Such a man was Count Moore, whose biography now lies before us. In the preface to the book Archbishop Healy, of Tuam, thus speaks of him:

"In the following pages the reader will find a most interesting and readable record of a noble and strenuous life. Count Arthur Moore was no ordinary man. The main purpose of his life was in all things to seek first the kingdom of God; it inspired all his efforts; it ennobled all his thoughts. Such men are plentifully found in religious brotherhoods, giving their whole lives to the service of God, but they are rarely met with in the world. There the pursuit of wealth, or pleasure, or power, or fame is all engrossing. Their votaries find it often impossible to raise their thoughts to the higher sphere of supernatural life. They live entirely for this world, forgetful of the enduring world beyond the grave, which they seek to ignore as far as possible. Not so Arthur Moore. He lived in the world an earnest laborious life, mixing with men in the Senate, on the platform, in the market place, always seeking the betterment of his tenants, his neighbors, his countrymen, careless of calumnies, heedless of dangers, patient of labor, persistent of purpose. There was no great question touching the spiritual or temporal well-being of his countrymen in which he did not take a keen interest and with helpful energy seek to bring about a better state of things. In all this he never thought of self, but rather spent himself-his time, his thought, his money-for God's glory and the welfare of his fellow men."

After reading these words and the passage which we are about to quote from the introduction, we think that it will be generally admitted that such a light should be made to shine before men that they may imitate it and glorify their Father who is in heaven:

"The pages have been written to illustrate the character and perpetuate the memory of a good man, not to chronicle the vicissitudes of a political career. Count Moore was not what we call a man of the world and did not look on life as a pleasant dream, but ever took for his motto the war-cry of the Crusaders, 'God wills it.' Throwing himself entirely into all social and political movements of his time, his mind was full of high ideals, and he never discussed any question without having regard first to its moral aspect. He fought for the regeneration of his country, and believed that the welfare of mankind does not so much depend on the State or on political progress as on belief in God and in the Gospel of Christianity. He, therefore, devoted himself heart and soul to all causes throughout the Christian world which were bound up with the religious prosperity of the people, and his whole life was a witness to the truth and beauty of religion."

ST. JOHN AND THE CLOSE OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE. By the Abbe Constant Fouard, member of the Biblical Commission. Authorized translation. 12mo., pp. 250. Longmans, Green & Co., 91 and 93 Fifth avenue, New York. London and Bombay.

The readers of "The Christ the Son of God" and "The Beginnings of the Church" will look upon this last work from his learned pen with more than usual interest when they are informed that he died on the eve of its appearance. They will first be glad that he was able to accomplish so much for Christ and His Church, and then sad that he was not spared to do more. We hear his voice as from the grave thus explaining his last work:

"Up to this stage in the series on 'The Beginning of the Church' I have confined myself to the purely historical narrative, not dwelling on controverted points. As was said in the first lines of 'The Christ the Son of God,' 'my only wish is to make the Saviour better known and loved.' With this end in view the several studies of the Apostolic Missions followed in natural sequence. The work now before us, born of the same spirit, is intended to furnish the reader with a picture of religious conditions toward the close of the first century, at the period when the Fourth Gospel was composed by Saint John, who had outlived all his brethren in the Apostolate and had attained a very advanced age. Men had even come to believe that death would spare that hallowed head, basing this opinion on a single saying of Jesus which seemed to imply that the dearly beloved disciple was to await the Master's coming here on earth. With charming candor the holy patriarch protested, "The Lord did not say this; what He did say has no such meaning.' He was greatly exercised lest any one be misled; but who could doubt his word, since he alone was left of 'those who had seen Jesus?'

"This divine memory rested like an aureole over his snow locks and invested his person not merely with a venerableness well-nigh universally acknowledged, but with an authority unquestioned in the Church. Accordingly his name, as formerly the names of the great Apostles Peter and Paul, would seem appropriate to represent the period wherein his closing years were spent, a period over which by his deeds as well as by his writings, he exercised so profound an influence. Of the life of Saint John all we shall see is his great work, or rather it is in this work that we shall study the man himself, for therein he has depicted his whole character, at once ardent and tender-hearted; like the eagle, fitted to soar to the loftiest peaks, whence with undazzled gaze his eyes could contemplate the blinding glare of the heavens; anon, descending from those heights, he wearies his disciples with his ceaseless exhortations to love one another. Though like a veritable 'son of the thunderbolt,' he does at times fulminate against the unfaithful Bishops, yet how much oftener is he inspired

by the love with whose perfume his heart was penetrated as he leaned upon the breast of Jesus!"

THE UNSEEN WORLD. An Exposition of Catholic Theology in its Relation to Modern Spiritism. By Rev. Fr. Alexius M. Lepicier, O. S. M., S. Th. M., professor of divinity in the College of Propaganda, Rome; consultor of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, of the Bible Commission, etc. 12mo., pp. 284. Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago.

There is need of a book like this on a subject so generally interesting and yet so little known. It is a subject which is very old because it dates back indefinitely and appeals to all nations, and yet always new, because its interest rather increases than decreases, and because it is constantly presenting new phases.

It calls attention to the universality of the practice and its continued interest in the following passage:

"The attempt to hold intercourse with the inhabitants of the unseen world is not, as some seem to imagine, a practice peculiar to these modern times. It was resorted to long before the Greeks inquired of Apollo in his temple at Delphi through the mouth of the Pythoness and before the Romans consulted the Sibylline oracles at Cumae and at Tibur. Nor is it a practice confined to civilized and cultivated races. The savage man, too, in his lonely hut on his desert island has at all times been in the habit of evoking the spirits of the other world, whether he believed these spirits to be genii, disposed to favor and benefit mankind, demons bent on working harm or mischief, or the souls of the dead seeking for rest amidst their former haunts and environments. History records how extensively spiritistic practices were carried on during the middle ages, and what severe laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, had to be enacted in order to check what was then held to be a dangerous and harmful superstition.

"It is only in the method which is employed in the evoking of these manifestations and in the circumstances under which they take place that any difference can be said to exist between the practice of ancient times and that of these modern days. There is absolute identity in the aim which underlies them-that aim being the obtaining of answers to various questions, the solution of difficult and perplexing problems and the exhibition of phenomena transcending the known powers of nature.

"There is, however, a difference between them which should not be left unnoticed here. While the phenomena obtained were in times past ascribed to beings of a purely spiritual nature, and in no wise connected with matter, they are now held to be due to the souls

of the dead to departed human beings at one time inhabiting this earth and, like ourselves, incarnate in material bodies. And this modern belief would seem to find support not only in the oft-repeated assertion of the spirits themselves, but also in the result of experiments recently conducted by renowned and well-known English and foreign scientists.

"The object of this book is to set forth, as clearly and as concisely as possible, what the teachings of Catholic theology is on this difficult subject, and where the pathway of safety may be found, not only for Catholics, but for all believers in historic and dogmatic Christianity. For it is in the historic Christian faith alone that we have the true standard by which the momentous problems presented by modern spiritism can be fairly and adequately judged.”

The book is a splendid example of conciseness and clearness. One might expect that such a subject would hardly submit to brief and comprehensive treatment, but the author in this case has accomplished the very difficult task. We believe that the book will be found to be fully satisfying, and we recommend it without any hesitation.

BEATI PETRI CANISII, S. J., EPISTULAE ET ACTA. Collegit et Adnotationibus Illustravit. Otto Braunsberger, S. J. Volumen Quartum. Herder: Freiburg and St. Louis. Price, $9.50 net.

The fourth volume of Father Braunsberger's edition of the "Letters of B. Peter Canisius" embraces a period of about two years, from January 1, 1563, to the death of Lainez, second general of the Jesuits, in January, 1565. At this time Canisius was in the prime of life and was looked upon as one of the very foremost champions of the Catholic religion. His correspondence includes letters to and from the Supreme Pontiff Pius IV., the Emperor Ferdinand, Duke Albert V. of Bavaria, Cardinals-Legate, Chancellors, and, in fact, nearly every one of prominent station in that generation. The present thick volume of about 1,500 pages contains 449 letters, the less important condensed, and 200 Canisian monumenta. Of the letters 340 now see the light for the first time and 140 of the monumenta. To obtain this result all the archives of Europe have been ransacked, from the Vatican to the British Museum. When so much has been accomplished in the case of a single personage we can argue how much still remains to be done before the entire material for passing judgment on the Reformation era shall lie before us.

During these two years we find the indefatigable missionary pursuing his accustomed labors as provincial of his order, director of

colleges, assiduous in the pulpit, reëditing his great catechism. But his chief merit at this time was that of holding the Emperor Ferdinand and the other Catholic princes of Germany true to the Catholic cause. Those were the last days of the Council of Trent, and among the faithful laborers to whom we owe the successful termination of the Council Canisius is seen more and more entitled to our gratitude. There is little doubt, as we see through the private letters which passed between him and his general, that had it not been for his influence Ferdinand would have yielded to the suggestions of bad advisers, many of them high ecclesiastics, and would have scattered the assembled Fathers. It was a happy inspiration for the Emperor to summon Canisius to Innsbruck, and it accrues to his honor and renown as a sensible statesman that he preferred the counsels of the great Jesuit to those of less saintly men.

For those who lack the time or patience to wade through the entire mass of letters, acts and sermons, the first forty pages, in which the editor gives a comprehensive digest of the whole, will be found. extremely valuable. The typographical setting of the volume is worthy of the subject and of the reputation of Herder.

ORGANUM COMITANS AD KYRIALE SEU ORDINARIUM MISSAE. Quod iuxta Editionem Vaticanum harmonice Ornavit. Dr. Fr. X. Mathias, Organista Ecclesiae Cathedralis Argentinensis. Neo Eboraci: Sumptibus Friderici Pustet.

The changes required by the Encyclical of the Holy Father on Church Music are so very radical as to call forth numberless questions as to details of practice, and these in turn are creating a literature on the subject which promises to be quite exhaustive. Several of these questions concern the organist and his part in the new order of things. Some of these questions have not been answered yet. For instance, may the organist be a woman? Others are being answered in books like the one before us, which contains the organ accompaniments for the Kyriale or Ordinary of the Mass according to the Vatican edition. The work is done by a well-known competent authority, and is from the Pustet Press, which is a guarantee of accuracy and elegance. The author thus sets forth his purpose and method:

"The chief object of this accompaniment, the fundamental principles of which have been fully set forth in my brochure "Die Choralbegleitung" (Plain Chant Accompaniment), published by the same firm, is to ensure a smooth and flowing method of rendering plain chant. It was therefore of paramount importance that the harmonies should flow naturally as faithful reflections of the flowing