write for mere writing's sake, and without considering the probable
effects which his work will produce. This book, such as it is, appears
to him to be at once unusually edifying, and highly poetical. It is
perfectly clear that it has, properly speaking, no literary pretensions
whatever. Neither the uneducated maiden whose visions are here relate,
nor the excellent Christian writer who had published them in so entire
a spirit of literary disinterestedness, ever had the remotest idea of
such a thing. And yet there are not, in our opinion, many highly
worked-up compositions calculated to produce an effect in any degree
comparable to that which will be brought about by the perusal of this
unpretending little work. It is our hope that it will make a strong
impression even upon worldlings, and that in many hearts it will
prepare the way for better ideas,--perhaps even for a lasting change of
life.

In the next place, we are not sorry to call public attention in some
degree to all that class of phenomena which preceded the foundation of
the Church, which has since been perpetuated uninterruptedly, and which
too many Christians are disposed to reject altogether, either through
ignorance and want of reflection, or purely through human respect. This
is a field which has hitherto been but little explored historically,
psychologically, and physiologically; and it would be well if
reflecting minds were to bestow upon it a careful and attentive
investigation. To our Christian readers we must remark that this work
has received the approval of ecclesiastical authorities. It has been
prepared for the press under the superintendence of the two late
Bishops of Ratisbonne, Sailer and Wittman. These names are but little
known in France; but in Germany they are identical with learning,
piety, ardent charity, and a life wholly devoted to the maintenance and
propagation of the Catholic faith. Many French priests have given their