Linked Lives. By Lady GERTRUDE DOUGLAS. In 3 vols.

W plete success.

Hurst & Blackett. 1876.

E heartily congratulate the author of this excellent novel on its comAs a rule, which seems hitherto to assert itself as being one without exceptions, the controversial novel has been a failure. It has attempted to mix together two very good things, and spoiled them both, so as to produce a sense of painful incompleteness in the mind. And this is more especially the case where the story has been a good one, and the characters have been drawn with distinctive interest, as in "Mrs. Gerald's Niece." The consequence, in a story of such exceeding beauty as in that instance, is, that the reader is overmuch tempted to hurry through or skip the controversy, to possess himself of the uninterrupted narrative. After all, though a great deal of religion comes into "Linked Lives," it is of an uncontroversial character, and in the two strong points dwelt upon, the necessity of one infallible Church as our guide, and the continual abidance of the corporal presence of Our Lord within it as our stay, comfort, and sustenance, the truths are set forth with a religious earnestness and certainty which are distinctly free of controversy. There are two separate currents of life linked together in this story, of which the upper is the best drawn. Mabel Forrester and her aunt, Miss Mackenzie, the Vaughans, and Hugh Fortescue, are admirably coloured; and the slighter sketches of Sir Guy Forrester and his wife, and the charming St. Laurent family, are no less distinctive, and touched with a masterly hand. Of the lower or under current, the interest centres in Katie Mackay, a Reformatory girl, whose final rescue is due to Mabel Forrester, and whose perils and temptations, though coloured (with a light brush, are evidently drawn from the life. For, in truth, the real character and tone of the dens of Glasgow and the closes of the Edinburgh Cowgate could scarcely be reproduced to the life. One of the chief merits of this novel, in fact, is, that it is perfect in its taste; and while indicating the perils of girls who are subjected to evil influences, there is no attempt to excite interest by shocking sensational realism. Very beautiful, indeed, and thoroughly true to reality, is the description of Mabel Forrester's mind, from her discipleship to "advanced" Ritualism, to her reception of the true faith. It is scarcely needful to say that under this discipleship to Mr. Vaughan, the Ritualist incumbent of Elvanlee, Mabel has already imbibed the chief doctrines of the Church, especially that of the Real Presence, which finally brings her into the Church. Her first recognition of the Blessed Sacrament was in the chapel of a convent of the Perpetual Adoration in Brittany.

"Mabel's eyes.... had fixed themselves.... upon a scroll, richly illuminated, which formed the bas-relief of the high altar, and upon which was inscribed the Latin text: 'Deliciæ meæ esse cum filiis hominum.' "Two adoring angels placed on either side of the sanctuary held up a second scroll, which rose in a high arch over the altar, above the canopy VOL. XXVII.—NO. LIII. [New Series.]

T

where the Bleseed Sacrament was exposed, and again Mabel read the words:

'Adoremus in æternum

Sanctissimum sacramentum.'

Mabel's knowledge of Latin enabling her to understand the meaning of the sentence, her eyes followed immediately, and remained motionless in one long, imploring gaze upon the Sacred Host itself, around Whom the jewelled aureole of the monstrance flashed in the sunlight. Suddenly, calmly, accompanied by a rush of indescribable love, came the yearning wish that if indeed Jesus were present to her in His Sacred Humanity, she might at any cost be made to believe it; and a flash of unanswerable conviction followed the whispering of the Divine Voice: "He is there; He must be there; and where Jesus is, are rest and peace.'

"Mabel advanced a few steps, impelled by an attraction she had never before experienced; she longed to cast herself upon her knees, but wavered, resisting as a temptation the feeling she could not account for. It proved, however, too strong for her, and after a brief hesitation, she dropped down where she stood, bowing her head low between her clasped hands.

"Crowding thickly on her memory came the recollection of bygone days of fervour, seasons known only to herself and God, hallowed moments, when a far-away voice had spoken, but in faint accents, to her soul. In the dear old Elvanlee church she had often heard it, sometimes breaking through the half-open lips of the angel figures in the quaint stone carvings; again trilling forth from the tones of the pealing organ; oftener still whispered by the glory-crowned Saints, who gazed upon her with their solemn eyes from the deep-stained windows.

"She had listened to it in the early morning; it had soothed and comforted her dreams by night; full often it had wooed and won the reverent love of her child's passionate heart, which had never failed to respond to its call. It had told her about the love, the deep human love, of a human God, making her yearn with unutterable longing for some visible or sensible manifestation of His Presence; and now, with the remembrance of those heaven-breathed whisperings in the past, there had come the low voice once more, but, oh! so much more real, so much more winning, in the sweetness of its tone. The shadows were rising, the veil was slowly withdrawn, the dream of Mabel's young life was merging into reality.... No longer as in a glass, dimly foreshadowing the uncertain future, filling the soul with insatiable cravings, but instantly illuminating with a flood of light, and hushing into profound peace mind and body alike."

At what anguish of suffering the sacrifice was finally made, and what was Mabel's end, the readers of "Linked Lives"--and they will certainly be a multitude-must learn for themselves. It is a pity, we think, to have "piled on the agony" so thick and threefold as has been done, as it is a mistake in art that everybody worth caring for in the story should be converted. For although their conversion is in the strictest logical sequence, we do not, alas! find logic so carried to conclusion in real life with High Church, or even with very holy-living Anglican, rectors. There is also some sense of over-sweetness in the religious descriptions, which speak more to the imagination than the mind, and which we should like to see amended, because in the author's future works, of which we hope to welcome many, an increase of strength on this point will immeasurably increase her power over non-Catholic readers. For our own Catholic public, we cannot but hope that that part of her beautiful story which

merely reproduces the daily and hourly dangers of life to thousands of our children, may stir up many among us to link their lives with at least a few out of these thousands, and so rescue from eternal loss a handful of souls.

Sanctuary Meditations for Priests and Frequent Communicants. Translated from the Original Spanish of Father Baltasar Gracian, of the Society of Jesus (1669), by MARIANA MONTEIRO. London: R. Washbourne, 18, Paternoster Row. 1876.

WE in

E are thankful for every effort that helps to make known the

the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The author of " "Sanctuary Meditations" was Father Baltasar Gracian, of the Society of Jesus; and we cannot give a better notion of the high esteem which his numerous works gained among his contemporaries, than by quoting an extract or two from the licenses and approbations prefixed to this volume. F. Diego Carli, S.T.P, in the University of Barcelona (1668), writes:-" Having already acknowledged and approved the three parts of the 'Criticon' (as they have been, with high eulogiums, approved by the greatest lights of Spain), I declare that it all seems to me, and is, valde bonum." And another appointed censor does not hesitate to apply to him the words of praise :

"Quo major nullus, quo non præstantior alter;
Cui nec prisca parem sæcla tulere virum."

We are not surprised that the work of a writer, who is introduced to us with such letters of commendation, should be of great worth, but we confess that the singular beauty and power of the meditations have caused unexpected pleasure. They are thoughtful applications of striking facts, miracles, and parables, recorded in Holy Scripture, to the Blessed Sacrament, and are arranged so as to suggest devout preparation for, worthy dispositions at the time of, and thanksgiving after, Holy Communion. There is a vigour and freshness in them that will interest, and at times electrify, the feeblest mind, and leave results deeply graven on memory and will. The meditation "On receiving the Blessed Sacrament as a Grain of Wheat sown in your Heart," is well worthy of being pointed out as a rare instance of the subtle power of piety to discern the mystical sense of Holy Scripture. It is a beautiful exposition, well sustained and happily applied to the subject from first to last, and with a little development would make an excellent discourse for Sexagesima Sunday.

It is evident that the work of translation has been carefully done. Besides the ordinary table of contents, there is an arrangement of the subjects according to the Sundays and Festivals of the year; a sketch of the author's life is given; a list of his works; and a summary of the approbations and licenses granted to them. But carefulness has not enabled the translator to overcome the difficulties of an unfamiliar lan

guage and attain unqualified success. There are numberless inaccuracies of the kind we expect when a writer is translating from, and not into his or her own language; and it is a matter of regret that some English scholar had not revised the pages before publication, for many of the errors could have been removed by a stroke of the pen. "I propose," the translator writes, "confining myself to such writers whose works have been hitherto unknown." "So soon as she was made sensible that in her purest womb was enclosed her Son-God, than her soul," &c. ; and in the same way passim. In many places we suspect the vigour, and even the sense, of the original has vanished, on account of some peculiarity of language being lost or obscured in the translation. There is one meditation especially ("The Flight into Egypt," p. 177), which, although very good in its substance, will be more fruitful in surprise than profit. We read :—“ How little profit did the gipsies derive during all that time?" "Reflect, how many there are who receive the Lord in this manner-as a gipsy and even more coldly"; and another passage that certainly exacts attention before the allusion to the Egyptians as theophagi is apprehended,-"Do not receive the Lord in the fashion of Egypt, though you might well receive Him after the fashion of a gipsy,-eating your God, and having for a God," &c. Our English word gipsy has not retained its radical meaning sufficiently to bear the application that is given to the Spanish equivalent.

It is only fair to the translator, who has given us so much that is good in substance, that we should mark the blemishes, and prevent their recurrence in the future translations of which she gives us a promise.

PRONOUNCEMENT ON ROSMINI'S WORKS.

[Our readers will remember a letter addressed to us by F. Lockhart in our number for last October. In connection with the subject of that letter, he has forwarded to us the following for publication. All Catholic students of philosophy will at once recognize the authority and great significance of such a letter, from such an official as the Master of the Sacred Palace.]

The following weighty communication has appeared in the Osservatore
Romano of June 20, 1876: