories that will not be effaced punish as no human justice can punish. A very readable story.

8. The Meaning of Life and other Essays, by Rev. A. Goodier, S.J. London: R. and T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 1s. net.)

The twenty-two essays on spiritual subjects which this neat litte book contains are treated in a manner that should appeal to educated Catholics; for it is at once simple, logical, and clear. They are neither lofty learned treatises, nor ecstatic devotional effusions; they are full of clear, convincing com

VOL. XLIII.-No. 499.

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monsense, and of simple helps to prayer and piety and to a realization of the great truths. Perhaps the most beautiful essay is that on the character of Christ. Our Lord is described

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as a young man, tall and lithe in appearance.

... He

is seated on a stone by the roadside, and is talking quietly. In his eyes there is a strange glitter, a mixture as of joy and pain, of laughter and tears, of hope and disappointment. . . And over all is a cloak of enduring gentleness, gentleness in the eyes, gentleness over all the face, gentleness in the movement of His hands, which are resting on the heads of little children that have crept close to Him, gentleness. . . . . . in the order of His thoughts, in the tone of His voice, in the deliberation of His actions-this is the one leading feature of the picture." Some other titles, taken at random, are: Spiritual Life and Worldliness, Sanctity and Temptation, Innocence, Death and Life, Holy Communionan excellent and very helpful chapter giving useful suggestions for the moments before, during, and after receiving Holy Communion. There are only 142 pages in the book, so that the essays are all short, but the thought in each is complete and well worked out in a few pages.

9. The Story of St. Martin of Tours, by Louise M. Stacpoole-Kenny. Dublin: James Duffy and Co. (Price 2s.) Mrs. Stacpoole-Kenny has done well in choosing St. Martin as the subject for her new book. She does not profess to deal with his life after the manner of scientific historians, and St. Martin is a saint whose character is better revealed to us in the legends that have grown round his name than in the descriptions of scientific history. This book gives the legends all the opportunity they could desire, and few readers will be sorry that it does so. St. Martin was for a time the master of St. Patrick. This fact is, of course, duly noted, and something is said of it, but we feel that more could have been made of a portion of his life so interesting for Irish readers. A more detailed description of the life at St. Martin's Monastery might have helped us to realise something more of the training which Patrick received there. The book makes on the whole easy and agrecable reading, filled as it is with pleasant stories about a very attractive and human

10. We have no hesitation in recommending a new edition of the Bible which has been issued by Messrs. Washbourne. It may be had printed either on opaque Bible paper at prices from 3s. 6d. to 12s. 6d. or on Oxford-India paper (giving a volume half an inch thinner) at from 7s. 6d. to 21s. We can testify that in the latter form it is of a convenient size and light to the hand, and that type and paper are excellent; though numbering close on two thousand pages, it is little more than an inch thick. The Right Rev. Abbot Bergh, O.S.B., has acted as editor. Notes, indices, tables, maps, and references are provided, as well as Pope Leo XIII.'s Encyclical on the Study of the Holy Scriptures. Had this edition appeared just a little later, it would probably have included the striking letter (dated October, 1914) addressed by our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict XV., to Cardinal Cassetta as President of the Society of St. Jerome for the Spread of the Gospel, in which he earnestly urges on the faithful the daily reading of the sacred books. He says: "There can be no doubt, therefore, that they are performing a work highly useful in forming souls to Christian perfection who, as you are doing, devote themselves to spreading the knowledge of the holy Gospels, and for this reason We congratulate you all, and you especially, venerable brother, not only on a work admirable and most pleasing to Us, but also on the zeal with which for years, as We have ourselves seen, you have exerted yourself in bringing out the sacred books in fresh editions and improved form. We earnestly desire and urge that you not only secure this fruit from your activity and energy, namely, a very wide circulation of the books of the Gospels, but also that you attain one of Our principal aims by causing the sacred books to be introduced into Christian families and to be there treated like the groat in the Gospel which all diligently seek and jealously guard, so that all the faithful may accustom themselves to reading and studying them daily and may thus fittingly learn to walk worthily, pleasing God in all things."