The Lives of the Saints. By the Rev. S. Baring-Gould.
(Hodges.)— This is the first volume of a series which is intended to give an account of all the more remarkable saints of Christendom. They are ranged under the days of the months on which their commemoration falls,—the present volume brings us to the end of January. Each day has its list of a dozen, more or less, and out of these Mr. Baring Gould chooses lives of which there is something especially noteworthy, especially credible, or especially incredible, to relate. No one who is acquainted with Mr. Baring-Goulds works can fail to entertain the highest respect for his learning and literary ability. We think, indeed, that he has totally mis- taken his place ; that, his dominant feeling being a passionate hatred for the work of the Reformation, he is hopelessly out of accord with a Church which that event modified so decidedly in doctrine and discipline ; —but apart from this, he has every qualification for the work which he has undertaken. In the present volume the more noticeable lives are those of St. Macarius of Alexandria, of whom many of our readers will have read in Mr. Kingsley's "Hermits ;" St. Severinus of Noricum, another hero of tho same work ; St. Vitalis of Alexandria, a very striking story, which Mr. Baring-Gould declares, and we hope that ho is right, to be perfectly authentic ; St. Anthony, whose life by St. Athanasius is here given in a condensed form ; St. Moinrad, Celia of Hohenzollern ; and St. Cyril, of Alexandria. We hope to have the opportunity on some future occasion of speaking of Mr. Baring-Gould's work at greater length.
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