chapter on the Elizabethan sonneteers, perhaps prejudiced by the especial love we personally have always had for the pure and stainless cycle of love-songs that preceded the sudden development of the powerful and gross dramatic literature. Constable, especially, who was confined to the Tower as a Catholic, on suspicion of treason, and who wrote there those "Sonnets to our Blessed Lady" that are among the most exquisite religious poems in the language, is particularly well analysed here. We cannot close, although space fails us, without drawing attention to the extraordinary vitality of the ninety pages which Mr. Minto devotes to Shakespeare. Perhaps it is not too much to say that these contain the most valuable part of his volume. For, in .proportion to the extreme difficulty of saying anything new, and yet true, about the greatest of poets, so is the preciousness extreme of any really new light thrown on his character and work. And it seems to us that Mr. Minto has succeeded, by dint, it would appear, of direct common sense and resistance to traditional authority, in presenting the individuality of Shakespeare in a fuller and clearer way than it has ever hitherto been presented. In his views of the separate plays, we do not always concur; yet sometimes, as, notably, in his analysis of Hamlet, he seems to us to come nearer to the truth than any previous critic, nearer than Taine or Hazlitt, nearer even than Goethe. The great dramatists that followed Shakespeare are treated a little too hurriedly, as though the author, like the compilers of encyclopædias, found he had lingered too long over letters A and B. But they are not too hastily passed over to prevent us from cordially commending the volume as a most interesting and suggestive addition to critical literature. Islam and Christianity. By J. M. ARNOLD, D.D. Longman. 1874. D R. ARNOLD, in the third edition of his " Bible and Koran," under a new title" Islam and Christianity," has given us a fresh viewfounded on the researches of Weil in his "Mohammed der Prophet "– that the first Moslems were not apostate Christians and Jews, but Arabs. Dr. Arnold further says, that Mahommed was possessed with an evil spirit, and that the spasmodic convulsions of epilepsy, to which he was subject, were really the convulsions of a demoniac; and that the "assumption (p. 71) of satanic influence can alone solve the mystery which envelops the origin of this fearful' delusion.' Even supposing that no evidence existed of Mohammed's having been afflicted with a malady which was invariably ascribed to the powers of darkness, could we consider it possible that so comprehensive and lasting an apostasy as that of Islam should have obtained such a fearful dominion over nations, some of them polished and civilized, without the direct and immediate co-operation of the prince of darkness?" And that (p. 70)— "Mohammed commenced his career with honest intentions. Though Satan contrived to delude him, it still remains to be proved that he was from the beginning a desperately wicked impostor. A man may be in error, and yet be sincere; those who killed prophets and apostles thought that they were doing God service: nor can we ascribe want of sincerity to Saul the Pharisee, when raging against the Church and destroying her members." And that it was not till after the first drop of blood had been shed in his name by Abdalla during the sacred months that Mohammed entered on the path of gross deception and wilful imposture. Dr. Arnold, in his examination of the doctrines of the Koran per se, concludes that the "Total negation (p. 94) of the holiness of God may be considered the fundamental lie of Islam, which marks its teaching as directly opposed to reason and revelation, and as false from beginning to end." Dr. Arnold enters fully into the question as to what Mohammed bor rowed from Judaism, both from the Old Testament and the Talmud; at the same time, he acknowledges that Mohammed shows his complete ignorance of Jewish history, as (p. 125)— "He appropriates none of the historical way-marks which determine the great epochs recorded in the Old Testament, but confines himself to certain occurrences in the lives of single individuals." So also, with regard to what he borrowed from Christianity, Mohammed may be said to have been better versed in the traditions of the Christians than in the New Testament, and probably was instructed in them by his convert Waraka, an apostate religious and a relative of Khadija. Dr. Arnold refers to the statement of Dr. Kotschy, who says that "The entire Moslem community expect a speedy dissolution of the Turkish empire, and this upon the ground of ancient traditions. On a Sunday it will happen that the Christians will receive back all that was taken from them by the Moslems. Not only European Turkey, but the whole of Asia Minor and Syria, with the exception of Damascus, will be restored to the Christians, and Arabia alone will constitute their inheritance. During the appearance of the last comet, addresses were delivered in the mosques at Constantinople till late at midnight, in which the approaching destruction of Islam and of the Turkish empire formed the chief subject." Hence it is clear that the sick man is expecting his demise, and it is to be hoped that the Church will carry on the work of S. Raymond, O.S.F., to whom Oxford is indebted for its Arabic professorship; and, although Victor Emmanuel has suppressed the convent of S. Bartholomew à l'Isola, founded for the Syriac and Egyptian missions, still the elasticity of the Church of God is such that missioners will be ready when the hour of the fall of the Moslem apostasy has tolled; and hundreds of the followers of the apostate Mohammed will seek shelter in the One Living and True Church of God. Meditations on the Life and Doctrine of Jesus Christ. By F. NICHOLAS AVANCINUS, S. J.; with a Preface on Meditation by Rev. G. PORTER, S. J. Two vols. London: Burns & Oates. WE 1874-5. E have to thank F. Porter for giving us an English translation of these Meditations, "de Vita et Doctrina Jesu Christi,” of Father Avancinus, which have long been known to us; and there is no volume of Meditations better adapted for every Christian than these now lying before us. "Meditation," Father Porter says, p. 12, "is a colluctatio cum Deo.” In prayer the soul contends with God, as Jacob did with the Angel in his mysterious sleep. It is, moreover, a colluctatio cum diabolo, a wrestling with the devil, who commonly makes the morning meditation the battle of the day. It is a colluctatio cum carne, a struggle with the flesh, with drowsiness, with a slothful heart, with love of ease, love of honour, love of the world, with a wearied head. In meditation more than in any other exercise is verified that axiom of S. Ignatius,—" Let every one reflect that he will advance in all spiritual things in proportion as he divests himself of self-love, of attachment to his own will, and of self-seeking." In these Meditations "the chief points in the 'Life and Doctrine of our Divine Lord,' taken from the four Evangelists, have been arranged so as to occupy the whole year. During Advent the Mysteries of the Incarnation are contemplated; between Christmas and Septuagesima, the Holy Childhood and Hidden Life at Nazareth ; during Lent, the circumstances of the Passion; after Easter, the particulars of the Resurrection; and after Trinity, the Miracles and the Parables"; thus developing, throughout the year, suitable subjects for each day's Meditation. S. Bernard and his Work. By the Rev. P. CAUSETTE, V.G. Translated from the French by the Right Rev. Abbot BURDER, O. Cist. London: Richardson & Son. 1874. A BBOT BURDER has done a good work in giving us this translation of Father Causette's admirable appeal for the Cistercian Monastery of Notre Dame du Désert, near Toulouse. This discourse is a panegyric of S. Bernard and his work. He says of this glorious saint,-whose arrival at Citeaux cheered the heart of our S. Stephen Harding, when he saw S. Bernard and his companions seeking the frightful desert of Citeaux, which he was to change into a garden,-that "he was no sooner in the desert than he frequently asked himself: Why art thou come here?'— and he incarnates the reform in his own life; he personifies it before he preaches it"-that "his reform extended to persons living in the world, and he is not repulsed." "He offered his reform also to the priesthood, and it was accepted. He turns to the prelates, exclaiming: Your horses have trappings of precious stones, whilst we go barefooted. Tell me, Pontiffs, why do you use gold, I do not say in your sacred vessels, but in your saddle and harness?' And at these intrepid words the Archbishop of Sens, the Bishop of Paris, Suger, the Abbot of S. Denis, change their mode of life. And in vain does the truth, like a painful glare, call forth murmurs against this indomitable censor; the bishops humbly acknowledge him to be their judge, who often refused to be their equal; and the priesthood is regenerated." "Bernard presents his reform to kings, and they listen to him. Henry, the son of the King of France, seeks an asylum at Clairvaux, and he is employed in the kitchen. Amadeus, a relative of the German Emperor, becomes a monk under his direction. Peter, the son of the King of Portugal, receives the Cistercian tonsure in exchange for the crown; Gumard, King of Sardinia, considering Heaven more beautiful than his own island, made the vow of obedience to the family of S. Bernard, preferring it to the splendour of a throne. After this, it is not surprising to find that Louis VI. and Louis VII. of France, Lothair and Conrad of Germany, in a word, all the ministers and potentates of the period, have been numbered among those who were under the influence of our saint. At that time the arbiter of worldly events dwelt in the wilderness (and judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, Is. xxxii. 16), and that power, irresistible by his miracles, when his words were silent, was to have monarchs themselves for his subjects." In February, 1145, Bernard of Pisa, a religious, and a disciple of this intrepid and true reformer, was raised to the Pontifical throne as Pope Eugenius III. He was a timid and simple monk (p. 17), "whose function at Clairvaux was to look after the stove, and to light the fire for the monks, who were benumbed with cold after matins." On hearing this news, S. Bernard exclaimed, “Behold Bernard is named Eugenius, and my son has become my father." He wrote, for the direction of this son who was to govern the world, his works on "Consideration," which he offered him on his knees; he besought him to banish all display as the successor of Constantine, and only to appear as the successor of S. Peter, and for eight years all the great inspirations that emanated from the Holy See for the guidance of the Catholic Church, had issued from the desert of Clairvaux, and from the great soul of S. Bernard. How well may the words of Father Causette be applied to the Church at the present day! A crisis, an agony is now pending, she is now on the Mount; and we, her children, are apt to forget that, like Jesus in the tomb, "she possesses within herself the power to rise again, when it shall please Him. And you, who are so discouraged at seeing her abandoned by ministries and by kings, should remember that a new Bernard will do more to repair our losses than all the ministries and kings in the world; for spiritual increase is not according to natural laws; and, whilst ordinary paternity is regulated by invariable periods and proportions, the paternity of a saint, united with the inexhaustible maternity of the Church, may bring forth, by one single life of Christian heroism, entire centuries of Christian marvels." We quote no more, but refer our readers to this admirable little brochure. Regina Sæculorum; or, Mary venerated in all ages. Devotions to the Blessed Virgin, from ancient sources. Partly translated from the French of M. LEON GAUTIER. By E. A. M. London: Washbourne. 1875. WE hail this little of M. Leon Gautier, " Prières à la Vierge, d'après E hail this little manual, partly translated from the valuable and les MSS. du Moyen Age," &c., as a new "Mois de Marie" for this present year of grace. Here the clients of our dear Lady will find all they require for devotion; and here, those who taunt us with Mariolatry will see that the devotion of the living Church of God has ever been the same to the Virgin Mother of God, the pure and immaculate Virgin of Judah; that although but twenty years have elapsed since the glorious Father of Christians proclaimed her Immaculate Conception as de fide, still it was usual in the fourth century (p. x.) for "the Bishop in going to and from the church, &c., to be preceded by a deacon, who from time to time cried aloud to the people, Be mindful of the Most Holy and Immaculate Mother of God." The Doctors of the Church, S. Denys of Alexandria and S. Athanasius, did not wait for the Council of Ephesus to give her the title of OɛOTOKоs, but anticipated it in their writings. The Feast of her Immaculate Conception was observed in England as early as the eleventh century, under S. Anselm, and even at an earlier date in Spain; but it was left for Pius IX., in 1854, to pronounce infallibly of Our Lady, "Macula originalis non est in te." We have in this little volume "Daily and Occasional Prayers," "Prayers taken from Primitive Liturgies," from the early and medieval Fathers of the Church, and from the Saints of the Middle Ages; and in conclusion, "Four Early English Hymns to the Blessed Virgin," selected for the "Month," from the "Old English Miscellany," published in 1872. London: Jesus Christ the Model of the Priest. Translated from the Italian of THI HIS useful little work, being a second edition of the translation of "Jesus Christ the Model of the Priest," may be already well known and appreciated by our readers, but for the information of those who are not yet acquainted with its contents, we may say, that in its original language it was recommended by the Provincial Council of Urbino, 1559, to the clergy of the province of Urbino; and that in 1558, the Archbishop of Orvieto presented each priest in his diocese with a copy. It is divided into three chapters; viz.-1st. Of the interior life of the priest, according to Christ. 2nd. Of the virtues of the priest, according to Christ. 3rd. Of |