DALGAIRNS

dalgairns, john dobree (1818-1876), english roman catholic priest, was born in guernsey on the 21st of october 1818. about the age of seventeen he entered exeter college, oxford, and soon after taking his degree he contributed a letter to louis veuillot's ultramontane organ _l'univers_, on "anglican church parties," which gave him considerable repute. together with mark pattison and others, he translated the _catena aurea_ of st thomas aquinas, a commentary on the gospels, taken from the works of the fathers. he was a contributor to newman's _lives of the english saints_, for which he wrote the beautiful studies on the cistercian saints. _the life of st stephen harding_ has been translated into several languages. dalgairns became a roman catholic in 1845, and was ordained priest in the following year. he joined his friend john henry newman in rome, and, together with him, entered the congregation of the oratory. on his return to england in 1848, he was attached to the london oratory, where he laboured successfully as a priest, with the exception of three years spent in birmingham. dalgairns was a prominent member of the well-known "metaphysical society." he died at burgess hill, near brighton, on the 6th of april 1876. during the catholic period of his life, dalgairns wrote _the devotion to the sacred heart of jesus, with an introduction on the history of jansenism_ (london 1853); _the german mystics of the fourteenth century_ (london, 1858); _the holy communion, its philosophy, theology and practice_ (dublin, 1861). a list of his contributions on religious and philosophical subjects, to the reviews and periodicals, is given in j. gillow's _bibliographical dictionary of english catholics_, vol. ii.