The Catholic World Volume Ii Part 109

JOURNAL OF EUGENIE DE GUeRIN.

Edited by G. S. Trebutien. 12mo., pp. 460. Alexander Strahan, London and New York.

This very remarkable and most attractive book has already received a lengthened notice in THE CATHOLIC WORLD, and we have only to add that never was there penned a book so full of the highest and most refined sentiment, touching pathos, combined with so much deep philosophic and poetic thought. What a pure and innocent soul is here revealed! Not to the world. She did not write for it, but for her own soul, and the soul of her idolized Maurice. He has found renown through these tear-bedewed pages of a devoted sister. We read it, yet can hardly believe it to be, as it is, a real journal.

Her descriptions are full of the intensest interest and charming navete. Here is one on a first communion:

"29th. What a sweet, simple, pious, and touching ceremony! I have only time to say this, and to declare that of all the festivals the one I delight in most is a first communion in a country district: G.o.d bestowing himself simply on children! Miou, the little Francouil de Gaillard, and Augustine were exquisite, both in innocence and beauty.

How pretty they looked under their little white veils, when they returned weeping from the holy table! Divine tears! Children united to G.o.d; who can tell what was pa.s.sing that moment in their souls? M. le Cure was admirable in his unction and gentleness; it was the Saviour saying to children, 'Come unto me.' Oh! how lovingly he addressed them, and then how he charged them to have a care of that white robe, that innocence with which they were clothed! Poor children, {717} what risks before them! I kept saying to myself, 'Which of yon will tarnish it first?' They are not going to Paris, indeed; but earth is everywhere soiled, everywhere evil is found, seduces, and leads away."

That closing sentence was not thoughtlessly penned. It was for the eye of that brother whom Paris had seduced and led away into error, but who never read that gentle admonition. Maurice de Guerin died soon after, reconciled to the Church, in his last agony embracing the crucifix; but Eugenie continues her journal to Maurice in heaven. Here is a pa.s.sage which will, if we mistake not, induce our readers to procure and read the whole of this delightful volume. They will find it, as we have found it, like a rare and beautiful picture, which, with a strange selfishness, we desire to be universally admired, yet wish it were all our own:

"This woman, this nurse who watched thee, and held thee in illness for a year on her lap, has given me a greater shock than a winding sheet would have done. Heart-rending apparition of the past--cradle and tomb! I could spend the night with thee here in this paper, but the soul needs prayer; the soul will do thee more good than the heart.

Each time that my pen rests here, a sword pierces my heart. I do not know whether I shall continue to write or not. Of what use is this Journal? For whom? Alas! and yet I love it as one loves a funereal urn, a reliquary in which is kept a dead heart, all embalmed with sanct.i.ty and love. Such seems this paper, where I still preserve thee, my so beloved one: where I keep up a speaking memory of thee, where I shall meet with thee again in my old age--if I live to be old. Oh!

yes, the days will come when I shall have no life but in the past; that past shared with thee; spent beside thee, young, intelligent, lovable, raising and refining whatever approached thee; such as I recall thee, such as thou wert on leaving us. At present I do not know what my life is, if, indeed, I do live. Everything is changed within and without. Oh! my G.o.d, how heart-rending these letters are! They contain so many tears for my tears! This intimate friend of thine touches me as would a sight of thyself. My dear Maurice, all thou hast loved are dear to me--seem a portion of thee."

THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER, January, 1866.

This is the first number of the new, or New York, series of this publication, which is to be issued every two months. It explains the reason and object of the change which has been made in the editors.h.i.+p and place of publication. The Convention of Unitarians held in this city a few months ago initiated a new and important movement in that denomination. The radical and destructive element was put down, and that party which is in favor of taking a positive Christian position achieved a victory. The _Examiner_ has been made their organ, and is to be used in promoting the end they have in view. The convention solemnly and publicly recognized our Lord Jesus Christ, under that t.i.tle which is indicative of his character as Supreme Head of the human race, in spite of the violent opposition of a few, which was vented in a very unseemly and vulgar manner, shocking to the Christian sentiment of the community. The declaration of belief is significant of the _animuis_ of the movement, and shows it to be a return to the principle of positive and constructive Christianity. The impress of this idea is visible in the new phase of the _Examiner_, and has given it at once a position far above that which it formerly occupied. In its scholarly and literary tone it is superior to the old series; but the superiority is more marked and evident in the exhibition of a more fixed and earnest purpose to aim at a definite result, and to make more positive affirmation of religious and philosophical ideas. The writers recognize the wide-spread scepticism in intelligent minds as a lamentable fact, and have turned their face away from the road of scepticism and disintegration as one that conducts only to intellectual, moral, and social death. They do not profess to have surveyed the road which leads away from this "valley of the shadow of death;" but they seem to be convinced that there is one, and to be resolved to look for it and to try to guide others in a search for it.

It is difficult to say, in regard to men who allow themselves so much lat.i.tude in belief, and so great a liberty of independent theorizing, what are the fixed doctrines in which they agree as the fundamental basis of {718} an anti-sceptical philosophy, and what are merely tentative hypotheses thrown out for discussion. It appears to us, however, that there are several sound principles of Christian philosophy and doctrine dominating in the articles of the number before us, and which we may suppose will hereafter give a certain unity of character and tendency to the work. One of these is the affirmation of the pure theistic doctrine, in contradiction to pantheism, in connection with a manifest tendency to repudiate the sensist philosophy of Hamilton, Mansel, and that cla.s.s of writers, and to look for a better one. Another is a recognition that there is something in the idea of the supernatural which is real, and above the sphere of mere natural science. A third is a principle of reverence for the Scriptures, and the religious traditions of the human race, connected with a disposition to reject the scepticism of the pseudo-critical school of Germany. A fourth is an a.s.sertion of the obligatory force of the Divine Law, and the necessity of cultivating a personal relation to G.o.d as the principle of solid virtue and morality. There is also a sort of instinctive apprehension that a more thorough investigation of the difficulties which science appears to throw in the way of revealed religion will eventually produce a more triumphant vindication of the latter than it has ever had. The topics to be discussed in the Review are the most real and living questions of the age in philosophy and theology. They will be discussed by men of no mean pretensions to learning and intellectual ability, and of superior literary cultivation. We are glad that they have undertaken the work, and we hope for good results from it. We have no fear that they will weaken the religious belief of those who have a positive, dogmatic faith in regard to any essential doctrine of Christianity.

The public which will be reached by their writings and sermons, are already familiar with all the questions and difficulties they will discuss. They are full of doubt, and drifting into infidelity. All the influence which these gentlemen will gain over them will tend to check this downward progress, and initiate a salutary retrogression toward Christian truth.

Moreover, all discussions of this kind will stimulate the work of investigating and exhibiting the doctrine of the Catholic Church in its relation toward rationalism. The controversy with orthodox Protestantism is finished, and Protestant orthodoxy has gone where Ilium formerly went. The real controversy of the day relates to the very foundation of revelation itself.

SPARE HOURS: A Monthly Miscellany for the Young. Boston: P. Donahoe.

January, 1866.

We have received the first number of a new magazine with the above t.i.tle. It is published by Mr. Donahoe, Boston, is well printed on fine paper, and ill.u.s.trated with much taste. The matter, of which there are 64 pages, is both original and selected, and displays discrimination and tact on the part of the editor. It would be well to give credit to the source from which the selected matter is taken. This magazine fills a want long felt by the Catholic community in this country.

Since the discontinuance of the "Youth's Catholic Magazine" we have had no periodical that gave us any reading for our children. We cordially welcome the advent of "Spare Hours" amongst as, and trust its subscription list may show that Catholics _do_ appreciate good reading.

NICHOLAS OF THE FLUE, the Saviour of the Swiss Republic. A dramatic poem in five acts. By John Christian Schaad. 12mo., pp. 144.

Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.: McGill & Witherow. 1866.

This book purposes to give, in a dramatic form, an account of the rise of a dangerous civil dissension which took place among the brave and religious Swiss during the invasion of their country by Charles the Bold, and the happy reunion of sentiment by the wise interposition and holy prayers of a hermit. How religion, or the counsels of its ministers, can ever supplant the arbitrament of the sword or the stratagems of the politician in the successful adjustment of national difficulties, will not, we think, be so readily comprehended in our present society, and chiefly so because with us there is no unity of religion, and consequently a multiplicity of counsels, the prolific seed itself of discord. But that it is {719} possible, as it is enviable, may be seen by any one who will peruse this poem. Peace which nations enjoy is a blessing of G.o.d. "Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain who keepeth it." It is not to be wondered at then that a people thoroughly imbued with the spirit of faith should look to G.o.d for help in the day of trial, when the demon of discord sows the seeds of strife and disunion amongst them. The thought which evidently moved the writer to compose this work is the same which has often crossed our own mind during the late deplorable civil war: that if our beloved country had been one in religion, it never would have fallen a prey to such a fearful and almost fatal division, or at least would have rejoiced in a more speedy reconciliation.

MERRY CHRISTMAS. A cantata for Christmas eve. Affectionately inscribed to the children of the parish of St. Paul the Apostle, New York city.

P. O'Shea.

This little brochure contains directions, with appropriate recitatives and hymns, for a religious celebration of Christmas by children, who describe, in a sort of infantine opera, the scenes of our Lord's nativity as related in the gospel. It contains, among other hymns, some of the most beautiful Christmas carols in the English language; and when sung by the voices of merry-hearted children must have a most edifying and pleasing effect. We are sure it will be welcomed in all our schools, and at the fireside of many a Christian family. It was performed with great success before an immense and delighted audience last Christmas night in the church of the Paulists, to the children of whose parish it is dedicated.

THE MONTHLY. Edited at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Chicago, III. Published by J. P. Byrne, Chicago.

The December number of "The Monthly" did not reach us until the first of January. This is rather late, and we presume is a mistake, as it has been heretofore promptly on hand. The number before us completes the second volume, and is quite interesting. It contains nine articles, the first being on "Fenianism and Secret Societies." There are two stories, one just commenced and one concluded. The former, "The Huron Chief," is a tale of the Catholic missions in the northwest, and the latter, "From June to October," is by an author not unknown to the literary world. The articles in this magazine are original, and are well written. We find in its literary notices the following hit at a cla.s.s which we are sorry to say is but too numerous:

"The mission of a Catholic editor is something different from that of the mendicant who stands at a church gate with a 'Help-the-poor-blind-man' label upon his breast. And yet there are those--not a few--who look upon a pitiful subscription of three or four dollars a year to a paper or a magazine in the light of an alms, and actually imagine that they are performing one of the seven corporal works of mercy if they can be induced to subscribe, while, in justice, they are not paying a thousandth part of the interest on their lawful debts. Not long ago we happened to meet with a Catholic gentleman from New York, and among the different topics of conversation the subject of literature was brought in. This gave us the occasion to ask his opinion about 'The Monthly,' to which he replied that he was unaware of its publication, because he had never seen it noticed by a certain romantic sheet of the Quixotic stamp in that city. He is the type of a cla.s.s for whose conduct there is not the shadow of an excuse. From this we might draw a general conclusion, and apply the same course of reasoning to the case of every Catholic publication in the country, for it is not rare to find Catholic families without a Catholic paper or magazine on their tables. Under these circ.u.mstances, then, it is not surprising that not a few of them should be strangers to the existence of the works which they _ought_ to possess, while they may be conversant with a cla.s.s of literature whose spirit is productive either of no good at all or positively injurious, and hence without either intellectual or moral benefit."

We wish "The Monthly" a happy and prosperous year.

HANS BRINKER, ETC. By M. E. Dodge. 12mo., pp. 347. New York: James O'Kane. 1866.

We could cordially recommend this well-written story were it not for one pa.s.sage relating to _autos da fe_ and the Inquisition. Those who have charge of Catholic youth are bound to {720} be extremely careful what books they place in their hands, and this becomes often a cause of perplexity, as there are so few which are entirely unexceptionable.

Those who write with the express purpose of inculcating the distinctive principles of Protestantism are not amenable to our criticism. But those who do not write with this intention, and who merely seek to afford entertainment to the youthful mind with a modic.u.m of instructive information, may perhaps consider it worth while to respect the religion of a large and increasing cla.s.s of the reading public. We are not very exacting. We desire only that books written for the instruction and amus.e.m.e.nt of the young public at large should contain a sound and wholesome morality and nothing offensive to Catholics. We could not desire a better specimen of this cla.s.s of books than the work of our gifted auth.o.r.ess, which we have read with pleasure, with the exception of the single pa.s.sage alluded to; and this might have been left out without any injury to the purpose of the story. Those who are disposed to profit by our hints will find us always ready to a.s.sist the circulation of their books by our recommendation, if their literary merit renders them worthy of it.

A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, from the commencement of the Christian Era until the present time.

By M. l'Abbe J. E. Darras. First American from the last French Edition. With Introduction and Notes by Archbishop Spalding. Vol. II.

8vo., pp. 627. New York: P. O'Shea.

The second volume of the history of the Catholic Church has just appeared, and it is in every respect in keeping with the first volume; is well printed on good paper, and makes a handsome book.

The Very Rev. Dr. Newman is preparing for the press a reply to Dr.

Pusey's "Eirenicon," lately published in London. We shall give it to the readers of THE CATHOLIC WORLD at the earliest date.

The Messrs. Sadlier announce the publication of a new edition of Father Young's "Catholic Hymns and Canticles," together with a complete sodality manual. It will contain 107 hymns, arranged for all the different seasons and festivals of the Church, as well as the processions, ceremonies, etc.

Messrs. Murphy & Co., of Baltimore have in press a new and enlarged edition of "Archbishop Spalding's Miscellanea." This learned work will be carefully revised by the distinguished author, who will add nearly 100 pages of interesting matter, embracing among many other things his "Essay on Common Schools throughout the World"--his "a.n.a.lysis of the Controversy into which he was forced by Professor Morse, in relation to an alleged saying of Lafayette"--his "Lecture on the Origin and History of Libraries," and his "Essay on Demonology and the Reformation." This new edition will thus embrace essays, reviews, and lectures on more than forty subjects, most of them historical, and all of more than ordinary interest.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

From KELLY & PIET, Baltimore: "The Spae Wife, or Queen's Secret, a story of the Times of Queen Elizabeth," by Paul Peppergra.s.s, Esq.

12mo., pp 742. "The Little Companion of the Sisters of Mercy." 32mo., pp 102.

From D. & J. SADLIER & CO., New York: Parts 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of "The Complete Works of the Brothers Banim."

From P. O'SHEA, New York: "Life of St. Antony of Padua, of the Order of Friars Minor," by Father Servas Dirks, Friar Minor, etc. 12mo., pp 341. "The Life and Miracles of St. Philomena, Virgin and Martyr, whose sacred body was lately discovered in the Catacombs of Rome, and from thence transferred to Mugnano, Naples." 12mo., pp 135.

Statuta Dioecesana ab Ill.u.s.trissimo et Reverendissimo P. D. Joanne Baptists Purcell, Archiepiscopo Cincinnatensi, in variis Synodis, quae hue usque in Ecclesia sua Cathedrali vel in Sacello Seminarii, celebratae sunt, lata et promulgata. Una c.u.m Decretis Conciliorum Provincialium et plenarii Baltimorenslum, quibus interfuerunt omnes statuum Foederatorum Episcopi et Decretis Conciliorum Trium Cincinnatensium. Nunc primum in unum collecta et publici juris facta.

Cincinnati: Published for the Most Rev. Archbishop of Cincinnati by John P. Walsh.

THE CATHOLIC WORLD.

VOL. II., NO. 12--MARCH, 1866.