XL.-1. The Witch of Melton Hill. A Tale, by the Author of "Mount St. Lawrence." (Popular Library.) London: Burns and Lambert. 1855.

2. Pictures of Christian Heroism. With Preface by the Rev. H. E. Manning, D.D. (Popular Library.) London: Burns and

Lambert. 1855.

We are very happy to register the appearance of two further volumes of this most promising series; each excellent after its kind. The Witch of Melton Hill, is an interesting and forcibly written tale; with just as much of serious truth in it as a light book of fiction can safely carry. The "Pictures of Christian Heroism" has the true and more lasting interest of reality to insure its populari ty. The story of Margaret Clitherow, of Mother Macrina of Minsk, and of a Confessor of the Faith during the French Revolution, are of a class, the interest of which can never pall upon a truly Catholic heart.

XLI.-History of the Catholic Missions among the Indian Tribes of the United States, 1529-1854. By JOHN G. SHEA. New York: Dunigan. 1855.

The story of these missions may well be regarded as the Romance of Church History; and Mr. Shea has done full justice to the interest with which it is pregnant. His work is the result of ten years' laborious collection and research, and contains many particulars never before made public. It will take its place, in every Catholic library, by the side of the Lettres Edifiantes and their modern continuation.

XLII.-A Monograph on Mental Unsoundness. By FRANCIS WHARTON. Philadelphia: Kay and Brother, 1855.

A few lines of advertisement inform us that this is but the first book in a Treatise on Medical Jurisprudence, about to be published by Mr. Wharton, in connection with Dr. Moreton Stillé of Philadelphia. There can be no doubt of the value of such a work when completed, if we may judge by that portion of it which we have now before This Monograph is, in itself, a complete treatise upon insanity, learned, laborious, and filled with the opinions and

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experiences of the most eminent medical men of all nations, German, French, English, and American. It cannot, however, be considered as a Medical Work, as it contains no directions for the medical, but rather for the legal treatment of the disease. The work is divided into two heads, or chapters: the first, upon " Mental Unsoundness, in its legal relations;" the second, upon "Mental Unsoundness, considered Psychologically. Under this last head are described every phase, every symptom, every modification of this dreadful malady; terrible indeed is the array, and terrible to think how few there are of these idiosyncracies, which have not at one time or another crossed our paths; and we speak the experience of most men of the world. For it is not as Physicians we are commenting upon this treatise; to them it will afford matter for much deeper study. The main object and point of this work is the degree of irresponsibility, legal and moral,-chiefly the former, which attaches to Mental Unsoundness;" and we confess that we are startled by the conclusions of the author. There is scarcely a sin committed which might not claim exemption from punishment under one or other of Mr. Wharton's definitions of irresponsibility. True, he urges the seclusion of the offenders, both for their own sakes and that of society, and makes many pertinent observations upon the kind of restraint needful, the difficulties thrown in the way of their classification, and so on; but it is a serious question, whether confinement on the ground of lunacy is adequate for either of these purposes. Whether or not, this change of punishment is a boon to the wretched sufferer so respited, it is hard to say; it is not so, we fear, without more effective spiritual appliances than dreamed of in the Protestant world; but it is certain that, upon society in general, it has a most pernicious effect, confusing men's notions, offering to every disordered_imagination a ready excuse for its own promptings, and at the same time a loophole for escaping punishment; investing crime with a veil of mystery, which leaves it doubtful whether it is not a more fitting object of pity than indignation, and planting a deep sense of injustice in the hearts of criminals, who, tossed in the tempest of tribulation and passion, have indeed as good an excuse of irresponsibility" as many of those who have fostered in themselves "Mental Unsoundness," by the indulgence of propensities of which they know the guilt,

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and know also the danger; as they generally shew by trying to conceal their actions. Mr. Wharton quotes Pinel for the assertion, "that there are madmen in whom there is no perceptible alteration of the intellectual process, of the perceptions, judging faculty, imagination, or memory; and yet a perversion of the manifestations of the will, in a blind impulse to the commission of violence, or even of blood thirsty rage, without any assignable dominant idea; any delusion of the imagination, which could cause such a propensity." (p. 146.) No doubt there are, but we should like to see. the distinction laid down between these, and what we have been used to consider as dangerously wicked people; who at the first overt act took the consequences of their evil dispositions. We apply the same remark to the definition of Pritchard, who describes this "mania sine delirio," (that is the proper designation) as "a morbid perversion of the natural feelings, affections, inclinations, tempers, habits, and moral dispositions, without any notable lesion of the intellect, or knowing and reasoning faculties, and particularly without any maniacal hallucination." (p. 148.) Unhappily there are such people, but are not they the very characters for whom the terror of human laws forms the only curb? and who not only require but understand it well? And this becomes a most practical question; for a list is given of every sin which men commit, killing, lying, stealing, incendiarism, so on through the whole catalogue, even to that "deep perversion of the social affections, whereby the feelings of kindness and attachment that flow from the affections of father, husband, and child, are replaced by a perpetual inclination to tease, worry, and embitter the existence of others. (p. 168.) And all these sins, from their most natural form to that of most diabolical wickedness, are given as tendencies at once, and symptoms of "unsoundness of mind" when "morbid ;" that is, when excessive. Heaven forbid we should appear to suggest harshness to those whom God has deprived of reason; but we certainly think the forbearance accorded to them, may be extended too far over the mysterious perversity of human nature. Under the new name of "Oikeiomania," or "morbid state of domestic affections," a strong illustration is given of what we have been remarking. Dr. Mayo says of men, who illuse their wives," Many men are living in a state of continuous and exhausting remorse, under the consciousness that this

system of torture is being carried on by them. For when once the habit is formed, they can neither shake it off, nor bear their self-consciousness under it." (p. 168.) How many of the "morbid" feelings of the present age in respect to crime are concentrated in this sentence !

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Two instances are given of this "Oikeiomania," since that is the name for it; King Frederick of Prussia's brutality to his children, especially be it observed to his heir, which is attributed to Mental Unsoundness," although it is so well known that the man's mind was sound enough, except where he chose deliberately to, and could safely, indulge his vicious passions to excess. The other instance is that of Zimmerman. 'Very often,' says the author, "this domestic perversity is associated with the most complacent benignity out of doors. Zimmerman, whilst he was inculcating and professing the most serene benevolence, was by his tyranny driving his son into madness, and making his daughter an outcast from her home." (p. 166.) That is, he had sanity enough to be a consummate hypocrite. We have ourselves known a case of cruelty to a child, where the taint of madness probably lurked in the father, for it certainly was derived from the parents by the child; but it is also noticeable that when the terrors of the French police were brought to bear upon this man, he found himself quite able to control it." They cannot hang him," was whispered about in the York Lunatic Asylum, when the firing of York Minster, by a supposed lunatic, was under consideration," he is one of ourselves.' It is obvious how dangerous such an opinion might be outside those doors; and really when we see how very frequently "Mental Unsoundness arises from indulged sin, or wilful folly on the part of the unhappy sufferers, we cannot recognise the justice, any more than the expediency of sacrificing the safety of society to an over scrupulous enquiry into the question of the "irresponsibility" of criminals. We wish this subject could be taken up by those who are qualified to consider it more deeply, and in a religious point of view. In many parts of the monograph, this view of the subject is introduced; allusion is made to the beneficial influence of religion in preventing such disorder, to the freedom of Catholic priests, as a body, from mental unsoundness: the supposed reason being that they are subject to authority" and to the possibility of demoniacal possession. These interesting subjects are but

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touched upon, but Mr. Wharton's observations are distinguished for sound sense and good feeling; nor do we consider our preceding observations altogether applicable to him. If the German and especially the American authorities whom he quotes, take an over lenient view of human perversity, he himself has a tendency to guard against the danger of their opinions, while his examination of the symptoms of madness, (especially in its incipient stages,) and of the methods for detecting it when simulated, are in the highest degree accurate and valuable.

XLIII.-1. What I Know of the Late Emperor, Nicholas, and his Family. By EDWARD TRACY TURNERELLI. London: Churton.

1855.

2. Is the War Just? A Letter to Lord Palmerston. London: Dalton. 1855.

Both these books, in a different way, will, rightly or wrongly, be regarded by the popular prejudice as written in the Russian interest. The Letter to Lord Palmerston is an undisguised apology of the peace. The sketch of the Emperor Nicholas and his Family is a panegyric of the high personal qualities for which the writer gives them credit. We have no desire, however, to join in this indiscriminating habit of attributing such motives to all who have the courage to think for themselves in a crisis in which all have an equal interest, and an equal right to their own opinion. Some of Mr. Turnerelli's anecdotes and sketches are interesting, even though they tell favourably to the Emperor of Russia; and he would be unwise who would allow his prejudices to stand in the way of the enjoyment of reading this little book. The Letter to Lord Palmerston is learned but somewhat dull.