perusal of some forty pages, we feel satisfied that there is no worthy member of the Episcopal Church who takes any lively interest in its history, or in its doctrines, rites, and ceremonies, who will not welcome the "Lessons" as a desideratum. We are pleased to see the subject treated, in all its bearings, by one whose learning and scholarship are evidently of the highest order; and who, at the same time, is not above rendering into plain English such Hebrew, Greek, or Latin words as are necessarily introduced into the text, for the purpose of indicating the derivation of many words used in the Liturgy; such as, Epact, Golden Number, Rubric, Calender, etc. Indeed, the wonder is, on reflection, that such a work had not been compiled long since—that is, one suited for persons of ordinary intelligence as well as for the liberally educated-for the Sunday-school pupil as well as for the teacher. Apart from its value as a brief, but comprehensive and lucid commentary on the Book of Common Prayer, it claims the attention of parents and teachers for the taste for the study of history and biography, which its excellent foot notes are so well calculated to create. As a specimen of this feature of the work, we transcribe the following annotations: "Charles I., son of James I., reigned 1625 to 1649; some leading events were, his marriage with Henrietta of France, 1625; death of Lord Bacon, 1626; Duke of Buckingham assassinated, 1628; Hampden's Trial, 1637; Strafford beheaded, 1641; commencement of the Civil War, 1642-battles therein, Worcester, September 13, 1642; Edge Hill fight, October 23, 1642; Newbury (Lord Falkland killed), 1643; Marston Moor, July 3, 1644; Newbury (second battle), October 10, 1644; Naseby, June 14, 1644; King Charles executed, January 30, 1649. "Archbishop Laud born at Reading, 1573, educated at St. John's College; in 1628, succeeded Buckingham as Prime Minister; beheaded January 10, 1645." In short, did the work come to us from the other side of the Atlantic, so happily does it combine multifarious knowledge with simplicity of language and illustration, that we should hardly hesitate to attribute it to Archbishop Whately, as almost the only man we know to possess all the necessary qualifications for such a vade mecum. 1. The Pentateuch, Translated from the Vulgate, and Diligently Compared with the Original Text, being a Revised Edition of the Douay Version, with Notes Critical and Explanatory. BY FRANCIS PATRICK KENRICK, Archbishop of Baltimore. 8vo pp. 559. 2. The Historical Books of the Old Testament, Translated from the Latin Vulgate, Diligently Compared with the Original Text, being a Revised Edition of the Douay Version, with Notes Critical and Explanatory. By FRANCIS PATRICK KENRICK, Archbishop of Baltimore. Svo. pp. 897. Baltimore : Kelly, Hedian & Piet. 1860. Whatever controversialists may think of the fidelity, or want of fidelity, of these translations, it cannot be denied that they evince profound research, extensive erudition, and accurate scholarship. As a Latinist, much was to have been expected from Archbishop Kenrick, whose writings, in the language of Virgil and Cicero, have secured for him the esteem of the learned of Europe as well as America; but from even a cursory glance at the two portly volumes before us, we find sufficient evidence that he is scarcely less familiar with the languages of Moses and Solomon, and of Homer and Demosthenes. Had he merely presented us his versions of certain parts of the Bible, it would hardly have come within our province to take any notice of his labors, since there is no lack of theological journals, that make a specialty of exposing any defects, or praising any merits, that such may be said to possess, according as they are in the interest of one sect or another. It is his notes that we value most. Regarded in a philological point of view alone, they would claim the earnest attention of every student of languages who has sense enough to comprehend that knowledge loses none of its intrinsic worth for being placed within his reach by one whose theological opinions are different from his own. Thus it was that the Greeks and Romans, who had no faith in Christianity, were very glad to study the learned commentaries of the early Fathers of the Church, because they saw that they possessed a value altogether independently of the religious principles which they embodied and inculcated. It is in a similar spirit that the enlightened of all nations, whether Protestants, Catholics, or Mahommedans, have for nearly two thousand years made the Pagan writers of Greece and Rome their chief study as an instrument of intellectual culture and mental developement. It is butfair to remember, also, that it is nothing new for dignitaries of the Catholic Church to render good service to the cause of classical learning. Not to speak of such men as Cardinals Richelieu, Ximenes and Wolsey, it was the monks, in the recesses of their cloisters, who, for centuries of darkness and lawlessness, preserved the sacred fire of genius, and saved from the Goth, the Vandal, and the Hun those priceless treasures of literature, in poetry, oratory, history, and criticism, which are the delight of all ages. In addition to the large amount of philological erudition contained in the copious notes of Archbishop Kenrick, his introductions to most of the books in both volumes will be read with thoughtfulness and profit by all who take an interest in the history of the Bible; although, of course, it is to Catholics they are chiefly, if not exclusively, addressed; and we may add, that the latter may well appreciate the labors so learnedly, ably, and liberally performed for them. The publishers have done their part in a manner highly creditable to the rapid progress in the typographic art made within the last few years in "The City of Monuments." BIOGRAPHY. The United Irishmen: Their Lives and Times. With several additional Memoirs and Authentic Documents, heretofore unpublished ; the whole matter newly arranged and revised. By RICHARD R. MADDEN, F. R. C. S., England; M. R. I. A. Author of "Travels in the East," "Memoirs of the Countess of Blessington," etc., etc. First, second, and third series. London: Charles Dolman. Baltimore: J. Murphy & Co. 1860. THERE are none who take any interest in the struggles of Ireland for nearly eight centuries to free herself from the yoke of England, to whose library these three, well printed, large octavos will not prove an attractive addition. Not that the narrative embraces so long a period, but light is shed on it in a much more agreeable way-by extracts from cloquent speeches, from equally eloquent private letters, and from the works of various writers of eminence, both foreign and native. But did they contain nothing save what relates to the period indicated by their title, every intelligent person who has paid any attention to Irish affairs, is aware that it affords abundant materials for a voluminous work-one much more voluminous than this is yet; although we see that a fourth volume, or fourth series, has just been issued. These, indeed, are not the first" Lives and Times of the United Irishmen," that have been published. Several works, bearing that title, have appeared in all the principal languages of Europe; nor are they altogether unknown in this country. But it remained for Dr. Madden to produce one combining all that is authentic and interesting in all the others, and embracing a large amount of important multifarious matter never before made public. For this he has had opportunities possessed by none of those who have gone before him in the same field. In the first place, it is no longer such a crime in the eyes of England, as it used to be, to tell the truth in regard to English domination in Ireland, especially in regard to events so long past as those to which these volumes chiefly relate. Information, the publication of which would have involved a prosecution for sedition less than twenty years ago, is now freely granted, even by functionaries of the government. In his dedication of the first series to Lord Brougham, the author expresses his thanks to the venerable ex-Chancellor for an introduction which he gave him to an eminent French historian, accompanied with the request that he "might be allowed access to the archives of the public departments in Paris, with the view to the use of documents that might have any bearing on his intended work." It is almost needless to say that a good deal that is interesting and important has been found in this way, by one who, like Dr. Madden, would go, with almost Boswellian enthusiasm, fifty miles in search of a single fact of any moment, and who is sufficiently learned to be able to avail himself of accessible information, no matter in which of the principal languages of Europe it is to be found. This, indeed, was necessary, since United Irishmen had to take shelter in every state of the Continent that allowed them to do so, not to mention the number that sought an asylum in our own land. Nor did the author forget to come to America on the same patriotic mission. Here, too, he had no slight materials to obtain; for, need we say, that in America, as well as on the Continent of Europe, many of the fugitives attained high distinction; men whose descendants at the present day are among the best and most esteemed of our citizens, as they are in France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, and even in Russia. In each volume, except the first, we have several memoirs, illustrated with fine portraits of those who took the most active part in the events which led to the banishment of so many, and which brought so many others to the gallows. The first volume embraces brief but comprehensive sketches of all the secret societies formed in Ireland, from the reign of Elizabeth to that of the United Irishmen, together with episodes relating to spies and informers, a class of persons always liberally encouraged by England-so liberally, that they had an interest in inventing charges of treason against innocent persons, if they had no more convenient means of securing a continuance of their pay. Of this class of functionaries, the famous, or rather infamous Edward Newell may be mentioned as a representative; and we have not only his full history and character before us, illustrated by extracts from his own letters and sworn informations, but also a full sized portrait of him, standing in a thoughtful attitude, with his arms partly crossed. In one of his letters to his friend and employer, the Lord Lieutenant, this singular compound of impudence, baseness and villainy, uses the following language: "My Lord-After having been so long an inmate of yours, at the castle, it would be the height of ingratitude in me to take leave, without returning my most sincere thanks for the many marks of attention and uncommon kindness conferred upon me; and for the fifty guineas which I received on Saturday. I beg leave to give you a piece of the most important, and really the truest. information you ever received from me, and that is, to follow my example and decamp." In a letter written to his Lordship's secretary, a few days after, he says: "I think you will now be tired of the business of information, and I assure you you will shortly have no occasion for it. Think how disgraceful must appear such connections and support, when even spies and informers scorn and fly their association, and throw themselves on the forgiveness. of their injured country, for being awhile connected with such miscreants."-First Series-p. 579. His narrative of baseness and treachery, given at length, in the Appendix to the first volume, closes thus: "Having now submitted to the public, in my own illiterate stile, this production, the impartiality and truth of which my letters of correspondence (seized by Alderman Exshaw, and deposited in the Castle) will best show; and, if this voluntary publication of my own infamy, and proclaiming to the world the conduct of a desperate and wicked junto, can, in any degree, make a restitution for the perjuries and crimes I have committed, my object is fully answered; and, with every respect for that public, to which I have been so great a traitor, I subscribe myself,' etc.-p. 580. It is impossible to turn from this loathsome "narrative" to the fine engraving of the beautiful, queen-like wife of Theobald Wolfe Tone, in the same volume, with her two innocent children, one on each side of her, without mingled emotions of deep sympathy and indignation. The affectionate letters of her husband and children to this lady, would show, in the absence of all other evidence, that she was worthy of being the wife of one of whom Charles Kendal Bushe, a political opponent, one of the most eminent orators of his time, spoke as follows, in the Irish House of Commons, March 24, 1797:-"The unhappy gentleman (T. W. Tone) now wastes on an American plantation the brightest talents that I ever knew a man to be gifted with. I never shall speak or think of the unhappy gentleman to whom I allude with acrimony or severity. I knew him from early infancy, as the friend of my youth and companion of my studies; and while I bear testimony to the greatness of his abilities, I shall also say of him, that he had a heart which nothing but the accursed spirit of perverted politics could mislead or deprave; and I shall ever lament his fate, with compassion for his errors, admiration for his talents, and abhorrence for his political opinions."--Second Series, p. 618. * * * We have two faithful, well executed portraits of Wolfe Tone in the second volume-one representing him in his volunteer uniform, the other in a suit of black; the latter being from a drawing by his wife, and the best that has been preserved. In the same volume we have memoirs and portraits of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Hamilton Rowan, Arthur O'Connor, &c. There is some thing singularly fascinating in the countenance of Lord Edward as represented by this portrait, which is generally acknowledged to have been a faithful likeness of him when he first identified himself with the United Irishmen. No one is more unlike that of a traitor, or one who would deserve to be hanged and quartered; for the predominant expression of his countenance is one of gentleness and benevolence. But the diminution of our space admonishes us that we must bring our observations to a sudden close; although the third volume is still more interesting than either of those we have thus hurriedly glanced at; containing as it does memoirs and portraits of Thomas Addis Emmet, Robert Emmet, William James McNeven, Michael Dwyer and James Hope. Those who have read the noble, manly and patriotic speech of Robert Emmet, when called upon to receive the sentence of death, (and who of our readers have not?) can hardly glance at his portrait, as given in this volume, and then at the Daguerreotype by Claudet, from a cast in plaster taken after he was executed in the same, without feeling deeply moved. The whole series are got up in superior, uniform style. While the volumes cannot be otherwise than interesting to all who admire brilliant talents, and sympathise with those whose patriotism and love of liberty bring them to an untimely grave, or compel them to spend the remainder of their lives in exile and poverty, we take it for granted that no one who owns any ties to old Erin, whether of kindred or birth, and has the means of buying, will fail to secure a copy of "The United Irishmen; Their Lives and Times." BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG. Dedicated to Youths 16mo. pp. 300. 1. Famous Boys; and How they. Became Great Men. New York: W. A. Townsend & Co. 1860. In no other department of book-making has so much improvement been made, in recent years, as in that of books for the young. The time is within the recollection of us all, when a "juvenile" meant little more than a tissue of silly exaggerations, which even children of ordinary intelligence would throw aside, as "fit only for babies." In order to create in the youthful mind a taste for reading and the acquisition of knowledge, something more is necessary than coarse pictures and far-fetched witticisms. Boys or girls, as well as men, must find that a thing possesses some element of good before they take a liking to it, or are induced by it to try something else of a similar kind. It is by not paying due attention to this obvious fact that hundreds have been led to hate books of all kinds; for it must be remembered that boys and girls reason— nay, often do so more logically than their parents. Well, such are presented with books, which they are told contain a great many fine, good, and valuable |