{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_56022/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_56022","id":"gutenberg_56022","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56022","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Journals","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Poetry","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Catholic Church -- Periodicals"],"text":"The Catholic World\n\n A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science\n\n Vol. XX.\n\n October 1874 to March 1875\n\n The Catholic Publication House.\n\n New York\n\n 1875\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nContents.\nThe Catholic World. Vol. XX., No. 115.\u2014October, 1874.\n Matter. III.\n Hope.\n The Veil Withdrawn.\n September\u2014Sabbath Rest.\n The Present State Of Anglicanism.\n Antar And Zara; Or, \u201cThe Only True Lovers.\u201d\n Assunta Howard. III. In Extremis.\n A Discussion With An Infidel.\n A Legend Of Alsace.\n Fac\u2010Similes Of Irish National Manuscripts.\n Congress Of The Catholic Germans At Mayence.\n Switzerland In 1873. Lucerne.\n Roger The Rich.\n The Poem Of Izdubar.\n New Publications.\nThe Catholic World. Vol. XX., No. 116.\u2014November, 1874.\n Church Chant _Versus_ Church Music.\n A Vision.\n On The Wing. A Southern Flight. VII. Concluded.\n The Three Edens.\n A Discussion With An Infidel.\n Destiny.\n The Veil Withdrawn.\n Fac\u2010Similes Of Irish National Manuscripts. Concluded.\n Annals Of The Moss\u2010Troopers.\n Assunta Howard. IV. Convalescence.\n Inscription For The Bell \u201cGabriel,\u201d At S. Mary\u2019s Of The Lake, Lake\n George.\n Switzerland In 1873. Lucerne. Concluded.\n A Legend Of Alsace. Concluded.\n Wind And Tide.\n Matter. IV.\n New Publications.\nThe Catholic World. Vol. XX., No. 117.\u2014December, 1874.\n The Persecution Of The Church In The German Empire.\n The Veil Withdrawn.\n Church Chant _Versus_ Church Music.\n Assunta Howard. V. Sienna.\n Swinburne And De Vere.\n Requies Mea.\n Ontologism And Psychologism.\n Reminiscences Of A Tile\u2010Field.\n The Ingenious Device.\n The Rigi.\n Church Song.\n A Discussion With An Infidel.\n The Ice\u2010Wigwam Of Minnehaha.\n A Russian Sister Of Charity.\n New Publications.\nThe Catholic World. Vol. XX., No. 118.\u2014January, 1875.\n The Persecution Of The Church In The German Empire.\n Christmas\u2010Tide.\n The Veil Withdrawn.\n Another General Convention Of The Protestant Episcopal Church.\n Assunta Howard. Concluded.\n Matter. V.\n Christmas In The Thirteenth Century.\n The Civilization Of Ancient Ireland.\n Robespierre.\n The Better Christmas.\n English And Scotch Scenes.\n The Future Of The Russian Church.\n The Leap For Life.\n The Year Of Our Lord 1874.\n New Publications.\nThe Catholic World. Vol. XX., No. 119.\u2014February, 1875.\n Church Authority And Personal Responsibility:\n The Church In F\u2014\u2014.\n Are You My Wife? Chapter I.\n Religion And State In Our Republic.\n Release.\n The Veil Withdrawn.\n The Brooklet.\n The Colonization Of New South Wales By Great Britain.\n A Summer In Rome.\n Matter. VI.\n Robespierre. Concluded.\n Robert Cavelier De La Salle.\n Birth\u2010Days.\n The Future Of The Russian Church.\n The Bells Of Prayer.\n New Publications.\nThe Catholic World. Vol. XX., No. 120.\u2014March, 1875.\n Italian Documents Of Freemasonry.\n Crown Jewels.\n Are You My Wife? Chapter II.\n The Colonization Of New South Wales By Great Britain. Concluded.\n The Veil Withdrawn.\n A Bit Of Modern Thought On Matter.\n The Blind Student.\n Turning From Darwin To Thomas Aquinas.\n The Future Of The Russian Church.\n Burke And The Revolution.\n Robert Cavelier De La Salle. Concluded.\n The Log Chapel On The Rappahannock.\n New Publications.\nFootnotes\n\n\n\n\n\n\n [Cover Page]\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nAnglicanism, The Present State of, 41.\n\nAnnals of the Moss Troopers, 222.\n\nAnother General Convention of the P. E. Church, 465.\n\nAre you my Wife? 596, 738.\n\nAssunta Howard, 62, 234, 332, 474.\n\nBit of Modern Thought on Matter, A, 786.\n\nBlind Student, The, 802.\n\nBurke and the Revolution, 823.\n\nBussierre\u2019s A Legend of Alsace, 91, 260.\n\nChristmas in the Thirteenth Century, 502.\n\nChurch Authority, etc., 578.\n\nChurch Chant _vs._ Church Music, 145, 317.\n\nCivilization of Ancient Ireland, 506.\n\nColonization of New South Wales by Great Britain, 650, 759.\n\nCongress of the Catholic Germans at Mayence, 109.\n\nCraven\u2019s Veil Withdrawn, 15, 193, 297, 446, 630, 767.\n\nDiscussion with an Infidel, A, 73, 175, 405.\n\nEighteen Hundred and Seventy\u2010Four, 561.\n\nEnglish and Scotch Scenes, 529.\n\nFac\u2010Similes of Irish National MSS., 102, 213.\n\nFuture of the Russian Church, The, 544, 703, 810.\n\nGerman Empire, The Persecution of the Church in the, 289, 433.\n\nIce\u2010Wigwam of Minnehaha, The, 424.\n\nInfidel, A Discussion with an, 73, 175, 405.\n\nIreland, The Civilization of Ancient, 506.\n\nIrish National MSS., 102, 213.\n\nItalian Documents of Freemasonry, 721.\n\nIzdubar, The Poem of, 138.\n\nLa Salle, Robert Cavelier de, 690, 833.\n\nLegend of Alsace, A, 91, 260.\n\nLog Chapel on the Rappahannock, The, 847.\n\nLucerne, 123, 245.\n\nMatter, 1, 272, 487, 666.\n\nMatter, A Bit of Modern Thought on, 786.\n\nMinnehaha, The Ice\u2010Wigwam of, 424.\n\nMoss Troopers, Annals of the, 222.\n\nNew South Wales, The Colonization of, 650, 759.\n\nOn the Wing, 158.\n\nOntologism and Psychologism, 360.\n\nPersecution of the Church in the German Empire, The, 289, 433.\n\nPersonal Responsibility, 578.\n\nPoem of Izdubar, The, 138.\n\nPresent State of Anglicanism, The, 41.\n\nProtestant Episcopal Church, General Convention of the, 465.\n\nReligion and State in our Republic, 615.\n\nReminiscences of a Tile Field, 374.\n\nRigi, The, 388.\n\nRobert Cavelier de La Salle, 690, 833.\n\nRobespierre, 519, 680.\n\nRussian Church, The Future of the, 544, 703.\n\nRussian Sister of Charity, A, 428.\n\nScotch Scenes, 529.\n\nSouthern Flight, A, 158.\n\nSummer in Rome, A, 658.\n\nSwinburne and De Vere, 346.\n\nSwitzerland in 1873, 123, 245.\n\nTile Field, Reminiscences of a, 374.\n\nTondini\u2019s A Russian Sister of Charity, 428.\n\nTondini\u2019s Russian Church, 544, 703, 810.\n\nVeil Withdrawn, The, 15, 193, 297, 446, 630, 767.\n\nYear of our Lord 1874, The, 561.\n\n\n\n\nPoetry.\n\n\nAntar and Zara, 55.\n\nBetter Christmas, The, 528.\n\nBells of Prayer, The, 713.\n\nBirth\u2010Days, 702.\n\nBrooklet, The, 649.\n\nChurch in F\u2014\u2014, The, 595.\n\nChristmas Tide, 443.\n\nChurch Song, 404.\n\nCrown Jewels, 737.\n\nDestiny, 192.\n\nEpisode in the Career of Pres. MacMahon, 557.\n\nHope, 14.\n\nIngenious Device, The, 387.\n\nInscription on the Bell Gabrielle at S. Mary\u2019s of the Lake, Lake George,\n 244.\n\nLeap for Life, The, 557.\n\nRelease, 629.\n\nRequies Mea, 359.\n\nRoger the Rich, 135.\n\nSeptember\u2014Sabbath Rest, 40.\n\nThree Edens, The, 174.\n\nTurning from Darwin to Thomas Aquinas, 809.\n\nVision, A, 157.\n\nWind and Tide, 271.\n\n\n\n\nNew Publications.\n\n\nAlzog\u2019s Universal History, 287.\n\nAnecdote Biographies of Thackeray and Dickens, 143.\n\nAugustine, S., The Works of, 575.\n\nAvancinus\u2019 Meditations, 714.\n\nBateman\u2019s Ierne of Armorica, 720.\n\nBric\u2010a\u2010Brac Series, 143, 576.\n\nCaddell\u2019s Summer Talk about Lourdes, 288.\n\nCatholic Family Almanac for 1875, 429.\n\nCharacteristics from the Writings of John Henry Newman, 860.\n\nCharteris, 288.\n\nComplete Office of Holy Week, The, 860.\n\nCumplido\u2019s The Perfect Lay\u2010Brother, 859.\n\nCurtius\u2019 History of Greece, 288.\n\nDidiot\u2019s The Religious State, 859.\n\nDodge\u2019s Rhymes and Jingles, 576.\n\nExcerpta ex Rituali Romano, 716.\n\nFather Eudes and his Foundations, 839.\n\nFleuriot\u2019s Eagle and Dove, 575.\n\nGreenleaf\u2019s Testimony of the Evangelists Examined, 718.\n\nHarper\u2019s Peace through the Truth, 860.\n\nHewit\u2019s King\u2019s Highway, 574.\n\nHistory of Greece, 288.\n\nHistory of the Catholic Church in Scotland, 287.\n\nHolland\u2019s Mistress of the Manse, 430.\n\nHoly Week, The Complete Office of, 860.\n\nIerne of Armorica, 720.\n\nIllustrated Catholic Almanac for 1875, 429.\n\nKatherine Earle, 288.\n\nKing\u2019s Highway, 574.\n\nLeguay\u2019s The Mistress of Novices, 859.\n\nLessons in Bible History, 715.\n\nLetters of Mr. Gladstone and others, 716.\n\nLetter to the Duke of Norfolk on Gladstone\u2019s Expostulation, 857.\n\nLibrary of the Sacred Heart, 576.\n\nLife of Anne Catherine Emmerich, 142.\n\nMargaret Roper, 860.\n\nMaria Monk\u2019s Daughter, 430.\n\nMarvin\u2019s Philosophy of Spiritualism, 860.\n\nMeditations on the Life and Doctrine of Jesus Christ, 714.\n\nMeline\u2019s Charteris, 288.\n\nMill\u2019s Three Essays on Religion, 575.\n\nMilwaukee Catholic Magazine, 720.\n\nMistress of Novices, The, 859.\n\nMistress of the Manse, 430.\n\nMontgomery\u2019s On the Wing, 860.\n\nMontzey\u2019s Father Eudes, etc., 859.\n\nMorris\u2019 Prisoners of the Temple, 714.\n\nMurray\u2019s Manual of Mythology, 287.\n\nNewman\u2019s Characteristics, 860.\n\nNewman\u2019s Letter, etc., 857.\n\nNobleman of \u201989, The, 714.\n\nNotes on the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, 430.\n\nOn the Wing, 860.\n\nOrdo Divini Officii Recitandi Miss\u00e6que Celebrand\u00e6, juxta Rubricas\n Breviarii ac Missalis Romani, Anno 1875, 719.\n\nOriental and Linguistic Studies, 573.\n\nOutlines of Astronomy, 717.\n\nPeace through the Truth, 860.\n\nPerfect Lay\u2010Brother, The, 859.\n\nPersonal Reminiscences by Barham, Harness, and Hodder, 576.\n\nPhilosophy of Spiritualism, The, 860.\n\nPrisoners of the Temple, The, 714.\n\nProtestant Journalism, 288.\n\nPurgatory Surveyed, 715.\n\nQuinton\u2019s The Nobleman of \u201989, 714.\n\nRam\u2019s Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, 142.\n\nR\u00e9glement Ecclesiastique de Pierre Le Grand, 719.\n\nReligious State, The, etc., 859.\n\nRhymes and Jingles, 576.\n\nSadliers\u2019 Catholic Directory for 1875, 720.\n\nSearle\u2019s Outlines of Astronomy, 717.\n\nSins of the Tongue, 718.\n\nSmith\u2019s Notes on the Council of Baltimore, 430.\n\nStewart\u2019s Margaret Roper, 860.\n\nSummer Talk about Lourdes, 288.\n\nTestimony of the Evangelists Examined, etc., 713.\n\nThree Essays on Religion, 575.\n\nTondini\u2019s R\u00e9glement Ecclesiastique de Pierre Le Grand, 719.\n\nTorrey\u2019s Theory of True Art, 288.\n\nTrafton\u2019s Katherine Earle, 288.\n\nUniversal Church History, 289.\n\nValiant Woman, The, 718.\n\nWalsh\u2019s History of the Catholic Church in Scotland, 287.\n\nWhitney\u2019s Oriental and Linguistic Studies, 573.\n\nWorks of Aurelius Augustine, 575.\n\nYoung Catholic\u2019s Illustrated School Series, 143.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CATHOLIC WORLD. VOL. XX., NO. 115.\u2014OCTOBER, 1874.\n\n\n\n\nMatter. III.\n\n\nThe plain philosophical and scientific proofs by which we have established\nthe _actio in distans_, although sufficient, in our judgment, to convince\nevery unbiassed reader of the truth of the view we have maintained, may\nnevertheless prove inadequate to remove the prejudice of those who regard\nthe time\u2010honored doctrine of action by material contact as axiomatic and\nunassailable. It is true that they cannot upset our arguments; but they\noppose to us other arguments, which they confidently believe to be\nunanswerable. It is therefore necessary for us to supplement our previous\ndemonstration by a careful analysis of the objections which can be made\nagainst it, and to show the intrinsic unsoundness of the reasonings by\nwhich they are supported. This is what we intend to do in the present\narticle.\n\n_A first objection._\u2014The first and chief argument advanced against the\npossibility of _actio in distans_ without a material medium of\ncommunication is thus developed in the _Popular Science Monthly_ for\nNovember, 1873 (p. 94), by J. B. Stallo:\n\n\u201cHow is the mutual action of atoms existing by themselves in complete\ninsulation, and wholly without contact, to be realized in thought? We are\nhere in presence of the old difficulties respecting the possibility of\n_actio in distans_ which presented themselves to the minds of the\nphysicists in Newton\u2019s time, and constituted one of the topics of the\nfamous discussion between Leibnitz and Clarke, in the course of which\nClarke made the remarkable admission that \u2018if one body attracted another\nwithout an intervening body, that would be not a miracle, but a\ncontradiction; for it would be to suppose that a body acts where it is\nnot\u2019\u2014otherwise expressed: Inasmuch as action is but a mode of being, the\nassertion that a body can act where it is not would be tantamount to the\nassertion that a body can be where it is not. This admission was entirely\nin consonance with Newton\u2019s own opinion; indeed, Clarke\u2019s words are but a\nparaphrase of the celebrated passage in one of Newton\u2019s letters to\nBentley, cited by John Stuart Mill in his _System of Logic_, which runs as\nfollows: \u2018It is inconceivable that inanimate brute matter should, without\nthe mediation of something else which is not material, operate upon and\naffect other matter _without mutual contact_.... That gravity should be\ninnate, inherent, and essential to matter, so that one body may act on\nanother, at a distance, through a vacuum, without the mediation of\nanything else by and through which their action and force be conveyed from\none to the other, is to me so great an absurdity that I believe no man,\nwho in philosophical matters has a competent faculty of thinking, can ever\nfall into it.\u2019 \u201d\n\nBefore we enter into the discussion of this objection we must remark that\nit is scarcely fair to allege Newton\u2019s view as contrary to _actio in\ndistans_. For he neither requires a material contact of matter with matter\nnor a material medium of communication; he says, on the contrary, that the\ninanimate brute matter needs _the mediation of something else which is not\nmaterial_; which amounts to saying that his inanimate brute matter must\nhave all around a non\u2010material sphere of power, without which it would\nnever reach any distant matter. This assertion, far from being a denial of\n_actio in distans_, seems rather to be a remote endeavor towards its\nexplanation; and it may be surmised that, had Newton been as well\nacquainted with the metaphysical doctrine about the essential constituents\nof substance as he was with the mathematical formulas of mechanics, he\nwould have recognized in his \u201cinanimate brute matter\u201d the potential\nconstituent of material substance, and in his \u201csomething else which is not\nmaterial\u201d the formal constituent of the same substance and the principle\nof its operation. The only objectionable phrase we find in the passage now\nunder consideration is that in which he describes action and force as\n_conveyed_ from matter to matter. But, as he explicitly maintains that\nthis convection requires no material medium, the phrase, whatever may be\nits verbal inaccuracy, is not scientifically wrong, and cannot be brought\nto bear against the _actio in distans_. We therefore dismiss this part of\nthe objection as preposterous, and shall at once turn our attention to\nClarke\u2019s argument, which may be reduced to the syllogistic form thus:\n\n\u201cA body cannot act where it is not present either by itself or by its\npower. But _actio in distans_ is an action which would be exerted where\nthe body is not present by itself, as is evident; and where the body is\nnot present by its power, as there is no medium of communication.\nTherefore the _actio in distans_ is an impossibility.\u201d\n\nThe objection, though extremely plausible, is based on a false\nassumption\u2014that is, on the supposition that there can be distance from the\nactive power of one element to the matter of another. The truth is that,\nhowever far matter may be distant from matter, no active power can ever be\ndistant from it. For no distance in space is conceivable without two\nformal ubications. Now, a material element has undoubtedly a formal\nubication in space by reason of its matter, which is the centre of its\nsphere of activity, but not by reason of its active power. Distances, in\nfact, are always measured from a point to a point, and never from a point\nto an active power, nor from an active power to a point. The matter of a\nprimitive element marks out a point in space, and from this point we take\nthe direction of its exertions; but the power of an element, as\ncontradistinguished from its matter, is not a point in space, nor does it\nmark a point in space, nor is it conceivable as a term of distance. And\ntherefore to suppose that there may be a distance from the active power of\nan element to the point where another element is ubicated, is to make a\nfalse supposition. The active power transcends the predicament _ubi_, and\nhas no place within which we can confine it; it is not circumscribed like\nmatter, and is not transmissible, as the objection supposes, from place to\nplace through any material medium; it is ready, on the contrary, to act\ndirectly and immediately upon any matter existing in its indefinite(1)\nsphere, while its own matter is circumscriptively ubicated in that single\npoint(2) which is the centre of the same sphere. Prof. Faraday explicitly\naffirmed that \u201ceach atom extends, so to say, throughout the whole of the\nsolar system, yet always retains its own centre of force\u201d;(3) which, in\nmetaphysical language, means that while _the matter_ of a primitive\nelement occupies a single point, _the form_ constitutes around it an\nindefinite sphere of power. And for this reason it was Faraday\u2019s opinion\nthat the words _actio in distans_ should not be employed in science. For\nalthough the matter of one body is distant from the matter of another, yet\nthe power that acts is not distant; and therefore, although there is no\ncontact of matter with matter, there is a _contactus virtutis_, or a\ncontact of power with matter, which alone is required for the production\nof the effect.\n\nWe are far from supposing that the adversaries of the _actio in distans_\nwill be silenced by the preceding answer; as it is very probable that the\nanswer itself will be to many of them a source of new difficulties. Still,\nmany things are true which are difficult to be understood; and it would be\nagainst reason to deny truths sufficiently inferred from facts, only on\naccount of the difficulty which we experience in giving a popular\nexplanation of them. Those who, to avoid such a difficulty, deny action at\na distance, expose themselves to other difficulties which are much more\nreal, as admitting of no possible solution; and if they reject actions at\na distance because their explanation appears to be difficult, they are\nalso bound to reject even more decidedly all actions by material contact;\nfor these indeed admit of no explanation whatever, as we have already\nshown.(4)\n\nTo understand and explain how material elements can act at any distance is\ndifficult, for this one radical reason: that our intellectual work is\nnever purely intellectual, but is always accompanied by the working of\nthat other very useful, but sometimes mischievous, power which we call\nimagination; and because, when we are trying to understand something that\ntranscends imagination, and of which no sensible image can be formed, our\nintellect finds itself under the necessity of working without the\nassistance of suitable sensible representations. Our imagination, however,\ncannot remain inactive, and therefore it strives continually to supply the\nintellect with new images; but as these, unhappily, are not calculated to\nafford any exact representation of intellectual things, the intellect,\ninstead of receiving help from the imagination, is rather embarrassed and\nled astray by it. On the other hand, the words which we are generally\nobliged to use in speaking of intellectual objects are more or less\nimmediately drawn from sensible things, and have still a certain\nconnection with sensible images. With such words, our explanations must,\nof course, be metaphorical in some degree, and represent the intelligible\nthrough the sensible, even when the latter is incompatible with the\nformer. This is one of the reasons why, in some cases, men fail to express\nintelligibly and in an unobjectionable manner their most intellectual\nthoughts. True it is that the metaphysicians, by the definite form of\ntheir terminology, have greatly diminished this last difficulty; but, as\ntheir language is little known outside of the philosophical world, our use\nof it will scarcely help the common reader to understand what it conveys.\nOn the contrary, the greater the exactness of our expressions, the more\nstrange and absurd our style will appear to him who knows of no other\nlanguage than that of his senses, his imagination, and popular prejudice.\n\nThese general remarks apply most particularly to _actio in distans_. It is\nobjected that a cause cannot act where it is not, and where its power is\nnot conveyed through a material medium. Now, this proposition is to be\nranked among those which nothing but popular prejudice, incompleteness of\nconception, and imperfection of language cause to be received as\naxiomatic. We have pointed out that no material medium exists through\nwhich power can be conveyed; but as the objection is presented in popular\nterms and appeals to imagination, whilst our answer has no such advantage,\nit is very probable that the objection will keep its ground as long as men\nwill be led by imagination more than by intellect. To avoid this danger,\nFaraday preferred to say that \u201cthe atom [primitive element] of matter is\neverywhere present,\u201d and therefore can act everywhere. But by this answer\nthe learned professor, while trying to avoid Scylla, struck against\nCharybdis. For, if the element of matter is everywhere present, then\nWestminster Abbey, for instance, is everywhere present; which cannot be\ntrue in the ordinary sense of the words. In fact, we are accustomed to say\nthat a body is present, not in that place where its action is felt, but in\nthat from which the direction of the action proceeds, and since such a\ndirection proceeds from the centres of power, to these centres alone we\nrefer when we point out the place occupied by a body. Prof. Faraday, on\nthe contrary, refers to the active powers when he says that matter is\neverywhere present; for he considers the elements as consisting of power\nalone.(5) But this way of speaking is irreconcilable with the notions we\nhave of determinate places, distances, etc., and creates a chaotic\nconfusion in all our ideas of material things. He speaks more correctly in\nthe passage which we have already mentioned, where he states that \u201ceach\natom [element] extends, _so to say_, throughout the whole of the solar\nsystem, yet always retaining its own centre of force.\u201d Here the words \u201cso\nto say\u201d tell us clearly that the author, having found no proper terms to\nexpress himself, makes use of a metaphor, and attributes _extension_ to\nthe material elements in a sense which is not yet adopted in common use.\nHe clearly wishes to say that \u201ceach element extends _virtually_ throughout\nspace, though it _materially_ occupies only the central point from which\nits action is directed.\u201d\n\nThis latter answer is very good. But people are not likely to realize its\nfull meaning; for in speaking of material substance men frequently\nconfound that which belongs to it by reason of its matter with that which\nbelongs to it by reason of its substantial form. It is evident, however,\nthat if the substance had no matter, it would not mark out a point in\nspace; it is, therefore, only on account of its matter that a substance is\nformally ubicated.\n\nAs to the substantial form (which is the principle of activity), although\nit is said to have a kind of ubication on account of the matter to which\nit is terminated, nevertheless, of itself, it has no capability of formal\nubication, as we have already shown. Hence the extent to which the active\npower of an element can be applied is not to be measured by the ubication\nof its matter; and although no cause can act where it is not virtually by\nits power, yet a cause can act where it is not present by its matter.\n\nThe direct answer to the argument proposed would, therefore, be as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cA body cannot act where it is not present either by itself or by its\npower.\u201d _Granted._\n\n\u201cBut _actio in distans_ is an action which would be exerted where the body\nis not present by itself, as is evident.\u201d _Granted._ \u201cAnd where the body\nis not present by its power.\u201d _False._\n\nTo the reason adduced, that \u201cthere is no medium of communication,\u201d we\nsimply reply that such a medium is not required, as the active power\nconstitutes an indefinite sphere, and is already present after its own\nmanner (that is, virtually) wherever it is to be exerted; and therefore it\nhas no need of being transmitted through a medium.\n\nThis is the radical solution of the difficulty proposed. But the notion of\nan indefinite sphere of activity, on which this solution is grounded, is,\nin the eyes of our opponents, only a whimsical invention, inconsistent, as\nthey think, with the received principles of philosophy. We must therefore\nvindicate our preceding answer against their other objections.\n\n_A second objection._\u2014A sphere of power, they say, is a mere absurdity.\nFor how can the active power be there, where its matter is not? The matter\nis the first subject of its form; and therefore the form must be in the\nmatter, and not outside of it. But in a primitive substance the active\npower is entitatively the same thing with the substantial form;\naccordingly, the active power of a primitive substance must be entirely in\nits matter, and not outside of it. And the same conclusion is to be\napplied to the powers of all material compounds; for in all cases the form\nmust be supported by the matter. How is it, then, possible to admit a\nsphere of power outside of its matter, and so distant from its matter as\nis the sun from the planets?\n\nThis objection, which we have often heard from men who should have known\nbetter, is wholly grounded on a false conception of the relation between\nthe matter and the form of a primitive being. It is false, in fact, that\nthe matter _supports_ the substantial form, and it is false that the\nsubstantial form exists in the matter as in a subject. The accidental act\nrequires a _subject_ already existing; but the substantial act requires\nonly a potential term to which it has to give the first existence. This is\nevident; because if the substantial act ought to be supported by a real\nsubject, this real subject would be an actual substance before receiving\nthe same substantial act; which is a contradiction in terms. And therefore\nthe form is not _supported_ by the matter, but only _terminated_ to it;\nand the matter is not the _subject_ of the form, though it is so called by\nmany, but is only the substantial _term_, to which the substantial form\ngives existence. \u201cProperly speaking,\u201d says S. Thomas, \u201cthat which is\npotential in regard to some accidental actuality is called _subject_. For\nthe subject gives actuality to the accident, as the accident has no\nactuality except through its subject; and for this reason we say that\naccidents are in a subject, whereas _we do not say that the substantial\nform is in a subject_. \u2018Matter,\u2019 therefore, and \u2018subject,\u2019 differ in this:\nthat \u2018subject\u2019 means something which does not receive its actuality by the\naccession of anything else, but exists by itself and possesses a complete\nactuality (as, for example, a white man does not receive his being from\nhis whiteness). \u2018Matter,\u2019 on the contrary, means something which receives\nits actuality from that which is given to it; because matter has, of\nitself, only an incomplete being, or rather no being at all, as the\nCommentator says. Hence, to speak properly, the form gives existence to\nthe matter; whereas the accident gives no existence to the subject, as it\nis the subject that gives existence to the accident. Yet \u2018matter\u2019 is\nsometimes confounded with \u2018subject,\u2019 and _vice versa_.\u201d(6)\n\nFrom this doctrine it is manifest that the matter is not the subject of\nthe substantial form, and consequently that the form, or the principle of\nactivity, is in no need of being supported by its matter. It is rather the\nmatter itself that needs to be supported\u2014that is, kept in existence\u2014by its\nform; as it has no being except from it. The matter is potency, and the\nform is act; now, all act is nobler than its corresponding potency. It is\nnot, therefore, the potency that determines the conditions of existence of\nits act, but the act itself determines the conditions of existence of its\npotency. And thus it is not the matter that determines the range of its\nform, but it is the form that determines the being of its own matter, in\nthe same manner as the form of a body determines its centre of gravity.\nThese considerations, which will hereafter receive a greater development,\nsuffice to show that the range of the elementary power is not determined\nor circumscribed by its material term. And thus the objection is\nsubstantially destroyed.\n\nThose who make this objection suppose that the activity of a material\nelement is entitatively enclosed, embedded, and merged in the matter as in\na physical recipient by which it must be circumscribed. This supposition\nis a gross philosophical blunder. The matter of a primitive element is not\na physical recipient of the substantial form; for it is nothing physically\nbefore it is actuated. The substantial form gives to the matter its first\nbeing; and therefore it cannot be related to it as the enclosed to the\nencloser or the supported to the supporter, but only as the determiner to\nthe determinable. This is an obvious metaphysical truth that cannot be\nquestioned. Moreover, the form can determine the existence of a material\npoint in space without being itself confined to that point. This is very\nclearly inferred from the fact already established, viz., that a material\npoint acts all around itself in accordance with the Newtonian law; for\nthis fact compels the conception of a material element as a virtual\nsphere, of which the matter is the central point, while its virtual\nsphericity must be traced to the special character of the form. Now,\nalthough the centre of a sphere borrows all its centric reality from the\nsphericity of which it is the intrinsic term, yet the sphericity itself\ncannot be confined within its own centre; which shows that, although the\nmatter of an element borrows all its reality from the substantial form of\nwhich it is the essential term, yet the substantial form itself, on\naccount of its known spherical character, must virtually extend all around\nits matter, and constitute, so to say, an atmosphere of power expanding as\nfar, at least, from the central point as is necessary for the production\nof the phenomena of universal gravitation.\n\nNor can this be a sufficient ground for inferring, as the objection does,\nthat in such a case the form would be distant from its matter as much as\nthe sun is from the planets. The form, as such, cannot be considered as a\nterm of the relation of distance; for, as we have already remarked, there\nis no distance without two formal ubications. Now, the form, as such, has\nno formal ubication, but is reduced to the predicament _ubi_ only by the\nubication of its own matter. Hence it is impossible rationally to conceive\na distance between the matter and its form, however great may be the\nsphere of activity of the material element. When the substantial form is\nregarded as a principle of accidental actions, we may indeed consider it,\nif not as composed of, at least as equivalent to, a continuous series of\nconcentric spherical forms overlying one another throughout the whole\nrange of activity; and we may thus conceive every one of them as\n_virtually_ distant from the material centre, its virtual distance being\nmeasured by its radius. But, strictly speaking, the radius measures the\ndistance between the agent and the patient, not between the agent and its\nown power; and, on the other hand, as the imagined series of concentric\nsphericities continues uninterruptedly up to the very centre of the\nsphere, we can easily perceive that the substantial form, even as a\nprinciple of action, is immediately and intrinsically terminated to its\nown matter.\n\n_A third objection._\u2014What conception can we form of an _indefinite_\nsphere? For a sphere without a spherical surface is inconceivable. But an\nindefinite sphere is a sphere without a spherical surface; for if there\nwere a surface, there would be a limit; and if there were a limit, the\nsphere would not extend indefinitely. It is therefore impossible to\nconceive an indefinite sphere of activity.\n\nThis objection is easily answered. A sphere without a spherical _form_ is\nindeed inconceivable; but it is not necessary that the spherical form\nshould be a _limiting_ surface, as the objection assumes. We may imagine\nan indefinite sphere of matter; that is, a body having a density\ncontinually decreasing in the inverse ratio of the squared distances from\na central point. Its sphericity would consist in the spherical decrease of\nits density; which means that the body would be a sphere, not on account\nof an exterior spherical limit, but on account of its interior\nconstitution. Now, what we say of an indefinite sphere of matter applies,\nby strict analogy, to an indefinite sphere of power. Only, in passing from\nthe former to the latter, the word _density_ should be replaced by\n_intensity_; for intensity is to power what density is to matter. And thus\nan indefinite sphere of power may have its spherical character within\nitself without borrowing it from a limiting surface. We may, therefore,\nconsider this third objection as solved.\n\nLet us add that in our sphere of power not only all the conditions are\nfulfilled which the law of gravitation requires, but, what is still more\nsatisfactory, all the conditions also which befit the metaphysical\nconstitution of a primitive substance. We have a centre (_matter_), the\nexistence of which essentially depends on the existence of a principle of\nactivity (_form_) constituting a virtual sphere. Take away the substantial\nform, and the matter will cease to have existence. Take away the virtual\nsphericity, and the centre will be no more. But let the spherical form be\ncreated; the centre will immediately be called into existence as the\nessential and intrinsic term of sphericity, it being impossible for a real\nsphericity not to give existence to a real centre. And although this\nspherical form possesses an intensity of power decreasing in proportion as\nthe sphere expands, still it has everywhere the same property of giving\nexistence to its centre, since it has everywhere an intrinsic spherical\ncharacter essentially connected with a central point as its indispensable\nterm. Whence we see that the substantial form, though virtually extending\ninto an indefinite sphere, is everywhere terminated to its own matter.\nThus the Newtonian law and the _actio in distans_, far from being opposed\nto the known metaphysical law of the constitution of things, serve rather\nto make it more evident by affording us the means of representing to\nourselves in an intelligible and almost tangible manner the ontologic\nrelation of matter and form in the primitive substance.\n\n_A fourth objection._\u2014A power which virtually extends throughout an\nindefinite sphere must possess an infinite intensity. But no material\nelement possesses a power of infinite intensity. Therefore no element\nextends its power throughout an indefinite sphere. The major of this\nsyllogism is proved thus: In an indefinite sphere we can conceive an\ninfinite multitude of concentric spherical surfaces, to every one of which\nthe active power of the element can be applied for the production of a\nfinite effect. But the finite taken an infinite number of times gives\ninfinity. Therefore the total action of an element in its sphere will be\ninfinite; which requires a power of infinite intensity.\n\nThe answer to this objection is not difficult. From the fact that the\nactive powers virtually extend through an indefinite sphere and act\neverywhere in accordance with the Newtonian law, it is impossible to prove\nthat material elements possess a power of infinite intensity. We concede,\nof course, that in an indefinite sphere \u201can infinite multitude of\nconcentric spherical surfaces can be conceived, to every one of which the\nactive power of the element can be applied for the production of a finite\neffect.\u201d We also concede that \u201cthe finite taken an infinite number of\ntimes gives infinity.\u201d But when it is argued that therefore \u201cthe total\naction of an element in its sphere will be infinite,\u201d we must distinguish.\nThe total action will be infinite in this sense: that it would reach an\ninfinite multitude of terms, if they existed in its sphere, and produce in\neach of them a determinate effect, according to their distance\u2014this we\nconcede. The total action will be infinite\u2014that is, the total effort of\nthe element will be infinitely intense; this we deny. The schoolmen would\nbriefly answer that the action will be infinite _terminative_, but not\n_intensive_. This distinction, which entirely upsets the objection, needs\na few words of explanation.\n\nIn the action of one element upon another the power of the agent, while\nexerted on the patient, is not prevented from exerting itself at the very\nsame time upon any other element existing in its sphere of activity. This\nis a well\u2010known physical law. Hence the same element can emit a thousand\nactions simultaneously, without possessing a thousand powers or a\nthousandfold power, by the simultaneous application of its single power to\na thousand different terms. The actions of an agent are therefore\nindefinitely multiplied by the mere multiplication of the terms, with no\nmultiplication of the active power; and accordingly an active power of\nfinite intensity may have an infinite applicability. This is true of all\ncreated powers. Our intellect, for instance, is substantially finite, and\nyet it can investigate and understand any number of intelligible objects.\nThis amounts to saying that, if there is no limit to possible intellectual\nconceptions, there is no limit to the number of intelligible terms; but\nfrom this fact it would be absurd to infer that a created intellect has a\npower of infinite intensity. In like manner, the motive power of a\nmaterial element is substantially finite, and yet it can be applied to the\nproduction of a number of movements which has no limit but the number of\nthe terms capable of receiving the motion. The infinity of the total\naction is therefore grounded on an assumed infinity of terms, not on an\ninfinite intensity of the power.\n\nNor can this be a matter of surprise. For, as the motive power is not\ntransmitted from the agent to the patient, it remains whole and entire in\nthe agent, however much it may be exerted in all directions. It is not\nabsorbed, or exhausted, or weakened by its exertions, and, while acting on\nany number of terms, is yet ready to act on any number of other terms as\nintensely as it would on each of them separately. If ten new planets were\nnow created, the sun would need no increase of power to attract them all;\nits actual power would suffice to govern their course without the least\ninterference with the gravitation of the other existing planets. And the\nreason of this is that the power of all material elements is naturally\ndetermined to act, and therefore needs no other condition for its exertion\nthan the presence of the movable terms within the reach of its activity.\nThe number of such terms is therefore at every instant the measure of the\nnumber of the real actions.\n\nWe have said that the active power is not weakened by its exertions. In\nfact, a cause is never weakened by the mere production of its connatural\neffects, but only because, while producing its effects, it is subjected to\nthe action of other agents which tends to alter and break up its natural\nconstitution. Now, to be altered and impaired may be the lot of those\ncauses whose causality arises from the conspiration of many active\nprinciples, as is the case with all the physical compounds. But primitive\ncauses, such as the first elements of matter, are altogether unalterable\nand incorruptible with respect to their substantial being, and can never\nbe impaired. When we burn a piece of paper, the paper with its composition\nis destroyed, but we know that its first components remain unaltered, and\npreserve still the same active powers which they possessed when they were\nall united in the piece of paper.\n\nThis incontrovertible fact maybe confirmed _\u00e0 priori_ by reflecting that\nthe active principle, or the substantial form, of a primitive element, is\nnot exposed to the influence of any natural agent capable of impairing it.\nEverything that is impaired is impaired by its contrary. Now, the active\nprinciple has no contrary. The only thing which might be imagined to be\ncontrary to a motive power would be a motive power of an opposite nature,\nsuch as the repulsive against the attractive. Motive powers, however, do\nnot act on one another, but on their matter only, as matter alone is\npassive. On the other hand, even if one power could act on another, its\nmotive action would only produce an accidental determination to local\nmovement, which determination surely would not alter in the least the\nsubstance of a primitive being. Hence, although two opposite actions, when\nterminated to the same subject, can neutralize each other, yet two\nopposite motive powers can never exercise any influence on each other by\ntheir natural actions; and therefore, in spite of their finite entity,\nthey are never impaired or weakened, and are applicable to the production\nof an unlimited number of actions.\n\n_A fifth objection._\u2014An action of infinite intensity cannot but proceed\nfrom a power of infinite intensity. But, according to the Newtonian law,\ntwo elements, when their distance has become infinitely small, act on one\nanother with an intensity infinitely great. Therefore, if the Newtonian\nlaw hold good even to the very centre of the element, the elementary power\npossesses infinite intensity.\n\nTo this we reply that the mathematical expression of the intensity of the\naction, in the case of infinitesimal distances, does not become infinite,\nexcept when the action is supposed to last for a finite unit of time. But\nthe action continued for a finite unit of time is not the _actual_ action\nof an element; it is the integral of all the actions exerted in the\ninfinite series of infinitesimal instants which makes up the finite unit\nof time. To judge of the true intensity of the actual exertion, it is\nnecessary to exclude from the calculation the whole of the past or future\nactions, and to take into account the only action which corresponds to the\ninfinitesimal present. In other terms, the actual action is expressed, not\nby an integral, but by a differential. In fact, the elements act when they\nare, not when they have been, or when they will be; they act in their\npresent, not in their future or in their past; and the present, the _now_,\nis only an instant, which, though connecting the past with the future, has\nin itself neither past nor future, and therefore has a rigorously\ninfinitesimal duration. It is this instant, and not the finite unit of\ntime, that measures the actual effort of the elements. Accordingly, the\naction as actually proceeding from the elements, when at infinitesimal\ndistance, is infinitely less than the integral calculated for a finite\nunit of time; which shows that the argument proposed has no foundation.\n\nThis answer serves also to complete our solution of the preceding\nobjection. It was there objected that the active power of an element can\nbe applied to the production of an infinite multitude of _finite_ effects;\nto which we answered that a finite power was competent to do this by being\napplied simultaneously to an infinite multitude of terms. But now we add\nthat none of those effects acquire a _finite_ intensity, except by the\ncontinuation of the action during a finite unit of time, and therefore\nthat the true effect produced in every instant of time is infinitesimal.\nHence the infinite multitude of such effects, as related to the instant of\ntheir actual production, is an infinite multitude of infinitesimals, and\nthe total effort of a primitive element in every instant of time is\ntherefore finite, not infinite.\n\n_A sixth objection._\u2014If we admit that a material element has an indefinite\nsphere of power, we must also admit that the element has a kind of\nimmensity. For the active power must evidently be present entitatively in\nall the parts of space where it is ready to act. Accordingly, as by the\nhypothesis it is ready to act everywhere, its sphere being unlimited, it\nmust be present everywhere and extend without limit. In other words, the\nelementary power would share with God the attribute of immensity\u2014which is\nimpossible.\n\nThis objection, which, in spite of its apparent strength, contains only an\nappeal to imagination instead of intellect, might be answered from S.\nThomas in two different ways. The first answer is suggested by the\nfollowing passage: \u201cThe phrase, _A thing is everywhere and in all times_,\ncan be understood in two manners: First, as meaning that the thing\npossesses in its entity the reason of its extending to every place and to\nevery time; and in this manner it is proper of God to be everywhere and\nfor ever. Secondly, as meaning that the thing has nothing in itself by\nwhich it be determined to a certain place or time.\u201d(7) According to this\ndoctrine, a thing can be conceived to be everywhere, either by a positive\nintrinsic determination to fill all space, or by the absence of any\ndetermination implying a special relation to place. We might therefore\nadmit that the elementary power is everywhere in this second manner; for\nalthough the matter of an element marks out a point in space, we have seen\nthat its power, as such, has no determination by which it can be confined\nto a limited space. And yet nothing would oblige us to concede that the\nactive power of an element, by its manner of being everywhere, \u201cshares in\nGod\u2019s immensity\u201d; for it is evident that an absence of determination has\nnothing common with a positive determination, and is not a share of it.\n\nThe second answer is suggested by a passage in which the holy doctor\ninquires \u201cwhether to be everywhere be an attribute of God alone,\u201d and in\nwhich he proposes to himself the objection that \u201cuniversals are\neverywhere; so also the first matter, as existing in all bodies, is\neverywhere; and therefore something is everywhere besides God.\u201d To which\nhe very briefly replies: \u201cUniversals and the first matter are indeed\neverywhere, but they have not everywhere the same being.\u201d(8) This answer\ncan be applied to the active power of primitive elements with as much\nreason, to say the least, as it is to the first matter. The active power\nmay therefore be admitted to be everywhere, not indeed like God, who is\neverywhere _formally_, and \u201chas everywhere the same being,\u201d but in a quite\ndifferent manner\u2014that is, by extending everywhere _virtually_, and by\npossessing everywhere a different degree of virtual being. We know, in\nfact, that this is the case, as the exertions of such a power become\nweaker and weaker in proportion as the object acted on is more and more\ndistant from the centre of activity.\n\nYet a third answer, which may prove to be the best, can be drawn from the\ndirect comparison of the pretended immensity of the elementary power with\nthe real immensity of the divine substance. God\u2019s immensity is an infinite\nattribute, which contains in itself the formal reason of the existence of\nspace, and therefore eminently contains in itself all possible ubications.\nBy his immensity God is essentially everywhere with his whole substance,\nand is as infinite and entire in any one point of space as he is in the\nwhole of the universe and outside of it. On the other hand, what is the\npretended immensity of the elementary power? It is unnecessary to remark\nthat an indefinite sphere of power does not give existence to space, as it\npresupposes it; but it is important to notice that, however great may be\nthe expansion of that virtual sphere, the essence and the substance of the\nelement are absolutely confined to that single point, where its form is\nterminated to its matter. Both matter and form are included in the essence\nof an element; hence there only can the element be with its essence and\nsubstance where its matter and its form are together. But they are not\ntogether, except in a single point. Therefore the element, however great\nmay be the virtual expansion of its sphere of power, is essentially and\nsubstantially present only in a single point.\n\nFrom this every one will see that there is no danger of confounding the\nvirtual ubiquity of created power with God\u2019s immensity. Divine immensity\nhas been ingeniously, though somewhat strangely, defined by a philosopher\nto be \u201ca sphere of which the centre is everywhere.\u201d The power of an\nelement, on the contrary, is \u201ca sphere of which the centre is ubicated in\na single point.\u201d If this does not preclude the notion that the element\n\u201cshares in God\u2019s immensity,\u201d we fail to see why every creature should not\nshare also in God\u2019s eternity, by its existence in each successive moment\nof time. The objection is therefore insignificant. As to the virtual\nsphere itself, we must bear in mind that its power loses continually in\nintensity as the virtual expansion is increased, till millions of millions\nof elements are required to produce the least appreciable effect. Hence\nthe virtuality of elementary powers tends continually towards zero as its\nlimit, although it never reaches it. And as a decreasing series, though\nimplying an infinity of terms, may have a finite value, as mathematicians\nknow, so the virtuality of the elementary powers, although extending after\nits own manner beyond any finite limit, represents only a finite property\nof a finite being.\n\nFrom what we have said in these pages the intelligent reader will realize,\nwe hope, that the much\u2010maligned _actio in distans_, as explained by us\naccording to Faraday\u2019s conception, can bear any amount of philosophical\nscrutiny. The principles which have formed the basis of our preceding\nanswers are the three following:\n\n1st. Motive powers have no other formal ubication than that from which\ntheir exertions proceed;\n\n2d. Motive powers are never distant from any matter;\n\n3d. Motive powers are not merged or embedded in the matter to which they\nbelong, but constitute a virtual sphere around it.\n\nThat _actio in distans_ not only is possible, but is the only action\npossible with the material agents, has been proved in our preceding\narticle. The embarrassment we experience in its explanation arises, not\nfrom our reason, but from our habit of relying too much on our\nimagination. \u201cImagination,\u201d says S. Thomas, \u201ccannot rise above space and\ntime.\u201d We depict to ourselves intellectual relations as local relations.\nThe idea that a material point situated on the earth can exert its power\non the polar star suggests to us the thought that the active power of that\nelement must share the ubication of the polar star, and be locally present\nto it. Yet the true relation of the power to the star is not a local\nrelation, and the exertion of the power is not terminated to the _place_\nwhere the star is, but to the _star_ itself as to its proper subject; and\ntherefore the relation is a relation of act to potency, not a relation of\nlocal presence.\n\nThere is nothing local in the principle of activity, except the central\npoint from which its action is directed; and there is nothing local in its\naction, except the direction from that central point to the subject to\nwhich the action is terminated. True it is that we speak of _a sphere_ of\npower, which seems to imply local relations. But such a sphere is not\nlocally determined by the power, which has no ubication, but by the matter\nto which that power is to be applied. For the necessity of admitting a\nsphere of power arises from the fact that all the matter placed at equal\ndistance from the centre of activity is equally acted on. It is only from\nmatter to matter that distance can be conceived; and thus it is only from\nmatter to matter, and not from matter to power, that the radius of a\nsphere can be traced. Abstract geometry deals with imaginary points, but\nphysical geometry requires real points of matter.\n\nPower is above geometry, and therefore it transcends space; hence the\ndifficulty of understanding its nature and of explaining the mode of its\noperation. Nevertheless, power and matter are made for one another, and\nmust have a mutual co\u2010ordination, since they necessarily conspire into\nunity of essence. Hence whatever can be predicated _potentially_ of the\nmatter can be _virtually_ predicated of the power; and, as the matter of\nan element, though actuated in a single point of space, is everywhere\n_potentially_\u2014viz., can be moved to any distant place\u2014so also the\nprinciple of activity, though formally terminated to a single point, is\neverywhere _virtually_\u2014that is, it can impart motion to matter at any\ndistance. Thus _actio in distans_ might directly be inferred, as a\nnecessary result, from the ontological correlation of the essential\nprinciples of matter. But we have no need of _\u00e0 priori_ arguments, as, in\nquestions of fact, the best arguments are those which arise from the\nanalysis of the facts themselves. These arguments we have already given;\nand, so long as they are not refuted, we maintain that nothing but _actio\nin distans_ offers a philosophical explanation of natural facts.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nHope.\n\n\nYouthful hope around thee lingers;\n Soon its transient lines will fly:\nTime and Death with frosty fingers\n Touch its blossoms, and they die.\n\nYet rejoice while hope is keeping\n Watch upon her emerald throne.\nEre thy cheek is pale with weeping,\n Ere thy dreams of love have flown.\n\n\n\n\nThe Veil Withdrawn.\n\n\nTranslated, By Permission, From The French Of Madame Craven, Author Of \u201cA\nSister\u2019s Story,\u201d \u201cFleurange,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n\nXVI.\n\n\nAs soon as I rose from my place I perceived the young lady who had been\ncollecting money in the morning not far off. She was going by with her\nmother without observing me, and I followed in the crowd that was making\nits way to the door. But a pouring rain was falling from the clouds which\nwere so threatening two hours before, and a great many who were going out\nsuddenly stopped and came back to remain under shelter during the shower.\nIn consequence of this I all at once found myself beside the young lady,\nwho was diligently seeking her mother, from whom she had been separated by\nthe crowd. She observed me this time, and with a child\u2010like smile and a\ntone of mingled terror and confidence that were equally touching, said:\n\n\u201cExcuse me, madame, but, as you are taller than I, please tell me if you\nsee my mother\u2014a lady in black with a gray hat.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I replied, \u201cI see her, and she is looking for you also. I will aid\nyou in reaching her.\u201d\n\nWe had some trouble in opening a passage, but after some time succeeded in\ngetting to the place where her mother had been pushed by the crowd at some\ndistance from the door of the church. She was looking anxiously in every\ndirection, and when she saw us her face lighted up, and she thanked me\nwith equal simplicity and grace of manner for the service I had rendered\nher daughter. We conversed together for some minutes, during which I\nlearned that though I had met them twice that day in the same church, it\nwas not the one they usually attended, their home being in another quarter\nof the city. The daughter had been invited to collect money at S. Roch\u2019s\nthat day, and wishing, for some reason, to be at home by four o\u2019clock,\nthey had returned for the afternoon service, which ends an hour earlier\nthere than anywhere else. This variation from their usual custom had\nprobably caused a misunderstanding about the carriage which should have\nbeen at the door, and they felt embarrassed about getting to the Rue St.\nDominique, where they resided, as the violent rain prevented them from\ngoing on foot. Glad to be able to extricate them from their embarrassment,\nI at once offered to take them home in my carriage, which was at the door.\nThey accepted the offer with gratitude. Their manners and language would\nhave left no doubt as to their rank, even if I had not met them in\nsociety. And I soon learned more than enough to satisfy me on this point.\n\nAs soon as we were seated in the carriage the elder of the two ladies\nsaid: \u201cI know whom I have to thank for the favor you have done me, madame,\nfor no one can forget the Duchessa di Valenzano who has ever seen her,\neven but once, and no one can be ignorant of her name, which is in every\nmouth. But it is not the same with us. Allow me, therefore, to say that I\nam the Comtesse de Kergy, and this is my daughter Diana, ... who is very\nhappy, I assure you, as well as surprised, at the accident that has\nbrought her in contact with one she has talked incessantly about ever\nsince she had the happiness of seeing you first.\u201d\n\nHer daughter blushed at these words, but did not turn away her eyes, which\nwere fastened on me with a sympathetic expression of charming _na\u00efvet\u00e9_\nthat inspired an irresistible attraction towards her in return. The name\nof Kergy was a well\u2010known one. I had heard it more than once, and was\ntrying to recall when and where I heard it for the first time, when, as we\nwere crossing the Place du Carrousel, the young Diana, looking at the\nclock on the Tuileries, suddenly exclaimed:\n\n\u201cIt is just going to strike four. We ought to feel greatly obliged to\nmadame, mamma for, had it not been for her, we should have been extremely\nlate, and Gilbert would have been surprised and anxious at our not\narriving punctually.\u201d\n\nGilbert!... This name refreshed my memory. Gilbert de Kergy was the name\nof the young traveller whom I had once seen at the large dinner\u2010party. He\nmust be the very person in question.... Before I had time to ask, Mme. de\nKergy put an end to my uncertainty on the subject.\n\n\u201cMy son,\u201d said she, \u201chas recently made an interesting tour in the Southern\nStates of America, and it is with respect to this journey there is to be a\ndiscussion to\u2010day which we promised to attend. I have given up my large\n_salon_ for the purpose, on condition (a condition Diana proposed) that\nthe meeting should end with a small collection in behalf of the orphan\nasylum for which she was soliciting contributions this morning\u2014a work in\nwhich she is greatly interested.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy husband, who has also travelled a great deal,\u201d I replied, \u201chad, I\nbelieve, the pleasure of meeting M. de Kergy on one occasion, and\nconversing with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cGilbert has not forgotten the conversation,\u201d exclaimed the young Diana\nwith animation. \u201cHe often speaks of it. He told us about you also, madame,\nand described you so accurately that I knew you at once as soon as I saw\nyou, before any one told me your name.\u201d\n\nI made no reply, and we remained silent till, having crossed the bridge,\nwe approached the Rue St. Dominique, when Diana, suddenly leaning towards\nher mother, whispered a few words in her ear. Mme. de Kergy began to\nlaugh.\n\n\u201cReally,\u201d said she, \u201cthis child takes everything for granted; but you are\nso kind, I will allow her to repeat aloud what she has just said to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the young girl, \u201cI said the discussion would certainly be\ninteresting, for Gilbert is to take a part in it, as well as several other\ngood speakers, and those who attend will at the close aid in a good work.\nI added that I should be very much pleased, madame, if you would attend.\u201d\n\nI was by no means prepared for this invitation, and at first did not know\nwhat reply to make, but quickly bethought myself that there would be more\nthan an hour before Lorenzo\u2019s return. I knew, moreover, that, even\naccording to his ideas, I should be in very good society, and it could not\ndisplease him in the least if I attended a discussion at the H\u00f4tel de\nKergy under the auspices of the countess and her daughter. Besides, on my\npart, I felt a good deal of curiosity, never having attended anything like\na public discussion. In short, I decided, without much hesitation, to\naccept the invitation, and the young Diana clapped her hands with joy. We\nwere just entering the open _porte\u2010coch\u00e8re_ of a large court, where we\nfound quite a number of equipages and footmen. The carriage stopped before\nthe steps and in five minutes I was seated between Diana and her mother\nnear a platform at one end of a drawing\u2010room large enough to contain one\nhundred and fifty or two hundred persons.\n\nI cannot now give a particular account of this meeting, though it was an\nevent in my life. The principal subject discussed was, I think, the\ncondition of the blacks, not yet emancipated, in the Southern States of\nAmerica. An American of the North, who could express himself very readily\nin French, first spoke, and after him a missionary priest, who considered\nthe question from a no less elevated point of view, though quite different\nfrom that of the philanthropist, and the discussion had already grown\nquite animated before it became Gilbert de Kergy\u2019s turn to speak. When he\nrose, there was a movement in the whole assembly, and his first words\nexcited involuntary attention, which soon grew to intense interest, and\nfor the first time in my life I felt the power of language and the effect\nthat eloquence can produce.\n\nIt was strange, but he began with a brief, brilliant sketch of places that\nseemed familiar to me; for Lorenzo had visited them, and he had such an\naptness for description that I felt as if I had seen them in his company.\nMy first thought was to regret his absence. Why was he not here with me\nnow to listen to this discussion, to become interested in it, and perhaps\ntake a part in it?... I had a vague feeling that this reunion was of a\nnature to render him as he appeared to me during the first days of our\nwedded life, when his extensive travels and noble traits made me admire\nhis courage and recognize his genius, the prestige of which was only\nsurpassed in my eyes by that of his tenderness!... But another motive\nintensified this desire and regret. The boldness, the intelligence, and\nthe adventurous spirit of the young traveller were, of course, traits\nfamiliar to me, and which I was happy and proud to recognize; but, alas!\nthe resemblance ceased when, quitting the field of observation and\ndescriptions of nature, and all that memory and intelligence can glean,\nthe orator soared to loftier regions, and linked these facts themselves\nwith questions of a higher nature and wider scope than those of mere\nearthly interest. He did this with simplicity, earnestness, and consummate\nability, and while he was speaking I felt that my mind rose without\ndifficulty to the level of his, and expanded suddenly as if it had wings!\nIt was a moment of keen enjoyment, but likewise of keen suffering; for I\nfelt the difference that the greater or less elevation of the soul can\nproduce in two minds that are equally gifted! I clearly saw what was\nwanting in Lorenzo\u2019s. I recognized the cause of the something lacking\nwhich had so often troubled me, and I felt more intensely and profoundly\npained than I had that very morning.\n\nWhile listening to Gilbert I only thought of Lorenzo, and, if I\nreluctantly acknowledged the superiority of the former, I felt at the same\ntime that there was nothing to prevent the latter from becoming his equal;\nfor, I again said to myself, Lorenzo was not merely a man of the world,\nleading a frivolous, aimless life, as might seem from his present habits.\nLove of labor and love of nature and art do not characterize such a man,\nand he possessed these traits in a high degree. He had therefore to be\nmerely detached from other influences. This was my task, my duty, and it\nshould also be my happiness; for I had no positive love for the world,\nwhose pleasures I knew so well. No, I did not love it. I loved what was\nhigher and better than that. I felt an immense void within that great\nthings alone could fill. And I seemed to\u2010day to have entered into the\nsphere of these great things; but I was there alone, and this was torture.\nAll my actual impressions were therefore centred in an ardent desire to\nput an end to this solitude by drawing into that higher region him from\nwhom I was at the moment doubly separated.\n\nThis was assuredly a pure and legitimate desire, but I did not believe\nmyself capable of obtaining its realization without difficulty, and\nsufficiently calculating the price I must pay for such a victory and the\nefforts by which it must often be merited....\n\nWhile these thoughts were succeeding each other in my mind I almost forgot\nto listen to the end of the discourse, which terminated the meeting in the\nmidst of the applause of the entire audience. The vast hall of discussion\nwas instantly changed into a _salon_ again, where everybody seemed to be\nacquainted, and where I found the _\u00e9lite_ of those I had met in other\nplaces. But assembled together for so legitimate an object, they at once\ninspired me with interest, respect, and a feeling of attraction. It was\nParis under quite a new aspect, and it seemed to me, if I had lived in a\nworld like this, I should never have experienced the terrible distress\nwhich I have spoken of, and which the various emotions of the day had\nalone succeeded in dissipating.\n\nThe charming young Diana, light and active, had ascended the platform, and\nwas now talking to her brother. Gilbert started with surprise at her first\nwords, and his eyes turned towards the place where I was standing. Then I\nalmost instantly saw them descend from the platform and come towards me.\nDiana looked triumphant.\n\n\u201cThis is my brother Gilbert, madame,\u201d said she, her eyes sparkling. \u201cAnd\nit is I who have the honor of presenting him to you, as he seems to have\nwaited for his little sister to do it.\u201d\n\nHe addressed me some words of salutation, to which I responded. As he\nstood near me, I again observed his calm, thoughtful, intelligent face,\nwhich had struck me so much the only time I remembered to have seen him\nbefore. While speaking a few moments previous his face was animated, and\nhis eyes flashed with a fire that added more than once to the effect of\nhis clear, penetrating voice, which was always well modulated. His\ngestures also, though not numerous or studied, had a natural grace and the\ndignity which strength of conviction, joined to brilliant eloquence, gives\nto the entire form of an orator. His manner was now so simple that I felt\nperfectly at ease with him, and told him without any hesitation how happy\nI was at the double good\u2010fortune that had brought me in contact with his\nsister, and had resulted in my coming to this meeting where I had been\npermitted to hear him speak.\n\n\u201cThis day will be a memorable one for me as well as for her, madame,\u201d he\nreplied, \u201cand I shall never forget it.\u201d\n\nThere was not the least inflection in his voice to make me regard his\nwords as anything more than mere politeness, but their evident sincerity\ncaused me a momentary embarrassment. He seemed to attach too much\nimportance to this meeting, but it passed away. He inspired me with almost\nas much confidence as if he had been a friend. I compared him with\nLandolfo, and wondered what effect so different an influence would have on\nLorenzo, and I could not help wishing he were his friend also....\n\nI continued silent, and he soon resumed: \u201cThe Duca di Valenzano is not\nhere?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; he will be sorry, and I regret it for his sake.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe presence of such a traveller would have been a great honor to us.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe was very happy to have an opportunity of conversing with you on one\noccasion.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was a conversation I have never forgotten. It would have been for my\nadvantage to renew it, but I never go into society\u2014at Paris.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd elsewhere?\u201d\n\n\u201cElsewhere it is a different thing,\u201d said he, smiling. \u201cI am as social\nwhile travelling as I am uncivilized at my return.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must not expect, then, to meet you again in Paris; but if you ever go\nto Italy, may we not hope you will come to see us?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you will allow me to do so,\u201d said he eagerly.\n\n\u201cYes, certainly. I think I can promise that the well\u2010known hospitality of\nthe Neapolitans will not be wanting towards the Comte Gilbert de Kergy.\u201d\n\nAfter a moment\u2019s silence he resumed: \u201cYou must have been absent when I was\nat Naples. That was two years ago.\u201d\n\n\u201cI was not married then, and I am not a Neapolitan.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd not an Italian, perhaps.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you say so on account of the color of my hair? That would be\nastonishing on the part of so observant a traveller, for you must have\nnoticed that our great masters had almost as many blondes as brunettes for\ntheir models. However, I am neither English nor German, as perhaps you are\ntempted to think. I am a Sicilian.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have never seen in Sicily or anywhere else a person who resembled you.\u201d\n\nThese words implied a compliment, and probably such an one as I had never\nreceived; and, I need not repeat, I was not fond of compliments. But this\nwas said without the least smile or the slightest look that indicated any\ndesire to flatter or please me. Was not this a more subtle flattery than I\nhad been accustomed to receive?... And did it not awaken unawares the\nvanity I had long thought rooted out of the bottom of my heart? I can\naffirm nothing positive as to this, for there is always something lacking\nin the knowledge of one\u2019s self, however thoroughly we may think we have\nacquired it. But I am certain it never occurred to me at the time to\nanalyze the effect of this meeting on me. I was wholly absorbed in the\nregret and hope it awakened.\n\nAs I was on the point of leaving, Mme. de Kergy asked permission to call\non me with her daughter the next day at four o\u2019clock\u2014a permission I\njoyfully granted\u2014and Diana accompanied me to the very foot of the steps. I\nkissed her smiling face, as I took leave, and gave my hand to her brother,\nwho had come with us to help me in getting into the carriage.\n\n\n\nXVII.\n\n\nAll the way from the Rue St. Dominique to the Rue de Rivoli I abandoned\nmyself to the pleasant thoughts excited by the events of the day. For\nwithin a few hours I had successively experienced the inward sweetness of\nprayer, the charm of congenial society, and the pleasure of enthusiasm. A\nnew life seemed to be infused into my heart, soul, and mind, which had\ngrown frivolous in the atmosphere of the world, and I felt, as it were,\nentranced. Those who have felt themselves thus die and rise again to a new\nlife will understand the feeling of joy I experienced. In all the\nblessings hitherto vouchsafed me, even in the love itself that had been,\nso to speak, the sun of my happiness, there had been one element wanting,\nwithout which everything seemed dark, unsatisfactory, wearisome, and\ndepressing\u2014an element which my soul had an imperious, irresistible,\nundeniable need of! Yes, I realized this, and while thus taking a clearer\nview of my state I also felt that this need was reasonable and just, and\nmight be supplied without much difficulty. Was not Lorenzo gifted with a\nnoble nature, and capable of the highest things? Had he not chosen me, and\nloved me to such a degree as to make me an object of idolatry? Well, I\nwould point out to him the loftier heights he ought to attain. I, in my\nturn, would open to him a new world!...\n\nSuch were the thoughts, aspirations, and dreams my heart was filled with\non my way home. As I approached the Rue de Rivoli, however, I began to\nfeel uneasy at being out so much later than I had anticipated, lest\nLorenzo should have returned and been anxious about my absence. I was\npleased to learn, therefore, on descending from the carriage, that he had\nnot yet come home, and I joyfully ascended the staircase, perfectly\nsatisfied with the way in which I had spent the morning.\n\nI took off my hat, smoothed my hair, and then proceeded to arrange the\n_salon_ according to his taste and my own. I arranged the flowers, as well\nas the books and other things, and endeavored to give the room, though in\na hotel, an appearance of comfort and elegance that would entice him to\nremain at home; for I had formed the project of trying to induce him to\nspend the evening with me. I seemed to have so many things to say to him,\nand longed to communicate all the impressions I had received! With this\nobject in view I took a bold step, but one that was authorized by the\nintimacy that existed between us and the friends whose guests we were to\nhave been that day\u2014I sent them an excuse, not only for myself, but my\nhusband, hoping to find means afterwards of overcoming his displeasure,\nshould he manifest any.\n\nHaving made these arrangements, I was beginning to wonder at his continued\nabsence when a letter was brought me which served to divert my mind for a\ntime from every other thought. It was a letter from Livia which I had been\nimpatiently awaiting. We had corresponded regularly since our separation,\nand I had begun to be surprised at a silence of unusual length on her\npart. It was not dated at Messina, but at Naples, and I read the first\npage, which was in answer to the contents of my letter, without finding\nany explanation of this. Finally I came to what follows:\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\u201cI told you in my last letter that I had obtained my father\u2019s consent, but\non one condition\u2014that he should have the choice of the monastery I must\nenter on leaving home. What difference did it make? As to this I was, and\nam, wholly indifferent. I should make the same vows everywhere, and in\nthem all I should go to God by the same path. In them all I should be\nseparated from the world and united to him alone. And this was all I\nsought. The convent my father chose is not in Sicily. It is a house known\nand venerated by every one in Naples. I shall be received on the second of\nSeptember. Meanwhile, I have come here under Ottavia\u2019s escort, and am\nstaying with our aunt, Donna Clelia, who has established herself here for\nthe winter with her daughters. So everything is arranged, Gina. The future\nseems plain. I see distinctly before me my life and death, my joys and\nsorrows, my labors and my duty. I am done with all that is called\nhappiness in the world, as well as with its misfortunes, its trials, its\nconflicting troubles, its numberless disappointments, and its poignant\nwoes.\n\n\u201cTherefore I cannot make use of the word _sacrifice_. It wounds me when I\nhear it used, for I blush at the little I have to give up in view of the\nimmensity I am to receive! Yes; I blush when I remember it was suffering\nand humiliation that first made me raise my eyes to Him whom alone we\n_should_ love, and whom alone I now feel I _can_ love. If I had not been\nwholly sure of this, I should never have been so bold as to aspire to the\nunion that waits me\u2014the only one here below in which the Bridegroom can\nsatisfy the boundless affection of the heart that gives itself to him!...\n\n\u201cBut to return to you, my dear Gina. Are you as happy as I desire you to\nbe, and as you deserve to be? Your last letter was sad; and the calmer and\nbetter satisfied I feel about my own lot, the more I think of yours.\nWhatever happens, my dearest sister, do not forget that we both have but\none goal. Your way is longer and more perilous than mine, but the great\naim of us both should be to really love God above all things, and, _in\nhim_ and for him, to cherish all the objects of our affection. Yes, even\nthose whom we prefer to all other creatures on earth. I am not using the\nlanguage of a religious, but simply that of truth and common sense. If\nthis letter reaches you on your return from some gay scene, at a time when\nyou will not feel able to enter into its meaning, you must lay it aside.\nBut if you read it when your mind is calm, and you are at leisure to\nlisten to your inner self, you will understand what your Livia means by\nwriting you in this way. Whatever happens, whether we are near each other\nor are widely separated, we shall always be united in heart, my dear\nsister. The convent grates will not separate me from you. Death itself\ncannot divide us. One thing, and one alone, in the visible or invisible\nworld, can raise a barrier between us and really separate us. And rather\nthan behold this barrier rise, I would, as I have already told you, my\nbeloved sister, rather see you dead. Gina, I love you as tenderly as any\none ever loved another. I will pray for you on the second of September\n(Sunday). Probably when you read this I shall already have left the world.\nBut I shall not have left you, dear sister. I shall be nearer you than\nwhen distance alone separated us. Besides, I am at Naples, to which you\nwill soon return, and you will find that the grates will neither hide my\nface, nor my thoughts, nor my heart, nor my soul from you....\n\n\u201cGina, let me once more repeat that there is only one way of attaining\nreal happiness\u2014there is only one object worthy of our love. Let me beseech\nyou not to desire any other passionately. But, no; you would not\nunderstand me; you would not believe me now....\u201d\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nEverything added to the effect of this letter\u2014its date, and the day, the\nhour, and the moment in which it was received. The deed my sister had\naccomplished that very day had brought us nearer together, as she said.\nHad not a breath of the purer air she breathed reached me already and\npreserved me through the day from the aimless frivolity of my usual life?\n\n\u201cHappiness,\u201d it has been said, \u201cis Christian; pleasure is not.\u201d Had I not\nprofoundly realized the force of this saying for one day? Had I not\nexperienced a happiness as different as possible from the pleasure I\nenjoyed in the world? And did I not feel desirous this very instant of\nattaining the one at the expense of the other, and not only of taking a\ndifferent view of life myself, but of imparting this desire to\n\n\u201cHim who ne\u2019er from me shall separate.\u201d(9)\n\nThe day was beginning to decline, and I gradually sank into a short,\nprofound slumber such as is usually attended by confused dreams. In mine\nmost of those who had occupied my thoughts during the day passed\nsuccessively before me\u2014Livia first, covered with a long white veil, and\nnext to her was the pleasant, smiling face of Diana.... Then I was once\nmore at the H\u00f4tel de Kergy, listening again to some parts of Gilbert\u2019s\naddress. But when I was on the point of calling Lorenzo to hear him also,\nit no longer seemed to be Gilbert, but Lorenzo himself, on the platform,\nrepeating the same words with an air of mockery, and gazing at me, in\nreturn, with the penetrating look so peculiar to him.... Then everything\nchanged, and I found myself at twilight at the fork of a road in the\ncountry, and, while I was hesitating which path to take, I saw Gilbert\nbeside me. He was familiar with the way, he said, and offered to be my\nguide; but I repulsed his arm, and made a violent effort to overtake\nLorenzo, whom I suddenly perceived at a distance on the other road....\nThen Livia seemed to be beside me, and give me her hand to help me along.\nFinally I saw Lorenzo just before me again, but he did not look like the\nsame person; he was poorly clad, and his face was pale and altered. I\nrecognized him, however, and sprang forward to overtake him, when I awoke\nbreathless, and with the painful feeling of uneasiness that such sleep\ngenerally produces when terminated by such an awakening....\n\nMy heart throbbed.... I found it difficult at first to recall what had\noccupied my mind before I fell asleep. I soon came to myself, however, and\nwas able to account for the utter darkness that surrounded me. I hastened\nto ring the bell and, when a light was brought, I looked at the clock with\na surprise that gave way to anxiety. At that instant I heard the bell that\nannounced Lorenzo\u2019s return at last. I heard him enter the ante\u2010chamber,\nand I ran to open the drawing\u2010room door myself. But I stopped short. It\nwas not Lorenzo; it was Landolfo Landini, and he was alone. I drew back\nwith a terrified look without daring to ask a question. But he smiled, as\nhe closed the door behind him, and, taking my hand, said: \u201cDo not be\nalarmed, my dear cousin, I beg. Nothing in particular has happened to\nLorenzo\u2014nothing, at least, which you are not prepared to hear after what\noccurred last night.\u201d\n\nI breathed once more.... I know not what other fear crossed my mind, but I\nsaid with tolerable calmness:\n\n\u201cThat means he has been playing again, or at least betting at the races,\nand has lost?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, cousin, frightfully. There\u2014I ought not to have told you, but I see\nno reason for concealing it from you; and as I have this opportunity of\nspeaking privately to you, I will profit by it to give you another piece\nof advice more serious than any I have yet given you. Immediately make use\nof all the influence you still have over him to persuade him to leave\nParis. There is some fatality about this place, as far as he is concerned.\nHe is more prudent everywhere else, and will become so here once more. The\nfever he has been seized with again must absolutely be broken up. The\ndeuce!\u201d continued he, \u201ctwo or three more relapses like this would lead to\nconsequences that would test all your courage, _ma belle duchesse_, and\nbring you, as well as him, to extremities you are ill fitted to bear. That\nis what I am most anxious about, you will allow me to say; for, without\nmaking you the shadow of a declaration, I find you so beautiful, so good,\nand so adorable that the mere thought of you some day....\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep to the point, Lando, if you please,\u201d said I with an impatient air.\n\u201cWhere is Lorenzo? Why did he not return with you, and why have you come\nto tell me what he would probably tell me himself?\u201d\n\n\u201cTell you himself? He will take care not to do that. I have already told\nyou I am betraying his confidence, but it is for his good as well as\nyours. It is best for you to know that the sum he has lost today surpasses\nthe resources he has on hand, and in order to make the necessary\narrangements to pay at once the debt he has incurred, he is obliged to\nwrite to his agent at Naples or Sicily. He went directly to the club for\nthis purpose, and commissioned me to tell you it was for nothing of\nimportance, and beg you to attend the dinner\u2010party without him, and\npresent his excuses to your friends. He will join you in the evening.\u201d\n\nEverything now seemed easily arranged according to my wishes, and of\nitself, as it were.\n\n\u201cThat is very fortunate,\u201d said I eagerly, telling him of the excuse I had\nsent for us both. \u201cTherefore, Lando, go back to the club, I beg; or\nrather, I will write Lorenzo myself that he can arrange his affairs at his\nleisure, and return when he pleases to dine with me. I shall wait till he\ncomes.\u201d\n\nI hastily seized my pen to write him, but Lando resumed:\n\n\u201cOh! as to that, cousin, you will only waste your trouble; for seeing how\nlate it was, and that he could not possibly be here in season to accompany\nyou, he accepted an invitation to dine with an acquaintance of his (and\nyours also, I suppose) whom he met at the races to\u2010day.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn acquaintance of his?...\u201d I repeated, my heart filling with a keen\nanguish that made me turn pale without knowing why.\n\nLando perceived it. \u201cDo not be alarmed,\u201d said he, smiling. \u201cIt is not Mme.\nde B\u2014\u2014, though she was at the races also, and made a fruitless effort to\ndivert Lorenzo\u2019s mind from what was going on. Really, in your place,\u201d\ncontinued he with his usual levity, \u201cI should regret she did not succeed.\nThat would have been much better than ... Come, ... do not frown. I am\njoking. To be serious, Lorenzo is not going to dine with her to\u2010day, but\nwith a lady from Milan who has just arrived, and whom you doubtless know.\nIt is Donna Faustina Reali, the Marquise de Villanera!...\u201d\n\nFaustina Reali!... This name seemed to justify the strange presentiment I\nhad just had, and I was tempted to exclaim with Hamlet,\n\n\u201cO my prophetic soul!\u201d\n\nthou hast not deceived me!... I had at that moment a sudden intuition of\nthe past, the present, and the future. I saw clearly before me a life in\nwhich I should no longer be able to influence Lorenzo, or even to guide\nmyself!...\n\nI controlled my agitation, however, by a powerful effort, and Lando soon\nleft me, renewing his first injunctions, and persuaded he had fully\nreassured me on other points. I gave him my hand with a smile as he left\nthe room, and as soon as I found myself alone I covered my face with my\nhands, and exclaimed:\n\n\u201cO my dreams! my pleasant dreams! Where have they vanished?\u201d\n\n\n\nXVIII.\n\n\nFaustina Reali!... That was the never\u2010to\u2010be\u2010forgotten name I had read on\nthe card Lorenzo snatched so violently from my hands at Naples! I had\nnever seen it again, never heard it pronounced, but I remembered only too\nwell the expression of my husband\u2019s face when he saw it, and the way in\nwhich he tore up the card on which it was written!...\n\nI endeavored to lead the conversation at another time back to this\ncircumstance, but at once desisted, frightened at the manner in which he\nimposed silence on me, and a certain impression of both mystery and danger\nremained associated with the name.\n\nAs soon as I became calmer, however, I acknowledged that I really knew\nnothing, absolutely nothing, to cause the violent emotion I had just\nexperienced. It had an imaginary cause, then, and might simply be owing to\nmy mind, so recently lost in vague dreams, and perhaps a little too high\u2010\nflown, being suddenly recalled to a painful and unpleasant, as well as\nvery commonplace reality. I had imagined I was going to transform, as by\nthe stroke of a wand, my husband\u2019s habits, tastes, occupations\u2014nay, his\nentire life\u2014but was brought to my senses by learning he had just lost an\nenormous sum at the races, and his mind, for the moment, was absorbed in\nthe necessary complications for paying the debt. I had planned spending\nseveral hours alone with him that evening, during which, away from the\nbustle of the world, I would give him a minute account of my recent\nimpressions, and tell him of all the wishes, projects, and ardent desires\nof which he was the object. I would rouse a nobler pride in his soul, and\nappeal to a thousand sentiments that were dormant, but not extinct; and I\nbelieve I expected to see them awakened at the mere sound of my voice!...\nInstead of this, ... I was alone, and he was with another.... And what\nother?... Who was this Faustina, whose name had so suddenly appeared in my\nlife, and who, at the very hour when I was aiming at so pure and elevated\nan influence over him, came thus, like an evil genius, to thrust herself\nbetween us?... I reminded myself in vain that Lorenzo had no idea of the\nplans I had, unbeknown to him, formed for the evening, but supposed me at\nthis very moment to be with my friends, where he had promised to join me;\nbut nothing could calm the sudden agitation of my heart, nothing could\ncheck the flood of thoughts that sprang from my anxiety, jealousy, and\nmisconceptions, and my excitement became more intense in proportion to the\nlateness of the hour. Would he never come?...\n\nAnd what would he say when he should arrive?... I was sure he would try to\nconceal his interview with Donna Faustina, and perhaps I ought to hide my\nknowledge of that as well as everything else, and feign ignorance of all\nthat had occurred, in order not to betray Lando\u2019s indiscretion.... But\nwhat should I do when his eyes, so accustomed to interpret every\nexpression of my face, should be fastened on me? How could I practise any\ndissimulation with him? It was not, indeed, my place to do anything of the\nkind. I had no cause to blush or be intimidated. And should he discover,\nafter all, that I was not deceived, so much the better; and should he be\ndispleased, so much the worse for Lando.\n\nI had arrived at this point in my reflections when I heard the bell\nringing loudly in the next room. Then there was a quick step, which this\ntime was really his, and Lorenzo entered the room. He was pale and\nappeared excited, but said in a sufficiently calm tone:\n\n\u201cI have just come from M\u2014\u2014\u2019s, where I supposed I should find you; but I\nlearned that, in sending my apology, you also excused yourself, and I did\nnot remain an instant. What is the matter, Ginevra?... Are you ill?... Why\ndid you not go? Why did you remain at home alone in this way?\u201d\n\nHis expression was singular. It was at once affectionate and troubled. He\nlooked earnestly at me, as he gave me his hand, and put back my hair in\norder to see my face more distinctly.\n\nMy cheeks were burning. The traces of the tears I had shed were visible,\nand, with his scrutinizing eyes upon me, I felt it hardly possible to\nrestrain those that still filled my own.... He took my head between his\ntwo hands, and held it a moment against his breast in silence. The\nthrobbing of his heart perhaps equalled that of mine. I was touched,\nspeechless and disarmed, and less than ever in a condition to dissimulate\nanything, when he suddenly said:\n\n\u201cWhy have you been crying, Ginevra? I must know.\u201d\n\nRaising my still tearful eyes towards him, and looking confidingly in his\nface, I replied: \u201cI have been crying, Lorenzo, because I heard Donna\nFaustina is here, and that you had gone to see her.\u201d\n\nHe started, and, though accustomed to the variations of his mobile face, I\nwas struck with the effect my words had produced. His face reddened, then\nturned paler than before, and for some moments he was incapable of making\nany reply, and even seemed to forget my proximity. He seated himself\nbeside the table, and remained silent. I looked at him with amazement and\nanxiety. At length he said:\n\n\u201cWho has told you anything about Donna Faustina, and what do you know of\nher?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo one has told me anything about her, and all I know of her you have\ntold me yourself by the very emotion you show at her name.\u201d\n\nHe was again silent for a moment, and then resumed in his usual tone, as\nif he had triumphed over all hesitation:\n\n\u201cWell, Ginevra, even if you had not known of her being in Paris, or had\nnever heard of her name or existence, I had resolved to speak to you about\nher this very evening. Listen to me. It is not, after all, a long story.\u201d\n\nHe had perfectly recovered his self\u2010control, and yet he continued with\nsome effort:\n\n\u201cIt is not for you to be jealous of her, Ginevra. It is she who has reason\nto be jealous of you. She has done you no wrong; whereas, without\nsuspecting it, you have done her a great and irreparable injury.\u201d\n\nI opened my eyes with surprise.\n\n\u201cIt is not necessary to tell you when and where I met her for the first\ntime, but perhaps it is right I should acknowledge that I was inspired\nwith a passion for her such as a man willingly imagines he can never feel\nbut once in his life.\u201d\n\nI could not repress a start.\n\n\u201cWait, Ginevra; hear me to the end. She was married and virtuous. I left\nher, ... but I had just learned she was free, and was about to go to see\nher when I was called to Sicily by the lawsuit on which my property\ndepends. You know the rest.... The sight of you effaced the impressions of\nthe past. I was still free\u2014free from any promise that bound me to her,\nthough perhaps she was expecting me to return to Milan....\u201d\n\n\u201cYou forgot her, and offered me your hand?...\u201d I exclaimed with mingled\npity and almost reproach.\n\nHe replied with some emotion:\n\n\u201cYes, Ginevra, and without any scruple; for after passing a month in your\nvicinity, I felt I loved her no longer, and _at that time_ ... I did not\nknow she loved me.\u201d\n\nHis brow grew dark. He stopped an instant, and then rapidly continued:\n\n\u201cAt a later day I ascertained, ... I had reason to believe, ... beyond a\ndoubt, that the feeling she had succeeded in hiding from me existed\nreally, profoundly, ... and that she had suffered.... Ginevra! in the\nintoxication of my new happiness I could not feel any regret, but I\nacknowledge I had a moment of remorse. Yes; I never wished to hear her\nname again, never to see her or hear anything that would recall her.... I\nwas almost irritated at Naples at finding her card among those left on\nyour arrival there.... I was angry with her, poor Faustina, when I should\nhave been grateful as well as you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was at Naples, which she happened to be passing through, that the news\nof our marriage reached her. And when we arrived just after, she wished to\nshow, by leaving her card, that she should henceforth only consider\nherself my friend and yours. But at that time I did not regard it in this\nway, and I was unjust as well as ungrateful.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd now, Lorenzo?\u201d I said with many commingled feelings I could not have\ndefined.\n\n\u201cNow, Ginevra, I think she was generous, and it would be well for you to\nbe so in your turn. She wishes to know you, and I come to ask you to\nreceive her to\u2010morrow.... You hesitate!... I do not suppose, however,\u201d\nsaid he a little loftily, as he frowned, \u201cthat you think me capable of\nmaking such a proposition to my wife, if the Marquise de Villanera had not\na spotless reputation, and I were not certain that there is no reason why\nyou should not grant her the favor I beg.\u201d\n\nLorenzo was perfectly sincere at the moment he uttered these words. But as\nI write the account of that day by the light of events that followed, I do\nnot feel the same assurance I did at the time he was talking. All he then\naffirmed was true; but he did not tell me everything. He did not, for\ninstance, explain how he happened to learn, at a time when he had better\nhave never known them, the sentiments that had hitherto been concealed\nfrom him. Still less did he tell me the effect this revelation produced on\nhim. But with regard to this he doubtless did not deceive me any more than\nhe did himself. Meanwhile, it was not possible to give more heed to a\nvague, inexplicable presentiment it would have been impossible to justify,\nthan to what he said. I therefore consented, without any further\nhesitation, to the interview he proposed, and gave him my hand. He kissed\nit and held it lightly in his; then gave me a new proof of his confidence\nas well as unexpected satisfaction by the following words:\n\n\u201cThis interview, Ginevra, will not commit you to any great extent at the\nmost, as, for many reasons it would be useless to give you, I wish, if not\ntoo great a disappointment for you, to leave Paris\u2014sooner than we\nintended. We will go in a week.\u201d\n\nHe saw the ray of joy that flashed from my eyes, and looked at me with an\nair of surprise. I was afraid of compromising poor Lando by betraying my\nknowledge of the danger that rendered this departure so opportune. I was\nalso afraid he would regard it as a new proof of the jealous distrust he\nhad just allayed, and hastened to speak of Livia\u2019s letter and my desire to\nreturn to Naples, where I had just learned I should find my sister. He\naccepted this explanation, and the day full of so many different causes of\nexcitement ended more tranquilly than I had anticipated two hours before.\nIt was difficult, however, when I once more found myself alone, to collect\nmy troubled thoughts. A confused crowd of new impressions had replaced\nthose of the morning. The projects inspired by the lofty eloquence of\nGilbert de Kergy all at once seemed chimerical. My hopes had fled beyond\nrecall. And yet I could not account for my apprehension. Anxiety, a vague\nanxiety, persistently prevailed over everything. I only succeeded in\nregaining my calmness at last by two considerations: we were to leave\nParis, and it was Lorenzo himself who proposed our departure.\n\n\n\nXIX.\n\n\nThe following day, for some reason or other I did not explain to myself, I\ngave unusual attention to my toilet. I generally read while my waiting\u2010\nmaid was arranging my hair according to her own fancy, but that day I\nturned more than once towards the mirror. I observed with pleasure the\ngolden lustre of my hair in the morning sunlight, and suggested myself the\naddition of a bow of ribbon of the same color as my belt. After I was\ndressed I gave, before leaving my room, a scrutinizing look in a large\nglass where I could see myself from head to foot. It seemed to me I was\nbecomingly attired, and I felt pleased.\n\nMy satisfaction was confirmed by an exclamation that escaped Lorenzo as\nsoon as he caught sight of me. He was already seated at the breakfast\u2010\ntable, which stood at one end of the room.\n\n\u201cYou are charming this morning, Ginevra!\u201d said he, smiling. He then grew\nthoughtful. After remaining silent a few moments, he resumed, perhaps to\ndivert my mind from another thought he supposed it occupied with:\n\n\u201cI was sorry to leave you alone so long yesterday. How did you while away\nthe time during the long afternoon?\u201d\n\nIf he had asked this question the evening before at the imaginary\n_t\u00eate\u2010\u00e0\u2010t\u00eate_ I had planned, what a minute, animated account should I have\ngiven him! How readily the thoughts which then occupied my mind would have\nsprung to my lips! He regarded me as a child, but I was no longer one; and\nbeholding me all at once in the new aspect of an energetic, courageous\nwoman, capable of aiding him with a firm hand in ascending to higher\nregions, he would have been surprised and touched; the passing gleam that\nsometimes manifested itself in his eyes would perhaps have been less\ntransient this time, and I should have succeeded in kindling a flame of\nwhich this light was a mere emblem!... Lorenzo, if you had only been\nwilling! If you had only listened to me then, entered into my feelings,\nand read my heart, what a life ours might have been!... Ah! happiness and\ngoodness are more closely allied in this world than is usually supposed.\nIf virtue sometimes does not escape misfortune, it is sure there is no\nhappiness without it! But the impetus by which I hoped to attain my aim at\na single bound had been suddenly checked, and I no longer remembered now\nwhat I longed to say the evening before, or the motive I then had in view.\nI therefore answered my husband\u2019s question with the utmost coolness\nwithout interrupting my breakfast:\n\n\u201cI went to S. Roch\u2019s. It rained in torrents, and, finding the Comtesse de\nKergy and her daughter at the door without any carriage, I took them\nhome.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am glad you did. There is no family more respected, and Kergy is one of\nthe most intelligent of travellers.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, so I should suppose. I have heard him speak of his travels. There\nwas a meeting at the H\u00f4tel de Kergy yesterday at four o\u2019clock, which I was\ninvited to attend, and he made an address.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd spoke very ably, I have no doubt. I have heard him, and can judge.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have heard him?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, a fortnight ago.... Though scarcely acquainted, we are the founders\nand chief supporters of a review devoted to art and scientific subjects,\nthe acting committee of which summoned a meeting of its members to draw up\nsome resolution, and at this meeting he spoke.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is very eloquent, is he not?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery eloquent indeed, but, on the whole, visionary.\u201d\n\n\u201cVisionary?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, visionary, and sometimes incomprehensible even. He soars to such\nvague heights that no one can follow him. But in spite of this, he is a\nfellow of great talent, and has a noble nature, I should think.\u201d\n\nLorenzo rose while speaking, and drew a memorandum\u2010book from his pocket:\n\n\u201cI will write down the address of the H\u00f4tel de Kergy, that I may not\nforget to leave my card.\u201d\n\n\u201cMme. de Kergy and her daughter,\u201d said I, \u201care coming to see me to\u2010day\nabout four o\u2019clock.\u201d\n\nHe was silent a moment, and then said:\n\n\u201cAnd till that time?\u201d\n\n\u201cTill then,\u201d I replied, turning red, \u201cI shall be at home and alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d rejoined he, taking up a newspaper, while I silently went to\na seat near the open window.\n\nI compared the conversation which had just taken place with the one I\nimagined the evening before. I remembered the effect of the very name of\nher whose visit I was now expecting, and I felt inclined to both laugh and\ncry. In a word, I was nervous and agitated, and doubtless manifested my\nuneasiness and irritation more than I wished.\n\nLorenzo raised his eyes, and looked at me a moment.\n\n\u201cWhat are you thinking of, Ginevra?\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you quite sure,\u201d said I abruptly, \u201cthat this Donna Faustina is not a\n_jettatrice_?\u201d\n\nHe rose and somewhat impatiently threw his paper on the table. But quickly\novercoming himself, he said calmly:\n\n\u201cDo you find any evidence in what I related last evening that she ever\nbrought ill\u2010luck to any one?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it is not she,\u201d I exclaimed quickly, \u201cI hope, at least, you do not\nthink....\u201d\n\nI was about to add, \u201cthat it is I,\u201d but I stopped on seeing the cloud that\ncame over his face.\n\n\u201cCome, Ginevra,\u201d said he, \u201cyou are really too childish! You are joking,\ndoubtless, but no one knows better than you how to point a jest. But you\nshall tell me yourself what you think of the Marquise de Villanera after\nseeing her. As for me, I am going away. It is not necessary to have a\nthird party when she comes. I will go meanwhile to see Kergy. But,\u201d added\nhe, as he was leaving the room, \u201cas you have consented to receive her,\nremember I depend on your doing so politely.\u201d\n\nHe went away, leaving me in a frame of mind by no means serene. I felt\nangry with him, and at the same time dissatisfied with myself. Everything\nwent contrary to what I had hoped, and I awaited my visitor with a mixture\nof anguish and ill\u2010humor.\n\nI felt a kind of uneasiness analogous to that experienced when there is\nthunder in the air. I tried to apply myself to something, but, finding\nthis impossible, I ended by returning to the window, where, book in hand,\nI rose from time to time to see what was going on in the street or the\ngarden of the Tuileries.\n\nAt length, about two o\u2019clock, I saw a small _coup\u00e9_ coming around the\ncorner from the Rue St. Florentin. I had seen an endless number pass while\nI stood there, but I watched this one without a shadow of doubt as to the\ndirection it would take. It was but a moment, indeed, before I saw it stop\nat the door of the hotel. We were not, to be sure, the only occupants, but\nit never occurred to me that the person in the carriage would ask for any\none but myself. I returned to the drawing\u2010room, therefore, and had taken\nthe seat I usually occupied when I received callers, when the Marquise de\nVillanera was announced in a loud voice.\n\nI rose to meet her. There was a moment\u2019s silence, doubtless caused by an\nequal degree of curiosity on both sides. It was only for an instant that\npassed like a flash, but nevertheless each of us had scanned the other\nfrom head to foot.\n\nAt the first glance she did not seem young. I was not twenty years old\nmyself then, and I judged as one is apt to at that age. In reality, she\nwas not thirty. She was tall and fine\u2010looking. Her form was noble and\ngraceful, her features delicate and regular, her hair and eyebrows black\nas jet, her complexion absolutely devoid of color, and her eyes of a\nlively blue. This somewhat too bright a color gave a cold, hard look to\nher eyes, but their expression changed as soon as she began to speak, and\nbecame sweet, caressing, beseeching, irresistible. She was dressed in\nblack, apparently with extreme simplicity, but in reality with extreme\ncare.\n\nI had not time to wonder how I should break this silence. It was she who\nspoke first, and her very first words removed the timidity and\nembarrassment that rendered this interview still more painful. What she\nsaid I am really unable to remember, and I cannot comprehend now the\neffect of her words; but I know they wrought a complete transformation in\nthe feelings I experienced the evening before at the very mention of her\nname!\n\nWomen often wonder in vain what the charm is by which other women succeed\nin pleasing, and, as Bossuet says, in \u201cdrawing after them captive souls.\u201d\nIn their eyes, at least, this charm is inexplicable. But this is not\nalways the case; for there are some women who, while they reserve for one\nthe absolute ascendency of their empire, like to feel able to exert it\nover every one. Such was Donna Faustina. However deep the strange, secret\nwarning of my heart might be, it was beyond my power to resist her. While\nshe was talking I felt my prejudices vanish like snow before the sun, and\nit could not possibly have been otherwise, perhaps; at least without a\npenetration I was not endowed with, a distrust I was wholly incapable of,\nand an experience I did not then possess.\n\nDid she really feel a kind of attraction towards me that rendered her\nsincere at this first interview? I prefer to think so. Yes, I prefer not\nto believe that deceit and perfidy could disguise themselves to such a\ndegree under an appearance of cordiality, simplicity, artlessness, and\nsincerity. I prefer to hope it was not wholly by consummate art she won my\nconfidence while seeming to repose unlimited confidence in me.\n\nShe very soon learned all she wished concerning me, and in return gave me\nher whole history; and however singular this sudden frankness on the part\nof a stranger ought to have appeared to me\u2014and, indeed, was\u2014the grace of\nher manner and the charm of her language prevented any doubt or criticism\nfrom crossing my mind. Young, without position or fortune, she had married\na man three times as old as herself, with whom she lived in strict\nretirement. Her meeting with Lorenzo (but how this happened she did not\nexplain) had been the only ray of joy in her life. She did not hide from\nme either the grief his departure caused her or the extent of her\ndisappointment when she vainly awaited his return after she was left free.\nBut all these feelings, she said, belonged to the past. Nothing remained\nbut a friendship which she could not give up. The death of the aged\nMarquis de Villanera had of course left her free again, but it had also\ntaken away her only protector. She felt alone in the world now, and begged\nme, in the midst of my happiness, to consider her loneliness and take pity\non her.\n\nWhile thus speaking she fixed upon me her large, blue eyes bathed in\ntears. And as I listened to her, tears also streamed down my cheeks. I\nalmost reproached myself for being happy. Lorenzo\u2019s inconstancy weighed on\nmy heart like remorse, and all that was generous in my nature responded to\nher appeal. Consequently, before our interview was over I embraced her,\ncalling her my dear Faustina, and she clasped me in her arms, calling me\nfor the twentieth time \u201cher lovely, darling Ginevra.\u201d\n\nMy _na\u00efvet\u00e9_ may seem astonishing. I was, indeed, _na\u00efve_ at that time,\nand it would have been surprising had I not been. People of more\npenetration than I would have been blinded. Lorenzo himself was at that\ntime. When he found us together at his return, and comprehended the result\nof our interview from the very first words he heard, he turned towards me\nwith eyes lit up with tenderness and gratitude.\n\nHis first, and probably his only, feeling at meeting again the woman to\nwhom he thought he had been ungrateful and almost disloyal, had been a\nkind of humiliation. To get rid of this feeling, he had sought some means\nof repairing this wrong, and, thanks to my docility to him and my\ngenerosity towards her, he persuaded himself he had found a way.\n\nIn the state of affairs at that moment I had the advantage. I gained that\nday a new, but, alas! the last, triumph over my rival!\n\n\n\nXX.\n\n\nLorenzo accompanied the marchioness to her carriage, and then returned an\ninstant to inform me she would dine with us that evening, and that he had\ninvited Lando to join us. He embraced me affectionately before he went\naway, looking at me with an expression that caused me a momentary joy, but\nwhich was followed by a feeling of melancholy as profound as if his kiss\nhad been an adieu.\n\nBut though my apprehensions of the evening before were allayed, I could\nnot get rid of a vague uneasiness impossible to overcome\u2014perhaps the\nnatural result of the hopes that, on the one hand, had been disappointed\nsince the previous day, and, on the other, the fears that had been\nremoved. But my mind was still greatly troubled, and though the atmosphere\naround me had apparently become calm and serene, I felt, so to speak, the\nearth tremble almost insensibly beneath my feet, and could hear the\nrumbling of thunder afar off.\n\nMy interview with Donna Faustina lasted so long that I had not been alone\nhalf an hour before Mme. de Kergy and her daughter were announced. This\ncall, which, under any circumstances, would have given me pleasure, was\nparticularly salutary at this moment, for it diverted my mind and effected\na complete, beneficial change of impressions. After the somewhat feverish\nexcitement I had just undergone, it was of especial benefit to see and\nconverse with these agreeable companions of the evening before. I breathed\nmore freely, and forgot Donna Faustina while listening to their delightful\nconversation. My eyes responded to Diana\u2019s smiling looks, and her mother\ninspired me with a mingled attraction and confidence that touched me and\nawakened in my soul the dearest, sweetest, and most poignant memories of\nthe past. Mme. de Kergy perceived this, and likewise noticed, I think, the\ntraces of recent agitation in my face. She rose, as if fearing it would be\nindiscreet to prolong her visit.\n\n\u201cOh! do not go yet,\u201d I said, taking hold of her hand to detain her.\n\n\u201cBut you look fatigued or ill. I do not wish to abuse the permission you\ngave me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou do me good, on the contrary. I have a slight headache, it is true,\nbut it is soothing to talk with you.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, truly.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then, let me propose, in my turn, a drive in my carriage. The\nweather is fine to\u2010day. Come and take the air with us. It will do you\ngood, and afford us great pleasure.\u201d\n\nI felt quite disposed on my part to accept the sympathy manifested by Mme.\nde Kergy, and at once accepted her invitation. I took a seat in her\n_cal\u00e8che_, and, after an hour\u2019s drive with her and her daughter, I had not\nonly recovered from the nervous agitation of the morning, but we had\nbecome fully acquainted, and for the first time in Paris I ceased to feel\nmyself a stranger.\n\n\u201cWhat a pity you are going away so soon!\u201d exclaimed Diana.\n\n\u201cYes, indeed,\u201d said her mother; \u201cfor it seems to me you would find some\nresources at my house you have not found elsewhere, and we might reveal\nParis under a different\u2014perhaps I may say under a more favorable\u2014aspect\nthan it generally appears to strangers, even in the fashionable world,\nwhich is, I imagine, nearly the same everywhere.\u201d\n\nI made no reply, for the regret she expressed awoke a similar feeling in\nmy heart, and aroused all the recollections of the evening before. I once\nmore felt for an instant an ardent desire to take refuge in a different\nsphere. I longed more earnestly than ever to escape from that in which\nsome vague peril seemed to threaten me. We were, it is true, to leave\nParis, but for what a motive!... What a pitiful aspect the life Lorenzo\nwished to escape from took in comparison with the one so different which\nMme. de Kergy had just given me a glimpse of!... The thought of this\ncontrast embittered the joy I felt in view of our departure.\n\nWe agreed, however, as we separated, to meet every day during this last\nweek, and Mme. de Kergy promised to take me, before my departure, through\nvarious parts of the unknown world of charity in Paris, whose existence\nshe had revealed to me, that I might, at least, have a less imperfect idea\nof it before leaving France.\n\nOn my return I found Lando as well as Lorenzo in the drawing\u2010room, and\nlearned that, as the weather was fine, they had decided we should dine at\nsome _caf\u00e9_ I do not now remember, in the Champs Elys\u00e9es, and afterwards,\ninstead of returning home, we should take seats under the trees, and\nquietly listen in the open air to the music of one of the famous\norchestras. The hotel the Marquise de Villanera stopped at was on the way;\nwe could call for her, and she would remain with us the rest of the\nevening.\n\nThis new programme did not displease me. I rather preferred this way of\nmeeting the marchioness again, instead of the one I anticipated after\nLorenzo told me she would dine with us. In spite of the favorable\nimpression she produced, this prospect annoyed me. The arrangement now\nproposed suited me better. I unhesitatingly assented to it, but could not\nhelp thinking, as I did so, how much I should have preferred passing the\nevening alone with him!... I longed for solitude\u2014but shared with him! My\nheart was full of things I wished to give utterance to, and it seemed as\nif a kind of fatality multiplied obstacles around us, and kept us absorbed\nin matters wholly foreign to the sentiments I found it impossible to\nawaken during the too brief moments in which we were together. My heart\nwas filled with these desires and regrets while I was preparing to\naccompany him, and they cast a shade over the evening I am giving an\naccount of.\n\nLando took a seat in front of us, and our carriage soon drew up at the\ndoor of the marchioness, who followed us in her little _coup\u00e9_. She\ndescended when we arrived at our place of destination, and Lorenzo, as was\nproper, gave her his arm. I took Lando\u2019s, and we proceeded towards the\nroom that had been reserved for us, traversing on our way the principal\ncoffee\u2010room, which was filled with people. Every eye turned towards us.\n\nI saw that Lando\u2019s vanity was more gratified than mine by the observations\nthat reached our ears. I looked at Lorenzo; he too seemed to be proud of\nthe effect produced by the one leaning on his arm, and for the first time\ndid not appear to notice the flattering murmur of which I was the object.\nI noticed this, and it did not increase my good\u2010humor. But after we\narrived at the little dining\u2010room that was ours for the time, Faustina\nseemed wholly occupied with me. We took off our bonnets, and while I was\nsilently admiring her magnificent tresses, which made her resemble some\nantique statue, she went into open ecstasy about my \u201cgolden hair,\u201d my\nform, and my features; but while she was thus going on, evidently\nsupposing it was not displeasing to me, Lorenzo stopped her.\n\n\u201cTake care, marchioness,\u201d said he, smiling, \u201cyou do not know Ginevra. Do\nnot take another step in that direction. No one can venture on that ground\n_but myself alone_.\u201d\n\nHe uttered these last words with an accent that made my heart beat and\nrendered Faustina silent. An expression flashed from her blue eyes quicker\nthan the sharpest lightning, and seemed to give them a terrible\nbrilliancy. However, she soon resumed her playfulness and graceful ease of\nmanner. Like most Italian ladies, she had that naturalness, that total\nabsence of affectation, which often gives to their conversation an\noriginality without parallel, and makes all wit which is less spontaneous\nthan theirs seem factitious and almost defective. It has an inexpressible\ncharm which fascinates, enchants, sets every one at ease, and gives to\ntheir very coquetry an appearance of artlessness.\n\nWe were full of liveliness and gayety at the table. Never was a dinner\nmore agreeable. Donna Faustina had an uncommon talent for relating things\nwithout appearing to try to win attention. She could mimic other women\nwithout any appearance of malice, and even sound their praises with an\nearnestness that made her more charming than those of whom she was\nspeaking. Sometimes, too, she would change her tone, and, after making the\nroom ring with our laughter, she would entertain us with some serious\naccount which displayed a powerful, cultivated mind, with all her\nexuberant gayety. In short, when she was present, nothing was thought of\nbut her, and even those whom she wittingly or unwittingly threw into the\nshade could not deny the charm by which they were eclipsed.\n\nIt was, however, with some surprise I recalled after dinner the\nconversation that had affected me so strongly some hours before, and I\nasked myself if this was the melancholy, forsaken woman whose fate had\nmoved me to tears.\n\nShe seemed to have almost read my thoughts; for, as we were returning to\nthe open air, she left Lorenzo\u2019s arm, and came to take mine.\n\n\u201cGinevra,\u201d said she in a low voice, \u201cyou find me gay and happy as a child\nthis evening. It is because I no longer feel alone. I have found, not only\nfriends, but a sister!... I am filled with love and gratitude to you.\u201d\n\nThe Champs Elys\u00e9es were illuminated. We could see each other as distinctly\nas by daylight. She seemed much affected and sincere. Perhaps she spoke\nthe truth at that moment.... Perhaps she had only looked deep enough into\nher own heart to feel persuaded that the romantic friendship she wished to\nmake me believe in was real. However this may be, the illusion did not\nlast long either for her, or Lorenzo, or myself.\n\nThe music was delightful, and I listened to it for some time in silence.\nFaustina had taken a seat at my right hand. Lorenzo sat next her, and\nLando beside me.\n\n\u201cBravo! Cousin Ginevra,\u201d said the latter in a low tone as soon as the\nfirst piece was ended. \u201cThank heaven, your influence is still all it ought\nto be!... I am delighted, but not surprised!\u201d\n\nSo many things had occupied my mind since my last conversation with him\nthat I was at a loss to know what he referred to.\n\n\u201cYou have persuaded Lorenzo to leave Paris?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; he proposed going of his own accord.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed! When was that?\u201d\n\n\u201cLast evening.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd when are you to leave?\u201d\n\n\u201cNext Monday.\u201d\n\n\u201cA whole week! It is a long time.... In spite of my personal regret to\nlose you, I wish your departure could take place sooner.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I also,\u201d I murmured without knowing why, for at that moment I was not\nat all preoccupied with the cause of Lando\u2019s anxiety.\n\n\u201cEndeavor, at least, to make him pass every evening like this. Your friend\nis pleasing; she amuses him, and may be able to divert him from other\nthings.\u201d\n\n\u201cLando, stop!\u201d I exclaimed with a vehemence I could not repress. He\nuttered a slight exclamation of surprise, and I hastily continued, lest he\nmight have comprehended me:\n\n\u201cYes, be quiet, I beg, while they are playing the _Marche du Proph\u00e8te_. I\nwish to hear it undisturbed.\u201d\n\nBut I did not listen to the _Marche du Proph\u00e8te_. I only listened to\u2014I\nonly heard\u2014the voices beside me. Lorenzo and his companion at first\ncontinued to converse in an animated manner on subjects apparently\nindifferent, but concerning people and places I was entirely ignorant\nof.... Recollections of the past were recalled which I knew nothing about.\nA long silence soon intervened, and when at last they resumed the\nconversation, it was in so low a tone I was unable to follow it.\n\nLorenzo and Lando returned on foot, and I took Donna Faustina home. Before\nseparating we embraced each other once more, saying _au revoir_; but after\nleaving her I thought without any regret that before another week I should\nbid her a long farewell, and perhaps even then I should not have been\nsorry were it for ever.\n\n\n\nXXI.\n\n\nDuring the following week, that looked so long to Lando, and was indeed\nlong enough to affect my whole life, what transpired?... Apparently\nnothing very different from the evening I have just described; nothing\nthat did not seem the natural consequence of the intimacy so suddenly\nformed between Donna Faustina and myself, the recent date of which I alone\nseemed not to have forgotten. But little by little, I might say hour by\nhour, I felt a secret, powerful, subtle influence growing up around me,\nand the deepest instincts of my heart, for a moment repressed, were\nviolently roused, causing me to suffer all the pangs of doubt, anxiety,\nand the most cruel suspicion. But as nothing new seemed to justify these\nfeelings, I forced myself to conceal them, for fear of rendering myself\nodious in Lorenzo\u2019s eyes and losing the charm of my generous confidence.\nMoreover, did not my continuing to manifest this confidence oblige him to\nmerit it?... And could Faustina be treacherous while I was redoubling my\ncordiality and affection, and confiding in her as a friend? Was I not in a\ncertain manner protecting myself by obliging both of them in honor not to\ndeceive me?\n\nBut honor, we know, in such cases\u2014honor alone, without the holy restraints\nimposed by conscience\u2014is a feeble barrier and a mere mockery. Those who\nimagine they have not overstepped this barrier sometimes make it recede\nbefore them, and believe themselves still within its limits when they are\nalready far beyond the line it first marked out....\n\nA barrier so easily changed soon trenches on the enemy\u2019s ground, and the\nhonor that is purely human\u2014insufficient guardian of vows the most\nsolemn\u2014after violating the most sacred obligations, often becomes subject\nto some imaginary duty, and, according to a barbarous code that keeps pace\nwith that of the Gospel amid all our civilization, persuades him whose\nsole guide it is that he would be disloyal if he ceased to be a traitor!\n\nThis is a sad, commonplace occurrence in the world, which does not excite\nanything more than a smile or a shrug of the shoulders on the part even of\nthose who would tremble with indignation if any one should think them\ncapable of betraying the confidence of a friend\u2014what do I say?\u2014even of a\nstranger or an enemy!\n\nI will not undertake to follow Lorenzo in this obscure phase of his life.\nNeither will I try to penetrate into the soul of Faustina. I will only\nspeak of the influence her crossing my path had on my life; for the\naccount I have undertaken is one of bitter trials and formidable dangers,\nand the extraordinary grace I derived therefrom!\n\nDuring the last week of our stay in Paris my time was strangely divided\nbetween Mme. de Kergy, who came every morning to take me on the proposed\nrounds, and Donna Faustina, with whom I unfailingly found myself every\nevening. I thus daily went from one world to another exactly opposite, and\nseemed to undergo a periodical transformation, becoming, according to the\nhour, as different as the two women with whom I thus became simultaneously\nconnected, but whom I never beheld together.\n\nEvery day I appreciated more fully the beneficial intimacy, that had\ncommenced at the same time as the other intimacy, to which I already\nhesitated to give its true name, and I found more and more salutary the\nhappy influences of the morning, which always diverted my mind from the\nannoying recollections of the evening before. Mme. de Kergy\u2019s simple\ndignity and sweetness of manner were allied with a noble mind and a large\nheart. Though somewhat imposing, every one felt at ease with her, because\nshe entered into every one\u2019s feelings, criticised nobody, and only gave\nothers the lesson of her example. I considered myself fortunate to see her\nso often, and wished I could always remain under her guidance.\n\nI accompanied her in her charitable rounds through Paris, and at the sight\nof the misery I thus witnessed I felt I had never understood before to\nwhat an extent both misery and charity can extend. And yet poverty and\nhumanity are to be found in all countries and in all climes. Certainly, we\nalso have the poor amongst us, and Southern Italy is called, _par\nexcellence_, the land of beggars and wretchedness. Nevertheless, when my\nimagination transported me to the gates of the convent where Don Placido\ndaily distributed alms, without any great discernment perhaps, but\naccompanied with pious words, received by those to whom they were\naddressed as alms of almost equal value, I asked myself if this did not\nsomewhat counter\u2010balance the excessive poverty and the lack of a more\nrigid and discriminating way of alleviating it. And when I witnessed the\nprofound misery at Paris, augmented by the climate, and often embittered\nby hatred; when I saw this vast number greedy for the things of this\nworld, but without any hope of those in a better, I asked myself if any\npossible compensation in the world could be given the poor who are\ndeprived of the precious faith that would console, sustain, and ennoble\nthem. Yes, _ennoble_ them; the word is not too strong to express the\nliving exemplification of the Gospel I had often observed in accompanying\nLivia and Ottavia to the miserable habitations where they were welcomed so\ncordially. \u201cAh! signora,\u201d these so\u2010called wretched creatures would\nsometimes say, looking at us with an air of compassion, \u201cyes, we will pray\nfor you, and our Lord will hear us; for, after all, _we poor_ are his\nfavorites. He chose to take upon himself our likeness, and not that of the\nrich.\u201d\n\nA thousand expressions of the same nature crossed my mind while\naccompanying my noble, saintly friend to the places where she exercised,\nand taught her young daughter to exercise, a double mission of charity.\nOne day in particular, seeing the charming Diana kneeling beside the bed\nof a poor old woman whose infirmities were incurable, but who was without\nreligion, I recalled the words that fell from the lips of a poor woman at\nNaples who had implored the cure of her malady through the intercession of\nsome saint, _and had obtained it_, \u201cAh! mia cara signora, doctors are for\nthe rich; as for us, we have the saints.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must relate all this to Gilbert,\u201d said Mme. de Kergy, listening to me\nwith a beaming face. \u201cIn spite of the absorbing interest he takes in\ndiscoveries and inventions of all kinds, he is not incapable of\ncomprehending this solution\u2014the highest and most simple of all\u2014of the\ngreat problem repeated under so many different forms. He would readily\nacknowledge that, viewed in this light, the inequalities of social life\nassume a wonderfully different aspect.\u201d\n\nThis was not the first time I had heard her speak in this way of Gilbert\nde Kergy since we had daily met. Among other things, she explained, on one\noccasion, the object of various associations of which he was an active\nmember.\n\n\u201cHe could explain all this much better than I,\u201d she added; \u201cbut I have\nurged him in vain to accompany us in our explorations through what I call\nhis domain. He absolutely refuses, and, though I am accustomed to his\nuncivilized ways, they afflict me, because he often yields to them to the\ninjury of others as well as himself.\u201d\n\nOne day, however, I found his card at my door when I returned home; but I\nhad seen him only once since the meeting at the H\u00f4tel de Kergy.\n\nSaturday arrived, the day but one before our departure, and I was to take\nmy last drive with Mme. de Kergy. I was suffering from a thousand\nconflicting emotions, agitated and melancholy, and sorry to be separated\nfrom her, and yet happy and impatient to leave Paris, where I now seemed\nto behold nothing but two large blue eyes following me everywhere. On the\nother hand, however, a strange, inexplicable regret weighed on my heart\nwhen I thought of the world into which I had not yet penetrated, except in\nimagination, but where I longed to be transplanted with Lorenzo, that our\nlives might bring forth better fruit. While conversing with Mme. de Kergy\nsuch a life seemed less chimerical. I felt my wishes might easily be\nrealized if ... I could not wholly define my thought, but it was there,\nalive, actual, and poignant, and the recollection of its source added a\ndegree of tenderness to the affectionate farewell I bade Mme. de Kergy\nwhen her carriage stopped to leave me at my door. My eyes were filled with\ntears. I found it difficult to tear myself away. She, on her part, pressed\nmy hand, and, fastening her softest look on me, finally said:\n\n\u201cMy dear Ginevra\u201d (I had some time before begged her to call me so),\n\u201cwould it be indiscreet to ask you to come and dine with us to\u2010morrow, and\nspend your last evening with us?\u201d\n\n\u201cO madame!\u201d I exclaimed with a joy I did not try to conceal, \u201chow happy I\nshould be to come!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I shall depend on seeing you\u2014both of you; for of course my\ninvitation extends likewise to the Duca di Valenzano.\u201d\n\nI felt my face turn red simply at these words. Alas! why? Because I was at\nonce terrified at the thought of conveying an invitation to Lorenzo which,\nten days before, he would have eagerly accepted. Now I felt if he replied\nin the affirmative, it would be a triumph for me; if in the negative, a\npainful defeat.\n\nAll this rapidly crossed my mind, and made me silent for a moment. Finally\nI replied:\n\n\u201cI do not know whether my husband has any engagement for to\u2010morrow or not;\nbut as for me, I hope nothing will prevent my coming. At all events, you\nshall have my reply in a few hours.\u201d\n\nThis reply was despatched at a late hour that same evening, and was to\nthis effect: \u201cThat important business would oblige my husband to be absent\nthe whole day, and I alone should be able to accept Mme. de Kergy\u2019s\ninvitation.\u201d\n\nWhat it cost me to write this note Mme. de Kergy never imagined. And yet,\nwhen I hastily wrote these lines, I had no positive reason for doubting\nthe truth of the excuse assigned for Lorenzo\u2019s absence\u2014no reason except\nthe promptings of my own heart, to which I was less able than ever, within\na few hours, to impose silence.\n\nBut to relate what took place from the time I left Mme. de Kergy till I\nwrote her the above note:\n\nThat evening, as usual, I was to meet Donna Faustina, but not her alone.\nOur friends were to assemble to bid us farewell, and it was at this\n_soir\u00e9e_ I saw her for the first time in all the _\u00e9clat_ of a brilliant\ntoilet. And, though I was far from foreseeing it, it was there I spoke to\nher for the last time!... And I was still further from foreseeing in what\nplace and in what way I should afterwards find myself beside her for an\ninstant!...\n\nWe both attracted much attention that evening. Which of us was the more\nbeautiful I cannot tell. As to this, I was indifferent to the opinion of\nall but one. What he thought I longed to know, and I now watched him in my\nturn. As I have said, he had good reason to pride himself on his\npenetration; but that was a faculty by no means lacking on my part, and\none, it may be remarked _en passant_, that Sicilians of both sexes are\nsaid to be rarely devoid of. In this respect we were well matched. I knew\nevery line in his forehead, and understood every movement of his mouth and\nthe slightest change in his mobile, expressive face, and during the whole\nevening, when for the first time I was able to observe them together\nwithout attracting his attention, I used as much art in studying him as he\nknew how to use in studying others. I followed them with my eyes around\nthe room; whereas, separated from me by the crowd, he forgot my presence,\nand, by some phenomenon akin to that of second sight, every word they\nuttered seemed to resound distinctly in my ears!... It was with reluctance\nI gave her my hand when I left her. It was she, and not Lorenzo, who was\nat that moment the object of the resentment that burned in my heart.\n\nI had doubtless overcome some of my faults at that time, but far from all.\nI was not so frivolous as is usually the case at my age. I loved\neverything great and noble. But with all this, I was impetuous, wilful,\nand jealous, and, though not occupied about my appearance, I was with\nmyself. The happiness I had an indisputable right to was menaced. All\nmeans of defending my rights seemed allowable, but to use address,\nprudence, and management would have amounted almost to insincerity in my\neyes.\n\nPretexts, and even excuses, are seldom wanting for yielding to the impulse\nof the moment. Therefore I yielded to mine when I again found myself alone\nwith Lorenzo, breaking a long silence which he did not notice, or would\nnot ask the reason of, with a violent outburst I afterwards regretted, but\nwhich, at the moment, it seemed impossible to repress.\n\n\u201cI have tried to please you, Lorenzo, and must still believe in your\nsincerity, which it would kill me to doubt; but I can no longer have any\nfaith in the false, perfidious friendship of that woman.... My heart, my\nwhole soul, revolts against her.... God forgive me, Lorenzo, I really\nbelieve I hate her, and feel as if I could never see her again!...\u201d\n\nSuch were a few of the hasty, incoherent words that escaped from my lips.\nLorenzo, with folded arms, compressed brow, and a cold, ironical look of\nsurprise, listened without interrupting me.\n\nAs I gazed at him, I felt my impetuosity die away and give place to\nintolerable anguish. My heart swelled, and I should have burst out into\nsobs had not a certain pride hindered me from responding to the icy\ncoldness of his smile with tears. He did not excuse himself, and by no\nmeans tried to defend her whom I thus attacked. He made neither\nprotestations nor reproaches.\n\n\u201cAs you please, _cara mia_,\u201d said he with a calmness that seemed a\nthousand times more cruel than anger. \u201cI will not attempt to oppose the\nfurious fit of jealousy I see you are in. Indulge in it at your\nleisure.... Nothing is easier than to find some excuse for not spending\nto\u2010morrow evening with Donna Faustina\u2014and the day after, _ma belle\nGinevra_,\u201d continued he with a sarcastic look that was more marked than\nhis words. \u201cYou seem to forget we are both going away, and very probably\nyou will never see her again.... This is a reassuring circumstance, and\nought to have sufficed, it seems to me, to prevent you from making so\nabsurd a scene as this.\u201d\n\nHis manner and words completely disconcerted me. I now felt painfully\nmortified at my outburst, and an earnest desire to repair it. And yet the\nsensation caused by his injustice still raged in my heart. But I repressed\nthis by degrees, and when Lorenzo was on the point of leaving the room, I\nsaid in a low tone:\n\n\u201cForgive me; I was too hasty. But I have suffered more than you may have\nsupposed.\u201d\n\nHe made no reply, and his coldness restored my self\u2010control.\n\n\u201cIt is not necessary to seek any pretext to avoid meeting Donna Faustina,\u201d\ncontinued I with a _sang\u2010froid_ nearly equal to his own. \u201cMme. de Kergy\nhas invited me, and you also, to dine there to\u2010morrow, and pass the\nevening.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, go; nothing could be more fortunate. As for me, I shall not go\nwith you. I have business I am obliged to finish before my departure. To\u2010\nmorrow I shall be absent all the morning, and shall not return in season\nto accompany you.\u201d\n\nI knew through Lando what business he referred to. I knew he was to settle\nthe next day the important accounts I had learned about the preceding\nSunday. I recollected likewise that he was afterwards to dine with\nLando....\n\nIt was not, then, an imaginary excuse I had to transmit to Mme. de Kergy,\nand yet, when I wrote the note before mentioned, it was with a trembling\nhand and a heart heavier than it had ever been in my life!\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nSeptember\u2014Sabbath Rest.\n\n\nMost holy of the numbers, sacred Seven!\n Which reverently the ancient sages held,\n And by thy hidden charm the music swelled\nOf rare old prophecies and songs of heaven,\nWe wonder, yet the secret have not riven\n (So closely are the mysteries sentinelled),\n If only by the calendar(10) compelled,\nThy sign of grace unto this month was given.\nRather, we think, a fair connection lies\n Between the blessedness of Sabbath peace,\n When all of labor finds divine surcease,\nThe while rich incense rises to the skies,\n And that sweet rest from summer\u2019s burdened days,\n Which makes the ripe year now yield sevenfold praise!\n\n\n\n\nThe Present State Of Anglicanism.\n\n\nA bill for the regulation of public worship, prepared by Dr. Tait,\nProtestant Archbishop of Canterbury, and which after certain modifications\nhas passed through Parliament, is causing the state church to undergo\nanother of those feverish crises which for about thirty years past have\nmarked with a new feature its internal as well as its external\ndisorganization.\n\nBefore that period it had been the chief boast of that church, in every\nsection of her members, whether \u201cHigh\u201d or \u201cEvangelical,\u201d to have\nrepudiated the \u201cblasphemous fables and dangerous deceits\u201d of the ancient\nfaith from which she had apostatized, the ancient unity from which she had\nsevered herself, and the ancient doctrines which she denounced.\n\nSince that period, however, a change has come over a portion of the\nEstablishment, by the formation in its bosom of a new party, differing\nfrom all its predecessors, and possessing, moreover, its own scale of\nbelief, graduated _ad libitum_.\n\nThe thoughtful and earnest writers of the _Tracts for the Times_, becoming\npainfully conscious of the want of consistency of belief, and also of the\nneed of a spiritual head or centre of authority in their own communion,\nsought anxiously into the details of its origin and history, and also into\nthe past and present of the ancient church, from whose venerable features\nthey removed the veil of obloquy and misrepresentation which had been\nthrown over them. Their search proved that to be a merely human\ninstitution which they had regarded as divine, and the unveiling of that\nlong\u2010hidden countenance revealed to them the divine lineaments of the one\ntrue Mother who for three weary centuries had been to England a \u201cMother\nout of sight.\u201d(11)\n\nMost of those men transferred their allegiance whither alone it was due;\nhaving dug to the foundations of their edifice to find them giving way at\nevery corner, they took refuge in the city against which so often the\n\u201chail descended, and the wind blew, but it fell not; for it was built upon\na rock.\u201d But they did not fail to leave an abiding impression upon the\ncommunion they abandoned. Many who forbore to follow their example were\nyet unable to deny the truth of the principles which had found their\nultimate resolution in this exodus, although they persuaded themselves and\nothers that it was their duty to remain in order to solidify and adorn\nthat structure which they designate the \u201cchurch of their baptism,\u201d slow to\nbelieve that it is a house \u201cbuilt on the sand.\u201d\n\nThus, during the last thirty years or so, it has been the aim of a small\nbut increasing number of Anglicans to claim consideration for their\ncommunion on higher grounds than its founders would by any means have\napproved, and, becoming suddenly shy of its state parentage, to declare it\nto be a \u201cBranch\u201d and a \u201cSister\u201d of that church which the creators of their\nown moved heaven and earth, or rather the gates of hell, to destroy.\n\nIn order to support their claim, they find it necessary to distort the\nmeaning of their formularies in the vain endeavor to coax or to force them\ninto some resemblance to the teaching of the Council of Trent, those which\nare hopelessly irreconcilable being left out of the account as little\ndifferences which it is inconvenient to remember. In numerous cases they\nare practically set aside, or contradicted, notwithstanding the fact that\nat their \u201cordination\u201d the ministers of the Church of England solemnly bind\nthemselves to teach in accordance with these very formularies.\n\nMoreover, finding their own mutilated communion service insufficient, and\nyet claiming and professing to \u201csay Mass,\u201d which they were never intended\nto say, and which in their present position they are utterly incapable of\ncelebrating, the ritualistic ministers are in the habit of supplementing\nthe deficiencies of their own liturgy by private interpolations from the\nRoman Missal, which, in case they are questioned on the subject, they\ndesignate as \u201cprayers from ancient sources,\u201d a statement less honest than\ntrue. One thing after another do they imitate or claim as their own, now a\ndoctrine, now a practice, which for three hundred years their communion\nhas emphatically disowned: vestments, lights, prayers for the dead,\nconfession, transubstantiation, in some \u201cextreme\u201d quarters intercession of\nthe saints; here a gesture and there a decoration, which only has its\nfitness and meaning in the ancient church and her venerable ritual, but\nwhich with them can claim no title but that of doctrinal, disciplinary,\nand decorative disobedience\u2014however great may be the pains they take to\nforce the false to simulate the true, and however pertinaciously they may\ndare, as they do, to appropriate to themselves and to their chaotic schism\nthe very name of the Catholic Church, out of whose fold they are content\nto remain in hereditary apostasy.\n\nAmong the four principal sections of \u201cHigh,\u201d \u201cLow,\u201d \u201cBroad,\u201d and \u201cNo\u201d\nchurch, into which the Anglican communion is divided, the \u201cLow\u201d or (so\u2010\ncalled) \u201cEvangelical\u201d school is the sternest opponent of the new \u201cExtreme\u201d\nor \u201cRitualistic\u201d party, which it very mistakenly honors with the name of\n_Romanizers_. We say mistakenly, because, however they may imitate\naccording to their various shades of opinion the outward ceremonial of the\nchurch, or adopt, at choice, more or less of her doctrines, yet all this\nin their case is but a double development of Protestantism (to say nothing\nof the effect it produces of making them rest satisfied with the shadow\ninstead of seeking the substance);(12) for none are so bitter as they\nagainst the church they are so desirous to resemble, and also none are so\npractically disobedient to their own ecclesiastical superiors, in spite of\nreiterated professions to the contrary. It is this persistent disobedience\nwhich has brought about the present crisis.\n\nIn the Evangelical party there exists a society calling itself the \u201cChurch\nAssociation,\u201d of which one principal object is to watch over the\nprinciples of the reformation,(13) and to keep a jealous eye upon the\nmovements of tractarianism in all its varied developments.\n\nChiefly in consequence of the representations of this society, and also of\nthe determination of the High\u2010Church clergy not to obey the decision that\nhas been given against various of their practices in the \u201cPurchas\njudgment,\u201d until they should have obtained a redecision from another court\nto which they had appealed, Dr. Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury, laid\nbefore the Houses of Parliament a bill entitled the \u201cPublic Worship\nRegulation Bill,\u201d of which the object is to secure the suppression of all\nthe illegal practices in which Ritualists habitually indulge, and also to\nsecure obedience to their legally and ecclesiastically constituted\nauthorities. Rightly or wrongly, all the innovations or changes that have\nbeen gradually rousing \u201cthe Protestant feeling of the country,\u201d and which\nare in fact, if not in intention, imitations of Catholic ritual, were to\nbe put down. The bill requires that in each diocese a local court should\nbe established, before which any church\u2010warden, or three parishioners,\n\u201chaving cause of complaint against the incumbent, as failing to observe\nthe directions contained in the Book of Common Prayer, relating to the\nperformance of the services, rites, and ceremonies of the said book, or as\nhaving made or permitted unlawful addition to, alteration of, or omission\nfrom such services,\u201d etc., etc., shall be empowered to lay their complaint\nagainst the said incumbent, who is to be allowed the space of fourteen\ndays in which to give his answer. Should no answer be given, it will be\nconsidered that the charges laid against him are true, and proceedings\nwill be taken accordingly. Should an unsatisfactory answer be given, \u201cthe\nbishop may, if he think fit, within six months after he has received a\nrepresentation in the manner aforesaid, proceed to consider the same in\npublic, with the assistance of the chancellor of the diocese or his\nsubstitute, ... and the bishop shall, after due consideration, pronounce\njudgment in regard to such representation.\u201d\n\nTo this an amendment was suggested by Lord Shaftesbury, which was adopted,\nnamely, that instead of a local bishop, a secular judge, to be selected by\nthe two Archbishops of Canterbury and York, should be appointed, under the\ntitle of \u201cJudge of Public Worship,\u201d and whose office it should be to\nassist the bishop of any diocese where his services might be required for\nthe hearing of cases, after which not the bishop, but the judge, should,\nin conclusion, pronounce sentence according to law.\n\nUpon this, the _Spectator_, a leading periodical of the Broad Church\nparty, observes: \u201cSo far as the bill is intended to ascertain and enforce\nthe existing law of the church in relation to public worship, the change\n(namely, from a bishop to a secular judge) makes the whole difference\nbetween a tribunal which Englishmen will respect and trust and one which\nthey would hardly have taken the trouble even to consult, so deep would\nhave been, in general, their distrust of the oracle consulted.... Lord\nShaftesbury having provided a genuine judge, the complainant who prefers a\nbishop will not often get his antagonist to agree with him, and such\ncomplainants will be few.\u201d\n\nOf this general mistrust of the Anglican bishops we have more to say, but\nfor the present we keep to the consideration of the bill.\n\nLord Shaftesbury\u2019s suggestion was followed by one from Dr. Magee, Bishop\nof Peterborough, which, although not adopted, is too remarkable a specimen\nof Episcopal counsel to be unnoticed. (_The Church Times_ respectfully\ndesignates it as \u201cone of the prettiest bits of log\u2010rolling ever seen\u201d!)\nBishop Magee proposed, and his proposal was \u201cpowerfully seconded by the\nLord Chancellor,\u201d that there should be \u201cneutral regions of ritual laid\ndown by the bill, within which a variety of usages as practised in many\nchurches at the present time should _all_ be admissible, even though the\nactual directions of the rubric against some of them be explicit.\u201d\nWhereupon the _Spectator_ goes on to suggest that a varied selection of\n\u201cconcessions\u201d should be made, suitable to the divergent or opposite tastes\nof Extreme, High, Low, Broad, and No Churchmen; such as, for instance, the\noptional reading or omission of the words as to the regeneration of the\nchild by the act of baptism, as a concession acceptable to the\nEvangelicals. For its own part it would like an optional reading or\nomission of the Athanasian Creed, and so on, and, \u201cto make the compromise\na thoroughly sound one,\u201d the laity of each parish, it considers, ought to\nbe consulted as to the usage to be adopted. It is hard to imagine anything\nbetter calculated to make \u201cconfusion worse confounded\u201d than plans like\nthese, at a time, too, when all the Anglican parties alike confess that\n\u201cin no day has there been so wide a variety of tendency, opinion, and\nbelief in the Church of England as now.\u201d\n\nOne of the great features in the checkered progress of this bill has been\nthe speech of the late premier, the negative and destructive character of\nwhich it is difficult adequately to estimate, and which, upon its\ndelivery, to quote the words of the _Westminster Gazette_, \u201cproduced an\necclesiastical conflagration.\u201d Even Mr. Gladstone\u2019s late colleagues hold\naloof from his propositions, and the outcry that was raised soon\nindisposed his humbler followers to agree with him; yet he laid bare many\nreal difficulties and told many plain truths which might make the friends\nof the archbishop\u2019s bill reasonably hesitate. But as it is, this speech\nhas only fired the zealous determination of the great majority of the\nHouse, both liberal and conservative, to strike a blow at the external\nmanifestations of ritualism, come what may, and has set the \u201cProtestant\nfeeling of the country\u201d on horseback.\n\nThe bill is doubtless peculiarly vulnerable, and Mr. Gladstone did not\nspare its weak points, amply demonstrating its dangerous scope and\ncharacter, and the extreme probability of its leading to convulsions far\nmore serious to the welfare of the Established Church than what he termed\nany panic about Ritualism. It enforces the observation of the rubrics with\na rigidity dependent only upon episcopal discretion in the use of a\ncertain dispensing power. The bishops may protect whom they please,\nprovided they are ready with written reasons for vetoing the proceedings\nagainst the accused, which is certainly an adroit expedient for catching\nobnoxious ritualists and letting offenders of another class escape. All\nmight work well if only bishops will be discreet.(14) Mr. Gladstone\nshowed, however, that he entertained profound doubts of the discretion of\ntwenty\u2010seven or twenty\u2010eight bishops. But, whether his fears are well\ngrounded or not, many minds would agree with him in recoiling from such\nslippery legislation, although, on the other hand, he launches himself\ninto a course of which it would be difficult to foresee the results. In\nhis six remarkable resolutions he not only reduces the bill so that it\nshould only effect its real objects, but he explicitly asserts the\nimpolicy of uniformity in the matter of enforcing the rubrics. It is\nreally little less than the repeal of the Act of Uniformity, and the six\nresolutions involve the abolition of that religious settlement which has\nprevailed in England for more than two centuries. Finding them rejected by\nan overwhelming majority, Mr. Gladstone withdrew them; \u201cbut they may yet\nfurnish a fruitful contribution to the discussion of the position of the\nChurch of England.\u201d\n\nBut if, as we have seen, the Broad\u2010Church section openly proclaims its\ndeep mistrust of its ecclesiastical rulers, and one object of the\nEvangelical \u201cChurch Association\u201d is declared to be \u201cto teach them the\nlaw,\u201d it is reserved for the organs of the extreme ritualistic party to\ntreat their bishops, week after week, to an amount of supercilious\ninsolence, which is occasionally varied by invective and abuse,\nunsurpassed in the annals of even Puritan polemics. In the _Church Times_\nfor May 22 we find a lengthy monition, headed in double\u2010sized capitals,\n\u201cWhat the Bishops ought to do,\u201d and which, in a tone of mock compassion,\nthus commences: \u201cIt has been a hard time lately for our Right Reverend\nFathers\u2010in\u2010God.... According to their wont, their lordships have seemed,\nwith one noble exception, to give their support to Dr. Tait\u2019s plan for\nstamping out ritualism.\u201d \u201cThe gods have evidently a spite against the\nprimate, or he would scarcely have committed such blunders, etc.\u201d \u201cThe\npoor archbishop has, however, excuse enough for his peevishness.\u201d \u201cWe have\nbeen compelled repeatedly, in the interests of truth, etc., to point out\nwhat their lordships ought not to do; unfortunately the occasions which\nnecessarily call forth such remarks occur too frequently; it is therefore\nonly right that we should also give the bishops the benefit of our own\nexperience, and explain to them how they might hope to gain that respect\nwhich they certainly do not now possess.\u201d And further on the same modest\nwriter requests his ecclesiastical superiors to remember that they are\nimmensely inferior to many of their clergy in natural gifts, mental\nculture, and parochial experience, adding: \u201cTake, for instance, the\nquestion of confession. It is evident from their lordships\u2019 utterances\nrespecting it that they are in the darkest ignorance both as to its\nprinciples and practice, ... and this though there are plenty of clergymen\nwho, by long experience in the confessional, are well qualified to\ninstruct their lordships about it.\u201d\n\nNow, this is too unreasonable! As if an Anglican bishop ought fairly to be\nexpected to trouble himself about an obsolete custom that had practically\ndisappeared from the Anglican Prayer\u2010Book, of which there is no mention in\nthe Catechism, and none in the communion service but one ambiguous phrase\nwhich may mean anything!(15)\n\nBut to return to the _Church Times_, which with its compeers of the\n\u201cextreme\u201d school seems to do its best to expose the Babel of confusion in\nwhich it dwells, and which its own voice does its little utmost to\nincrease. From this we learn that \u201cit is now decided by archiepiscopal\nauthority, and illustrated by archiepiscopal example, that truth is not\none, but two.\u201d\n\nWhy only _now_, we should like to know, when no true successor of the\narchapostate Cranmer could consistently teach otherwise\u2014Cranmer, of whom\nhis biographer, Alexander Knox, writes as follows:\n\n\u201cTo form a church by any sharply defined lines was scarcely Cranmer\u2019s\nobject.... He looked more to extension than to exactness of periphery.\u201d\nAnd this man, \u201cwhose life was the incarnation of theological and moral\ncontradictions, and whose creed was only consistent in its gross\nErastianism, left these as his double legacy to the national\nEstablishment, of which he was the principal contriver.\u201d(16) The same\nwriter (Knox) demonstrates the success of Cranmer\u2019s idea in another place,\nwhere he describes the constitution of the Anglican communion in the\nfollowing remarkable words: \u201cIn England, as I have already been\nendeavoring to show, all is peculiar. In the Establishment, the theology\ncommon to Luther and Melanchthon was adopted in the Articles, but the\nunmixed piety of the primitive church was retained in the daily liturgy\nand occasional offices. Thus our church, by a most singular arrangement of\nProvidence, has, as it were, a Catholic soul united to a Lutheran body of\nbest and mildest temperament.... May we not discover traces of the All\u2010\nwise Hand in these principles of liberality, which are implanted in the\nvery bosom of our Establishment by the adoption of articles that are\ndeemed by different men to countenance their different opinions?\u201d And\nBishop Burnet, in the Introduction to his _Commentary on the Articles_,\ndeclares that \u201cwhen an article is conceived in such general terms that it\ncan admit of different senses, yet even when the senses are plainly\ncontrary one to another, both (_i.e._ persons of opposite opinions) may\nsubscribe to the Articles with a good conscience, and without any\nequivocation.\u201d Well indeed did Dr. Newman describe these articles as the\n\u201cstammering lips of ambiguous formularies.\u201d After these confessions of\nAnglicans themselves, what reason have they to be surprised if their\npresent archiepiscopal authority decides that truth is not one, but two?\n\nThe same ritualistic organ we have been quoting speaks of a certain\nproposal as one which could only be made \u201cby a madman or a bishop.\u201d In the\n_Church Times_ for June 12, under the title of \u201cThe Worship Bill in the\nLords,\u201d we find the following courteous, charitable, and refined\nobservations: \u201cThe scheme devised by Archbishops Tait and Thompson for\nharrying the ritualists, and nearly pulling down the Church of England in\norder to do so, like that lord chief\u2010justice in China who burnt down his\ntown\u2010house to roast a sucking\u2010pig, is not going quite as its authors\nhoped,\u201d etc. Again: \u201cBut Dr. Tait has been contented to remain to the\npresent hour in entire ignorance of the laws, usages, and temper of the\nChurch of England, and therefore it is impossible for the most charitable\ncritic to give him credit for religious motives. The best that can be said\nof him is that he has a creed of some kind, which is Erastianism, and\ntherefore prefers the English Establishment to the Scottish, as the\nwealthier and more dignified of the two. [The bishops] have collectively\nbetrayed their trust, and convinced churchmen that the episcopal seats in\nthe House of Lords are a weakness and not a strength to the church.\u201d \u201cThis\nmisconduct of the bishops will do much to destroy the unreal glamour which\ntheir official position has enabled them to throw over the eyes of the\nmoderate High\u2010Church clergy, who now learn that no considerations of\nfaith, honor, and duty have the least weight with their lordships when any\npersonal questions intervene, and therefore their wings will be clipped\npretty closely when,\u201d etc. \u201cBut there is, we are thankful to say, a deep\u2010\nrooted distrust of the bishops,\u201d and \u201ceven archiepiscopal mops and brooms\ncannot drive back the waters of ritualism!\u201d With specimens such as these\nbefore us, we do not wonder that Dr. Pusey, who is a gentleman as well as\na Christian, thought it advisable at the opening of his speech before the\nrecent ritualistic meeting at S. James\u2019 Hall, against the archbishop\u2019s\nbill, to express his hope that the words of S. Paul would not be\nforgotten, \u201cThou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of my people.\u201d\n\nBefore quitting this part of the subject there is one thing we wish to\nsay. Let these men be content to settle their own quarrel with each other\nand with their bishops as best they may, but let them, if they will not\nhear S. Paul, remember a command that was given amid the thunders of\nSinai: \u201cThou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor\u201d; and let\nthem, if they can, refrain from \u201cevil speaking, lying, and slandering\u201d not\nonly against the Catholic Church in general, but also against the noble\nchurch in France in particular, whose close union and devoted filial\nobedience to her Head, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, they appear to regard\nwith a peculiar and malignant envy. Would that it were a holy emulation\ninstead!\n\nThese men dare to say that the church in France has been \u201cbrought to\nruin\u201d: that it is \u201cRome and its agents who have procured that ruin,\u201d and\nby means which they \u201cwill expose on a future occasion.\u201d They aver that\nthere is not a canonical authority, but \u201can absolute despotism,\u201d \u201ca\nhateful absolutism\u201d exercised by \u201cthe bishops over the inferior clergy\u201d\n(in which statement we cannot but perceive a reflection of the perpetual\nepiscopal nightmare which troubles the ritualistic dreams at home); the\nsaid inferior clergy being described as \u201cveritable pariahs, who from one\nday to another, at the caprice of a bishop, can be reduced to become\ncrossing\u2010sweepers or cab\u2010drivers\u201d\u2014a \u201creduction\u201d which we are allowed to\nsuppose must be very common from the additional declaration that \u201cit is a\nprinciple with the bishops to crush the wills of their clergy,\u201d while they\nthemselves, \u201cbeing merely the prefects of the Pope, have in their turn to\nsubmit to a tyranny no less painful,\u201d the Pope making himself \u201clord and\nmaster more and more\u201d; in fact, \u201cthe only person who is free in the Roman\nChurch, ever since the Council of Trent, is the Pope.\u201d(17)\n\nElsewhere in this same exponent of reckless ritualism we find the\nfollowing singular justification of the tone so habitually adopted by that\nparty towards their spiritual superiors: \u201cWe hear a good deal about the\nreverence of the elder tractarians for bishops and dignitaries, but we\nfail to see the merit of their conduct when we reflect that it cost us a\ndisastrous exodus Romewards.\u201d An apparently unconscious testimony to the\ninevitable tendency and final result of respect for lawful authority.\n\nBut we will no longer detain the reader over specimens of High\u2010Anglican\njournalism, further than to remark the admiring sympathy expressed by this\nparty for the self\u2010styled \u201cOld Catholic\u201d movement, and especially for the\napostate Reinkens\u2014a sympathy to be expected from men who, instead of\nescaping from schism, seek to justify it, and, feeling themselves\nstrengthened by the rebellion of others, applaud each fresh example of\nrevolt.\n\nThus a long and laudatory notice on the new German schismatics commences\nas follows: \u201cThe text of the Old Catholic Declaration at Bonn, on reform\nin general, ... is published, and is, on the whole, extremely\nsatisfactory. At present the movement bears a remarkable resemblance to\nthe ideal English Reformation; and we pray that it may keep a great deal\nnearer to its theory than we have been able to do.\u201d\n\nAs a pendant to the above we will mention two \u201cresolutions\u201d moved at a\nmeeting of the \u201cSociety for the Reunion of Christendom,\u201d recently held in\nS. George\u2019s Hall, the first of which was as follows: \u201cThat the only\nadequate solution for the internal distractions of the English Church, as\nof Christendom generally, is to be found in the restoration of corporate\nunity in the great Christianity commonwealth.\u201d\n\nThe second stood thus: \u201cThat the marriage of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh\nto the daughter of the Czar affords hope of such mutual understanding\nbetween the English and Russian churches as may facilitate future\nintercommunion.\u201d\n\nAlas, poor Church of England! Within the breast of many of her more\nearnest members is lovingly cherished the delusive dream of the \u201ccorporate\nreunion\u201d of what they are pleased to call the \u201cthree branches of the\nchurch.\u201d Wearied of their long isolation, they stretch out their hands\u2014to\nwhom? On the one side, to a schism about double the age of their own, but\ntoo free from many of their errors and too devoted to the Ever Blessed\nMother of God to give easy welcome to so dubious an ally as the creation\nof Cranmer and his king; and, on the other side, to a schism of a few\nmonths old, to which they equally look forward to join hand in hand, and\nthus, by adding schism to schism, fondly expect Catholic unity as the\nresult!\n\nBut what, then, is their attitude with regard to the ancient church?\nOpposition, strengthened by jealous fear. There is in the Church of\nEngland an hereditary antipathy to the Catholic Church, which is evinced\nin its Articles, more fully developed in its _Homilies_, and sustained in\nthe writings not only of the first reformers, but of all the succession of\nAnglican divines, with scarcely an exception, no matter how much they may\nhave differed among themselves in their several schools of religious\nopinion. Nor is the spirit dead within it now. For instance, was there\never a more gigantic commotion than that which was raised all over\nEngland, in every corner of the land, and among clergy and laity alike,\nthan that which followed upon the simple act of Pope Pius IX., when,\nwithin the memory of the present generation, he exchanged the government\nof the Catholic Church in England by vicars\u2010apostolic for that of a\nregular and established hierarchy?\n\n\u201cThe same animus exists even among the less Protestant and more eminent of\nits champions in the present day, among whom we need only mention the\nnames of Dr. Wordsworth, Mr. Palmer, and the Dean of Canterbury among\nmoderate High Churchmen.\u201d It manifests itself also quite as plainly in the\nTractarian, Ritualistic, and \u201cExtreme\u201d schools of High\u2010Church development;\nfor instance, F. Harper quotes a letter published and signed by an \u201cOld\nTractarian,\u201d in which the Catholic bishops are described as \u201cthe present\nmanagers of the Roman schism in England,\u201d and a clergyman of the same\nschool, well known at Oxford, on one occasion observed to the writer of\nthe present notice: \u201cWe are the Catholics; you are simply Romanists; that\nis to say, Roman schismatics.\u201d\n\nDr. Pusey, in his recent speech before the meeting at St. James\u2019 Hall\nagainst the archbishop\u2019s bill, expresses as emphatically as ever his\nassured conviction of the Catholicity of his own communion, in spite of\nthe many difficulties to be overcome before that view can be accepted by\nordinary minds. After speaking of the \u201cundivided church of Christ,\u201d he\ngoes on to say: \u201cWe are perfectly convinced ... that we are standing\nwithin her own recorded limits, and are exponents of her own recorded\nprinciples,\u201d adding, \u201cThe Church of England is Catholic\u201d (great cheering),\n\u201cand no power on earth can make the Church of England to\u2010day a Protestant\nsociety.... Her limits we claim to be those of the Catholic Church.\u201d And,\nwonderful as it may seem, the venerable doctor is convinced of the truth\nof these affirmations, his nature being too noble and sincere wilfully to\nexaggerate. His speech, which is in condemnation of the archbishop\u2019s bill\nas being aimed against those charged with making unlawful additions to\ntheir church\u2019s ritual, while those who make unlawful omissions from it are\nlikely to be left unmolested, concludes with these words: \u201cIf dark days\n_do_ come, ... I mean to stand just where I am, within the Church of\nEngland\u201d (loud and prolonged cheering).... \u201cI mean to resist the voices\nfrom without and from within that will call on me to go to Rome; but still\nto endeavor, by active toil, by patient well\u2010doing, and by fervent\ncharity, to defend and maintain the catholic nature of the Church of\nEngland.\u201d(18)\n\nThere is one Voice which may yet _will_ to be heard \u201c_within_,\u201d and which\nmay at the same time confer grace, that he who has taught so many souls\nthe way to their true and only home may himself also find his own true\nMother and his Home at last.\n\nMeanwhile, what is the condition of this \u201cCatholic\u201d Church of England!\nNever was there a \u201chouse\u201d more notoriously \u201cdivided against itself;\u201d and\nevery effort of the Tractarian party to force sound doctrine upon her or\nelicit it from her has resulted in a more deliberate annihilation of truth\non her part, by the formal declaration that on fundamental doctrines her\nministers, according to their respective tastes, are free to teach two\nopposite beliefs. It was thus when the \u201cGorham judgment\u201d ruled that\nbaptismal regeneration was \u201can open question\u201d in the church of England.\nHer ministers are equally allowed to teach that it is a true doctrine or\nthat it is a false one. Truth is made not only \u201ctwo,\u201d but antagonistic to\nitself. A subsequent judgment did the same thing with regard to the\ndoctrine of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, which is taught in a\nvariety of ways by the clergy of the Tractarian schools, sometimes as\nconsubstantiation, and by some as transubstantiation itself, although this\ndoctrine is explicitly repudiated by the Anglican formularies. By the\ndecision pronounced in the case of Mr. Bennett of Froome Selwood, the Real\nPresence in the Eucharist was, equally with the doctrine of its opposite,\nwhich might be truly designated as the \u201creal absence,\u201d authorized to be\nbelieved and taught.\n\nIt thus not unfrequently happens that the adoration of the consecrated\nelements practised and inculcated in one parish by the Rev. Mr. A. is in\nthe very next parish denounced as idolatry by his neighbor the Rev. Mr.\nB.;(19) and in cases where the one gentleman happens to be appointed to\nsucceed the other in either parish, what must be the confusion of ideas\nproduced in the minds of the hapless parishioners with regard to the only\ntwo sacraments which their catechism teaches them are \u201cgenerally necessary\nto salvation\u201d?\n\nEvery judgment given by the authorized tribunals of the Establishment on\nmatters of doctrine recognizes by implication that the real strength of\nthe Church of England lies in the indifference of the English people to\ndogmatic truth. We quote the words of Mr. Wilberforce: That which\ndishonors the Church of England in the judgment of all other Christians,\nwhether Catholic or Protestant, is its great merit in the eyes of its own\nmembers. They want to profess their various religions, from Calvinism to\nsemi\u2010popery, without impediment, and the Church of England is the only\ncommunity in the world in which they can do it. Even professed unbelievers\ndesire to maintain that institution for the same reason. A church which\nteaches nothing is in their judgment the next best thing to no church at\nall; thus the _Pall Mall Gazette_ often writes against Christianity, but\nnever against the Church of England. What unbelievers fear is a church\nwhich claims to be divine and which teaches only one religion. \u201cWe have a\nregard,\u201d says the rationalistic _Saturday Review_, \u201cselfish it may be, but\nvery sincere, for the Church of England as an eminently useful\ninstitution. If the Liberation Society chuckles over the revelation of a\n\u2018divided church,\u2019 the only way to check\u2010mate it is to make all varieties\nof doctrine equally lawful, though they are mutually contradictory.\u201d\n\nAgain: when such a man as Lord Selborne says that the opposition to the\narchbishop\u2019s bill is based on the idea that \u201cevery clergyman is to be his\nown pope,\u201d and Lord Hatherley that \u201cevery one was determined to have his\nown way,\u201d and the Bishop of Peterborough that \u201cthose clergymen who were so\nloud in crying out against the tyranny of the bishops arrogated to\nthemselves a right to do exactly what they pleased\u201d; \u201cevery clergyman\nwishing that there should be _excipienda_ in favor of the practices in\nwhich he himself indulged, but objected to include those of his neighbor\nin the list,\u201d and that \u201cevery one was equally anxious to be himself\nexempted from prosecution, and equally jealous of the power of prosecuting\nhis neighbor\u201d\u2014the real character of the so\u2010called \u201cCatholic revival\u201d in\nthe Protestant Church of England was acknowledged by the most eminent\npartisans of that institution. Ritualism, they perceive, is simply\nProtestantism and the right of private judgment in their extremest form.\nHow vain it is to exorcise such a spirit in a sect founded on the right of\nrevolt, and so utterly indifferent to positive truth that, as the Bishop\nof Peterborough frankly confessed, the word compromise is written all over\nthe pages of the Anglican Prayer\u2010Book, was undesignedly admitted by Lord\nSalisbury. \u201cThere were,\u201d he said, \u201cthree parties in the church, which\nmight be described as the Sacramental, the Emotional, and the\nPhilosophical, and the great problem to be solved was how to reconcile\ntheir views.\u201d The problem, he knows, is insoluble. The very men who\nprofess to revive Catholic dogma can only suggest a \u201cconsiderate\ndisagreement,\u201d which in plain words is an arrangement to betray God\u2019s\nrevealed truth by an impious compromise with error.\n\nBefore closing this rapid and imperfect notice of the present state of the\nAnglican Communion, a reflection suggests itself upon which we must say a\nfew words. It may reasonably be asked, What is the authority which the\nritualistic party professes to obey? They refuse the right of the state,\nto which their community owes its being, to rule them in matters\necclesiastical; they refuse obedience _practically_, whether professedly\nor not, to their bishops, for whom they appear to have neither affection,\nconfidence, nor respect; and they not only refuse submission to her whom\nthey themselves acknowledge to be the \u201cMother and Mistress of all\nchurches,\u201d but they openly express their sympathy and admiration for those\nwho rebel against her authority, invariably taking the part of the\nrevolted against the Catholic Church. \u201cIs there, then, any authority upon\nearth to which they allow themselves responsible, and if so, where is it\nto be found?\u201d\n\nWe give the answer in the words of the able writer quoted above:(20)\n\n\u201cAnglicans having destroyed, as far as their influence extends, the whole\nauthority of the living church, they affect, since they must obey\nsomething, to reserve all their obedience for what they call the primitive\nchurch. The late Dean Mansel tells us that some of the worst enemies of\nrevealed truth employed the same pretext. \u2018The earlier deists,\u2019 he says\n(naming five notorious ones), \u2018carried on their attack under cover of a\nreverence for primitive Christianity;\u2019 and he goes on to ask, \u2018Has such a\nsupposition ever been made, except by wicked men desirous to find an\nexcuse for their transgression of the law?\u2019 Now, this is exactly the\nattitude of Anglicans towards the authority of the church. They exalt her\nprerogatives, and admit that she is \u2018infallible\u2019; but they deny in the\nsame breath that she has the power to teach or to \u2018pass decrees,\u2019 because\nthat would imply the obligation of obedience, and they are resolved to\nobey nothing but themselves, and therefore they have invented the theory\nof the Christian Church which may be enunciated in the following terms:\n\n\n \u201c \u2018The church of God, though destined by her Founder to a divine\n life, has become by degrees a mere human thing. In spite of the\n promises, her decay began with her existence, since even the\n apostolic sees all \u201cerred in matters of faith.\u201d(21) She was\n designed to be One, but is now divided. She was intended to be\n universal, but ... it is far more convenient that she should be\n simply national. She still has a voice, but cannot use it. Her\n decrees would be irreformable if she had not lost the power to\n make any. She is theoretically infallible, but her infallibility\n may be corrected by any intelligent Christian who feels qualified\n for the task. She has a right to enjoin obedience, but everybody\n has a right to refuse it; for though obedience was once a\n Christian duty, yet, since there is no longer anything to obey,\n this particular virtue has lapsed, and every one is a law to\n himself. It is no doubt her office to correct the errors of\n others, but unfortunately she has not yet succeeded in detecting\n her own. \u201cEvery tongue that resisteth her in judgment she shall\n condemn,\u201d but meanwhile it is quite lawful for every tongue to\n condemn _her_..... Unity is her essential mark, by which she was\n always to be recognized, but as it has no centre it is now purely\n chimerical. The great teachers of Christendom fancied the Pope was\n that centre, but this was evidently delusion. It was in the\n beginning a condition of salvation to \u201chear the church,\u201d but as\n she has lost her voice nobody can be expected to hear her now, and\n the conditions of salvation are changed. It used to be her\n business to impose terms of communion, but it is the peculiar\n privilege of modern Christians to substitute others for them. The\n defection of millions in the earlier ages, who became Arians or\n Donatists, did not in the least affect her unity or impair her\n authority; but the rebellion of certain Englishmen\u2014whose fathers\n had obeyed her for a thousand years, or of Russians, who have\n invented a local religion and do not even aspire to an universal\n one\u2014is quite fatal to both. Of all former apostates it was rightly\n said, \u201cThey went out from us because they were not of us,\u201d but no\n one would think of saying this of men who live under the British\n Constitution, because they have a clear right to \u201cgo out\u201d whenever\n they please.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\nSuch is the Anglican theory, ... in the face of which the Anglican\nprophets go to their temples, and loudly proclaim, \u201cI believe in One,\nHoly, Catholic Church.\u201d The natural result of such teaching is that a\nmajority of Englishmen have long ceased to believe in anything of the\nkind.\n\nNor is the Anglican theory about the Catholic Church a more impossible\nabsurdity than what they profess to believe, and apparently do believe,\nabout their own, although they do not state their belief in the bare and\nunambiguous manner in which we will state it for them.\n\nThat sect \u201cexisted,\u201d they tell us, \u201cbefore the so\u2010called Reformation,\nwhich was only a trivial episode in its history. It left the Church of\nEngland exactly what it was before, and only made it a little more\nCatholic. If its founders called the Mass a \u2018blasphemous fable,\u2019 they must\nhave intended that it was the most sacred rite of the Christian religion.\nIf, whenever they altered their new Prayer\u2010Book (which they did very\noften), it was always to make it less Catholic, this was probably in the\nhope that its doctrine would improve in quality as it lessened in\nquantity. If its bishops for many generations persecuted Catholics to\ndeath or tortured them as \u2018idolaters\u2019 this was only a quarrel of brothers,\nand they were as deeply enamored of the Catholic faith as those whom they\nmurdered for professing it. If for more than a hundred years they gave the\nhighest dignities to men who had never received episcopal ordination, that\nfact proved nothing against their reverence for the apostolic succession,\nor their conviction that they possessed it themselves. In like manner\ntheir casting down altars (in some cases making them into paving\u2010stones),\nand substituting a \u2018wooden table,\u2019 in no way affect our constant\ndeclaration that the doctrine of the Christian sacrifice was always most\nfirmly held and taught in the Anglican Church. That they allowed their\nclergy every variety of creed may have been one way of testifying their\nconviction that truth is one. Their constant execration of the Catholic\nfaith must be interpreted as meaning something quite opposite; in the same\nway, if you suppress the Homilies and reverse the Articles, which for some\nsagacious reason were written as they are, you will find the genuine\ntheology of our founders.\n\n\u201cFinally, if the Church of England pretended to be fiercely Protestant for\nthree centuries, this was only to take the world by surprise about the\nyear 1870, and thus secure the \u2018Catholic revival\u2019 which will hasten the\ntime when Dr. Tait will be universally recognized as the legitimate\nsuccessor of S. Anselm\u2014particularly in his religious views\u2014and the\nAnglican reformation justly appreciated as a noble protest against the\nnoxious errors of Protestantism, with which it accidentally coincided in\npoint of time, but had nothing in common in point of doctrine.\u201d\n\nBut of what avail is all this? Ritualists succeed in revealing the\ndisorganization of their sect, only to show that it is incurable, and yet\nare able to persuade themselves that such a sect as this, which exists\nonly to \u201cneutralize\u201d the revelation of the Most High, is an integral part\nof that majestic and inflexible \u201cChurch of the living God,\u201d upon which he\nhas lavished all the highest gifts which even divine munificence could\nbestow.\n\nSpeaking of some recent conversions to the Catholic Church, the _Church\nHerald_ says: \u201cFrom what we hear from quarters which are well informed,\nthere can be little doubt that another large and influential exodus in the\nsame direction is imminent.\u201d If Anglicans are not converted now, the case\ndoes indeed seem hopeless. But they need more than ever at this moment a\nsolemn warning. They may begin to desire reconciliation, and to flee from\nthe house of bondage; but, if they think they can criticise the church as\nthey have been in the habit of criticising their own sect; if they propose\nto teach instead of to learn; to command instead of to obey; if they do\nnot seek her pardon and blessing in the loving spirit of penance,\nhumility, and submission, let them remember that the church of God is no\nhome for the lawless and self\u2010sufficient.\n\nBut to all those who in humility and sincerity are seeking the truth, We\nwould say with all possible intensity of entreaty: \u201cLet him that is\nathirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,\u201d\nfor \u201cthe SPIRIT and the BRIDE say, COME.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAntar And Zara; Or, \u201cThe Only True Lovers.\u201d\n\n\nAn Eastern Romance Narrated In SONGS.\n\nBy Aubrey De Vere.\n\nPart VI.\n\nThey Sang.\n\nI.\n\nThe people met me at the rescued gate,\n On streaming in the immeasurable joy,\nWarriors with wounds, gray priests, old men sedate,\n The wife, the child, the maiden, and the boy.\n\nThen followed others\u2014some as from a tomb,\n Their face a blank, and vacant; blinded some;\nSome that had whitened in the dungeon\u2019s gloom;\n Some, from long years of lonely silence, dumb.\n\nAnatomies of children with wild glare,\n Like beasts new caught; and man\u2010like spectres pale;\nAnd shapes like women, fair, or one time fair\n (Unhappiest these), that would not lift the veil.\n\nThen saw I what is wrought on man by men:\n Then saw I woman\u2019s glory and her shame:\nThen learned I that which freedom is\u2014till then\n The soldier, not of her, but of her name.\n\nThe meaning then of Country, Virtue, Faith,\n Flashed on me, lightning\u2010like: I pressed my brow\nDown on the wayside dust, and vowed till death\n My life to these. _That_ was my bridal vow.\n\nII.\n\nA dream was mine that not for long\n Our joy should have its home on earth;\nThat love, by anguish winged, and wrong,\n Should early seek its place of birth;\n\nThat all thy hand hath done and dared\n Should scantlier serve our country\u2019s need\nThan some strange suffering \u2019twixt us shared\n Her last great harvest\u2019s sanguine seed.\n\nI saw false friends their treaties snap\n Like osiers in a giant\u2019s hand;\nSaw sudden flames our cities wrap;\n Saw, drowned in blood, our Christian land.\n\nI saw from far the nations come\n To avenge the lives they scorned to save,\nTill, ransomed by our martyrdom\n Our country carolled o\u2019er our grave!\n\nIII.\n\nStill to protect the lowly in their place,\n The power unjust to meet, defiant still,\nIs ours; and ours to subjugate the base\n In our own hearts to God\u2019s triumphant will.\n\nWe, playmates once amid the flowers and rills,\n Are now two hunters chasing hart and hind,\nTwo shepherds guarding flocks on holy hills,\n Two eaglets launched along a single wind.\n\nWhat next? Two souls\u2014a husband and a wife\u2014\n Bearing one cross o\u2019er heights the Saviour trod;\u2014\nWhat last? Two spirits in the life of life\n Singing God\u2019s love\u2010song under eyes of God.\n\nIV.\n\nI dreamed a dream when six years old:\u2014\n Against my mother\u2019s knee one day,\nProtected by her mantle\u2019s fold,\n All weary, weak, and wan I lay.\n\nThen seemed it that in caverns drear\n I roamed forlorn. The weeks went by\nFrom month to month, from year to year:\n At last I laid me down to die.\n\nAn angel by me stood, and smiled;\n He wrapt me round; aloft he bore;\nHe wafted me o\u2019er wood and wild;\n He laid me at my mother\u2019s door.\n\nHow oft in sleep with heart that yearned\n Have I not seen that face! Ah! me,\nHow slowly, seeing, I discerned\n That likeness strange it bears to thee!\n\nV.\n\nIf some great angel thus bespake,\n \u201cNear, and thy nearest, he shall be,\nYet thou\u2014a dreamer though awake\u2014\n But thine own thought in him shalt see\u201d;\n\nIf some great angel thus bespake,\n \u201cNear, and his nearest, thou shalt be,\nYet still his fancy shall mistake\n That beauty he but dreams, for thee\u201d;\n\nIf, last, some pitying angel spake,\n \u201cThrough life unsevered ye shall be,\nAnd fancy\u2019s dreams suffice to slake\n Your thirst for immortality\u201d;\n\nThen would I cry for love\u2019s great sake,\n \u201cO Death! since truth but dwells with thee,\nCome quick, and semblance substance make\u2014\n In heaven abides Reality.\u201d\n\nVI.\n\nUpon my gladness fell a gloom:\n Thee saw I\u2014on some far\u2010off day\u2014\nMy husband, by thy loved one\u2019s tomb:\n I could not help thee where I lay.\n\nAh! traitress I, to die the first!\n Ah! hapless thou, to mourn alone!\nSudden that truth upon me burst,\n Confessed so oft; till then unknown.\n\nThere _lives_ Who loves him!\u2014loves and loved\n Better a million\u2010fold than I!\nThat Love with countenance unremoved\n Looked on him from eternity.\n\nThat Love, all Wisdom and all Power,\n Though I were dust, would guard him still,\nAnd, faithful at the last dread hour,\n Stand near him, whispering, \u201cFear no ill!\u201d\n\nVII.\n\n\u201cFear not to love; nor deem thy soul too slight\n To walk in human love\u2019s heroic ways:\nGreat Love shall teach thee how to love aright,\n Though few the elect of earth who win his praise.\n\n\u201cFear not, O maid! nor doubt lest wedded life\n Thy childhood\u2019s heavenward yearnings blot or blur;\nThere needs the vestal heart to make the wife;\n The best that once it hoped survives in her.\n\n\u201cAll love is Sacrifice\u2014a flame that still\n Illumes, yet cleanses as with fire, the breast:\nIt frees and lifts the holier heart and will;\n A heap of ashes pale it leaves the rest.\u201d\n\nThus spake the hermit from his stony chair;\n Then long time watched her speeding towards her home,\nAs when a dove through sunset\u2019s roseate air\n Sails to her nest o\u2019er crag and ocean\u2019s foam.\n\nVIII.\n\n\u201cWe knew thee from thy childhood, princely maid;\n We watched thy growing greatness hour by hour:\nPalm\u2010like thy Faith uprose: beneath its shade\n Successive every virtue came to flower.\n\n\u201cGood\u2010will was thine, like fount that overflows\n Its marge, and clothes with green the thirsty sod:\nGood thoughts, like angels, from thy bosom rose,\n And winged through golden airs their way to God.\n\n\u201cTo Goodness, Reverence, Honor, from the first\n Thy soul was vowed. It was that spiritual troth\nThat fitted maid for wife, and in her nursed\n The woman\u2019s heart\u2014not years nor outward growth.\n\n\u201cWalk with the holy women praised of old\n Who served their God and sons heroic bore:\u2014\u201d\nThus sang the minstrels, touching harps of gold\n While maidens wreathed with flowers the bridal door.\n\nIX.\n\n\u201cHoly was love at first, all true, all fair,\n Virtue\u2019s bright crown, and Honor\u2019s mystic feast,\nPurer than snows, more sweet than morning air,\n More rich than roses in the kindling east.\n\n\u201cThen were the hearts of lovers blithe and glad,\n And steeped in freshness like a dew\u2010drenched fleece:\nThen glittered marriage like a cloud sun\u2010clad\n Or flood that feeds the vale with boon increase\n\n\u201cThen in its innocence great love was strong\u2014\n Love that with innocence renews the earth:\nThen Faith was sovran, Right supreme o\u2019er wrong:\n Then sacred as the altar was the hearth.\n\n\u201cWith hope\u2019s clear anthem then the valleys rang;\n With songs celestial thrilled the household bowers:\u2014\u201d\nThus to the newly wed the minstrels sang\n As home they paced, while children scattered flowers.\n\nX.\n\nCircling in upper airs we met,\n Singing God\u2019s praise, and spring\u2010tide new:\u2014\nOn two glad spirits fell one net\n Inwoven of sunbeams and of dew.\n\nOne song we sang; at first I thought\n Thy voice the echo of mine own;\nWe looked for nought; we met unsought:\n We met, ascending toward the Throne.\n\nXI.\n\nLife of my better life! this day with thee\n I stand on earthly life\u2019s supremest tower;\nHeavenward across the far infinity\n With thee I gaze in awe, yet gaze in power.\n\nLove first, then Fame, illumed that bygone night:\n How little knew I then of God or man!\nNow breaks the morn eternal, broad and bright;\n My spirit, franchised, bursts its narrow span.\n\nSweet, we must suffer! Joys, thou said\u2019st, like these\n Make way for holy suffering. Let it come.\nShall that be suffering named which crowns and frees?\n The happiest death man dies is martyrdom.\n\nNever were bridal rites more deeply dear\n Than when of old to bridegroom and to bride\nThat Pagan Empire cried, \u201cFalse gods revere!\u201d\u2014\n They turned; they kissed each other; and they died.\n\nXII.\n\nFair is this land through which we ride\n To that far keep, our bridal bower:\nA sacred land of strength and pride,\n A land of beauty and of power.\n\nA mountain land through virtue bold,\n High built, and bordering on the sun;\nA prophet\u2010trodden land, and old;\n Our own unvanquished Lebanon!\n\nThe hermit\u2019s grot her gorges guard\u2014\n The patriarch\u2019s tomb. There snowy dome\nAnd granite ridges sweet with nard\n O\u2019er\u2010gaze and fence the patriot\u2019s home.\n\nNo realm of river\u2010mouth and pelf;\n No traffic realm of corn and wine;\nGod keeps, and lifts her, to Himself:\u2014\n His bride she is, as I am thine.\n\nWhen down that Moslem deluge rolled,\n The Faith, enthroned \u2019mid ruins, sat\nHere, in her Lebanonian hold,\n Firm as the ark on Ararat.\n\nWar still is hers, though loving peace;\n War\u2014not for empire, but her Lord;\u2014\nA lion land of slow increase;\n For trenchant is the Moslem sword.\n\nXIII.\n\nAlas! that sufferer weak and wan\n Whom, yester\u2010eve, our journey o\u2019er,\nDeserted by the caravan,\n We found upon our gallery floor!\n\nHow long she gasped upon my breast!\n We bathed her brows in wine and myrrh;\u2014\nHow death\u2010like sank at last to rest\n While rose the sun! I feared to stir.\n\nAll night I heard our bridal bells\n That chimed so late o\u2019er springing corn:\nHalf changed they seemed to funeral knells\u2014\n She, too, had had her bridal morn!\n\nRevived she woke. The pang was past:\n She woke to live, to smile, to breathe:\nOh! what a look was that she cast,\n Awaking, on my nuptial wreath\n\nXIV.\n\nHigh on the hills the nuptial feast was spread:\n Descending, choir to choir the maidens sang,\n\u201cSafe to her home our beauteous bride is led,\u201d\n While, each to each, the darkening ledges rang.\n\nFrom vale and plain came up the revellers\u2019 shout:\n Maidens with maidens danced, and men with men;\nTill, one by one, the festal fires burned out\n By lonely waters. There was silence then.\n\nKeen flashed the stars, with breath that came and went,\n Through mountain chasms:\u2014around, beneath, above,\nThey whispered, glancing through the bridal tent,\n \u201cWe too are lovers: heaven is naught but love!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAssunta Howard. III. In Extremis.\n\n\nHow slowly and drearily the time drags on, through all the weary length of\nhours and days, in a household where one has suddenly been stricken down\nfrom full life and health to the unconscious delirium of fever\u2014when in\nhushed silence and with folded hands the watchers surround the sufferer\nwith a loving anxiety; whose agony is in their helplessness to stay for\none moment the progress of the disease, which seems possessed of a fiend\u2010\nlike consciousness of its own fatal power to destroy; when life and death\nhang in the balance, and at any moment the scale may turn, and in its\nturning may gladden loving hearts or break them; and, oh! above and beyond\nall, when through the clouding of the intellect no ray from the clear\nlight of faith penetrates the soul, and the prostrate body, stretched upon\nits cross, fails to discern the nearness of that other cross upon this\nCalvary of suffering, from which flows in perennial streams the fountain\nof salvation! Oh! if in the ears, heedless of earthly sounds and words,\nthere could be whispered those blessed words from Divine lips, \u201cThis day\nthou shalt be with me,\u201d what heart that loves would not rejoice even in\nits anguish, and unselfishly exclaim, \u201cDepart, O Christian soul! I will\neven crush down my poor human love, lest its great longing should turn thy\nhappy soul away from the contemplation of its reward, exceeding great\u2014to\nbe in Paradise, to be with Christ\u201d? But, alas! there were two crucified\nwithin reach of those precious, saving drops, and one alone said, \u201cLord,\nremember me.\u201d\n\nWhen the family of Mr. Carlisle first realized that the master of the\nhouse had indeed been prostrated by the fever which had proved so fatal in\nits ravages, they were stunned with surprise and grief. It was just the\ncalamity, of all others the least expected, the heaviest to endure.\n\nMrs. Grey\u2019s affection for her brother was the deepest sentiment of her\nsuperficial nature, and for the time she was bowed down with sorrow;\nwhich, however, constantly found vent in words and tears. She would rise\nfrom it soon, but not until the emergency had passed. She lived only in\nthe sunshine; she lost herself when the clouds gathered. Assunta was the\nfirst to recover her calmness and presence of mind. Necessity made her\nstrong; not so much for the sake of the sick man\u2014that might come by and\nby\u2014but for his sister, who clung to the young girl as to the last plank\nfrom the shipwreck of her bright, happy life. The physician was in\nconstant attendance, and at the first he had proposed sending a nurse. But\nthe faithful Giovanni had pleaded with so much earnestness to be allowed\nthe privilege of attending his master that he was installed in the sick\u2010\nroom. And truly no better choice could have been made, for he combined the\nphysical strength of the man with the gentleness of woman, and every\nservice was rendered with the tenderness of that love which Mr. Carlisle\nhad the rare power of inspiring and retaining in dependents. But only\nAssunta was able to quiet his wandering mind, and control the wild\nvagaries of delirium. It was a painful duty to strive to still the ringing\nof those bells, once so full of harmony, now \u201cjangled, out of tune, and\nharsh.\u201d But, once recognizing where her duty lay, she would have performed\nit at any cost to herself.\n\nHer good and devoted friend, F. du Pont, came to see her the second day of\nthe illness, and brought sympathy and consolation in his very presence.\nShe had so longed for him that his coming seemed an echo of her earnest\nwish\u2014his words of comfort an answer to her prayers.\n\n\u201cFather,\u201d she said at length, \u201cyou know all\u2014the past and the present\ncircumstances. May I not, in the present necessity, and in spite of the\npast, forget all but the debt of gratitude I owe, and devote myself to my\ndear friend and guardian? You know,\u201d she added, as if there were pain in\nthe remembrance, \u201cit was Mr. Carlisle\u2019s care for me that exposed him to\nthe fever. I would nurse him as a sister, if I might.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear child,\u201d replied the priest, \u201cI do not see how you could do less.\nFrom my knowledge of Mrs. Grey, I should consider her entirely unfit for\nthe services of a sick\u2010room. It seems, therefore, your plain duty to\nperform this act of charity. I think, my child, that the possible nearness\nof death will calm all merely human emotion. Give that obedient little\nheart of yours into God\u2019s keeping, and then go to your duty as in his\nsight, and I am not afraid. The world will probably look upon what it may\nconsider a breach of propriety with much less leniency than the angels.\nBut human respect, always bad enough as a motive, is never so wholly bad\nas when it destroys the purity of our intention, and consequently the\nmerit of our charity, at a time when, bending beneath the burden of some\nheavy trial, we are the more closely surrounded by God\u2019s love and\nprotection. Follow the pillar of the cloud, my child. It is leading you\naway from the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cFather,\u201d said Assunta, and her voice trembled, while tears filled her\neyes, \u201cdo you think he will die? Indeed, it is not for my own sake that I\nplead for his life. He is not prepared to go. Will you not pray for him,\nfather? Oh! how gladly would I give my life as the price of his soul, and\ntrust myself to the mercy of God!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd it is to that mercy you must trust him, my poor child. Do you, then,\nthink that his soul is dearer to you than to Him who died to save it? You\nmust have more confidence. But I have not yet told you the condition I\nmust impose upon your position as nurse. It is implicit obedience to the\nphysician, and a faithful use of all the precautions he recommends. While\ncharity does sometimes demand the risk or even the sacrifice of life, we\nhave no right to take the matter into our own hands. I do not apprehend\nany danger for you, if you will follow the good doctor\u2019s directions. I\nwill try to see him on my way home. Do you promise?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, father,\u201d said Assunta, with a faint smile; \u201cyou leave me no\nalternative.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I have not yet put a limit to your obedience. You are excited and\nworn out this afternoon, and I will give you a prescription. It is a\nlovely day, almost spring\u2010like; and you are now, this very moment, to go\ndown into the garden for half an hour\u2014and the time must be measured by\nyour watch, and not by your feelings. Take your rosary with you, and as\nyou walk up and down the orange avenue let no more serious thoughts enter\nyour mind than the sweet companionship of the Blessed Mother may suggest.\nYou will come back stronger, I promise you.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are so kind, father,\u201d said Assunta gratefully. \u201cIf you knew what a\nblessing you bring with you, you would take compassion on me, and come\nsoon again.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall come very soon, my child; and meanwhile I shall pray for you, and\nfor all, most fervently. But, come, we will walk together as far as the\ngarden.\u201d And summoning the priest who had accompanied him, and who had\nbeen looking at the books in the library during this conversation, they\nwere about to descend the stairs, when Mrs. Grey came forward to meet\nthem.\n\n\u201cO F. du Pont!\u201d she exclaimed impetuously, \u201cwill you not come and look at\nmy poor brother, and tell me what you think of him? They say priests know\nso much.\u201d And then she burst into tears.\n\nF. Joseph tried to soothe her with hopeful words, and, when they reached\nthe door of the darkened chamber, she was again calm. The good priest\u2019s\nface expressed the sympathy he felt as they entered softly, and stood\nwhere they would not attract the attention of those restless eyes. Mr.\nCarlisle was wakeful and watchful, but comparatively quiet. It was pitiful\nto see with what rapid strides the fever was undermining that manly\nstrength, and hurrying on towards the terrible moment of suspense when\nlife and death confront each other in momentary combat. With an earnest\nprayer to God, the priest again raised the heavy damask curtain, and\nsoftly retired, followed by Mrs. Grey.\n\n\u201cWill he recover?\u201d was her eager question.\n\n\u201cDear madam,\u201d replied he, \u201cI think there is much room for hope, though I\ncannot deny that he is a very sick man. For your encouragement, I can tell\nyou that I have seen many patients recover in such cases when it seemed\nlittle short of miraculous. It will be many days yet before you must think\nof giving up good hope. And remember that all your strength will be\nneeded.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Mrs. Grey impulsively, \u201cI could not live if it were not for\nAssunta. She is an angel.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, she is a good child,\u201d said the priest kindly; \u201cand she is now going\nto obey some orders that I have given her, that she may return to you more\nangelic than ever. Dear madam, you have my deepest sympathy. I wish that I\ncould serve you otherwise than by words.\u201d\n\nThe two priests bade Assunta good\u2010by at the garden gate. F. Joseph\u2019s heart\nwas full of pity for the young girl, whose act of sacrifice in\nsurrendering human happiness for conscience\u2019 sake had been followed by so\nsevere a trial. But, remembering the blessed mission of suffering to a\nsoul like hers, he prayed\u2014not that her chalice might be less bitter, but\nthat strength might be given her to accept it as from the hand of a loving\nFather.\n\nAnd so Assunta, putting aside every thought of self, took her place in the\nsick\u2010room. She had a double motive in hanging her picture of St.\nCatherine, from which she was never separated, at the foot of the bed. It\nwas a favorite with Mr. Carlisle, and often in his delirium his eyes would\nrest upon it, in almost conscious recognition; while to Assunta it was a\ntalisman\u2014a constant reminder of her mother, and of those dying words which\nnow seemed stamped in burning letters on her heart and brain.\n\nMrs. Grey often visited the room; but she controlled her own agitation so\nlittle, and was so unreasonable in the number of her suggestions, that she\ngenerally left the patient worse than she found him. Assunta recognized\nher right to come and go as she pleased, but she could not regret her\nabsence when her presence was almost invariably productive of evil\nconsequences.\n\nThe first Sunday, Assunta thought she might venture to assist at Mass at\nthe nearest church; it would be strength to her body as well as her soul.\nShe was not absent from the house an hour, yet she was met on her return\nby Clara, in a state of great excitement.\n\n\u201cAssunta, we have had a dreadful time,\u201d she said. \u201cSevern woke up just\nafter you left, and literally screamed for help, because, he said, a great\nblack cross had fallen on you, and you would be crushed to death unless\nsome one would assist him to raise it. In his efforts, he was almost out\nof bed. I reasoned with him, and told him it was all nonsense; that there\nwas no cross, and that you had gone to church. But the more I talked and\nexplained, the worse he got; until I was perfectly disheartened, and came\nto meet you.\u201d And with the ready tears streaming down her pretty face, she\ndid look the very picture of discouragement.\n\n\u201cPoor Clara,\u201d said Assunta, gently embracing her, \u201cit is hard for you to\nbear all this, you are so little accustomed to sickness. But you ought not\nto contradict Mr. Carlisle, for it is all real to him, and opposition only\nexcites him. I can never soothe him except by agreeing with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where does he get such strange ideas?\u201d asked the sobbing Clara.\n\n\u201cWhere do our dreams come from?\u201d said Assunta. \u201cI think, however, that\nthis fancy can be traced to the night when we visited the Colosseum, and\nsat for a long time on the steps of the cross in the centre. You know it\nis a black one,\u201d she added, smiling, to reassure her friend. \u201cAnd now,\nClara, I really think you ought to order the close carriage, and take a\ndrive this morning. It would do you good, and you will not be needed at\nall for the next two or three hours.\u201d\n\nMrs. Grey\u2019s face brightened perceptibly. It was the very thing for which\nshe was longing, but she would not propose it herself for fear it would\nseem heartless. To _seem_, and not to _be_, was her motto.\n\n\u201cBut would not people think it very strange,\u201d she asked, \u201cand Severn so\nsick?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not believe that people will know or think anything about it,\u201d\nanswered Assunta patiently. \u201cYou can take Amalie with you for company, and\ndrive out on the Campagna.\u201d And having lightened one load, she turned\ntowards her guardian\u2019s room.\n\n\u201cAre you not coming to breakfast?\u201d said Mrs. Grey.\n\n\u201cPresently.\u201d And Assunta hastened to the bedside. Giovanni had been\nentirely unable to control the panic which seemed to have taken possession\nof Mr. Carlisle. He continued his cries for assistance, and the suffering\nhe evidently endured showed how real the fancy was to him.\n\n\u201cDear friend,\u201d said the young girl, pushing back the hair from his burning\nforehead, \u201clook at me. Do you not see that I am safe?\u201d\n\nMr. Carlisle turned towards her, and, in sudden revulsion of feeling,\nburst into a wild laugh.\n\n\u201cI knew,\u201d he said, \u201cthat, if they would only come and help me, I should\nsucceed. But it was very heavy; it has made me very tired.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, you have had hard work, and it was very kind in you to undertake it\nfor me. But now you must rest. It would make me very unhappy if I thought\nthat my safety had caused any injury to you.\u201d\n\nAnd while she was talking, Assunta had motioned to Giovanni to bring the\nsoothing medicine the doctor had left, and she succeeded in administering\nit to her patient, almost without his knowledge, so engrossed was he in\nhis present vagary.\n\n\u201cBut there was a cross?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she answered, in a meaning tone, \u201ca very heavy one; but it did not\ncrush me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho lifted it?\u201d he asked eagerly.\n\n\u201cA powerful hand raised its weight from my shoulders, and I have the\npromise of His help always, if I should ever be in trouble again, and only\nwill cry to Him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, whoever he is,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle, \u201che did not hurry much when I\ncalled\u2014and now I am so tired. And Clara said there was no cross; that I\nwas mistaken. I am _never_ mistaken,\u201d he answered, in something of his\nold, proud voice. \u201cShe ought to know that.\u201d\n\nAssunta did not answer, but she sat patiently soothing her guardian into\nquiet at least, if not sleep. Once he looked at her, and said, \u201cMy\nprecious child is safe;\u201d but, as she smiled, he laughed aloud, and then\nshut his eyes again.\n\nAn hour she remained beside the bed, and then she crept softly from the\nroom, to take what little breakfast she could find an appetite for, and to\nassist Mrs. Grey in preparing for her drive.\n\nWith such constant demands upon her sympathy and strength, it is not\nstrange that Assunta\u2019s courage sometimes failed. But, when the physician\nassured her that her guardian\u2019s life was, humanly speaking, in her hands,\nshe determined that no thought or care for herself should interfere with\nthe performance of her duty.\n\nMrs. Grey\u2019s drive having proved an excellent tonic, she was tempted to\nrepeat it often\u2014always with a protest and with some misgivings of\nconscience, which were, however, set aside without difficulty.\n\nIt was a singular coincidence that Mr. Sinclair should so often be found\nriding on horseback in the same direction. A few words only would be\nexchanged\u2014of enquiry for the sufferer, of sympathy for his sister. But\nsomehow, as the days went by, the tone in which the words of sympathy were\nexpressed grew more tender, and conveyed the impression of something held\nback out of respect and by an effort. The manner, too\u2014which showed so\nlittle, and yet seemed to repress so much\u2014began to have the effect of\nheightening the color in Mrs. Grey\u2019s pretty face, and softening a little\nthe innocent piquancy of her youthful ways. It was no wonder that, loving\nthe brightness and sunshine of life, and regarding with a sort of dread\nthe hush and solemnity which pervade the house of sickness, and which may\nat any moment become the house of mourning, she should have allowed her\nanxiety for her brother to diminish a little under the influence of the\nnew thought and feeling which were gaining possession now, in the absence\nof all other excitement. And yet she loved her brother as much as such\nhearts can love\u2014as deeply as any love can penetrate in which there is no\nspirit of sacrifice\u2014love\u2019s foundation and its crown. If the illness had\nlasted but a day, or at the most two, she could have devoted herself with\napparent unselfishness and tender assiduity to the duties of nursing. But,\nas day after day went on without much perceptible change in Mr. Carlisle,\nher first emotion subsided into a sort of graceful perplexity at finding\nherself out of her element. And by the time the second week was drawing\ntowards its close\u2014with the new influence of Mr. Sinclair\u2019s sympathy\nseconding the demands of her own nature\u2014she began to act like any other\nsunflower, when it \u201cturns to the god that it loves.\u201d And yet she continued\nto be very regular in her visits to the sick\u2010room, and very affectionate\nto Assunta; but it may be greatly doubted whether she lost many hours\u2019\nsleep. Surely it would be most unjust to judge Clara Grey and Assunta\nHoward by the same standard. Undine, before and after the possession of a\nhuman soul, could hardly have been more dissimilar.\n\nIt was the fifteenth day of Mr. Carlisle\u2019s illness when Assunta was\nsummoned from his bedside by Mrs. Grey, who desired to see her for a few\nmoments in her own room. As the young girl entered, she found her sitting\nbefore a bright wood\u2010fire; on her lap was an exquisite bouquet fresh from\nfairy\u2010land, or\u2014what is almost the same thing\u2014an Italian garden. In her\nhand she held a card, at which she was looking with a somewhat perturbed\nexpression.\n\n\u201cAssunta, love,\u201d she exclaimed, \u201cI want you to tell me what to do. See\nthese lovely flowers that Mr. Sinclair has just sent me, with this card.\nRead it.\u201d And as she handed her the dainty card, whose perfume seemed to\nrival that of the flowers, the color mounted becomingly into her cheeks.\nThere were only these words written:\n\n\u201cI have brought a close carriage, and hope to persuade you to drive a\nlittle while this afternoon. I will anxiously await your reply in the\ngarden. Yours, S\u2014\u2014.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell?\u201d questioned Clara, a little impatiently, for Assunta\u2019s face was\nvery grave.\n\n\u201cDear Clara,\u201d she replied, \u201cI have no right to advise you, and I certainly\nshall not question the propriety of anything you do. I was only thinking\nwhether I had not better tell you that I see a change in your brother this\nafternoon, and I fear it is for the worse. I am longing for the doctor\u2019s\nvisit.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you really think he is worse?\u201d exclaimed Clara. \u201cHe looks to me just\nthe same. But perhaps I had better not go out. I had a little headache,\nand thought a drive might do me good. But, poor Severn! of course I ought\nnot to leave him.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must not be influenced by what I say,\u201d said Assunta. \u201cI may be\nentirely mistaken, and so I should not alarm you. God knows, I hope it may\nbe so!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you think I might go for an hour or two, just to get a breath of\nair,\u201d said Mrs. Grey. \u201cMr. Sinclair will certainly think I have found it\nnecessary to call a papal consistory, if I keep him much longer on the\npromenade.\u201d\n\nPoor Assunta, worn out with her two weeks of watching and anxiety, looked\nfor a moment with a sort of incredulous wonder at the incarnation of\nunconscious selfishness before her. For one moment she looked \u201cupon this\npicture and on that\u201d\u2014the noble, devoted brother, sick unto death; and that\nman, the acquaintance of a few days, now walking impatiently up and down\nthe orange avenue. The flush of indignation changed her pale cheeks to\nscarlet, and an almost pharisaical thanksgiving to God that she was not\nlike _some_ women swept across her heart, while a most unwonted sarcasm\ntrembled on her lips. She instantly checked the unworthy feeling and its\nexpression; but she was so unstrung by care and fatigue that she could not\nso easily control her emotion, and, before the object of unusual\nindignation had time to wonder at the delay of her reply, she had thrown\nherself upon the sofa, and was sobbing violently. Mrs. Grey was really\nalarmed, so much so that she dropped both card and flowers upon the floor,\nand forgot entirely her waiting cavalier, as she knelt beside the excited\ngirl, and put her arms about her.\n\n\u201cAssunta dear, what is the matter? Are you ill? Oh! what have I done?\u201d she\nexclaimed.\n\n\u201cMy poor guardian\u2014my dear, kind friend, he is dying! May God have mercy on\nhim and on me!\u201d were the words that escaped Assunta\u2019s lips between the\nsobs.\n\nA shudder passed through Mrs. Grey at this unexpected putting into words\nof the one thought she had so carefully kept from her mind; and her own\ntears began to flow. Just at this moment the physician\u2019s step sounded in\nthe hall, and she went hastily to summon him. He took in the whole scene\nat a glance, and, seating himself at once upon the sofa beside Assunta, he\nput his hand gently and soothingly upon her head, as a father might have\ndone.\n\n\u201cPoor child!\u201d said he kindly, \u201cI have been expecting this.\u201d\n\nThe action expressing sympathy just when she needed it so much caused her\ntears to flow afresh, but less tumultuously than before. The remains of\nMrs. Grey\u2019s lunch were standing on a side\u2010table, and the good doctor\npoured out a glass of wine, which Assunta took obediently. Then, making an\neffort at self\u2010control, she said:\n\n\u201cPlease do not waste a moment on me. Do go to Mr. Carlisle; he seems very\nill. I have been weak and foolish, but I will control myself better next\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have just left Mr. Carlisle\u2019s room,\u201d replied the doctor. \u201cI will not\ndeceive you. He is, as you say, very ill; but I hope we may save him yet.\nYou must call up all your courage, for you will be much needed to\u2010night.\u201d\n\nHe knew by the effect that he had touched the right chord, so he\ncontinued: \u201cAnd now, Miss Howard, I am going to ask of you the favor to\nsend one of your servants to my house, to notify my wife that I shall not\nreturn to\u2010night. I will not leave you until the crisis is\npassed\u2014successfully, I hope,\u201d he added with a smile.\n\nAssunta went at once to give the desired order, relieved and grateful that\nthey would have the support of the physician\u2019s presence and skill; and yet\nthe very fact of his remaining discouraged the hope he had tried to\ninspire. When she had gone, he turned to address a few comforting words to\nMrs. Grey, when, suddenly recollecting himself, he said:\n\n\u201cBy the way, Mrs. Grey, I forgot to tell you that I met Mr. Sinclair down\u2010\nstairs, and he begged me to inquire if you had received a message from\nhim. Can I be of service in taking him your reply?\u201d\n\n\u201cO poor man! I quite forgot him,\u201d exclaimed the easily diverted Clara, as\nshe stooped to pick up the neglected flowers. \u201cThank you for your kind\noffer, but I had better run down myself, and apologize for my apparent\nrudeness.\u201d And, hastily wiping her eyes, she threw a shawl over her\nshoulders and a becoming white _rigolette_ about her head, and with a\ngraceful bow of apology she left the room.\n\n\u201cExtraordinary woman!\u201d thought the doctor. \u201cOne would suppose that a dying\nbrother would be an excuse, even to that puppy Sinclair. I wish he had had\nto wait longer\u2014it wouldn\u2019t have hurt him a bit\u2014he has never had half\nenough of it to do. And what the devil is he coming here for now, anyhow?\u201d\nhe added to his former charitable reflections, as he went to join Assunta\nin her faithful vigil beside the unconscious and apparently dying man.\n\nMr. Sinclair met Mrs. Grey at the foot of the stairs with an assumption of\ninterest and anxiety which successfully concealed his inward impatience.\nBut truly it would have been difficult to resist that appealing face, with\nits traces of recent tears and the flush caused by excited feeling.\n\nAs a general thing, with all due deference to poetic opinion, \u201clove is\n(_not_) loveliest when embalmed in tears.\u201d But Mrs. Grey was an exception\nto many rules. Her emotion was usually of the April\u2010shower sort, gentle,\nrefreshing, even beautifying. Very little she knew of the storm of\nsuffering which desolates the heart, and whose ravages leave a lasting\nimpression upon the features. Such emotions also sometimes, but rarely,\nleave a beauty behind them; but it is a beauty not of this world, the\nbeauty of holiness; not of Mrs. Grey\u2019s kind, for it never would have\ntouched Mr. Sinclair as hers did now.\n\n\u201cMy dear Mrs. Grey,\u201d he said, taking her hand in both his, \u201chow grieved I\nam to see you showing so plainly the results of care and watching!\nPrivileged as he must be who is the recipient of such angelic\nministrations, I must yet protest\u2014as a friend, I trust I have a right to\ndo so\u2014against such over\u2010exertion on your part. You will be ill yourself;\nand then who or what will console me?\u201d\n\nMr. Sinclair knew this was a fiction. He knew well enough that Mrs. Grey\nhad never looked fresher or prettier in her life. But the _r\u00f4le_ he had\nassigned to himself was the dangerously tender one of sympathy; and where\na sufficient occasion for displaying his part was not supplied, he must\nneeds invent one.\n\nClara was not altogether deceived, for, as she put her lace\u2010bordered\nhandkerchief to her eyes, from which the tears began again to flow, she\nreplied:\n\n\u201cYou are mistaken, Mr. Sinclair. I am quite well, and not at all fatigued;\nwhile dear Assunta is thin and pale, and thoroughly worn out with all she\nhas done. I can never be grateful enough to her.\u201d\n\nHad the lady raised her eyes, she might have been astonished at the\nexpression of contempt which curled Mr. Sinclair\u2019s somewhat hard mouth, as\nhe rejoined:\n\n\u201cYes; I quite understand Miss Howard\u2019s _motive_ in her devotion to her\nguardian, and it is not strange that she should be pale. How do you\nsuppose I should look and feel if the dearest friend I have in the world\nwere at this moment lying in her brother\u2019s place?\u201d\n\nMrs. Grey might have received a new light about the young girl had she not\nbeen rendered obtuse to the first part of this speech by the very pointed\nallusion to herself afterwards, that was accompanied by a searching look,\nwhich she would not see, for she still kept her handkerchief before her\neyes. Mr. Sinclair placed her disengaged hand upon his arm, and gently\ndrew her towards the garden. Had she been able to look down into the heart\nof the man who walked so protectingly beside her, she would doubtless have\nbeen surprised to find a disappointment lurking in the place where she had\nbegun to feel her image was enshrined. She would have seen that Assunta\u2019s\nface had occupied a niche in the inner sanctuary of the heart of this man\nof the world, before which he would have been content to bow; that pique\nat her entire indifference to his pretensions, and the reserve behind\nwhich she always retreated in his presence, had led him to transfer his\nattentions to the older lady and the smaller fortune; and that his jealous\nobservation had brought to his notice, what was apparent to no one else,\nthe relations between Assunta and her guardian.\n\nAll this would not have been very flattering to Mrs. Grey, so it was\nperhaps as well that the gift of clairvoyance was not hers; though it is a\nsad thought for men and angels how few hearts there are that would bear to\nhave thrown on them the clear light of unveiled truth. The day is to come\nwhen the secrets of all hearts are to be revealed. But Mr. Sinclair, even\nif he knew this startling fact, would not have considered it worth while\nto anticipate that dread hour by revealing to the lovely lady at his side\nany of those uncomfortable circumstances which would inevitably stand in\nthe way of the consummation of his present wish. So he bravely undertook\nthe noble enterprise of deceiving a trusting heart into believing in a\nlove which did not exist, but which it was not so very difficult to\nimagine just at that moment, with the little hand resting confidingly on\nhis arm, and the tearful eyes raised to meet his.\n\nIn a broken voice, Mrs. Grey said: \u201cMr. Sinclair, I came down myself to\nthank you for the beautiful flowers you sent me, and to excuse myself from\ndriving with you this afternoon. Poor Severn is worse, they think. Oh! if\nhe should not recover, what will become of me?\u201d And as she spoke, she\nburst into renewed weeping, and threw herself upon a seat beneath a group\nof orange\u2010trees, whose perfume stole upon the senses with a subtle yet\nbewildering influence. Mr. Sinclair sat down beside her, saying gently:\n\n\u201cI hope, dear Mrs. Grey, it is not so serious as that. I am confident that\nyou have been needlessly alarmed.\u201d\n\nThe world will, no doubt, pardon him\u2014seeing that Mammon was his chosen\nmaster\u2014if the thought was not altogether unpleasing that, should Mr.\nCarlisle die now, before Assunta could have a claim upon him, it would\nmake an almost princely addition to the dowry of his sister. Nor on this\naccount were his words less tender as he added:\n\n\u201cBut, even so, do you not know of one heart waiting, longing to devote\nitself to you, and only with difficulty restrained from placing itself at\nyour feet by the iron fetters of propriety? Tell me, Clara, may I break\nthese odious chains, and say what is in my heart?\u201d\n\n\u201cMr. Sinclair, you must not speak such words to me now, and my poor\nbrother so ill. Indeed, I cannot stay to hear you. Thank you very much for\nyour kind sympathy, but I must leave you now.\u201d\n\n\u201cWithout one word of hope? Do I deserve this?\u201d And truly the pathos he put\ninto his voice was calculated to melt a heart of stone; and Clara\u2019s was\nmuch more impressible. She paused beside him, and, allowing him still to\nretain in his the hand he had taken, continued:\n\n\u201cI think you take an unfair advantage of my lonely position. I cannot give\nyou a favorable answer this afternoon, for I am so bewildered. I begin to\nthink that I ought not to have come down at all; but I wanted to tell you\nhow much I appreciated the bouquet.\u201d\n\n\u201cI hope you read its meaning,\u201d said Mr. Sinclair, rising. \u201cAnd do you not\nsee a happy omen in your present position, under a bower of orange\nblossoms? It needs but little imagination to lower them until they\nencircle the head of the most lovely of brides. Will you accept this as a\npledge of that bright future which I have dared to picture to myself?\u201d And\nas he spoke he put up his hand to break off a cluster of the white\nblossoms and dark\u2010green leaves, when Giovanni appeared at the gate.\n\n\u201cSignora,\u201d he said, \u201cwill you please to come up\u2010stairs? The Signorina is\nvery anxious to see you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am coming,\u201d she replied. \u201cPardon me, Mr. Sinclair, and forget what has\nbeen said.\u201d And she walked towards the house.\n\n\u201cDo you refuse the pledge?\u201d he asked, placing the flowers in her hand,\nafter raising them to his lips.\n\n\u201cReally,\u201d answered Clara, almost petulantly, \u201cI am so perplexed, I do not\nknow what to say. Yes, I will take the flowers, if that will please you.\u201d\nSaying which, she began to ascend the stairs.\n\n\u201cAnd I take hope with me,\u201d said Mr. Sinclair, in a tender tone. But as he\nturned to go he mentally cursed Giovanni for the interruption; \u201cfor,\u201d\nthought he, \u201cin one minute more I would have had her promise, and who\nknows but now that brother of hers may recover and interfere?\u201d\n\nAssunta met Mrs. Grey just outside the door of Mr. Carlisle\u2019s room, and\ndrew her into the library, where she sat down beside her on the sofa, and,\nputting her arm affectionately about her, began to speak to her with a\ncalmness which, under the circumstances, could only come from the presence\nof God.\n\n\u201cI thought, dear Clara, that I had better ask you to come here, while I\ntalk to you a little about your brother, and what the doctor says. We must\nboth of us try to prepare.\u201d Here her voice broke, and Mrs. Grey\ninterrupted her with,\n\n\u201cTell me, Assunta, quickly, is he worse?\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear so, dear,\u201d replied Assunta; \u201cbut we must help each other to keep\nup what courage and hope we may. It is a common sorrow, Clara, for he has\nbeen more than a brother to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, Assunta, I do not understand. You are so calm, and yet you say such\ndreadful things. Does the doctor think he will die?\u201d And once again she\nshuddered at that word, to her so fearful and so incomprehensible.\n\n\u201cI dare not deceive you, dear\u2014I dare not deceive myself. The crisis has\ncome, and he seems to be sinking fast. O Clara, pray for him!\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot pray; I do not know how. I have never prayed in my life. But let\nme go to him\u2014my poor, dear Severn!\u201d And Mrs. Grey was rushing from the\nroom, when Assunta begged her to wait one moment, while she besought her\nto be calm. Life hung upon a thread, which the least agitation might snap\nin a moment. She could not give up that one last hope. Mrs. Grey of course\npromised; but the instant she approached the bed, and saw the change that\na few hours had made, she shrieked aloud; and Assunta, in answer to the\ndoctor\u2019s look of despair, summoned her maid, and she was carried to her\nown room in violent hysterics, the orange blossoms still in her hand.\nTruly they seemed an omen of death rather than of a bridal. The doctor\nfollowed to administer an opiate, and then Assunta and himself again took\nup their watch by Mr. Carlisle. Hour after hour passed.\n\nEverything that skill could suggest was done. Once only Assunta left the\nroom for a moment to inquire for Mrs. Grey, and, finding that she was\nsleeping under the influence of the anodyne, she instantly returned. She\ndared not trust herself to think how different was this death from that\nother she remembered. She could not have borne to entertain for one moment\nthe thought that this soul was going forth without prayer, without\nsacrament, to meet its God. She did everything the doctor wished, quietly\nand calmly. The hours did not seem long, for she had almost lost her sense\nof time, so near the confines of eternity. She did not even _feel_ now\u2014she\nonly _waited_.\n\nIt was nearly twelve when the doctor said in a low voice:\n\n\u201cWe can do nothing more now; we must leave the rest to nature.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd to God,\u201d whispered Assunta, as she sank on her knees beside the bed;\nand, taking in both hers her guardian\u2019s thin, out\u2010stretched hand, she\nbowed her head, and from the very depths of her soul went up a prayer for\nhis life\u2014if it might be\u2014followed by a fervent but agonized act of\nresignation to the sweet will of God.\n\nShe was so absorbed that she did not notice a sudden brightening of the\ndoctor\u2019s face as he bent over his patient. But in a moment more she felt a\nmotion, and the slightest possible pressure of her hand. She raised her\nhead, and her eyes met those of her guardian, while a faint smile\u2014one of\nhis own peculiar, winning smiles\u2014told her that he was conscious of her\npresence. At last, rousing himself a little more, he said:\n\n\u201c_Petite_, no matter where I am, it is so sweet to have you here.\u201d And,\nwith an expression of entire content, he closed his eyes again, and fell\ninto a refreshing sleep.\n\n\u201cThank God!\u201d murmured Assunta, and her head dropped upon her folded hands.\n\nThe doctor came to her, and whispered the joyful words, \u201cHe will live!\u201d\nbut, receiving no answer, he tried to lift the young girl from her knees,\nand found that she had fainted. Poor child! like Mary, the Blessed Mother\nof Sorrows, she had _stood_ beneath her cross until it was lightened of\nits burden, She had nerved herself to bear her sorrow; she had not counted\non the strength which would be needed for the reaction of joy.\n\n\u201cBetter so,\u201d said the doctor, as he placed her upon the couch, \u201cShe would\nnever have taken rest in any other way.\u201d\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nA Discussion With An Infidel.\n\n\n\nXI. Primeval Generation.\n\n\n_Reader._ I should like to hear, doctor, how \u201cprimeval generation\u201d can\nafford you an argument against the Mosaic history of creation, and against\nthe necessity of a Creator.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThere was a time when the earth\u2014a fiery globe\u2014was not merely\nincapable of producing living beings, but was hostile to the existence of\nvegetable and animal organisms\u201d (p. 63).\n\n_Reader._ Granted.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cAs soon as the temperature permitted it, organic life\ndeveloped itself\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ Not too much haste, doctor. The assertion that \u201clife developed\nitself\u201d presupposes that life already existed somewhere, though\nundeveloped. How do you account for this assumption?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cIt is certain, says Burmeister, that the appearance of animal\nbodies upon the surface of the earth is a function which results with\nmathematical certainty from existing relations of forces\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ It is impossible to believe Burmeister on his word. You know\nthat he is a short\u2010sighted philosopher. A man who says that \u201cthe earth and\nthe world are eternal,\u201d that \u201ceternity belongs to the essence of matter,\u201d\nand that matter nevertheless \u201cis not unchangeable,\u201d forfeits all claim to\nbe trusted in speculative questions. I, therefore, cannot yield to his\nsimple assertion; and if what he says is true, as you believe, I think\nthat you are ready to assign some reason for it, which will convince me\nalso.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Nothing is easier, sir. For \u201cthere is exhibited (in the\nterrestrial strata) a constant relation of the external conditions of the\nsurface of the earth to the existence of organic beings, and a necessary\ndependence of the latter on the condition of the earth\u201d (p. 64). \u201cIt was\nonly with the present existing differences of climate that the endless\nvariety of organic forms appeared which we now behold.... Of man the\nhighest organic being of creation, not a trace was found in the primary\nstrata; only in the uppermost, the so\u2010called alluvial layer, in which\nhuman life could exist, he appears on the stage\u2014the climax of gradual\ndevelopment\u201d (p. 65).\n\n_Reader._ How does this show that \u201corganic life developed itself\u201d and was\na mere result of the development of the earth? It seems to me that your\nanswer has no bearing on the question, and that it is, on your lips, even\nillogical. For you say somewhere: \u201cIt is certain that no permanent\ntransmutation of one species of animals into another has as yet been\nobserved; nor any of the higher organisms was produced by the union of\ninorganic substances and forces without a previously existing germ\nproduced by homogeneous parents\u201d (p. 68). This being _certain_, as you\nown, I ask: If every organism is produced by parents, whence did the\nparents come? Could they have arisen from the merely accidental\nconcurrence of external circumstances and conditions, or were they created\nby an external power? In your theory, they must have arisen from external\ncircumstances, and therefore they had no parents; whilst you affirm that\nwithout homogeneous parents they could not naturally be produced.\nMoreover, if the first parents arose from a concurrence of external\nconditions, why does not the same happen today?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThis question has ever occupied philosophers and naturalists,\nand has given rise to a variety of conflicting opinions. Before entering\nupon this question, we must limit the axiom _Omne vivum ex ovo_ to that\nextent that, though applicable to the infinite majority of organisms, it\ndoes not appear to be universally valid\u201d (p. 69).\n\n_Reader._ Then you evidently contradict yourself.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cAt any rate, the question of spontaneous generations is not\nyet settled\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ Do you mean that living organisms can be produced without\npreviously existing homogeneous parents, or germs, merely by the\nconcurrence of inorganic elements and natural forces?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Yes, sir; and \u201calthough modern investigations tend to show that\nthis kind of generation, to which formerly was ascribed an extended sphere\nof action, does not exactly possess a scientific basis, it is still not\nimprobable that it exists even now in the production of minute and\nimperfect organisms\u201d (p. 70).\n\n_Reader._ You are cutting your own throat, doctor. For you own that your\ntheory has no scientific basis; and what you say about the non\u2010\nimprobability of some spontaneous generations has no weight whatever with\na philosophical mind.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Indeed \u201cthe question of the first origin of all highly\norganized plants and animals appears at first sight incapable of solution\nwithout the assumption of a higher power, which has created the first\norganisms, and endowed them with the faculty of propagation\u201d (p. 71).\n\n_Reader._ \u201cAt first sight,\u201d you say. Very well. I accept this confession,\nwhich, on your lips, has a peculiarly suggestive meaning.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cBelieving naturalists point to this fact with satisfaction.\nThey remind us, at the same time, of the wonderful structure of the\norganic world, and recognize in it the prevalence of an immediate and\npersonal creative power, which, full of design, has produced this world.\n\u2018The origin of organic beings,\u2019 says B. Cotta, \u2018is, like that of the\nearth, an insoluble problem, leaving us only the appeal to an unfathomable\npower of a Creator\u2019 \u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ Cotta is more affirmative than you. He recognizes that the\nproblem is incapable of solution without a Creator, and does not add \u201cat\nfirst sight.\u201d What do you reply?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cWe might answer these believers, that the germs of all living\nbeings had from eternity existed in universal space, or in the chaotic\nvapors from which the earth was formed; and these germs, deposited upon\nthe earth, have there and then become developed, according to external\nnecessary conditions. The facts of these successive organic generations\nwould thus be sufficiently explained; and such an explanation is at least\nless odd and far\u2010fetched than the assumption of a creative power, which\namused itself in producing, in every particular period, genera of plants\nand animals, as preliminary studies for the creation of man\u2014a thought\nquite unworthy of the conception of a perfect Creator\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ I am afraid, doctor, that all this nonsense proceeds from cold\u2010\nhearted maliciousness more than from ignorance. For how can you be\nignorant that, if there be anything odd and far\u2010fetched in any theory of\ncosmogony, it is not the recognition of a creative power, but the\nassumption of eternal germs wandering about from eternity amid chaotic\nvapors? Your preference for this last assumption is an insult to reason,\nwhich has no parallel but the act of passionate folly by which the Jews\npreferred Barabbas to Christ. The Creator, as you well know, had no need\nof \u201cpreliminary studies\u201d: yet he might have \u201camused himself,\u201d if he so\nwished,(22) in making different genera of plants and animals, just as\nnoblemen and princes amuse themselves, without disgracing their rank, in\nplanting gardens, and petting dogs, horses, and birds. But this is not the\nquestion. You pretend that the germs of all living beings had from\neternity existed in universal space. This you cannot prove either\nphilosophically or scientifically; and we have already established in a\npreceding discussion that nothing changeable can have existed from\neternity.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cBut we stand in need of no such arguments\u201d (p. 72).\n\n_Reader._ Why, then, do you bring them forward?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe facts of science prove with considerable certainty that\nthe organic beings which people the earth owe their origin and propagation\nsolely to the conjoined action of natural forces and materials, and that\nthe gradual change and development of the surface of the earth is the\nsole, or at least the chief, cause of the gradual increase of the living\nworld\u201d (p. 72).\n\n_Reader._ This is another of your vain assertions. For you confess that\n\u201cit is impossible at present to demonstrate with scientific exactness\u201d the\ngradual development of organic beings from mere material forces; and you\nhad previously affirmed that \u201cthere _must_ have existed individuals of the\nsame species, to produce others of the same kind\u201d (p. 68). Where are,\nthen, to be found the facts of science which \u201cprove with considerable\ncertainty\u201d the contrary of what you acknowledge to be the fact? Is your\nmethod of reasoning a mere oscillation between contradictories?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cWe may hope that future investigations will throw more light\non the subject\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ Very well. But, if this is the case, surely no \u201cfact of science\u201d\nproves, as yet, the spontaneous evolution of life from inorganic matter.\nAnd you may be certain that the future investigations of science will not\ngive the lie to the investigations of the past.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cOur present knowledge is, however, sufficient to render it\nhighly probable, nay, perhaps morally certain, that a spontaneous\ngeneration exists, and that higher forms have gradually and slowly become\ndeveloped from previously existing lower forms, always determined by the\nstate of the earth, but without the immediate influence of a higher power\u201d\n(_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ All this I have already answered; and I am rather tired, doctor,\nof repeating the same remarks over and over again. Why should you make\nthese empty assertions, if you had real arguments to produce? And, if you\nhave no arguments, what is the use of saying and gainsaying at random, as\nyou do, the same things? Why do you assert that \u201cthe immediate influence\nof a higher power\u201d has nothing to do with the origin of life, when you\nknow that your assertion must remain unproved and can easily be refuted?\nIf \u201cour present knowledge renders it highly probable, nay, perhaps,\nmorally certain, that a spontaneous generation exists,\u201d why did you say\nthe contrary just a few lines before? It is inconceivable that a thinking\nman should be satisfied with such a suicidal process of arguing.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe law of a gradual development of primeval times is\nimpressed upon the present living organic world\u201d (p. 75). \u201cAll animal\nforms are originally so much alike, that it is often impossible to\ndistinguish the embryo of a sheep from that of a man, whose future genius\nmay perhaps revolutionize the world\u201d (p. 76).\n\n_Reader._ What does it matter if it is impossible for us to distinguish\nthe embryo of a sheep from that of a man? Is it necessary to see with our\neyes what distinguishes the one from the other in order to know that they\nare different? If we are reasonable, we must be satisfied that their\ndifferent development proves very conclusively their different\nconstitution.\n\nBut let this pass. Your line of argument requires you to show that the\nfirst eggs and the first seeds are spontaneous products of blind inorganic\nforces, without any immediate interference or influence of a higher power.\nWhile this is not proved, nothing that you may say can help you out of\nyour false position. You may well allege with Vogt \u201cthe general law\nprevalent through the whole animal world, that the resemblance of a common\nplan of structure which connects various animals is more striking the\nnearer they are to their origin, and that these resemblances become\nfainter in proportion to the progress of their development and their\nsubjection to the elements from which they draw their nourishment\u201d (p.\n76). We know this; but what of it? The question is not about the\ndevelopment of life from a germ, but about the development of a germ from\ninorganic forces; and this is what you try constantly to forget. You say:\n\u201cThe younger the earth was, the more definite and powerful must the\ninfluence of external conditions have been; and it is by no means\nimpossible to imagine that the _same_ germs might, by very different\nexternal circumstances, have conduced to very heterogeneous developments\u201d\n(p. 77). Were this as true as it is false, it would not advance your cause\nby one step; for you here assume the germs as already existing.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe comparatively greater force of nature in former periods is\nmanifested in the singular forms of antediluvian animals as well as in\ntheir enormous size\u201d (p. 78).\n\n_Reader._ Were those animals the product of merely inorganic forces?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ So it is believed.\n\n_Reader._ On what ground?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cIf the contemplation of surrounding nature strikes us so much\nby its grandeur that we cannot divest ourselves of the idea of a direct\ncreative cause, the origin of this feeling is owing to the fact that we\ncontemplate as a whole the united effects of natural forces through a\nperiod of millions of years; and, thinking only of the present, and not of\nthe past, cannot imagine that nature has produced all this out of itself.\nThe law of analogies; the formation of prototypes; the necessary\ndependence upon external circumstances which organic bodies exhibit in\ntheir origin and form; the gradual development of higher organic forms\nfrom lower organisms; the circumstance that the origin of organic beings\nwas not a momentary process, but continued through all geological periods;\nthat each period is characterized by creatures peculiar to it, of which\nsome individuals only are continued in the next period\u2014all these relations\nrest upon incontrovertible facts, and are perfectly irreconcilable with\nthe idea of a personal almighty creative power, which could not have\nadopted such a slow and gradual labor, and have rendered itself dependent\nupon the natural phases of the development of the earth\u201d (pp. 84, 85).\n\n_Reader._ If this is your ground for asserting the origin of organic\nbeings from the mere forces of matter, all I can say is that you should\nlearn a little philosophy before you venture again to write a book for the\npublic. Were you a philosopher, you would know that, independently of \u201cthe\nunited effects of natural forces through a period of millions of years,\u201d\nevery grain of dust that floats in the air affords us a sufficient proof\nof the existence of \u201ca personal almighty creative power\u201d; your \u201claw of\nanalogies\u201d would suggest to you the thought of a primitive source of life;\n\u201cthe formation of prototypes\u201d would compel you to ask, Who formed them?\nand how could they be formed without an archetypal idea, which matter\ncould not possess? You would see that nothing can be gained by asserting,\nas you do, that \u201cthe gradual development of the higher organic forms from\nlower organisms rests upon incontrovertible facts,\u201d while you cannot cite\na single one in support of your assertion. You would take care not to\nattribute to the Creator an imaginary waste of time in \u201cthe slow and\ngradual labor\u201d of peopling the earth with organic beings, nor entertain\nthe absurd notion that he would have rendered himself \u201cdependent upon the\nnatural phases of the development of the earth,\u201d merely because his action\nharmonized with the order of things he had created. Lastly, you would have\nkept in view that the fact of which you were bound to give an explanation\nwas not the development of new organisms from existing organisms, but the\norigin of the first organisms themselves from inorganic matter. Why did\nyou leave aside this last point, than which no other had a greater need of\ndemonstration?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ I may not be a philosopher; but certain it is that \u201cscience has\nnever obtained a greater victory over those who assume an extramundane or\nsupernatural principle to explain the problem of existence, than by means\nof geology and petrifaction. Never has the human mind more decisively\nsaved the rights of nature. Nature knows neither a supernatural beginning\nnor a supernatural continuance\u201d (p. 88).\n\n_Reader._ How stupid indeed! Your Masonic science cannot stand on its\nlegs, and you boast of victories! Do you not see, doctor, the absurdity of\nyour pretension? When did science attack religion, and was not defeated? I\nspeak of your infidel science, mind you; for true science has no need of\nattacking religion. Your science tries \u201cto explain the problem of\nexistence by means of geology and petrifaction\u201d without a supernatural\nprinciple. But is the origin of existence a problem? and can it be solved\nby geology and petrifaction? Historical facts are no problems. You may\nblot out history, it is true, as you might also put out the light, and\nremain in the dark to your full satisfaction. Thus everything might become\na problem. But can you call this a scientific process? Why do you not\nappeal to geology and petrifaction to explain, say, the origin of Rome,\nand thus obtain \u201ca great victory\u201d over history? Yet it would be less\nabsurd to believe that Rome is a work of nature than to believe that life\noriginated in dead inorganic matter. The origin of life and of all other\nthings is a primitive fact, which lies outside the province of geology\naltogether. Philosophy alone can account for it; and philosophy proclaims\nthat your infidel theory of primeval generation is a shameless imposture.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ This is a severe remark, sir.\n\n_Reader._ I will take it back when you shall have proved that the first\norganic germs originated in inorganic matter without supernatural\nintervention.\n\n\n\nXII. Design In Nature.\n\n\n_Reader._ Everything in nature speaks of God; but you, doctor, seem quite\ninsensible to the eloquence of creation.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ I deny the eloquence of creation. Indeed, \u201cdesign in nature has\never been, and is still, one of the chief arguments in favor of the theory\nwhich ascribes the origin and preservation of the world to a ruling and\norganizing creative power. Every flower which unfolds its blossoms, every\ngust of wind which agitates the air, every star which shines by night,\nevery wound which heals, every sound, everything in nature, affords to the\nbelieving teleologist an opportunity for admiring the unfathomable wisdom\nof that higher power. Modern science has pretty much emancipated itself\nfrom such empty notions, and abandons these innocent studies to such as\ndelight in contemplating nature rather with the eyes of the feeling than\nwith those of the intellect\u201d (p. 89).\n\n_Reader._ This is no reason why you should blind yourself to the evidence\nof the facts. Every one knows that Masonic science hates teleology. No\nwonder at that. This science emancipates itself, not from empty notions,\nas you say, but from the very laws of reasoning. Free thought would cease\nto be free, if it did not emancipate itself from logic. Yet, since free\u2010\nthinkers \u201cabandon to us the innocent study\u201d of teleology, would it not be\nprudent in them to avoid talking on what they are unwilling to study? How\ncan they know that we contemplate nature \u201crather with the eyes of the\nfeeling than with those of the intellect\u201d? Do they suppose that order and\ndesign are objects of the feeling rather than of the intellect?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ I will tell you what our conviction is. \u201cThe combination of\nnatural materials and forces must, in giving rise to the variety of\nexisting forms, have at the same time become mutually limited and\ndetermined, and must have produced corresponding contrivances, which,\nsuperficially considered, appear to have been caused by an external\npower.\u201d Our reflecting reason is the sole cause of this apparent design,\nwhich is nothing but the necessary consequence of the combination of\nnatural materials and forces. Thus, as Kant says, \u201cour intellect admires a\nwonder which it has created itself\u201d (p. 90).\n\n_Reader._ Beware of blunders, doctor! You have just said that our notion\nof design in nature was caused by our feeling, not by our intellect; but\nyou now say that the sole cause of that notion is our reflecting reason,\nand maintain, on Kant\u2019s authority, that the same notion is a creation of\nour intellect. Can contradiction be more evident?\n\nAgain, if our reflecting reason is the sole cause of our perception of\ndesign in nature, surely we are right in admitting that there is design in\nnature, and you are wrong in denying it. For, if the design were only\n_apparent_, as you pretend, imagination might be fascinated by it, but\n\u201creflecting reason\u201d would never cause us to perceive it. On the other\nhand, if you distrust \u201creflecting reason,\u201d what else will you trust in its\nstead?\n\nMoreover, how did you not observe that Kant\u2019s proposition, \u201cOur intellect\nadmires a wonder which it has created itself,\u201d contains a false\nsupposition? The intellect cannot create to itself any notion of design;\nit can only perceive it in the things themselves: and it would never\naffirm the existence of design in nature, unless it perceived its\nobjective reality. Hence our intellect admires a wonder which it\nperceives, not a wonder which it creates.\n\nFurthermore, you wish us to believe that what we term design \u201cis nothing\nbut a necessary consequence of some combinations.\u201d But why did you omit\nthat all such combinations presuppose definite conditions, and that these\nconditions originally depend on the will of the Creator? Your book on\n_Force and Matter_ is nothing but a necessary consequence of a combination\nof types, ink, and paper. Does it follow that the book is not the work of\na designing doctor? You see how defective your reasoning is. You have\nnearly succeeded in proving the contrary of what you intended.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ But \u201chow can we speak of design, knowing the objects only in\none form and shape, and having no idea how they would appear to us in any\nother? What natural contrivance is there which might not be imagined to be\nrendered more perfect in design? We admire natural objects without\nconsidering what an infinite variety of other contrivances and forms has\nslumbered, and is still dormant, in the lap of nature. It depends on an\naccident whether or not they will enter into existence\u201d (p. 90).\n\n_Reader._ I apprehend, doctor, that your notion of design is neither clear\nnor correct. The \u201cform and shape\u201d of the objects is not what _we_ call\ndesign. Design, in nature, is _the ordination of all things to an end_. It\nis therefore the natural aptitude of things to a definite end, and not\ntheir form or shape, that reveals the existence of design in nature. It is\nnot even the absolute perfection of a thing that reveals design: it is\nonly its relative perfection, that is, its proportion to the end for which\nit is created. Hence we have the right to admire natural objects for their\nadaptation to certain ends, without considering the infinite variety of\nother contrivances slumbering in the lap of nature. For, if the existing\ncontrivances are proportionate to their ends, there is design, whatever we\nmay say of the possibility of other contrivances, and even of other words.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cNumbers of arrangements in nature, apparently full of design,\nare nothing but the result of the influence of external natural\nconditions\u201d (p. 90).\n\n_Reader._ Yes; but these natural conditions are themselves the result of\ndesign, since they are all controlled by a superior mind.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cAnimals inhabiting the north have a thicker fur than those of\nthe south; and likewise the hair and feathers of animals become thicker in\nwinter and fall out in summer. Is it not more natural to consider these\nphenomena as the effect of changes in the temperature, than to imagine a\nheavenly tailor who takes care of the summer and winter wardrobes of the\nvarious animals? The stag was not endowed with long legs to enable him to\nrun fast, but he runs fast because his legs are long\u201d (p. 91).\n\n_Reader._ These remarks are puerile, doctor, and I might dispense with\nanswering them; yet I observe that, as cold does not foster vegetation, it\nis not in the north, but in the south, that the fur of animals should grow\nthicker. At any rate, the \u201cheavenly tailor,\u201d who clothes the lilies of the\nfield, does not forget the wardrobe of animals, whether in the north or in\nthe south, in summer or in winter; for his is the world, and from his hand\nthe needs of every creature are supplied. As to the stag, you are likewise\nmistaken. \u201cHe runs fast because his legs are long\u201d; but how does it follow\nfrom this that he was not endowed with long legs to enable him to run\nfast? Does the one exclude the other? Would you say that your works are\nknown because they have been published, and therefore they have not been\npublished to make them known? Your blunder is evident.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThings are just as they are, and we should not have found them\nless full of design had they been different\u201d (p. 91).\n\n_Reader._ This, if true, would prove that our \u201creflecting reason\u201d cannot\nexclude design from creation. If things had been different, the design\nwould have been different. Even conflicting arrangements may be full of\ndesign; even the destruction of the best works of nature may be full of\ndesign: for the Author of nature is at liberty to do with it as he\npleases. If, for instance, all the new\u2010born babies were hereafter to be\nmales, we could not escape the consequence that the Author of nature\ndesigned to put an end to human generation. Whatever may be the order of\nthings, we cannot deny design without insulting the wisdom of our Maker\nand Lord.\n\nThis consideration suffices to answer all your queries and objections.\n\u201cNature,\u201d you say, \u201chas produced a number of beings and contrivances in\nwhich no design can be detected\u201d (p. 94). What of that? Can you deny that\nmen act with some design, only because you cannot detect it? There are\nbeings, you add, \u201cwhich are frequently more apt to disturb than to promote\nthe natural order of things\u201d (_ibid._) This merely shows that the natural\norder of things is changeable\u2014a truth which you had the courage to deny\nwhen speaking of miracles.\n\n\u201cThe existence of dangerous animals has ever been a thorn in the side of\ntheologians, and the most comical arguments have been used to justify\ntheir existence\u201d (_ibid._) This is not true. No theologian has ever denied\nthat dangerous animals fulfil some design in nature. And as to \u201ccomical\narguments,\u201d I think, doctor, that it is in your pages that we can best\nfind them. \u201cWe know, on the other hand, that very innocent, or even\nuseful, animals have become extinct, without nature taking any means to\npreserve their existence\u201d (p. 95). This proves nothing at all. If God\u2019s\ndesign could be fulfilled with their extinction, why should they have been\npreserved? \u201cFor what purpose are the hosts of diseases and of physical\nevils in general? Why that mass of cruelties and horrors which nature\ndaily and hourly practises on her creatures? Could a being acting from\ngoodness and benevolence endow the cat, the spider, and man with a nature\ncapable of these horrors and cruelties?\u201d (p. 96). This is the dark side of\nthe picture; and yet there is design in all this. If I wished to make a\n\u201ccomical argument,\u201d I might say that \u201cthe hosts of diseases\u201d are, after\nall, very profitable to the M.D., who cannot live without them. But the\ntrue answer is, that the present order of things, as even the pagan\nphilosophers recognized, is designed as a period of probation preparatory\nto a better life. We now live on a field of battle, amid trials calculated\nto stir up our energies and to mend or improve our character. We sow in\ntears, that we may reap in joy. Such is the design of a Being \u201cacting from\ngoodness and benevolence.\u201d You do not understand this; but such is the\ntruth. As to cats and spiders, you must bear in mind that they are not\nworse than the wolf, the tiger, or other animals providing for their own\nsubsistence by the destruction of other living beings. If this be\n\u201ccruelty,\u201d how can you countenance it yourself by allowing the appearance\nat your table of killed animals?\n\nYour other remarks are scarcely worthy of being quoted, as they prove\nnothing but your impertinence and presumption. You seem to put to God the\ndilemma: \u201cEither let B\u00fcchner know all the secrets of your providence, or\nhe will rebel against you, and even deny your existence.\u201d You ask, Why\nthis and why that? And because your weak brain fails to suggest the\nanswer, you immediately conclude that things happen to be what they are,\nwithout a superior mind controlling their course. This is nice logic\nindeed! \u201cWhy should the vertebral column of man terminate in an appendage\nperfectly useless to him?\u201d \u201cWhy should certain animals possess the organs\nof both sexes?\u201d \u201cWhy are certain other animals so prolific that in a few\nyears they might fill the seas and cover the earth, and find no more space\nor materials for their offspring?\u201d \u201cWhy does nature produce monsters?\u201d\nThese questions may or may not be answered; but our ignorance is not the\nmeasure of things, and the existence of design in nature remains an\nunquestionable fact. Is not the very structure of our own bodies a\nmasterpiece of design? A physician, like you, cannot plead ignorance on\nthe subject.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Yet nature cannot have a design in producing monstrosities. \u201cI\nsaw in a veterinary cabinet a goat fully developed in every part, but born\nwithout a head. Can we imagine anything more absurd than the development\nof an animal the existence of which is impossible from the beginning?\nProf. Lotze of G\u00f6ttingen surpasses himself in the following remarks on\nmonstrosities: \u2018If the f\u0153tus is without a brain, it would be but\njudicious, in a force having a free choice, to suspend its action, as this\ndeficiency cannot be compensated. But, inasmuch as the formative forces\ncontinue their action, that such a miserable and purposeless creature may\nexist for a time, appears to us strikingly to prove that the final result\nalways depends upon the disposition of purely mechanical definite forces,\nwhich, once set in motion, proceed straight on, according to the law of\ninertia, until they meet with an obstruction.\u2019 This is plain language\u201d (p.\n99). Again, monstrosities \u201cmay be produced artificially by injuries done\nto the f\u0153tus or to the ovum. Nature has no means of remedying such an\ninjury. The impulse once given is, on the contrary, followed in a false\ndirection, and in due time a monstrosity is produced. The purely\nmechanical process, in such cases, can be easily recognized. Can the idea\nof a conscious power acting with design be reconciled with such a result?\nAnd is it possible that the hand of the Creator should thus be bound by\nthe arbitrary act of man?\u201d (pp. 101, 102).\n\n_Reader._ That nature \u201ccannot have a design in producing monstrosities\u201d is\na groundless assertion, as nature tends always to produce perfect beings,\nthough sometimes its work is marred by obstacles which it has no power to\nremove. You saw \u201ca goat fully developed in every part, but born without a\nhead.\u201d Here the design is evident. Nature wished to produce a perfect goat\nas usual, but failed. \u201cIf the f\u0153tus is without a brain, it would be\njudicious, in a force having a free choice, to suspend its action.\u201d This\nis another groundless assertion; for, if by _force_ you mean the forces of\nmatter, they have no free choice, and cannot suspend their action; and if\nby _force_ you mean God, you presume too much, as you do not know his\ndesign. A f\u0153tus without a brain, like a goat without a head, proclaims the\nimperfection of natural causes; and this very imperfection proclaims their\ncontingency and the existence of a Creator. Thus, a f\u0153tus without a brain\nmay be the work of design; for God\u2019s design is not to raise nature above\nall deficiencies, but to show his infinite perfection in the works of an\nimperfect nature. That \u201cthe hand of the Creator should be bound by the\narbitrary act of men\u201d is a third groundless assertion. Man may injure the\nf\u0153tus, and God can restore it to a healthy condition; but nothing obliges\nhim to do so. If he did it, it would be a miracle; and miracles are not in\nthe order of nature. It follows that, when monstrosities are produced,\nthey are not merely the result of mechanical forces, but also of God\u2019s\naction, without which no causation is possible.\n\nBut you ask, \u201cCan the idea of a conscious power acting with design be\nreconciled with such a result?\u201d I answer that it can be reconciled very\nwell. In fact, those effects which proceed directly from God alone, must\nindeed be perfect according to their own kind, inasmuch as God\u2019s working\nis never exposed to failure; but those effects which do not proceed\ndirectly from God alone, but are produced by creatures with God\u2019s\nassistance, may be imperfect, ugly, and monstrous. You may have a\nbeautiful hand; but, if you write with a bad pen, your writing will not be\nbeautiful. You may be a great pianist; but, if your instrument is out of\ntune, your music will be detestable. Whenever two causes, of which the one\nis instrumental to the other, concur to the production of the same effect,\nthe imperfection of the instrumental cause naturally entails the\nimperfection of the effect. God\u2019s action is perfect; but the action of his\ninstruments may be imperfect; and it is owing to such an imperfection that\nthe result may be a monstrosity.\n\nBut, to complete this explanation, it is necessary to add that, in the\nproduction of their natural effects, creatures are more than instrumental.\nThe primary cause, God, and the secondary causes, creatures, are both\n_principal_ causes of natural effects; though the latter are subordinate\nto the influence of the former. Both God and the creature are total\ncauses; that is, the effect entirely depends on the secondary, as it\nentirely depends on the primary cause, though in a different manner; for\nthe influx of the primary cause is general, while that of the secondary\ncause is particular. Hence these two causes bear to the effect produced by\nthem the same relation as two premises bear to their conclusion. God\u2019s\ninfluence is to the effect produced what a general principle or a major\nproposition is to the conclusion; whilst the creature\u2019s influence is to\nthe same effect what a minor proposition or the application of the general\nprinciple is to the conclusion. Take, for instance, the general truth,\n\u201cVirtue is a rational good,\u201d as a major proposition. This general truth\nmay be applied in different manners, and lead to different conclusions,\ngood or bad, according as the application is right or wrong. If you\nsubsume, \u201cTemperance is a virtue,\u201d you will immediately obtain the good\nconclusion that \u201cTemperance is a rational good.\u201d But, if you subsume,\n\u201cPride is a virtue,\u201d you will reach the monstrous conclusion that \u201cPride\nis a rational good.\u201d Now, this conclusion, however monstrous, could not be\ndrawn without the general principle; and yet its monstrosity does not\narise from the general principle, but only from its wrong application.\nThus the general principle remains good and true in spite of the bad and\nfalse conclusion. And in the same manner the influence of the first cause\non natural effects remains good and perfect, though the effects\nthemselves, owing to the influence of the secondary causes, are imperfect\nand monstrous.\n\nYou now understand, I hope, how the exceptional production of\nmonstrosities can be reconciled with the idea of a conscious power acting\nwith design.\n\n\n\nXIII. Brain And Soul.\n\n\n_Reader._ And now, doctor, please tell me what is your doctrine on the\nhuman soul.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ The human soul is \u201ca product of matter\u201d (p. 132)\u2014\u201ca product of\nthe development of the brain\u201d (p. 197).\n\n_Reader._ Indeed?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe brain is the seat and organ of thought; its size, shape,\nand structure are in exact proportion to the magnitude and power of its\nintellectual functions\u201d (p. 107).\n\n_Reader._ What do you mean by _thought_?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Need I explain a term so universally known?\n\n_Reader._ The term is known, but it is used more or less properly by\ndifferent persons. Our minds may deal with either sensible or intellectual\nobjects. When we have seen a mountain, we may think of it, because we have\nreceived from it an impression in our senses which leaves a vestige of\nitself in our organism, and enables us to represent to ourselves the\nobject we have perceived. In this case our _thought_ is an exercise of our\nimagination. When, on the contrary, we think of some abstract notion or\nrelation which does not strike our senses, and of which no image has been\npictured in our organic potencies, then our _thought_ is an exercise of\nintellectual power. In both cases our brain has something to do with the\nthought. For in the first case our thought is an act of the sensitive\nfaculty, which reaches its object as it is pictured, or otherwise\nimpressed, in our organic potencies, of which the headquarters are in the\nbrain. In the second case our thought is an act of the intellectual\nfaculty, which detects the intelligible relations existing between the\nobjects already perceived, or between notions deduced from previous\nperceptions; and this act, inasmuch as it implies the consideration of\nobjects furnished to the mind by sensible apprehension, cannot but be\naccompanied by some act of the imaginative power making use of the images\npictured in the organic potencies. Now, doctor, when you say that \u201cthe\nbrain is the seat and organ of thought,\u201d do you mean that both the\nintellectual and the imaginative thought reside in the brain and are\nworked out by the brain?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Of course. For \u201ccomparative anatomy shows that through all\nclasses of animals, up to man, the intellectual energy is in proportion to\nthe size and material quality of the brain\u201d (p. 107).\n\n_Reader._ You are quite mistaken. The brain is an organ of the\nimagination, not of the intellect. And even as an organ of imagination it\nis incompetent to think or imagine, as it is only the instrument of a\nhigher power\u2014that is, of a soul. To say that the brain is the organ of\nintellectual thought is to assume that intellectual relations are pictured\non the brain; which is evidently absurd, since intellectual relations\ncannot be pictured on material organs. Every impression made on our brain\nis a definite impression, corresponding to the definite objects from which\nit proceeds. If our intellectual thought were a function of the brain, we\ncould not think, except of those same definite objects from which we have\nreceived our definite impressions. How do you, then, reconcile this\nevident inference with the fact that we conceive intellectually\ninnumerable things from which we have never received a physical\nimpression? We think of justice, of humanity, of truth, of causality,\netc., though none of these abstractions has the power to picture itself on\nour brain. It is therefore impossible to admit that the intellectual\nthought is a function of the brain. With regard to the working of the\nimagination, I concede that the brain plays the part of an instrument; but\nhow can you explain such a working without a higher principle? If our soul\nis nothing but \u201ca product of matter,\u201d since matter is inert, our soul must\nbe inert, and since matter has only mechanical powers, our soul must be\nlimited to mechanical action, that is, to the production of local\nmovement. Now, can you conceive imagination as a merely mechanical power,\nor thought as the production of local movement?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Yes. \u201cThought,\u201d says Moleschott, \u201cis a motion of matter\u201d (p.\n135).\n\n_Reader._ It is perfectly useless, doctor, to make assertions which cannot\nbe proved. Moleschott is no authority; he is a juggler like yourself, and\nworks for the furtherance of the same Masonic aims. Let him say what he\nlikes. We cannot but laugh at a thinker who can mistake his thought for\nlocal motion.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ You, however, cannot deny that, while we are thinking, our\nbrain is doing work. But how can it do work without motion?\n\n_Reader._ I do not deny that, while we are thinking, our brain is doing\nwork. I merely deny that the movements of the brain are thoughts. As long\nas we live, soul and body work together, and we cannot think without some\norganic movements accompanying the operation. This every one admits. But\nyou suppress the thinking principle, and retain only the organic\nmovements. How is this possible? If thought consists merely of organic\nmovements of the brain, how does the motion begin? The brain cannot give\nto itself a new mode of being. To account for its movements you must point\nout a distinct moving power, either intrinsic or extrinsic, either a\nsensible object or the thinking principle itself. When the motion is\nreceived from a sensible object, the movements of the brain determine the\nimmediate perception of the object; and when the motion results from the\noperation of the thinking principle, the movements of the brain determine\nthe phantasm corresponding to the object of the actual thought. Thus\nimmediate perception, and thought, or recollection, are both rationally\nexplained; whilst, if the thinking subject were the brain itself, how\ncould we recollect our past ideas? When the movement caused by an object\nhas been superseded by the movement caused by a different object, how can\nit spontaneously revive? Matter is inert; and nothing but a power distinct\nfrom it can account for the spontaneous awakening of long\u2010forgotten\nthoughts.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Matter is inert, but is endowed with forces, and wherever there\nare many particles of matter they can communicate movement to one another.\nHence, \u201cin the same manner as the steam\u2010engine produces motion, so does\nthe organic complication of force\u2010endowed materials produce in the animal\nbody a sum of effects so interwoven as to become a unit; and is then by us\ncalled spirit, soul, thought\u201d (p. 136).\n\n_Reader._ Pshaw! Are _spirit_, _soul_, and _thought_ synonymous? Do\nthoughts think? When you perceive that two and two make four, is this\nthought the thinking principle? And if the soul is \u201ca sum of _mechanical_\neffects so interwoven as to become a unit,\u201d how can you avoid the\nconsequence that the soul consists of nothing but local movement? But if\nthe soul is local movement, it has no causality, and cannot be the\nprinciple of life; for local movement is only a change of place, and has\nnothing to do with perception, judgment, reasoning, or any other operation\nof the thinking principle. Can local movement say, _I am_? _I will?_ _I\ndoubt?_ Can local movement recollect the past, take in the present,\nforesee the possible and the future? Can local movement deliberate, love,\nhate, say _yes_ or _no_? To these and such like questions science, reason,\nand experience give an unequivocal answer, which the president of a\nmedical association should have carefully meditated before venturing to\nwrite on the subject.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Yet \u201cthe mental capacity of man is enlarged in proportion to\nthe material growth of his brain, and is diminished according to the\ndiminution of its substance in old age\u201d (p. 110). \u201cIt is a fact known to\neverybody, that the intelligence diminishes with increasing age, and that\nold people become childish.... The soul of the child becomes developed in\nthe same degree as the material organization of its brain becomes more\nperfect\u201d (p. 111). \u201cPathology furnishes us with an abundance of striking\nfacts, and teaches us that no part of the brain exercising the function of\nthought can be materially injured without producing a corresponding mental\ndisturbance\u201d (p. 119). \u201cThe law that brain and soul are necessarily\nconnected, and that the material expansion, shape, and quality of the\nformer stands in exact proportion to the intensity of the mental\nfunctions, is strict and irrefutable, and the mind, again, exercises an\nessential influence on the growth and development of its organ, so that it\nincreases in size and power just in the same manner as any muscle is\nstrengthened by exercise\u201d (p. 122). \u201cThe whole science of man is a\ncontinuous proof in favor of the connection of brain and mind; and all the\nverbiage of philosophical psychologists in regard to the separate\nexistence of the soul, and its independence of its material organ, is\nwithout the least value in opposition to the power of facts. We can find\nno exaggeration in what Friedreich, a well\u2010known writer on psychology,\nsays on this point: \u2018The exhibition of power cannot be imagined without a\nmaterial substratum. The vital power of man can only manifest its activity\nby means of its material organs. In proportion as the organs are manifold,\nso will be the phenomena of vital power, and they will vary according to\nthe varied construction of the material substratum. Hence, mental function\nis a peculiar manifestation of vital power, determined by the peculiar\nconstruction of cerebral matter. The same power which digests by means of\nthe stomach, thinks by means of the brain\u2019 \u201d (pp. 124, 125).\n\n_Reader._ Your manner of reasoning, doctor, is not calculated to bring\nconviction, as every one of your arguments contains a fallacy. Your first\nargument is: The brain is the measure of the thinking power; and therefore\nthe thinking power, or the soul, is a result of organic development. The\nsecond is: Brain and mind are necessarily connected; and therefore the\nsoul cannot have a separate existence. The third is: The vital power of\nman can only manifest its activity by means of its material organs; and\ntherefore the soul needs to be supported by a material substratum. Such\nsubstantially is the drift of your argumentation. Now, I maintain that the\nthree arguments are merely three sophisms.\n\nFirst, the brain is not the measure of the thinking power. The mental\ncapacity of man, and the thinking power of the soul, are not exactly the\nsame thing. The first implies both soul and body, the second regards the\nsoul alone; the first presents to us the musician with his instrument, the\nsecond exhibits only the musician himself. The brain is the organ, the\nsoul is the organist. You cannot reasonably pretend that the musical\ntalent, genius, and skill of an organist increase and decrease with the\nnumber and quality of the pipes which happen to be in the organ. All you\ncan say is that the musical talent of the organist will have a better\nchance of a favorable show with a rich rather than with a poor instrument.\nThe organ, therefore, is not the measure of the ability of the organist,\nand the brain is not the measure of the thinking power. Hence from the\nfact that the mental capacity of man is enlarged, as you say, in\nproportion to the material growth of his brain, we have no right to\nconclude that the thinking principle, the soul, grows with the brain; the\nright conclusion is that the soul, being in possession of a better\ninstrument, finds itself in better conditions for the exercise of its\nintrinsic power. The organ is improved and the music is better; but the\norganist is the same.\n\nSecondly, brain and mind are at present necessarily connected. Does it\nfollow that therefore the soul cannot have a separate existence? By no\nmeans. If this conclusion were logical, you might on the same ground\naffirm also that the body cannot have a separate existence; for the body\nis as necessarily connected with the soul as the soul is with the body.\nThe reason why your conclusion cannot hold is that the connection of body\nand soul is necessary only inasmuch as both are indispensable for the\nconstitution of the human nature. But the human nature is not immortal;\nthe soul must quit the body when the organism becomes unfit for the\noperations of animal life; and therefore the connection of the soul with\nthe body is not absolutely, but only hypothetically, necessary. The soul\nhas its own existence distinct from the existence of the body, for the\nsoul is a substance no less than the body; and therefore it is no less\ncompetent to have a separate existence. You deny, I know, that the soul is\na substance distinct from the body; but what is the weight of such a\ndenial? What you speculatively deny in your book, you practically admit in\nthe secret of your conscience whenever you say _I am_. It is not the body\nthat says _I_; it is the soul: and it is not an accident that perceives\nself; it is a substance.\n\nThirdly, the vital power of man, as you say, can manifest its activity\nonly by means of its material organs. This is true; for, so long as the\nsoul is in the body, it must work together with it, according to the\naxiom, \u201cEvery agent acts according as it is in act.\u201d But does the work of\nthe vital power in the material organs warrant your conclusion that the\nsoul needs to be supported by a material substratum? Quite the contrary.\nFor, what needs a material substratum is an accident, and no accident is\nactive; and therefore the vital power, whose activity is manifested in the\nmaterial organs, is no accident, and therefore needs no material\nsubstratum, and, while existing in the material organs, exists no less in\nitself. Had you considered that the soul, which manifests its activity by\nmeans of its material organs, exercises the same activity within itself\nalso, you would have easily discovered that the soul has a being\nindependent of its material organs, and that these organs are the organs\nof sensibility, not of intelligence.\n\nBut I am not going to make a dissertation on the soul, as my object is\nonly to show the inconclusiveness of your reasoning. Your chapter on\n\u201cBrain and Soul,\u201d with its twenty\u2010eight pages of medical and physiological\nerudition, offers no proof of your assumption beyond the three sophisms I\nhave refuted. All the rest consists of facts which have not the least\nbearing on the question. \u201cThe whole science of man,\u201d as you say, \u201cis a\ncontinuous proof in favor of the connection of brain and mind.\u201d This is\nwhat your facts demonstrate; but your object was to show that \u201cthe soul is\na product of the development of the brain\u201d; and this your facts do not\ndemonstrate, as is evident from your need of resorting to fallacies to\nmake them lie to truth. It is on the strength of such fallacies that you\nmake bold to despise your opponents, forgetting all your shortcomings, and\ncommitting a new blunder in the very act of assailing the spiritualistic\nphilosophers. According to you, \u201cthe whole science of man is a continuous\nproof in favor of the connection of brain and mind; and all the verbiage\nof philosophical psychologists in regard to the separate existence of the\nsoul and its independence of its material organ is without the least value\nin opposition to the power of facts.\u201d You should be ashamed, doctor, of\nthis style of reasoning.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Why, if you please?\n\n_Reader._ Because, first, the connection of brain and mind, as proved by\n\u201cthe whole science of man,\u201d does not authorize you to deny the separate\nexistence of the soul and its substantial independence of the material\norgans. Secondly, because to call \u201cverbiage\u201d those reasonings which all\nthe great men of all times have, after careful scrutiny, considered as\nunanswerable, to which they gave their fullest assent, and against which\nyou are incapable of advancing a single argument which has not already\nbeen answered by philosophers, is on your part an implicit confession of\nphilosophical ignorance. Thirdly, because it is extremely mean to proclaim\nyour own victory, while you have carefully avoided the combat. You have,\nin fact, prudently dissembled all the reasons by which the substantiality\nand spirituality of the human soul are usually proved in psychology; and,\nto give yourself the appearance of a champion, you have set up a few\nridiculous sophisms\u2014as, \u201cthe material simplicity of the organs of thought\u201d\n(p. 125)\u2014to figure as philosophical objections, which they have never\nbeen, and never will be; thus reminding us of the great Don Quixote\nfighting against the wind\u2010mill. Fourthly, because, while boasting of the\nsupport which some physiological facts seem to lend to your materialistic\ntheory, you have entirely ignored all those other facts of the\nintellectual life which were calculated to expose your sophistry and\noverthrow your conclusions. This is dishonest, doctor; for you cannot\nplead ignorance in excuse.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ We proceed from opposite principles, sir; hence we must\ndisagree in our conclusions. It is a law \u201cthat mind and brain necessarily\ndetermine each other, and that they stand to each other in inseparable\ncausal relations\u201d (p. 139).\n\n_Reader._ This goes against you; for, if the mind determines the brain,\nthe mind must be a special substance.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cAs there is no bile without liver, no urine without kidneys,\nso is there no thought with out a brain. Mental activity is a function of\nthe cerebral substance. This truth is simple, clear, easily supported by\nfacts, and indisputable\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ Oh! oh! have you forgotten my previous answer? So long as matter\nremains inert, it is vain to pretend that matter is the thinking\nprinciple.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cMatter is not dead, unquickened, and lifeless, but, on the\ncontrary, full of the most stirring life\u201d (p. xcix.)\n\n_Reader._ A great discovery!\u2014if true.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cNot an atom of it is without motion, but in constant\nuninterrupted movement and activity. Nor is matter _gross_, as simple\nphilosophers often call it, but, on the contrary, so infinitely fine and\ncomplicated in its composition as to surpass all our conceptions. Nor is\nit _worthless_ or vile, but rather the most precious thing we know of; it\nis not _without feeling_, but is full of the most acute sensibility in the\ncreatures it brings forth; nor, lastly, is it _devoid of spirit_ or\n_thought_, but, on the contrary, develops in the organs destined thereto\nby the peculiar kind and delicacy of their composition the highest mental\npotencies known to us. What we call life, sensibility, organization, and\nthought, are only the peculiar and higher tendencies and activities of\nmatter, acquired in the course of many millions of years by well\u2010known\nnatural processes, and which in certain organisms or combinations result\nin the self\u2010consciousness of matter. Wherefore matter is not unconscious,\nas is often proclaimed\u201d (pp. xcix., c.)\n\n_Reader._ Enough! enough of such nonsense. Do not ruin what little\nreputation you still enjoy as a scientific man. What will the world say\nwhen it discovers that you know nothing about the inertia of matter, which\nis the basis of physics and mechanics? or when it hears that you confound\nmovement with activity, and activity with life? Every one knows that life\nimplies movement, because the more perfect implies the less perfect; but\nwho ever heard that mechanical movement implies life? Is a stone living\nbecause it falls to the ground? Again, how would any one who is not an\nidiot consider the matter on which we tread \u201cthe most precious thing we\nknow of\u201d? Would you sell your honor for a cup of coffee and a pound of\nsugar? That matter is _not without feeling_, _not without spirit_, and\n_not without thought_, is a demonstrated blunder, of which I need not\nrepeat the refutation. But who can hear without merriment that\nsensibility, organization, and thought are \u201ctendencies\u201d of matter? and\nthat they have been acquired by matter \u201cin the course of many millions of\nyears\u201d? and that this acquisition was brought about \u201cby _well\u2010known_\nnatural processes\u201d? I repeat, doctor, that such trash will ruin your\nreputation. Buffoons and charlatans may be allowed to indulge in any\namount of absurdities; but a doctor has not the same privilege. Hence it\nis not safe for you to speak of _well\u2010known_ processes, by which matter\nbecomes \u201cconscious\u201d of itself, when the whole scientific world knows\nnothing of such processes, and may challenge you to substantiate your\nfoolish assertion.\n\nI will tell you what is really _well known_. It is what a celebrated\nwriter teaches about the immateriality of the soul. \u201cThere is nothing,\u201d he\nsays, \u201cin this lower world that can account for the origin of our souls;\nfor there is nothing in our souls which admits of mixture or composition,\nnothing which arises from the earth or is made of it, nothing which\npartakes of the nature of air, or water, or fire. For nothing is to be\nfound in these natural things which has the power of remembering, of\nunderstanding, or of thinking\u2014nothing which can hold the past, forecast\nthe future, or embrace the present. The power of doing this is divine, and\nits possession by man can never be accounted for, unless we admit that it\nis derived from God himself. Accordingly, the soul is a distinct nature,\nand has nothing common with the material things with which we are\nacquainted.\u201d(23) What do you think of this passage?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ It smacks of ultramontanism.\n\n_Reader._ Just so! Bravo! Marcus Tullius Cicero an ultramontane!!\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nA Legend Of Alsace.\n\n\nFrom The French Of M. Le Vicomte De Bussierre.\n\n\u201cI do love these ancient ruins.\nWe never tread upon them but we set\nOur foot upon some reverend history.\u201d\n\n\u2014_Webster\u2019s Duchess of Malfy._\n\n\n\nI.\n\n\nSix leagues from Strasbourg a high mountain, pyramidal in form, rises\nabruptly over the chain of the Vosges. On its summit are some antique\nchurches and chapels and an old convent. The fertile country at its foot\nis peopled by a great number of smiling villages and several small towns.\nIts sides are covered with fine forests, in the midst of which may be seen\nthe ruined walls of old monasteries, the crenellated and picturesque\ntowers of several medi\u00e6val castles, and the _d\u00e9bris_ of an ancient wall of\npagan times. This mountain, called in ancient times Altitona or\nHohenbourg, was once the principal bulwark of Alsace. In the VIIth century\nit received the name of Mount St. Odile, and became a celebrated resort\nfor pilgrims.\n\nA shady pathway, and not of difficult ascent, leads to the top of Mount\nSt. Odile, which commands a view as remarkable for extent as for interest\nand variety. The whole of Alsace, and a large part of the Grand Duchy of\nBaden, are spread out at the feet of the spectator; bounded on one side by\nthe jagged chain of the Black Forest, whose blue outlines are seen on the\nhorizon, and on the other by the Vosges, which are rounder and more\npleasing to the eye. A dense forest of pines covers the Vosges, and on all\nsides, even on the highest crests, may be seen the ruins of old feudal\ncastles which hundreds of years ago played their _r\u00f4le_ in the history of\nthe province. The Rhine passes through the middle of this magnificent\nvalley. On each shore are forests, vineyards, meadows, and admirably\ncultivated fields. A line of dazzling brightness marks the sinuous course\nof the river, which, sometimes dividing, forms a great number of verdant\nisles.\n\nThe dense population of the country around gives an idea of its richness\nand fertility. Orchards surround the villages; rustic churches, covered\nwith deep\u2010hued tiles, rise up from the smiling groves; more imposing\nbelfries mark the towns, and the magnificent spire of Strasbourg points\nout, through the transparent vapor, the old capital of the province. The\nwhole plain is furrowed by fine roads in every direction, which, bordered\nby walnut\u2010trees, form an immense net\u2010work of verdure. Towards the north\nthe valley of the Rhine is lost in the vapory distance; on the south the\nVosges blend with the Jura mountains; and in perfectly clear weather the\nglaciers of Switzerland may be seen at sunset, like gilded clouds on the\nhorizon.\n\nThis landscape is superb at all times, but is particularly beautiful on a\nSunday morning in spring\u2010time. A fresh verdure then covers the earth, and\nthe fruit\u2010trees, all in bloom, give the whole of Alsace a _parure de\nf\u00eate_. The far\u2010off sound of the bells ringing in every direction to call\nthe people to prayer, and the varied sounds of the plain brought up by the\nwind, mingle with the mysterious voices of nature, penetrating the soul\nwith a subduing and profound sentiment, and filling it with ineffable\npeace.\n\nSuch is the aspect of the region where took place most of the facts I am\nabout to relate. But, before speaking of the development of the monastic\norders in Alsace, and of the convent of Hohenbourg and its illustrious\nfoundress in particular, I will briefly relate the details that have been\npreserved respecting the introduction of Christianity into the province of\nwhich we are speaking.\n\nTradition attributes the origin of the Alsacian churches to the immediate\nsuccessors of the apostles; but others date the Mission of S. Materne (and\nhis companions Euchaire and Val\u00e8re) among the Triboci and the Nemetes, and\nthat of S. Clement among the Mediomatrici, only from the end of the IIId\ncentury or the beginning of the IVth. They were the real apostles of the\nvalley of the Rhine. Some think they were called the disciples of S. Peter\nmerely to show that they were sent by his successors, and that their\nteachings were in conformity with those of the head of the church.(24)\n\nHowever this may be, there is no doubt that S. Materne founded the first\nChristian churches of Alsace upon the ruins of old pagan temples in the\nforests of Novient and in the towns of Helvetia and Argentorat.\n\nShortly after the conversion of Constantine, the Holy See sent Amandus and\nJesse, the first as bishop of Argentoratum (Strasbourg) and the other of\nAugusta Nemetum (Speyer), of which city Constantius Chlorus is considered\nthe restorer or founder.\n\nAmong the eighty\u2010four bishops assembled at the Council of Cologne in the\nyear 346, the names of Jesse of the Nemetes and Amandus of Argentoratum\nare found. S. Amandus, the first known pastor of Strasbourg, is at the\nhead of a long line of bishops who have given an example of true holiness,\nand who have a claim on the admiration and gratitude of posterity. But\nalmost immediately after the death of Constantine the Great the spread of\nthe Christian religion in Alsace was arrested, partly owing to the rulers,\nand partly to the bloody wars of which the Rhine valley was the theatre,\nespecially the invasion of Atilla, who either massacred the bishops or\ncarried them off with their flocks. This caused a vacancy in the See of\nStrasbourg for many years. It passed under the spiritual jurisdiction of\nMetz till 510, when the see was re\u2010established.\n\nThe great victory of Clovis over the Germans, and his baptism, gave rise\nto a new epoch in the history of Alsace and in the spread of Christianity.\nArgentoratum, which had been devastated by the barbarians, was restored by\nClovis and resumed its importance. The kings of the Franks built a palace\nthere which they often occupied.\n\nClovis re\u2010established the episcopal see at the beginning of the VIth\ncentury, and laid the foundations of the cathedral in 510. From his time\nthe Christian religion spread more rapidly in the province, and was soon\nprofessed by the whole country.\n\n\n\nII.\n\n\nAlsace shared in the development of monastic orders throughout Western\nEurope. In the VIIth and VIIIth centuries a great number of convents and\npious retreats were erected in that province. The epoch of the early\nmartyrs was past, but other martyrs succeeded them, separating themselves\njoyfully from the world and imposing on themselves the greatest\nprivations. That was the time of wonderful legends and acts of personal\nrenunciation. The life of S. Odile is a complete picture of that epoch. In\nrelating it I shall endeavor to preserve the _na\u00efve_ and pious simplicity\nof the chronicles from which it is derived, and which are the faithful\nexpression of the spirit of the times, and of the character and manners of\nthe people.\n\nErchinald, son of Ega, and major\u2010domo of the king, was, say the old\nhistorians, one of the noblest as well as most powerful lords of the time\nof Dagobert I. Leudet, or Leutrich, son of Erchinald, married Hultrude, a\nprincess of the royal race of Burgundy. Their son, Adalric, was the father\nof S. Odile and the progenitor of some of the most illustrious houses of\nEurope. Adalric married Berswinde, the niece, through her mother, of S.\nL\u00e9ger, Bishop of Autun, who suffered martyrdom in 685. Bilibilde,\nBerswinde\u2019s sister, or, as some say, her aunt, ascended the throne of\nOstrasia by her marriage with Childeric II. The king, united to Adalric by\nthe tie of friendship as well as of relationship, invested him with the\nduchy of Alsace at the death of Duke Boniface. Adalric established his\nresidence at Oberehnheim, a town at the foot of Mount Altitona.\n\nFew men have been depicted in such various colors as Adalric. Many ancient\nwriters represent him as a ferocious, cruel, and overbearing lord. Other\nchroniclers, on the contrary, proclaim him as generous as he was just and\nhumane. The opinion of F. Hugo Peltre appears to be the most correct, and\nit is confirmed by the different traits of the prince which have come to\nour knowledge. He says Adalric was a man upright and sincere, but\ntenacious in his designs. He showed himself to be a sincere Christian, and\nin spite of his rank sought no pretext for dispensation from the duties\nwhich his religion imposed upon him, but he had not entirely laid aside\nthe barbarous manners of his time.\n\nBerswinde, whose rank equalled that of her husband, is represented by all\nthe authors of the life of S. Odile as one of the most accomplished women\nof her day. They say her heart was filled with charity and the fear of\nGod. The deference accorded to her rank did not affect her piety or fill\nher with pride. She was a perfect model of Christian humility. She made\nuse of her wealth to do good. Prosperity inspired her with tender\ngratitude towards Him who is the source of every blessing. Every day she\nwas in the habit of retiring for several hours to the most secluded part\nof the palace, for the purpose of prayer and meditation.\n\nAdalric and Berswinde both longed for a more retired residence, where they\ncould pass a part of the year away from the bustle of the town and the\nfatigue of business. The duke ordered his followers to explore the\nneighboring forests to find a suitable spot for a castle and a church.\nThey soon informed him that the summit of Mt. Altitona, which rose above\nOberehnheim, was covered with the _d\u00e9bris_ of ancient buildings which\ncould be made use of in the construction of a vast and magnificent\nresidence. Adalric wished to ascertain by personal observation the\ncorrectness of this report, and, after an hour and a half\u2019s march, he\nreached the place mentioned. It was a great esplanade, in a wild but\nimposing situation, surrounded by very high walls of enormous stones\nrudely put together, evidently by the most ancient inhabitants of the\nprovince. Gigantic pines and old oaks had grown up with wonderful\nluxuriance among these old ruins. But the buildings that covered the\nesplanade had by no means fallen entirely to ruin, as his followers had\nreported. They were partly ruined, to be sure, but a ch\u00e2teau and an\nelegant rotunda, both of the Roman style, still remained entire.(25)\n\nThe duke, charmed with the beauty of the place, immediately knelt down and\nthanked God aloud for having directed him to this spot. Then returning at\nonce to Oberehnheim he despatched that very same day a large number of\nworkmen to the mountain of Hohenbourg to commence the work.\n\nAdalric, changing his original intention of building a large church, had\nthe antique rotunda magnificently repaired. It was then consecrated by S.\nL\u00e9ger, Bishop of Autun, and dedicated to the holy Patrons of Alsace. A new\nchapel erected in honor of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the holy\nprotectors of Oberehnheim, was likewise consecrated by the holy bishop and\nendowed by Adalric. The walls of enclosure were likewise repaired, as well\nas the old ch\u00e2teau, in which the duke and duchess habitually passed the\nsummer months.\n\n\n\nIII.\n\n\nThough the wealth and power of Adalric had increased from year to year\ntill he was invested with the hereditary fief of the vast duchy of Alsace,\nyet one blessing was denied him. He had no heir to whom he could transmit\nhis wealth and title, and this profoundly afflicted him. Berswinde, too,\nsympathized in his disappointment, for it is especially natural for the\ngreat and powerful to wish to perpetuate their name and race. They both\ndid all that devotion and confidence in God inspire holy souls to do. They\nhad recourse to fasts, pilgrimages, and generous alms. Often prostrate\ntogether at the foot of the altar they shed floods of tears, and besought\nthe Lord to hear their ardent prayer. At length, after some years of\nmarried life (in the year 657, or, as some say, 661), Berswinde gave\nbirth\u2014not to the prince so ardently longed for and whose advent was\nanticipated with the joy and prayers of the whole province\u2014but to a little\nblind girl....\n\nAdalric\u2019s happiness gave place to a profound despair, and the paternal\nlove he had felt in advance for his child was changed into violent hatred.\nHe broke forth into bitter plaints. \u201cGod is angry with us,\u201d said he, \u201cand\nwishes to punish us for some grave transgression; for he has overwhelmed\nus with an opprobrium without precedent among those of my race, and which\nwould forever tarnish the glory of my house, should the birth of this\nchild be known.\u201d\n\nBerswinde replied: \u201cBeware, my lord, of abandoning yourself to anger and\ndespair. Remember that when the disciples of our Saviour questioned him\nrespecting the man who was blind from his birth, he said to them: \u2018Neither\nhath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be\nmade manifest in him.\u2019 Let us not murmur, then, against the decrees of the\nAlmighty. Until now he hath loaded us with benefits. Let us bless his holy\nname in affliction as well as in joy.\u201d\n\nThis mild and wise reply gave Adalric no consolation. The unfortunate\nduchess only succeeded in calming his excitement by consenting to keep the\nbirth of her daughter a secret, to have her reared away from home, and\nnever to mention her before her husband.\n\nThe duke thought he was satisfying the law of nature by permitting the\nchild to live, and, acting according to the requirements of his rank and\nhis honor, in condemning her to vegetate in obscurity and poverty. He had\nit proclaimed, at the sound of the trumpet, in the town of Oberehnheim\nthat the duchess had given birth to a still\u2010born child.\n\nBut Berswinde, remembering that one of her former attendants, upon whose\nattachment she could rely, was married and now living in the borough of\nScherwiller, sent for her secretly. She came at once, and, finding her\nmistress profoundly afflicted and shedding bitter tears, pledged herself\nto bring up the child. Berswinde\u2019s courage revived at this, and, kissing\nthe babe, she placed it herself in the arms of her faithful follower,\ncommending it to her \u201cdear Saviour the Lord Jesus, and to the Blessed\nVirgin Mary.\u201d\n\nThe nurse carried the child away, but in spite of Adalric\u2019s care to\nconceal from his subjects the birth of the princess\u2014in spite of the\noblivion in which its second mother sought to bury its existence, it was\nalmost impossible to prevent such a secret from transpiring in time. Five\nor six months had hardly elapsed when it was reported throughout the\ncountry that there was a blind child of unknown origin at Scherwiller,\nwhich evidently belonged to people of high rank, judging from the care it\nreceived. Some one recalled that the woman who took care of this\nmysterious child was formerly in Berswinde\u2019s service, and noticed that its\nage coincided with the time of the duchess\u2019 illness. The nurse lent an\nattentive ear to this gossip, and did not fail to report it to Berswinde.\nThe latter, fearing the report might reach Adalric\u2019s ears, ordered her old\nattendant to leave her home at once, and repair to the Convent of Baume in\nFranche Comt\u00e9, a few leagues from Besan\u00e7on, where the child would be\nreadily received and brought up. Berswinde had two motives for preferring\nthis monastery to all other places of safety: she hoped its distance would\nensure the child\u2019s safety, and the abbess was the sister of the duchess\u2019\nmother.\n\nThe Abbey of Baume was not then under any particular rule;(26) but prayer,\nreading, the chanting of the Psalms, the observance of the evangelical\ncounsels, the mortification of the senses, and manual labor, continually\noccupied the humble recluses who lived there.\n\nThe young exile arrived safely at this peaceful asylum. She lived there\ntranquilly, far from the tumult of the world, and received an education\nfitted for developing the treasures of grace with which her soul was\nenriched. Her destiny was evident almost from her cradle. The names\nconsecrated by religion were the first to strike her ears and for her\ntongue to utter, and her first language was that of prayer. Her pious\naunt, and all who surrounded her, only spoke to her of holy things, to\nwhich she lent a surprising attention, as if interiorly enlightened\nrespecting divine truths. Her mind was precocious and clear, and her\nmemory extraordinary. She understood the duties of a Christian better at\nthe age of four or five than many grown\u2010up persons.\n\nIt was thus, away from the world, that the daughter of Adalric became from\nchildhood the model of piety, drawing pure instructions, as from an\ninexhaustible source, from the noble superior of Baume.\n\n\n\nIV.\n\n\nWhile these things were taking place in Franche Comt\u00e9, Deodatus, Bishop of\nNevers, and son of S. Hunna, arrived in Alsace to preach the Gospel and\njoin the hermits who officiated at Novient (Ebersheim\u2010M\u00fcnster), the most\nancient church of the province, and founded by S. Materne. The preaching\nof Deodatus drew an immense audience, among whom Adalric and Berswinde\nwere the most assiduous. The duke, desirous of giving a public testimony\nof the benefit he had derived from the holy bishop\u2019s sermons, resolved to\nbuild at Novient a convent and church in honor of SS. Peter and Paul, and\nendow them with ample revenues.\n\nHe begged Deodatus to superintend the construction of the new buildings.\nThe work was commenced at once. Adalric refused nothing necessary for its\ncompletion, and Deodatus, wishing the church to be very solid, used in its\nconstruction the _d\u00e9bris_ of an old pagan temple in a neighboring forest,\nwhich he razed to the ground. S. Materne had long before overthrown the\nidols.(27)\n\nWhen the church was finished, Deodatus and Adalric convoked, not only the\nAlsacian clergy, but a great number beyond the Vosges, that the pomp of\nthe ceremony of consecration might equal the grandeur of the solemnity.\nThe duke and duchess came from Hohenbourg with a great retinue. The\nduchess brought rich ornaments for the altar, and sacerdotal vestments\nwhich she had partly wrought with her own hands. After the consecration\nthe duke gave S. Deodatus a sealed document conferring a great number of\nfarms on the new cloister, for the support of the Benedictine monks who\nwere to inhabit it and vow themselves to the worship of the Almighty.(28)\n\nThese events happened about the year 666. The franchises of Ebersheim\u2010\nM\u00fcnster were afterwards confirmed by Charlemagne.(29)\n\nBut let us return to the blind girl of the Convent of Baume, who was\ndestined by heaven to be the greatest glory of her race. Cut off from the\nworld by her infirmity and by her position, her life was one long\nprayer\u2014one long act of adoration. Nevertheless she was twelve or thirteen\nyears old before she was baptized, as all the most reliable chroniclers\ndeclare.\n\nIt was then, as now, the custom to baptize children shortly after their\nbirth, and it is not to be supposed that Berswinde would neglect the\nprecepts of the church, or be more solicitous for the temporal welfare of\nher child than for her eternal salvation. It is probable that the\nceremony, being private in consequence of Adalric\u2019s anger, consisted only\nin the application of water, or that there was some grave omission\nrendering the baptism null. However this may be, it was in the designs of\nProvidence, as one of the old chroniclers says, that things should happen\nthus in order that a miracle might mark the solemn admission of the young\nprincess into the Christian fold.\n\nIn those days, adds our historian, there lived in Bavaria a holy bishop\nnamed Erhard, on whom rested the divine blessing. This prelate had a\nvision in which he was commanded to go at once to the Convent of Baume. A\nvoice said to him: \u201cThou wilt find a young servant of the Lord, whom thou\nshalt baptize and give the name of Odile. At the moment of baptism her\neyes, which hitherto have been closed, shall open to the light.\u201d\n\nS. Erhard did not delay obeying this order, but, instead of taking the\nmost direct route to Franche Comt\u00e9, he passed over the steep mountains of\nAlsace and Lorraine, that he might see his brother Hidulphe, of high\nrepute in the Christian world, who had voluntarily resigned the dignity of\nArchbishop of Treves to retire into the wilderness and found the Abbey of\nMoyenmoutier, where he might end his days in solitude and prayer. Erhard\nwished his brother to accompany him in his mission. An ancient tradition\nrelates that, when the two brothers met, they flew into each other\u2019s arms,\nand during their long embrace their souls held an intimate and mysterious\ncommunion which made words unnecessary. Hidulphe immediately prepared to\nfollow Erhard, that he might witness the miracle about to be wrought by\nhis means.\n\nWhen the two holy pilgrims arrived at Baume, they asked to see the blind\ngirl, and, on beholding her, they both exclaimed, as if animated by one\nspirit: \u201cO Lord Jesus! who art the true light that enlightenest every man\nwho cometh into the world, let thy mercy be diffused, like a beneficent\ndew, upon this thy young handmaiden, and grant sight to the eyes of her\nbody, as well as light to her soul!\u201d\n\nProceeding then to examine the catechumen, they found her thoroughly\ninstructed in all the dogmas of the Christian religion, and were edified\nby the intelligence and piety manifested in her replies.\n\nThe ceremony of baptism took place a few days after. All the inmates of\nthe abbey assembled in the church, and S. Hidulphe presented the young\ngirl at the font. Erhard, having said the prescribed prayers, proceeded to\nanoint her eyes with the holy chrism, saying: \u201cHenceforth let the eyes of\nthy body, as well as those of thy soul, be enlightened, in the name of\nJesus Christ our Lord.\u201d The nuns, kneeling around the church, awaited in\nprofound silence and prayer the operation of the miracle, and their\nexpectation was not vain; for, the moment Erhard ceased speaking, the\nchild\u2019s eyelids unclosed, her large blue eyes opened to the light, and her\nfirst look, which displayed the purity of her soul, was directed\nheavenward, as if to thank the Almighty for the favor he had accorded her.\n\nAll the witnesses praised God aloud. Erhard gave the princess the name of\nOdile, as he had been commanded. Then, turning towards the assembly, he\nrecalled to their minds that there is no instance recorded until the time\nof Christ of the opening of the eyes of one born blind. \u201cThe miracle you\nhave just witnessed,\u201d added he, \u201cis likewise the work of our beneficent\nSaviour. Beware of imitating the Jews, whose hearts closed more and more,\nthough they saw the wonderful deeds Christ wrought before them, that they\nmight be converted. God has permitted you to behold the wonderful event\nthat has just happened, in order that your spiritual eyes may also be\nopened, and you may be the better disposed to serve the Divine Master, who\nprotects his servants in so extraordinary a manner, and permits hardened\nsinners to be cast forth into eternal darkness!\u201d Then, having blessed a\nveil, the prelate placed it on Odile\u2019s head, giving her at the same time a\ngolden _cassette_ containing precious relics, and predicting that Heaven\nreserved still greater favors for her if she carefully preserved the\ntreasures of grace she had already received.\n\nHidulphe and Erhard left Baume as soon as their mission was accomplished;\nbut before their departure they recommended the abbess and her companions\nto watch the unfolding of the rare flower which grew in their peaceful\ncloister. Then, giving a last benediction to Odile, Erhard said to her: \u201cO\nmy dear daughter! may we hereafter, through the mercy of Almighty God, be\nreunited in the kingdom of heaven, and taste the joys to which we are all\ncalled!\u201d\n\n\n\nV.\n\n\nThe two brothers, having learned the secret of Odile\u2019s birth, decided to\ninform Adalric of her miraculous cure, hoping to awaken in his heart the\nfeeling of paternal love. The retreat in which Hidulphe lived being only a\nfew hours\u2019 distance from Hohenbourg, he was entrusted with the commission\nto the Duke of Alsace, and Erhard returned directly to his diocese, where\nthe miraculous cure of Odile soon became known, and contributed greatly to\nthe propagation of the faith.\n\nMeanwhile, Hidulphe repaired to Oberehnheim, and, as he possessed in the\nhighest degree the power of influencing men\u2019s hearts, and his words\ngenerally made a profound impression on high and low, he flattered himself\nthat, in informing the duke of what had just happened at Baume, his\nfeelings towards the young exile would be immediately changed.\n\nBut the affection of Adalric was fastened on other objects.\nNotwithstanding the gravity of his fault, the blessing of Heaven continued\nto rest on his house. After sending away the poor blind child in anger and\ndisdain, the duchess had borne him in succession four sons and a daughter\nnamed Roswinde, who by their sanctity became the ornaments of the church\nand of their country. From them sprang most of the royal families of\nEurope.\n\nThe duke refused to send for Odile. Perhaps, without owning it to himself,\nhe experienced a certain fear of one so miraculously healed, and whom he\nhad so unjustly banished. Nevertheless, he was not entirely insensible to\nthe news, and, wishing to testify his gratitude to Hidulphe, he gave him\nthe lands of Feldkirch for his abbey of Moyenmoutier.\n\nOdile, then, continued after her baptism to live in the Convent of Baume.\nHer devotion, her indifference to the things of this world, and her\nprofound recollection inspired a sentiment of respect among the virgins\nwith whom she lived. With a grave and elevated mind, fervent piety, and an\nactive charity, she possessed uncommon beauty,(30) and a child\u2010like\nsimplicity marked with all the grace of her age. Not one of the recluses\nof the monastery subjected herself to greater austerities than Odile. Her\nfervor was particularly manifest during the solemn days in which the\nchurch celebrates the great mystery of the Redemption.\n\nHer countenance and her tears testified to the love with which her heart\nwas filled. It was evident that, at her first essay, her pure young soul\nhad soared heavenward with the swiftness of a dove on the wing.\n\nBut she was to experience the trials of life. The nurse, for whom she had\nan affection truly filial, and who had sundered her family ties to be near\nOdile, fell dangerously ill at Baume. Her sufferings lasted several\nmonths. Doubtless God ordained it to be so, say the ancient chronicles,\nthat she might satisfy in this world the eternal justice, and that Odile\u2019s\ngratitude, generosity, and charity might be displayed. With the sanction\nof the superior, she only left the bedside of the guardian of her infancy\nto attend service at the chapel. She was at once servant, nurse, and,\nabove all, comforter. She inspired her patient with courage, so that she\nhumbly offered up her sufferings to our Lord, and awaited with joy and\nhope the hour of her departure. When the hour of deliverance appointed by\nProvidence came, having received the last sacraments, she died peacefully\nin the arms of Odile, who closed her eyes and buried her.\n\n\n\nVI.\n\n\nIn spite of her cruel exile, Odile had for a long time felt an ardent\ndesire to behold her parents, at least once, and this feeling became\nstronger after the death of her nurse, the only tie that recalled her\nnative land. She did not dream of being restored to her rank, or of\nexchanging her peaceful life for the bustle of her father\u2019s court. She\nonly wished to testify her love for her parents, and to be loved by them.\n\nShe had been told that Count Hugo was the most noble of Adalric\u2019s four\nsons. He was universally considered the handsomest and most accomplished\nprince of his time. His illustrious birth was his least recommendation: he\nwas prudent and generous, and animated by that lofty courage and goodness\nof heart so becoming to youth. Odile wrote to him, entrusting the letter,\ncarefully wrapped in a piece of scarlet stuff, to a pilgrim. Hugo, charmed\nwith the letter and, unlike most of the nobility of that time, knowing how\nto write, henceforth kept up a frequent correspondence with her. Odile\noften gave him serious advice, which he received with tender gratitude.\nFinding him well disposed, she decided to open her heart to him. Hugo\njoyfully hastened to intercede for his sister, begging his father to\nbanish no longer a daughter whose virtues would reflect so much honor on\nhis house. But the duke, with his inflexible pride, assumed a severe\nexpression, and, in spite of his partiality for Hugo, told him he had\nparticular motives, for which he was accountable to no one, for requiring\nOdile to remain at Baume. He also forbade his son ever making a like\nrequest. The young man was profoundly afflicted. Impelled by his ardent\nlove for his sister, and believing her sweet presence would justify him in\nhis father\u2019s eyes, he immediately despatched horses and everything\nnecessary for such a journey, telling his sister to set off immediately.\nFull of confidence in Hugo, and sure that her father had consented to her\nreturn, she left Baume. It was a sad and painful leave\u2010taking, but she\nconsoled her aunt and the nuns by promising to return and end her days\namong them. But Heaven otherwise decreed.\n\nOdile had hardly left the monastery when she began to reproach herself for\ntoo strong a desire to return to her family, and for the eagerness with\nwhich she looked forward to a taste of earthly happiness. She remembered\nthat he to whom she wished to consecrate her life is a jealous God, who\nwishes his servants, instead of clinging to human creatures, to consider\nthem as instruments of perfection. She shed many and bitter tears, but,\naccording to her custom, she had recourse to prayer, which assuaged the\ntrouble of her conscience and restored a sweet serenity and trust to her\nsoul.\n\nProtected by holy angels, she arrived safely at the foot of the mountain\non which rose the new castle of Hohenbourg. Adalric was conversing with\nhis sons when he perceived a company of armed men accompanying a vehicle\nthat was slowly ascending the acclivity. He inquired who the strangers\nwere. \u201cIt is my sister Odile,\u201d replied Hugo joyfully. \u201cAnd who dared bring\nher here without my orders?\u201d cried the duke in an angry tone. The youth\nsaw the truth must be acknowledged, and, bending his knee before his\nfather, he said: \u201cIt was I, my lord. Impelled by my ardent love for her, I\nwrote her she could come. I am guilty through excessive affection. Punish\nme alone, if you will not forgive, for she is innocent.\u201d\n\nHugo, relying too much on his father\u2019s partiality, thought he should\nescape with only a few sharp words; but Adalric, inflamed with rage,\nraised the staff he held in his hand, and inflicted such a blow on his son\nthat he fell senseless at his feet. Ashamed and sorry for his rashness,\nthe duke raised him, and ordered that his bruises should be cared for.\n\nAdalric\u2019s anger had passed away when Odile arrived at the top of the\nmountain. Kneeling, she lifted towards him the eyes once closed to the\nlight. The duke, recalling the miracle wrought in her behalf, felt, for\nthe first time, an impulse of affection, and, raising her in a kind\nmanner, he bade his sons to welcome her affectionately. At that instant\nBerswinde and her daughter Roswinde came running out. The duchess kissed,\nwith many tears, Odile\u2019s eyes, acknowledging that God had suffered her\nchild to be born blind that he might at a later day manifest his power by\nrepeating the miracle of the gospel. Our saint was then conducted to the\nchapel. There, humbly prostrate, she thanked God for protecting her in her\njourney and reuniting her to her family.\n\n\n\nVII.\n\n\nAlthough Adalric\u2019s aversion to Odile was lessened, and he showed her some\nkindness at her arrival, he was far from feeling the same love for her as\nfor the rest of his children. He assigned her a retired part of the\ncastle, and gave her as a companion a holy maiden from Great Britain who\nwas vowed to the service of God. He never admitted her to his presence,\nand only allowed her the portion of a servant for her subsistence. Our\nsaint, overlooking this unjust treatment, led at Hohenbourg a life as\nsimple and retired as at the Convent of Baume, often finding means, by\nreally depriving herself of the necessaries of life, of aiding the needy.\nIt was not long before her father awoke to better feelings. Crossing a\ncourt of the castle, one day, he met Odile carrying a covered dish. Laying\naside his usual coldness, he said mildly: \u201cWhere are you going, my child?\u201d\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d replied she, \u201cI am going to cook a little oat\u2010meal for some\npoor sick people.\u201d These words, timidly uttered, touched the duke. He\nlooked tenderly at his daughter, whose love and sweetness were unchanged\nby his treatment, and exclaimed, with tears in his eyes: \u201cBe not\nafflicted, my dearest child, at having hitherto led a life of privation.\nIt shall not be so hereafter.\u201d\n\nIn fact, from that moment the relations of Odile and her father were\nchanged. He began to treat her with marked favor, as if to pay the long\narrear of paternal love; but she, who was not cast down by misfortune,\nshowed herself unelated by prosperity. Disdaining the pleasures now at her\ncommand, she continued to devote her whole life to God. Her days and\nnights were passed in prayer and good works. Her example produced such an\neffect that it was imitated by the rest of the family. Her sister Roswinde\nrenounced the pleasures of the world to bear the cross of our Lord. The\nmanners of her father and brothers were softened, and they endeavored to\npractise the Christian virtues. Even the servants of the castle began to\nlive devoutly. She gained all hearts. She was such a friend to the poor\nand unfortunate that Hohenbourg soon became their refuge. \u201cOur dear\nsaint,\u201d for such is the name the old historians of Alsace give her, was\nnot satisfied with bestowing on them kind words. She gave them all the\nmoney and clothing she possessed. She often endured hunger and refused\nfood that she might aid the sick still more. Every day she descended the\nsteep mountain\u2010path to seek those who were unable to reach the castle, and\nencourage them with her pious counsels. Her zeal in their behalf was\nunbounded. She performed the most revolting offices with her own hands.\nThe unhappy regarded her not only as a benefactress, but as a friend to\nwhom they could open their hearts and consciences. The duke and duchess\nsoon became so fond of her that if any one wished a special favor they\nbegged it through her. Adalric\u2019s repentance for his past injustice\nexceeded the anger he felt at her birth. He once thought his conduct\njustifiable, now he acknowledged it was inexcusable, thus showing himself\nsuperior to most men of his station, who are unwilling to allow they are\never wrong. He actually commended Hugo for his disobedience, and tried to\natone by particular favors for his cruel treatment at the time of Odile\u2019s\narrival.\n\nBut this serenity could not last forever. Our saint, who had endured her\nfather\u2019s coldness so heroically, now began to grow weary of a life of\ngrandeur. She was depressed by the flattery of which she was the object.\nDuties that were purely worldly absorbed part of the time she wished to\nconsecrate to God. In a word, she often sighed after the retirement of\nBaume and the life she led there. She finally asked her father\u2019s\npermission to return to her aunt and end her days in penitential works. \u201cI\nam misunderstood here,\u201d said she; \u201cI am treated with a respect of which I\nam not worthy. You do not know what I really am, and, if I remain here any\nlonger, I may even forget it myself.\u201d\n\nBut the duke opposed her departure, telling her that by practising the\nChristian virtues at court she could do more good than by leaving the\nworld for the austerities of Baume. Prayers and tears were of no avail;\nAdalric\u2019s resolution was not to be shaken. Odile, despairing of her\nreturn, wrote a touching farewell letter to her old companions. Their\nsorrow was tempered by remembering that she was under the special\nprotection of God, who doubtless wished to make use of her in extending\nelsewhere the glory of his holy name. Full of veneration for her memory,\nthey put carefully away among the precious objects in their church a\nviolet\u2010colored veil, embroidered with gold and silk of different colors by\nthe daughter of the Duke of Alsace when she lived among them, an exile\nfrom the house of her father.\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nFac\u2010Similes Of Irish National Manuscripts.\n\n\nFew of our readers are probably aware that the English government, for the\nlast ten years, has been making fac\u2010similes of the most important national\nMSS., for publication and sale, by the process of photo\u2010zincography. The\n_Domesday Book_ was the first work taken in hand. This wonderful record,\nwithout a peer in the world, is a general survey of the land of England,\nordered by William the Conqueror in the year of our Lord 1085. It is the\nundisputed testimony of the relations existing at that period between the\nlandlords and their tenants; and it describes the state of society which\nexisted in England under the Anglo\u2010Saxon kings up to the conquest of the\nkingdom by the Duke of Normandy. So successfully was the printing of the\nfac\u2010similes of the _Domesday Book_ accomplished, and so acceptable to\nhistorical students of every degree was its publication, that, in the\nspring of 1864, the Lords of H. M. Treasury unanimously endorsed the\nproposal by the late Master of the Rolls (Lord Romilly) that the same\nprocess of photo\u2010zincography should be applied to the reproduction and\nperpetuation of some of the \u201cNational Records.\u201d Three volumes of English\nmanuscripts and three volumes of Scottish manuscripts have been followed\nby the preparation for three volumes of Irish national MSS., which will\nrank (says Mr. William Basevi Sanders, the Assistant Keeper of Her\nMajesty\u2019s Records, in his _Annual Report_, printed in the year 1873, on\nthe fac\u2010similes photo\u2010zincographed at the Ordnance Survey Office,\nSouthampton) among the first of the many valuable publications which Sir\nHenry James (the military engineer officer in charge) has been the means\nof laying before the public.\n\nLet us look over Mr. Sanders\u2019s description of the Irish MSS. He has\ngathered his information from the best sources, having consulted and\nfreely used O\u2019Donovan\u2019s edition of the _Annals of the Four Masters_, the\naccessible works of Dr. Petrie, Dr. Todd, Dr. Reeves, and Prof. Westwood,\nand more particularly from the elaborate investigations of Prof. O\u2019Curry,\npublished in his _Lectures on the MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History_.\n\nThe first of these MSS., both in point of age and on account of the\nremarkable history that attaches to it, is the volume known as _Domhnach\nAirgid_, or _Silver Shrine_. This is a volume of the Gospels\u2014perhaps the\noldest in the world\u2014of the Vth century, and traditionally believed to have\nbeen the private book of devotion of S. Patrick himself, and to have been\ngiven by him to S. Mac Carthainn when he placed him over the See of\nClogher. The legend in which this curious story is narrated appears in the\n_Tripartite Life of S. Patrick_, and O\u2019Curry in his lectures gives the\nfollowing literal translation of it:\n\n\u201cS. Patrick, having gone into the territory of Ui Cremthainn, founded many\nchurches there. As he was on his way from the North, and coming to the\nplace now called Clochar, he was carried over a stream by his strong man,\nBishop Mac Carthainn, who, while bearing the saint, groaned aloud,\nexclaiming \u2018Uch! uch!\u2019\n\n\u201c \u2018Upon my good word,\u2019 said the saint, \u2018it was not usual with you to speak\nthat word.\u2019\n\n\u201c \u2018I am now old and infirm,\u2019 said Bishop Mac Carthainn, \u2018and all my early\ncompanions on the mission you have set down in their respective churches,\nwhile I am still on my travels.\u2019\n\n\u201c \u2018Found you a church, then,\u2019 said the saint, \u2018that shall not be too near\nfor us for familiarity, nor too far from us for intercourse.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd the saint then left Bishop Mac Carthainn at Clochar, and bestowed on\nhim the Domhnach Airgid, which had been given to him from heaven when he\nwas on the sea coming from Erinn.\u201d\n\nThe shrine which held this relic is composed of three distinct covers, of\ndifferent dates\u2014of wood, of copper plated with silver, and the most modern\nof silver plated with gold, richly ornamented with figures of the Saviour,\nthe Blessed Virgin, and saints, and with representations of animals, and\ntraceries, among which is a mounted figure, sword in hand, and displaying\nwith minute accuracy all the dress and accoutrements of an Irish noble of\nthe XIVth century.\n\nThe MS. itself is in such a state from age and damp as to make inspection\nof its contents impossible, the leaves being all stuck together, and the\nwhole of about the consistency and appearance of a piece of brick. The\nportions of which facsimiles will be given present a good example of the\nbetter parts of it. It was originally the property of the monastery of\nClones, and was procured in the county Monaghan by Mr. George Smith, from\nwhom it was purchased for \u00a3300 (say $1,500) by Lord Rossmore, who\npresented it to the Royal Irish Academy, where it remains at present.\n\nThe next MS. is as curious\u2014the _Cathach_, or _Book of Battles_\u2014a copy of\nthe Psalms, supposed to have been written by S. Columba. It consists of\nfifty\u2010eight leaves of vellum, and appears to be perfect from the xxxist to\nthe cvith Psalm, all prior to which are gone, and is enclosed in a\nhandsome shrine. Why it was called the _Book of Battles_ is told by\nO\u2019Curry, from the _Life of S. Columba_, by Magnus O\u2019Dohmnaill. S. Columba,\nwhen on a visit to S. Finnen of Drom Finn, being very anxious to have a\ncopy of S. Finnen\u2019s Book of the Psalms, made one surreptitiously by\nborrowing the book, and copying it in the church after every one else had\nleft. S. Finnen had notice of this underhand proceeding of his brother\nsaint from one of his pupils, and accordingly, as soon as the copy was\nfinished, demanded possession of it. S. Columba refusing to comply with\nthis demand, the matter was referred to Diarmaid Mac Ferghusa Cerrbheaill,\nKing of Erinn, who pronounced against him in a judgment which to this day\nremains a proverb in Ireland\u2014_Le gach b\u00f3in a boinin_ (\u201cTo every cow its\ncalf\u201d), and so, by analogy, \u201cto every book its copy.\u201d This adverse\njudgment, closely followed by the accidental death of the son of\nDiarmaid\u2019s chief steward while engaged in a game of hurling with the son\nof the King of Connaught\u2014at that time a hostage at Tara\u2014who was torn from\nS. Columba\u2019s arms, into which he had thrown himself for sanctuary, and put\nto death, so enraged the saint that he stirred up his relatives in\nTirconnel and Tyrone to revenge the insult, and a bloody battle was fought\nin Connaught, which ended in the rout of the king\u2019s army: and this was how\nthe book obtained its name.\n\nFor thirteen hundred years the book was preserved as an heirloom by the\nO\u2019Donnells, having been handed down by S. Columba himself, who belonged to\nthat clan. It is now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy. Four pages have\nbeen selected for copying, containing severally the first twelve verses of\nPsalm lxxx., the last three of lxxxix., and the first seven of xc., the\nwhole of xciv., and the first eleven of xcv. The condition in which these\npages remain is wonderful, and reflects great honor upon the family who\nhave for so many ages and through so many national troubles and\ndisturbances preserved this relic with sacred care.\n\nThe next is the _Book of Durrow_, or _Gospels of S. Columba_, a volume\ncontaining 248 leaves of vellum, written in columns by the hand of S.\nColumba himself, as asserted in the following inscription on the fly\u2010leaf:\n\u201cLiber autem hic scriptus est a manu ipsius B. Columbkille per spatium 12\ndierum anno 500\u201d; and again, \u201cRogo beatitudinem tuam, sancte presbiter\nPatrici, ut quicunque, hunc libellum manu tenuerit, meminerit Columb\u00e6\nscriptoris, qui hoc scripsi ipsemet evangelium per xii. dierum spatium\ngrati\u00e2 Domini nostri.\u201d This last inscription is quoted by Dr. Petrie as\nconclusive evidence of the date of the volume, which is considered by Dr.\nReeves to be either as old as S. Columba\u2019s day, or nearly so (a somewhat\ncurious hypothesis if the volume were written by S. Columba).\n\nUntil its presentation to Trinity College by Dr. Jones, Bishop of Meath,\nthis book was kept at Durrow, in King\u2019s County, the monastery and church\nof which were founded by S. Columba about the year 550, where the\ntradition of its having belonged to their patron saint was preserved and\nbelieved in by the monks. It was originally enclosed in a silver\u2010mounted\n_cuhmdach_, or shrine, made for it by order of Flann, King of Ireland, who\nreigned from 879 to 916, which was lost, as Mr. Westwood conjectures, in\n1007, when the volume was stolen.\n\nThe portions selected for copying are pages 12b, 14a 118a, and 173a. The\nfirst contains the prayer of the writer above quoted, under which is also\nwritten, \u201cOra pro me, frater mi; Dominus tecum sit\u201d; the second is the\nfirst page of S. Matthew\u2019s Gospel, the third the first page of S. Luke\u2019s\nGospel, and the fourth the concluding page of the same Gospel, at the\nbottom of which is written, \u201c+ Miserere Domine Naemani + filii Neth +\u201d\nnames which O\u2019Curry states had not been identified at the time of his\nlectures, though the surname seems to be very like that of the scribe\nafter whom another of the MSS. contained in this volume is called\u2014_Mac\nNathi_.\n\nThe next MS. in order is the famous _Book of Kells_, a copy of the\nGospels, also traditionally ascribed to S. Columba\u2014a tradition doubted by\nsome, but which Dr. Todd saw no reason to mistrust, as the book is\nundoubtedly a MS. of that age. About the same time as that when the _Book\nof Durrow_ was sacrilegiously deprived of its shrine, the _Book of Kells_\nwas also stolen out of the church from which it takes its name. The\ncircumstance is thus narrated in the _Four Masters_: \u201cThe age of Christ\n1006.... The great Gospel of Colum Cille was stolen at night from the\nWestern _Erdomh_ [sacristy] of the great church of Ceandrrus. This was the\nprincipal relic of the Western World on account of its singular cover, and\nit was found after twenty nights and two months, its gold having been\nstolen off it, and a sod over it.\u201d\n\nIt continued in the possession of the Church of Kells till the time of\nArchbishop Usher, after whose death it was granted with the rest of that\nprelate\u2019s library, in which it was then found, by King Charles II., to the\nuniversity of Dublin, and has been preserved in the library of Trinity\nCollege ever since.\n\nOf the pages chosen for copying, 6b, 7a, and 27a are entries concerning\nlands, believed to be the only existing specimens, of pre\u2010Anglo and Norman\ndate, of deeds written in the Irish language. They are written in a rude,\nrough hand, that looks unsightly in contrast with the character of the\ncontents of the volume proper. 34a is the beginning of S. Matthew\u2019s\nGospel, and is entirely filled with the initial of \u201cLiber generationis.\u201d\n123a, 124a, and 126b contain S. Matthew\u2019s story of the crucifixion, 124a\nbeing all taken up by the words, \u201cTunc crucifixerant Christum et duos\nlatrones,\u201d written in a very singular fashion, and enclosed in a framework\nprofusely decorated. 200b contains a portion of the genealogy in the third\nchapter of S. John, and 19b displays a collection of fantastic symbols,\nwith a very handsome capital Z, and the first two syllables of Zacharias\nembellished with spirited figures of a dog pursuing a wolf.\n\nIt is impossible to exaggerate the elaborate ornamentation of this\nremarkable volume, or the quaintness of the grotesque subjects introduced\ninto it. The gigantic initial letter, which is given as an example in this\nvolume, is filled in with an almost incredible interlacing of extravagant\nimpossibilities: Serpentine figures with human heads; intertwined sketches\nof men spotted like leopards in attitude of earnest conversation; rats\nsitting on the backs of cats, who are holding other rats by the tails, the\nrats being engaged in eating a cake; human figures with impossible\ncombinations of their own and other creature\u2019s limbs; strange shapes of\nbirds and fishes, geometrical designs and intricate arabesque traceries,\nall woven together in the wildest dreamlike way, and having an effect that\ncharms the eye, and fills the mind with amazement at the fancy that\ndesigned and the hand that executed them.\n\nThe next is another copy of the Gospels, known as the _Book of Dimma Mac\nNathi_, made, it is said, at the express desire of S. Cronan of Roscrea,\nwho died in the beginning of the VIIth century. The drawings in this book\nare very rude, and the writing of some parts of it difficult to read,\nthough the scribe Dimma is supposed to have belonged to a family of\nsaints, one of whom, at any rate, was greatly distinguished as a penman.\nIt was purchased from Sir William Betham, its original place of deposit\nhaving been the Abbey of Roscrea, and is now in the library of Trinity\nCollege, Dublin.\n\nFour pages have been chosen for copying. The first contains portions of\nchapters 27 and 28 of S. Matthew\u2019s Gospel, and has this note at the foot:\n\u201cFinit. Oroit do Dimma rodscrib pro Deo et benedictione\u201d (\u201cA prayer for\nDimma, who has written for God, and a benediction\u201d). Between the 49th and\n50th verses of the 27th chapter there is this other verse, the substance\nof which only appears in the Gospel of S. John: \u201cAlius vero, accept\u00e2\nlance\u00e2 pupugit latus ejus et exivit aqua et sanguis.\u201d Here, however, the\npiercing is made to take place before the death. The second is the\nilluminated page preceding S. John. In it is depicted a bird, probably\nintended for that saint\u2019s symbol, an eagle, carrying a book in its talons,\nsurrounded by a border of arabesque design. The last two pages contain the\nfirst thirty\u2010eight verses of the 1st chapter of S. John, the first written\nalong the full breadth of the page and with a handsome initial \u201cIn,\u201d the\nsecond written in columns.\n\nThe next MS. is another copy of the Gospels, known as the _Book of\nMoling_, and supposed to have been written about the year 690 by S.\nMoling, Bishop of Ferns. It was presented to Trinity College, Dublin, by a\nmember of the family of Kavanagh, by whom it had been preserved for many\ngenerations in its metal _cumhdach_, or covering.\n\nFour pages have been selected. The first is a figure of one of the\nEvangelists, with a book in his left hand, and a pen, which he is dipping\ninto an ink\u2010horn, in his right. The second contains the 18th chapter of S.\nMatthew, from the 8th verse to the 27th; the third, from the 27th verse to\nthe 16th verse of the 19th chapter of S. Matthew; and the fourth, the\nconcluding verses of the last chapter of S. John.\n\n_The Book of Armagh_ has also been selected. This volume, a transcript of\none still older, supposed to have been the holograph of S. Patrick, was\nascribed by Sir W. Betham to Bishop Aedh of Stetty, whose death is\nrecorded in the _Four Masters_ in 698; and O\u2019Curry conceived it to be as\nold as 724, but Mr. Graves seems to have proved that it was written by the\nscribe Ferdomnach in 807. It is a small quarto volume, consisting of 221\nleaves of vellum, and containing an extract from the _Tripartite Life of\nS. Patrick_, annotations on that saint\u2019s life by Tirechan and others, his\nconfession or epistle to the Irish, the Epistle of S. Jerome to Pope\nDamasus, the ten Eusebian canons, an explanation of Hebrew names used in\nthe Gospels, with various prefaces and arguments, the four Gospels and\nremaining books of the New Testament, the life of S. Martin of Tours by\nSulpicius, with two epistles by Sulpicius and Severus, and concludes with\na prayer. It belonged to the Church of Armagh, being, as Prof. Westwood\nrelates, held in such veneration that the family of Mac Mayre held lands\nfrom the See of Armagh by the tenure of its safe keeping; and in 1846 it\nwas presented to Trinity College, Dublin, by the Rev. Francis Brownlow,\ninto whose family it had passed in the XVIIth century.\n\nSix pages have been selected, the first three of which contain the extract\nfrom the _Tripartite Life of S. Patrick_. On the first column of page 18b\nis the following account of a miracle performed by S. Patrick: \u201cSechnall\nwent afterwards to rebuke Patrick on account of a chariot he had. Then\nPatrick sent the chariot to Sechnall without a charioteer in it, but it\nwas an angel that directed it. Sechnall sent it, when it had stopped three\nnights there with him, to Manchan, and it remained three nights with him.\nHe sent it to Fiacc. Fiacc rejected it. After that where they went to was\nround the church three times, when the angel said, \u2018It is to you they have\nbeen given from Patrick when he came to know your disease.\u2019 \u201d The miracle\nas here related is, as O\u2019Curry very truly observes, not quite\nintelligible, but the key to it is to be found in the _Tripartite Life_,\nfrom which it had probably been taken. The story there is that once, when\nSechnall was at Armagh, he remarked that two chariot horses which he saw\nthere would be a fitting gift to Bishop Fiacc. Patrick was not at home at\nthe time, but as soon as he returned and heard this he had the horses\nharnessed to a chariot, and sent them off, without a coach\u2010man, to Fiacc\nat Stetty, where they arrived safely. The reason of S. Patrick making him\nthis present was to enable him to go to his cave on the hill of Drom\nCoblai, where he used to repair on Shrove Saturday with five loaves, and\nremain till Easter Saturday; and because \u201cchafers had gnawed his legs so\nthat death was near him.\u201d\n\nThen come _The Gospels of Maelbride Mac Durnan_, Archbishop of Armagh from\n885 to 927, a small and beautifully\u2010written copy of the Gospels, made\napparently by the same scribe, Ferdomnach, who wrote the _Book of Armagh_,\nand at about the same period. The initial page of each Gospel is very\ngracefully illuminated, and to each is prefixed a page bearing the figure\nof its writer, surrounded by a border of delicate tracery. The pages\nselected are the first four, comprising the \u201cLiber generationis\u201d and the\ninscription in capitals, the face of folio 5 being the beginning of S.\nMatthew\u2019s narrative; the dorse of folio 65, which contains his account of\nthe scourging and mocking, and at the foot this note by the scribe: _M\u00f3r\nass\u00e1rsa for Coimdid nime agus talman_ (\u201cGreat this violence upon the God\nof heaven and earth\u201d); the dorse of folio 69, containing the following\nletter, written in Saxon, is probably the earliest known contemporary copy\nof a petition for restitution of temporalities to an English bishop:\n\n\u201cWulfstan, Archbishop, greets Cnut his Lord and Aelfgyfe the Queen humbly,\nand I make known to you two, liege, that we have done as the certificate\ncame to us from you with regard to the Bishop Aethelnoth, that we have now\nconsecrated him. Now pray I for God\u2019s love, and in the name of all God\u2019s\nsaints, that ye will have respect to God and to the holy order. That he\nmay be admitted to the possessions that others before him were: namely,\nDunstan the good and many another: that he may be likewise admitted to\nrights and honors. In which case it shall be for both of you meritorious\nbefore God, and eke honorable before the world.\u201d\n\nAt the end of S. Matthew\u2019s Gospel there is, in addition to Archbishop\nWulfstan\u2019s (of York) letter, this memorandum in Latin: \u201cCnud, King of the\nAngles, has given to Christ\u2019s Church an arm of S. Bartholomew the Apostle,\nwith the great pall and the golden crown of his head; and the port of\nSandwich and all issues of the water of the same from either side of the\nriver; so that a ship floating in the stream when the water shall be high,\nat the distance of the cast of a very small hatchet from the shore, the\ndroits of the ship are to be received by the servants of Christ\u2019s Church.\nAnd no man whatsoever has custom in the same port except the monks of\nChrist\u2019s Church. Theirs also is the ferry over the port, and the boats and\ntoll of boats and of all ships which come to Sandwich from Peperness as\nfar as Northmouth. If, however, anything be found on the high sea, being\nbrought to Sandwich, Christ\u2019s Church shall take half, and the remaining\npart shall rest with the finders.\u201d\n\nThe volume is preserved in the library of Lambeth Palace, but it is a\nsingular fact that it finds no place either in the catalogue of that\nlibrary published in 1812, or in the catalogue of the library of Corpus\nChristi College, Cambridge, where Archbishop Parker\u2019s collection of MSS.\nis preserved.\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nCongress Of The Catholic Germans At Mayence.\n\n\nOn the 16th and 17th days of June the Second Congress of the Catholic\nGermans assembled at Mayence. This congress must be distinguished from the\nregular annual congress of all the Catholic societies of Germany. The\nconstitution of the latter was formed during the stormy times of 1848. It\ntreats only upon religious questions, and excludes on principle the\ndiscussion of politics during its deliberations; whereas the Congress of\nCatholic Germans, which held its first session two years ago, has for its\nobject, according to its statutes, the defence of the liberty and the\nrights of the Catholic Church, and the maintenance of Christian principles\nin all the spheres of public life by all moral and lawful means,\nespecially by the use of constitutionally\u2010recognized and guaranteed civil\nrights; and it therefore desires to be considered a political\norganization. It is already in operation throughout Germany, in Prussia\nparticularly. Its sessions are held in Mayence\u2014in that city which, owing\nto its advantageous position in Middle Germany, opposite the confluence of\nthe river Mayence with the Rhine, was chosen by the Romans as a boundary,\nand by S. Boniface as the central point for the Christianization of the\nTeutons. It is true that \u201cGolden Mayence,\u201d the special and true daughter\nof the Roman Church (_Aurea Moguntia sanct\u00e6 Roman\u00e6 Ecclesi\u00e6 specialis vera\nfilia_), as the inscription reads upon the old city seal, has, since the\nbeginning of this century, fallen greatly from its former splendor. In it\nonce resided an archbishop, who was the legate of the apostolic chair for\nGermany, and metropolitan over twenty\u2010four bishoprics, which extended from\nBrandenburg to Chur in Switzerland, and from Metz to Prague and Olm\u00fctz,\nand which comprised the largest part of the old German empire; so that\nnext to the Pope he was called the greatest prince of the church (_Post\nPapam secundus_, says Marianus Scotus (+ 1086) in his _Chron. Aet. VI._,\nad a. 750), and in his temporal position as elector and hereditary\nchancellor of the empire ranked next to the emperor, and was called the\nPrince of princes (Moguntius post imperatorem princeps est principum\u2014_Vita\nArnoldi_). Mayence is now only a provincial city belonging to little\nHessia, and the boundaries of its bishopric are inconsiderable.\nNevertheless, in the present combat for the liberty of the church, it\noccupies, and has for years occupied, an important place by reason of a\nsuccession of great men, Bishop Von Ketteler at the head, and it cannot be\ndoubted that the city will in future be of great importance to the\nCatholic interests of Germany.\n\nThe _centrum_ of the Catholic party in Mayence is the Casino zum\nFrankfurter\u2010hof (Casino of the court of Frankfort), whose spacious and\nimposing hall has not its equal in the city. In former times this hall was\nused when a blow was to be struck at the interest of the Catholic Church;\nbut things are changed, and the Frankfurter\u2010hof is now the stronghold in\nwhich the defenders of the Catholic Church meet together. Not until the\nuse of this hall was acquired, owing to the determined efforts of Falk\nIII., the people\u2019s champion, so well known throughout all Germany, did the\nCatholic party in Mayence begin to feel its own importance. For the past\ntwenty years its members have appeared regularly at every election upon\nthe battle\u2010field, to be as regularly defeated; but they were finally\nsuccessful in securing Canon Dr. Moufang as their deputy at the last\nelection for the _Reichstag_.\n\nIn the above\u2010named hall the Congress of Catholic Germans held its late\nsessions. It was appropriately decorated for the occasion. In a prominent\nplace, surrounded by beautiful flowers, was seen the bust of our Holy\nFather, Pius IX. Above, in golden letters, were written the words, \u201cFor\nGod and Fatherland,\u201d and over this the sign of redemption with the\ninscription, \u201cIn this sign thou shalt conquer.\u201d Upon the pillars of the\nhall were placed the coats\u2010of\u2010arms of the different bishoprics of Germany.\nThe crape hanging over those of the Archbishops of Cologne and Posen and\nGnesen, and that of the Bishop of Treves, was emblematic of the grief\nwhich fills the heart of every Catholic when he remembers the three\nvenerable prelates who, forcibly removed from their episcopal sees, now\ntestify in prison to the divinity of Christianity and the inalienable\nright of the church to that liberty in matters of faith and religion left\nher by her Founder. The evening before the opening of the Congress many\nmembers of the society met from all parts of Germany to greet one another.\nEven the United States was represented in the person of the learned F.\nHecker. A superficial glance was enough to convince any one that the\nnobility in particular desired by their presence to show their love and\naffection for our persecuted mother, the church. For years the majority of\nthe Catholic nobles of Westphalia and the Rhine have been animated with a\ndeep religious feeling. The best names among the aristocracy are generally\nfound at the head of the numerous appeals in behalf of religion; and in\ntheir own homes (a fact which is of great importance) these nobles do not\nstrive to emulate by outward splendor those \u201ccapitalists\u201d whose lives are\nspent in acquiring riches, but they rather seek to uphold the honor of\ntheir names by the simplicity of their mode of life, in their daily\nactions, by educating their children as Catholics should, and instilling\ninto them principles of honesty, morality, and every Christian virtue. It\nmakes a lasting impression upon whomsoever is admitted to familiar\nintercourse with any of these noble families to see all the members of the\nhousehold devoutly assembled in the private chapel of the mansion, for the\nadornment of whose altars no expense has been spared, there to attend the\nHoly Sacrifice of the Mass; and in the evening to behold the father of the\nfamily, by ringing a bell, again summons them into the chapel for evening\nprayer and examen of conscience, at which the chaplain, but oftener the\nhead of the house, be he old or young, performs the duty of reading the\nprayers. Fathers and mothers should imitate the example of these noblemen,\nand when priests, on account of their faith, are imprisoned or exiled,\nthey themselves should take the place of the priests in their own homes.\nThen will the zeal of priests grow stronger and Catholic faith take deeper\nroot. Would to God that we could see the same state of things in many\ncastles in Middle Germany, in Silesia, Bavaria, and in Brisgau (Baden), as\nis now seen in Westphalia and on the Rhine!\n\nBut let us return, after this digression, to our Congress in the\nFrankfurter\u2010hof. Its president, Baron von Lo\u00eb, representative in the\n_Reichstag_, who last year with manly courage defended the organization\nagainst intrigues of all kinds, was received with universal applause when\nhe ascended the rostrum and opened Congress with the salutation, \u201cPraise\nbe to Jesus Christ!\u201d In a few but convincing words he explained why,\ndespite the serious aspect of the times, they had met in \u201cGolden Mayence,\u201d\nwhere liberty of speech is yet permitted. (A short time ago a meeting at\nTreves was dissolved because Herr Majunke, a representative in the\n_Reichstag_, had said in the course of his remarks that Bismarck was only\nmortal, and while lying upon his sick\u2010bed suffered as much as any beggar\nwho lies ill in his hut. Another meeting was broken up by the Prussian\npolice because the speaker had announced his intention of discoursing upon\none particular theme. Who knows what terrible things the police understood\nby the word \u201ctheme\u201d?) Then followed a long succession of congratulations\nwhich the guests, coming from all parts of Germany, had personally to\noffer. As space does not permit us to give a lengthened sketch of all\nthese speeches, we must content ourselves with simply giving the title of\nthe address and the name of the speaker.\n\nDr. Evels of Bonn spoke concerning the latest cultivated plant, which\ngrows only in Germany, and there sporadically, notwithstanding the most\ncareful attention from high quarters\u2014that is, Old Catholicism. With this\nexception, no dangers threaten the Catholic Church in Germany. Count\nBassenheim was the bearer of greetings from the Bishop of Basel, who asked\nthe prayers of the members for the persecuted friends of religion in\nSwitzerland. Baron Stillfried of Vienna assured the Congress that the\nCatholics of Austria were united, and expected the salvation of Austria\nonly from intimate union with the church. Dr. Lingens of Aix\u2010la\u2010Chapelle\ninvited all present to attend the exposition of relics in the venerable\nelectoral city of the old German emperors, which exposition takes place\nthis year, and not again until 1881. Baron von Frankenstein of Bavaria\nspoke on the state of affairs in his country, declaring his belief that\nthey would soon change for the better. Count Kageneck of Freiburg in Baden\nlooked confidently forward to a happy future, relying upon the just rights\nof the Catholics and upon the powerful protection of God. Count Bissingen\nof W\u00fcrtemberg (Swabia) asserted that the fable of the Catholics hating the\nempire finds no believers among the honest people of Swabia. Herr Baudri\nof Cologne, the brother of the coadjutor\u2010bishop, an old, faithful warrior,\nproclaimed in words of burning eloquence the earnestness with which the\nenemies of the Catholic Church publicly declare that the destruction of\nthe church is the order of the day, and he denounced the corruption of\npublic opinion by the state, and the manner in which it subsidized the\npress by means of the funds stolen from the church. He thanked divine\nProvidence for giving Germany such a united episcopate, and the present\naffliction of the church only demonstrated the fact that not only in\nGermany, but through the whole world, Catholics form only one family.\nWhile our enemies, he continued, raise on high the torch of discord, which\nhas so frequently brought our fatherland to the verge of ruin, our\nCongress should use every effort to build a new great and united Germany\nupon the foundations of a Christianity similar to that upon which old\nGermany became great and powerful. Herr Stroebel of Charlottenburg made\nthe next speech, and he was followed by the Rev. F. Altheimer, Curate of\nAmorbach in Odenwald, Hellwich of Deidesheim in Palatine, Herr Wiese,\nmerchant of Werden, Baron von Schorlemer of Overhagen, Herr Busch,\ncontractor of Neuss, and finally by the junior editor of the _Germania_,\nHerr Cremer of Berlin.\n\nWhile the hall reverberated to the hearty cheers of the members, letters\nand telegrams were constantly arriving from the interior and from foreign\ncountries, thus making perfect the picture of Catholic unity presented by\nthis assembly. Despatches from Austria were especially numerous, showing\nthereby that in that country also the Catholics are keeping watch in the\nstruggle that has begun. The old imperial city of Vienna gladdened our\nhearts with two telegrams. In the one the Prince von F\u00fcrstenberg salutes\nus in the name of the Catholic societies of Vienna; in the other the\npresident of the Catholic people\u2019s associations of Lower Austria sends his\nbest wishes that \u201cthe heroic battle which Germany\u2019s bishops, priests, and\nlaymen wage with such sublime courage may find its end in a speedy victory\nfor the holy cause of the church,\u201d and adds the assurance: \u201cWe Catholics\nof Austria are firmly determined, confiding in God\u2019s protection, to offer\nthe same resistance if the same attacks are made upon the church.\u201d Six\ntelegrams from \u201cgreen Styria\u201d reached us, four of which were sent by the\nCatholics of Gr\u00e4tz, and two by the Catholic societies of Marburg and\nWildon. \u201cThey desire to oppress you and us,\u201d telegraphed Senator Karlon of\nGr\u00e4tz, \u201cbut we will yet be the victors; for Christ lives, Christ reigns,\nChrist commands, and Christ will triumph.\u201d To these were added a telegram\nfrom the Catholic Society of Klagenfurth in Carinthia, and two others from\never\u2010faithful Tyrol, from the society in Botzen, which numbers more than\n3,000 members, and from the society of Innsbr\u00fcck. The president of the\nlast society, Julius von Riccabona, sent us the following characteristic\nTyrolese wish: \u201cAs the snow melts on the high mountain beneath the rays of\nthe sun, so also may the intrigues against our holy church disappear\nbefore the power of truth.\u201d Charles Count of Schoenbrunn and George Prince\nof Lobkowitz expressed in telegrams their respect, sympathy, and good\nwishes, while from far\u2010distant Hungary the Catholic Political Society of\nPresburg sent assurances of their love and affection. From Munich,\nBavaria, came telegrams, from the diocesan clergy of Eichstaedt, from the\nCentrum member Lang of Kelheim, and from the society of Catholic men in\nWasserburg on the Inn. From Noerdlingen the society of Catholic men in\nRiesa, numbering over 1,400 members, writes among other things: \u201cWe feel\nin our hearts the afflictions which the Catholics of Prussia endure; we\npray for the bishops, priests, and laity who are imprisoned on account of\ntheir religious convictions; we approve of the conduct and praise the\nfidelity of our Catholic brethren; yes, we are edified by their unity in\nfaith and by their firmness, and we congratulate them on their\nperseverance and courage, which, because it comes from God, will conquer\nthe world.... We shall never consent to give to C\u00e6sar the things that\nbelong to God; if it should be demanded of us, we shall obey God rather\nthan man, and imitate the example of the Prussian Catholics.\u201d From the\nsouth came greetings from the society of men in Constance and from the\npresident of the Helvetian Pius Society, Count M. Scherer\u2010Bouard of\nLucerne, and finally from Hunfeld, Viersen, M\u00fcnchen\u2010Gladbach, Bochum,\nLuedinghausen, Kluesedoerpen, Prussia, two from the city of Hanover, one\nfrom the northern missionaries of New M\u00fcnster in Holstein, and the last\nfrom remote Dantzic. Among other despatches, there is worthy of special\nmention the telegram of Prince Salvati, in the name of the Congress of the\nCatholic Societies of Italy, which met at Venice, and the following from\nLondon: \u201cThe Catholic Union of Great Britain extends to you a brother\u2019s\nhand to encourage you in the struggle with the evil spirit, and at the\nsame time it deplores the death of your champion, Malinckrodt. (Signed)\nDuke of Norfolk, President of the Catholic Union of Great Britain.\u201d\n\nThe greatest interest was shown when the mammoth address from the United\nStates was exhibited. It contained upon a roll of paper one thousand feet\nlong 30,000 signatures of Catholic men whose own or whose fathers\u2019 cradle\nhad rested upon German soil. (A few days after this address was again\nexposed in the great hall, and the endless roll of paper was drawn from\nthe table of the president up to the glass cupola, and from there letting\nit fall down again upon the president\u2019s table, it was taken up for the\nsecond time to the chandelier, and from thence to the roof.) The fearless\nexpressions contained in this document, which, thanks to \u201cour freedom of\nspeech,\u201d could not be dwelt upon at length, and the grandeur of this\nmanifestation, showed the imprint of the youthful and vigorous mind of men\nwho glory in being citizens of the greatest republic in the world\u2014the\nUnited States. Not long ago we finished a great war in a great manner. It\nwas then the pride of Germans to be German. Since then, however, the\nlittle banners of religious narrow\u2010mindedness have been everywhere\nunfurled, and the so\u2010called liberal party has sacrificed not only its\nprinciples, but the most important articles of the Prussian\nconstitution\u2014the idea of a great Germany and peace and liberty. With the\nexception of a huge military power, everything has dwindled away. The men\nwho won renown in 1870 and 1871 are no longer heard of. The men of the\n_Centrum_ are our real consolation, for by their prudent and fearless\ndefence of truth, liberty, and justice they have obtained great merit and\nare entitled to enduring praise.\n\nTo place their labors under the protection of God, the Catholic Congress\nof Germany assembled early on the morning of June 16 in the venerable\nCathedral of Mayence, where they assisted at the Holy Sacrifice of the\nMass, and received holy communion from the hands of the Rt. Rev. Bishop\nHerr von Ketteler.\n\nThe devotion of these men, gathered from all parts of Germany, was greatly\nincreased by the music, which was executed in a most masterly manner by\nthe cathedral choir, who gave selections from the following composers:\nVechi, Aichinger, Orlando Lasso, Palestrina, Croce, Vittoria, and Piadana.\n\nIn the session which was held with closed doors the president first spoke\nof the sadness which filled the hearts of all the Catholics of Germany on\naccount of the untimely death of Herman von Malinckrodt, deputy to the\n_Reichstag_. The memory of this wonderful man, like a mourning accord,\nseemed to permeate all the transactions, whether in writing or in words,\nand made itself felt even in the banquet\u2010hall. We shall not, however,\ndwell any longer upon this theme, as we intend to give a short sketch of\nthe life of this faithful champion of the church.\n\nOf the business transacted in the private session we shall make brief\nmention. That which, as a general rule, is _last_ thought of in all great\nCatholic undertakings, was in this instance the _first_ to receive\nattention\u2014we mean the finances. In this regard, however, the Congress is\ndeserving of no reproach, as it attached too little instead of too much\nimportance to money\u2014a prince seemingly so insignificant, but yet one who\nrules the world. The Catholic Congress, organized as it is throughout\nGermany, stands in need of certain pecuniary means, which want will be\nfelt in future even more than now. For this reason every member is obliged\nto give six _Silbergroschen_ (about fifteen cents). It must, however, be\nunderstood that the collection of this money is not made without some\ndifficulty, since the organization is only in its infancy, and the number\nof members constantly increasing.\n\nWe learn from the report of Herr Racke, High Treasurer of Darmstadt, owing\nto whose self\u2010sacrificing labors the finances of our Union are in a very\nprosperous condition, that the collections of last year amounted to 17,883\nthalers, 14,000 of which were put out on interest, including 7,000 loaned\nto different Catholic newspapers. Another question came up regarding the\nexistence of the Union. According to the law of Prussia in reference to\nsocieties, a political society cannot act as a union or central society,\nnor form branches depending upon the union; on the other hand, however, it\nis lawful for one society to exist over all Germany, and it can have its\naffairs conducted by authorized agents. Our union was from the very\nbeginning most anxious to correspond with this law. Notwithstanding this,\nhowever, the Prussian authorities have pretended to discover the existence\nof local branches, in consequence of which many of them have been\nsuppressed. The reason for this proceeding, which called into question the\nexistence of the Union itself, was Section 10 of the statutes, which has\nreference to meetings held in different parts of the empire. To avoid\nfurther vexations, this paragraph was stricken out, and at the same time\nit was expressly said that Mayence was to be the headquarters of the\nUnion, and that there the annual general meetings were to take place.\n\nHerr Racke, merchant of Mayence, and secretary of the Union, who had taken\nupon his youthful and strong shoulders the principal burden of the\npecuniary affairs of the Union, then introduced a series of propositions,\nfor the examination of which three committees were appointed, viz., one\nupon the social question of the day, another upon science, and a third on\nthe influence of the press; and finally he submitted certain rules of\nproceeding.\n\nThe short address to the bishops assembled in Fulda, which was received\nwith enthusiasm, and which was now read, deserves a place in this\nperiodical. It is as follows:\n\n\n \u201cRIGHT REV. BISHOPS.\n\n \u201cIn a momentous time like the present the Catholics of Germany\n assembled at Mayence respectfully desire to show their gratitude\n and admiration for the right reverend bishops of the fatherland,\n who have defended the rights and liberties of our Holy Catholic\n Church with such calm and fearless dignity; but, alas! our words\n of sympathy cannot reach several of the prelates, except through\n prison doors. In proportion as the distress of the church\n increases, the more do we feel ourselves bound in conscience to\n declare before Germany and the whole world that no power upon\n earth shall separate us from our dear bishops, appointed by\n Almighty God, and that no power of man can force us to recognize\n other pastors than those who are in communion with the Holy See,\n and who are recognized as true pastors by the successor of Peter,\n the chief pastor of the church.\n\n \u201cOur dearly\u2010beloved bishops have become shining examples of\n apostolic courage as our leaders in these days of combat; and as\n true children of the church we will follow them, and leave the\n consequences to Almighty God.\n\n \u201cThe hand of God rests heavily upon us, and the end of our\n sufferings is concealed from the eyes of man. But we also know\n that this trial will be of benefit to us; we thank God that he\n deigns to allow us to combat and to suffer for his holy cause and\n for the liberty of his church.\n\n \u201c \u2018Through the cross to the light\u2019 were the words spoken in the\n last _Reichstag_ by that heroic warrior for whom all Catholic\n Germans pray, and who died in the defence of truth and right. It\n shall be our device also: \u2018Through the cross to the light!\u2019\n\n \u201cWith these sentiments we ask your episcopal blessing, and with\n the most profound veneration we subscribe our selves\n\n \u201cThe most obedient servants and sons of our revered German\n bishops.\u201d\n\n\nAt one o\u2019clock a banquet was held in the same great hall, at which 300\nmembers of the Union were present, among whom was the Rt. Rev. Bishop\nKetteler of Mayence. It was he who proposed the first toast to the Holy\nFather, which was received with enthusiasm, as it was the twenty\u2010eighth\nanniversary of his appointment to the chair of Peter. The speaker reviewed\nthe long series of years of combat between light and darkness, and in the\nincreasing enthusiasm and affection of the Catholic people for Pius IX.,\nthe representative of unity, appointed by Almighty God, he saw an increase\nof the unity which the church, like an impregnable fortress in the midst\nof combats, exhibits, while the world threatens to split asunder. Baron\nvon Frankenstein proposed, as the second toast, the Grand Duke of Hessia\nand all the German princes belonging to the Union, and made a few remarks\nappropriate to the occasion.\n\nThe president, Baron von Lo\u00eb, proposed the health of the leaders given us\nby Almighty God, the Rt. Rev. Bishops of Germany, under whose guidance we\nsome years ago saved the thrones from the whirl of revolution, and under\nwhose direction we now hope to conquer the revolution which is preached by\nthe government. Among the other toasts given, we will only mention that of\nthe Rt. Rev. Bishop of Mayence, who paid a high tribute of praise to the\nmen of the _Centrum_ who had in Berlin defended with such courage and\nskill the cause of truth, justice, and liberty. After the banquet the\ndifferent committees of the Union entered upon the discussion of the\nproposed resolutions, while the presiding officers of the Congress\nconsulted upon the drawing up of these resolutions.\n\nThe same resolutions formed also the theme for the speakers in the public\nevening sessions, to which such a great number of persons were attracted\nthat the hall of the Frankfurter\u2010hof, large as it is, was not sufficient\nto contain all.\n\nThe first speaker, Baron von Wendt of Westphalia, passed in review the\npublic events that had transpired in Europe for the last year, and he\ndemonstrated in a convincing manner that hostility to the church had\neverywhere appeared simultaneously, and was therefore the result of\npreconcerted action. The explanation of this fact the speaker found in the\nactivity of modern liberalism, which had determined upon the complete\ndenial of Christianity, and which boldly avows that by adhering to the\nprinciples of what its advocates are pleased to call humanity all those\ninestimable blessings would be obtained which the Saviour has left us in\nhis sublime teachings upon the obligations and morality of a Christian\nlife. Like the work of redemption, so also would the church become\nsuperfluous, and the state, to which liberalism gives the preference over\neverything else, would then enter upon its inheritance, and, as in the\ndays of the pagan C\u00e6sars, assert its ascendency even over the spirit.\n\nHerr Cremer, the editor of a Berlin journal, next proceeded to point out\nthe imperfections to be found in the constitution of the German Empire,\nwhich gave security only to material interests and military power, while\nthere was not an article which had reference to the moral problem of state\nlife and the fundamental rights of civil liberty. In the course of his\nspeech he with much humor and sarcasm drew attention to the fatal avowal\nof Bismarck in regard to his own policy. When the question was proposed in\nthe _Reichstag_ as to whether Catholics had forfeited their rights to\ncitizenship and were dangerous to the state, the prince answered in the\naffirmative. This \u201cyes,\u201d remarked the speaker, \u201cwas the most absolute\ncondemnation of his own policy which could have ever been pronounced by\nany one; for no state was ever so powerful that it could dispense even for\na time with the co\u2010operation of one\u2010third of its inhabitants. This policy\nmust be changed, for nine millions of Catholics could not be forced to\nemigrate or be declared outlaws like helots. This policy was in every\nrespect to be rejected as rotten and false, even if it did rest upon the\nshoulders of this modern Atlas.\u201d The vigor and readiness of expression\ndisplayed by the youthful speaker caused him to be warmly applauded.\n\nThe V. Rev. Dr. Monfang, deputy to the _Reichstag_, delivered an admirable\nspeech upon the present state of society. The great change, he argued,\ntook place in the beginning of our century, and he attributed it to the\nfollowing causes: First, the French Revolution, which overturned the laws\nof commerce and labor without regulating them anew; second, the wonderful\nuse to which machinery can be put, particularly by the application of\nsteam\u2010power, which, in union with the development of capital, directed\nindustry into entirely new channels; third, the exemption from taxation\nbrought about by the increase and facility of the means of commerce, which\nkeeps a certain class of labor in constant demand, and in a measure takes\nit from the business men and the farmers; and, fourth, most especially to\nthat pseudo\u2010liberalism whose national economy regulates the relations\nbetween employers and employed, between rich and poor, not in accordance\nwith true Christian principles, but according to the dictates of egotism.\nThe social question, the orator declared, resolves itself into this: that\na man, to be really happy, needs but three things\u2014that is, a competency, a\nrespectable position in society, and inward peace of soul. After applying\nthis true remark to the condition of the working\u2010men, the speaker finally\npassed to the solution of the social question, and said that as this\nproblem affects all the relations of human life, a general co\u2010operation\nwas necessary for its explication. The laborer himself must co\u2010operate as\nwell as the family, the parish, the state, the church. Without religion,\nwithout prudent legislation for the protection of labor, without Christian\nmarriages among the laborers, without public spirit and united effort, it\nis not possible to avert the evils which every day threaten the laboring\nclass more and more.\n\nHerr Racke, the indefatigable secretary of the Union, spoke upon the\ndifficult subject of passive resistance to laws which are in direct\nopposition to conscience. He adduced particularly from the best authors\nupon state rights the evidence that the state has no right to demand from\nits citizens absolute obedience to all its laws and regulations. Laws\nwhich are in opposition to conscience, morality, and religion, be they\never so formally enacted, are not laws in the sight of God, but are in\ndefiance of those of all law\u2010givers, of the only absolute Lord who is\nabove all states, all rulers, and all men, and from whose authority alone\neven the state laws derive their power and obligation. The animated speech\nof Herr Racke was also loudly applauded.\n\nAt the request of the president the Rt. Rev. Bishop of Mayence gave the\nepiscopal blessing, whereupon the public session was adjourned. The second\nday also began with prayer, a High Mass of Requiem being sung for all the\nmembers of the Union who had died during the last year. Then in a private\nsession followed the discussion and approval of resolutions. The\nresolutions proposed by the officers of the Congress, and received by all\nwith acclamation, surpassed in importance all others which had yet passed.\nWe give them, therefore, a prominent place; they are a sign that the\nCatholics of Germany have not lost their courage as yet, and they deserve\nto be published verbatim. They are as follows:\n\n\n The Second Congress of the Catholic Germans declares:\n\n I. _Regarding the State of Christian Society._\n\n 1. The violent persecution which the Catholic Church in some parts\n of Europe and South America now suffers, verifies the expression\n of the Holy Father that anti\u2010Christianity\u2014that is, modern\n civilization\u2014is incompatible with Catholicity.\n\n 2. The certain result of a systematically\u2010arranged combat against\n the church of Christ, as well as against Christianity itself and\n the essential foundations of society, will be the dissolution of\n social and political order, endless war, and the destruction of\n the nation\u2019s rights.\n\n 3. The re\u2010establishment of permanent and national order is only to\n be looked for when political independence is again restored to the\n Holy See, and when all those rights are recognized which belong to\n the head of the Catholic Church by virtue of divine dispensation\n and historical development.\n\n II. _Regarding the State of Germany._\n\n 1. The constitution of the German Empire, for the reason that it\n guarantees neither protection to personal liberty, nor to the\n independence of states, nor to the different ranks of society and\n incorporations, cannot establish the true welfare of the German\n people.\n\n 2. The influence of the so\u2010called national party, which abjures\n the essential rights of the German people and of the\n representation of the people, will be the ruin of the German\n Empire.\n\n 3. The exception laws, by which the German Empire, founded as it\n is by a common sacrifice, has deprived one\u2010third of the citizens\n of their essential rights, thereby destroying the peace and the\n power of Germany.\n\n 4. The unlimited development of military power is incompatible\n with natural rights, civil liberty, and the spiritual as well as\n the material welfare of the German people.\n\n 5. The unchristianizing of public instruction now in progress, the\n control by the state of the entire school system, founded as it is\n upon compulsion, and at the same time the suppression of the\n educational rights of the church and of the family, is a source of\n spiritual and moral ruin.\n\n 6. The venal press, working in the interests of political\n servility and of property\u2010holders, continually misrepresents\n public opinion, and is the principal cause of the social evils\n that threaten Germany.\n\n 7. The foreign policy of the German Empire, especially in its\n relations to the Holy See, is not in harmony with the principles\n and interests of the Catholic population of Germany, and is not\n capable of securing the preservation of the peace of Europe.\n\n III. _Regarding the State of the Working\u2010Classes._\n\n 1. Like all other states of Europe, Germany is threatened by the\n discontent existing among the working\u2010classes.\n\n 2. The principal reasons for this discontentment are: Decrease of\n the retail business; overtaxing the agricultural classes;\n miserable condition of the operatives in manufactories; and the\n endless development of money speculation.\n\n 3. The real origin of these misfortunes is the enervation of\n Christian faith and morality in the higher as well as in the lower\n ranks of society, caused by modern rationalism and liberalism,\n whereby it has happened also that a great portion of the working\u2010\n classes have allowed themselves to be deceived by the illusions of\n irreligious and revolutionary leaders.\n\n 4. The means of healing these social evils and reconciling all\n classes of society consist in the passing of laws prohibiting the\n exhausting of the bodily and financial strength of the people; in\n claiming that protection from the state to which all classes are\n entitled; in the continued effort to remove the particular defects\n of the present commercial laws by means of legislation; in\n establishing the rights of the working\u2010classes in accordance with\n Christian principles and the demands of general equity; in\n founding different industrial auxiliary houses, either through the\n union of the working\u2010classes and others, or through the friends of\n the working\u2010classes; in restricting the amount of labor to be\n performed by females and children; in the careful cultivation of\n the moral and religious life in the families of the working\u2010\n classes, especially by having Sunday kept holy, and by applying\n Christian principles to the sphere of business life; in the free\n development of Christian charity to alleviate inevitable want.\n\n IV. _Regarding the Rights of the Church._\n\n 1. The Catholic Church is, according to divine ordination, an\n independent society, which has the right to exist publicly in all\n lands as the one and universal church of Jesus Christ, and to\n protect which every Christian government should feel itself bound.\n\n 2. The ecclesiastico\u2010political system which the parties opposed to\n the church are endeavoring to carry out stands in irreconcilable\n and open contradiction to the constitution of the Catholic Church,\n founded by Almighty God, sanctified through all centuries,\n recognized by the state, and guaranteed by the law of nations.\n\n 3. The power of the office of teacher, priest, and pastor, given\n by the Pope to the bishops, cannot be suspended or limited by any\n law of the state.\n\n 4. Church and state are ordained by Almighty God to harmonious co\u2010\n operation. Their separation is to be lamented. If the hostility\n with which the modern state treats the church should make such a\n separation necessary, it will be more to the disadvantage of the\n state than to the church.\n\n V. _Regarding Liberty of Conscience._\n\n 1. No state power has the right to impose obligations upon its\n subjects which are in opposition to the commandments of God, the\n decrees of Jesus Christ, and the precepts of the church.\n\n 2. The apostolic courage with which the Catholic bishops, not\n fearing temporal loss, not even imprisonment and exile, defend the\n rights of God and of his holy church, as also the inalienable\n rights of Catholic conscience, and the priestly fidelity and\n firmness with which the Catholic clergy, not led astray by\n illusions and threats, remain true to the episcopate and the\n church, deserve the admiration and respect of all Catholics and of\n every right thinking man.\n\n 3. The measures used against the bishops and priests of the\n Catholic Church do not succeed in their object; they grieve most\n deeply the Catholic people, but they cannot be persuaded to\n exchange a church founded by Almighty God for one founded by the\n state. In vain are all the experiments used to separate Catholics\n from their rightful superior.\n\n 4. The Catholics of Germany recognize always the legitimately\u2010\n elected Bishop of Rome, the Pope, as the head of their religion\n and church. In him they revere the infallible teacher of faith,\n the high\u2010priest and the supreme watchman of Christianity. No power\n can separate the Catholics of Germany from the chair of S. Peter.\n\n 5. The only prelates of the German bishoprics are those bishops\n who are legitimately appointed by the Pope according to canon law.\n Catholics obey and reverence these bishops, be they in prison or\n in exile.\n\n 6. The Catholics of Germany recognize as pastors only those who\n are appointed by the Pope and legitimate bishops. With unshaken\n determination they repel every attempt to induce them to revolt\n against Catholic authority.\n\n VI. _Regarding the Mission of the Catholic Union in Germany_.\n\n 1. The Catholic Union of Germany complains of the severity with\n which the state officers of the German Empire, particularly in\n Prussia, oppose their rightful endeavors to labor for the true\n welfare of the fatherland.\n\n 2. The Catholic Union of Germany shall with undaunted courage\n defend their natural rights, the rights of the church and of the\n German nation, against revolutionary and bureaucratic force.\n\n 3. The Union invites all Catholics to join the authorized\n organization, and in the confidence of assistance from God, which\n the Union implores for itself through the most Sacred Hearts of\n Jesus and Mary, they surely expect the speedy triumph of a just\n cause.\n\n\nThe other resolutions had reference to the adoption of a short prayer to\nthe Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, under whose protection the Union is\nplaced; then the appointing of a committee charged with the erection of a\nmonument to the memory of Herman von Malinckrodt; with the foundation of a\nfund for exiled clergymen; to send an address to the oppressed Catholics\nof Switzerland; with the making out of a list of the priests who have been\npunished in defending the rights of the church; with the establishment of\nan intelligence office for young Catholic merchants; with the\nrecommendation of the _Christian Blaetter_, published in Aix\u2010la\u2010Chapelle;\nand finally with the recommending of various institutions for the removal\nof social evils. All of these motions were not adopted, others were laid\nupon the table, in order to concentrate the strength of the young Union\nupon the momentous question to the Catholic Germans as to the best means\nof ending the conflict now in progress against the church. No one will\ndeny the wisdom and prudence of this proceeding.\n\nIn the afternoon a pilgrimage to Mount Roch was determined upon; it is\nfour German, or about twenty\u2010four American, miles from Mayence, and is one\nof the most charming places on the Rhine. The congress could not have\nclosed its labors in a more appropriate manner. Soon after twelve o\u2019clock\nthe steamer _Loreley_, which was hardly large enough to accommodate the\nvast crowd of pilgrims, commenced to move its engines. Inspired by the\npious sentiments which filled their hearts, the pilgrims made the air\nresound with songs which charmed the ear, while the beautiful views, as\nseen from the deck of the steamer, of the country lying between the Taunus\nMountains and the Rhine, captivated the eye. This little spot has justly\nbeen called the garden of Germany. The whole shore is lined with villages,\nrich in monumental reminiscences of past ages, handsome residences and\nancient abbeys, modern and medi\u00e6val castles. But the greatest pride of the\nRhineland are the luscious grapes which ripen upon these sunny hills. Who\nhas not heard of the Marcobrunner, the Steinberger, the Johannisberger,\nthe Ruedesheimer, and many other species of Rhine wine? The vine\u2010dresser\nof the Rhineland is firmly convinced that in the whole world there is no\nwine which in delicacy is equal to his. But let us proceed. The good\nCatholic inhabitants of these vine\u2010clad shores saluted our steamer by\ndischarging cannons. The Prussian authorities had prohibited in some\nplaces such signs of joy and sympathy to be shown \u201cthe enemies of the\nstate\u201d who were passengers on the _Loreley_. The banner of the Chapel of\nS. Roch, which is built upon a high mountain, had from a long distance\nbeen seen waving, and we could also descry the great crowd which had\nalready taken possession of the top of the mountain. When we approached\nthe city of Bingen, situated at the foot of the mountain, nearly the whole\npopulation awaited us on the banks of the river. A special deputation\nsaluted the Rt. Rev. Bishop of Mayence, who had come to address the\npilgrims. The immense crowd, praying and singing, then marched through the\ncity, which was ornamented with flags, and soon all the streets and paths\nleading to the mountain were filled with men, so that it was very\ndifficult for the marshals to form a regular line of procession in order\nto reach the top of the mountain. From this eminence only was it possible\nto obtain a good view of the multitude, which was greater, perhaps, than\nMount Roch had ever before carried on its back. It was a splendid\nspectacle, and the effect was greatly enhanced by the beauty of the\nsurroundings\u2014the majestic river, whose course the eye could follow for\nmiles, the green islands that now and then appeared in the channel of the\nriver, the blooming vineyards, and the ever\u2010fertile valleys.\n\nAs the chapel could contain only a small portion of the assemblage, the\nRt. Rev. Bishop made his address while standing under the blue canopy of\nheaven. We will only give a few extracts from his admirable discourse. In\nhis introduction he said: \u201cWe are here to\u2010day assembled upon this mountain\nfrom all parts of Germany. Without knowing each other, we yet feel that we\nare all united by the common bond of faith, a miniature picture of the\nCatholic Church. We stand upon a venerable spot. Here lived S.\nHildegardis, that great prophetess of the middle ages, whom S. Bernard\nvisited to examine her prophecies. Long before her advent S. Rupert and\nhis saintly mother Bertha, whose relics are exposed for veneration in this\nchapel, dwelt here. At our feet flows the river Rhine, in whose waters the\nmost beautiful cathedrals of Germany are reflected, and upon whose shores,\nfrom the earliest ages, faithful and honest Catholics have lived. There\n(pointing to Niederlingen, with its palace of Carlovingian date) stood the\ncradle of Charles the Great, the founder of the old German power and\nglory; there that great emperor spent his youth, who never unsheathed his\nsword except for the protection of truth, and never lent it to an\nunrighteous cause.\u201d\n\nIn the course of his speech he made mention of a fact which he had\nobserved when provost of Berlin and delegate for the few Catholic\ncongregations in Brandenburg and Pomerania. \u201cIn the last century King\nFrederick II. had determined to drain the marshes along the river Oder,\nand had for this end summoned laborers from the Rhine and from the\nPalatinate. Those from the last\u2010named place began their long journey after\nthey had received assurances that ample provision had been made for their\nreligious wants, and that lands would be given them for cultivation. These\npromises, however, were not fulfilled. When the work was finished, the\npoor people were distributed among the different Protestant cities in\nPomerania, in order to force the inhabitants, as it were, to cede to them\nsome territory. Some of them received as their portion the sandy plains\nnear Pasewalk. Here wooden sheds were erected, the best of which was\nreserved for a chapel. Without a priest, these good people met together\nevery Sunday for divine service, sang their hymns as if for High Mass, and\nan altar\u2010boy rang the bell at certain parts, just as it was done in their\nformer homes. Fifty years passed in this way without their ever having\nseen a priest, and in the course of these fifty years _not one_ Catholic\nbecame an apostate. This congregation was afterwards visited once a year\nby a priest, and this state of things continued for another fifty years;\nbut during this whole time not a Catholic left his faith\u2014a proof that our\nLord and Saviour, when the priests are expelled, has other means to keep\nhis own in the true fold. When in our own times institutions are\ndestroyed, priests are exiled, and bishops are cast into prison, we have\nmore reason than ever before to impress deeply upon our hearts the words\nof Christ: Confidite in me; ego vinci mundum\u2014\u2018Have confidence; I have\novercome the world\u2019 (S. John xvi. 33). If all else perishes, at least one\ndivine institution remains which the state cannot destroy\u2014we mean the\n_Christian family_. In proportion as the other representatives of God are\nprevented from fulfilling their duty, Christian fathers and mothers must,\nfollowing the example of S. Bertha, fill their vacancies. What obstacles\ndid not this saintly woman overcome! Her husband, who ruled over all this\npart of Germany, was a heathen, and was killed in a battle with the\nChristians; but notwithstanding this, she has given in her son a saint to\nthe church.\u201d\n\nTurning then to the subject of the schools, the Rt. Rev. Bishop reminded\nthem of a resolution passed about ten years ago by the Grand Lodge of\nBelgium, which commanded the sister lodges to give their written opinions\nas to the question in what manner they could best exercise a decided\ninfluence over the public schools. They all agreed on this point: that the\nschools should be separated from the church, and that it was not\nsufficient to keep the children in school until they were fourteen years\nof age, but that compulsory education should be continued up to their\neighteenth year, in order to thoroughly uproot from the minds of the\nchildren the prejudices which they had received from their families and\nfrom the church. To this the objection was raised that such a law would be\nin direct opposition to the rights of parents; but in the reply, which was\nafterwards published, it was expressly maintained that, if the state had\nthe right to cut off the heads of men, it could also set them right again.\nIn view of the present aspect of affairs in respect to the school\nquestion, it is very easy to draw parallels.\n\nAt the conclusion of his address the Rt. Rev. speaker again returned to\nthe text of his discourse: \u201c \u2018Have confidence in Jesus.\u2019 Place not your\nhope in princes, who cannot help you. The Holy Ghost has said it; they\nalso must die. Make no calculations, therefore, as from what earthly\nsource or from what earthly prince the salvation of the church may be\nexpected. Confide in me, says Christ. Fear not the power of falsehood, for\nI have overcome the world. Be watchful and firm. While the world is\nworshipping Mammon it is our duty to imitate the example of those\nCatholics who have never bowed their knees before Baal, and who were found\nworthy to make any sacrifice for their convictions. Be courageous and of\ngood cheer! At this time the church needs men of determination. Let every\none, then, do his duty, and God will strengthen us and lead us to\nvictory.\u201d\n\nThese significant words, the truly apostolic appearance of the Bishop of\nMayence, the place, and the feeling exhibited by the vast audience, all\ncontributed to leave a deep impression upon their hearts. After some short\ndevotions in the chapel of grace, the pilgrims returned in a seemingly\nendless procession, with song and prayer, through the beautiful vineyards\nto Bingen. We were told that those in the rear of the procession were yet\nupon the top of the mountain when the first had entered already the\nparochial church of Bingen, where the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament\nwas given by the Rt. Rev. Bishop, which ended the festive celebration of\nthe Second Congress of the Catholic German Union.\n\nThe Congress has given testimony that the Catholic people of Germany in\nthese our days will not be misled or permit violence to be offered to\nthem; it gave testimony also to the truth which Malinckrodt had expressed\none month before in the _Reichstag_, and eight days before his death, when\nhe said: \u201cIf they imagine that we will bow ourselves before their\nProtestant ideas, which they clothe in the garment of the state, they are\ngreatly mistaken. They can trample us under foot, but we reserve to\nourselves the liberty not to become unfaithful to our convictions.\u201d\n\nThe Union has many and powerful enemies; but an old German proverb says:\n\u201cMany enemies, many honors.\u201d May Almighty God continue to protect it as\nbefore! Then it will show by its success that, true to its motto, it has\nworked for truth, justice, and liberty, and that it has excelled all other\norganizations in patriotism.\n\n\n\n\nSwitzerland In 1873. Lucerne.\n\n\nIt sounds like a platitude when any one nowadays ventures to lament\nreturning to the prose from the poetry of travel, so universal is this\nfeeling, and so constantly is it expressed; yet it is impossible to avoid\nnoticing it when recalling a railway journey that followed abruptly on\nweeks of Alpine rambles. My friend and I had been gradually gathering\ndiscontent, it is true, from the causes I have already stated, and\nyesterday, at Berne, had felt that a complete change was necessary; but\nfurther than this we had not stopped to reflect. No sooner, however, had\nwe started in the train than the scream of the engine\u2010whistle, the jerking\nof the carriages at the stations, the rush of passengers and hoarse cries\nof the fruit\u2010sellers, grated discordantly on our nerves, and a sudden\npining for the grand mountains, with their quiet, simple life and its\nelevating tone, took possession of us. Had we carried out our intention of\ngoing to Lyons, it would speedily have grown into a real Swiss _mal du\npays_. Heartily, therefore, did we thank Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 for having appeared so\nopportunely, and acted the part of a good angel in saving us from a\nspecies of suicide; for we felt that our spirits would have completely\nevaporated long before we could have reached Notre Dame de Fourvi\u00e8res or\nany other such congenial haven.\n\n\u201cWell, yes,\u201d she answered; \u201cthe flat plains of France would assuredly have\nproved too harsh a contrast. Now you will still have mountains, besides so\nmany other matters that must deeply interest you.\u201d\n\nThese reflections having restored us to good\u2010humor, we fully enjoyed the\napproach to Lucerne, as the train wound round the wooded hills alongside\nthe green Reuss, rushing on in full\u2010grown vigor from the lake, and past\nthe medi\u00e6val walls and towers that still guard the sturdy old town. The\nsun was setting as we entered the station, just as happened a few nights\npreviously when we drove into Interlachen; but in other respects\neverything was different. Here, the train was rapidly emptied of its\nhundreds of Northerners, still brimful of their city ways, or ill at ease\nin some faultless Alpine costume fresh from a London shop; while there,\nthough one could detect many season\u2010loungers, effort at display was not\nthought of, especially amongst tourists, for dress and such externals had\nlong since lost their importance in the wear and tear of real\nmountaineering. And what a noise and bustle and clatter steam, and\neverything belonging to it, entails! Enough to drive one wild, after many\nweeks of leisurely excursion habits\u2014the tinkling bells of the steamboats\nwaiting at the pier to carry off impatient tourists to fifty different\ndestinations, the crowd of omnibuses, the jostling of porters, and, to\ncomplete the trouble, the announcement that no rooms could be had at the\nSchweizerhof or Lucernerhof, or various other _hofs_; although we had\ntelegraphed from Berne, and expected to find all ready. If we would try,\nit was said, at the Beau Rivage\u2014the hotel furthest off\u2014there was just a\nchance. Worn out by the noise and fuss, we two begged to walk, the\nremainder of our party offering to drive on in a carriage without delay,\nin order to secure any vacant places there might be before the omnibus and\nits load of new\u2010comers should reach the hotel.\n\nNo arrangement could have been happier; for as we crossed the handsome new\nbridge, on issuing from the station, the scene at once restored our\nshattered nerves. The sun had just sunk behind the wood\u2010clad hills, dotted\nall over with pretty villas and _pensions_, that rise to the northwest\nabove the town, and whose sharp, dark outline every instant became blacker\nagainst the clear sky above, which, on its part, was rapidly changing from\none tint to another, each more delicate than the preceding one. Below, the\nriver moved like a mass of molten gold, whilst the covered bridge close by\nand the old tower at the corner wore a dark, warm brown hue, all the\nricher from the reflection of the waters beneath. Turning round towards\nthe lake, on whose margin we stood, the magnificent panorama of snow\u2010\ntipped mountains which encircle its upper end transfixed us with\nadmiration. Every peak, every line, was visible in the clear atmosphere,\nfrom Mount Pilatus, bathed in a flood of purple, right in front, to the\nmost distant of the long line rising beyond. In a few minutes the colors\nin the west grew faint and fainter, but a fresh after\u2010glow lit up the\nmountain\u2010crests opposite, fading gradually into the tenderest pink, until\none by one they sank into the approaching night. How wonderfully beautiful\nit was! Impossible to be surpassed! And for an instant we felt half\ntempted to become unfaithful to the glorious Jungfrau and lovely\nInterlachen. But the abiding impression of all such scenes in this favored\nland is, without doubt, one of marvel at the varieties of God\u2019s creation,\nand nowhere does one more cordially echo that inspired voice which of old\ncried: \u201cLet every spirit praise the Lord!\u201d\n\nLost in admiration at this effect of color on water, wood, and mountain,\nwe grew deaf to the clatter of the passing crowd across the bridge, when\nsuddenly the sound of bells aroused our attention. It seemed as if every\nchurch\u2010bell in the place had been set a\u2010ringing; and so it really was! We\nlistened; but, unaccustomed as we had now so long been to the beautiful\npractice, some minutes elapsed before we recognized the true mark of a\nCatholic country\u2014the Ave Maria or Angelus bell! A learned divine has\nwritten lately that it would simplify matters very much if the world were\nclassed in two divisions only\u2014namely, those who say the Angelus, and those\nwho do not; or, in other words, those who, believing in the Incarnation\nand Redemption, boldly and lovingly profess it before God and men, and\nthose Christians whose faith in the mystery is so feeble or their piety so\nlukewarm that it gives them no happiness to acknowledge it, and who are\ntherefore worse than the heathens, who know not of it. No happier welcome\ncould have been given to us, who had been suffering from a spiritual\nfamine for the last few weeks. Calmed by the sweet sounds, which were even\nsoftened by the gurgling waters at our feet, we followed our guide along\nthe quay, unmindful of its white dust, fussy tourists, and the general\nun\u00e6sthetic aspect of its many monster hotels, our eyes fixed, as we\nproceeded, on the _Hofkirche_, or principal church, which towers above it\nat one end.\n\nIt was late when we emerged after dinner from the glare of lights and hot,\ncrowded _table\u2010d\u2019h\u00f4te_ rooms of the Beau Rivage on to the balcony of the\nhotel, and the same moon which had entranced us so recently when shining\non the Jungfrau was beginning to climb up the heavens, right behind Mount\nPilatus. The stern mountain stood opposite to us on the other shore, his\nrugged form showing dark and unfriendly against the silvered background,\nbut a tremulous path of light came dancing towards us straight across the\nplacid waters. Tiny boats, that were hitherto indistinguishable in the\nsurrounding gloom, shot in numbers, freighted with mysterious figures,\nacross the luminous, quivering pathway; the green and red lights of\nsteamers were seen advancing gradually from out the distant darkness of\nthe lake, like wicked monsters rising from the deep to devour the elves\nand nymphs gambolling peacefully in our midst, while close to us, round\nthe near curve of the bay, the town, still busy with life and movement,\nshone in a perfect blaze of illumination, the lamps along its quay\nglittering like stars reflected in the still waters underneath. Poet or\npainter never imagined in their highest flights of fancy a more fairy\u2010\nlike, suggestive scene, and again we felt and acknowledged the truth that\nno art or science of man can approach God\u2019s own handiwork in its exquisite\nvariety and beauty.\n\nIt was impossible to sit indoors on such an evening, so we wandered down\nto the walk beside the water\u2019s edge, an impulse evidently shared by all\nthe inhabitants; for, as we passed on, it seemed as though every one,\nincluding tradesmen with their wives and families, had come forth to\nrefresh mind and body after their busy day\u2019s work. The promenade was alive\nwith people, either sitting or quietly sauntering up and down in\napparently happy groups, but without noise or boisterous sound, in perfect\nharmony with the beautiful surroundings.\n\n\u201cThis scenery surely must have a powerful effect on the inhabitants,\u201d I\nremarked to Mrs. C\u2014\u2014, as we too at length sat down on a bench in front of\nthe hotel. \u201cI can\u2019t conceive living constantly within view of all this\nbeauty without having one\u2019s mind raised to a higher tone by its\ninfluence.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo doubt,\u201d she replied; \u201cand now you can understand the full meaning of\nSwiss _Heimweh_, or _mal du pays_; how, when these people once begin to\npine for their mountains, it becomes a true malady. It does not follow,\nhowever, that scenery, as a matter of course, produces admiration or\nappreciation of its charms. You know the world\u2010old observation of this\nlack in ancient Greek poetry. Nor have the modern Greeks any more feeling\nfor natural beauty than their ancestors; in fact, they positively dislike\nthe country. The Turks are different; but, generally speaking, southerners\nnever give it a thought. It seems to be more a matter of race than of\nlocality, and the Swiss, especially in these cantons, being Teutonic, have\nthe true German love of nature, which makes them so worthy of living in\nthis favored land! That accounts, too, for their love of the supernatural,\nto which their lively faith has always given a religious form. The very\nname of this Mt. Pilatus and its story show this tendency at once.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the story?\u201d I inquired. \u201cI remember reading about it, but have\nquite forgotten. At this moment one might fancy anything\u2014dragons,\nconcealed in caverns, swooping down on forlorn maidens, knights rescuing\nHildegardes and Kunigundes, or any other thing you like, on an evening of\nthis sort.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! no,\u201d she answered: \u201cthe homely, burgher lives of the Swiss rarely led\nthem to the romantic, but their simple piety, as I have said, clothed\ntheir tales with a religious coloring. This, for instance, is where they\nbelieve that Pilate committed suicide; that, having been banished to Gaul\nby the Emperor Tiberius for failure in the administration of his province\nwhen governor, he could no longer bear living in public, and his uneasy\nconscience drove him from one wild district to another until he stopped\nhere; but even then he continued miserable, and finally threw himself into\nthe small lake near the summit yonder, over which his spirit still hovers.\nHe is the author of all the storms hereabouts. He cannot bear strangers,\nbut, especially if they disturb him maliciously by throwing stones into\nthis lake, he avenges himself by thunder and lightning and a general\nconfusion of the elements. They were so persuaded of this in the middle\nages that the Lucerners actually made a statute forbidding any one to\nexplore the mountains, and there are records of several persons being\nseverely punished for venturing up in defiance of the order. He regulates\nthe weather even now; for you can always tell by Pilatus what kind of day\nit is likely to be. Have you never heard the lines?\n\n\n \u201c \u2018Wenn Pilatus tr\u00e4gt sein Hut\n Darum wird das Wetter gut.\n Tr\u00e4gt er aber seinen Degen\n Darum wird\u2019s wohl sicher regnen.\u2019(31)\n\n\n\u201cThe _Hut_, or Hood, is a little cloud which settles on the summit only,\nbut the sword is a long streak across the centre of the mountain, which\nbodes rain and all manner of bad weather. There are ominous stories,\nbesides, of dragons and winged serpents, which were formerly seen to fly\nfrom Pilatus to the Rigi at night, leaving fiery tracks behind them, and\ntormenting the shepherds and their flocks.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell! if ever there were an excuse for pantheism and belief in a spirit\u2010\nworld animating nature, it certainly would be in Switzerland! Everywhere I\ngo the mountains, cloudy sunsets, the whole moving face of nature, speak a\nlanguage ever varying in one sense, but uniform in leading one\u2019s thoughts\nupwards.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; and even in bad weather you would not tire of it! Pilatus is never\nso grand as when the storm\u2010clouds gather round his brow and roll down\npitilessly on this very spot.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should very much like to know whether the people keep up their piety\nnow, and how they are likely to act in the coming religious storm,\u201d I\nremarked.\n\n\u201cI have just had an interesting conversation on that very point with an\nold Lucerner,\u201d said Mr. C\u2014\u2014, who now rejoined us, and who, we noticed, had\nstopped to speak to some acquaintance on the promenade when we first\nstarted. \u201cThat was old H\u2014\u2014, whom we met at Kissingen three years ago,\u201d he\ncontinued, addressing his wife. \u201cHe has retired from his appointment, and\nreturned to this his native town. He was rejoiced to see me, and offered\nhis services; and, thinking he might be useful as a guide, I have begged\nhim to call at our hotel in the morning. He gave me a most interesting\naccount of matters here. They are all staunch Catholics, he says, except a\nfew, who are lukewarm and seduced by the rationalism and liberalism of\nOlten and Berne. From these alone do they fear dissension. But they are\nnot numerous. However, they tried last winter to get one of the churches\ngiven up to them. Fortunately, the town council is orthodox and firm, and\nHerr H\u2014\u2014 is certain that Lucerne will be true to her name, and continue a\n_light_ to her neighbors.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a happy play on the word!\u201d I remarked\u2014\u201ca genuine _jeu de mot_. She\ncertainly merits the title in a material sense already, with that girdle\nof brilliant lamps shining like jewels along the quay.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not a _jeu de mot_ of my invention,\u201d answered Mr. C\u2014\u2014. \u201cThe name is\nsaid to take its origin from the fact itself. Some of the Swiss towns,\nsuch as Chur and Geneva, date from the Roman times of Switzerland; but\nthere are no traces of Roman buildings or settlements here. It is said,\nhowever, that even then there was a lantern or kind of light\u2010house at this\nspot for the boats on the lake, which was dignified by the Latin name of\n_Lucerna_, or _light_; and this, amidst the vicissitudes of centuries, has\nclung to it, and, as you say, is as suitable as ever. The town itself,\nlike so many others, is the offspring of a monastery somewhere about the\nsame time as St. Gall and Einsiedeln. But those old walls, with the quaint\ntowers which still encircle it, are only from the XIIIth or XIVth century.\nThe barbarians, you may remember, overran the continent several times in\nthe IXth, Xth, and XIth centuries, pillaging and burning on all sides; but\nit was noticed that the walled towns escaped, for they did not understand\nthe art of besieging them. One of the German emperors, therefore, issued\norders that all the towns should erect fortifications, and that, in times\nof war, the rural population should take refuge within them. Basel was one\nof the first that was enclosed in Switzerland, being on the frontier. Then\nSt. Gall, which had sprung up round the great monastery, and was also near\nthe frontier; Zurich and Lucerne followed later. Lucerne has kept up the\nold Swiss character better than almost any other town, from its position\nnear these forest cantons, which have more or less imbued it with their\nspirit. The forest cantons,\u201d he continued, as if in answer to my inquiring\nlook, \u201care those which border this lake, and give it the name of the \u2018Lake\nof the Four Cantons!\u2019 They are Schwytz, Uri, Unterwalden; and now Lucerne\nmakes the fourth\u2014the cradle of Switzerland and the noblest portion of its\npeople. Lucerne has hitherto been a sort of outpost for them\u2014their point\nof connection with the political world beyond; and so far it has always\nheld stoutly by its old friends. I remember the religious civil war and\nthe _Sonderbund_, between 1842 and 1848, and Lucerne was the head and\nfront of all that movement. Those old towns, amongst their various tales,\ncould tell many even of that period; for within their walls, as well as in\nsome of the churches, 1,800 prisoners were confined after the first\nvictorious resistance Lucerne offered the Protestant Volunteers. Amongst\nthe number was a certain Dr. Steiger, said to be the leader of the\nProtestants. He lay in one of the towers, condemned to banishment and\nimprisonment by the tribunals of Lucerne, when one night he escaped, aided\nby three countrymen who were devoted to him, and finally fled to America.\nI well recollect what a sensation it made, especially when, a few days\nafterwards the great champion of the Catholics\u2014a peasant\u2014was found\nmurdered in his cottage! Then these Catholics made a defensive league\namongst themselves to resist the interference of the Protestant cantons in\ntheir religious affairs, and which they therefore called the _Sonderbund_.\nOn this the opposite faction took their stand, asserting that its\nprinciple was contrary to the spirit of the Confederacy. It was a good\nwatchword in any case wherewith to rouse their partisans, and they\nsucceeded in this so completely that the Diet soon voted that the league\nought to be put down by force. A large army was at once collected, and,\nsurrounding these Catholic cantons as with a cordon, they very soon\ncrushed them. How well I remember it all! Whether the experience is\nrecollected here it is hard to say; but Herr H\u2014\u2014 muttered something about\ntheir all being determined to stand up manfully for their faith, even if\nit should ultimately be necessary to fight for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cFighting for one\u2019s faith is sublime, and stirs one\u2019s deepest feelings,\u201d I\nreplied, \u201cand that the spirit which induces it still exists, despite our\nprosaic, material age, we have seen by the Papal Zouaves, and also, united\nwith love of country, in the Bretons, Vend\u00eaans, and others during the\nFrench and Prussian war. But it is impossible to combine the idea of\nfighting of any kind with this poetic scene, and I would rather go to\nsleep to\u2010night dreaming of nymphs and sprites than of war and prisons, or\neven of Pilate himself or any other gloomy visions in this fairyland. I\nfear I am ungrateful for all your information, in feeling almost sorry\nthat we touched on these topics,\u201d I said, laughing, as we reluctantly\nturned homewards late that evening.\n\nI had spoken wisely. Most difficult it is to pacify one\u2019s mind after such\na conversation, and, between reflections on the past and speculations on\nthe future of these Swiss Catholics, the night was far advanced before my\neyes closed in sleep. Suddenly I was awakened by a full\u2010toned church\u2010bell\nbooming across the waters. It might again be the Angelus; but looking at\nmy watch, it was only a quarter before five o\u2019clock, and moreover it was\nstill dark. Then it must be some convent\u2010bell summoning the community to\nMatins and Prime. It was an uncharitable proceeding on their part, thought\nI, to waken up a whole town; and the peal kept on for the entire quarter\nof an hour. At half\u2010past five came another similar bell; and then, soon\nafter, a chorus of full tones, like that which had greeted our arrival on\nthe previous evening, rang out the Angelus from every church\u2010tower in the\nplace, followed at six and half\u2010past six by others in our immediate\nvicinity. It was quite impossible to sleep; yet, tired though we were, the\njoyful sensation of awakening in a Catholic land reconciled us to the\npenalty it thus imposed. Up and out we should at once go in search of the\nMasses which these bells indicated. But there be no such hurry, said the\nhotel servants; for there would be eight o\u2019clock Mass in the Hofkirche\nclose by. Then we discovered that, so far from the quarter to five bell\nbelonging to any convent, it was in truth rung in order to rouse the\ntowns\u2010people to Mass at the S. Peterskirche\u2014the first each day of the\nseries which ended at eight o\u2019clock at the Hofkirche. And then we\nrecollected how the same custom prevails in Germany, according to the\nearly habits of all German races; how hopeless it seems ever to be up and\nout before the inhabitants of a small German town; and how, in the Rhenish\nprovinces for instance, the five o\u2019clock Mass in summer, and the six\no\u2019clock in winter, are the most fully attended, even in the severe seasons\nof frost and snow.\n\nWe felt, therefore, like sluggards as we ascended the paved hill and\nmounted the steps leading up to the Hofkirche. It was a bright morning,\nand pleasant, good\u2010humored faces met us, as we paused to notice the\nexterior, so plain and unadorned compared to the beautiful Cathedral of\nBerne. But this seemed all the more suitable to the simple life of\nLucerne, with which the fact of the church standing, as it does, in the\nmidst of its cemetery, is in perfect harmony. A curious piece of medi\u00e6val\nsculpture, representing the Garden of Olives, is let into the wall of one\nof the towers, and we were examining it when to our surprise sounds of\nmusic from the inside reached us. But a greater surprise awaited us when,\non entering the church, we found it perfectly full. A most devout\ncongregation occupied every seat in the nave. On one side knelt the men,\non the opposite the women. Whilst High Mass for the dead was being sung at\nan altar outside the choir\u2010screen, in front of which was placed the bier,\nLow Masses were going on at side altars near, and another at the high\naltar behind. Everywhere earnestness and devotion were perceptible; and a\nmore striking contrast to our previous day\u2019s experience in the Cathedral\nof Berne, where daily services were unknown, it would be utterly\nimpossible to imagine. Yet what must such a morning have been there in the\nolden days; for even now external advantages are in its favor. The Lucerne\nchurch has far fewer claims to architectural beauty, and its general\nornamentation is in the bad taste of the last century. But these faults\nwere at the moment imperceptible to us, who had eyes only for the life and\nspirit pervading the crowd of worshippers that filled it. It is a fine\nchurch, however, in its own way, and quite in keeping with the character\nof the inhabitants. The choir is imposing, and the metal\u2010work of its\nscreen excellent. There are old stained\u2010glass windows too; and a wood\ncarving of the Death of Our Lady over a side altar would be perfect, were\nit not for the amount of gilding and gaudy coloring with which it has been\nloaded.\n\nBut the benches are the most characteristic point in the building. At one\nperiod they must all have been appropriated, though they are now free; for\neach division still retains a shield, on which is painted a coat\u2010of\u2010arms\nand the name of a citizen, or of his wife or widow, with the date of the\nyear, going back in some cases to the beginning of the last century. When\nHigh Mass was over, the women in going out passed round by the bier, on\nwhich they sprinkled holy\u2010water, followed by the men, who seriously and\npiously performed the same act of fraternal charity. Thence we followed\nthem to the small mortuary chapel outside, but so filled was it by a\nweeping group that we turned back and sauntered round the covered gallery,\nor cloister, which borders this beautiful _Gottesacker_, or \u201cGod\u2019s acre,\u201d\nas the Germans so truly call their cemeteries. Sauntering it certainly\nwas; for it was difficult to move quickly, so many were the inscriptions,\nso well tended the hundreds of pretty graves. Marks of affection and\nremembrance were visible at every step in fresh wreaths and baskets of\nbeautiful flowers, arranged with a taste and art that told what loving\nhearts must have guided the skilful hands that made them. Some good oil\u2010\npaintings and handsome monuments also adorn this gallery; but the most\nattractive part of the whole burial\u2010ground is its eastern end. This is\nappropriated to diminutive graves and crosses, hung with white bows of\nribbon and white flowers. We knew that in the Catholic Church there is a\nspecial service for infants\u2014one of pure joy without a word of grief; but\nnever before had we seen any particular spot set apart for these baptized\nlittle angels. Later, we found that it is a custom universal in the\nburial\u2010grounds of these Catholic cantons; but none that we afterwards saw\never struck us so much as this one of Lucerne.\n\nThe whole place, too, was full of stone stoups, provided with water and\nbranches of blessed box, wherewith to sprinkle the graves. Foot\u2010passengers\nhave a right of way from an upper road through this churchyard, and we saw\nmany stop, as they passed, to perform this work of charity over a tomb,\nwith a pious aspiration for the repose of the souls. \u201cHave pity on me, my\nfriends,\u201d is a prayer well responded to in this touching _Gottesacker_,\nwhere the dead still dwell in the hearts of the living, truly under the\nshadow and protecting influence of the church and of the cross. The\ndoctrines of the Catholic faith in the communion of saints and\nintercession for the holy souls in purgatory are here so practically\ncarried out, that they must get intertwined with the tenderest feelings of\neach Lucerner, and developed in their best sense from childhood upwards,\nbecoming their comfort and mainstay from the cradle to the grave.\n\nAnd then in what a beautiful position this old church stands\u2014at the head\nof the town, guarding its flock, and a beacon to the weary\u2010minded! From\nour guide\u2010book we learned that originally it had formed part of a\nBenedictine convent, and is dedicated to S. Leodegarius, or S. Leger. The\nvery name of this saint takes us back to the furthest antiquity, to the\nearliest days of Christianity in these parts; for he was the great Bishop\nof Autun in the VIIth century whose sanctity and courage shone\nconspicuously during sixty years in the stormy times of the Clovis and\nClotaire kings and of their _maires du palais_, until he was at last\ncruelly put to death by order of Ebroin, one of the most wicked of that\ntribe, and who governed in the name of the Frankish king, Theodoric. It\ntells, too, of those days when the present Switzerland, having been\nincluded in Charlemagne\u2019s empire, was still fluttering between his\nsuccessors in Burgundy and those in Germany; and how far the fame of\nsaints and martyrs spread and made their mark on countries which, in those\ndays of slow communication, were distant from their own. The convent\nitself must have been an old foundation, for the church was formed into a\ncollegiate chapter in 1456, and the two existing towers belong to that\nperiod. The remainder, destroyed by fire in 1633, was rebuilt soon after\nin the unarchitectural style of that century. Probably we owe the\ncloisters round the cemetery and the massive parochial house near, also to\nthe monastic period. Quite worthy, in any case, of Benedictine refinement\nwas the view obtained from the open arches on one side of the cloisters.\nBut alas for modern innovations! My friends remembered this as one of the\nmost lovely points of view in Switzerland some fifteen years ago; but now\nthe roof of that huge caravansary, the International Hotel, rises just\nhigh enough close in front to shut out, from all but two openings,\neverything save the sight of its own ungainliness. From these two,\nhowever, it is possible to judge what the world has lost, looking out over\nthe lake and surrounding mountains; and we lingered long, drinking in the\ncharms of this matchless landscape, which again presented itself under an\naspect quite different from that of the preceding evening.\n\nOn returning to the hotel we found Mr. and Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 deep in conversation\nwith Herr H\u2014\u2014, who had come according to appointment. He was a shrivelled\u2010\nup, active, little old man of about seventy, formerly professor in a\ngymnasium in the north of Germany, but the aim of whose life had been to\nsave a certain sum, in order to return and end his days in his own beloved\nSwitzerland. This he had accomplished within the last two years. The C\u2014\u2014s\nhad taken a great fancy to the old man when they made his acquaintance at\nKissingen, and he was now burning to be of some use to them. And a great\nhelp he proved in planning the next week\u2019s excursions, so as to make them\nfinish off at Einsiedeln on the 14th, the chief feast of that monastery.\nThe day was perfectly lovely, and the atmosphere so clear that he pleaded\nhard to take us up to the Linden Avenue, a terrace walk, twenty\u2010five\nminutes off, and commanding a magnificent panorama. But we should see the\nmountains during the rest of our travels, we argued in reply, and our\nminds were so full of Wordsworth and Longfellow, and, through them, of the\ncovered bridges of Lucerne, that we could hear of nothing else. Our party\nconsisted of Mr. and Mrs. C\u2014\u2014, their two daughters, and a good\u2010humored,\nboyish son of eighteen, besides my friend and myself; so at last a\ncompromise was effected by dividing our forces. One daughter went with Mr.\nand Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 to the Linden walk, while our new Swiss acquaintance politely\noffered to conduct our division over his native place.\n\nOur first visit, as a matter of course, was to \u201cthe Lion,\u201d the pride and\nglory of modern Lucerne! Turning off from the fussy, bustling quay,\nleaving excitement and noise behind, we wandered through quiet, winding\nstreets that led to the former Zurich road, until, in a leafy recess\ncontaining a large basin filled by trickling water, on which the sun\nplayed through the foliage of the overhanging beech\u2010trees, this grand king\nof animals lay right before us, hewn out of the perpendicular face of the\nliving rock. Overhead is carved the inscription, _Helvetiorum fidei ac\nvirtuti_.(32) This monument, erected in memory of the Swiss guards who\nfell whilst defending Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette at Versailles, and\non the 2d and 3d of September, 1792, was designed by the great\nThorwaldsen, and executed by a Zurich sculptor, the expenses being\ndefrayed by subscriptions from all parts of Switzerland. The lion is\ndying, the spear still in his side, a bundle of spears under him, but one\npaw still firmly clasping the Bourbon shield. It is colossal; the whole\nattitude full of strength, firmness, and sorrow\u2014a sorrow inspiring such\nsympathy that the longer one looks the more human it appears. Yet it is\nnot that hopelessly sad expression of his grand Ch\u00e6ronean prototype, which\nonce having had the good\u2010fortune to see on the spot, I never can forget.\nBut then what different events they commemorate! The Greek, the defeat of\nan over\u2010glorious nation, crushed to despair; this of Lucerne, the loss,\nbut also the noble heroism, of a few of Switzerland\u2019s sons only, who, if\nthey could be so faithful in the cause of strangers, what might not be\nexpected from them and their brethren in defence of their own hearths and\nhomes! And as we stood transfixed to the spot, unwilling to stir, it was\npleasant to hear from Herr H\u2014\u2014 that foreign service of this sort has now\nceased. At least no body of Swiss serve abroad together, except as the\nPope\u2019s guards, whose picturesque Michael\u2010Angelesque costumes must be\nremembered by every one that visited Rome in its palmy days. Formerly, not\nonly did they serve as mercenaries in various countries, but there were\nregular treaties in force between the Swiss government and foreign\nsovereigns, authorizing the latter to recruit throughout the cantons.\nThese, however, have been swept away, and this \u201cLion\u201d is now the only link\nwith those times. Close by is a chapel where, according to pious custom,\nMass is now and then said for the departed heroes, and the altar cloth of\nwhich has been worked by the Duchesse d\u2019Angoul\u00eame, one of Marie\nAntoinette\u2019s two children, protected and saved by those very soldiers.\n\nWe had not prepared ourselves for this beautiful, poetic work of art, and\nhence it was perhaps doubly difficult to leave it; but time pressed, and\nHerr H\u2014\u2014 led the way back to the brilliant quay. He was eloquent on its\npalatial hotels, and proud that in this particular Lucerne is so far ahead\nof all other Swiss towns, except perhaps Geneva. But still, he said, this\ndid not compensate him for olden days. How different it had been in his\nboyhood, in the years prior to 1820, when the present Schweizerhof Quay\ndid not exist! A long, covered wooden bridge, 1,300 feet in length, ran,\nin its stead, from the middle of the town, near the Swan Hotel, right\nacross here to the foot of the Hofkirche. And then, to our intense regret,\nwe discovered that this was the chief bridge mentioned by Wordsworth in\nhis continental tour. He first speaks of the Hafellbr\u00fccke, still existing,\nand then goes on to say:\n\n\n \u201cLike portraiture, from loftier source, endears\n That work of kindred frame, which spans the lake\n Just at the point of issue, when it fears\n The form and motion of a stream to take;\n When it begins to stir, _yet_ voiceless as a snake.\n\n \u201cVolumes of sound, from the cathedral rolled,\n This long\u2010roofed vista penetrate; but see,\n One after one, its tablets, that unfold\n The whole design of Scripture history;\n From the first tasting of the fatal tree,\n Till the bright star appeared in eastern skies,\n Announcing One was born mankind to free;\n His acts, his wrongs, his final sacrifice;\n Lessons for every heart, a Bible for all eyes.\n\n \u201c_our_ pride misleads, our timid likings kill.\n Long may these homely works devised of old,\n These simple efforts of Helvetian skill,\n Aid, with congenial influence, to uphold\n The state, the country\u2019s destiny to mould;\n Turning, for them who pass, the common dust\n Of servile opportunity to gold;\n Filling the soul with sentiments august\u2014\n The beautiful, the brave, the holy, and the just.\u201d\n\n\nThen in a note he goes on to relate that the pictures on the \u201ccathedral\nbridge amounted to 240, all from Scripture history; subjects from the Old\nTestament faced the passenger going to the cathedral, and those from the\nNew as he returns.\u201d What would he have said could he have foreseen such a\nspeedy annihilation of his aspirations for their long maintenance, and\nespecially when replaced by all that drives away remembrance of that\n\u201chistory\u201d and tends to keep men\u2019s thoughts fastened to earth instead of\nraised to heaven!\n\nWhen our first disappointment was over, we learned from Herr H\u2014\u2014 that this\nquay, now so venerable\u2010looking from its shady chestnuts, has been won from\nthe lake, like the Thames embankment, within the last forty years. It has\none advantage, namely: that the whole tourist\u2010life which brings such gain\nto Lucerne has been added on to it, without in any way interfering with\nthe ordinary life of its inhabitants. Happily, it would be impossible to\nchange the old part without sweeping it entirely away\u2014a summary proceeding\nthat no one would think of. The original town lies on a strip of land\nbetween the lake and encircling hills, and is composed of solidly\u2010built\nold houses in narrow streets, that are thoroughly sheltered, but without\nany view, and consequently unfit for tourist requirements. Air and\nlandscape\u2014the two essentials for the wealth\u2010bringing strangers\u2014were\nfortunately found available in the large space gained from the lake, while\nthe neighboring hills seemed as if especially created for the countless\n_pensions_ that now cover them in every direction. \u201cTravellers,\u201d said Herr\nH\u2014\u2014, \u201c\u2014travellers are the great desire of Lucerne. They supply the place\nof trade and manufactures, which we do not possess, except in a small way\nin the Krienz valley yonder. Both here and throughout all these forest\ncantons, the whole energies of the population are of late years directed\nto this object. You will find them building hotels in all directions as\nyou travel through that district,\u201d pointing to the upper end of the lake,\nwhich we were lingering to admire from the promenade. \u201cIt sometimes seems\nlike over\u2010building, but the larger the houses, the more quickly they seem\nto fill. The crowds that swarm here from June to October, from every\nquarter of the globe, are quite marvellous. Since the French war,\nespecially, the Germans come in shoals. It is becoming like another\ninvasion of the northerners! I suppose we dare not call them Huns and\nVandals,\u201d he continued, laughing. \u201cBut I confess I fear their influence in\nthe long run, for they are chiefly the population of the manufacturing and\ncommercial towns of Prussia and the North, and even when they are not\ndecidedly infidel, they are not overburdened with religion, and are\nperfectly indifferent to its observances. I was stopping up at the Kaltbad\nfor a month this summer, and only a few out of 420 guests ever thought\nabout Sundays. \u2018Who does, when at a watering\u2010place?\u2019 said some. There was\nno Protestant service, it is true, except the English, but still there\nmight have been some difference made between it and other days; but,\nexcept amongst the Catholics, one could notice none, unless that the\ndinner was sometimes rather better than on week\u2010days. And even the foreign\nCatholics were often very lukewarm. It is a very bad example, to say the\nleast, for the natives. Fortunately, however, the strangers mix with them\nvery little, and they fall back into their customary life when these\ncrowds go home about the end of September. Then all is changed. The\ncountry hotels shut up, and even here they dismiss their large staff of\nservants, and only keep a small portion of each house open. But they are\nlooking forward to a great increase of winter business in Lucerne later,\nwhen the St. Gothard tunnel, which is now begun, shall be finished;\nthough, of course, it will be nothing compared to the summer influx.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what becomes of the poor servants?\u201d I asked. \u201cAre they turned adrift\non the world?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! dear, no. They are engaged for the hotels at Nice and Mentone, and\nall along the Riviera, in bodies of a hundred at a time. If you happen to\ngo south in November, you will doubtless fall in with many a Kellner or a\nhouse\u2010maid you met up here in the summer. That is the form the Swiss\nforeign service has taken in our days of steam and easy communication. And\nvery much they distinguish themselves. Both men and women are considered\nmore honest and active than those of any other nation, and consequently\nare at a premium. That wonderful race of \u2018Kellners\u2019\u2014a race apart\u2014which\ngoes by the generic name of German waiter, is largely composed of the\nSwiss element. Strangely enough, however, every waitress you meet, even in\nthese districts, is certain to come from the canton of Berne. The women\nthere have a _sp\u00e9cialit\u00e9_ in that line. The peasants of the Catholic\ncantons keep to the housemaid department, as a rule, and our Lucerne\nmaidens become ladies\u2019 maids or governesses in English families. And very\nwell they turn out, too. Both in this town and in the rural cantons they\nare a solidly good, pious population. Very conservative also; in fact,\nmost conservative, in spite of our staunch republicanism, and most united\nat the same time.\u201d\n\nIt suddenly occurred to us to ask whose funeral we had seen that morning.\n\u201cNo doubt of some distinguished citizen?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied Herr H\u2014\u2014, \u201cnot particularly distinguished; only an old and\nhighly\u2010respected tradesman. Oh! no; that is an every\u2010day occurrence. All\nthe neighbors consider it a duty to attend the High Mass and to pray for\neach other. I was there, amongst others, just before I went to the Beau\nRivage Hotel; for, although I have spent so many years away from Lucerne,\nI knew this man from my earliest childhood, and he has been working all\nhis life for every one you saw there this morning, so that the least we\nmight do was to go and pray for the repose of his soul, poor fellow! They\nwill do the same for each one of us in turn. Here is a column of\nadvertisements, composed of nothing but \u2018Thanks\u2019 from relatives,\u201d he said,\ndrawing a Lucerne daily paper from out of his pocket, and amongst the\nnumber we read the following touching one:\n\n\u201cThe widow and children of \u2014\u2014 return their heartfelt thanks to all the\nkind friends who spontaneously attended the High Mass for, and the funeral\nof, their lamented husband and father on \u2014\u2014. They are not only grateful\nfor this mark of respect, but they wish to assure these good neighbors\nthat the loving sympathy and the kind manner in which it was offered by\neach, have done more to soften their grief than they can now express.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are a small community,\u201d continued Herr H\u2014\u2014,\u201c only 14,500\ninhabitants\u2014simple folk, working our way on through life without any rich\nmanufacturers or overgrown proprietors, as at Zurich, Berne, and Geneva,\nso there cannot be much rivalry or pretension. You will not find private\nvillas or large ch\u00e2teaus round this lake\u2014nothing, for instance, even like\nthose handsome ones on the Lake of Thun; but we all hold together, and I\nonly hope the young generation will continue to walk in the footsteps of\ntheir fathers.\u201d\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nRoger The Rich.(33)\n\n\nA Ballad.\n\nDedicated, Without Permission, To Victor Emanuel.\n\nGod prospereth King Stephen!\n His sway is o\u2019er the land.\nThe Empress Maud hath bowed her head;\nHer knights are slain, her armies fled,\n Herself beneath his hand!\nGod prospereth King Stephen!\n The land is all his own.\nFrom north to south, from east to west,\nThe whole wide kingdom is at rest\u2014\n Firm sits he on his throne.\nGod prospereth King Stephen!\n Yet he hath cast his eye\nOn the rich lands of Sherbourn, spread\nO\u2019er many a hill and kie\u2010cropt mead,\n And many a bosky lea.\nKing Stephen sware a grimly oath\u2014\n God wis he kept it true:\n\u201cSince Roger Niger (bishop then)\nHath led against us arm\u00e8d men,\n Roger shall dearly rue!\u201d\nRoger hath lands and riches too,\n Marks forty thousand told;\nAnd well I wot the monarch\u2019s vow\nHath less to do with justice now\n Than with the bishop\u2019s gold.\nRoger hath to Devizes ta\u2019en\n His wealth with all his speed;\nStout men\u2010at\u2010arms, and billmen true,\nAnd bowmen armed with sturdy yew,\n Attend him in his need.\nNow he hath stored his fortelace well\n With beeves and sheep and grain.\nHe standeth on his topmost tower;\nAnd sayeth in the pride of power,\n The king shall knock in vain!\nWhat, O my knights! the monarch cries,\n Shall he thus brave our wrath?\nShake forth our banner to the blast,\nAnd gather round us, liegemen fast;\n We\u2019ll sweep him from our path!\nThe king, with mighty following,\n Hath sat before the tower;\nBut massy walls and valiant hearts\nHave nobly played their several parts\u2014\n The bishop mocks his power!\nAnd loudly sware King Stephen then\n A fearful oath to hear:\n\u201cBuild me a gallows\u2010tree before\nThe haughty prelate\u2019s guarded door;\n This yet shall cost him dear.\u201d\nNow they have built the gallows\u2010tree,\n And raised it in the air\u2014\nIts height is forty feet and three,\nA laidly thing it is to see\u2014\n And led his nephew there.\nRoger the bishop stands and sees\n Young Roger led to die\u2014\nThe nephew he had reared with care,\nHis only sister\u2019s son and heir:\n A tear steals from his eye.\nNow he hath turned him to his knights;\n His words are sad and low:\n\u201cGod wot I am an old man now;\nHe layeth sorrow on my brow,\n He willeth I should go.\nMy nephew hath his course to run,\n And mine is near its close.\nI straight will render up my lands,\nMy gold shall pass from out mine hands\u2014\n I\u2019ll yield me to my foe!\nBut as God lives he prospereth not\n King Stephen\u2019s arms again;\nHis latest triumph he hath won.\nHenceforth his is a setting sun;\n His efforts shall be vain!\nGod prospereth not King Stephen now\u2014\n The Empress Maud hath fled;\nFitz\u2010Empress Henry snatcheth now\nThe golden circlet from the brow,\n The glory from his head.\nGod prospereth not King Stephen\u2019s arms\u2014\n Anjou is in the field,\nAnd Winchester and Gloucester band\nTo wrest the sceptre from his hand,\n And vanquished he must yield.\nGod prospereth not King Stephen\u2019s cause\u2014\n Henry is named his heir;\nStill may he sit upon the throne\nWeakness forbids him call his own,\n In sorrow and despair.\nGod prospereth not his family\u2014\n Eustace, his only son,\nPines from that moment, droops his head,\nAnd, withering like a flower, is dead,\n And his last prop is gone.\nGod prospereth not King Stephen\u2019s health\u2014\n His heart is stricken sore;\nSleep shunneth now his eyes by night;\nHis days are stricken with a blight;\n He smileth now no more.\nAnd still \u2019tis said God prospereth not\n The holder of those lands,\nAnd Sarum\u2019s heirs ne\u2019er live to claim\nThe heritage of land and name\u2014\n It slippeth from their hands;\nFor one, \u2019tis said, hath fallen by chance;\n Another falls in strife;\nA father\u2019s hand unwitting smote\nAnother scion through the throat;\n Law claims another\u2019s life.\nGod prospereth not that family\u2014\n Two hundred years have sped,\nAnd still the bishop\u2019s curse clings fast,\nAs fell and fatal to the last\n As when those words were said.\nThen the Third Edward rendered back\n Unto the church its own,\nAnd the broad lands to Robert gave\n(Thou\u2019lt see it figured on his grave);\n And now the curse is gone!\n\n\n\n\nThe Poem Of Izdubar.\n\n\nM. FRAN\u00c7OIS LENORMANT, in continuing the publication of his _Essay on the\nPropagation of the Ph\u0153nician Alphabet in the Ancient World_, and in\nediting a _Selection of Cuneiform Texts_, has just issued two volumes of\nimportant and interesting studies on _Primitive Civilizations_.(34)\n\nThe steps of this learned writer in the almost unknown regions which he\nexplores so fearlessly, and usually with so much success, are not always\nperfectly sure; but, with a good faith so natural to him that it does not\nseem to cost him even an effort, he knows how to retrace his path and\ncorrect whatever may require rectification.\n\n_Les Premi\u00e8res Civilisations_, several portions of which have been\npublished in various collections, reappears developed and raised to the\npresent level attained by scientific discovery. The work opens by a notice\nof prehistoric arch\u00e6ology and fossil man, the monuments of the neolithic\nperiod, and the invention of the use of metals and its introduction into\nthe West. Studies on Egypt follow, including the _Poem of Pentaour_ and\nthe _Romance of the Two Brothers_. The second volume, with the exception\nof the \u201cLegend of Cadmus, and the Ph\u0153nician Establishments in Greece,\u201d is\nentirely devoted to Chald\u00e6a, presenting us with a Chald\u00e6an V\u00eada, or\ncollection of liturgical and devotional hymns in honor of the principal\ngods worshipped on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates; the biography of\na Babylonian prince of the VIIIth century before our era, Merodach\nBaladan, with whose name the Bible has already made us acquainted;(35)\nand, lastly, the Babylonian epic poem of Izdubar. It is this last work of\nwhich the range is the most general and the value the greatest in\nconnection with the comparative history of the Semitic races, their\nnational genius, and their religious ideas. It touches, amongst other\nthings, upon three points which it is important to put particularly in\nrelief, on account of the manner in which the inferences resulting from\nthem strengthen the ground of Christian apologists\u2014namely, the myths of\none of the most important branches of the race of Sem (or, to speak\naccurately, the race that was equally descended from Sem and Cham), the\nAssyrio\u2010Chald\u00e6an belief in the immortality of the soul, and the origin of\nthe signs of the Zodiac. There is also a fourth point\u2014that of the\ntradition of the Deluge.\n\nIt has been repeatedly maintained by the sceptic, M. Renan, and is in fact\none of his favorite ideas, that the Semites were radically incapable of\nproducing an epic poem. He refuses everything to this race\u2014imagination,\nthe power of invention, the knowledge of the experimental method,\nphilosophy, and science. One thing alone he accords to them\u2014the\nmonotheistic instinct. Now, the cuneiform tablets demonstrate that the\nsciences, especially those of astronomy and mathematics, held a very\nconsiderable place in the intellectual pursuits of the Babylonians and\nAssyrians. The poem of Erech, published by Mr. G. Smith, is sufficient of\nitself alone, by means of the fragments which are known to us, to reduce\nto nothing all the assertions in his history of the Semitic languages, in\nwhich M. Renan affirms that \u201cthe imagination of the Semitic races has\nnever gone beyond the narrow circle traced around it by the exclusive idea\nof the divine greatness. God and man, in presence of each other, in the\nbosom of the desert\u2014behold the summary, or, as it is termed in the present\nday, the formula, of all their poetry.\u201d(36) Assuredly one never found\none\u2019s self less in the desert in presence of God alone and of man alone\nthan in the Semitic poems of Chald\u00e6a.\n\nThe veritable name of the hero on the banks of the Euphrates, sung by\nHomer, has remained unknown to this day. It is constantly found written in\nideographic characters, which, pronounced phonetically, give the three\nsyllables Iz\u2010du\u2010bar; but we know that they were pronounced in quite a\ndifferent manner by the Assyrio\u2010Chald\u00e6ans. We are equally certain, from\nthe testimony of other cuneiform inscriptions, that this Izdubar was one\nof the gods of Chald\u00e6a. Nevertheless, he figures here as a simple hero,\nand, according to M. Lenormant, is probably Nemrod, \u201cthe mighty hunter,\u201d\nas he is called in the Book of Genesis, alluding to a popular saying, of\nwhich the remembrance is still preserved in Assyria, as well as in\nPalestine, and also in the Egyptian tradition. The historical inscriptions\nof Assurbanipal name Resen, one of the cities of Assyria, \u201cthe town of the\nhunter.\u201d(37)\n\nThe Izdubar of the Babylonian inscription, like the Nemrod of the Bible,\nreigns over four cities,(38) three of which, named in Genesis, are\ncertainly identical with those mentioned on the tablet, and which\ntherefore furnish an argument in favor of the supposition. But however\nthat may be, Izdubar, whose name signifies \u201cGod of fire,\u201d \u201cGod of the body\nor mass of fire,\u201d is without doubt the ancient Arcadian God of fire whose\nworship had so great an importance in the primitive epochs; and this idea\nthrows much light on the Babylonian poem, to which it, in some sort,\nfurnishes the key. This poem is divided into twelve _cantos_, if we may so\ncall them, each forming a distinct episode and inscribed in a separate\ntablet. Sir Henry Rawlinson has proved that each canto relates to one of\nthe twelve signs of the zodiac, and to one of the twelve months of the\nyear. The god of fire is thus represented as being one with the sun, and\nthe entire epic consists of a poetical history of the annual revolution of\nthat luminary, and its accomplishment in the course of twelve months,\naround which revolution various incidental episodes have been grouped,\namongst others the narrative of the Deluge. The _d\u00e9nouement_ of the poem\nis the cure of Izdubar, who, at the instigation of the man saved from the\nDeluge, plunges into the sea, from whence he issues delivered from a sort\nof leprosy which had threatened his life. M. Gubernatis remarks that this\nis identical with the Vedic myth of Indra, and also the Hellenic one of\nTithonus. Leprosy is invariably the malady of kingly heroes, and signifies\nold age, which, according to popular belief, could only be cured either by\nthe waters of youth or by the blood of a child. The old solar hero, the\ndying sun, sprang forth with renewed youth in the morning, after\ntraversing the sea of night\u2014a symbol which would naturally possess an\nadditional force to the nations who beheld the departing sun\u2010god sink\nbeneath the Western sea. The Chald\u00e6an epic presents us, therefore, with\nthe same mythological groundwork as the other polytheistic religions with\nregard to the worship of fire and of the sun\u2014a groundwork presenting a\npoint of contact among the Semitic, Aryan, and Egyptian races which it is\nnecessary to bear in mind in tracing the comparative histories of the\ndescendants of the sons of Noe.\n\nThe details of the Babylonian poem exhibit a mythology as multitudinous as\nthat of India or of Greece; the adventures also of Izdubar for the most\npart closely resemble those of the classic heroes. He is a great\nconqueror, who wins immortality by his splendid exploits and his mighty\nlabors, some of which remind one of those of Hercules. We see him\nsuccessively capture the winged ox, and put an end to the ravages of a sea\nmonster to which is given the name of Boul\u2014two exploits almost identical\nwith those of Perseus. As in Egypt the sun, under the name of Osiris, is\nthe husband of Isis, the personification of the productive power, and\nsometimes the moon, so in Chald\u00e6a the sun, Izdubar, espouses Istar, the\nmoon, who is also the Assyrian Venus, and daughter of the god Sin. Istar\nis, however, at this period, already a widow, having lost her first\nspouse, whose name signifies \u201cSon of Life.\u201d\n\nIn the poem of Erech a great number of other deities appear, together with\nIstar. Besides her father, Sin, who is god of the months, we have firstly\nAnou, the Oannes of the Greeks, and the first personage of the supreme\ntriad; then the second member of this triad, Bel, the demiurge; and lastly\nthe third, Ao, Nesroch,(39) or Nouah. Around these great divinities are\ngrouped Adar, the god of the planet Saturn; Samas, god of the sun;\nNabo,(40) god of the planet Mercury, and his companion, Sarou; Bin, god of\nthe atmosphere and tempest; Nergal, of the planet Mars; besides a vast\narmy of Annunaki, or secondary genii; of Guzalu, or destroying spirits,\nand others of inferior race and power. These deities did not agree among\nthemselves any better than did the gods of the Greek Olympus. Their heaven\nappears to have been anything but an abode of peace or love; and in heaven\nor hell they quarrelled alike. Istar seems especially to have\ndistinguished herself by her unaccommodating disposition.\n\nIt is believed that the account of the journey of Istar into hell (for the\nstory of such a journey in the _Odyssey_ and the _\u00c6neid_ had also its\nprecursor in Chald\u00e6a) formed one of the episodes of the poem of Izdubar,\nalthough the tablet containing it has not yet been discovered; but we\npossess it on another fragment, and one which is of great value, as it\nfurnishes an incontestable proof of the belief of the Assyrio\u2010Chald\u00e6ans in\nthe immortality of the soul. The abode of the dead is called the\n\u201cimmutable land,\u201d(41) and corresponds to the Hades of the ancient Greek\npoets. It is divided into seven circles, after the model of the celestial\nspheres, and is depicted as follows by the Chald\u00e6an poet: \u201cTowards the\nunchangeable land; the region [from whence none return]; Istar, the\ndaughter of Sin, her ear\u2014has turned: the daughter of Sin [has turned] her\near,\u2014towards the dwelling of the dead, the throne of the god Ir\n...,\u2014towards the abode into which he has entered, and whence he has not\ncome forth,\u2014towards the way of his own descent, by which none\nreturn:\u2014towards the dwelling whereinto he has entered, the prison,\u2014the\nplace where [the dead] have naught but dust wherewith [to appease] their\nhunger; and mud for nourishment:\u2014from whence the light is not seen, and in\ndarkness they dwell where shades (ghosts), like birds, fill the vaulted\nspace,\u2014where, above the uprights and lintel of the portal the earth is\nupheaped.\u201d(42) Allusion is also made several times to this \u201cunchangeable\nland\u201d in other poems in the collection of Assurbanipal, as well as to\nspirits who wander back to earth, and dead who return to torment the\nliving. In a note on the religious belief of the Assyrians Mr. Fox Talbot\npublishes two prayers composed to ask for eternal life to be granted to\nthe king. The meaning of the first is not perfectly clear, but of the\nsecond, which is very explicit, we give the most important passage: \u201cAfter\nthe gift of the present days, in the festivals of the land of the silver\nsky, in the shining courts, in the abode of benedictions, in the light of\nthe fields of felicity, may he live an eternal life, sacred in the\npresence of the gods of Assyria.\u201d(43) Also, in a hymn to the god Marduk,\nare traces of a belief in the resurrection of the dead. This deity is\nrepeatedly called \u201cthe merciful, who restores the dead to life.\u201d\n\nThus, then, the Semites believed in the immortality of the soul; but\nmonotheism was far from being a privilege of their race, by which it would\nbe possible to explain the origin of the Judaic religion without\nprovidential intervention and regulation; and thus we see the Chald\u00e6an\npoets combat along the whole line the assertions of M. Renan respecting\ntheir belief and genius alike. Never did facts with more pitiless emphasis\ngive the lie to the learned; and it seems as if the historian of the\nSemetic languages had had a secret presentiment of humiliations which\nwould result to him from a more generally extended study of Assyriology,\nwhen at its outset, about fifteen years ago, he attacked it with a\ndetermination which has not been forgotten.(44)\n\nAnother historical fact which may be gathered from the Babylonian epic is\nthe mythological signification of the signs of the zodiac. The cuneiform\ninscriptions have already shown us that not only was Asia the cradle of\nthe human race, but that it was also the primitive nursery of\ncivilization. It can no longer be doubted that it was from thence, instead\nof, as has been supposed, from Egypt, that Greece herself received\nindirectly her first lessons in the arts, as it was also from thence that\nshe received her metals. It is equally in Chald\u00e6a that we find the origin\nof astronomy and of the zodiacal signs; the nomenclature of the latter, as\nit remains at the present day, differing in no essential point from that\nestablished by the Babylonian astronomers, although its value and\nsignification have hitherto been very obscure. This obscurity has been\ndissipated by _The Poem of Izdubar_, which shows that the ancient Assyrian\nmythology bestowed on the signs their figures and their names. The myths\nrelating to each of the months formed the subjects of the twelve episodes\nof the poem. Thus, for instance, the second narrated the capture of the\nwinged bull; and the second month is designated as \u201cthe month of the\npropitious bull,\u201d and has Taurus for its sign. Again, the sixth song\nrelated the marriage of Istar with Izdubar, and began with the goddess\u2019\nmessage to the hero: the sixth month is called \u201cthe month of the message\nof Istar,\u201d and has for its sign the archeress, of which we have made\nVirgo, the virgin, who, according to the attestation of the prism of\nAssurbanipal, was the goddess Istar herself. The eleventh tablet is\nconsecrated to the god Bin, \u201cthe inundator\u2014he who pours abroad the rain,\u201d\nand the sign of that month is the shedder of water, or the vase pouring it\nforth. Thus crumbles away the whole chronological scaffolding raised by\nthe school of Dupuis, according to whom the zodiacal signs were only to be\nexplained as having direct relation to agricultural labors, and the phases\nof the seasons to be regarded in reference to the productions of the\nearth\u2014an interpretation which made it necessary to withdraw the origin of\nman to an enormously distant period of the past, in order to reach a time\nin which, owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the presence of the\nsun in the sign Taurus should coincide with the season of ploughing. All\nthese calculations were equally fanciful with those founded on the famous\nzodiac of Denderah, and it is now ascertained beyond all reasonable doubt\nthat the zodiacal signs have a religious or rather mythological, and not\nan agricultural, origin.\n\n\u2014The above is in great part translated from an article by M. Gregoire in\nthe _Revue des Questions Historiques_, for April, 1874.\n\n\n\n\nNew Publications.\n\n\n LIFE OF ANNE CATHARINE EMMERICH. By Helen Ram. London: Burns &\n Oates. 1874. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n\nMany of our readers must have read that part of the record of Catharine\nEmmerich\u2019s visions by Clement Brentano which has been translated into\nEnglish. Those who have been pleased and edified by them will be delighted\nwith this life of the holy and highly favored ecstatic virgin. It is a\ncharming and wonderful life, especially that portion which relates the\nhistory of Anne Catharine\u2019s miraculous infancy and childhood. The volume\nmakes one of F. Coleridge\u2019s series, which we have frequently had occasion\nto praise. We have been surprised to see in the pages of a book issued\nunder the supervision of so accurate and careful an editor a number of\ninaccuracies in style and typographical errors.\n\n\n BRIC\u2010A\u2010BRAC SERIES\u2014NO. 2: ANECDOTE BIOGRAPHIES OF THACKERAY AND\n DICKENS. New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1874.\n\n\nThese recollections and anecdotes of the two favorite English writers of\nfiction are very readable, and those which relate to Thackeray especially\ninteresting.\n\n\n THE YOUNG CATHOLIC\u2019S ILLUSTRATED SCHOOL SERIES, comprising: The\n Young Catholic\u2019s Illustrated Primer, Speller, First Reader, Second\n Reader, Third Reader, and Fourth Reader. New York: The Catholic\n Publication Society, 9 Warren St. 1874.\n\n\nEvery effort which is likely, in any way, to help on the great work of\nCatholic education, has of course our entire sympathy. Humanly speaking,\nthe destiny of the church in the United States is to be determined by the\neducation which we give to our children, and the almost universal\nrecognition of this truth by the Catholics of America is, we are\npersuaded, the most certain evidence that we have really made progress. It\nis only within a comparatively recent time that we have come to fully\nrealize the inevitable and fatal results of allowing our children to\nfrequent the public schools, and to thoroughly understand that the common\u2010\nschool system of education, based, as it is, upon the implied assumption\nof the untruth of positive religion, logically and in fact leads to\ninfidelity or to what is scarcely less an evil\u2014religious indifference. The\nchurch without the school\u2010house is incomplete, and can at best do but half\nwork; and we consequently find that almost all of our bishops are now\nbeginning to demand that every parish shall have its parochial school.\n\nWe have been at some pains to examine the returns made by the different\ndiocesan authorities to the publishers of the _Catholic Almanac_, and we\nfind that last year there were in the whole country about three hundred\nand eighty thousand children attending our Catholic schools. This is\nprobably less than half the number of Catholic children of school age in\nthe United States; still, we are already doing enough to show that\nCatholic primary education must be recognized as one of the institutions\nof the country, and that those who have control of it should set to work\nwithout delay to give it a thorough organization. It is well to teach our\npeople that the public schools are dangerous to the faith and morals of\ntheir children; it is far better to render them useless by bringing our\nown up to the standard of excellence which the more abundant means and\nopportunities of the state have enabled it to give to its educational\nestablishments. There are, we know, many parochial schools which are in\nevery respect equal to those of the state; but under the present system\neverything is left to the zeal and energy of the pastor. What we want is a\nsystem which will cause every parochial school to come up to the\nrequirements of a prescribed standard of excellence. In a word, the\nnecessity of the times demands the organization of Catholic education.\n\nEach diocese should have its school boards and its official examiners and\nvisitors. Annual diocesan school reports should be published, accompanied\nby remarks on the defects observed in the practical management of the\nschools and in the methods of teaching.\n\nOut of these diocesan school boards and school reports in due time a\nnational Catholic school system would grow into vigorous life. More of\nthis another time; at present we are glad to take note of the greater\ndesire for excellence in our elementary schools, shown by the demand for\nimproved class\u2010books.\n\nAs our system of education is distinctively Catholic, it of course\nrequires Catholic text\u2010books\u2014books composed with a special view to the\nprinciples which underlie the Catholic theory of pedagogy.\n\nThis truth has been recognized by the bishops of the United States, who,\nboth in the First and Second Plenary Councils of Baltimore, made this one\nof the subjects of their thought.\n\nThat The Catholic Publication Society, which has done so much to elevate\nthe tone of our literature, has felt authorized to begin the issue of a\ncomplete series of such works, is undoubtedly an indication of the general\nfeeling among Catholics of the want of improved class\u2010books, especially\nfor our elementary schools, which are by far the most important, since\nthey more directly concern the welfare of the masses of our people.\n\nWhilst we are grateful for what has been done in this matter, we cannot\nshut our eyes to the many defects of most of the text\u2010books now in use. We\nhave before us the Young Catholic\u2019s Illustrated Primer, Speller, First,\nSecond, Third, and Fourth Readers; and we have read and examined them with\nconscientious care, and we have at the same time compared them with\nsimilar publications of other houses, and we therefore feel competent to\nspeak of their merits, if not with authority, at least with knowledge.\nThat they should be superior to any other books of the kind is only what\nwe had the right both to expect and to demand, and that they are has\nalready been generally recognized by the Catholic press of the country.\n\nIn the choice and arrangement of the matter we discern admirable good\nsense and tact; in the illustrations, which are very numerous and nearly\nall original, being explanatory of the text, excellent taste; whilst in\nthe mechanical execution we perceive the skilful workmanship that usually\ncharacterizes the books of The Catholic Publication Society.\n\nThe series is graded in strict accordance with scientific principles of\neducation, and combines all that is important in the word and phonic\nmethods of teaching, without, however, excluding the _a, b, c_ drill.\nBooks must always remain the indispensable instruments for imparting\ninstruction in school, and hence it is of the greatest moment that the\npupil should from the very start be attracted to them. Most children enter\nschool eager to learn; the craving for knowledge is a divine instinct\nimplanted in their hearts by the Author of their being, which they have\nalready in a thousand ways sought to satisfy by their fruitless efforts to\npenetrate the mystery of beauty with which Nature surrounds them. When\nthey enter school this intellectual activity should be stimulated, not\nrepressed. The books first placed in their hands should be simple,\noffering many attractions and few difficulties, presenting to their minds\nunder new forms the objects with which observation has already rendered\nthem familiar, and which they now first learn to associate with printed\nwords. These truths have been felt and acted upon by the compilers of the\n\u201cYoung Catholic\u2019s Series,\u201d which, in simplicity, in correct gradation, in\nbeauty and attractiveness, far surpasses anything of the kind that has yet\nbeen offered to the Catholic English\u2010speaking public.\n\nAnother truth which can never be lost sight of in Catholic education is\nthat religion should be the vital element of the whole process of\ninstruction.\n\n\u201cGive me a lesson in geography,\u201d said Mr. Arnold, \u201cand I will make it\n_religious_.\u201d This is what Catholics desire: that the light of religion\nshould burnish as with fine gold all human knowledge. Indeed, in primary\neducation religion is almost the only subject of real thought, the only\npower able to touch the heart, to raise the mind, and to evoke from\nbrutish apathy the elements of humanity, and more especially the reason.\nAs religion is the widest and deepest of all the elements of civilization,\nit ought to be the substratum and groundwork of all popular education.\n\n\u201cPopular education,\u201d says Guizot, \u201cto be truly good and socially useful,\nmust be fundamentally religious.\u201d\n\nIn the compilation of text\u2010books this is precisely the point which demands\nthe greatest amount of good sense and the most consummate tact. Religion\nmust run through the whole fabric like a thread of gold. It must form the\natmosphere in which the pupil breathes; it must give coloring to\neverything, and everything must in one way or another be made to prove and\nexplain its dogmas, and yet there must be no cant, no attempt at\npreaching, no dull moralizing, and above all no stupidity.\n\nTo accomplish all this, our readers will readily believe, is not an easy\ntask, and yet we have no hesitation in saying that if they will take the\ntrouble to examine thoroughly the \u201cYoung Catholic\u2019s Series,\u201d they will\nagree with us in the opinion that it can stand the test of even this\nstandard of excellence.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nWe learn that the Holy Father has sent a letter of commendation to the\nwriter of \u201cItalian Confiscation Laws\u201d in THE CATHOLIC WORLD for Oct.,\n1873, and ordered a translation of the article.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CATHOLIC WORLD. VOL. XX., NO. 116.\u2014NOVEMBER, 1874.\n\n\n\n\nChurch Chant _Versus_ Church Music.\n\n\nAn interesting colloquy took place in our mind as we finished the perusal\nof the paper entitled \u201cChurch Music\u201d which appeared in the August and\nSeptember numbers of THE CATHOLIC WORLD. We transcribe it as faithfully as\nour memory serves us.\n\nSCENE\u2014_The cloister of a Benedictine monastery. Time, Anno Domini 1000. A\nnumber of monks rehearsing for a festival._\n\nGREGORIUS, _the choir\u2010master dictating from an open Gradual_. \u201cListen, my\nbrothers all. To\u2010morrow is the festival of S. Polycarp the martyr and the\nname\u2010day of our good father, the abbot. On such a joyous festival we must\nnot fail to make his heart right glad with our chanting. Let us begin the\nIntroit. (_Sings._) \u2018Gaudeamus omnes in Domino, diem festum\ncelebrantes.\u2019 \u201d\n\n(_All the monks repeating in chorus_) \u201cGaudeamus omnes in Domino, diem\u2014\u201d\n\n(_They are interrupted by a loud knocking at the floor leading from the\ncloister. Brother Gregorius, on opening it, is confronted by an aged\nstranger with a long, white, flowing beard, bearing in his hand a roll of\nprinted music, on which the words __\u201c__Boston,__\u201d__ __\u201c__Ditson__\u201d__ and\nthe date __\u201c__1874__\u201d__ can be discerned._)\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cSalve, frater.\u201d\n\nAGED STRANGER. \u201cProf. Hubanus, at your service; and having come from a\ngreat distance, and happily being born at a much later date, I guess you\nwill find my services on this eve of your joyous festival of some value,\nfor I am well acquainted with all the best Masses published. By the way,\nis one of the brethren lately departed this life?\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS (_with astonishment_). \u201cNo, God be praised! Brother Augustine\nyonder did leave the infirmary vacant this morning, thanks to Our Blessed\nLady, that no voice might be wanting in the choir on the morrow; but\nwherefore the question, good domne Hubanus?\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cBecause I heard you but just now rehearsing such a sorrowful, in\nfact, so lugubrious, a _morceau_\u2014an Offertory piece, I presume, for a\nRequiem Mass\u2014that I supposed you were getting up the music for some such\noccasion.\u201d\n\n(_The monks regard the aged stranger with no little surprise, mingled with\ncuriosity._)\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cWe must have made indeed sad work of it in our rehearsing.\nWorthy Hubanus, it was the _Gaudeamus_ you heard.\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cThe _Gaudeamus_, eh? (_Aside._ I don\u2019t remember seeing that in\nDitson\u2019s catalogue. I wonder what it is. _To Gregorius._) Would you mind\nrepeating it once more?\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cWith pleasure. Sing, my brothers.\u201d (_They sing the whole\nIntroit._)\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cAh! fine; quite solemn! A Gregorian chant, I perceive. A very\nplaintive movement. The _finale_ has an exceedingly mournful effect. In D\nminor, is it not? Still, for a Requiem Offertory I think Rossini\u2019s _Pro\nPeccatis_, or Gounod\u2019s _Ave Maria_, or \u2018Angels ever Bright and Fair,\u2019 for\na change, would please the congregation better.\u201d\n\nALL THE MONKS. \u201cPlaintive! Our _Gaudeamus_ mournful! Calls an Introit an\nOffertory _piece_! Like a Requiem Offertory indeed! An _Ave Maria_ for\nthat too! What does he mean by D minor? (_Blessing themselves._) Ab omni\nmalo, libera nos, Domine!\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cOh! beg pardon. That is an Introit, is it? Indeed! But, as I\nsaid, I have the honor to be born at a much later date than yourselves,\nand we don\u2019t bother ourselves with singing those things in my day and\ncountry. We bring out the finest music, however, in our choir of the\nChurch of S. Botolph, in the United States, that you can hear. I\u2019m the\norganist and director.\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cNot sing the Introit! Why, good domne Hubanus, our grand and\njoyous festival on the morrow would be robbed of one of its chief features\nif we failed to sing the _Gaudeamus_\u2014I mean _the Gaudeamus_ that you have\njust heard.\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201c \u2018De gustibus non est disputandum.\u2019 Hem! excuse my indulging in\nthe classics; those old Latin fellows say a good deal in a few words, you\nknow. But you don\u2019t seriously mean to say that such monotonous\nstuff\u2014excuse my plain speaking on your plain singing\u2014is fit for a joyous\nfestival? As my friend, Dr. \u2014\u2014, says in his late paper on \u2018Church Music,\u2019\n\u2018to hear Gregorian chant for a long time, and nothing else, becomes\nextremely monotonous, and burdens the ear with a dull weight of sound not\nalways tolerable.\u2019 He says, moreover, that \u2018this is admitted by all who in\nseminaries and monasteries have been most accustomed to hear it.\u2019 \u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cYour learned friend did not seek _our_ judgment, I assure you,\nand I am at a loss to know who could have made so silly an admission to\nhim.\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cBut do you not \u2018resort to every device,\u2019 as he says again, \u2018to\nescape its monotony on festival days, by harmonies on the chant which are\nout of all keeping with it,\u2019 and so forth?\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201c_We_ do not, I trust. What little harmony we sing is in strict\nkeeping with the mode of the chant; and as to escaping anything, we know\nthe rubrics, domne Hubanus, and respect them, and, what is more, we\nobserve them.\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cOn that score I have the advantage of you; for it doesn\u2019t\nrequire much knowledge of what you call rubrics to bring out a Mass and\ngrand Vespers with us. However, this question of plain chant is settled\nlong ago. It ought to have been settled long before you were born. For, as\nDr. \u2014\u2014 continues in his paper, \u2018No one will deny the appropriateness and\nimpressiveness of plain chant on certain solemn occasions, especially\nthose of sorrow; but it is confessedly unequal to the task of evoking and\nexpressing the feelings of Christian joy and triumph.\u2019 Ah! Brother\nGregorius, you should have been born later.\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cThen we monks, and the generations of the faithful throughout\nthe world, have for the past thousand years been shut out from the\nfeelings of Christian joy and triumph, have we? Verily, either we or you\ncan have known very little of one or of the other, as the observation of\nyour learned doctor may happen to be true or not. Did the church put a lie\ninto the mouths of her cantors when she bade them sing, \u2018Repleatur os meum\nlaude tua, alleluia; ut possim cantare, alleluia; gaudebunt labia mea, dum\ncantavero tibi, alleluia, alleluia\u2019?\u201d(45)\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cYou are a trifle sarcastic, Brother Gregorius; but I willingly\npardon it, for I\u2019m a plain\u2010spoken man myself, and call a spade a spade.\nBesides, you know, you can always fall back on the \u2018De gustibus\u2019\u2014a\nquotation I often find very convenient; but I warrant me your _prima\ndonna_ doesn\u2019t find much satisfaction in exhibiting her fine soprano on\nyour dull chant, which you must confess, with Dr. \u2014\u2014, \u2018is of limited, very\nlimited, range,\u2019 and in my opinion as poor in expression as a kettle\u2010\ndrum.\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cI crave your pardon, worthy sir. You are a stranger and quite\naged\u2014\u201d\n\nHUBANUS (_interrupting_). \u201cEighteen hundred and seventy\u2010four.\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS (_continuing_)\u2014\u201cas the length and whiteness of your beard\nproclaim, while we have only the experience of one thousand years, the\nlessons of the church, and the _taste_ as well as the examples of the\nsaints to profit by; but we must confess that of a _prima donna_ we have\nnever yet heard.\u201d\n\nALL THE MONKS (_very decidedly_). \u201cNever!\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cNever heard of a _prima donna_! Why, when _were_ you born? I\nmean, of course, the chief lady soprano who sings in the choir.\u201d\n\n(_Here all the monks burst out laughing._)\n\nGREGORIUS (_having got his breath_). \u201cCome, come, my ancient stranger,\nthat explains all. We knew you must be \u2018chaffing\u2019 us, from the very first,\nwith your \u2018mournful _Gaudeamus_\u2019 and your never singing Introits or\nobeying the rubrics and the rest. Ha! ha! Truly, a \u2018chief lady in the\nchoir\u2019\u2014_prima donna_, I think you named such a mythical personage\u2014was only\nneeded to cap the climax of your excellent joke.\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cJoke! I\u2019m not joking at all. _We_ have ladies in our\nchoir\u2014(_aside_) and it\u2019s no joke to manage them either\u2014(_to Gregorius_)\nand pay them good salaries, as you must; for without that, you know, you\nnever _can_ have good music.\u201d\n\n(_Here the laughing of the monks suddenly subsided, followed by loud and\nangry whispers, of which the __ word __\u201c__heretic__\u201d__ was unmistakably\nheard. Brother Gregorius interposed._) \u201cJudge not too hastily, good\nbrothers. True, no church which oweth obedience to our Holy Father; the\nPope, and which hath a right therefore to call itself Catholic, did ever\nyet permit women to sing in church choirs; but what she might have done in\nthis matter in the country from which this aged stranger comes\u2014be it ever\nso contrary to all the rubrics and traditions known unto us\u2014we will the\nbetter learn from his own lips. Women, then, good domne Hubanus, do sing\nin the choir in the Catholic churches of your strange land, standing,\nperchance, beside the men\u2010singers?\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cWhere else would they stand? You see we put the sopranos and\ntenors on one side, and the altos and basses on the other.\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS (_scratching his shaven crown in great perplexity_). \u201cWe have\nyet to learn many wonderful things! Canst tell me, worthy Hubanus, how\ncomes it? Does your learned friend, Dr. \u2014\u2014, speak of this matter in his\ncelebrated \u2018paper\u2019? Doubtless he mentions some decree of the Sacred\nCongregation of Rites which hath allowed this\u2014this (_another scratch_)\nunheard\u2010of novelty?\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cI cannot remember that he made any allusion to it. In fact, I\nfancy that he would rather _not_, and I am glad he didn\u2019t. But where\u2019s the\nuse of making a fuss over it? Haven\u2019t women got voices as well as men, and\nwhat did the Lord give them voices for, if he did not intend them for\nuse?\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cIn the choir?\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cIn the choir, or out of the choir, what\u2019s the difference?\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cDo the rubrics allow it?\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201c_Ma foi!_ I do not know. (_Aside._) I hope they do, if old\nfogies like you are going to stir up _that_ question. (_To Gregorius._) No\nlady\u2010singers! If that were to happen, my occupation, as well as theirs,\nwould be like Othello\u2019s\u2014gone. For hark you, Brother Gregorius, although I\nknow but little of your old\u2010fashioned, barbarous chant\u2014can\u2019t read a note\nof it, to tell the truth\u2014if women\u2010singers are banished from the choir,\nmusic goes with them. The music I like requires the female voice. I\nwouldn\u2019t waste my time with a parcel of boys and on such music as they can\nsing.\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cWhat music is this of which you speak so often? Hath the\nchurch adopted a new style of melody which is not chant?\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cNo, not adopted precisely, but there is a new music\u2014everybody\nknows it\u2014written by Mozart, Haydn, Mercadante, Peters, and several others,\nwhich organists and choirs make use of in our day. Some prefer one, some\nanother, according to taste. \u2018De gustibus,\u2019 you know.\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cYet tell me\u2014for here the strangeness of your news almost\nsurpasses belief\u2014how _dare_ the organists and choirs make use of _any_\nmelody in accompanying the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and absolving the\nDivine Office which has not been adopted, or at least distinctly\nsanctioned, by holy church, to whom it appertains to dispose the ordering\neven of the most minute rubric in these important matters concerning the\ndue praise of God and the sure edification of the people?\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cAll I can say is, we do it. It is tolerated in some places, and\nmy friend in his paper quotes some \u2018Instructions\u2019 which the cardinal vicar\nin Rome issued to his own clergy to prove the toleration; but, to my\nthinking, they sound very much like the careful mother\u2019s permission to her\nboy who asked leave to learn to swim\u2014\u2018Certainly, my child, but don\u2019t you\nnever go near the water, leastways any water that is over your ankles.\u2019 \u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cI think I understand, for I have heard our good father, the\nabbot, say that \u2018he who would be well carried must not drive with too\nstiff a rein\u2019; and my holy novice\u2010master, Father Ambrose\u2014to whose soul may\nGod grant rest!\u2014did oft chide my hasty judgment upon my fellow\u2010novices,\nsaying in his sweet way, and after the manner of his wise speech, \u2018Thou\nwouldst _re_form monks, good Brother Gregorius, before they are formed.\nAll they need is a little _instruction_.\u2019 At present every one is well\npleased with your music?\u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cOh! that is quite another question. Dr. \u2014\u2014 himself does not seem\nto think so, for he says in his paper: \u2018In consequence of the failure of\nmodern composers to meet the requirements of Catholic devotion, though\ntheir music has been introduced into our churches and given every chance\nof trial, complaints against it are heard on every side. We grumble about\nit in our conversations; we write against its excesses in the public\njournals; bishops complain of it in pastoral letters; provincial councils\nare forced to issue decrees about it; the Sovereign Pontiffs themselves\nnot unfrequently raise their voices, sometimes in warning, sometimes in\nthreats\u2014in a word, the _evil_ seems to have attracted a good deal of\nattention.\u2019 \u201d\n\nALL THE MONKS. \u201cAb omni malo, libera nos, Domine!\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cHis account of your _music_\u2014which you seem, nevertheless, to\nprize so much more highly than our dear holy _chant_, which hath the\nundoubted sanction of the church\u2014gives pretty plain evidence that the\nchurch hath not adopted it in any wise. It rather suggests the thought\nthat she would gladly be rid of it altogether, abstaining, however, like\nFather Ambrose, from reforming musicians before they are formed, and\nresolving, as he did often pleasantly say, to my comfort, \u2018Thou shalt see,\nBrother Gregorius, that I shall _make no change in our holy Rule_.\u2019 \u201d\n\nHUBANUS. \u201cOne would think you were born later, after all; for it would\nappear that our Holy Father, Pius the Ninth\u2014pity you haven\u2019t lived to know\nhim, Brother Gregorius, for he is the dearest pope that has ruled the\nchurch since the days of S. Peter\u2014is in the van among the leaders of the\n\u2018Gregorian movement,\u2019 since a little while ago he made a decree that the\nGregorian chant should be taught in all the ecclesiastical schools of the\nstates of the church, _to the exclusion of every other kind of\nmusic_\u2014\u2018Cantus Gregorianus, omni alio rejecto, tradetur.\u2019 You see he\nwishes to get the Roman priests educated up to it\u2014Rome rules the world\u2014and\nthe thing is done. \u2018Othello\u2019s occupation is gone!\u2019 But how in the world we\nshall ever get up a Christmas or an Easter Mass that is fit to listen to\nwhen that day comes is more than I can tell.\u201d\n\nGREGORIUS. \u201cDespair not, good Hubanus. Remain with us past the morrow, and\nthou shalt hear a holy Mass and solemn Vespers which will warm the cockles\nof thy heart, chanted in strains of melody that belie neither the\nsentences of joyful praise which are uttered nor the exultation which doth\nlift the hearts of the brethren to heaven, and fill the festival hours\nwith a divine gladness. (_To the monks._) Brothers, let us rehearse the\n_Gloria in Excelsis_.\u201d\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nAs the curtains of our memory dropped upon the scene we have just been\npresent at, our eyes caught sight again of the sentence quoted by Prof.\nHubanus: \u201cIn consequence of the failure of modern composers to meet the\nrequirements of Catholic devotion\u201d\u2014which _failure_ is so utter that, in\nthe judgment of the same writer, he \u201cthinks it no exaggeration to say\nthat, if all their compositions, except a very few, were burned, or should\notherwise perish, the church would suffer no loss.\u201d\n\nBut what of the figured musical compositions of those musicians who may in\nour time be honored with the title of \u201cancient,\u201d such as Palestrina and\nhis imitators? The music of this style forms, we are told, the staple of\nwhat is commonly heard in S. Peter\u2019s. The writer of the article we allude\nto evidently believes any attempt to make such music popular would be no\nless a failure. The intricacy of the style, the exceeding difficulties\nattendant upon its artistic execution, and its restricted vocal character,\nare \u201cfatal\u201d objections.\n\nWe fully agree with him. In our former articles on this subject (THE\nCATHOLIC WORLD, December, 1869, and February and March, 1870) we not only\npronounced modern figured music to be in practice a failure as _church_\nmusic, but intended also to be understood as asserting that the cause of\nthis failure lay chiefly in the melodious form of such music\u2014the necessary\nresult of a tonality essentially sensuous, which renders it, despite every\neffort of the artist, intrinsically unsuitable for the expression of the\n\u201cprayer of the church.\u201d That there is _prayerful_ music we do not deny,\nbut it will never obtain any more positive sanction from the church than\nshe gives to the hundred and one sentimental \u201cprayers\u201d and turgid\n\u201clitanies\u201d which fill the pages of our \u201clargest books of devotion\u201d _ad\nnauseam_, and are equally supposed by the uneducated Catholic and the\nignorant Protestant to be the masterpieces of Catholic musical and\nliturgical art.\n\nWe did not think it necessary, writing as we did for a special class of\nreaders, to explain the distinguishing characteristics of the church\u2019s\n\u201cprayer,\u201d being, as our learned friend says, fourfold\u2014latreutic,\nimpetratory, propitiatory, and eucharistic. To us the church was not\nwanting in wisdom in the adoption alone of plain chant to express her\ndivine prayer, whether it happen to be latreutic, impetratory,\npropitiatory, or eucharistic. She never made any distinction that we know\nof. But our learned friend, while he cannot help but admit that for the\npurposes of adoration, propitiation, and supplication it is not only all\nthat could be desired, but is also better than any other melody, denies,\nwith an _ipse dixit_, its capability of expressing praise and\nthanksgiving. Argument does not seem to be worth seeking. \u201cPlain chant,\u201d\nhe says, \u201cis confessedly unequal to the task of evoking and expressing the\nfeelings of Christian joy and triumph.\u201d And again: \u201cIt certainly must\nborrow from figured music the triumphant strains of praise and\nthanksgiving.\u201d\n\nNeither one nor the other. We confess to nothing of the kind. And\nalthough, by the rule of argumentation, we are not called upon to prove a\nnegative, we refer to the response good Brother Gregorius has already\nmade, and would furthermore ask if the _Te Deum_, the _Exultet_, the\n_Preface_ for Easter Sunday, the _Alleluia_ of Holy Saturday, or the\n_Lauda Sion_, are confessedly unequal to the task assigned them?\n\nAs far as the question has any practical importance, we feel that not\nanother word need be said. Plain chant is in lawful possession, and cannot\nbe ousted by personal caprice or taste, nor by gratuitous assumptions of\nits inability to answer the end proposed by the wise authority of the\nchurch; still less by a proposed substitution of a system which, after\nthree centuries of vain efforts to supplant the rightful possessor, is\ndeclared, even by its own friends, to be \u201ca failure,\u201d and the majority of\nits painfully\u2010produced works fit only to be consigned to the flames.\n\nWe have, however, a question of more merit to discuss. If modern music has\nfailed to meet the requirements of Catholic devotion, it will be not a\nlittle interesting to examine into the true cause of this failure. It will\nbe found to lie in its melodic form (not in the use of harmony), which\ncame into being with the introduction of the chord of the diminished\nseventh and the substitution of the instrumental, factitious scales called\nmajor and minor for the four natural vocal, authentic scales and their\nfour correlative plagal scales. Like seeks like, and as this chord of the\nseventh was an inspiration of sentimental, languishing, passional feeling,\nthe new music sought its language in poetry, and chiefly in lyric poetry,\nin which every sort of human passion finds smooth expression; and as this\nlatter is divided into regular feet, with recurring emphasis and cadence,\nmusic soon found itself set to time. Its melody became measured. Pegasus\nfound himself in harness. To express the sublime, the heroic, was only\npossible now by knocking down the bars, putting it all _ad libitum_, and\ncalling the phrase _recitative_; and as the passage from the sublime to\nthe ridiculous is proverbially short, the composition of many of these\nrecitatives, in their leaping intervals and startling contrasts, vividly\nremind one of Pegasus let loose to scamper and roll unbridled in the open\nfields.\n\nThe invention and perfection of musical instruments are coincident with\nthe rise and progress of the system of melody known as \u201cmodern music,\u201d the\norgan and piano holding the mastery. To these are due, in great measure,\nthe universal cultivation of the modern tonality, and the consequent loss\nof appreciation of the tonality of the ecclesiastical modes. It is heard\nin the lullaby at the cradle\u2019s side, whistled by boys in the streets, sung\nby children in popular melodies and hymns at school, confirmed by all the\nconcerts given by orchestras in halls, theatres, and public meetings;\nevery young lady strums it forth from her piano, every organist modulates\nit in church, while all bells, from thousands upon thousands of churches,\njangle it forth from one end of Christendom to the other. That the church\nhas been able to withstand the pressure of all this, and still dares to\ncommand her priests to chant \u201cper omnia s\u00e6cula s\u00e6culorum\u201d to her own\nancient mode, is, even in that simple and significant sentence, a proof of\nher divine strength to resist the most alluring seductions and powerful\nonslaughts of the world, and a note of calm defiance to its \u201cfashion which\npasseth away.\u201d\n\nWe are now prepared to enter into a critical examination of the essential\ncharacter of music as distinguished from plain chant. In the first place,\nwe find, as we have already noted, that it is measured in its melody\u2014that\nis, it is written, as it is said, in _time_; and, as a consequence of its\nlyrical movement, it became equally subjected to certain laws of\nversification and of phraseology corresponding to the stanza. When\nmusicians began to write for the language of the church, and to set the\nsublime prose of her _Gloria in Excelsis_, _Credo_, etc., to its form of\nmelody, this supposed necessity of making musical stanzas compelled the\napplication of what is known in music as the theme, on which certain\nfanciful variations were built, shorter or longer, as the musician deemed\nnecessary to complete his \u201cwork,\u201d altogether forming a sort of Procrustean\nbed, on which the sacred words of the Liturgy were either dismembered or\nstretched by repetition in order to make them fit the melody. To make the\n\u201cwork\u201d fit the words was not to be thought of; whence we judge it well for\nthe peace of Mr. Richardson that Mozart and Haydn have departed this life.\nWe remember, when a boy, long before we had made more than a child\u2019s\nacquaintance with the modern \u201cMasses,\u201d squeezing the _Kyrie Eleison_ after\nthis fashion on the framework of one of De Beriot\u2019s celebrated airs for\nviolin and piano, and gave ourselves as much credit for the originality of\nthe \u201cadaptation\u201d as we are willing to give to the man who first of all (to\nthe misfortune of true church chant) tried to compose a musical theme for\nthe same words of prayer. We refer our readers to the late paper on\n\u201cChurch Music\u201d in the August and September numbers of this magazine, and\nto the translation of the _Gloria in Excelsis_ of Mozart\u2019s Twelfth Mass,\nas given in one of our former articles, as proofs of the perfectly\noutrageous extent to which this \u201cadaptation\u201d has already been carried.\n\nNow, we affirm, as a principle, that the expression of the \u201cPrayer of\nsacrifice and of praise,\u201d as we may term the Holy Mass and the recitation\nof the Divine Office, should be consonant with, and conformed to, the\nmanner in which the church directs the celebration of the acts of the\nsame. The celebrant and his ministers, the acolytes and the chorus, do not\nmarch, halt, turn about, or otherwise conduct themselves like soldiers or\nlike puppets on wires, neither do they hop and glide and go through set\nfigures like dancers. Melody in measure is therefore wholly unsuited to\nthe character and spirit of the acts of the performers.\n\nIn connection with the acts of Catholic worship, melody in measure is\ntherefore incongruous, unmeaning, and absurd. For, to put the question\nplainly, if neither celebrant, ministers, chorus, nor people are to\nmarch\u2014to do which, even in her sacred processions, would be shocking and\nprofane\u2014why sing a march? If they are not to waltz, why sing one? If the\nchurch does not want to\n\n\n \u201cMake the soul dance a jig to heaven,\u201d\n\n\nthen, in the name of common sense, why shall Master Haydn be permitted to\noffer the church singers a musical jig? The truth of the matter is that\nsuch measured movements, added to the gymnastic feats of melody which\ncharacterize the phrasing of the greater number of modern \u201cMasses,\u201d are\nignorantly supposed to faithfully express that Christian joy and triumph\nwhich plain chant is quite as ignorantly supposed to be unable to inspire.\n\nLet any one examine the church\u2019s chant, and especially its movement, and\nhe will not fail to be struck with its remarkable consonance with, and the\nsense of exact propriety of, its accompaniment to the movements and\ndemeanor of the sacred ministers and of all who are appointed to assist\nthem in carrying out the sacred functions of divine worship. How majestic\nand dignified, how modest and devout, are its measures! A sort of\ncontinuous procession of sound, resembling now the deep murmurings of the\nwaves of the ocean, now the gentle breathings of the wind, now the\nprolonged echoes of distant thunder, now the soft whispering of the woods\nin summer! Always grave and decorous in its phrasing. Never indulging in\ntrivial antics or in meretricious languishing and voluptuous undulations.\nTime and arithmetical measures do not straiten and confine its heavenly\ninspirations, for the thoughts of the soul, and chiefly the thoughts of\nprayer, do not move like clockwork. One does not adore five minutes,\npropitiate two minutes, supplicate half a minute, and give thanks ten\nseconds; and to do either in 2/4 3/4 or 6/8 time would be the height of\nthe ridiculous. A friend tells us that the only time he ever had to do\neither at High Mass was during the performance of that part of the score\ncalled \u201c_point d\u2019orgue_.\u201d Is it any wonder that music for the church is a\nfailure, and that plain chant still holds its own?\n\n_Secondly._ The melody of modern music is essentially mechanical. Formed\nas it has been upon improved instrumentation, it is neither more nor less\nthan a musical performance. The melody is therefore the chief thing; the\nwords and their expression are only secondary. From which, as a necessary\nresult\u2014if the music be worth listening to\u2014the most accomplished vocalists\nthat the pecuniary resources of the church can procure are called in to\nrender the selections. Hence, also, the introduction of women into the\nchoir, contrary to the laws and traditions of the church, the banishment\nof the chorus from the sanctuary, and the erection of the detestable\nProtestant singing\u2010gallery over the doorway of the church. This latter\nflagrant innovation on the proper rubrical disposition of the choir has\nbeen lately specially condemned in the \u201cInstructions\u201d of the cardinal\nvicar at Rome. No one surely will have the hardihood to call modern music\nan \u201cecclesiastical song,\u201d as it should be called or it has no place in the\nchurch. It is the song of professional singers, distinctly a mechanical\nperformance, and open, without the possibility of reform, to the most\nshocking abuses. What organist cannot recall instances in which the male\nand female singers carried on and perfected their courtship in the choir,\nand where in the same holy (?) place eating and drinking were indulged in\nduring the sermon, and the daily newspapers read? The drinking of water or\nthe chewing of tobacco\u2014well, we would like to see the priest who has been\nable to banish either from his singing\u2010gallery. These and other numerous\nirregularities we think ourselves fully justified in adducing as argument\nin this connection, simply _because they exist_, are _common_,\n_notorious_, and are a tolerated incumbrance with the mechanism; and, if\neffectually banished, would leave the said mechanism subject to no little\nfriction and the production of tones of complaint which, whether they\nproceed from unoiled hinges or choirs, are not agreeable, considered as\nmusic.\n\nCompare, again, the character and movement of those upon whom the\nceremonies devolve. They are not at all mechanical, but strictly personal.\nIn the first place, the actors are of a restricted class. They must be\neither men or boys. Women and girls are not permitted to celebrate or\nserve in any capacity at the sacred functions. The services of a graceful\nand intelligent acolyte are exceedingly pleasant and edifying to behold,\nbut the stupidest and most awkward, blundering and unkempt boy would be\npreferable, and must be preferred, before any number of the brightest,\nmost beautiful and quick\u2010witted girls, because he alone possesses the one\npersonal qualification requisite for that office\u2014he is of the male sex.\nIntelligence, beauty, and graceful manners are not employed by the church\nfor their own sake.\n\nAgain, the celebrant must be a priest, the deacon must have received\ndeacon\u2019s orders, and all others who, although laymen, may, as acolytes and\nchoristers, aid the consecrated personages in their duties, are invested\nwith a quasi\u2010ecclesiastical character while in office. No one should ever\ndream of engaging the services of Jews, Protestants, or infidels, or even\nof Catholics whose lives were notoriously bad, or who scandalously\nneglected receiving the sacraments, as our \u201cgallery\u2010choirs\u201d are\nconstituted in many a church in this country.\n\nIn the event of the priest not been able to sing, through any infirmity,\nno layman of the congregation could take his place, although he were the\nfinest singer in the world, the very prince of _c\u00e6remoniarii_, and a\ngreater saint than S. Peter himself.\n\nFrom which considerations it will readily be seen how unsuited music is\nfor the use of such persons acting in such a capacity.\n\nPractically, music is the song of women. We shall show further on that it\nis essentially effeminate. There is music which men and boys can perform,\nit is true, but it is not the genuine article. The want of the female\nvoice for the soprano is always felt; and in some countries where women\nare not yet admitted as church singers, and \u201cchurch music\u201d is highly\nprized, this want is supplied by _castrati_. It is not the song of\necclesiastics. That the use of it is _tolerated_, we know; that the\nsinging of women and _castrati_ in church is also tolerated, we know; but\nthe \u201cInstructions\u201d (we guarantee that nineteen out of twenty would agree\nwith us in saying that \u201cRestrictions\u201d would be their better title) of the\ncardinal vicar on \u201cchurch music,\u201d referred to by the writer of the late\narticles on that subject in THE CATHOLIC WORLD, remind us of the probable\n\u201cinstructions\u201d that would be given if the abuse of female acolytes were to\ncreep in to any great extent. We would find, without doubt, prohibitions\nagainst the wearing of the hair in curls, or _fris\u00e9e_, or _\u00e0 la_\nPompadour, short sleeves, low necks, and crinoline. They would be\ninstructed also, without doubt, to wear a plain black cassock and linen\nsurplice, be shod like men, and let not their courtesies savor of the\n_d\u00e9b\u00fbt_ of actresses upon the stage of a theatre. If these instructions\nwould be faithfully observed _ex animo_, and boys were not extinct as a\nsex in the congregation, we do not think they would very long have any\npractical application.\n\nContrast now the character of plain chant with music as a suitable song\nfor the duly\u2010qualified church singers, from the priest down to the\nhumblest cantor. That it is the only song fit for the consecrated priest\nneeds no argument. Thank God, there is no \u201ctoleration\u201d of \u201cpriests\u2019\nmusic,\u201d \u201csacerdotal solos,\u201d \u201cPrefaces,\u201d and \u201cPater Nosters,\u201d _\u00e0 la_\nMozart, Haydn, Cherubini, or Peters! It is distinguished especially by\nthat gravity of movement, that _modestie ecclesiastique_, in its\nintonation, which becomes the sacerdotal character. Any other melody from\nthe mouth of a priest at the altar would scandalize not only the least\nones of the brethren of Christ, but the greatest also; and however\nterrible the \u201cwoe\u201d our Lord would pronounce upon those who might\nscandalize the latter, we are not left in ignorance of what is reserved\nfor those who fall under his judgment for scandalizing the former. Any one\nwho has had the good fortune of assisting at a Mass chanted by a properly\nvested chorus, in strict Gregorian melody, with organ accompaniment, if\nyou will\u2014that is, nothing more than an accompaniment, as the cardinal\nvicar desires\u2014will assuredly bear testimony that it was not a musical\nperformance\u2014that is, a melodious concert performed for its own sake in any\ndegree\u2014but a religious performance, a chant of priests and the \u201clikes of\nthem,\u201d suggesting nothing of this world\u2019s vanities or luxury, and as\nunlike modern music and its mechanism as the melodious whisperings of an\n\u00e6olian harp are unlike a hand\u2010organ with monkey _obbligato_.\n\nWhat is, to say the least, astonishing, if not lamentable, is to see so\nmany priests devoted with ardor to the study of music, and so many more\nsanctioning and furthering its inroads upon the domain which it behooves\nthem to cultivate, whilst remaining wholly ignorant of the chant, and\nunable to intone the _Gloria in Excelsis_ or to sing a Collect or Gospel\nwithout blundering at every inflection. We see no impropriety in pressing\nthese facts home upon those who are bound by the laws of their profession\nto interest themselves in the claims which Gregorian chant makes upon\nthem, in order that they may decently perform the sacred functions\ncommitted to their care\u2014how sacred one single reflection will show. For\nwhat is the song of the priest? It is not a private performance of his\nown, but rather an inspired expression of the mind of the church, herself\nthe divine voice of God. When she prays and sings, she prays a divine\nprayer, and sings a divine song. God prays and sings within the walls of\nthe church, the New Jerusalem, which has come down like a bride out of\nheaven upon the earth. True, it is the priest who prays and sings; but let\nhim not forget that there is a Voice of supplication which ascends to the\nthrone of the Almighty and Eternal Majesty that is not his, and a song\nwhich sounds sweetly in the ears of the Divine Mercy, and celebrates the\npraises of the Most High, whose melody is not the inspiration of his soul.\n\nThe Divine, Incarnate Victim of Calvary is the Suppliant, and the Son of\nDavid and of Mary is the Singer. And we are told\u2014do our senses not deceive\nus?\u2014that his song is become extremely monotonous, and burdens the ear with\na weight of sound not always tolerable! No, we will not allow in excuse\nthat this sneer of disdain and expression of contempt is only for the\nchorus, and is not meant for the consecrated priest. There is a divine\nunity and faultless harmony in the \u201cprayer\u201d of Jesus Christ as the church\nutters it. It is the seamless garment which clothes his mystic body; who\nshall dare to rend it?\n\nWhat master\u2010mind conceived and executed the magnificent and inimitable\nspectacle which that prayer presents in a solemn Mass and Vespers to the\nminds and hearts of devout worshippers? What cunning artificer devised the\nharmony of a composition so complete? Who breathed into all those prayers\nand anthems, hymns and psalms, Epistles and Gospels from Holy Writ, that\nspirit of devotion and piety, and informed them with those lessons of the\npurest morality and professions of the universal faith of Christendom?\nWhat more than angelic Artist knew how to dye the martyr\u2019s chasuble in\nblood, and transfer the spotless purity of the lily to the stole of the\nconfessor and the virgin; to weave the robes of penance with the violet\u2019s\nmournful hue, and paint the verdure of the grass upon the ferial vesture?\nWho is that heavenly Musician whose soul gave birth to that sweet,\nintellectual, majestic melody espoused so happily to those chosen words of\ndevout contemplation, of lofty praise, of innocent joy, of dolorous\ncompassion, and of sanctified sorrow? We must look to other sources than\nmere human science or artistic skill for a solution of these questions.\nThe mind and hand of a _divine_ Artist must be in that work whose unity\nand harmony the hand of man will not sooner or later disfigure, mutilate,\nreject, or destroy. That artist is the Holy Ghost, who is the Lord and\nLife\u2010giver of the church, in whom the mystic life of Jesus Christ is\nperpetuated by the like ineffable overshadowing which wrought his\nconception in the womb of the Immaculate Virgin\u2014that Spirit of wisdom,\nfrom whom come all those inspirations of genius whose matchless\nproductions and marvellous power are the wonder of the world, the envy of\nthe flesh, and the hate of the devil.\n\nBut, no; we must believe that the divine Artist has failed, \u201cconfessedly\u201d\nfailed, in this one of his masterpieces. Its noblest, highest purpose\nfound no adequate expression. Jesus Christ has been unable to manifest the\njoy and triumph of his Sacred Heart, the sublimest purpose of his\neucharistic life, and his song is fit only to be chanted as a wail over\nthe dead or as groans of penance in sackcloth and ashes!\n\nDo you believe it? We don\u2019t.\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nA Vision.\n\n\nA vision of our Mary, heavenly Queen,\n Appeared to me in silence of the night.\n Around her flowed a stream of golden light\nIn which she stood with sweet, celestial mien\nAnd beauty but before by angels seen.\n With rapture I beheld the bless\u00e8d sight,\n That beamed upon me ravishingly bright;\nAnd while entranced, methought her eyes serene\n Did rest upon me, and a holy spell\nMy being thrilled with ecstasy unknown;\n But darkness soon upon my senses fell,\nThough not before the bliss and joy were shown\n That those enjoy who with her ever dwell\nIn life eternal round the holy throne.\n\n\n\n\nOn The Wing. A Southern Flight. VII. Concluded.\n\n\n\u201cI wish you and Mary would go down to the Vernons, Jane,\u201d said Frank,\ncoming into our room one morning about three weeks after my engagement\nwith Don Emidio. \u201cI did not see Ida; but Elizabeth tells me she is not\nwell, and I believe it all arises from the annoyances to which they have\nbeen exposed through the conduct of the Casinelli. It has grown into a\ncomplete persecution, for people never forgive those they have injured.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are they doing now to vex Ida?\u201d asked Mary.\n\n\u201cI do not understand all the _pros_ and _cons_ of the matter; but I found\nElizabeth rather anxious about Ida, and she could not leave her to walk\nwith me, as she had promised last night.\u201d\n\nThat, of course, was a very serious affair, and one which demanded\nimmediate rectification, at least in Frank\u2019s opinion\u2014as any similar event\nwould have done in the estimation of the other gentleman who so often\nformed one of our small circle; for I had long since found out that I was\nnot to be allowed the privilege of a headache, or any other excuse for\nsolitude, without a rigorous investigation of the merits of the case being\nset on foot by Don Emidio.\n\nOf course Mary and I lost no time in going to Villa Casinelli. We took the\npath that had been cleared through the vineyard, on purpose to save Mary\nthe fatigue of the longer way by the road. The _vigneroli_ had taken great\npains to make this little approach for the \u201cpadre\u2019s friends,\u201d as we were\nalways called; and they had thrown a plank with a fragile hand\u2010rail across\nthe little, rocky stream where they washed the clothes, and which stream\nformed the boundary between the property of the Casinelli and that of\ntheir neighbors. For a short walk it was nevertheless rather a fatiguing\none; for it was up and down all the way, and included one or two short\nflights of stone steps.\n\nIn the early spring the yellow oxalis had covered the ground like a carpet\nembroidered in gold and green. Now the beans had taken the place of the\ngayer blossoms, and filled the air with their sweet perfume.\n\nThe donkey that took the cart full of clean linen twice a week to Naples\nhad his _al fresco_ stable beneath the shade of a venerable fig\u2010tree close\nby\u2014a blessing promised to his betters in Biblical times, and one which I\nam sure he too merited in his degree, and I have no doubt considered the\nfig\u2010tree as his own. Being noisy and loquacious, like all other two or\nfour legged creatures in Naples, he always greeted us with a loud bray\nwhen we passed by.\n\nI do not believe any donkey was ever so fond of expressing his opinions as\nthat particular animal. I had for some time tried to discover whether his\nutterances predicted rain, according to the general belief that asses bray\nwhen it is going to be wet. But not a cloud could be seen, and no rain\nfell for weeks; and certainly this particular ass was by no means\nbarometrical in his utterances.\n\nI sometimes had my fears that, as formerly it had been Paolino\u2019s duty to\nfeed the poor beast, and that now the lad was in our service, perhaps the\nfodder was sometimes forgotten by his young master\u2019s younger sisters, and\nthat the loud, inharmonious greeting he gave us was meant as a perpetual\nprotest against the injustice of which we were indirectly the cause.\n\nWe found Ida suffering from nervous reaction occasioned by the effort to\nappear cheerful and composed under the various annoyances, and by the\nfeeling that a good work had been put an end to by the malice of designing\npeople. In addition to which, her mother was exposed to a variety of\nirritating insults which it was hard for her daughters to bear in\npatience. Mrs. Vernon was exceedingly fond of flowers, and thoroughly\nunderstood the cultivation of a garden. She had taken great pains with the\nvery small enclosure which was allotted to their apartment, and from it\nthe altar and their own rooms had been supplied in abundance. But now, no\nmatter how early in the morning she visited her garden, the Casinelli\u2019s\ngardener had always the advantage of her, and had picked not only the best\nflowers, but even the strawberries, which she had been watching with the\nkind intention of giving them to us. He plainly told her one day, when he\nmet her as he came out of her garden with a basketful of her flowers on\nhis arm, that he had gathered them by his mistress\u2019 special desire. These\nthings were trifles in themselves; but they were a severe trial when they\ncame to be repeated day by day, in one form or another of petty insult and\ndaring impertinence, and generally directed either against Padre Cataldo,\nwho could not revenge his own cause, or against an aged lady in the\nenjoyment of her few pleasures, or, lastly, in attacking the moral\ncharacter of the servants, and trying to spread about unfounded\naccusations. Ida\u2019s strong sense of justice, which amounted to a passion,\nand which made it intolerable to her to see the weak \u201cput upon,\u201d had\nworked her up into a state of nerves injurious to her health. Mary and I\nspent the day with the Vernons, trying to divert their thoughts, and\npreaching that patience which we were far from feeling ourselves.\n\nAbout the time that these troublesome events were occurring we made an\nexcursion to the Carthusian church and monastery of San Martino, which\nstands on the same summit as the Castle of St. Elmo, a little in front of\nit, and facing the bay. It commands a glorious view of the city and all\nthe surrounding country; and the delight of visiting so beautiful a place\ntempered my indignation at the robbery of the government in depriving the\nmonks of their home. Few things of the kind can be more beautiful than the\nchurch, where formerly no woman entered. The walls, floor, and roof are\nentirely composed of marbles of many colors. The altar\u2010rails, or rather\nthe low screen which cuts off the sanctuary\u2014for rails there are none\u2014is\nsculptured _\u00e0 jour_ in white marble, and looks like some exquisite lace\u2010\nwork. The choir behind the altar has also a marble screen of the same\nwonderful open work. There are pictures by Spagnoletto of Moses and Elias\nand the prophets. Nothing could be more appropriate to the austere life of\na Carthusian monk than that the chapel of his monastery should be\ndecorated by such an artist as Spagnoletto. Nor is the choice of subjects\nless appropriate. Strength and depth of coloring; the expression of\nmasculine force in all the forms; bold outlines, deep shadows, and strong\nlights, seem all in harmony with the condition of mind likely to be\neliminated by a life of silence and real, though not apparent, solitude;\nfor the monks, though many, dwelt alone in separate cells. It was a life\nwhich called to mind the stern grandeur of Old Testament prophecies and\nthe ascetic life of the Old Testament prophets; while the richness of the\ndecoration; the elaborate carving\u2014not in a friable material, such as wood,\nbut in enduring marble; the extraordinarily lavish use of precious stones;\nthe minuteness of detail, combined with the unity of plan, are just the\ncharacteristics that we should expect to grow out of the leisure of\nperpetual silence, and the digging deep down into the mines of thought\nconsequent on all but unbroken solitude. It was impossible not to be\nstruck with the whole as the outward growth of the peculiar inner life of\nthe remarkable order to which it had once belonged; and one marvels to\nfind that the extraordinary degree and nature of the beauty it possesses\nhad not addressed itself to the common sense of even a godless government\nas a plea for its continued existence in the hands of those for whom it\nhad been reared. It should also be remembered that connected with this\nlife of leisurely meditation there were great opportunities for deep and\ncontinued study; for the Carthusians are a learned order.\n\nI may perhaps be fanciful in thus tracing the character of the edifice to\nthe tendencies of the order, for it must be owned that the present\nbuilding dates no further back than the middle of the XVIIth century, and\nthat S. Bruno, the founder of the order, probably never foresaw so\nmagnificent an abode for his silent disciples. But those who have observed\nhow, unless thwarted by unfavorable circumstances, every religious order\nin the church stamps its character upon all that pertains to it, will feel\nthat there must have existed a synthesis between the inhabitants of San\nMartino and the place itself, and that the white\u2010robed Carthusians were in\nthe very home which was specially appropriate to them, and in all ways\nsuited their devotional and intellectual tendencies. And in proof of the\nabove reflections it is well to remark that the beautiful pavement of the\nchurch was designed by a Carthusian. We had of course been acquainted with\nmany of the valuable paintings in the monastery, so far as engravings\ncould make us so, and thus we hailed the Deposition from the Cross, by\nSpagnoletto, which is in the sacristy, as an old friend, also the Baptism\nof our Lord, by Carlo Maratta, and many of Vaccaro\u2019s and Cesari\u2019s\npaintings. The sacristy and the chapter\u2010house are equally full of valuable\npictures. It is impossible to exaggerate what must ever be the refining\nand elevating influence of such treasures of art, and such harmony and\nbeauty, combined with a religious vocation of the highest order,\nheightened by the practice of silence and fostered by solitude.\n\nThe cloister breathes the very spirit of peace. The white\u2010marble Doric\ncolumns gleam in the sunshine, and cut the tessellated pavement with the\nblack shadows of their shafts, carrying them up the white wall with the\narches of intense light between. I can imagine the monks learning to know\nthe exact hour of the day by the fall of those shadows without needing to\nconsult the old clock, also with a glaring white face, which is just below\nthe little belfry with its two bells, one large, one small, that the deep\u2010\ntoned toll of one or the sharp, quick tinkle of the other might denote the\nvarious offices and duties to which they summoned the inmates. The\ncloister court is laid out with formal box\u2010hedges enclosing little plots\nof garden ground, and one garden more precious than the others,\n_Gottesacker_,(46) where are sown the mortal remains of the departed\nbrethren, awaiting in the midst of their survivors and successors the day\u2010\ndawn of immortality. There is an iron cross in the centre on a twisted\nwhite\u2010marble pilaster. And the oblong square of this interesting cemetery\nis surrounded by a white\u2010marble balustrade, with skulls carved at\nintervals. In the centre of the court is a marble well of singularly\ngraceful proportions. Around it is a pavement of bricks symmetrically\narranged, but now with the blades of grass and tiny weeds intruding their\ninnocent familiarity where they have no right. Statues of saints, vases\nand balls alternating, run along the entablature of the cloister. We\nlonged for a vision of the old, white\u2010robed inhabitants of this white\nmarble dwelling; and for once I felt not the lack of color, but, on the\ncontrary, perceived a harmony in the white and subdued gray tints,\nrelieved only by the blue sky and green grass. But when we looked out from\nthe _loggia_ on the wide view beneath us, it was not color that was\nwanting. There lay Naples, with its motley buildings, backed by purple\nVesuvius, and the rose\u2010colored cliffs of Sorrento beyond. Nature had used\nall the pigments of her pallet when she painted that lovely scene.\n\nWe paid another visit to a suppressed monastery\u2014that of the\nCamaldoli\u2014before leaving Naples. There is nothing very remarkable in the\nbuilding itself or in the chapel. But the view is at once one of the most\nbeautiful and the most singular I have ever beheld. We had above an hour\u2019s\nride on donkey\u2010back to get there; the carriage taking us no further than\nthe picturesque village of Antignano. The lane up which we wound amid\nyoung chestnut\u2010trees, the remains of what was once a magnificent forest,\nwas at that time in all the verdant beauty of early spring. It was a\nglorious day, and I ought to have enjoyed the ride. But, in the first\nplace, I have a feeling amounting to animosity against a donkey the moment\nI have the misfortune to find myself on his back. I rather like him than\notherwise when cropping thistles by the roadside or in a huckster\u2019s cart.\nI appreciate his patient nature and long\u2010enduring powers when they are\nunconnected with myself. But from the moment I find myself condemned to be\ncarried by him\u2014that I feel his horrid little jogging pace under me, and\nhis utterly insensible mouth within the influence, or I should rather say\n_not_ within the influence, of my reins\u2014a feeling of antipathy to the\nbeast seizes me, and is rendered all the more painful to me that his\nresignation and the long history of his habitual ill\u2010usage fill me with an\nemotion of compassion painfully at variance with my intense dislike of him\nin the character of a steed.\n\nI do not think I ever suffered more in this way than during our ride to\nthe Camaldoli. I was escorted by a half\u2010drunken donkey\u2010boy, of the most\nbrutal disposition towards the unfortunate animal, whom I at once hated\nand pitied. I was furious at the way he behaved to my donkey; while he,\nnot supposing I knew enough Italian to understand his abominable _patois_,\nkept turning all my complaints and reproaches into ridicule to the other\ndonkey men or boys accompanying him. I would gladly have taken the stick\nout of his hands with which he belabored my poor donkey. Indeed, at last I\nsucceeded in doing so; but nothing short of having Emidio with me to apply\nthe stick to the boy instead of the other animal would have sufficed to\nsoothe my irritation. Unfortunately, my future protector, who I felt\ncertain would punch any head I might wish submitted to that process, had\nbeen called away to Rome on business.\n\nThe lane was very narrow, and, even had it been as wide as Piccadilly or\nBroad Street, no doubt our donkeys would equally have considered\nthemselves bound to go in single file. Consequently we were not always\nwithin reach of each other for any mutual assistance; and Frank, whom I\nlonged to call to my aid, was altogether absorbed in taking care of Mrs.\nVernon, to whom this donkey\u2010climbing of a steep mountain\u2010path amounted to\na perilous adventure.\n\nNot many days after, we heard that two or three foreign gentlemen, making\nthe same ascent as ourselves, had been attacked and robbed by these most\nobnoxious donkey\u2010men. I am afraid the observance of law and the moral\ncondition generally of little, out\u2010of\u2010the\u2010way villages like Antignano, in\nthe vicinity of Naples, is as bad as it well can be at the present time.\n\nWhen we reached the summit, on which stands the monastery, we went at once\nto the ridge of the hill to see the view; and I have seldom been more\nstruck by anything of the kind. Naples lay before us, about fifteen\nhundred feet below; but what was so unexpected was the aspect of Mount\nVesuvius, right in front of us, and that of the Monte Somma and a series\nof other mountainous heights of volcanic origin; and far away to the\nApennines, with the wide plains and cities lying in the bright sunshine,\nCaserta, Capua, and all the Campania Felix. On the spot where we stood a\nline straight from the eye would have hit about one\u2010third of the height of\nMount Vesuvius. To the right we could see all the range of mountains to\nSalerno and Amalfi. On the other side were Pozzuoli, Nisita, Ischia, and\nBai\u00e6. I will not multiply names, nor will I heap up epithets in the\nattempt to describe what words cannot tell. In short, I forgot all I had\nsaid in favor of the position formerly occupied by the Carthusians at San\nMartino in my enthusiasm for the superior view once enjoyed by the\nCamaldoli; and had the question been open to me, I believe my vocation to\nthe latter order would have been decided on the spot.\n\nMy donkey\u2010boy had sobered down by the time I had again to trust myself and\nmy steed to his tender mercies, and nothing occurred to mar the enjoyment\nof our long but interesting excursion. It must, however, have been a far\nmore beautiful place before the present government of Italy, by permitting\nthe wholesale destruction of the magnificent trees which formerly clothed\nthe mountain\u2019s sides, had done so much to impair the climate as well as to\ndestroy the beauty of the country. It is a fact in natural history that\ntrees emit warmth in winter as they produce coolness in summer; and\nconsequently that in a latitude like that of Italy they are specially\nbeneficial, as tending to equalize the temperature. It is notorious that\nthe climate of Italy has become hotter in the summer, while it is colder\nin the winter than was the case formerly. The country has also been\nsubject to terrible ravages from mountain torrents, the downward course of\nwhich was formerly intercepted by the grand old trees of immense forests.\nTheir impetuosity was broken and their waters partially absorbed. Now they\ntear down the barren sides of the mountains unchecked, and devastate the\nplains below, to the ruin of the crops and consequent impoverishment of\nthe country. It is the short\u2010sighted custom of the government to let whole\ntracts of mountainous forest\u2010lands, leaving the lessee the liberty of\ncutting down as it may seem good to him; and generally he is a greedy man,\nin a hurry to make a fortune before the present _r\u00e9gime_ shall have come\nto an end, as it must do some day.\n\nI must not leave my readers to suppose that all our excursions and daily\ndrives were on the grandly \u00e6sthetic plan of those I have described. We\nwere not always mythological, classical, or even early\u2010Christian in our\nresearches, our walks or drives. We went shopping about the streets of\nNaples in a thoroughly womanly fashion, and condescended to red and pink\ncoral, amber and tortoise\u2010shell ornaments, with a full appreciation of\ntheir prettiness. The bracelets, earrings, and brooches made out of lava\nnever appeared to me otherwise than as remains of barbarism. Much of the\ncoral\u2010work, though very ingenious, is also in bad taste. But a string of\npink coral beads is always a beautiful ornament, and also always an\nexpensive one. Amber abounds, not of course as a native product, but\nimported from the East. The tortoise\u2010shell is very delicately carved, and\ninlaid with gold, and some of it is extremely pretty. There is also a\ngreat deal of alabaster\u2010work in figures and vases, white and colored.\nNeither Mary nor I could bear it, though we did our best to try and be\ntempted by a shop in the Toledo(47) which was filled with it. It is always\nconnected in my mind with shell ornaments and wool mats. They are things\nthat generally seem to go together, and equally impress me with their\nuselessness and ugliness. I must include in my list of horrors the lava\nand even the terracotta figures of _lazzaroni_ and Neapolitan peasants.\nMary was rather disappointed at not finding shops of old furniture and\n_rococo_. She had collected a variety of pretty and even valuable objects\nwhen she was here many years ago; but now she was told by the Neapolitans\nthat the English and Americans had bought up all there was to be had of\nthat nature. No doubt, however, we might still have found treasures had we\nknown where to look for them. But the days are over when bargains could be\npicked up in Continental towns. All those things have now a real\nmarketable value, and no vendors are ignorant of what that value is. Of\ncourse there are occasional exceptions.\n\nWe went once to a flower\u2010show held in the Villa Reale, the beautiful\npublic promenade which runs by the sea\u2010shore and the Chiaia. I believe it\nwas the first of the kind which had been attempted, and as such was worthy\nof all praise. But, apart from that consideration, it was inferior to most\nof the numerous flower\u2010shows held in the rural districts of England. We\noften drove up and down the Chiaia, which is the name of the fashionable\nstreet of Naples, and along which there is a tan road for the sake of\nhorsemen, who ride backwards and forwards at a furious rate. It is neither\nvery long nor very broad; but the gentlemen who frequent it are evidently\ngreatly impressed with their manly bearing and distinguished horsemanship.\nFor my own part, I prefer a Neapolitan on the driving\u2010box to one in the\nsaddle. They are excellent coachmen and but indifferent horsemen, as all\nmen must be who are deficient in phlegm and in external calm. The horse is\na dignified animal, and demands corresponding dignity in his rider. We\nused often to stop at the _caffe_ in the Via Reale, and refresh ourselves\nwith \u201cgranite\u201d\u2014that is, a glass of snow sweetened, and with the juice of\nfresh lemons squeezed into it.\n\nAs a rule, I cannot say that the shops in Naples are particularly good,\nand certainly they are very dear. The same may be said of provisions. And\nas the taxes are every year on the increase, this misfortune is not likely\nto be remedied. I frequently used to walk through the generally narrow and\nalways crowded streets of Naples accompanied by Frank, and as often\nEmidio, who had arranged some point of meeting with my brother, would come\ndown from the heights of Capo di Monte, where his lovely villa stood, and\njoin us in our saunter through the busy city. I have seen him stop where a\npiece of rope was hung near a tobacconist\u2019s shop\u2010door, or at the corner of\nthe street, and light his cigar from the smouldering end which had been\nset fire to for that purpose. I have never seen a burning rope in the\nstreets in England or in France for the accommodation of smokers.\n\nWe visited most of the churches, but they were as nothing to me after the\nchurches in Rome. The flower\u2010boys soon got to know us as we walked and\ndrove about, and the most lovely roses and bunches of orange\u2010blossoms\nwould be pressed upon us for a few pence. The boys would sometimes cling\nto the carriage\u2010door with one hand, while the horses were going fast,\nimploring us to buy the bouquets they held in the other, till I used to\nthink they must fall and be run over. But they are so lithe and supple,\nand they seemed to bound about so much as if they were made of india\u2010\nrubber, that at last I got hardened, and would stand to my bargain half\u2010\nway down a street without any apprehension for the safety of my dark\u2010eyed,\njabbering flower\u2010boys. They generally addressed us in a jargon of Italian,\nFrench, and English, and as generally sold their flowers for half the\nprice first named.\n\nI greatly enjoyed the freedom and absence of restraint in these our\nrambles; for, having my brother with me, I was not afraid of gratifying my\ncuriosity about the manners and customs of the humbler classes. I\nfrequently stood by the fountains in the streets, where the women washed\nthe linen, and entered into conversation with them; or I would buy\n_fritture_ of various kinds (which is, in fact, fried batter, sometimes\nsweet, sometimes savory). I did not find it always to my taste, because it\nwas made with rancid olive\u2010oil quite as often as with fat. But the piles\nof light\u2010brown fritters lying on the little tables in the open streets, or\nbeing tossed about, smoking hot, in iron pans, had a very inviting\nappearance. Then I would get Frank to let me have a glass of lemonade from\nthe pretty little booths that are so numerous for the sale of that\ndelightful beverage, with festoons of fresh lemons hanging from the gayly\u2010\npainted poles. I delighted all the more in my freedom that I knew, when I\nshould be Emidio\u2019s wife, and drive about Naples as the Contessa Gandolfi,\nI could no longer expect to enjoy these privileges. I said so one day to\nEmidio, when I was taking my second glass of lemonade in a peculiarly\ndingy and out\u2010of\u2010the\u2010way street in Naples. He laughed at the assertion,\nthough he did not for a moment attempt to deny it; and meanwhile he\nenjoyed as much as I did the absence of all form and ceremony, which as\nforeigners we could allow ourselves. It was then that jestingly he asked\nme whether it should be put in my marriage\u2010settlements that he was to take\nme, at least once, to the Festa di Monte Vergine. I could not understand\nwhat he could possibly mean, until he explained that so much is thought of\nthis feast by the Neapolitan peasantry that if a girl has a good _dot_, it\nis generally inserted in the marriage\u2010deeds that her husband is bound to\ngive her this gratification. The feast takes place on Whit\u2010Monday, and\nEmidio assured me that my marriage\u2010portion was enough to entitle me to\nmore than one excursion to the sanctuary of the Madonna, if such was my\ndesire. It is held at Monte Vergine, near Avellino; and as we had not been\nable to attend it during our stay at Posilippo, I declared that I should\nexpect to be taken some day, though I declined to puzzle our family lawyer\nby the introduction of so strange an article in my marriage\u2010settlements.\n\nWe had reserved Pompeii for the close of our stay at Naples, because from\nthence we meant to go on to Sorrento. We entered Pompeii by the \u201cSea\nGate,\u201d having left our travelling\u2010bags and shawls at the little hotel\nDiom\u00e8de\u2014such a grand name for such a mean, vulgar little place! How full\nof flies it was! How bad was the food! How miserable the accommodations,\nwith advertisements of Bass\u2019 pale ale adorning the walls! Nothing,\nhowever, of the kind could diminish the interest with which we were about\nto enter the dead city of the dead. Mary remembered having come to this\nsame little public\u2010house five\u2010and\u2010twenty years before. It has been added\nto since then. At that time it afforded very little refreshment for either\nman or beast. She had taken some tea with her, and they accommodated her\nwith hot water. Milk was not to be had, so she floated a slice of lemon in\nthe tea\u2010cup, after the Russian fashion. And all the time a handsome youth,\nindifferently clad, and with the red Phrygian cap covering his crisp black\ncurls, sang a native song to the accompaniment of a small guitar, and\ndanced the while. The cotton\u2010plants were ready to give up their bursting\npods of snow\u2010white fluff in the fields around, and the heat was extreme.\nThe scene had been much less invaded in those days by ordinary sight\u2010\nseers; but also, it must be owned, there was less to see, as many of the\nmost important excavations have been made since that date. As the heat was\nvery great, and as, even without seeing anything like all that is worth\nseeing, we could not possibly devote less than two or three hours to\nwalking in those shadeless streets, it was decided Mary and I should be\ncarried by the guides in open sedan\u2010chairs. The guides are appointed by\ngovernment, and are thoroughly well informed on the subject, and are able\nto answer most questions.\n\nWe first visited the Forum. It is, even in its utter ruin, very imposing,\nfor it stands on rising ground, and all the principal streets lead to it.\nSeveral Doric columns, arches or gateways, and the pedestals which\nformerly supported statues, remain. The Temple of Venus is close to the\nForum; the entrance steps are intact, and the altar stands in front of\nthem. Words fail me to express the intense melancholy of the scene, as we\nwandered from Temple to Baths, and from house to house, down the narrow\nstreets\u2014for all the streets are narrow\u2014whose flag\u2010stones are dented by the\nwheels of the chariots, and have a raised path for foot\u2010passengers, so\nhigh that there are stones placed at intervals to enable one to step\nacross the road, with a space left for the wheels of the chariot to pass\nbetween. This was to keep the passengers from having to step into the\nwater which in rainy weather must have poured down these gutterless\nstreets. From the houses being now all reduced to the ground floor, with\nthe exception of a few in which the stairs leading to the first story and\nsome portions of the wall remain, it cannot be said that any of the\nstreets produce at all an imposing effect. Perhaps the absence of this,\nexcept in the ruins of the temples and public buildings, rather adds to\nthe pathetic sadness of the scene, by bringing all the more vividly before\nus the fact of the utter and sudden destruction which swept away a vast\ncity of crowded human beings, leading the daily life of all of us, in a\nfew short hours! We saw the casts of several dead bodies that had been\nfound\u2014one, of a man making his escape with a sack of money; another, of a\nmatron with her young daughter. What masses of hair, what round and\nslender limbs, what beautiful teeth! It is ghastly, and yet fascinating;\nfor it seems to bridge over so wide a gulf of time, and by one touch of\nnature makes us akin to the ancient dead. I felt this specially as we went\ndown the \u201cStreet of Abundance,\u201d as it was named\u2014mere dwelling\u2010houses and\nshops on either side; a long, ordinary street, where men came and went in\ntheir round of every\u2010day life, buying and selling and paying visits. The\ngreen lizards ran over the whitened walls and the small, brown\u2010red bricks.\nThe sun poured down his relentless rays from a perfectly cloudless sky.\nExcept ourselves and the guides, no footsteps were heard, no sound broke\nthe death\u2010like silence. And at the far end of the \u201cStreet of Abundance,\u201d\njust beyond the limits of the doomed city, a solitary pine\u2010tree, looking\nlike a black spot in the white shimmer of the mid\u2010day heat, alone\nindicated a world of nature and of life and growth beyond. Here is an oil\u2010\nshop, full of the beautifully\u2010shaped, huge jars in which the oil was kept.\nThere, on that slab of marble, are the stains of wine. You see the oven,\nwith what once was soft white bread\u2014the real bread; and you feel that it\nmight have happened a few years ago, and that somewhere or other, perhaps\neven at Naples, it might happen again to\u2010morrow. And two thoughts rush in\nupon us, one full of yearning pity, and one of awful inquiry\u2014they were our\nbrethren, and where are they now?\n\nThe first eruption of Mount Vesuvius occurred in the reign of the Emperor\nTitus, A.D. 79. Pompeii, Herculaneum, and even Naples itself, had suffered\nbefore them from earthquakes, and a portion of the two first\u2010named towns\nhad been laid low. But nothing had ever happened to prepare the\ninhabitants for the terrible calamity which was about to befall them,\nwhen, in their villa at Misenum, the younger Pliny\u2019s mother called the\nattention of Pliny the elder to the cloud, in the form of a pine\u2010tree,\nwhich she saw rising up into the heavens. When she did so, she did not\neven know that it was from Vesuvius that the cloud ascended. Pliny the\nelder invited his nephew, then only eighteen, to accompany him in his\ngalley to Retin\u00e6, a town on the coast, whither he intended to go, with the\nidea that the people might be in distress. But so little was any one\nprepared for what was really about to occur that young Pliny did not even\nlay aside his volume of _Livy_ which he was reading; while his uncle took\nhis tablets in his hand, that he might note down the curious phenomena he\nwas about to investigate, and left the house to go on board. It was with\ngreat difficulty and at immense risk that he effected a landing and made\nhis way to Stabi\u00e6, near Pompeii, where dwelt his friend Pomponianus. In\nattempting to escape from thence in the night, he was suffocated by the\nnoxious vapors that accompanied the eruption. It would seem that young\nPliny continued his study for some hours, never realizing what an awful\ntragedy was going on beyond the Bay of Naples. There had been shocks of\nearthquake for some days previous, but these were not unusual occurrences,\nand therefore excited but little alarm, until they became so violent as to\nthreaten utter destruction through the night. He seems to have been\nseriously frightened about the same time as his mother; for each had risen\nwith the intention of calling the other. By this time the air was black\nwith falling ashes, and the morning light could scarcely penetrate the\ngloom. Pliny would not leave his mother, while she, being aged and very\nheavy, feared she should not be able to follow him, and implored him to go\naway without her, which he would not do. They escaped together into the\ncountry, in danger of being trodden down by the crowds of flying people,\nand of being smothered by the falling ashes. The day was spent in agony\nand terror, and all but total darkness. But that night they were able to\nreturn to Misenum, though not to enjoy much repose, as the shocks of\nearthquake still continued. Then the young Pliny learnt that his uncle,\nwhom he had, happily for himself, declined to accompany, had perished.\nThis eruption did not resemble the more recent ones, inasmuch as no lava\npoured from the mountain, but burning stones of enormous size, and ashes,\ntogether with volumes of steam, which poured down in torrents of water,\nfilled with ashes, upon the earth beneath. The shape of the mountain was\naltered entirely by this eruption, as it has been in a much less degree by\nthat which occurred in April, 1872, and which our friends, the Vernons,\nhad witnessed. The Neapolitans firmly believe that their city will\nultimately perish as Pompeii has perished; and probably science is still\nunable to prognosticate whether the awful mountain has or has not too far\nexhausted its volcanic powers to produce a second destruction as terrible\nas that which Pliny has described with such accurate detail, and yet in so\ncalm and unimpassioned a style.\n\nSensational writing is a discovery of modern times. We exhaust our subject\nin describing it diffusely and minutely. But nevertheless the scene\nPliny\u2019s letters call up before our imagination\u2014the young lad poring over\nhis book in company with his devoted mother, and the brave and learned\nelder Pliny calmly setting sail, tablets in hand, to study the scene, and\nto assist those in danger, and then perishing in the attempt\u2014is as replete\nwith pathos and human feeling as language can make it. It is full of a\nlanguage not put into words.\n\nOn the afternoon of the day we visited Pompeii we drove to Sorrento, and\ntook up our abode at a quiet little _pension_ recently established, and\nliterally hidden amongst orange\u2010groves. There was a small chapel close by.\nOur rooms were bright and clean, and the greater part of the time we had\nthe house entirely to ourselves.\n\nLet no one presume he knows the beauty of Italy who has not visited\nSorrento. Can anything be more lovely than the approach to Vico, Meta, and\nSant\u2019 Angelo, and the aspect of these little towns nestling amid gardens,\nwith their feet in the blue ripples of that tideless sea?\n\nThe Sorrentines are a different race from the Neapolitans, and no love is\nlost between them. They are a more reserved and more dignified people.\nThey make less noise, and are not so excitable. The land they live on is\nnot volcanic, the vegetation is more luxuriant, and the people are more\npastoral in their habits. The air is softer and less exciting than at\nNaples. Mary and I felt as if we had drifted into the land \u201cwhere it is\nalways afternoon,\u201d and a lotos\u2010eating calm and serenity seemed to come\nover us\u2014a pleasant change after the nervous tension which Naples produces,\nand which is singularly inimical to sleep.\n\nEvery description of food is better at Sorrento than it is at Naples.\nSorrento beef is excellent, and Sorrento pigs have a world\u2010wide reputation\nfor making good pork, though they are ugly animals to look at, having\nlarge, flabby, white bodies on tall, thin, greyhound legs, and very large,\npink ears. Naples seems never at any time to have been well famed for\nproducing good food.\n\nNearly all Cicero\u2019s letters to Papirius P\u00e6tus contain allusions to eating\nand drinking, and in one he says: \u201cIt is a better thing, let me tell you,\nto be sick with good eating at Rome, than for want of victuals at Naples.\u201d\n\nWhen he was thinking of buying Sylla\u2019s house at Naples, he asks P\u00e6tus to\ntake some workmen to survey it for him, saying: \u201cIf the walls and roof are\nin good repair, I shall perfectly well approve of the rest.\u201d \u201cIf I can\nprocure a house at Naples, it is my purpose to live so abstemiously that\nwhat our late sumptuary law allows for one day\u2019s expense shall suffice me\nten.\u201d This last sentence, when coupled with that quoted from the other\nletter, looks rather like making a virtue of necessity. The marvel is that\nthe Naples market is not more abundantly provided with Sorrento produce.\nThe fruit is very good; and we all agreed we had never known the real\nmerit of cherries until we had eaten them at Sorrento, and even better\nstill at Capri. In our own land, in France, and even in cherry\u2010loving\nGermany, I had always considered them as a very poor fruit, unless cooked\nor preserved. But I entertained a very different opinion of them when I\nhad feasted on them in the South of Italy. They are as different as the\nfresh oranges, picked from the tree, are from those that have been plucked\nwhile green, and have ripened in a box during a long voyage.\n\nI never cared for cherries in England. I used to believe in oranges as I\nfound them in the fruiterers\u2019 shops. But now they appear to me a snare and\na delusion when eaten in the north.\n\nWhen we arrived at Sorrento, the Empress of Russia and her daughter, the\ngrand duchess, were still there. We met them driving just as we entered\nthe town, and of course looked eagerly at her who was so soon to become\nour own Duchess of Edinburgh, and were charmed with her amiable and\nyouthful expression, and with the pretty smile with which she returned our\nbow. They were to leave Sorrento in a very few days. The yacht was already\nmoored close to the cliffs, awaiting them. The empress shed tears, as the\npeople crowded round to see her embark and wished her farewell in their\nown graceful way and soft language. She said she had grown to love\nSorrento and its inhabitants more than she could express, and that she\nshould always hope some day to return amongst them.\n\nThe house in which Tasso was born is now converted into a hotel, much to\nthe detriment of all poetic sentiment.\n\nNothing can be more lovely than the neighborhood of Sorrento, though a\ngreat deal is unapproachable, except on horseback, donkeys, or mules; and\nmuch more is equally so for all but very vigorous pedestrians. We went\nmore than once to the small, picturesque town of Massa, at the extreme\npoint of the Peninsula. We visited Il Deserto, the name given to a\nFranciscan monastery situated on the top of a somewhat barren hill, and\nwhich commands a magnificent view. We found only a few lay brothers at\nhome, and about half a dozen orphan boys, who were there by way of\nlearning the art of agriculture. The land around the monastery was mostly\nbarren, and to the left was covered with brushwood. No agriculture was\nthere, at any rate. There was a large garden enclosed within walls; and as\nthe small agricultural were in it, I hoped to see some evidence of their\nlabors. I am bound, however, to speak the truth, much as it tells against\nthe expectations of Sorrento with regard to the future tillers of the\nsoil, as also, which is worse, against the efficiency of the Franciscan\ninstructors in this particular case. The garden was quite full of weeds. I\nscarcely saw a vegetable or plant of any kind likely to prove edible to\nanybody except our donkeys; but for them there was hope, as thistles\nabounded. The juvenile agriculturists were by no means usefully engaged,\nbut were listlessly roving about, doing nothing in particular. They looked\nbored; and I could not wonder at it. Certainly, the orphans learned no\nagriculture, and I doubt if either the fathers or lay brothers can teach\nit. It is to be hoped that at least they learn something else.\n\nOne bright morning we resolved on a trip to Capri. We chartered a boat, a\nman, and two boys, the party consisting of Ida and Elizabeth Vernon, Mary,\nand me. The wind was not altogether in our favor, and our three sailors\nhad hard work to row us. Nothing can well be more beautiful than the line\nof coast, with picturesque ruins, deep sea\u2010caves, varied rocks, and green\nslopes down to the water\u2019s edge. We had resolved to spend one night at\nCapri, and intended visiting the Blue Grotto the next day. But the wind\nwas blowing fresh, and it seemed but too probable that, if we did not\naccomplish our visit at once, we might miss it altogether. Our boatmen\nmade no objection to this addition to our original bargain, and we soon\nfound ourselves rowing up to an entrance into the rock that did not\npresent a different appearance to many other such small, slit\u2010like\nfissures and holes, some of which had been pointed out to us as the\nsirens\u2019 caves. We found two boats moored to the rock; one was empty, and\nin the other was a lad.\n\nWe were given to understand that only two of us at a time could enter the\nmysterious cave, and that our boat was a great deal too large to pass\nthrough that low, dark hole in the rock which the restless blue sea was\nlapping incessantly with a rapidity of motion that seemed to be\nmomentarily on the increase. We were moreover told that _il vecchio_(48)\nwas inside\u2014a piece of information which, conveying no express ideas to my\nmind, awoke a vague apprehension that perhaps I might have touched on the\nabode of the Old Man of the Sea\u2014a prospect not altogether desirable. There\nwas a great question who was to enter the little boat and first encounter\nthe passage and the old man. Ida and Elizabeth refused to be separated,\nand Mary, with an exclamation\u2014something about being responsible to their\nmother for their safety\u2014saw them embark with a pang. In an instant,\nobedient to the sailor lad\u2019s injunctions, they both disappeared, lying\nflat down at the bottom of the boat. The sailor gave one vigorous stroke\nof his oar, ducked down himself, and the boat was sucked into the awful\ncavern between the heaving sea and the low arch. Mary and I sat silent. Of\ncourse we knew there was no danger. It was what everybody did, and there\ncould be nothing to apprehend; nevertheless, I am free to acknowledge that\nthose twenty minutes, during which we were as much shut out from all sight\nand sound of them as if they were gone to the bottom, while the\ntreacherous waves slapped and lapped the rock like some hungry live thing,\nand in so doing almost closed the orifice through which the boat had\ndisappeared, were not by any means minutes of absolute serenity to our\nnerves. Presently, however, the prow of the little boat reappeared, and in\na second up jumped Ida and Elizabeth like Jack in the box.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d we both exclaimed.\n\n\u201cOh! it is beautiful. Make haste!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd the old man?\u201d said I dubiously.\n\n\u201cOh! yes, he is there,\u201d was the only reply, and no more satisfactory than\nmy previous information.\n\nOf course Mary and I, on getting into the boat, made ourselves as flat as\nwe could at the bottom of it; and suddenly a heaving of the sea shot us\ninto the grotto. Instantly I forgot the old man and everything else in the\nmarvellous beauty of the scene around me. The sides of the cave, one or\ntwo large shelving rocks, and the roof were perfectly blue. The very air\nseemed blue. The water itself was ultramarine. I dipped in my hand, and\ninstantly it shone and flashed like brilliant silver. We approached one of\nthe large rocks where there is a landing\u2010place. On it I beheld some\nstrange, dark object. Suddenly the object leaped into the blue water, and\nwas transfigured before my eyes into a huge silver frog, swimming about in\nall directions with a white head above the water. It was my much\u2010dreaded\nold man; and certainly the result, in point of color and brilliancy, of\nthe disporting of this venerable individual in the blue water, which\nconverted him into sparkling silver, was very remarkable. But it is not\noften given, to female eyes at least, to behold a mortal swimming close to\nher, and to notice the peculiarly frog\u2010like and ungraceful action which\nswimming necessitates, and which is heightened by the apparent\nforeshortening of the limbs from the refraction of the light in the water.\nIt suddenly flashed upon me: was it thus that Hero saw Leander?\u2014minus the\nsilver of course. Poor Hero! The silver frog croaked an indescribable\n_patois_, calling our attention vociferously to his own extraordinary\nbrilliancy. At length we entreated him to spare his aged limbs any more\naquatic gymnastics, and to return to his rock; which he did, resuming his\ngarments in some niche of a darker blue than the rest.\n\nMeanwhile, our lad had rowed the boat close up to the other large rock on\nthe opposite side of the grotto, telling us that he would gather some\ncoral for us. It was getting dark, and, as we sat alone in the boat, we\ncould neither see nor hear him. A deep\u2010violet hue began to spread over the\ngrotto and the water. Evening was drawing near, and I began to conjure our\nsole protector to leave his coral reefs and return to the boat. Then we\nducked down once more, and, with the edge of the boat absolutely grating\nagainst the mouth of the cave, we emerged into the open sea and the fair\nwhite light of heaven.\n\nIt happened once upon a time that some one, perhaps an ordinary traveller,\nperhaps another professional and belated old man, went into the blue\ngrotto alone, and stayed too long. The wind blew hard, and the sea rose.\nFor three days no boat could pass through the closed mouth of the cave.\nHappily, his friends succeeded in floating in a loaf of bread, which he\ndevoured on his solitary blue rock. I have often wished to know the\nhistory of those three days. Did the sirens come and sing to him? Did no\nmermaid bear him company, or was he left a prey to \u201cthe blue devils\u201d?\n\nWe had a stiff breeze as we steered our course to the Marina Piccola, one\nof the only two landing\u2010places of the Island of Capri. We determined, as\nwe were to be there for so short a time, to sleep at the small inn close\nby, called the \u201cLittle Tiberius,\u201d and which we found comfortable, though\nvery unassuming and not quite finished. We dined in the _loggia_, shaded\nby a vine, and they brought us cherries the size of plums that melted like\na ripe peach, and beautiful oranges, gathered with the green leaves around\nthem.\n\nThe only way to get about on the little Island of Capri is on donkeys or\non foot. We chose the former, and directed our course to where stood the\nPalace of Tiberius. The village of Anacapri is very picturesque, with its\nnarrow streets, sometimes raised a step or two, dark, wide doorways, and\ndomed roofs. We went to the top of the precipitous rock called \u201cIl salto\ndi Tiberio,\u201d(49) which falls sheer and smooth down to the sea, without a\nbreak save a few tufts of wild flowers, and over which Tiberius is said to\nhave flung his victims, whose bodies then floated away to the coast of\nBai\u00e6. When Augustus was dying, he said of his successor, \u201cI pity the\nRomans. They are about to be ground between slow jaws.\u201d Never was the\ncruelty of a coward better expressed than by these words.\n\nI suppose the only history that will ever be correctly written will be\nthat which will date from the day of judgment\u2014that day which alone will\nclear up the falsehoods, misapprehensions, and delusions with which all\nhistory abounds, and will leave probably only the devil as black as he is\npainted, while it will also prove that many of our angels are fallen ones.\nIt is always difficult, perhaps impossible, to arrive at the secret\nmotives of a man who is a coward, is reserved, has a certain superficial\nrefinement of taste and intellect, and is cursed with absolute power.\nTiberius appreciated the extraordinary beauty of his favorite Capri; and\nyet he dwelt there only to commit the most hideous crimes in secret, while\ndiscoursing on the subtleties of grammar and the beauty of art, and\nwriting elegies and love songs. He seemed to have no human affection save\nfor the low\u2010born Sejanus, whom nevertheless years afterwards he accused to\nthe Roman Senate in a pitiful, whining letter, and who was torn to pieces\nin consequence. He always hated those who in any way belonged to him,\nwhether by a natural tie or by that of a supposed intimacy. He hated Rome;\nbut even the terror and dread he had of it, giving way to the longing to\nknow how far his bloody orders were being carried out, he approached the\ngates. That day his pet serpent, the friend of his bosom, was killed and\neaten by a million of midges.\n\n\u201cMultitudes are dangerous,\u201d remarked the sententious emperor, and back he\nwent to the top of his solitary rock at Capri.\n\nThe same type of man returns from time to time upon the face of the earth\nto show us the deep hell within itself of which, alas! the human heart is\ncapable. Robespierre was a man of affable manners, who loved flowers and\nkept canaries. He had delicate white hands and a simper for ever on his\nthin lips. In early life he wrote a pamphlet against capital punishment.\nWhen his turn came to die on the guillotine, he showed no fraction of the\ncourage of the youngest and weakest of his many victims. He too was soft\nand cruel. There are many such, but happily the outward circumstances are\nwanting which would develop them into the monsters to which, as a race,\nthey belong.\n\nWe spent only a few hours at Salerno, just time enough to visit the tomb\nof the great Hildebrand, S. Gregory VII., the little man with a great\nsoul, the spiritual Alexander of the church, who, as he said himself,\n\u201cwithout being allowed the liberty of speech or deliberation, had been\nviolently carried away and placed on the pontifical throne\u201d; and through\nvolumes of intimate and interesting letters relates his sorrows, his\nanxieties, and his efforts to the friend of his soul, Cardinal Didier, the\nAbbot of Monte\u2010Casino. In the crypt we visited the altar and relics of S.\nMatthew. The same evening we drove along the coast to Amalfi. It was\ngrowing dark before we got there, and I think, though no one said a word\nabout it till we were safe in the Hotel of the Capuchins, we were not\naltogether without some apprehension that the towering rocks, the dark\ncaves, the mountain heights, and the thick woodlands which filled us with\nadmiration, did not also suggest an unpleasant suspicion of possible\nbanditti. But here I stop. If Amalfi is not seen, it may be painted; but\nit cannot be described in any words I know of which will tell its beauty.\nThe world has many jewels from nature\u2019s casket, but few more lovely and in\nmore gorgeous setting than the little medi\u00e6val town of Amalfi.\n\nI am writing these pages in an English village. I see a low line of pale,\nmisty hills to my left. A venerable church tower peeps from amid large\nelms and red brick cottage chimneys. In front of my trim garden is a green\nmeadow. The white butterflies are coursing each other in the noontide\nwarmth, and the village children have crowned themselves with tall paper\ncaps, and are holding some jubilee of their own, the mysteries of which\nare undiscernable to older minds. The clematis which climbs my porch\nbreathes soft, perfumed sighs at my open window. It is pretty, simple,\nhomely. But between this and the dreamlike beauty of Amalfi there lies far\nmore than the distance of many hundreds of miles. There lie the yearning\nof the soul for the best of God\u2019s beautiful creation\u2014for the warmth of the\nsun, that natural god of life and gladness\u2014the thirst of the artist\u2019s eye\nfor color, and the poet\u2019s love of the language of song; there lie the\nCatholic\u2019s hunger for the land of faith and the longing for the regions of\nold memories and heroic sanctities.\n\nYes, I love my own pale land, with her brief, scarce summer smiles, her\nwindy autumns, and her long, fireside, wintry evenings. But while I write\nit and feel it, there comes up before my mind the rose\u2010tints and blue and\nsilver sparkle, the golden rocks and emerald verdure, of the land with the\n\u201cfatal gift of beauty,\u201d and I feel my heart sink as I recall Amalfi.\n\nA few more days, and we had looked our last on Southern Italy. There were\nother reasons besides the thirst for sunshine and beauty why our leaving\nNaples should prove so sad. There was the close friendship with the\nVernons and Padre Cataldo; and as regarded four hearts, there was\nsomething more, I suppose, than friendship.\n\nOn leaving Amalfi we only slept one night at Naples (for Posilippo we saw\nno more), and that was a dream\u2010tost, tearful night. We would not suffer\nany of our friends to accompany us to the station. Public farewells would\nbe unbearable.\n\nThe last thing I remember, as I drove through the hot, bright streets\nteeming with life, was two young girls with naked feet gayly dancing the\ntarantella on the burning pavement. Lightly, trippingly, daintily they\ndanced\u2014these two supple\u2010limbed daughters of the sunny south. How joyous,\nhow free from care, from afterthought or forethought, did they seem! A few\nfigs (they were just ripe) in summer, a few chestnuts and some yellow\nbread of Indian corn, are all they need for food; and one scant frock,\nthat hides neither arms nor ankles, is all that decency demands. The sun\ndoes the rest, pouring rich color into their veins, bright sparkles into\ntheir eyes. And so at mid\u2010day shall they dance, on flags which would\nscorch my northern skin, singing the while to their own steps,\nunchallenged by police, unreproached by man, and know no harm, while we go\nback to our mists and showers amidst our \u201cadvanced civilization.\u201d\n\nWhile writing this my eyes rest upon these lines: \u201cMany take root in this\nsoil, and find themselves unable to leave it again. A species of\ncontemplative epicurism takes possession of them\u2014a life freed from all\nvain desires and sterile agitation; an ideal existence which is shocked by\nno inconvenient reality. Others return to their hyperborean country,\nbringing with them a luminous remembrance to light up the gray twilight of\ntheir frozen sky for evermore; others still have quaffed the enchantress\u2019\ncharmed potion, and can no longer resist the gentle desires which draw\nthem periodically back to her.\u201d\n\nMay I also be numbered with those who return to the southern shores of\nbeautiful Italy!\n\n\n\n\nThe Three Edens.\n\n\nBloom\u2019d the first Eden not with man alone,\n But woman, equal woman, at his side.\n And seemly was it when, together tried,\nThey fell together\u2014for the two were one.\nOn Calvary stood the Mother by the Son:\n New Eve with Second Adam crucified;\n And as through Eve in Adam we had died,\nThrough Mary was our loss in Christ undone.\nThen how should not the Paradise regained\n Behold its Eve beside her Adam throned;\nBoth risen, both ascended\u2014unprofaned\n Each virginal body, by the grave disowned?\nElse had our foe his conquest half maintained,\n The primal ruin been but half atoned.\n\nLAKE GEORGE, FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION, 1874.\n\n\n\n\nA Discussion With An Infidel.\n\n\n\nXIV. The Seat Of The Soul.\n\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ You will admit, I presume, that \u201cthe brain is not merely the\norgan of thought and of all the higher mental faculties, but also the sole\nand exclusive _seat of the soul_. Every thought is produced in the brain,\nevery kind of feeling and sensation, exertion of the will, and voluntary\nmotion, proceeds from it\u201d (p. 141).\n\n_Reader._ Not exactly \u201cfrom it,\u201d but from the soul, as I have already\nestablished; though certainly the brain is instrumental in all vital\noperations. As to the brain being \u201cthe sole and exclusive\u201d seat of the\nsoul I think that physiologists do not agree, and that philosophers have\nsomething to object.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ It is now a recognized truth. \u201cIt took a long time before it\nwas recognized, and it is even to this day difficult for those who are not\nphysicians to convince themselves of its correctness\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ It must be difficult indeed; for although we have reason to\nbelieve that the brain is, so to say, the central telegraphic office where\nevery intelligence from the other parts of the body is received, yet it is\nbut natural to suppose that there cannot be a central office if there are\nno other offices destined to correspond with it. On the other hand,\nphilosophers teach that _the soul is the form of the body_; which implies\nthat there are other parts of our body, besides the brain, where the soul\nmust be present.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThese philosophers are a singular people. They talk of the\ncreation of the world as if they had been present on the occasion; they\ndefine the Absolute as if they had sat at its table for years; they babble\nabout the nothing and the something, the ego and non\u2010ego, the _per se_ and\n_in se_, universals and particulars, perishability and absolute existence,\nthe unknown _x_, etc., etc., with a confidence as if a celestial codex had\ngiven them exact information about all these ideas and things, and they\nplaster up the simplest notions with such a confused mass of high\u2010sounding\nand learned but incomprehensible words and phrases as to turn the head of\na rational man. But, in spite of all this, upon their metaphysical\neminence they are not unfrequently so far off from any positive knowledge\nthat they commit the most amusing blunders, especially in those cases in\nwhich philosophy and science meet, and when the latter threatens to\ndestroy the results of metaphysical speculation. Thus almost all\nphilosophical psychologists have struggled with rare energy against the\ntheory of the seat of the soul in the brain, and continue in their\nopposition without taking the least notice of the progress of experimental\nscience\u201d (pp. 142, 143).\n\n_Reader._ I am surprised, doctor, at your declamation against\nphilosophers. You have no right to denounce them either in general or in\nparticular. I admit that rationalistic philosophers richly deserve all the\ncontempt you can heap upon them, but it is not fair in you to attack them;\nfor they are better than you. To lay your own faults on the shoulders of\nyour opponents is an old trick. The burglar calls his victim a thief;\ndesigning Freemasons always prate about Jesuitical machinations; and\nwriters whose philosophical baggage is as light as their pretensions are\nhigh inveigh against those by whom they dread to be exposed, refuted, and\nsupplanted. Such is the case with you. While pretending to describe\nothers, you have made the portrait of yourself. It is certainly difficult\nto find another man in the world who babbles with as much confidence as\nyou do about, or rather against, creation, the Absolute, and the unknown\nx, etc., etc. Yet your opponents are not infallible, nor do they pretend\nto be; but if they \u201ccommit the most amusing blunders,\u201d it is not owing to\ntheir \u201cmetaphysical eminence,\u201d as you suppose, but rather to their\nmetaphysical incapacity. Science, you say, sometimes \u201cthreatens to destroy\nthe results of metaphysical speculation\u201d; but you should have added that\nmetaphysical speculation oftentimes saves science from shipwreck; for\nempiricism without philosophy is a ship without a rudder.\n\nYou denounce your adversaries as men who do not take \u201cthe least notice of\nthe progress of experimental science.\u201d This is a calumny. In fact, you\nyourself inform us that one of your adversaries is philosopher Fischer, a\nman who not only took notice of the progress of experimental science, but\ngreatly contributed to such a progress by his own intelligent and\nindefatigable labors. You cannot therefore pretend that such a man lacked\n\u201cpositive knowledge.\u201d Now, he says: \u201cThat the soul is immanent in the\nwhole nervous system is proved, as it feels, perceives, and acts in every\npart thereof. I do not feel pain in a central part of the brain, but in a\nparticular spot and place.\u201d\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cAnd yet what Fischer denies is undoubtedly the fact. The\nnerves themselves do not perceive; they merely call forth sensations by\nconducting the impressions received to the brain. We do not feel pain in\nthe place injured, but in the brain. If a nerve of sensation be divided in\nits course to the brain, all the parts which are supplied by it lose their\nsensibility, for no other reason than that the conducting of the\nimpression to the brain is no longer possible. Every man who has no\nknowledge of physiological processes believes the feeling of hunger to be\nin the stomach. This is not so; the brain alone makes us conscious of the\nfeeling. If the nerve uniting brain and stomach be divided, hunger is at\nan end, nor does it return. Neither does anger arise in the liver, or\ncourage in the chest, but in the brain only\u201d (pp. 143, 144). \u201cHabit and\nexternal appearance have led to the false notion that we feel in places\nsubjected to external irritation. Physiology calls this relation \u2018the law\nof eccentric phenomena.\u2019 According to it, we falsely attribute the feeling\nperceived in the brain to the place where the impression is made....\nPersons who have lost their arms or legs by amputation often feel during\ntheir whole lives, in atmospheric changes, pains in limbs which they no\nlonger possess. If all his limbs were removed, man would still feel them.\nFrom these facts it can scarcely be doubted that there must exist in the\nbrain a topography by means of which the various sensations of the\ndifferent parts of the body arise. Every part of the body which can be\nseparately perceived must have a corresponding spot in the brain which in\nsome degree represents it in the forum of consciousness\u201d (pp. 144, 145).\n\n_Reader._ This answer, doctor, is not altogether satisfactory. \u201cThe\nnerves,\u201d of course, \u201cdo not perceive.\u201d This I willingly admit; but neither\ndoes the brain perceive; for it is the soul that perceives. The nerves\n\u201cmerely call forth sensations by conducting the impressions received to\nthe brain.\u201d This cannot be denied; but it does not prove the non\u2010existence\nof the soul in the nervous system. Suppose that a pin or a thorn presses\nthe finger; before the impression can be transmitted from the finger to\nthe brain, its reception in the finger must give rise to a change of\nrelation between the soul and the finger itself; which would be\nimpossible, if the soul were not in the finger. For, if the soul is not in\nthe finger, the impression made by the thorn will consist of a merely\nmechanical movement; and when this movement is communicated to the brain,\nwhat sensation can be called forth? A sensation of pain? No; for mere\nmechanical movement cannot produce a sense of pain, unless it is felt to\ndisagree with the living organism. Now, the pricking is not felt to\ndisagree with the brain, but with the finger. It is therefore in the\nfinger and not in the brain that we feel the pain; which shows that the\nsoul really is in the finger, and in every other part of the body in which\nwe may experience any sensation.\n\nYour reason for pretending that \u201cwe do not feel pain in the place injured,\nbut in the brain,\u201d is quite unsatisfactory. It is true that if a nerve of\nsensation be divided in its course to the brain, all the parts which are\nsupplied by it lose their sensibility; but what of that? Those parts lose\ntheir sensibility because they lose their sensitiveness; that is, because\nthe cutting of the nerve, by impairing the body, causes the soul to\nabandon the organic parts supplied by that nerve. You argue that, if the\nsoul is not present in a given part of the body, when the nerve has been\ninjured, the soul was not present in that same part before the nerve was\ninjured. This inference is evidently wrong. The soul informs the organism,\nand any part of it, as long as the organs are suitably disposed for the\nvital operations, and abandons the organism, or any part of it, as soon as\nthe organs have become unfit for the vital operations. Hence, as you\ncannot infer the non\u2010existence of the soul in the brain of a living man\nfrom the non\u2010existence of the same in the brain of a corpse, so you cannot\ninfer its non\u2010existence in a part of the body before the cutting of the\nnerve from its non\u2010existence in the same part after the nerve has been\ncut.\n\nThe feeling of hunger, you say, is not in the stomach, because \u201cif the\nnerve uniting brain and stomach be divided, hunger is at an end.\u201d Is not\nthis very curious? Men need none of your theories to know where they feel\nhungry; and they not only _believe_, as you say, but also _experience_,\nthat their feeling of hunger is in the stomach. How can this be reconciled\nwith your theory? You try to discredit the common belief by observing that\nwe \u201chave no knowledge of physiological processes.\u201d This, however, is not\ntrue; for although we may not possess your _speculative_ knowledge of\nthose processes, yet we have an _experimental_ knowledge of them, which\nbeats all your speculations. The simplest common sense teaches that a\ntheory contradicted by facts is worth nothing. Now, the fact is that we\nexperience the sensation of hunger in the stomach, and not in the brain;\nand therefore no physiological theory that contradicts such a fact can be\nof any value.\n\nYou pretend that \u201chabit and external appearance have led to the false\nnotion that we feel in places subjected to external irritation.\u201d This\nassertion cannot be justified. Habits are acquired by repeated acts; and\nto assume that habit leads us to a false notion is to assume that we are\ncheated by our actual sensations; which is inadmissible. As to \u201cexternal\nappearances,\u201d it is evident that they have nothing to do with the\nquestion, as sensations are not external appearances, but internal\nrealities. Hence when we say that \u201cwe feel in places subjected to external\nirritation,\u201d we express a real fact of which we have experimental\nevidence, and in regard to which no habit or external appearance can make\nus err.\n\nThe fact that \u201cpersons who have lost their arms or legs by amputation\noften feel during their whole life, in atmospheric changes, pains in limbs\nwhich they no longer possess,\u201d does not tend to prove that the brain is\nthe exclusive seat of the soul. Hence I dismiss it altogether. With regard\nto your conclusion that \u201cevery part of the body which can be separately\nperceived must have a corresponding spot in the brain which in some degree\nrepresents it in the forum of consciousness,\u201d I have not the least\nobjection against it; I merely add that no part of the body in which the\nsoul is not actually present can be represented in the forum of\nconsciousness. For if the soul is not in the finger when the thorn pricks\nit, the soul cannot say, _I feel the pain_; it could only say, _I know\nthat a material organ, with which I have nothing to do, is being injured_.\nThe soul would, in fact, but receive a telegram announcing what happens in\nsome distant quarter. If a telegram comes to you from Siberia, announcing\ntwenty degrees of cold, do you feel the sensation of cold?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Yet \u201cthe theory that the brain is the seat of the soul is so\nincontrovertible that it has long been adopted in the rules of law in\nregard to monstrosities. A monstrosity with one body and two heads counts\nfor _two_ persons; one with two bodies and one head, only for one person.\nMonstrosities without brain, so\u2010called acephali, possess no personality\u201d\n(pp. 147, 148).\n\n_Reader._ This is true; and therefore the soul certainly informs the\nbrain. But it does not follow that other parts of the body are not\ninformed. Hence your remark has no bearing on the question; and it remains\ntrue that the soul, as the form of the body, is directly connected with\nevery part of the organism in which vital acts are performed.\n\n\n\nXV. Spiritism.\n\n\n_Reader._ May I ask, doctor, what you think of spiritism?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ I think it to be a fraud.\n\n_Reader._ Of course, when a man denies the existence of spiritual\nsubstances, he cannot but deny their manifestation. Yet the phenomena of\nspiritism are so well known that we can scarcely be of your opinion.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cSome of these phenomena, _clairvoyance_ especially, have been\nlaid hold of to prove the existence of supernatural and supersensual\nphenomena. They were considered as the link of connection between the\nspiritual and the material world; and it was surmised that these phenomena\nopened a gate through which man might pass, and succeed in obtaining some\nimmediate clue regarding transcendental existence, personal continuance,\nand the laws of the spirit. All these things are now, by science and an\ninvestigation of the facts, considered as idle fancies which human nature\nis so much inclined to indulge in to satisfy its longing after what\nappears miraculous and supersensual\u201d (p. 149).\n\n_Reader._ I apprehend, doctor, that science has no means of showing that\n\u201call these things are idle fancies.\u201d Materialism, of course, assumes,\nthough it cannot show, that spirits do not exist; but materialism is no\nscience at all; and if the \u201cinvestigation of the facts\u201d has been conducted\nby materialists, we may well be sure that their verdict was not unbiassed.\nOn the other hand, men of science, who are not materialists, a great\nnumber of physicians, philosophers, and theologians, are convinced that\nthe phenomena of spiritism are neither inventions nor delusions. And,\nthough human nature feels a certain propensity to believe what is\nwonderful, we cannot assume that learned and prudent men yield to this\npropensity without good reasons.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThis propensity has given rise to the most curious errors of\nthe human mind. Though it sometimes appears that the progress of science\narrests its development in some place, it suddenly breaks forth with\ngreater force at some other place where it was less expected. The events\nof the last few years afford a striking example. What the belief in\nsorcery, witchcraft, demoniac possession, vampirism, etc., was in former\ncenturies, reappears now under the agreeable forms of table\u2010moving,\nspirit\u2010rapping, psychography, somnambulism, etc.\u201d (p. 150).\n\n_Reader._ You are right. Spiritism is only a new form of old superstitions\nand diabolic manifestations. But you are mistaken, if you believe that\nscience can show such manifestations to have been fables. Your scientific\nargument against spiritual manifestations is, you must own it,\ninconsistent with your scientific process. Your process requires a basis\nof facts; for it is from facts that science draws its generalizations. You\nshould, therefore, first ascertain that sorcery, witchcraft, etc., never\nexisted in the world, and that not one of the thousand facts narrated in\nprofane, sacred, or ecclesiastical history has ever happened; and then you\nmight conclude that all mankind have been very stupid to believe such\nabsurdities. But you follow quite a different course. You argue _\u00e0\npriori_, and say: Spiritual manifestations are an impossibility; therefore\nall the pretended facts of spiritism are impositions. This manner of\narguing is not scientific; for evidently it is not based on facts, and the\nassumption that spiritual manifestations are impossible cannot be granted;\nfor it cannot be proved. Hence not only the ignorant classes, but also\neducated persons, as you complain, believe in spiritual manifestations, in\nspite of your pretended science; for, when they see the facts, they will\nonly smile at your denial of their possibility.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ But the facts themselves are incredible. \u201cMagnetic sleep,\ninduced either by continued passes on the body, or spontaneously without\nexternal means, as in idiosomnambulism, is stated to be frequently\nattended by an intellectual ecstasy, which in certain privileged persons,\nchiefly females, rises to what is called _clairvoyance_. In this state\nthose persons are said to exhibit mental faculties not natural to them, to\nspeak fluently foreign languages, and to discuss things perfectly unknown\nto them in the waking state.... The person perceives things beyond the\nsphere of his senses, he reads sealed letters, guesses the thoughts of\nother persons, reveals the past, etc. Finally, such individuals sometimes\ngive us information about the arrangements in heaven and hell, our state\nafter death, and so forth; but we cannot help mentioning that these\nrevelations are ever in remarkable harmony with the religious views of the\nchurch, or of the priest under whose influence the patient may be for the\ntime\u201d (p. 151).\n\n_Reader._ Poor Doctor B\u00fcchner! You are most unlucky in your allusion to\nthe church. Spiritism is not a priestly invention, nor is it practised\nunder the influence of the priest. The whole world knows that the practice\nof spiritism is utterly forbidden by the church; and you cannot be\nignorant that your insinuation of the contrary is a slander. Perhaps your\nMasonic conscience allows you to tell lies; but is it wise to do so when\nthe lie is so patent that no one can believe it?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThere can be no doubt that all pretended cases of clairvoyance\nrest upon fraud or illusion. Clairvoyance\u2014that is, a perception of\nexternal objects without the use of the senses\u2014is an impossibility. It is\na law of nature which cannot be gainsaid that we require our eyes to see,\nour ears to hear, and that these senses are limited in their action by\nspace. No one can read an opaque sealed letter, extend his vision to\nAmerica, see with closed eyes what passes around him, look into the\nfuture, or guess the thoughts of others. These truths rest upon natural\nlaws which are irrefutable, and admit, like other natural laws, of no\nexception. All that we know we know by the medium of our senses. There\nexist no supersensual and supernatural things and capacities, and they\nnever can exist, as the eternal conformity of the laws of nature would\nthereby be suspended. As little as a stone can ever fall in any other\ndirection than towards the centre of the earth, so little can a man see\nwithout using his eyes\u201d (p. 152).\n\n_Reader._ Your reasoning is not sound, doctor. The stone can fall in any\ndirection, if it receives an impetus in that direction; it is only when it\nis left to itself that it must fall directly towards the centre of the\nearth. So also a man, when left to himself and his natural powers, cannot\nsee without using his eyes; but if acted on by a preternatural agency, he\nmay be made acquainted with what his eyes cannot see. Your mention of\nnatural laws is uncalled for. You will certainly not pretend that the\nnatural laws, which hold in regard to this visible world, can be assumed\nto rule the world of the spirits. Moreover, when you say that \u201cthere exist\nno supersensual and supernatural things,\u201d because \u201cthe eternal conformity\nof the laws of nature would thereby be suspended,\u201d you merely make a\ngratuitous assertion. For as you can raise a weight without suspending the\nlaw of gravitation, so can other agents do other things conflicting with\nthe uniform execution of natural laws without the natural laws becoming\nsuspended. Thus your assertion that \u201cthere exist no supersensual and\nsupernatural things\u201d is wholly gratuitous, and therefore cannot be the\nbasis of a sound argument against the facts of spiritism. \u201cThere is no\nfighting against facts; it is like kicking against the pricks,\u201d as you say\nin one of your prefaces (p. xviii.)\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cGhosts and spirits have hitherto only been seen by children,\nor ignorant and superstitious individuals\u201d (p. 152).\n\n_Reader._ Did not Saul see the ghost of Samuel?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cAll that has been narrated of the visits of departed spirits\nis sheer nonsense; never has a dead man returned to this world. There are\nneither table\u2010spirits nor any other spirits\u201d (p. 153).\n\n_Reader._ How can you account for such a singular assertion?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe naturalist entertains, from observation and experience, no\ndoubt as to these truths; a constant intercourse with nature and its laws\nhas convinced him that they admit of no exception\u201d (p. 153).\n\n_Reader._ This is not true. Naturalists, with their observation and\nexperience of natural things, do not and cannot reject facts of a higher\norder, though they have not observed them. Their non\u2010observation is no\nargument, especially when we have other witnesses of the facts, and when\nwe know that the naturalists of your school are pledged to materialism,\nand therefore shut their eyes to the facts which oppose their theory. The\nmajority of educated persons admit the facts; not indeed _all_ the facts\nnarrated, but many of them which no critical rule allows us to reject.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Where are those facts? \u201cThe scientific impossibility of\nclairvoyance has been confirmed by an examination of the facts by sober\nand unprejudiced observers, and were proved to be deceptions and\nillusions\u201d (p. 153).\n\n_Reader._ Of course there are juggleries and impositions; but what of\nthat? Would you maintain that there can be no doctors because there are\nquacks? I appeal to your logic.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe faculty of medicine of Paris many years ago took the\ntrouble of submitting a number of such cases to a scientific examination;\nthey were all proved to be deceptions, nor could a single case be\nestablished of a perception without the use of the senses. In 1837 the\nsame academy offered a prize of 3,000 francs to any one who could read\nthrough a board. No one gained the prize\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ You forget, doctor, that in 1837 spiritism was as yet most\nimperfectly known. It was only about ten years later that it developed\nthroughout America and Europe. Let the medical faculty of Paris again\noffer a prize to any one who can read through a board; and no one doubts\nthere would be no lack of competitors. When we see that physicians and\nothers, owing to their own experience of spiritual manifestations, were\ncompelled to repudiate their previous materialistic opinions; when we know\nthat infidels by the same manifestations were brought to believe the\nimmortality of the soul; when the learned and the ignorant, the rich and\nthe poor, the layman and the churchman, the diplomatist, the philosopher,\nand the theologian, bear witness to the reality of the spiritual\nphenomena, and are ready to bring forward innumerable facts in support of\ntheir affirmation, we do not care what the faculty of medicine of Paris\nmay have pronounced many years ago. You say that the faculty \u201csubmitted a\nnumber of such cases to a scientific examination,\u201d and that \u201cthey were all\nproved to be deceptions\u201d; but you would be very much embarrassed to say in\nwhat that \u201cscientific examination\u201d consisted. On the other hand, the\nproofs of the deception have never appeared; and the simple truth is that\nthe spiritual phenomena were _\u00e0 priori_ rejected, as clashing with the\nmaterialistic theory of the faculty. You pretend that \u201cwhenever the proper\nmeans were employed to prevent deception, clairvoyance was at an end\u201d (p.\n153). Such an assertion proves that you are completely ignorant of what is\ngoing on in the world, or that you are determined obstinately to ignore\nwhatever could compel you to acknowledge the existence of spiritual\nsubstances.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cI have had the opportunity of examining a clairvoyant, of whom\nremarkable things were told, under circumstances when a deception on the\npart of the magnetizer was out of the question. The lady failed in all her\nindications; they were either absolutely false or so expressed that\nnothing could be made of them. She, moreover, made the most ridiculous\nexcuses for her shortcomings. As she failed in her clairvoyance, she\npreferred to fall into a state of heavenly ecstasy, in which she\ndiscoursed with her _ange_ or tutelar genius, and recited religious\nverses. In reciting a poem of this kind she once stopped short, and\nrecommenced the verse to assist her memory. She manifested, withal, in\nthis ecstasy, no superior mental capacities; her language was common, and\nher manner awkward. I left with the conviction that the lady was an\nimpostor who deceived her patron. Still, several gentlemen present were by\nno means convinced of the deception practised on them\u201d (p. 154).\n\n_Reader._ If these gentlemen could by no means be convinced of the\ndeception, must we not presume that there was no deception, and that your\npeculiar construction of the case was brought about by a strong desire of\nnot being disturbed in your fixed idea that there is nothing but matter?\nIf \u201cthe lady failed in all her indications,\u201d if \u201cshe made the most\nridiculous excuses for her shortcomings,\u201d if \u201cshe manifested no superior\ncapacities,\u201d it should have been evident to those \u201cseveral gentlemen\u201d that\nshe was a fraud. Their inability to be convinced of the deception would\ntherefore show that the lady did not fail in all her indications, but\nmanifested superior capacities. Be this as it may, the truth and reality\nof spiritual manifestations cannot be disproved by particular attempts at\nimposition. Spiritualists admit that many impositions have been practised\nunder the name of spiritual manifestations, but they aver that in most\ninstances cheats could not have been palmed off, even if designed; and\nthat in other cases there could be no possible motive for deception, as\nthe investigations were carried on in private families where the mediums\nwere their own sons and daughters.(50) Spirit\u2010rapping is a fact. Table\u2010\nturning is a fact. Clairvoyance is a fact. Thousands of all conditions,\nsects, and nations have witnessed, watched, and examined all such facts\nwith a degree of attention, suspicion, and incredulity proportionate to\ntheir novelty, strangeness, and unnaturalness. What has been the result? A\nverdict acknowledging the reality of the facts and the impossibility of\naccounting for them without intelligent preternatural agencies. This\nverdict disposes of your materialism. To deny the facts in order to save\nmaterialism is so much time lost. Facts speak for themselves.\n\n\n\nXVI. Innate Ideas\n\n\n_Reader._ And now I should like to know, doctor, why you thought proper to\nfill twenty\u2010seven pages of your _Force and Matter_ with a discussion about\ninnate ideas.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ For two reasons, sir. First, because \u201cthe question whether\nthere be innate ideas is a very old one, and, in our opinion, one of the\nmost important in relation to the contemplation of nature. It decides to\nsome extent whether man, considered as the product of a higher world, has\nreceived a form of existence as something foreign and external to his\nessence, with the tendency to shake off this earthly covering, and to\nreturn to his spiritual home; or whether, both in his spiritual and bodily\ncapacity, man stands to the earth which has produced him in a necessary,\ninseparable connection, and whether he has received his essential nature\nfrom this world; so that he cannot be torn from the earth, like the plant\nwhich cannot exist without its maternal soil. The question is, at the same\ntime, one which does not dissolve itself in a philosophical mist, but\nwhich, so to speak, has flesh and blood, and, resting upon empirical\nfacts, can be discussed and decided without high\u2010sounding phrases\u201d (p.\n157). The second reason is, that \u201cif it be correct that there are no\ninnate intuitions, then must the assertion of those be incorrect who\nassume that the idea of a God, or the conception of a supreme personal\nbeing, who created, who governs and preserves the world, is innate in the\nhuman mind, and therefore incontrovertible by any mode of reasoning\u201d (p.\n184).\n\n_Reader._ Do you mean, that, by refuting the theory of innate ideas, you\nwill cut the ground from under the feet of the theist and the\nspiritualist?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Yes, sir. Such is the drift of my argumentation.\n\n_Reader._ Then your labor is all in vain. For you must know that we do not\nbase our demonstration of the substantiality and immortality of the soul\non the doctrine of innate ideas, nor do we assume that the notion of a God\nis an \u201cinnate intuition.\u201d Had you been even superficially acquainted with\nthe works of our scholastic philosophers, you would have known that innate\nideas are totally foreign to their psychological and theological\ndoctrines. You would have known that the axiom, _Nihil est in intellectu\nquod non fuerit in sensu_\u2014that is, \u201cThere is nothing in our intellect\nwhich has not entered by the gate of the senses\u201d\u2014is not a discovery of\nyour Moleschott, to whom you attribute it, but is an old dictum familiar\nto all the schoolmen of past centuries, and approved by the most orthodox\nphilosophers of our own time. Now, these philosophers, while denying that\nwe have any innate idea, admit at the same time that our soul is a special\nsubstance and is immortal, and show that the human intellect can easily\nform a concept of God as a supreme cause, and ascertain his existence\nwithout need of innate intuitions. This might convince you that your\nchapter on innate ideas has no bearing on the questions concerning the\nnature of the soul and the notion of a God. Your assumption that if man\nhas innate ideas, he will have a tendency \u201cto shake off this earthly\ncovering, and to return to his spiritual home,\u201d is incorrect. For the\nhuman body has no spiritual home, as is evident; and the human soul, as\nhaving no previous existence in a separate state, has no home but in the\nbody, and the presence of innate ideas would not create in it a tendency\nto shake off its earthly covering. On the other hand, your other\nassumption, that, if man has no innate ideas, he is \u201ca production of the\nearth alone, and cannot be torn from the earth, with which he is\ninseparably connected both in his spiritual and bodily capacity,\u201d is even\nmore incorrect. For the absence of innate ideas does not mean, and does\nnot entail, the absence of an intellectual principle; and such a\nprinciple, as evidently immaterial, is not a production of the earth, and\nhas no need of earthly things to continue its existence.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ How can a soul exist without ideas? And, if all ideas come\nthrough our senses, how can a soul exist without being united to the\norgans? \u201cDaily experience teaches us that man begins his intellectual life\nonly with the gradual development of his senses, and in proportion as he\nenters into a definite relation to the external world; and that the\ndevelopment of his intellect keeps pace with that of his organs of sense\nand his organ of thought, and also with the number and importance of the\nimpressions received. \u2018Every unprejudiced observer,\u2019 says Virchow, \u2018has\narrived at the conviction that thought is only gradually developed in\nman.\u2019 The new\u2010born child thinks as little, and has as little a soul, as\nthe unborn child; it is, in our view, living in the body, but\nintellectually dead.... The embryo neither thinks nor feels, and is not\nconscious of its existence. Man recollects nothing of this state, nor of\nthe first period of his existence in which the senses were dormant; and\nthis perfect unconsciousness proves his spiritual non\u2010existence at that\nperiod. The reason can only be that, during the f\u0153tal state, there are no\nimpressions whatever received from without, and so weak and imperfect are\nthey in the first few weeks that the intellect cannot be said to exist\u201d\n(p. 159).\n\n_Reader._ It is plain that the new\u2010born child cannot form an idea of\nexterior objects without the use of his senses. But is it true that the\nnew\u2010born child is not conscious of its own existence? Certainly not; for,\nwithout a previous knowledge of its own existence, it would never be able\nto attribute to itself the feelings awakened in it by exterior objects.\nThe mind cannot say, _I feel_, if it is not already acquainted with the\n_I_. Nor does it matter that \u201cman recollects nothing of the first period\nof his existence.\u201d Recollection is impossible so long as the brain has not\nacquired a certain consistency; and therefore whatever happens with us in\nthe first period of our existence leaves no durable trace in our organs,\nand is entirely forgotten. Hence your assertions \u201cthat the senses of the\nnew\u2010born child are dormant, and that its perfect unconsciousness proves\nits spiritual non\u2010existence,\u201d are both false. The child feels its being,\nits senses are quite ready to receive impressions, and its soul is quite\nalive to such impressions.\n\nYou say that \u201cthe development of the intellect keeps pace with that of the\norgans of sense.\u201d What do you mean by development of the intellect? If you\nsimply mean that the intellect is furnished with materials of thought in\nproportion as sensible objects are perceived, and that, by being so\nfurnished, it can easily perform a number of intellectual operations, I\nadmit your assertion; but if you mean that the soul itself is\n_substantially_ developed in proportion as the organs are growing more\nperfect, then your assertion is both groundless and absurd. Now, it is\nevident, by your manner of reasoning, that this second meaning is the one\nyou adopt. And therefore it is evident that your conclusion is wrong. \u201cThe\nimpressions,\u201d you say, \u201care so weak and imperfect that the intellect\ncannot be said to exist.\u201d This is simply ludicrous. Would you allow us to\nsay that at night the impressions of light are so weak and imperfect that\nthe eye cannot be said to exist? Or that the impressions made on a piece\nof paper by a bad pencil are so weak and imperfect that the paper cannot\nbe said to exist? It is obvious that the impressions do not cause the\nexistence of their subject; and, therefore, if the intellect \u201ccannot be\nsaid to exist\u201d before the impressions, the time will never come when it\ncan be said to exist.\n\nAnd now, suppose that a newborn child dies without having acquired through\nits senses any knowledge of the exterior world. What shall we say of its\nsoul? Will such a soul be entirely destitute of ideas, and unable to\nthink? By no means. Such a soul, after its short permanence in the body,\nwhere it _felt_ its own being, will henceforward _understand_ its own\nbeing as actually present in its own individuality; it will perceive its\nown essence as well as its existence; it will be able to abstract from\n_self_, and to behold essence, existence, and being, _secundum se_\u2014that\nis, according to their objective intelligibility; and, finally, it will be\nable to commune with other spiritual beings with the same facility with\nwhich, while in the body, it could communicate with the exterior world by\nmeans of its organic potencies. I know that you do not believe this; but\nyour unbelief will not change things. The soul, when out of the body, is\ncompetent to perform intellectual operations about intellectual objects as\nfreely and as perfectly as it performs the sensitive operations in its\npresent condition. If you consult the works of our philosophers and\ntheologians, you will find the proofs of my proposition. As to your\nopposite assumption, since you have no means of establishing it, we are\nfree to dismiss it without further discussion.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ If the soul is a separate substance, how and when is it\nintroduced into the body? \u201cThe scientific and logical impossibility of\ndetermining the time (of its introduction) proves the absurdity of the\nwhole theory, which assumes that a higher power breathes the soul into the\nnostrils of the f\u0153tus\u201d (p. 160).\n\n_Reader._ You are grossly mistaken, doctor. The impossibility of\ndetermining the time of the animation of the f\u0153tus proves nothing but our\nignorance. Do you deny that Paris was built by the Gauls on the plea that\nyou do not know the date of its foundation? Again, since the animation of\nthe f\u0153tus is not an operation of the mind, how can you speak of _logical_\nimpossibility? Evidently, you write at random, and know not what you say.\nAs to the question itself, one thing is clear, viz., the child cannot be\nborn alive, unless its body has been animated in the womb.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cMoses and the Egyptians entertained a decided opinion that the\nchild was not animated while in the womb\u201d (p. 161).\n\n_Reader._ False. Moses describes in the Book of Genesis the fighting of\nJacob and Esau while in the womb of their mother. Could he assume that\nthey would fight before being animated?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cIn some countries they know nothing of an animated f\u0153tus\u201d\n(_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ False. Every mother will give you the lie.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe destruction of the f\u0153tus and infanticide are, according to\nWilliams, common occurrences in Madagascar. It is also common in China and\nthe Society Islands\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ This shows the immorality of those nations, not their ignorance\nof the f\u0153tal life. But why should you appeal to the presumed ignorance of\nbarbarians against the verdict of civilized nations? Are you an apostle of\nbarbarity and brutality? Do you wish your reader to persuade himself that\nthe destruction of the f\u0153tus is no crime?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe Roman lawyers did not look upon the f\u0153tus as an individual\nbeing, but as a part of the mother. The destruction of the f\u0153tus was\ntherefore permitted to the women of Rome, and we find that Plato and\nAristotle had already adopted the same view\u201d (p. 160).\n\n_Reader._ Do not calumniate Aristotle. This great philosopher and\nnaturalist is decidedly not of your opinion. He teaches that the f\u0153tus is\nanimated in the womb. And, pray, are the legal fictions of the Roman\nlawyers of any weight against the facts averred by modern medicine? Do you\nagain appeal to ignorance against science?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Physicians have not yet decided the question. \u201cEven at birth,\nwhen the child is separated from the mother, it is impossible to assume\nthat a ready\u2010made soul, lying in wait, should suddenly rush in and take\npossession of its new habitation. The soul, on the contrary, is only\ngradually developed in proportion to the relations which, by the awakening\nsenses, are now established between the individual and the external world\u201d\n(p. 161).\n\n_Reader._ No, sir. If this last assertion were true, it would follow that\nevery child would be lifeless at its birth; for without a soul no animal\nlife can be conceived. What is \u201cgradually developed\u201d is not the substance\nof the soul, but the exercise of its faculties. This is a point already\nsettled. As to your other assertion, that the question has not yet been\ndecided by the physicians, I need only say that, although there are\ndifferent opinions regarding the time of the animation of the embryo, yet\nno physician (unless he is a materialist) denies that the embryo is\nanimated long before its nativity. Hence your notion of a ready\u2010made soul\nlying in wait, and suddenly rushing in when the child is born, is only a\ndream of your fancy or an unworthy attempt at ridiculing the proceedings\nof nature.\n\nWhat you add about the development of the child\u2019s mind by means of the\nsenses, education, and example does not prove the _subjective_, but only\nthe _objective_, growth of the mind, as you yourself seem to concede (p.\n162). And as the objective growth means an accidental acquisition of\nknowledge without any substantial change of the soul, hence nothing that\nyou may say in refutation of innate ideas can have the least weight or\nafford the least ground against the doctrine of the immortality and\nsubstantiality of the soul.\n\n\n\nXVII. The Idea Of A God.\n\n\n_Reader._ From the non\u2010existence of innate ideas you infer, doctor, that\n\u201cthe idea of a God, or the conception of a supreme personal being, who\ncreated, who governs and preserves the world, is not innate in the human\nmind, and therefore is not incontrovertible\u201d (p. 184). On the other hand,\nyou say with Luther that \u201cGod is a blank sheet, upon which nothing is\nfound but what you have yourself written\u201d (_ibid._) Do you mean that our\nnotion of God is merely subjective\u2014that is, a creation of our fancy\nwithout any objective foundation?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Yes, sir. \u201cWe can have neither any knowledge nor any conception\nof the _absolute_\u2014of that which transcends the surrounding sensual world.\nHowever much metaphysicians may vainly attempt to define the absolute,\nhowever much religion may endeavor to excite faith in the absolute by the\nassumption of a revelation, nothing can conceal the defect of the\ndefinition. All our knowledge is relative, and results from the comparison\nof surrounding sensible objects. We could have no notion of darkness\nwithout light, no conception of high without low, of heat without\ncoldness, etc.; absolute ideas we have none. We are not able to form any\nconception of \u2018everlasting\u2019 or \u2018infinite,\u2019 as our understanding, limited\nby time and space, finds an impassable barrier for that conception. From\nbeing in the sensual world accustomed to find a cause for every effect, we\nhave falsely concluded that there exists a primary cause of all things,\nalthough such a cause is perfectly inaccessible to our ideas, and is\ncontradicted by scientific experience\u201d (p. 179).\n\n_Reader._ How do you show that we have neither any knowledge nor any\nconception of the absolute? or that our understanding is limited by time\nand space? or that, from being accustomed to find a cause for every\neffect, we have _falsely_ concluded that there exists a primary cause of\nall things? or that its existence is contradicted by scientific\nexperience? Of course you cannot expect that a rational man will swallow\nsuch paradoxes on your puny authority.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ We know neither absolute truth, nor absolute good, nor absolute\nbeauty. This I have shown by proving that all our notions of truth, of\ngood, and of beauty are the fruit of experience, observation, and\ncomparison, and that such notions vary according to the character of the\nnations in which they are to be found. It is only after this demonstration\nthat I concluded \u201cthat we can have neither any knowledge nor any\nconception of the absolute.\u201d\n\n_Reader._ Yes; this is the only point which you have tried to establish,\nand you have failed, as I am ready to show. But that our understanding is\nlimited by time and space you merely assert. That we falsely conclude that\nthere is a primary cause you boldly assume. That God\u2019s existence is\ncontradicted by scientific experience you impudently affirm, well knowing\nthat it is a lie.\n\nAnd now, with regard to the knowledge of the absolute, you are much\nmistaken if you believe that we know no absolute truth, no absolute good,\nand no absolute beauty. We know absolute being; and therefore we know\nabsolute truth, absolute good, and absolute beauty.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ We know of no absolute being, sir.\n\n_Reader._ Be modest, doctor; for you know of how many blunders you stand\nalready convicted. Absolute being is not necessarily \u201cthat which\ntranscends the surrounding sensual world.\u201d The sun, the moon, the planets\nhave their absolute being, and yet do not transcend matter. Now, can we\nnot form a notion of the absolute being of these bodies? You say that \u201call\nour knowledge is relative, and results from the comparison of surrounding\nsensible objects\u201d; but you should reflect that all relative knowledge\nimplies the knowledge of the absolute terms from the comparison of which\nthe relation is to be detected. Hence you cannot admit the knowledge of\nthe relative without assuming the knowledge of the absolute. Accordingly,\nit is false that \u201call our knowledge is relative,\u201d at least in the sense of\nyour argumentation. Nor is it true that all our knowledge \u201cresults from\nthe comparison of surrounding sensible objects.\u201d There is a kind of\nknowledge which results from the comparison of intellectual principles, as\nthe knowledge of the logical rules; and there is also a knowledge which\nresults, not from the comparison, but from the intellectual analysis, of\nthings, as the knowledge of the constituent principles of being. If I ask\nyou what is _distance_, you will soon point out any two sensible objects,\nby the comparison of which distance may become known; but if I ask you\nwhat is _syllogism_, or what is _judgment_, or what is _philosophy_, I\ndefy you to point out any \u201csurrounding sensible objects,\u201d by the\ncomparison of which such notions may be understood.\n\nI need not discuss your assertion that \u201cwe could have no notion of\ndarkness without light, no conception of high without low, of heat without\ncoldness, etc.\u201d I may concede the assertion as irrelevant for, whenever we\ndesignate things by relative terms, it is clear that each relative carries\nwithin itself the connotation of its correlative. But it does not follow\nthat all our knowledge is relative. How can we know, for instance, the\nrelation of brotherhood intervening between James and John, if we know\nneither the one nor the other? Can we conceive the _brother_ without the\n_man_? Or is it necessary, when we know the man, that in such a man we\nshould see his peculiar relation to another man?\n\nYou pretend that we are not able to form any conception of \u201cever\u2010lasting\u201d\nor \u201cinfinite\u201d; and, to prove this, you affirm that \u201cour understanding,\nbeing limited by time and space, finds an impassable barrier for that\nconception.\u201d Very well; but what did you mean when you contended that\nmatter is \u201ceternal\u201d and \u201cinfinite\u201d? Had you then any conception of\n\u201ceternal\u201d and \u201cinfinite\u201d? If you had not such conceptions, you made a fool\nof yourself by using terms which you did not understand; while, if you had\nsuch conceptions, then it is false that we are not able to form them. In\nthe same manner, have you any conception of the \u201cabsolute\u201d? If you have\nit, then it is ridiculous to pretend that we cannot conceive the absolute;\nwhile, if you have it not, you know not about what you are speaking. Alas!\npoor doctor. What can you answer? It is the common fate of the enemies of\ntruth to be inconsistent with themselves, and to demolish with one hand\nwhat they build with the other.\n\nBut is it true that our intellect \u201cis limited by time and space\u201d? No, it\nis not true. Imagination is indeed limited by time and space, as all our\nphilosophers concede; but intellect understands things independently of\neither space or time. This is evident. For in what space do we place the\nuniversals? To what time do we confine mathematical truths? _Two and two\nare known to make four_ in all places and in all times\u2014that is, without\nrestriction or limit in space and time; and the same is true of all\nintellectual principles. Hence it is obvious that our understanding\ntranscends both space and time, and can reach the infinite and the\neternal. It is through abstraction, of course, and not by comprehension or\nby intuition, that we form such notions; for our intellect, though not\nlimited by time and space, is limited in its own entity, and therefore it\ncannot conceive the unlimited, except by the help of the abstractive\nprocess\u2014that is, by removing the limits by which the objective reality of\nthe finite is circumscribed. That we can do this I need not prove _to\nyou;_ for you admit that space is infinite, and pretend that matter itself\nis infinite, as I have just remarked; and consequently you cannot deny\nthat we have the notion of infinity.\n\nWhat shall I say of your next assertion, that, from being accustomed to\nfind a cause for every effect, \u201cwe have _falsely_ concluded that there\nexists a primary cause of all things\u201d? Do you think that the principle of\ncausality has no other ground than experience? or that, when we do not\n\u201cfind\u201d the cause of a certain effect, we are to conclude that the effect\nhas had no cause? I hope you will not deny that the notions of cause and\neffect are so essentially connected that there is no need of experiment to\ncompel the admission of a cause for every effect. Hence we are certain,\nnot only that all the effects for which we have found a cause proceed from\na cause, but also that all the effects for which we cannot find a cause\nlikewise proceed from a cause. This amounts to saying that the principle\nof causality is analytical, not empirical, as you seem to hold. Now, if\nall effects must have a cause, on what ground do you assert that \u201cwe have\n_falsely_ concluded that there exists a primary cause of all things\u201d? Our\nconclusion cannot be false, unless it be false that the world has been\ncreated; for if it was created, we must admit a Creator\u2014that is, a primary\ncause. But the fact of creation is, even philosophically, undeniable,\nsince the contingent nature of the world is manifestly established by its\nliability to continuous change. And therefore it is manifestly established\nthat our admission of a primary cause is not a false conclusion. I might\nsay more on this point; but what need is there of refuting assertions\nwhich have not even a shadow of plausibility? The primary cause, you say,\n\u201cis perfectly inaccessible to our ideas.\u201d I answer that, if the word\n\u201cidea\u201d means \u201cconcept,\u201d your statement is perfectly wrong. You add that\nthe existence of a primary cause \u201cis contradicted by scientific\nexperience.\u201d I answer by challenging you to bring forward a single fact of\nexperimental science which supports your blasphemous assertion.\n\nYou must agree, doctor, that a man who in a few phrases commits so many\nunconceivable blunders has no right to censure the metaphysicians or to\nattack revelation. It is rash, therefore, on your part, to declare that\n\u201chowever much metaphysicians may vainly attempt to define the absolute,\nhowever much religion may endeavor to excite faith in the absolute by the\nassumption of a revelation, nothing can conceal the defect of the\ndefinition.\u201d Of what definition do you speak? Your own definition of the\nabsolute, as \u201cthat which transcends the surrounding sensual world,\u201d is\ncertainly most deficient; but religion and metaphysics are not to be made\nresponsible for it. Why did you not, before censuring the metaphysicians\nand the theologians, ascertain their definitions? We call _absolute_ a\nbeing whose existence does not depend on the existence of another being;\nand in this sense God alone is absolute. He is _the absolute_\nantonomastically. And we call _absolute_ analogically any being also whose\nexistence does not depend on any created being, although it depends on the\ncreative and conservative action of God; and in this sense every created\nsubstance is absolute. And we call _absolute_ logically whatever is\nconceived through its own intrinsic constituents without reference to any\nother distinct entity; and in this sense we speak of absolute movement,\nabsolute weight, absolute volume, etc. Without enumerating other less\nimportant meanings of the term, I simply observe that the absolute may be\ndefined as that which is independent of extraneous conditions; and that\nthe greater its independence, the more absolute and the more perfect is\nthe being. Have you anything to say against this definition?\n\nWe must, then, conclude that all your argumentation is nothing but a\nshocking display of false assertions, and, I may add, of \u201cintellectual\njugglery.\u201d\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ I will accept your conclusion, if you can show that our\nconception of a God is not a childish delusion of our fancy. \u201cAn exact\nknowledge and unprejudiced observation of individuals and nations in an\nuncivilized state prove the contrary to be the fact. Only a prejudiced\nmind can, in the worship of animals practised by ancient and existing\nnations, find something analogous to a real belief in a God. It by no\nmeans corresponds to the idea of a God when we see man worshipping such\nanimals as he from experience knows may injure or be useful to him.... A\nstone, a tree, a river, an alligator, a parcel of rags, a snake, form the\nidols of the negro of Guinea. Such a worship does not express the idea of\nan almighty being, governing the world and ruling nature and man, but\nmerely a blind fear of natural forces, which frighten uncivilized man, or\nappear supernatural, as he is not able to trace the natural connection of\nthings.... A god in the shape of an animal is no God, but a caricature\u201d\n(pp. 184, 185).\n\n_Reader._ True. But individuals and nations existing \u201cin an uncivilized\nstate\u201d are scarcely to be appealed to for a decision of the question. The\nnotion of worship implies the notion of a supreme being; but rude and\nbrutal men, thinking of nothing but of the development of their animal\nnature and the pursuit of degrading pleasure, though they know that there\nis some superior being, are not the men we ought to consult about the\nnature and attributes of divinity. It seems, doctor, as if you had a great\npredilection for uncivilized and barbarous nations. You have already tried\nto countenance abortion and f\u0153ticide, on the ground that barbarians\nadmitted the horrible practice; and now you would have us believe that our\nconception of a God is a childish delusion, on the ground that barbarians\nworship the snake, the alligator, or any other caricature of a god. This\nwill not do.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ But civilized men are not much in advance of barbarians with\nregard to the notion of divinity. \u201cNo one has better expounded the purely\nhuman origin of the idea of God than Ludwig Feuerbach. He calls all\nconceptions of God and divinity _anthropomorphisms_\u2014_i.e._, products of\nhuman fancies and perceptions, formed after the model of human\nindividuality. Feuerbach finds this anthropomorphism in the feeling of\ndependence inherent in the human nature. \u2018An extraneous and superhuman\nGod,\u2019 says Feuerbach, \u2018is nothing but an extraneous and supernatural self,\na subjective being placed, by transgressing its limits, above the\nobjective nature of man.\u2019 The history of all religions is indeed a\ncontinuous argument for this assertion; and how could it be otherwise?\nWithout any knowledge or any notion of the absolute, without any immediate\nrevelation, the existence of which is indeed asserted by all, but not\nproved by any religious sect, all ideas of God, no matter of what\nreligion, can only be human; and as man knows in animated nature no being\nintellectually superior to himself, it follows that his conception of a\nsupreme being can only be abstracted from his own self, and must represent\na _self\u2010idealization_\u201d (p. 190). Hence it is plain that our idea of a God\nis a mere delusion.\n\n_Reader._ It is by no means plain, doctor. Feuerbach\u2019s authority, you\nknow, is worth very little. Your German philosophers, as you own, \u201chave\npretty much lost their authority, and are now but little attended to\u201d (p.\n158). On the other hand, \u201cnothing,\u201d says Herschel, \u201cis so improbable but a\nGerman will find a theory for it\u201d (p. 155). Therefore let Feuerbach alone.\n\nAs for the reasons which you adduce in support of the assumption, we need\nnot go into deep reasonings to lay open their true value. Is \u201cthe history\nof all religions a continuous argument for Feuerbach\u2019s assertion\u201d? No. For\nthe history of the Mosaic and of the Christian religion is a continuous\nrefutation of such a slander. Are men \u201cwithout any knowledge or any notion\nof the absolute\u201d? No. This I have already shown to be entirely false. Men,\nhowever, are \u201cwithout any immediate revelation.\u201d This is true, but it has\nnothing to do with the question; first, because philosophy and reason are\ncompetent without supernatural revelation to ascertain the existence of a\nprimary cause infinitely superior to all the natural beings; secondly,\nbecause, although we have no _immediate_ revelations, we have the old\nrevelation transmitted to us by written and oral tradition, and by the\nteaching of the living church. That this revelation \u201cis asserted by all,\nbut not proved by any religious sect,\u201d is one of those lies which it is\nquite unnecessary to refute, as there are whole libraries of Scriptural\ntreatises, in which the truth of revelation is superabundantly vindicated.\nI would therefore conclude, without any further discussion, that it is to\nyourself, and not to your opponents, that you should apply that low\ncriticism with which you close the twenty\u2010sixth chapter of your work. For\nit is you that \u201cdelight in hashing up cold meat with new phrases, and\ndishing them up as the last invention of the _materialistic_ kitchen\u201d (p.\n194).\n\nTo sum up: Do you admit that man is a finite being?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Of course.\n\n_Reader._ Do you admit that man had a beginning? That man is ignorant,\nweak, wicked, and subject to death?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Who can doubt that?\n\n_Reader._ Then man by _self\u2010idealization_ cannot form an anthropomorphic\nnotion of a supreme being without involving limitation, ignorance,\nimpotence, malice, an origin, and an end of existence. Such, and no other,\nwould be the result of self\u2010idealization. Now, our notion of God is that\nof a being eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, holy, immense. Is\nthis anthropomorphism?\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nDestiny.\n\n\nFrom The French Of Louis Veuillot.\n\nIt is the lot of mortals here below\nThat they shall ever crawl from bad to worse,\nApproaching step by step the dismal tomb\u2014\nInstance an aching tooth, with no relief\nSave by its loss. Cure comes by sacrifice.\n\nAll victories are seeds of further strife\u2014\nOf strife that never ends but in the grave,\nIn which he only conquers who succumbs:\n And this is destiny.\n\nYe dreamers of love\u2010dreams, of glory, wealth,\nWho, growing old, are scouted by the world,\nAnd then swept on into forgetfulness!\nAll disappears\u2014laurels, affection, gold!\nBlame not your faults that so things come to pass,\n For this is destiny.\n\n\n\n\nThe Veil Withdrawn.\n\n\nTranslated, By Permission, From The French Of Mme. Craven, Author Of A \u201cA\nSister\u2019s Story,\u201d \u201cFleurange,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n\nXXII.\n\n\nThe following day was as gloomy as might have been expected from the\nevening before. Never had I suffered such inexpressible anguish and\ndistress.\n\nIt is useless to say that I went to church alone, as on the preceding\nSunday, but I was not as calm and recollected as I was then. I was now in\na state of irrepressible dissatisfaction with everything and everybody,\nmyself not excepted, and yet I was very far from being in that humble\ndisposition of mind which subdues all murmuring, extinguishes resentment,\nand throws a calm, serene light on the way one should walk in. I regretted\nmy hastiness of the evening before, because I realized that a different\ncourse would have been more likely to further my wishes. In short, I felt\nI ought to have managed more skilfully, but it never occurred to me I\nmight have been more patient. I found it difficult, above all, to calm the\nexcessive irritation caused by the recollection of Lorenzo\u2019s manner\nthroughout our interview. I compared it with his appearance on the day\nwhen he spoke to me for the first time concerning her.\n\nWhat tenderness he then manifested! What confidence! What respect even!\nEven while uttering her name\u2014alas! with emotion\u2014how manifest it was that,\nwhile desirous of repairing his wrongs towards her, he felt incapable of\nany towards me! Not a week had elapsed since that time, and yesterday how\ncold, how hard! What implacable and freezing irony! What an incredible\nchange in his looks and words! Was it really Lorenzo who spoke to me in\nsuch a way? Was it really he who gave me so indifferent and almost\ndisdainful a look?... No, he was no longer the same. A previous\nfascination had recovered its power, and the fatal charm over which I had\nso recently triumphed had regained its empire over a heart which I was,\nalas! too feeble to retain, because I had no sentiments more profound and\nelevated than those of nature to aid me!\n\nAs I have already said, I did not try to fathom Faustina\u2019s motives. I\nought, however, to say a few words concerning her, if only through charity\nfor him whom she had followed, like an angel of darkness, to disturb his\nlegitimate happiness!\n\nThat she had long loved him I do not doubt\u2014loved him with the unbridled\npassion that sways all such hearts as hers. She thought he would return to\nher. She believed she was preparing for herself a whole life of happiness\nby two years of apparent virtue. Mistaken, wounded, and desperate, she had\nat first yielded to an impetuous desire of perhaps merely seeing him once\nmore; perhaps, also, to avenge herself by destroying the happiness that\nhad defeated her dearest hopes.\n\nShe had calculated on the extent of her influence, and had calculated\nrightly. But in order to exert it, I was necessary to her design, and she\nplayed with consummate art the scene of our first encounter. She wished to\ntake a near view of the enemy she hoped to vanquish; she must sound the\nheart she wished to smite. Alas! all that was worthy of esteem in that\nheart was not perceived by him, and it was natural to underrate a treasure\nnot appreciated by its owner. What could I do, then? What advantage had I\nover her, if, in Lorenzo\u2019s eyes, I was not protected by a sacred,\ninsurmountable barrier which he respected himself? What was my love in\ncomparison with her passion? What was my intelligence in comparison with\nthat which she possessed? My beauty beside the irresistible charm that had\neven fascinated me? Finally, my youth itself in comparison with all the\nadvantages her unscrupulous vanity gave her over me? In fact, I think it\nseemed so easy at the first glance to vanquish me that she was almost\ndisarmed herself. But I also believe she soon discovered something more in\nme than all she found so easy to eclipse. She saw I might in time succeed\nin acquiring an ascendency over Lorenzo that no human influence could\ndestroy. She saw I might kindle a flame in his soul it would be impossible\nto extinguish\u2014a flame very different from that which either of us could be\nthe object of. She saw I might lead him into a world where she could no\nlonger be my rival, and that I wished to do so. She discerned the ardent\nthough confused desire that was in my heart. In a word, she had on her\nside an intuition equal to that which I had on mine. She perceived the\ngood there was in me, as I had fathomed the evil there was in her, and she\nknew she must overpower my good influence, which would render him\ninvulnerable whom she wished to captivate. She made use of all the weapons\nshe possessed to conquer me, or rather, alas! to conquer him\u2014weapons\nalways deadly against hearts without defence. The very esteem she had\nheretofore won became a snare to him when her pride, her passion, changed\ntheir calculations\u2014an additional snare, a danger that, combined with\nothers, would be fatal!...\n\nIf I speak of her now in this way, it is not to gratify a resentment long\nsince extinguished. Neither is it to palliate Lorenzo\u2019s offences against\nme and against God. It is solely to explain their secret cause, and to\nrepeat once more that human love, even the most tender, is a frail\nfoundation of that happiness in which God has no part; and honor likewise,\neven the highest and most unimpeachable, is a feeble guarantee of a\nfidelity of which God is not the bond, the witness, and the judge!...\n\nI saw Lorenzo barely for a moment in the morning. I clearly perceived he\nwished to make me forget what had passed between us the evening before,\nbut I did not see the least shade of regret. It was evident, on the\ncontrary, that he thought himself magnanimous in overlooking my\nreproaches, and felt no concern at having merited them. In short, we\nseemed to have changed _r\u00f4les_. As for me, I suffered so much on account\nof the outburst I had indulged in that it would have been easy to call\nforth acknowledgments that would have atoned for it. They only waited for\nthe least word of affection, but not one did he utter. Lando came for him\nbefore two o\u2019clock, and they went away together, leaving me with a sad,\nheavy heart. I was not to see him again till my return from the H\u00f4tel de\nKergy. Where would he pass the time meanwhile?... Would it really be in\nLando\u2019s company? And was the business they had to settle really such as to\nrender it impossible for him to spend this last evening with me?... Would\nit not have been a thousand times better to have remained silent, and, as\nthis was really our last day, and we were to leave on the next, would it\nnot have been wiser in me to have spent it wholly with him, ... even if\nthat included her?... Had I not committed an irreparable folly in yielding\nto this explosion of unmistakable anger? This was indubitable, but it was\ntoo late to remedy it. The die was cast. Lorenzo was gone! I passed the\nafternoon, like that of the Sunday before, at church, but was pursued by a\nthousand distractions which I had not now the strength to resist. On the\ncontrary, I took pleasure in dwelling on them, and my mind wandered\nwithout any effort on my part to prevent it. I neglected, on the very day\nof my life when I had the most need of light, courage, and assistance, to\nhave recourse to the only Source whence they are to be obtained, and I\nreturned home without having uttered a prayer.\n\nTwo hours later I was at the H\u00f4tel de Kergy, and in the same room where\njust a week before I had felt such lively emotion and conceived such\ndelightful hopes! But, ah! what a contrast between my feelings on that\noccasion and those of to\u2010day! I seemed to have lived as many years since\nas there had been days!...\n\nMme. de Kergy advanced to meet me as I entered, and I saw she noticed the\nchange in my face the moment she looked at me. I did not know how to feign\nwhat I did not feel, and she had had too much experience not to perceive I\nhad undergone some pain or chagrin since the evening before. She asked me\nno questions, however, but, on the contrary, began to speak of something\nforeign to myself; and this did me good. I soon felt my painful emotions\ndiminish by degrees, and a change once more in the atmosphere around me,\nas when one passes from one clime to another.\n\nThe guests were but few in number, and all friends of the family. Diana,\nprettier than ever, and so lively as to excite my envy, was delighted to\nsee me, but did not observe the cloud on my brow; and if she had, she\nwould have been incapable of fathoming the cause. She hastened to point\nout the various guests who had arrived.\n\n\u201cThey are all friends,\u201d said she; \u201cfor mother said you were coming to get\na little respite from society.\u201d\n\nMme. de Kergy presented them to me one by one, and among the persons\nintroduced were several of celebrity, whom I regarded with all the\ninterest a first meeting adds to renown. But I saw nothing of Diana\u2019s\nbrother among those present, and was beginning to wonder if I should never\nsee him again, when, just as dinner was ready, he made his appearance. He\nbowed to me at a distance, appearing to have forgotten it was his place to\nescort me to the table. A sign from his mother seemed to bring him to\nhimself, and he offered me his arm with some confusion, though without any\nawkwardness. But after taking a seat beside me, he remained for some\nmoments without speaking, and then addressed his conversation to others\ninstead of me. I saw he was for some reason embarrassed, and I was\nconfused myself; for such things are contagious. He soon recovered his\naccustomed ease, however, and when he finally addressed me it was with a\nsimplicity that set me, on my part, entirely at ease. His conversation\nsurprised and pleased me, and I felt I conversed better with him than any\none else. There was nothing trifling in what he said, and, above all, he\nrefrained from everything like a compliment, direct or indirect, and even\nfrom every subject that might lead either to me or himself. Women\ngenerally like nothing so much as a style of conversation that shows the\neffect they produce, so it was not astonishing it had been employed with\nme as well as with others. But this language had always embarrassed and\ndispleased me, and I now felt proportionately pleased with the unusual way\nin which I was addressed\u2014a way that seemed to raise me in my own\nestimation. And yet he did not try to absorb my attention, but gave others\nan opportunity of taking part in the conversation.\n\nIt soon became general, and I stopped to listen. I had then the pleasure\u2014a\nnew one for me\u2014of witnessing a kind of game in which thoughts and opinions\nfly from one to another, wit mingles with gravity, and the intellect is\nbrightened by contact with the brilliancy of others. Gilbert was not the\nonly one in this circle who knew how to interest without fatiguing, and\nexcite, not by ridicule, but by a better kind of wit, the hearty, cordial\nlaugh that wounds neither the absent nor the present!\n\nWhat struck me especially was the interest and almost deference with which\na man of well\u2010known eloquence, whose opinions had weight with every one,\nendeavored to draw forth the opinions of others. It might have been said\nhe listened even better than he talked.\n\nThus during the whole time we were at table, and the evening that\nfollowed, I realized the true meaning of the word _conversation_ in a\ncountry where it originated, in the social world where it was coined, and\nin the language which is, of all mediums, the most delicate, the most\nperfect, and the most universal.\n\nIn spite of myself, I felt my sadness gradually vanish, and my laugh more\nthan once mingled freely in the merriment of others. I saw that Mme. de\nKergy observed this with pleasure, and a benevolent smile increased the\nhabitual sweetness of her expression. She was a woman whose unvarying\nserenity was the result of great suffering, and who now sought nothing in\nthis world but the happiness of others; to whose pains she was as fully\nalive as she was full of profound compassion.\n\nShe wore mourning, not only for her husband, but a number of children, of\nwhom Gilbert and Diana were the sole survivors. But far from centring her\naffection on them, she seemed to have given to all who were young the love\nshe had cherished for those who were gone, and the vacant places they had\nleft in her maternal heart. I could not help regarding her with\nastonishment, for I belonged to a country where it is more common to die\nof grief than to learn how to live under its burden. I returned Mme. de\nKergy\u2019s smile, and for an hour felt gay and almost happy. But by degrees\nthe burden, removed for an instant, fell back on my heart. The reality of\nmy troubles, and the thought of bidding farewell to this delightful circle\nof friends, filled me with a melancholy it was impossible to repress. The\nregret that weighed on my heart was for a moment as profound as that we\nfeel for our country when we fear never to behold it again.\n\nI remained seated in an arm\u2010chair near the fire\u2010place, and fell into a\nrevery which was favored by Diana, who was at the piano. She was at that\nmoment playing with consummate skill an air of Chopin\u2019s which seemed to\ngive expression to my very thoughts....\n\nI awoke from my long revery, and felt a blush mount to my very forehead\nwhen, raising my eyes, I found Gilbert\u2019s fixed on mine.... And mine were\nveiled with tears! I hastily brushed them away, stammering with confusion\nthat Chopin\u2019s music always affected my nerves, and then, leaving my seat,\nI approached the piano, where Diana continued to play one air after\nanother.... Gilbert remained with a pensive manner in the place where I\nleft him, looking at me from a distance, and trying, perhaps, to\nconjecture the cause of my emotion.\n\nBut the approaching separation was sufficient to account for this. I was\nthat very evening to bid a long farewell to these new friends, whom\nperhaps I should never meet again in this world! And when the hour came,\nand Mme. de Kergy clasped me for the last time in her arms, I made no\neffort to restrain my tears. Diana wept also, and, throwing her arms\naround my neck, said:\n\n\u201cOh! do not forget me. I love you so much!\u201d\n\nHer mother added with a tearful voice:\n\n\u201cMay God watch over you wherever you go, my dear Ginevra! I shall follow\nyou in spirit with as much interest as if I had known you always!...\u201d\n\nGilbert offered me his arm, and conducted me to the carriage without\nuttering a word; but as I was on the point of entering it he said:\n\n\u201cThose you leave behind are greatly to be pitied, madame.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I am much more so,\u201d I replied, my tears continuing to flow without\nrestraint.\n\nHe remained silent an instant, and then said:\n\n\u201cAs for me, madame, I may hope to see you again, for I shall go to Naples,\n... _if I dare_.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd why should you not dare? You know well we shall expect you and\nwelcome you as a friend.\u201d\n\nHe made no reply, but after helping me into the carriage, and I had given\nhim my hand, as I bade him adieu, he answered in a low tone: \u201c_Au\nrevoir!_\u201d\n\n\n\nXXIII.\n\n\nOur journey through France and across the Alps did not in the least\ndiminish the impressions of my last days in Paris. But everything was\nmingled in my recollections like the joy and regret I felt at my\ndeparture\u2014joy and regret, both of which I had reason to feel, though I did\nnot try to fathom their cause. I was only conscious that in more than one\nway the repose and happiness of our life were threatened, and it was\nnecessary we should take flight. It seemed as if we could not go fast\nenough or far enough. The very rapidity with which we travelled by railway\nwas delightfully soothing, for it seconded my wishes. The sudden change of\nscenery and climate, and the different aspect of the towns as soon as we\ncrossed the mountains, also gave me pleasure, because all this greatly\nadded in my imagination to the distance we had so rapidly come.\n\nLorenzo also, though doubtless for a different reason, seemed more at ease\nafter we left Paris, and gradually resumed his usual manner towards me. He\nnever mentioned Faustina\u2019s name, and I had only ventured to speak timidly\nof her once. As we were on the point of leaving, I proposed writing her a\nfarewell note, but he prevented me by hastily stammering something to this\neffect: that my absence the evening before was a sufficient explanation\nfor not seeing her again, and it was useless to take the trouble of any\nfurther farewell.\n\nThis new attitude surprised me. He had changed his mind, then, since the\nday he urged me so strongly to be her friend!... It is true I had myself\nexpressed a vehement desire\u2014too vehement, perhaps!\u2014to break off this\nfriendship. But he did not try in the least to profit by my present good\u2010\nwill to renew it. It was evident he no longer desired it himself. His only\nwish seemed to be to make me forget the scene that had occurred, as well\nas the cause that led to it. Why was this? If I had really been in the\nwrong, would he have forgiven me so readily? If, instead of this, his\nconscience forced him to excuse me, did not the affection he now\nmanifested prove his desire to repair wrongs he could not avow, and which\nperhaps I did not suspect?\n\nThese thoughts involuntarily crossed my mind and heart with painful\nrapidity. I loved Lorenzo, or rather, I felt the need of loving him, above\nall things. But if he himself loved me no longer, if he had become\ntreacherous, unfaithful, and untrue to his word, could I continue to love\nhim? Was this possible?... What would become of me in this case? Merciful\nheavens!... I asked myself these questions with a terror that could not\nhave been greater had I been asking myself what would become of my eyes\nshould they be deprived of light. And this comparison is just, for there\ncould be no darker night than that which would have surrounded me had the\nardent, predominant feeling of my heart been left without any object. I\nmight suitably have taken for my motto: _Aimer ou mourir_\u2014either love or\ndie\u2014words often uttered in a jesting, romantic, or trifling way, but which\nwere to me full of profound, mysterious meaning. But this meaning was\nhidden from me, and the day was still far distant when its signification\nwould be made manifest!\n\nAfter crossing the Alps and the Apennines, and passing through Florence\nand Rome, we at length proceeded towards Naples by the delightful route\nthat formerly crossed the Pontine Marshes, Terracina, and Mola di Ga\u00ebta.\nEvery one who returns to Italy the first time after leaving it experiences\na feeling of intoxication and joy a thousand times more lively than when\none goes there for the first time. The eyes wander around in search of\nobjects which once gave them pleasure and it had been a sacrifice to\nleave. I yielded to this enjoyment without attempting to resist it.\nSadness, moreover, did not belong to my age, and, though intensely capable\nof it, it was by no means natural to me. During the first weeks after my\nreturn to Naples my mind was diverted from all my troubles and anxiety by\nnovelties that everything contributed to render efficacious and powerful.\n\nIn the first place, I was glad to find myself once more in my delightful\nhome, which, by the order of Lorenzo, had undergone a multitude of\nimprovements during my absence, and was now additionally embellished with\nthe contents of the boxes we had brought from Paris. It was Lorenzo\u2019s\ntaste, and not mine, which had dictated the choice of these numberless\nobjects, the chief value of which in my eyes was derived from the\nestimation he attached to them himself.\n\nThe anxiety that clouded his face seemed to have disappeared. He appeared\nas delighted as I to find himself at home, and was quite disposed to\nresume his favorite occupation in his studio. Consequently, the clouds\nsoon began to disperse from my soul; the sun once more began to brighten\nmy life.\n\nLorenzo soon insisted, with an earnestness equal to that he had before\nshown to have me all to himself, that my door should now be constantly\nopen. My drawing\u2010room was filled with people of the best society and\nhighest rank in Naples, and, thanks to their cordiality and natural turn\nfor sudden intimacies (a characteristic, charming trait in that delightful\nregion), instead of feeling at all embarrassed among so many new\nacquaintances, I felt as if surrounded by friends I had always known and\nloved.\n\nAbove all, I at last saw Livia once more, and though through a double\ngrate, which prevented me from embracing her, it afforded me an unalloyed\nhappiness which left no regrets.\n\nThe monastery she entered was situated at one extremity of Naples, which\ncould only be reached by traversing an endless number of narrow, gloomy,\nwinding streets, in which it seemed impossible to move a step without\nknocking down the people on foot, overthrowing their shops, and even\nkitchens, established in the open air; and, if in a carriage, crushing the\nchildren playing, running about, or sleeping in the sun.\n\nThe first time a person ventures into such streets he is terrified at\nevery step, and wonders he is allowed there. He feels guilty and like\napologizing to every one he meets. But he soon sees he has done no harm;\nthat everybody, young and old, mothers and children, the passers\u2010by, the\ncoachmen, and even the horses themselves, are endowed with a dexterity,\ngood\u2010humor, and at the same time an energy that make their way through\neverything. In a word, they all have such quickness of sight, hearing, and\nmotion that not a day passes in which miracles of skill are not effected\nin these narrow streets, which not only prevent accidents from happening,\nbut even from being feared, and you are at last unwilling to admit there\nis any crowd in Naples so compact, any street so narrow, or any descent so\nperilous, as to make it necessary to leave the vehicle you are in, or\nwhich the coachman who drives, and the horses he manages, cannot pass\nwithout danger.\n\nAt the end of some such way as I have described it was necessary, in\naddition to all this, in order to reach the monastery I am speaking of, to\nstop at the foot of an acclivity the horses could not ascend, not on\naccount of its steepness, which would have been no obstacle, but because\nevery now and then there were steps to facilitate the ascent of\npedestrians, but which rendered it impassable for equipages of any kind\nwhatever. It had therefore to be ascended on foot, and, when once at the\ntop, there was still a flight of fifteen or twenty steps to climb before\nreaching the broad terrace or platform before the gate through which\nstrangers were admitted to the convent.\n\nIf this ascent was difficult, it must be confessed one felt repaid for the\ntrouble of making it by the view from the terrace. Here the visitor\nwandered along the narrow, gloomy streets through the old, historic city,\nas well as its more elegant quarters, towards that side of the bay where\nVesuvius was to be seen in its most striking aspect, and from the summit\nof the volcano followed its descent to the vast, smiling plain, more\ncharming even in that direction than that to the sea by Ottagno, Stabia,\nand Castellamare. On every side the eye reposed on the verdant orange\u2010\ntrees growing in numberless gardens. Such was the outer world that\nencircled my sister\u2019s cloistered home. Such was the view from every window\non this side of the convent. On the other there was a more quiet prospect,\nperhaps even better suited to contemplation\u2014that of the cloister, with its\nbroad arcades of fine architecture, which surrounded an enclosure planted\nwith lemon\u2010trees, in the centre of which stood a massive antique fountain\nof marble. The pines of Capo di Monte stood out against the clear sky,\nfurther off were the heights of Sant\u2019 Elmo, and along the horizon\nstretched the majestic line of mountains which form the background of the\npicture.\n\nWhen able to tear my eyes from this magnificent prospect, lit up by all\nthe fires of the setting sun, I suddenly found myself in the somewhat\ngloomy vestibule of the monastery, whence I was conducted to a large\nparlor divided by a grate, behind which fell a long, black curtain. Here I\nwas left alone, with the assurance I should soon see my sister. I felt an\nemotion I had not anticipated, and for the first time it seemed as if the\nmost horrible separation had taken place between us. The admiration I had\njust experienced, and my joy at the prospect of seeing her again, both\nvanished. My heart swelled with painful emotion, and it was with more\nterror than devotion I looked up at a large crucifix\u2014the only ornament on\nthe bare wall in front of the _grille_. As to the grate itself, it filled\nme with horror, and I did not dare look at it.\n\nAll at once I heard the sound of a light step, the curtain was drawn\nquickly aside, and a beloved voice softly uttered my name: \u201cGina!\u201d Turning\naround, I saw Livia, my sister, standing before me! The shock I received\ncould not have been greater if, supposing her dead, I had seen her descend\nfrom the skies and appear thus suddenly before me. She wore the white veil\nof a novice, and her habit, as well as the band across her forehead and\nthe _guimpe_ around her neck, was of the same color. Her face was radiant.\nThe dazzling rays of the setting sun suddenly poured in through the door\nof the cloister, left open behind her, and she seemed to be wholly\nenveloped in light. I gazed at her speechless with affection, surprise,\nand I know not what other indefinable emotion.... I was almost afraid to\naddress her; but she did not appear to observe it. The words that rapidly\nfell from her lips were animated, natural, and affectionate as ever\u2014more\naffectionate even. And there was the same tone of anxious solicitude. But\nshe was calmer, more serene, and even more gentle, and, though at times\nshe had the same tone of decision, there was no trace of the sadness and\nausterity she sometimes manifested, in spite of herself, in former times\nwhen an invisible cross darkened everything around her. The band that\nconcealed her hair revealed more clearly the extreme beauty of her eyes,\nand while I stood gazing at her as if I had never studied her features\nbefore, I felt she spoke truly in saying \u201cthe grates of the convent should\nneither hide her face nor her heart from me.\u201d Never had the one, I\nthought, so faithfully reflected the other.\n\nAs to her, she by no means perceived the effect she had produced. She was\nanxious to hear all I had been doing while absent, and asked me one\nquestion after another with the same familiarity with which we used to\nconverse when side by side. Glad to be able to open my heart in this way,\nI forgot, when I began, all I had to say if I would conceal nothing from\nher. But my account soon became confused, and I suddenly stopped.\n\n\u201cGina mia!\u201d said she, \u201cyou do not tell me everything. Why is this? Is it\nbecause you think I no longer take any interest in your worldly affairs?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not that alone, Livia, but it is really very difficult to speak of\nParis and the senseless life I led there before this grate and while\nlooking at you as you are now.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall always take as much pleasure in listening to you,\u201d said she, \u201cas\nyou do in talking to me. I admit, when our good aunt, Donna Clelia, comes\nto see me with her daughters, I often assume a severe air, and tell them\nwhat I think of the world; ... but I must confess my aunt does not get\nangry with me, for she depends on my vocation to procure husbands for\nMariuccia and Teresina, who are worthy of them, because, as she says, a\nperson who consecrates herself to God brings good\u2010luck to all the family.\nShe no longer regards me as a _jettatrice_, I assure you!\u201d\n\nShe laughed as she said this, and I could not help exclaiming with\nsurprise and envy:\n\n\u201cLivia, how happy you are to be so cheerful!\u201d\n\nHer face resumed its usual expression of sweet gravity, as she replied:\n\n\u201cI am cheerful, Gina, because I am happy. But you were formerly livelier\nthan I. Why are you no longer so, my dear sister? Cheerfulness is for\nthose whose souls are at peace.\u201d\n\n\u201cO Livia!\u201d I cried, not able to avoid a sincere reply to so direct a\nquestion, \u201cmy heart is heavy with sorrow, I assure you, and the\ncheerfulness you speak of is frequently wanting.\u201d\n\nShe started with surprise at these words, and questioned me with an\nangelic look.\n\nI did not delay my reply. I felt the need of opening my heart, and resumed\nthe account I had broken off. I described without any circumlocution the\nlife of pleasure to which I had given myself up, at first through\ncuriosity and inclination, and in the end with weariness and disgust. I\nspoke of the day at Paris when fervor, devotion, and good impulses awoke\nin my soul, my meeting Mme. de Kergy, and all I had seen and felt in the\nplaces I had visited in her company.\n\nFinally, I endeavored, with a trembling voice, to explain all my hopes and\nwishes with respect to Lorenzo, and the nature of the projects and\nambition I had for him. With a heart still affected at the remembrance I\ndepicted the new happiness\u2014the new and higher life I had dreamed of for\nhim as well as myself!\n\nLivia listened with joy to this part of my story, and her face brightened\nwhile I was speaking. But, without explaining the cause of my\ndisappointment, I ended by telling her how complete it was, and this awoke\nso many bitter remembrances at once that I was suffocated with emotion,\nand for some moments I was unable to continue....\n\nA cloud passed over her brow, and she suffered me to weep some moments in\nsilence.\n\n\u201cYour wishes were good and holy, Ginevra,\u201d said she at length, \u201cand God\nwill bless them sooner or later.\u201d\n\nI paid no heed to her words. A torrent of bitterness, jealousy, and grief\ninundated my heart, and, feeling at liberty to say what concerned no one\nbut myself, I gave vent to thoughts I had often dwelt on in silence, but\nnow uttered aloud with vehemence and without any restriction.\n\nLivia listened without interrupting me, and seemed affected at my\nimpetuosity. Standing motionless on the other side of the _grille_, her\nhands crossed under her long, white scapular, and her downcast, thoughtful\neyes fastened on the ground, she seemed for a time to be listening rather\nto the interior voice of my soul than to the words I uttered. At length\nshe slowly raised her eyes, and said with an accent difficult to describe:\n\n\u201cYou say your heart feels the need of some object of affection\u2014that not to\nlove would be death? You need, too, the assurance that the one you love is\nwholly worthy of your affection?... Really,\u201d continued she, smiling, \u201cone\nwould say you wish Lorenzo to be perfect, which of course he is not, even\nif as faultless as man is capable of being.\u201d\n\nShe stopped, and the smile that played on her lips became almost\ncelestial. One would have said a ray of sunlight beamed across her face.\nShe continued:\n\n\u201cI understand you, Ginevra; I understand you perfectly, perhaps even\nbetter than you do yourself, but I am not capable of solving the enigma\nthat perplexes you\u2014of drawing aside the veil that now obscures the\nlight.... Oh! if I could!\u201d said she, clasping her hands and raising her\neyes to heaven with fervor.\u201c To solve all your doubts\u2014to give you the\nlight necessary to comprehend this mystery clearly\u2014would require a miracle\nbeyond the power of any human being. God alone can effect this. May he\ncomplete his work! May you merit it!\u201d\n\nThe bell rang, and we hastily took leave of each other. It was dusk when I\nleft her. She assured me I could make her a similar visit every week, and\nthis prospect made me happy. I was happy to have seen her\u2014happy to feel\nshe could still descend to my level from the holier region she inhabited,\nand that there was nothing to hinder me from enjoying in the future the\nsweet intercourse of the past.\n\nBut however fully I opened my heart to Livia, I should have considered it\nprofaning the purity of the air I breathed in her presence to utter the\nname of Faustina Reali. And, without knowing why, neither did I mention\nthe name of Gilbert de Kergy.\n\n\n\nXXIV.\n\n\nNaples at that time was styled by some one \u201ca small capital and a large\ncity,\u201d and this designation was correct. The society, though on a small\nscale, was of the very highest grade, consisting of an aristocracy exempt\nfrom the least haughtiness, and retaining all the habits and manners of\nbygone times. However frivolous this society might be in appearance, its\ndefects were somewhat redeemed by an originality and lack of affectation\nwhich wholly excluded the vexatious and insupportable _ennui_ produced by\nfrivolity and pretension when, as often happens, they are found together.\nWith a few exceptions, devoid of great talents or very profound\nacquirements, it had wit in abundance, as well as a singular aptitude for\nseizing and comprehending everything. If to all this we add the most\ncordial reception and the readiest, warmest welcome, it will at once be\nseen that those who were admitted to this circle could not help carrying\naway an ineffaceable remembrance of it.\n\nBut the special, characteristic trait which distinguished Naples from\nevery other city, large or small, was, strange to say, and yet true, the\nutter absence of all gossip, slander, or ridicule. The women unanimously\ndefended one another, and no man, under the penalty of being considered\nill\u2010bred, ever ventured to speak ill of one of their number, unless\nperhaps by one of those slight movements of the features which constitute,\nin that country, a language apart\u2014very eloquent, it is true, and perfectly\nunderstood by every one, but which never produces the same effect as\nactual words. It was generally said, and almost always with truth,\nwhenever there was any new gossip in circulation, which sometimes\nhappened, that \u201cno doubt some stranger had a finger in it\u201d! To complete\nthis picture, we will add that there was a circle of ladies in Neapolitan\nsociety who fully equalled in beauty and grace the generation before them,\nwhich was celebrated in this respect throughout Italy.\n\nIt may be affirmed, therefore, without fear of denial on the part of any\ncontemporary, that the general result of all this was to produce a kind of\n_beau\u2010ideal_ of gay society.\n\nAmong these ladies was one I particularly remarked, and who speedily\nbecame my friend. Lorenzo had predicted this the day (afterwards so\nfatally memorable to me) when for the first time the name of the Contessa\nStella di San Giulio met my eyes. To tell the truth, this remembrance at\nfirst took away all desire to make her acquaintance. It seemed to me\n(yielding no doubt to a local superstition) that the day on which I first\nheard the name of Faustina could bring me no luck. But this prejudice was\nsoon overcome. It was sufficient to see her to feel at once attracted\ntowards her. At first sight, however, there was something imposing in her\nfeatures and manner, but this impression immediately changed. As soon as\nshe began to converse, her eyes, the pleasing outline of her face, and her\nwhole person, were lit up by an enchanting smile on her half\u2010open lips\u2014a\nsmile that the pencil of Leonardo da Vinci alone could depict. It is among\nthe women who served as models to this great, incomparable master that a\nlikeness to Stella must be sought. It is by studying the faces of which he\nhas left us the inimitable type we recognize, notwithstanding their\nsmiling expression, a certain firmness and energy which exclude all idea\nof weakness, nonchalance, or indolence. Stella\u2019s physiognomy, too,\nexpressed courage and patience, and they were predominant traits in her\ncharacter. She was, however, vivacious, versatile, and so lively as to\nseem at times to take too light a view of everything; but, when better\nknown, no one could help admiring the rare faculty with which heaven\nenabled her to bear cheerfully the heavy trials of life, and feeling that\nher gayety was courage in its most attractive aspect.\n\nMarried at eighteen, she had seen this union, with which convenience had\nmore to do than inclination, dissolved at the end of two years: her\nhusband died soon after the birth of her only child. From that time family\ncircumstances obliged her to live with an uncle, who was the guardian of\nher child, and had, in this capacity, the right to meddle with everything\nrelating to both mother and daughter\u2014a right which his wife, a woman of\ndifficult and imperious temper, likewise arrogated in a manner that would\nhave exhausted the patience of any one else; but Stella\u2019s never failed\nher. Feeling it important for the future interests of her little Angiolina\nto accept the condition imposed by her widowhood, she submitted to it\ncourageously without asking if there was any merit in so doing. Her\nliveliness, which had been so long subdued, returned beneath the smiles of\nher child, and, as often happens to those who are young, nature gained the\nascendency and triumphed over all there was to depress her. Angiolina was\nnow five years old, and was growing up without perceiving the gloomy\natmosphere that surrounded the nest of affection and joy in which her\nmother sheltered her, and the latter found her child so sweet a resource\nthat she no longer seemed to feel anything was wanting in her lot.\n\nThis intimacy added much to the happiness of a life which began to please\nme far beyond my expectations. The gay world, with which I thought myself\nso completely disgusted, took a new and more subtle aspect in my eyes than\nthat I had so soon become weary of. But in yielding to this charm it\nseemed to me I was pleasing Lorenzo and seconding his desire to make our\nhouse one of the most brilliant in Naples. Nevertheless, he resumed his\nlabors, and passed whole hours in his studio, where he seemed wholly\nabsorbed, as formerly, in his art. I found him there more than anywhere\nelse, as he was before our fatal journey. He had begun again with renewed\nardor on his Vestal, which was now nearly completed, and was considered\nthe most perfect work that ever issued from his hands. He attributed the\nhonor of his success to his model, and, though formerly more annoyed than\nflattered by suffrages of this kind, I now welcomed the compliment as a\npresage of days like those of former times.\n\nThe first time I entered the studio after my return I sought with jealous\nanxiety some trace of the remembrance that haunted me, and seemed to find\nit on every hand. In a Sappho whose passionate, tragical expression alone\nhad struck me before, and the Bacchante which seemed at once beautiful and\nrepulsive, I imagined I could trace the features, alas! too perfect not to\nbe graven in the imagination of a sculptor in spite of himself.... I saw\nthem, above all, in a Proserpine, hidden by accident, or on purpose, in an\nobscure corner of the studio, which struck me as a sudden apparition of\nher fatal beauty. Finally, I saw them also in the other Vestal, to which\nthe one I sat for was the pendant. It was then only I remembered with\npleasure he said when he first began it that _no one before me_ had\nrealized the ideal he was trying to embody.\n\nHaunted by these recollections, I began to find my sittings in the studio\npainful and annoying, but I did not manifest my feelings. I had acquired\nsome control over them, and felt it was not for my interest to revive, by\na fresh display of jealousy, a remembrance that seemed to be dormant, or\nagain excite a displeasure that appeared to be extinguished. Besides, the\nlikeness that haunted me so persistently became in time more vague and\nuncertain, and seemed likely to disappear entirely. The current of gayety\nand pleasure that now surrounded me absorbed me more and more. The very\nlight of the sun at Naples is a feast for the heart as well as the eyes.\nIt is a region that has no sympathy with gloom, or even the serious side\nof life, and it must be confessed that the social ideal I have spoken of\nis not the most salutary and elevated in the world. It must also be\nacknowledged that if it is not absolutely true that this charming region\nis the classic land of the _far niente_, as it has been called (for the\nnumber of people everywhere who do nothing make me think all skies and all\nclimes favorable to them), it is nevertheless indubitable that every one\nfeels a mingled excitement and languor at Naples which oblige him to\nstruggle continually against the double temptation to enjoy at all hours\nthe beauty of the earth and sky, and afterwards to give himself up\nunresistingly to the repose he feels the need of. When weary of this\nstruggle, when nothing stimulates his courage to continue it, he is soon\nintoxicated and overpowered by the very pleasure of living. One day\nfollows another without thinking to ask how they have been spent. The\ninterest taken in serious things grows less, the strength necessary for\nsuch things diminishes, all effort is burdensome; and as this joyous,\nfutile life does not seem in any way wrong or dangerous, he no longer\ntries to resist it, but suffers the subtle poison which circulates in the\nair to infuse inactivity into the mind, indifference and effeminacy in the\nheart, and even to the depths of the soul itself.\n\nSuch were the influences to which I gave myself up, but not without some\nexcuse, perhaps. At my age this reaction of gayety and love of pleasure\nwas natural. After the experience I had passed through, I felt the need of\nsomething to divert me\u2014the need of forgetting. How, then, could I possibly\nresist all there was around me to amuse and enable me to forget? Of course\nI had not forgotten Mme. de Kergy, or Diana, or the eloquence of Gilbert,\nbut I had nearly lost all the pure, noble, and soul\u2010stirring sentiments my\nacquaintance with them had awakened; and if any unacknowledged danger\nlurked therein, it had so ephemeral an influence on me that all trace was\neffaced, as a deadly odor passes away that we only inhaled for a moment.\n\nAs for my charming Stella, she no more thought of giving me advice than of\nsetting me an example. She shared with me her happiest hours in the day,\nbut I could not follow her in the courageous course of her hidden daily\nlife. I did not see her during the hours when, with a brow as serene, a\nface as tranquil, as that with which she welcomed me at a later hour, she\nimmolated her tastes and wishes, and by the perpetual sacrifice of herself\nearned the means of rendering her daughter as happy as she pleased. I saw\nher, on the contrary, during my daily drive with her and Angiolina\u2014one of\nthe greatest pleasures of the day for us all. To see them together, the\nmother as merry as the child, one would have supposed the one as happy, as\nfully exempt from all care, as the other!... We often took long drives in\nthis way, sometimes beyond the extreme point of Posilippo, sometimes to\nPortici, or even to Capo di Monte. There we would leave our carriage and\nforget ourselves in long conversations while Angiolina was running about,\ncoming every now and then to throw herself into her mother\u2019s arms or mine.\nI loved her passionately, and it often seemed to me, as I embraced her,\nthat I felt for her something of that love which is the strongest on\nearth, and makes us endure the privation of all other affection. Angiolina\nwas, it is true, one of those children better fitted than most to touch\nthe maternal fibre that is hidden in every womanly heart. She had accents,\nlooks, and moods of silence which seemed to indicate a soul attentive to\nvoices that are not of this world, and sometimes, at the sight of her\nexpressive childish face, one could not help wondering if she did not\nalready hear those of heaven.\n\nLorenzo from time to time made a journey to the North of Italy, in order\nto see to his property. His absence, always short, and invariably\nexplained, caused me neither pain nor offence. He seemed happy to see me\nagain at his return, and appeared to enjoy much more than I, even, the gay\nlife we both led. He devoted his mornings to work, but spent his evenings\nwith me, either in society or at the theatre of San Carlo, where,\naccording to the Italian custom in those days, we went much less to enjoy\nthe play, or even the music, than to meet our friends. As for gaming, I\nhad reason to believe he had entirely renounced it, for he never touched a\ncard in my presence. The twofold danger, therefore, which had threatened\nmy peace, seemed wholly averted, and I once more resumed my way with\nconfidence and security, as a bird, beaten by the tempest, expands its\nwings at the return of the sun, and sings, as it flies heavenward, as if\nclouds and darkness were never to return!\n\nBut in the midst of this new dawn of happiness I was gliding almost\nimperceptibly but rapidly down, and suffering my days to pass in\nconstantly\u2010increasing indolence. It is true my good Ottavia, who had been\nwith me since Livia\u2019s entrance at the convent, reminded me of the days and\nhours assigned for the practices of devotion she had taught me in my\nchildhood, which, though not piety itself, serve to keep it alive. Without\nher I should probably have forgotten them all. I thought of nothing but\nhow to be happy, and I was so because I seemed to have recovered absolute\nempire over Lorenzo\u2019s heart.... My lofty aspirations for him had vanished\nlike some fanciful dream no longer remembered. The charm of his mental\nqualities and his personal attractions gave him a kind of supremacy in the\ncircle where he occupied the foremost rank, and had every desirable\npretext for gratifying his taste for display; while, on the other hand,\nthe aureola of genius that surrounded him prevented his life from\nappearing, and even from being, wholly vain.\n\nIt was vain, however, as every one\u2019s life is that has no light from above.\nI was not yet wholly incapable of feeling this, but I was becoming more\nand more incapable of suffering from it.\n\nIt is not in this way the vigor of the soul is maintained or renewed.\nLivia alone had not lost her beneficent influence over me. A word from her\nhad the same effect as the strong, correct tone of the diapason, which\ngives the ear warning when the notes begin to flatten. Every descent,\nhowever gradual, is difficult to climb again, and I did not at all\nperceive the ground I had lost till I found myself face to face with new\ntrials and new dangers.\n\n\n\nXXV.\n\n\nSeveral months passed, however, without any change in my happy, untroubled\nlife. Lando\u2019s arrival, and shortly after that of Mario, were the chief\nincidents. Mario\u2019s visits were short and rare, for he seldom left my\nfather. He loved home, now he was alone there, better than he used to do;\nand my father, relieved of a heavy responsibility by the marriage of one\ndaughter and the vocation of the other, enjoyed more than ever the company\nof a son who gave him no anxiety and prevented him from finding his\nsolitude irksome. He only lived now in the recollections of the past and\nfor his profession, and Mario fulfilled with cheerful devotedness the\nadditional obligations our departure had imposed on him. He came from time\nto time to see his two sisters, and had not entirely lost the habit of\nfavoring me with advice and remonstrances. Nevertheless, as my present\nposition obliged me to make a certain display he was not sorry to have a\npart in, and as, on the whole, he did not find my house disagreeable, it\nwas not as difficult as it once was to win his approbation, particularly\nas, notwithstanding the frivolous life I led, I was still (perhaps a\nstrange thing) wholly devoid of coquetry and vanity, which, almost as much\nas my affection for Lorenzo, served as a safeguard in the world, and not\nonly shielded me from its real dangers, but from all criticism. This point\nacknowledged, Mario, who did not consider himself dispensed by my marriage\nfrom watching over my reputation, was as kind to me now as he would have\nbeen implacable had it been otherwise. As I, on my side, by no means\nfeared his oversight, and he brought news of my father and recalled the\nmemories of the past, which I continued to cherish in my present life, I\nwelcomed him with affection, and his visits always afforded me pleasure.\n\nAs to Lando, he had been forced to tear himself away from Paris, and\ndevote to economy an entire year which he had come very reluctantly to\nspend in the bosom of his family. He at once observed with astonishment\nthat I was happier at Naples than at Paris. As for him, he declared life\nin a small city was an impossibility, and he should pass the time of his\nexile in absolute exclusion. But he contented himself with carrying this\nParisian nostalgia from one drawing\u2010room to another, exhaling his\ncomplaints sometimes in Italian (continually _grasseyant_), sometimes in\nFrench sprinkled with the most recent _argot_, only comprehensible to the\ninitiated. But as, in spite of all this, his natural good\u2010humor was never\nat fault, everything else was overlooked, and he was welcomed everywhere;\nso existence gradually became endurable, and he resigned himself to it so\ncompletely that by the time the Carnival approached he was so thoroughly\nrenaturalized that no one was more forward than he in preparing and\norganizing all the amusements with which it terminates at Naples\u2014vehicles,\ncostumes, _confetti_, and flowers for the Toledo;(51) suppers, dominos,\nand disguises for the Festini di San Carlo,(52) without reckoning the\ngreat fancy ball at the Accademia;(53) and, to crown all, private\ntheatricals with a view to Lent. With all this, he had ample means of\nescaping all danger of dying of _ennui_ before Easter!...\n\nI must acknowledge, however, that he found me as much disposed to aid him\nas any one. I was in one of those fits of exuberant gayety which at\nNaples, and even at Rome, sometimes seize even the most reasonable and\nsensible people during the follies of the Carnival. But it must be\nconfessed these follies had not in Italy the gross, vulgar, and repulsive\naspect which public gayety sometimes assumes at Paris on similar\noccasions. One would suppose everybody at Paris more or less wicked at\nCarnival time; whereas at Rome and Naples everybody seems to be more or\nless childlike. Is this more in appearance than reality? Must we believe\nthe amount of evil the same everywhere during these days devoted to\npleasure? I cannot say. At Rome, we know, no less than at Paris and\nNaples, while people on the Corso are pelting each other with _confetti_\nand lighting the _moccoletti_, the churches are also illuminated, and a\nnumerous crowd, prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the\naltars, pray in order to expiate the follies of the merry crowd. But it\nseems to me no one who has made the comparison would hesitate to\nacknowledge a great difference in the gayety of these places, as well as\nthe different amusements it inspires.\n\nStella was in as gay a mood as I. Angiolina (whose right it was) could not\nhave prepared more enthusiastically than we to throw _confetti_ at every\none we met, or pelt the vehicles in which most of the gentlemen of the\nplace, arrayed in various disguises, drive up and down the Toledo. These\nvehicles are stormed with missiles from every balcony they pass, and they\nreply by handfuls of _confetti_ and flowers thrown to the highest stories,\neither by means of cornets, or by instruments expressly for this purpose,\nor by climbing the staging made on the carriages to bring the combatants\nnearer together.\n\nLorenzo, Lando, and even Mario were enrolled among the number to man a\nwonderful gondola of the XVth century, all clad in the costume of that\nperiod, and Lorenzo, by his taste and uncommon acquirements of all kinds,\ncontributed to render this masquerade almost interesting from an artistic\nand historic point of view, and he was as zealous about it as any one.\n\nWe were in the very midst of these preparations when one morning he told\nme with an air of vexation he had just received a letter from his agent\nwhich would oblige him to be absent several days. But he was only to go to\nBologna this time, and would be back without fail the eve of _Jeudi\u2010\nGras_,(54) the day fixed for the last exhibition of the gondola. But his\ndeparture afflicted me the more because he had not been absent for a long\ntime, and I was no longer used to it. I did not, therefore, conceal my\nannoyance. But as his seemed to be equally great, I finally saw him\ndepart, not without regret, but without the least shade of my former\ndistrust.\n\nThe Carnival was late that year, and the coming of spring was already\nperceptible in the air. I had passed two hours with Stella in the park of\nCapo di Monte, while Angiolina was filling her basket with the violets\nthat grew among the grass. Our enjoyment was increased by the freshness of\nthe season and the enchanting sky of Naples. When the circumstances of a\nperson\u2019s life are not absolutely at variance with the beauty of nature, he\nfeels a transport here not experienced in any other place. That day I was\nhappier and merrier than usual, and yet, as we were about to leave the\npark, I all at once felt that vague kind of sadness which always throws\nits cloud over excessive joy.\n\n\u201cOne moment longer, Stella,\u201d said I, \u201cit is so lovely here. I never saw\nthe sea and sky so blue before! I cannot bear to go home.\u201d\n\n\u201cRemain as long as you please, Ginevra. I am never tired, you know, of the\nbeautiful prospect before us! Nature is to me a mother, a friend, and a\nsupport. She has so often enabled me to endure life.\u201d\n\n\u201cPoor Stella!\u201d said I with a slight remorse, for I felt I was too often\nunmindful of the difference in our lots.\n\nBut she continued with her charming smile:\n\n\u201cYou see, Ginevra, they say I have _le sang joyeux!_ which means, I\nsuppose, that I have a happy disposition. When all other means fail of\ngratifying my natural turn, I can do it by looking around me. The very\nradiance of the heavens suffices to fill me with torrents of joy.\u201d\n\nAt that moment Angiolina ran up with a little bunch of violets she had\ntied together, and gave them to her mother. Stella took the child up in\nher arms.\n\n\u201cLook, Ginevra. See how blue my Angiolina\u2019s eyes are. Their color is a\nthousand times lovelier than that of the sky or sea, is it not? Come, let\nus not talk of my troubles,\u201d continued she, as her daughter threw her arms\naround her neck, and leaned her cheek against hers. \u201cThis treasure is\nsufficient; I ask no other.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Stella, you are right. To enjoy such a happiness I would give all I\npossess.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod will doubtless grant you this happiness some day,\u201d replied she,\nsmiling.\n\nOur merriment, interrupted for a moment, now resumed its course. It was\ntime to go home, and we returned without delay to the carriage, which\nawaited us at the gate of the park.\n\nIt was Tuesday, the day but one before _Jeudi\u2010Gras_; consequently I\nexpected Lorenzo the following day. All the preparations for the\nmasquerade were completed, and in passing by the door of my aunt, Donna\nClelia, who lived on the Toledo, I proposed to Stella we should call to\nmake sure she had attended to her part; for it was from her balcony the\nfirst great contest with _confetti_ was to take place the next day but\none.\n\nDonna Clelia, as I have remarked, felt a slight degree of ill\u2010humor at the\ntime of my marriage. But she speedily concluded to regard the event with a\nfavorable eye. It would doubtless have been more agreeable to be able to\nsay: \u201cThe duke, my son\u2010in\u2010law\u201d; but if she could not have this\nsatisfaction, it was something to be able to say: \u201cMy niece, the duchess,\u201d\nand my aunt did not deny herself this pleasure.\n\nBesides, she anticipated another advantage of more importance\u2014of obtaining\nan entrance by my means to high life, which hitherto she had only seen at\nan immeasurable distance; and she was still more anxious to introduce her\ndaughters than to enter herself. From the day of my marriage, therefore,\nshe resolved to establish herself at Naples, and this resolution had\nalready had the most happy results. Teresina and Mariuccia were large\ngirls, rather devoid of style, but not of beauty. Thanks to our\nrelationship, they were invited almost everywhere, and the dream of their\nmother was almost realized. As I had indubitably contributed to this, and\nthey had the good grace to acknowledge it, I was on the best terms with\nthem as well as with Donna Clelia. The latter, it will be readily\nimagined, had enthusiastically acceded to my request to allow the cream of\nthe _beau monde_ to occupy her balconies on _Jeudi\u2010Gras_, and we found her\nnow in the full tide of the preparations she considered necessary for so\ngreat an event.\n\nMy aunt had apartments of good size on the first floor of one of the large\npalaces on the Strada di Toledo. They were dark and gloomy in the morning,\nlike all in that locality, but in the evening, when her drawing\u2010rooms were\nlit up, they produced a very good effect. As to Donna Clelia herself, when\nher voluminous person was encased in a suit of black velvet, and her\nlocks, boldly turned back, had the addition of a false _chignon_, a plume\nof red feathers, and superb diamonds, she sustained very creditably, as I\ncan testify, the part of a dignified matron, and it was easy to see she\nhad been in her day handsomer than either of her daughters. But when she\nreceived us on this occasion, enveloped in an enormous wrapper, which\nindicated that, in spite of the advanced hour, she had not even begun her\ntoilet, and with her hair reduced to its simplest expression, she\npresented quite a different aspect. She was, however, by no means\ndisconcerted when we made our appearance, but met us, on the contrary,\nwith open arms; for she was very glad of an opportunity of explaining all\nthe arrangements she was at that instant occupied in superintending, which\nlikewise accounted for the _n\u00e9glig\u00e9_ in which we surprised her. She took\nus all through the drawing\u2010rooms, pointing out in the penumbra the places,\nhere and there, where she intended to place a profusion of flowers. Here a\nlarge table would stand, loaded with everything that would aid us in\nrepairing our strength during the contest; and there were genuine tubs for\nthe _confetti_, where we should find an inexhaustible supply of\nammunition. My aunt was rich. She spared nothing for her own amusement or\nto amuse others, and never had she found a better occasion for spending\nher money. She had already given two successful _soir\u00e9es_, at which her\nlarge drawing\u2010rooms were filled, but this crowd did not include everybody,\nand those who were absent were precisely those she was most anxious to\nhave, and the very ones who, on _Jeudi\u2010Gras_, were to give her the\npleasure of making use of her rooms. She did not dream of fathoming their\nmotives; it was enough to have their presence.\n\nAt last, after examining and approving everything, as disorder reigned in\nthe drawing\u2010room, my aunt took us to her chamber. She gave Stella and\nmyself two arm\u2010chairs that were there, placed on the floor a supply of\nbiscuits, candied chestnuts, and mandarines for Angiolina\u2019s benefit, and\nseated herself on the foot of her bedstead, taking for a seat the bare\nwood; the mattress, pillows, and coverings being rolled up during the day,\naccording to the Neapolitan custom, like an enormous bale of goods, at the\nother end of the bedstead. Arming herself with an immense fan, which she\nvigorously waved to and fro, she set herself to work to entertain us.\nFirst, she replied to my questions:\n\n\u201cYou ask where the _ragazze_(55) are.... I didn\u2019t tell you, then, they are\ngone on a trip to Sorrento with the _baronessa_?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Zia Clelia, you did not tell me. When will they return?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! in a short time. I expect them before night. It was such fine weather\nyesterday! They did not like to refuse to accompany the baroness, but it\nwould not please them to lose two days of the Carnival, and the baroness\nwouldn\u2019t, for anything in the world, miss her part at San Carlo. Teresina\nis to go there with her this evening.\u201d\n\nThe baroness in question was a friend of my aunt\u2019s whom she particularly\nliked to boast of before me. If she was indebted to me for some of the\nacquaintances she was so proud of, she lost no opportunity of reminding me\nthat for this one she was solely indebted to herself.\n\n\u201cAh! Ginevra mia!...\u201d continued she, \u201cyou have a fine house, to be sure\u2014I\ncan certainly say nothing to the contrary; but if you could only see that\nof the baroness!... Such furniture! Such mirrors! Such gilding!... And\nthen what a view!...\u201d\n\nHere my aunt kissed the ends of her five fingers, and then opened her\nwhole hand wide, expressing by this pantomime a degree of admiration for\nwhich words did not suffice....\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d said Stella with an air of surprise. \u201cI thought her house was near\nhere, and that there was no view at all. It seems to me she can see\nnothing from her windows.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo view!\u201d cried Donna Clelia. \u201cNo view from the baroness\u2019 house!... See\nnothing from her windows!... What a strange mistake, Contessa Stella! You\nare in the greatest error. You can see everything from her\nwindows\u2014_everything_! Not a carriage, not a donkey, not a horse, not a man\nor woman on foot or horseback or in a carriage, can pass by without being\nseen; and as all the drawing\u2010rooms are _al primo piano_, you can see them\nas plainly as I see you, and distinguish the color of their cravats and\nthe shape of the ladies\u2019 cloaks.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! yes, yes, Zia Clelia, you are right. It is Stella who is wrong. The\nbaroness has an admirable view, and quite suited to her tastes.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd then,\u201d continued Donna Clelia, waving her fan more deliberately to\ngive greater emphasis to her words, \u201ca situation unparalleled in the whole\ncity of Naples!... A church on one side, and the new theatre on the other!\nAnd so near at the right and left that\u2014imagine it!\u2014there is a little\ngallery, which she has the key of, on one side, leading to the church; and\non the other a passage, of which she also has the key, which leads\nstraight to her box in the theatre! I ask if you can imagine anything more\nconvenient?... But, apropos, Ginevra, have you seen Livia lately?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I see her every week.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! _par exemple_,\u201d said Donna Clelia, folding her hands, \u201cthere is a\nsaint for you! But I have stopped going to see her since the Carnival\nbegan, because every time I go I feel I ought to become better, and the\nvery next day off I go to confession.... It has precisely the same effect\non the _ragazze_; so they have begged me not to take them to the convent\nagain before Ash\u2010Wednesday.\u201d\n\nStella, less accustomed than I to my aunt\u2019s style of conversation, burst\ninto laughter, and I did the same, though I thought she expressed very\nwell in her way the effects of her visits at the convent. At that minute\nthe doors opened with a bang, and Teresina and Mariuccia made their\nappearance, loaded with flowers. At the sight of us there were\nexclamations of joy:\n\n\u201cO Ginevra!... Contessa!... _E la bambina! Che piacere!_... How delightful\nto find you here!\u201d\n\nA general embrace all around. Then details of all kinds\u2014a stream of words\nalmost incomprehensible.\n\n\u201c_Che tempo! Che bellezza! Che paradiso!_ They had been amused _quanto\nmai_! And on the way back, moreover, they had met Don Landolfo, and Don\nLandolfo had invited Teresina to dance a cotillon with him at the ball to\u2010\nmorrow.... And Don Landolfo said Mariuccia\u2019s toilet at the ball last\nSaturday was _un amore_!\u201d\n\nIt should be observed here that everything Lando said was taken very\nseriously in this household. His opinion was law in everything relating to\ndress, and he himself did not disdain giving these girls advice which\ncultivated notions of good taste, from which they were too often tempted\nto deviate.\n\nWe were on the point of leaving when Mariuccia exclaimed:\n\n\u201cOh! apropos, Ginevrina, Teresina thought she saw Duke Lorenzo at Sorrento\nat a distance.\u201d\n\n\u201cLorenzo?... At Sorrento? No, you are mistaken, Teresina. He went to\nBologna a week ago, and will not be back till to\u2010morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou hear?\u201d said Mariuccia to her sister. \u201cI told you you were\nmistaken\u2014that it was not he.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is strange,\u201d said Teresina. \u201cAt all events, it was some one who\nresembled him very much. It is true, I barely saw him a second.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd where was it?\u201d I asked with a slight tremor of the heart.\n\n\u201cAt the window of a small villa away from the road at the end of a\n_masseria_(56) we happened to pass on the way.\u201d\n\nShe was mistaken, it was evident; but when Lorenzo returned that evening,\na day sooner than I expected, I felt a slight misgiving at seeing him. He\nperceived it, and smilingly asked if I was sorry because he had hastened\nhis return. I was tempted to tell him what troubled me, but was ashamed of\nthe new suspicion such an explanation would have revealed, and I\nreproached myself for it as an injustice to him. I checked myself,\ntherefore, and forced myself to forget, or at least to pay no attention\nto, the gossip of my cousins.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nFac\u2010Similes Of Irish National Manuscripts. Concluded.\n\n\nThe _Liber Hymnorum_ is the next selected. It is believed to be more than\none thousand years old, and one of the most remarkable of the sacred\ntracts among the MSS. in Trinity College, Dublin. It is a collection of\nhymns on S. Patrick and other Irish saints, which has been published by\nthe Irish Arch\u00e6ological and Celtic Society, under the superintendence of\nDr. Todd. The three pages selected contain the hymn written by S. Fiach of\nStetty, between the years 538 and 558, in honor of S. Patrick. The hymn is\nfurnished with an interlinear gloss.\n\nThe tenth of these MSS. is _The Saltair of S. Ricemarch_, Bishop of St.\nDavid\u2019s between the years 1085 and 1096, a small copy of the Psalter\ncontaining also a copy of the Roman Martyrology.\n\nOf the four pages of this volume which have been selected for copying, two\nare a portion of the Martyrology and two of the Psalter. The first of\nthese last contains the first two verses of the 101st Psalm, surrounded by\nan elaborate border formed by the intertwinings of four serpentine\nmonsters. The initial D of Domine is also expressed by a coiled snake,\nwith its head in an attitude to strike; the object of its attack being a\ncreature which it is impossible to designate, but which bears some\nresemblance to the hippocampus, or sea\u2010horse. The second page of the\nPsalter contains the 115th, 116th, and 117th Psalms, in which the same\nserpentine form is woven into shapes to represent the initial letters. The\nversion of the Psalms given in this volume differs from that used in\nEngland in Bishop Ricemarch\u2019s time. It is written in Latin in Gaelic\ncharacters. The volume belongs to Trinity College, Dublin.\n\nNext in order appears the _Leabhar na h\u2010Uidhr\u00e9_, or _Book of the Dark Gray\nCow_, a fragment of one hundred and thirty\u2010eight folio pages, which is\nthought to be a copy made about the year 1100 of a more ancient MS. of the\nsame name written in S. Ciaran\u2019s time. It derived its name from the\nfollowing curious legend, taken from the _Book of Leinster_, and the\nancient tale called _Im thecht na trom daimh\u00e9_, or _Adventures of the\nGreat Company_, told in the _Book of Lismore_. About the year 598, soon\nafter the election of Senchan Torpeist to the post of chief fil\u00e9\n(professor of philosophy and literature) in Erinn, he paid a visit to\nGuair\u00e8, the Hospitable, King of Connaught, accompanied by such a\ntremendous retinue, including a hundred and fifty professors, a hundred\nand fifty students, a hundred and fifty hounds, a hundred and fifty male\nattendants, and a hundred and fifty female relatives, that even King\nGuair\u00e8\u2019s hospitality was grievously taxed; for he not only had to provide\na separate meal and separate bed for each, but to minister to their daily\ncraving for things that were extraordinary, wonderful, rare, and difficult\nof procurement. The mansion which contained the learned association was a\nspecial source of annoyance to King Guair\u00e8, and at last the \u201clonging\ndesires\u201d for unattainable things of Muireann, daughter of Cun Culli and\nwife of Dallan, the foster\u2010mother of the literati, became so unendurable\nthat Guair\u00e8, tired of life, proposed to pay a visit to Fulachtach Mac\nOwen, a person whom he thought especially likely to rid him of that\nburden, as he had killed his father, his six sons, and his three brothers.\nHappily for him, however, he falls in with his brother Marbhan, \u201cthe prime\nprophet of heaven and earth,\u201d who had adopted the position of royal\nswineherd in order that he might the more advantageously indulge his\npassion for religion and devotion among the woods and desert places; and\nMarbhan eventually revenges the trouble and ingratitude shown to his\nbrother by imposing upon Senchan and the great Bardic Association the task\nof recovering the lost tale of the _T\u00e1in B\u00f3 Chuailgn\u00e9_, or _Great Cattle\nSpoil of Cuailgne_. After a vain search for it in Scotland, Senchan\nreturned home and invited the following distinguished saints, S. Colum\nCille, S. Caillin of Fiodhnacha, S. Ciaran, S. Brendan of Birra, and S.\nBrendan the son of Finnlogha, to meet him at the grave of the great Ulster\nchief, Feargus Mac Roigh\u2014who had led the Connaught men against the Ulster\nmen during the spoil, of which also he appears to have been the\nhistorian\u2014to try by prayer and fasting to induce his spirit to relate the\ntale. After they had fasted three days and three nights, the apparition of\nFeargus rose before them, clad in a green cloak with a collared, gold\u2010\nribbed shirt and bronze sandals, and carrying a golden hilted sword, and\nrecited the whole from beginning to end. And S. Ciaran then and there\nwrote it down on the hide of his pet cow, which he had had made for the\npurpose into a book, which has ever since borne this name.\n\nThe volume contains matter of a very miscellaneous character: A fragment\nof Genesis; a fragment of Nennius\u2019 _History of the Britons_, done into\nGaelic by Gilla Caomhain, who died before 1072; an _amhra_ or elegy on S.\nColum Cille, written by Dallan Forgail, the poet, in 592; fragments of the\nhistoric tale of the _Mesca Uladh_, or _Inebriety of the Ulstermen_;\nfragments of the cattle\u2010spoils _T\u00e1in Bo Dartadha_ and _T\u00e1in Bo Flidais_;\nthe navigation of Madduin about the Atlantic for three years and seven\nmonths; imperfect copies of the _T\u00e1in B\u00f3 Chuailgn\u00e9_, the destruction of\nthe _Bruighean da Dearga_, or _Court of Da Dearga_, and murder of King\nConair\u00e9 M\u00f3r; a history of the great pagan cemeteries of Erinn and of the\nvarious old books from which this and other pieces were compiled; poems by\nFlann of Monasterboice and others; together with various other pieces of\nhistory and historic romance chiefly referring to the ante\u2010Christian\nperiod, and especially that of the Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann. Three pages,\ncontaining curious prayers and the legend of _The Withering of Cuchulain\nand the Birds of Emer_, extracted from the _Leabhar buidh Slaine_, or\n_Yellow Book of Slane_, one of the ancient lost books of Ireland from\nwhich the _Leabhar na h\u2010Uidhr\u00e9_ was compiled, have been selected.\n\nThe _Book of Leinster_, a folio of over four hundred pages, appears as the\nnext. It was compiled in the first half of the XIIth century by Finn Mac\nGorman, Bishop of Kildare, by order of Aedh Mac Crimhthainn, the tutor of\nDermot, King of Leinster. Among other pieces of internal evidence pointing\nto this conclusion are the following entries, the first in the original\nhand, the second by one strange but ancient, translated and quoted by\nO\u2019Curry:\n\n\u201cBenedictions and health from Finn, the Bishop of Kildare, to Aedh Mac\nCrimhtain, the tutor of the chief King of Leth Mogha Nuadut (or of\nLeinster and Munster), successor of Colaim Mic Crumtaind of, and chief\nhistorian of, Leinster, in wisdom, intelligence, and the cultivation of\nbooks, knowledge, and learning. And I write the conclusion of this little\ntale for thee, O acute Aedh! thou possessor of the sparkling intellect.\nMay it be long before we are without thee! It is my desire that thou\nshouldst always be with us. Let Mac Loran\u2019s book of poems be given to me,\nthat I may understand the sense of the poems that are in it; and farewell\nin Christ.\n\n\u201cO Mary! it is a great deed that has been done in Erinn this day, the\nKalends of August\u2014Diarmait Mac Donnchadda Mic Murchada, King of Leinster\nand of the Danes (of Dublin), to have been banished over the sea eastwards\nby the men of Erinn! Uch, uch, O Lord! what shall I do?\u201d\n\nThe more important of the vast number of subjects treated of in this MS.\nare mentioned as being: The usual book of invasions; ancient poems; a plan\nand explanation of the banqueting\u2010hall of Tara; a copy of _The Battle of\nRoss na Righ_ in the beginning of the Christian era; a copy of the _Mesca\nUladh_, and one of the origin of the Borromean Tribute, and the battle\nthat ensued; a fragment of the battle of Ceannabrat, with the defeat of\nMac Con by Oilioll Olium, his flight into, and return from, Scotland with\nScottish and British adventurers, his landing in Galway Bay, and the\ndefeat of Art, monarch of Erinn, and slaughter of Olium\u2019s seven sons at\nthe battle of Magh Mucruimh\u00e9; a fragment of _Cormac\u2019s Glossary_; another\nof the wars between the Danes and Irish; a copy of the _Dinnsenchus_;\ngenealogies of Milesian families; and an ample list of the early saints of\nErinn, with their pedigrees and affinities, and with copious references to\nthe situation of their churches. The volume belongs to Trinity College,\nDublin.\n\nThree pages have been selected. The first contains a copy of the poem on\nthe Teach Miodhchuarta of Tara\u2014a poem so ancient that of its date and\nauthor no record remains\u2014and of the ground\u2010plan of the banqueting\u2010hall by\nwhich the poem was illustrated, published by Dr. Petrie in his _History\nand Antiquities of Tara Hill_. The ground\u2010plan, which in this copy is\nnearly square, is divided into five compartments lengthwise, the centre\nand broadest of which contains the door, a rudely\u2010drawn figure of a _daul_\nor waiter turning a gigantic spit, furnished with a joint of meat, before\na fire, the lamps, and a huge double\u2010handed vase or amphora for the cup\u2010\nbearer to distribute. This great spit, called _Bir Nechin_, or the spit of\nNechin, the chief smith of Tara, which in the drawing is half the length\nof the hall, appears to have been so mechanically contrived as to be able\nto be coiled up after use; and the instrument is thus described in another\nMS. belonging to Trinity College, Dublin, quoted by Dr. Petrie: \u201cA stick\nat each end of it, and its axle was wood, and its wheel was wood, and its\nbody was iron; and there were twice nine wheels on its axle, that it might\nturn the faster; and there were thirty spits out of it, and thirty hooks\nand thirty spindles, and it was as rapid as the rapidity of a stream in\nturning; and thrice nine spits and thrice nine cavities (or pots) and one\nspit for roasting, and one wing used to set it in motion.\u201d\n\nIn the two compartments on either side are enumerated in order of\nprecedence the various officers and retainers of the king\u2019s household,\ntogether with their tables and the particular portions of meat served out\nto each, forming a very curious and instructive illustration of the social\ncondition and habits of the early Irish. The description of the rations\nthat were considered specially adapted to the several ranks of consumers\nis very amusing. For the distinguished men of literature, \u201cthe soft,\nclean, smooth entrails,\u201d and a steak cut from the choicest part of the\nanimal, were set aside; the poet had a \u201cgood smooth\u201d piece of the leg; the\nhistorian, \u201ca crooked bone,\u201d probably a rib; the artificers, \u201ca pig\u2019s\nshoulder\u201d; the Druids and _aire dessa_, a \u201cfair foot.\u201d These last are said\nto decline to drink; not so the trumpeters and cooks, who are to be\nallowed \u201ccheering mead in abundance, not of a flatulent kind.\u201d The\ndoorkeeper, \u201cthe noisy, humorous fool and the fierce, active kerne\u201d had\nthe chine; while to the satirists and the _braigitore_, a class of\nbuffoons whose peculiar function was to amuse the company after a fashion\nwhich will not only not bear description, but almost defies\nbelief\u2014licensed and paid _Aethons_ of the court\u2014\u201cthe fat of the shoulder\nwas divided to them pleasantly.\u201d\n\nThe selection is continued by the _Leabhar Breac_, or _Speckled Book_,\nprobably named from the color of its cover, or, as it was formerly called,\n_Leabhar M\u00f3r Duna Doighr\u00e9_, the _Great Book of Dun Doighr\u00e9_, a place on\nthe Galway side of the Shannon not far from Athlone. It is a compilation\nfrom various ancient books belonging chiefly to churches and monasteries\nin Conaught, Munster, and Leinster, beautifully written on vellum, as is\nsupposed about the close of the XIVth century, by one of the Mac Ogans, a\nliterary family of great repute belonging to Dun Doighr\u00e9.\n\nIts contents are of an extremely miscellaneous character, and they are\nall, with the exception of a copy of _The Life of Alexander the Great_\nfrom the VIIth century, MS. of S. Berchan of Clonsost, of a religious\nnature, comprising Biblical narratives, homilies, hymns; pedigrees of\nsaints, litanies and liturgies, monastic rules, the _Martyrology_ of\nAengus C\u00e9ul\u00e9 D\u00e9, or the Culdee, the ancient rules of discipline of the\norder of the Culdees, etc., etc. When the Abb\u00e9 Mac Geoghegan wrote his\n_History of Ancient Erinn_ in Paris, in the year 1758, this volume, his\nprincipal MS. of reference, was in Paris. It is now in the Royal Irish\nAcademy.\n\nThree pages have been selected for fac\u2010similes, giving a description of\nthe nature and arrangement of the _F\u00e9lir\u00e9_, or _Festology_ of Aengus the\nCuldee, and the date and object of its composition, which was made between\nthe years 793 and 817, when Aedh Oirdnidhe was monarch of Erinn.\n\nThen comes the _Leabhar Buidhe Lecain_, or _Yellow Book of Lecain_, a\nlarge quarto volume of about five hundred pages, which was written by\nDonnoch and Gilla Isa Mac Firbis in the year 1390, with the exception of a\nfew tracts of a somewhat later date. O\u2019Curry, in his ninth lecture,\nsupposes it to have been originally a collection of ancient historical\npieces, civil and ecclesiastical, in prose and verse. In its present\nimperfect state it contains a number of family and political poems; some\nmonastic rules; a description of Tara and its banqueting\u2010hall; a\ntranslation of part of the Book of Genesis; the Feast of Dun\u2010na\u2010n Gedh and\nthe battle of Magh Rath; an account of the reign of Muirchertach Mac Erca,\nand his death at the palace of Cleitech in the year 527; copies of cattle\u2010\nspoils, of the Bruighean Da Dearga, and death of the king; the tale of\nMaelduin\u2019s three years\u2019 wanderings in the Atlantic; tracts concerning the\nbanishment of an ancient tribe from East Meath, and their discovery in the\nNorthern Ocean by some Irish ecclesiastics; accounts of battles in the\nyears 594, 634, and 718, and many other curious and valuable pieces and\ntracts. It is preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.\n\nTwo pages have been selected. The first contains the plan of the Teach\nMiodchuarta of ancient Tara, with a portion of the prose preface to the\npoem, which the plan is intended to illustrate. This ground\u2010plan differs\nsomewhat in the shape of the hall and the arrangement of the tables from\nthat given in the _Book of Leinster_, an earlier copy of a different\noriginal. It is also very much superior to it, both as regards the drawing\nand writing. The _daul_ and his spit are unrepresented here, but there is\nthe door, the common hall, the swinging lamp and candles, the great\ndouble\u2010handed vase, called the _dabhach_ or vat, and three places marked\nout for the fires. The arrangement of the hall appears to have been this:\nEach of the two outside compartments contained twelve seats, and each seat\nthree sitters; the two _airidins_ or divisions on either side of the\ncentre of the hall held each eight seats and sixteen sitters. There were\neight distributors, cup\u2010bearers, and herdsmen at the upper end of the\nhall, and two sat in each of the two seats on either side of the door,\nbeing the two door\u2010keepers and two of the royal fools. The daily allowance\nfor dinner was two cows, two salted hogs, and two pigs. The quantity of\nliquor consumed is not specified, but the poem states that there were one\nhundred drinkings in the vat, and that the vat was supplied with fifty\ngrooved golden horns and fifty pewter vessels. The order of precedence\nseems to have ranged from the top of the external division to the left on\nentering the hall; then to the top of the external division to the right;\nthen the two internal divisions beginning with the left; then the\n_iarthar_ or back part of the hall, the upper end opposite the door; and\nlast the seats on either side of the door itself. There is no seat marked\nfor the king, but it is stated in the poem that a fourth part of the hall\nwas at his back and three\u2010fourths before him, and he is supposed to have\nsat about a quarter of the way down the centre of the hall with his face\ntoward the door, which would place him between two of the great fires,\nwith the artisans on his right and the braziers and fools on his left\nhand. It is probable, however, from no mention being made of the king\u2019s\nseat, and no provision being made for him in the appropriation of the\ndaily allowance of food, which is specified in as many rations as there\nare persons mentioned in the plan, that this is not the plan of the royal\nbanqueting\u2010hall, but of a portion of it only\u2014the common dining\u2010hall for\nthe officers and retainers of the palace; the monarch himself and his\nprinces and nobles, none of whom are even alluded to in the plan, dining\nin another and superior apartment.\n\nThe second page contains a portion of the sorrowful tale of the loves of\nfair Deirdr\u00e9 and Naoisi, the son of Uisneach, one of the class of Irish\nlegends called _Aithidh\u00e9_, or elopements. An outline of this story, in the\ncommencement of which the reader will recognize that of one of his early\nnursery favorites, \u201cLittle Snow White,\u201d is given by Keating in his\n_General History of Ireland_.\n\n_The Book of Lecain Mac Firbisigh_, a folio of more than six hundred\npages, was compiled in the year 1418 by Gilla Isa M\u00f4r Mac Firbis, Adam\nO\u2019Cuirnin, and Morogh Riabhac O\u2019Cuindlis. Its contents are nearly the same\nas those of _The Book of Ballymote_, to some of which it furnishes\nvaluable additions, among the most important of which is a tract on the\nfamilies and subdivisions of the territory of Tir Fiachrach in the present\ncounty of Sligo. The volume is preserved in the Royal Irish Academy.\n\nFour pages have been selected, being a portion of a copy of the _Leabhar\nna g\u2010Ceart_, or _Book of Rights_, a metrical work attributed in the work\nitself to S. Benean or Benignus, S. Patrick\u2019s earliest convert, and his\nsuccessor in the Archbishopric of Armagh in the middle of the Vth century.\nThese four pages, which are written in columnar form, contain the\nconcluding ten verses of the stipends due to the chieftainries of Connacht\nfrom the supreme King of Cruachain; the metrical accounts, with their\npreceding prose abstracts, of the privileges of the King of Aileach; the\npayment and stipends of the same king to his chieftainries and tribes for\nrefection and escort; the privileges of the King of the Oirghialla with\nthe stipends due to him from the King of Erinn, and by him to his\nchieftainries; the rights, wages, stipends, refections, and tributes of\nthe King of Eamhain and Uladh; and almost all the prose abstract of the\nrights of the King of Tara.\n\n_The Book of Ballymote_, a large folio volume of five hundred and two\npages of vellum, was written, as stated on the dorse of folio 62, at\nBallymote, in the house of Tomaltach oig Mac Donogh, Lord of Corann,\nduring the reign of Torlogh oig, the son of Hugh O\u2019Conor, King of\nConnaught. It appears to be the work of different hands, but the principal\nscribes employed in writing it were Solomon O\u2019Droma and Manus O\u2019Duigenann,\nand it was written at the end of the XIVth century.\n\nIt contains an imperfect copy of the _Leabhar Gabhala_, or _Book of\nInvasions_, a series of ancient chronological, historical, and\ngenealogical pieces in prose and verse; the pedigrees of Irish saints, and\nthe histories and pedigrees of all the great families of the Milesian\nrace, with their collateral branches, so that, as O\u2019Curry remarks, there\nis scarcely any one whose name begins with \u201cO\u2019\u201d or \u201cMac\u201d who could not\nfind out all about his origin and family in this book; then follow stories\nand adventures, lists of famous Irish names, a Gaelic translation of\nNennius\u2019 _History of the Britons_, an ancient grammar and prosody, and\nvarious other tracts.\n\nSix pages have been selected. The first four contain the dissertation on\nthe Ogham characters, and the last two the genealogy of the Hy Nialls,\nshowing their descent from Eremon, one of the sons of Milesius. The volume\nbelongs to the Irish Academy.\n\nThe last in Mr. Sanders\u2019 list of the great volumes of Irish History is the\n_Book of M\u2019Carthy Riabhac_, a compilation of the XIVth century\u2014in language\nof a much earlier date\u2014now also known as the _Book of Lismore_, to which a\nvery curious story attaches. It was first discovered in the year 1814,\nenclosed in a wooden box together with a fine old crosier, built into the\nmasonry of a closed\u2010up doorway which was reopened during some repairs that\nwere being made in the old Castle of Lismore. Of course the account of its\ndiscovery soon got abroad and became a matter of great interest,\nespecially to the antiquarian class of scholars. Among these there\nhappened to be then living in Shandon Street, Cork, one Mr. Dennis\nO\u2019Flinn, a professed Irish scholar. O\u2019Curry says that he was a \u201cprofessed\nbut a very indifferent\u201d one; but at any rate his reputation was\nsufficiently well grounded to induce Colonel Curry, the Duke of\nDevonshire\u2019s agent, to send him the MS. According to O\u2019Flinn\u2019s own\naccount, the book remained in his hands for one year, during which time it\nwas copied by Michael O\u2019Longan, of Carrignavan, near Cork; after which\nO\u2019Flinn bound it in boards, and returned it to Colonel Curry. From that\ntime it remained locked up and unexamined until 1839, when the duke lent\nit to the Royal Irish Academy to be copied by O\u2019Curry, and O\u2019Curry\u2019s\npractised eye and acumen soon discovered that much harm had come to the\nvolume during its sojourn in Shandon Street. The book had been mutilated,\nand, what was worse, mutilated in so cunning a way that what remained was\nrendered valueless by the abstraction, no doubt with the view of enhancing\nthe value of the stolen portions as soon as it should become safe to\npretend a discovery of them. Every search was made, especially by O\u2019Curry,\nabout Cork, to see if any of the missing pages could be found; but it was\nnot till seven or eight years afterwards that a communication was made\nthat a large portion of the original MS. was actually in the possession of\nsome person in Cork, but who the person was, or how he became possessed of\nit, the informant could not tell. This clue seems to have failed; but soon\nafterwards the late Sir William Betham\u2019s collection of MSS. passed into\nthe library of the Royal Irish Academy by sale, and among these were\ncopies of the lost portions, and all made, as the scribe himself states at\nthe end of one of them, by himself, Michael O\u2019Longan, at the house of\nDennis Ban O\u2019Flinn, in Cork, in 1816, from the _Book of Lismore_. The\nmissing portions of the MS. were at length traced, and the \u00a350 asked for\nthem was offered by the Royal Irish Academy; but the negotiation\nultimately broke down, and they were purchased by Mr. Hewitt, of\nSummerhill, near Cork. Since that time, however, they have been restored,\nand the whole volume excellently repaired and handsomely bound by the Duke\nof Devonshire, who has most liberally allowed it to remain in Mr. Sanders\u2019\npossession for the purpose of copying. Whether O\u2019Flinn actually mutilated\nthe volume or not, there can be no doubt that pages and pages of it have\nbeen ruined and will eventually be rendered illegible by the most reckless\nuse of that pernicious chemical agent, infusion of galls. Besides this,\nMr. O\u2019Flinn has written his name in several places of the book, among\nothers all over the colored initial letter of one of the tracts, which he\nhas entirely spoiled by filling in the open spaces with the letters of his\nname and the date of the outrage. But perhaps the most characteristic act\nperformed by him is the interpolation of an eulogistic ode upon himself in\nGaelic, of which the following is a literal translation:\n\n\u201cUpon the dressing of this book by D. O\u2019F., he said (or sang) as follows:\n\n\u201c\u2019O old chart! forget not, wheresoever you are taken,\nTo relate that you met with the Doctor of Books;\nThat helped you, out of compassion, from severe bondage,\nAfter finding you in forlorn state without a tatter about you, as it\n should be.\nUnder the disparagement of the ignorant who liked not to know you,\nTill you met by chance with learned good\u2010nature from the person(57)\nWho put healing herbs with zeal to thy old wounds,\nAnd liberally put bloom on you at your old age,\n And baptized you the _Book of Lismore_.\nForget not this friend that esteemed your figure,\nDistinguishing you, (though) of unseemly appearance, in humble words.\nI doubt not that truly you will declare to them there\nThat you met with your fond friend ere you went to dust.\u201d\n\nThe book contains ancient lives of Irish saints, written in very pure\nGaelic; the conquests of Charlemagne, translated from Archbishop Turpin\u2019s\ncelebrated romance of the VIIIth century; the conversion of the Pantheon\ninto a Christian church; the stories of David, son of Jesse, the two\nchildren, Samhain, the three sons of Cleirac; the _Imtheacht na trom\ndaimh\u00e9_; the story of S. Peter\u2019s daughter Petronilla and the discovery of\nthe Sibylline Oracle; an account of S. Gregory the Great; the Empress\nJustina\u2019s heresy; modifications of minor ceremonies of the Mass; accounts\nof the successors of Charlemagne, and of the correspondence between\nLanfranc and the clergy of Rome; extracts from Marco Polo\u2019s _Travels_;\naccounts of Irish battles and sieges; and a dialogue between S. Patrick,\nCaoilt\u00e9, Mac Ronain, and Oisin (Ossian), the son of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, in\nwhich many hills, rivers, caverns, etc., in Ireland, are described, and\nthe etymology of their names recorded. This last is preluded by an account\nof the departure of Oisin and Caoilt\u00e9 on a hunting expedition, during\nwhich their gillie sees and is much troubled by a very strange spectacle.\nAs this tale furnishes a good example of the contents of these ancient\nbooks, we subjoin a translation of the commencement of it.(58)\n\n\u201cOn a certain time it happened that Oisin and Cailte were in Dun Clithar\n(the sheltered or shady Dun) at Slieve Crott. It was the time that Patrick\ncame to Ireland. It is there dwelt a remnant of the Fenians, namely, Oisin\nand Cailte and three times nine persons in their company. They followed\nthis custom: about nine persons went out hunting daily. On a certain day\nit chanced that Cailte Mac Ronain set out with eight persons (big men) and\na boy (gilla), the ninth. The way they went was northward to the twelve\nmountains of Eibhlinn\u00e9 and to the head of the ancient Moy Breogan. On\ntheir returning from the chase at the cheerless close of the day they came\nfrom the north to Corroda Cnamhchoill. Then was Fear Gair Cailte\u2019s gilla\nloaded with the choice parts of the chase in charge, because he had no\ncare beyond that of Cailte himself, from whom he took wages. The gilla\ncomes to the stream, and takes Cailte\u2019s cup from his back and drinks a\ndrink of the stream. Whilst the gilla was thus drinking the eight great\nmen went their way southward, mistaking the road, and the gilla following\nafterwards. Then was heard the noise of the large host, and the gilla\nproceeds to observe the multitude; bushes and a bank between them. He saw\nin the fore front of the crowd a strange band; it seemed to him one\nhundred and fifty were in this band. They appeared thus: robes of pure\nwhite linen upon them, a head chief with them, and bent standards in their\nhands; shields, broad\u2010streaked with gold and silver, bright shining on\ntheir breasts; their faces pale, pitiably feminine, and having masculine\nvoices, and every man of them humming a march. The gilla followed his\npeople, and did not overtake them till he came to the hunting\u2010booth, and\nhe came possessed, as he thinks, with the news of the strange troop he had\nseen, and casts his burden on the ground, goes round it, places his elbows\nunder, and groans very loudly. It was then that Cailte Mac Ronain said:\n\u2018Well, gilla, is it the weight of your burden affects you?\u2019 \u2018Not so,\u2019\nreplied the gilla; \u2018when is large the burden, so great is the wages you\ngive to me. This does not affect me; but that wonderful multitude I saw at\nthe hut of Cnamhchoill. The first band that I saw of that strange crowd\nfilled me with the pestilent, heavy complaint of the news of this band.\u2019\n\u2018Give its description,\u2019 said Cailte. \u2018There seemed to me an advanced guard\nof one hundred and fifty\u2010six men, pure white robes upon them, a head\nleader to them, bent standards in their hands, broad shields on their\nbreasts, having feminine faces and masculine voices, and every single man\nof them humming a march.\u2019 Wonder seized the old Fenian on hearing this.\n\u2018These are they,\u2019 said Oisin\u2014\u2018the Tailginn (holy race), foretold by our\nDruids and Fionn to us, and what can be done with them? Unless they be\nslain, they shall ascend over us altogether.\u2019 \u2018Uch!\u2019 said Oisin, \u2018who\namongst us can molest them? For we are the last of the Fenii, and not with\nourselves is the power in Erinn, nor the greatness, nor pleasure but in\nthe chase, and as ancient exiles asserting the right,\u2019 said he; and they\nremained so till came the next morning, and there was nothing on their\nminds that night but these (things). Cailte rose early the fore front of\nthe day, being the oldest of them, and came out on the assembly\u2010mound. The\nsun cleared the fog from the plains, and Cailte said: ...\u201d\n\nThe procession thus described as having been seen by the gillie was\nprobably one of ecclesiastics, with S. Patrick himself at their head, on\nthe saint\u2019s first arrival in Ireland.\n\nThe foregoing sketches of certain of the MSS., extracts from which are\nintended to appear in the series of fac\u2010similes, may serve to convey an\nidea of how rich Ireland is in such national records, what an immense mass\nof historical and romantic literature her libraries contain, and how great\nis their antiquity. Besides the evidence afforded by these books, both as\nto the ancient social, political, and ecclesiastical history of Ireland,\nand its topography, the books themselves are found to be full of\nillustrations of the customs, mode of life, manners, and costume of her\nearly Celtic inhabitants; often conveyed through the medium of charming\nlegends and fairy tales.\n\n\n\n\nAnnals Of The Moss\u2010Troopers.\n\n\nOutlawry was never carried to a greater degree of systematic organization,\nor practised on a larger and more dignified scale, than during the\ncenturies of Border warfare between the English and Scottish chieftains.\nThe only parallel to this warfare was furnished by the raids of the Free\nCompanions in medi\u00e6val Italy; but the mercenary element in the\norganization of those formidable bodies of professional marauders destroys\nthe interest which we might otherwise have felt in their daring feats of\narms. The warfare of the Border was essentially a national outburst; the\n\u201cmoss\u2010troopers,\u201d although trained soldiers, were also householders and\npatriarchs. Their stake in the country they alternately plundered and\ndefended was a substantial one. The field of their prowess was never far\nfrom home. Each retainer, insignificant as he might be, humble as his\nposition in the troop might be, had yet a personal interest in the raid;\nand revenge, as well as plunder, was the avowed object of an expedition.\nThere was never any changing of allegiance from one side to the other; the\ntie of blood and clanship welded the whole troop into one family. The\nBorder, or debatable land between the rival kingdoms of England and\nScotland, bristled with strongholds, all of historical name and fame:\nNewark and Branxholm (which Sir Walter Scott in his _Lay of the Last\nMinstrel_ has euphonized into Branksome), held by the all\u2010powerful Scotts\nof Buccleugh; Crichtoun Castle, the successive property of the Crichtouns,\nthe Bothwells, and the Buccleughs, and, while in the hands of its original\nowners, the haughty defier of King James III. of Scotland; Gifford or\nYester (it bears either name indifferently), famous for its Hobgoblin\nHall, or, as the people call it, \u201cBo\u2010Hall,\u201d a large cavern formed by\nmagical art; Tantallon Hold, the retreat of the Douglas, in which the\nfamily held out manfully against James V. until its chief, the Earl of\nAngus, was recalled from exile. Of this expedition it is related that the\nking marched in person upon the castle, and, to reduce it, borrowed from\nthe neighboring Castle of Dunbar two great cannons whose names were\n\u201cThrawn\u2010mouthed Meg and her Marrow\u201d; also two great _bolcards_, and two\n_moyan_, two double falcons and two quarter\u2010falcons, for the safe guiding\nand redelivery of which \u201cthree lords were laid in pawn at Dunbar.\u201d\nNotwithstanding all this mighty preparation, the king was forced to raise\nthe siege. The ruin of Tantallon was reserved for the Covenanters, and now\nthere remains nothing of it save a few walls standing on a high rock\noverlooking the German Ocean and the neighboring town of Berwick\u2010upon\u2010\nTweed. Ford Castle, the patrimony of the Herons, had a better fate, and\nstands in altered and modernized guise, the centre of civilizing and\npeaceful influences, the residence of a model Lady of the Manor,\noverlooking, not the wild ocean, but a pretty village, faultlessly neat,\nand a Gothic school filled with frescos of Bible subjects, executed by the\nLady Bountiful, the benefactress of the neighborhood. Yet Ford Castle had\na stormy, stirring past, and stands not far from the historic field of\nFlodden, where tradition says that, but for the tardiness of the king\u2019s\nmovements\u2014an effect due to the siren charms of Lady Ford\u2014James IV. might\nhave been victorious. In the castle is still shown the room where the king\nslept the night before the battle, and only five or six miles away lies\nthe fatal field, on which, _Marmion_ in hand the curious traveller may\nstill make out each knoll, the Bridge of Twisel, by which the English\nunder Surrey crossed the Till, the hillock commanding the rear of the\nEnglish right wing, which was defeated, and in conflict with whom Scott\u2019s\nimaginary hero, Marmion, is supposed to have fallen.\n\nVery curious are the accounts of the various fights and forays given by\nthe chroniclers of the middle ages, especially in their utter\nunconsciousness of anything unusual or derogatory in this almost\ninternecine warfare. Their simplicity in itself presents the key to the\nsituation. In reading their graphic, matter\u2010of\u2010fact descriptions, one\nneeds to transport one\u2019s self into a totally different atmosphere. We must\nread these racy accounts in the same spirit in which they were written, if\nwe would understand aright the age in which our forefathers lived. We are\nnot called upon to sit in judgment over the irrevocable past, but to study\nit as a fact not to be overlooked, and a useful storehouse of warning or\nexample. The possession of the king\u2019s person was sometimes the origin of\nterrible clan\u2010feuds among the warlike Scottish imitators of the Frankish\n\u201cMaires du Palais.\u201d Thus, on one occasion, in 1526, the chronicler\nPitscottie informs us that James V., then a minor, had fallen under the\nself\u2010assumed guardianship of the Earl of Angus, backed by his own clan of\nDouglas and his allies, the Lairds of Hume, Cessfoord, and Fernyhirst, the\nchiefs of the clan of Kerr.(59) \u201cThe Earl of Angus and the rest of the\nDouglases ruled all which they liked, and no man durst say the contrary.\u201d\nThe king, who wished to get out of their hands, sent a secret letter to\nScott of Buccleugh, warden of the West Marches of Scotland, praying him to\ngather his kin and friends, meet the Douglas at Melrose, and deliver him\n(James) from his vassal\u2019s power. The loyal Scot gathered about six hundred\nspears, and came to the tryst. When the Douglases and Kerrs saw whom they\nhad to deal with, they said to the king, \u201cSir, yonder is Buccleugh, and\nthieves of Annandale with him, to unbeset your grace from the gate\n(_i.e._, interrupt your passage). I vow to God they shall either fight or\nflee, and ye shall tarry here on this know (knoll), and I shall pass and\nput yon thieves off the ground, and rid the gate unto your grace, or else\ndie for it.\u201d Scant courtesy in speech used those Border heroes towards one\nanother! So an escort tarried to guard the king, and the rest of the clans\nwent forward to the field of Darnelinver now Darnick, near Melrose. The\nplace of conflict is still called Skinner\u2019s Field, a corruption of\nSkirmish Field. The chronicler tells us that Buccleugh \u201cjoyned and\ncountered cruelly both the said parties ... with uncertain victory. But at\nthe last the Lord Hume, hearing word of that matter, how it stood,\nreturned again to the king in all possible haste, with him the Lairds of\nCessfoord and Fernyhirst, to the number of fourscore spears, and set\nfreshly on the lap and wing of the Laird of Buccleugh\u2019s field, and shortly\nbare them backward to the ground, which caused the Laird of Buccleugh and\nthe rest of his friends to go back and flee, whom they followed and\nchased; and especially the Lairds of Cessfoord and Fernyhirst followed\nfuriouslie, till at the foot of a path the Laird of Cessfoord was slain by\nthe stroke of a spear by one Elliott, who was then servant to the Laird of\nBuccleugh. But when the Laird of Cessfoord was slain, the chase ceased.\u201d\nThe Borders were infested for many long years afterwards by marauders of\nboth sides, who kept up a deadly hereditary feud between the names of\nScott and Kerr, and finally, after having been imprisoned and had his\nestates forfeited nine years later for levying war against the Kerrs, the\nbold Buccleugh was slain by his foes in the streets of Edinburgh in 1552,\ntwenty\u2010six years after the disastrous fight in which he had failed to\nrescue his sovereign. It was seventy years before this Border feud was\nfinally quelled.\n\nOn the English side of the Marches the same dare\u2010devilry existed, the same\nspeed in gathering large bodies of men was used, the same quickness in\nwarning and rousing the neighborhood. Equal enthusiasm was displayed\nwhether the case were one of \u201clynch law\u201d or of political intrigue, as in\nthe fight at Darnelinver. Sir Robert Carey, in his _Memoirs_, describes\nhis duties as deputy warden for his brother\u2010in\u2010law, Lord Scroop. The\ncastle was near Carlisle. \u201cWe had a stirring time of it,\u201d he says, \u201cand\nfew days passed over my head but I was on horseback, either to prevent\nmischief or take malefactors, and to bring the Border in better quiet than\nit had been in times past.\u201d Hearing that two Scotchmen had killed a\nchurchman in Scotland, and were dwelling five miles from Carlisle on the\nEnglish side of the Border, under the protection of the Graemes, Carey\ntook about twenty\u2010five horsemen with him, and invested the Graeme\u2019s house\nand tower. As they did so, a boy rode from the house at full speed, and\none of his retainers, better versed in Border warfare than the chief, told\nhim that in half an hour that boy would be in Scotland to let the people\nknow of the danger of their countrymen and the small number of those who\nhad come from Carlisle to arrest them. \u201cHereupon,\u201d says our author, \u201cwe\ntook advice what was best to be done. We sent notice presently to all\nparts to raise the country, and to come to us with all the speed they\ncould; and withal we sent to Carlisle to raise the townsmen, for without\nfoot we could do no good against the tower. There we stayed some hours,\nexpecting more company, and within a short time after the country came in\non all sides, so that we were quickly between three and four hundred\nhorse; and after some longer stay, the foot of Carlisle came to us, to the\nnumber of three or four hundred men, whom we presently set to work to get\nto the top of the tower, and to uncover the roof, and then some twenty of\nthem to fall down together, and by that means to win the tower. The Scots,\nseeing their present danger, offered to parley, and yielded themselves to\nmy mercy.\u201d But the victorious Carlisleans had reckoned without their host.\nFrom the hills and defiles around came pouring wild\u2010looking mountaineers\non rough, wiry ponies, farm\u2010horses, etc., to the number of four hundred.\nThe prisoners ceased their pleading, and looked eagerly towards their\ndeliverers. Meanwhile, the men of \u201cmerry Carlisle\u201d(60) gave their\nperplexed chief more trouble than his enemies, who \u201cstood at gaze\u201d a\nquarter of a mile from him; for, says he, \u201call our Borderers came crying\nwith full mouths, \u2018Sir, give us leave to set upon them; for these are they\nthat have killed our fathers, our brothers and uncles, and our cousins,\nand they are coming, thinking to surprise you with weak grass nags, such\nas they could get on a sudden; and God hath put them into your hands, that\nwe may take revenge of them for much blood that they have spilt of\nours.\u2019 \u201d The warden was a conscientious man, and had come here to execute\njustice against two malefactors, not to encourage indiscriminate private\nrevenge; but even with his rank and vested authority he did not dare\nsternly to forbid a faction fight. He only told them that, had he not been\nthere, they might have done as best pleased them; but that, since he was\npresent, he should feel that all the blood spilt that day would be upon\nhis own head, and for his sake he entreated them to forbear. \u201cThey were\nill\u2010satisfied,\u201d he adds, \u201cbut durst not disobey.\u201d So he sent word to the\nScots to disperse, which they did, probably because they were unprepared\nto fight such a large and well\u2010disciplined force, having expected to find\nbut a handful of men. The necessity for delicate handling of this armed\nmob of English Borderers points sufficiently to the curious standard of\npersonal justice which prevailed in those wild times. And yet, strange to\nsay, while a Border \u201cride\u201d (_alias_ foray) was a thing of such ordinary\noccurrence that a saying is recorded of a mother to her son which soon\nbecame proverbial: \u201c_Ride, Rowley, hough\u2019s i\u2019 the pot_\u201d\u2014that is, the last\npiece of beef is in the pot, and it is high time to go and fetch\nmore\u2014still it would sometimes happen, as it did to James V. of Scotland,\nthat when an invasion of England was in contemplation, and the royal\nlances gathered at the place where the king\u2019s lieges were to meet him,\nonly one baron would declare himself willing to go wherever the sovereign\nmight lead. This faithful knight was another of the loyal race of\nScott\u2014John Scott of Thirlestane, to whom James, in memory of his fidelity,\ngranted the privilege set forth in the following curious and rare charter:\n\n\u201c... Ffor the quhilk (which) cause, it is our will, and we do straitlie\ncommand and charg our lion herauld, ... to give and to graunt to the said\nJohn Scott ane border of ffleure de lises about his coatte of armes, sic\nas is on our royal banner, and alsua ane bundle of lances above his\nhelmet, with thir words, Readdy ay, Readdy, that he and all his after\u2010\ncummers may bruik (carry?) the samine as a pledge and taiken of our guid\nwill and kyndnes for his true worthiness.\u201d\n\nThe list of the damages done in some of these Border rides sounds strange\nin modern ears. Each country was a match for the other, though the strong\ncastles of Wark, Norham, and Berwick in English hands were thorns in the\nside of the Scottish Borderers. Rowland Foster of Wark, on the 16th of\nMay, 1570, harried the barony of Blythe in Lauderdale, the property of Sir\nRichard Maitland, a blind knight of seventy\u2010four years of age. None of\nthat country \u201clippened\u201d (expected) such a thing, as it was in time of\npeace; and despite what may have been said\u2014and truly\u2014as to their\nlawlessness, the Borderers had a code by which to regulate their actions.\nThe old man wrote a poetical account of the harrying, calling the poem the\n_Blind Baron\u2019s Comfort_, and in the introduction he enumerates his losses:\nfive thousand sheep, two hundred nolt, thirty horses and mares, and the\nwhole furniture of his house, worth \u00a38 6s. 8d., and everything else that\nwas portable. The sum represents some forty dollars.\n\nIn these narratives one feels it impossible to be very sorry for either\nparty, each was so thoroughly unable to take care of itself! Those who to\u2010\nday seem down\u2010trodden victims of lawlessness will figure again a year\nhence as \u201cstark moss\u2010troopers [moss for marsh] and arrant thieves; both to\nEngland and Scotland outlawed, yet sometimes connived at because they gave\nintelligence forth to Scotland, and would raise four hundred horse at any\ntime upon a raid of the English into Scotland.\u201d This was said of the\nGraemes, Earls of Monteith, but was applicable, _mutatis mutandis_, to\nmost of the Borderers on both sides. An old Northumbrian ballad, that\nsurvived in the North of England till within a hundred years, and was\ncommonly sung at merry\u2010makings till the roof rang again, gives forcible\nand rather coarse details as to the personal results of these forays. It\ncelebrates the ride of the Thirlwalls and Ridleys in the reign of Henry\nVIII. against the Featherstons of Featherston Castle, a few miles south of\nthe Tyne. Here is one of the rude stanzas:\n\n\n \u201cI canno\u2019 tell a\u2019, I canno\u2019 tell a\u2019,\n Some gat a skelp (blow), and some gat a claw;\n But they gard the Featherstons haud their jaw,\n Nicol and \u2018Alick and a\u2019.\n Some gat a hurt, and some gat nane;\n Some had harness, and some gat sta\u2019en (stolen or plundered).\u201d\n\n\nIn later days Sir Walter Scott wove the annals of the Border into more\ntuneful rhyme, and sang of the exploits of his bold countrymen with an\nenthusiasm worthy of his moss\u2010trooping ancestors. These old ballads, and\nthe recollections of ancient dames in whose youthful days the exploits\ncelebrated in these ballads were not yet quite obsolete, furnished him\nwith much of his romantic materials. _The Minstrelsy of the Scottish\nBorder_, a collection of many such traditions, is a storehouse of\ninformation upon these subjects. We find descriptions of the caves and\nmorasses which were the usual refuge of the marauders; the banks of the\nTeviot, the Ale, the Jed, the Esk, were full of these caverns, but even\nthese hiding\u2010places were not always safe. Patten\u2019s _Account of Somerset\u2019s\nExpedition into Scotland_ tells how \u201cGeorge Ferres, a gentleman of my Lord\nProtector, happened on a cave\u201d the entrance to which showed signs of the\ninterior being tenanted. \u201cHe wente doune to trie, and was readilie\nreceyved with a hakebut or two,\u201d and when he found the foe determined to\nhold out, \u201che wente to my lorde\u2019s grace, and, upon utterance of the\nthinge, _gat license to deale with them as he coulde_\u201d\u2014which significantly\nsimple statement meant that he was perfectly at liberty to do as he\neventually did, i.e., smother them by stopping up the three _ventes_ of\nthe cave with burning faggots of damp wood.\n\nThe next case is one of national jealousy and instant reprisals. The\nEnglish Earl of Northumberland gives a graphic account of the double raid\nin a letter to King Henry VIII. He says that some Scottish barons had\nthreatened to come and give him \u201clight to put on his clothes at midnight,\u201d\nand moreover that Marke Carr (one of the same clan whose prowess was\nexercised against Buccleugh) said that, \u201cseying they had a governor on the\nMarches of Scotland as well as they had in England, he shulde kepe your\nhighness\u2019 instructions, gyffyn unto your garyson, for making of any _day\u2010\nforey_; for he and his friends _wolde burne enough on the nyght_....\u201d Then\nfollows a detailed account of the inroad of thirty horsemen on the hamlet\nof Whitell, which they did not burn, because \u201cthere was no fyre to get\nthere, and they forgat to brynge any withe theyme!\u201d But they killed a\nwoman, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, and departed. The\nreprisals, however, were far worse. The Earl of Murray, who had winked at\nall this, was chosen by the English as a scape\u2010goat, and a hundred of the\nbest horsemen of Glendaill \u201cdyd mar the Earl of Murreis provisions at\nColdingham, for they did not only burn the said town of Coldingham, with\nall the corne thereunto belonging, but also burned twa townes nye\nadjoining thereunto, called Branerdergest and the Black Hill and took\nxxiii. persons, lx. horse, with cc. head of cataill, which nowe, as I am\ninformed, hathe not only been a staye of the said Erle of Murreis not\ncoming to the Bordure as yet, but alsoo that none inlande will adventure\ntheyrself uppon the Marches.... And also I have devysed that within this\niii. nyghts, _Godde willing_, Kelsey, in like case, shall be brent with\nall the corn in the said town, and then they shall have noo place to lye\nany garyson nygh unto the Borders.\u201d\n\nThe physical strength and rude cunning required for this daring life of\nperpetual warfare are well described in the stanza of _The Lay of the Last\nMinstrel_ referring to one of the Border heroes of the clan of Buccleugh:\n\n\n \u201cA stark, moss\u2010trooping Scott was he\n As e\u2019er couch\u2019d Border lance by knee;\n Through Solway sands, through Tarras moss,\n Blindfold he knew the paths to cross;\n By wily turns, by desperate bounds,\n Had baffled Percy\u2019s best bloodhounds;\n In Eske or Liddel fords were none,\n But he would ride them one by one;\n Alike to him was time or tide,\n December\u2019s snow or July\u2019s pride;\n Alike to him was tide or time,\n Moonless midnight or matin prime;\n Steady of heart and stout of hand\n As ever drove prey from Cumberland;\n Five times outlaw\u2019d had he been\n By England\u2019s king and Scotland\u2019s queen.\u201d\n\n\nWe have already alluded to the origin of the name of the Border riders.\nFuller, in his _Worthies of England_, says they are called moss\u2010troopers\n\u201cbecause dwelling in the mosses (marshes or morasses), and riding in\ntroops together; they dwell in the bounds or meeting of the two kingdoms,\nbut obey the laws of neither. They come to church as seldom as the 29th of\nFebruary comes in the calendar.\u201d Their customs and laws are even more\ninteresting than the details of their forays. Loyalty to each other was\ntheir first principle, and on occasions when money could purchase the\nfreedom of one of their number they invariably cast in their lots, and\nmade up a large common purse. They were scrupulous in keeping their word\nof honor when passed to a traveller, and Fuller likens their dogged\nfidelity in these cases to that of a \u201cTurkish janizary\u201d; but otherwise,\nwoe to him that fell into their hands! Their own _self_\u2010imposed laws they\nobserved for the most part faithfully, and a breach of them was punished\nfar more summarily than modern crimes in modern courts of law. Several\nspecies of offences peculiar to the Border constituted what was called\nMarch\u2010treason. Among others was the crime of riding or causing to ride\nagainst the opposite country (or clan) during the time of truce. Such was\nthe offence committed by Rowland Foster in his raid on the \u201cBlind Baron,\u201d\nthough in his case the criminal was probably too powerful to be punished.\nIn one of the many truces signed in the olden time is one of 1334 between\nthe Percys and the Douglases, in which it is accorded: \u201cGif ony stellis\n(steals) anthir on the ta part or on the tothyr, that he shall be hanget\nor beofdit (beheaded); and gif ony company stellis any gudes within the\ntrieux (truce) beforesayd, are of that company shall be hanget or beofdit,\nand the remanant sail restore the gudys stolen in the dubble.\u201d(61) In\ndoubtful cases the innocence of Border criminals was often referred to\ntheir own oath. The same work that quotes the above agreement also gives\nus the form of excusing bills by Border oaths: \u201cYou shall swear by the\nheaven above you, hell beneath you, by your part of paradise, by all that\nGod made in six days and seven nights, and by God himself, you are whart\nout sackless of art, part, way, witting, ridd kenning, having, or\nrecetting of any of the goods and cattels named in the bill. So help you\nGod.\u201d It seems almost as if the Borderers had consulted the catechism as\nto the nine ways of being accessory to another\u2019s sin, so minute is the\nnomenclature of treasonable possibilities.\n\nTrial by single combat was also a favorite mode of clearing one\u2019s self\nfrom a criminal charge. This was common in feudal times and throughout the\nXVIth century; but time stood still in the Borders, as far as civilizing\nchanges were concerned, and even in the XVIIth century a ceremonious\nindenture was signed between two champions of name and position, binding\nthem to fight to prove the truth or falsity of a charge of high treason\nmade by one against the other.\n\nThe most ancient known collection of regulations for the Border sets forth\nthat in 1468, on the 18th day of December, Earl William Douglas assembled\nthe whole lords, freeholders, and eldest Borderers, that best knowledge\nhad, at the College of Linclouden, \u201cwhere he had them bodily sworn, the\nHoly Gospel touched, that they justlie and trulie after their cunning\nshould decrete ... the statutes, ordinances, and uses of the marche.\u201d The\nearl further on is said to have thought these \u201cright speedful and\nprofitable to the Borders.\u201d\n\nDuring the truces it was not unusual to have merry\u2010makings and fairs, to\nwhich, however, both Scotch and English came fully armed. Foot\u2010ball was\nfrom time immemorial a favorite Border game, but the national rivalry was\nsuch that the play often ended in bloodshed. Still, there was no personal\nill\u2010feeling, and a rough sort of good\u2010fellowship was kept up, which was\nstrengthened by intermarriages, and was not supposed to debar either party\nfrom the right of prosecuting private vengeance, even to death. When,\nhowever, this revenge had been taken, it would have been against Border\netiquette to retain any further ill\u2010will. Patten, in his _Account of\nSomerset\u2019s Expedition into Scotland_, remarks on the disorderly conduct of\nthe English Borderers who followed the Lord Protector. He describes the\ncamp as full of \u201ctroublous and dangerous noyses all the nyghte longe, ...\nmore like the outrage of a dissolute huntynge than the quiet of a well\u2010\nordered armye.\u201d The Borderers, like masterless hounds, howling, whooping,\nwhistling, crying out \u201cA Berwick, a Berwick! a Fenwick, a Fenwick! a\nBulmer, a Bulmer!\u201d paraded the camp, creating confusion wherever they\nwent, and disturbing the more sober southern troops; they used their own\nslogan or battle\u2010cry out of pure mischief and recklessness, and totally\ndisregarded all camp discipline. Yet in this land of defiles, caverns, and\nmarshes their aid was too precious to be dispensed with, and remonstrance\nwas practically useless.\n\nThe pursuit of Border marauders was often followed by the injured party\nand his friends with bloodhounds and bugle\u2010horn, and was called the _hot\u2010\ntrod_. If his dog could trace the scent, he was entitled to follow the\ninvaders into the opposite kingdom, which practice often led to further\nbloodshed. A sure way of stopping the dog was to spill blood on the track;\nand a legend of Wallace\u2019s adventurous life relates a terrible instance of\nthis. An Irishman in Wallace\u2019s train was slain by the Scottish fugitive,\nand when the English came up with their hounds their pursuit was baffled.\nBut poetical justice required some counterbalancing doom, and accordingly\nthe legend tells us that, when Wallace took refuge in the lonely tower of\nGask, and fancied himself safe, he was speedily disturbed by the blast of\na horn. It was midnight. He sent out attendants, cautiously to\nreconnoitre, but they could see nothing. When he was left alone again, the\nsummons was repeated, and, sword in hand, he went down to face the\nunknown. At the gate of the tower stood the headless spectre of Fawdoim,\nthe murdered man. Wallace, in unearthly terror, fled up into the tower,\ntore open a window, and leaped down fifteen feet to the ground to continue\nhis flight as best he could. Looking back to Gask, he saw the tower on\nfire, and the form of his victim, dilated to an immense size, standing on\nthe battlements, holding in his hand a blazing rafter.\n\nThe system of signals by beacon\u2010fires was common on the Borders. Smugglers\nand their friends have now become the only remaining heirs to this\npractice, which was once that in use by the noblest warriors of Gaelic\nrace in either island. The origin of this custom was perfectly lawful;\nindeed, the Scottish Parliament, in 1445, directed that one bale or\nbeacon\u2010fagot should be warning of the approach of the English in any\nmanner; two bales, that they are coming indeed; four bales blazing beside\neach other, that the enemy are in great force. A Scotch historian tells us\nthat in later times these beacons consisted of a long and strong tree set\nup, with a long iron pole across the head of it, and an iron brander fixed\non a stalk in the middle of it for holding a tar\u2010barrel.\n\nIt was a custom on the Border, and indeed in the Highlands also, for those\npassing through a great chieftain\u2019s domains to repair to the castle in\nacknowledgment of the chief\u2019s authority, explain the purpose of their\njourney, and receive the hospitality due to their rank. To neglect this\nwas held discourtesy in the great and insolence in the inferior traveller;\nindeed, so strictly was this etiquette insisted upon by some feudal lords\nthat Lord Oliphaunt is said to have planted guns at his Castle of Newtyle\nin Angus, so as to command the high\u2010road, and compel all passengers to\nperform this act of homage. Sir Walter Scott, in his _Provincial\nAntiquities_, has hunted up a curious instance of the non fulfilment of\nthis custom. The Lord of Crichtoun Castle, on the Tyne, heard that Scott\nof Buccleugh was to pass his dwelling on his return from court. A splendid\nbanquet was prepared for the expected guest, who nevertheless rode past\nthe castle, neglecting to pay his duty\u2010visit. Crichtoun was terribly\nincensed, and pursued the discourteous traveller with a body of horse,\nmade him prisoner, and confined him for the night in the castle dungeon.\nHe and his retainers, meanwhile, feasted on the good cheer that had been\nprovided, and doubtless made many valiant boasts against the imprisoned\nlord. But with morning cometh prudence. A desperate feud with a powerful\nclan was not desirable, and such would infallibly have been the result of\nso rough a proceeding. Indeed, it would have justified the Buccleugh in\nbiting his glove or his thumb\u2014a gesture indicative on the Border of a\nresolution of mortal revenge for a serious insult. So, to put matters\nright, Crichtoun not only delivered his prisoner and set him in the place\nof honor at his board the following day, but himself retired into his own\ndungeon, where he remained as many hours as his guest had done. This\nsatisfaction was accepted and the feud averted.\n\nThe Borderers had a rough, practical kind of symbolism in vogue among\nthem; and, though they were not afraid of calling a spade a spade, yet\nloved a significant allegory. It is told of one of the marauding chiefs,\nwhose castle was a very robber\u2019s den, that his mode of intimating to his\nretainers that the larder was bare, and that they must ride for a supply\nof provisions, was the appearance on the table of a pair of clean spurs in\na covered dish. Like many brigand chiefs, this Scott of Harden had a wife\nof surpassing beauty, famed in song as the \u201cFlower of Yarrow.\u201d Some very\nbeautiful pastoral songs are attributed to a young captive, said to have\nbeen carried as an infant to this eagle\u2019s nest, built on the brink of a\ndark and precipitous dell. He himself tells the story of how \u201cbeauteous\nMary, Yarrow\u2019s fairest flower, rescued him from the rough troopers who\nbrought him into the courtyard of the castle.\u201d\n\n\n \u201cHer ear, all anxious, caught the wailing sound:\n With trembling haste, the youthful matron flew,\n And from the hurried heaps an infant drew.\n\n Of milder mood the gentle captive grew,\n Nor loved the scenes that scared his infant view,\n\n He lived o\u2019er Yarrow\u2019s Flower to shed the tear,\n To strew the holly\u2010leaves o\u2019er Harden\u2019s bier.\n\n He, nameless as the race from which he sprung,\n Saved other names, and left his own unsung.\u201d\n\n\nWork and pleasure were sometimes mingled in those royal expeditions called\na chase, which had so little to distinguish them from regular Border\nforays. Law and no law were so curiously tangled together that each bore\nnearly the same outward features as the other\u2014features especially\nromantic, which both have now equally lost. Ettrick Forest, now a\nmountainous range of sheep\u2010walks, was anciently a royal pleasure\u2010ground.\nThe hunting was an affair of national importance, and in 1528 James V. of\nScotland \u201cmade proclamation to all lords, barons, gentlemen, landward\u2010men,\nand freeholders to pass with the king where he pleased, to danton _the\nthieves_ of Teviotdale, Annandale, and Liddesdale (we have heard this\nexpression before in another mouth), and other parts of that country, and\nalso warned all gentlemen that had good dogs to bring them, that he might\nhunt in the said country as he pleased.\u201d\n\nA very interesting account is given by one Taylor, a poet, of the mode in\nwhich these huntings were conducted in the Highlands. This, however, is a\nsketch of a later day than that in which the moss\u2010troopers were at their\nbest, but many of the characteristics of the scene suggest the earlier and\nhardly yet forgotten time of the true Borderers. He begins by enumerating\nthe many \u201ctruly noble and right honorable lords\u201d who were present, and\ngives a detailed description of the dress which they wore in common with\nthe peasantry, \u201cas if Lycurgus had been there and made laws of equality.\u201d\nThe dress is the Highland costume of to\u2010day\u2014a dress that has never changed\nsince at least the beginning of this century. The English poet evidently\nfinds it very primitive, and takes no notice of the difference of color or\nof mixing of color that distinguishes the various tartans. He says: \u201cAs\nfor their attire, any man of what degree so\u2010ever who comes amongst them\nmust not disdain to wear it; for if they do, then they will disdain to\nhunt or willingly to bring in their dogs; but if men be kind to them and\nbe in their habit, then they are conquered with kindness, and the sport\nwill be plentiful.\u201d The gathering is of some fourteen or fifteen hundred\nor more men\u2014a little city or camp. Small cottages built on purpose to\nlodge in, and called _lonquhards_, are here for the chiefs, the kitchens\nwhereof are always on the side of a bank. A formidable list of provisions\nfollows; there are \u201cmany kettles and pots boiling, and many spits turning\nand winding, with great variety of cheer, as venison baked, sodden, rost,\nand stewed beef, mutton, goats, kids, hares, fresh salmon, pigeons, hens,\ncapons, chickens, partridges, muir\u2010coots (water\u2010fowl), heath\u2010cocks,\ncapercailzies and ptarmigans, good ale, sacke, white and claret (red)\ntent, or allegant, with the most potent _aqua\u2010vit\u00e6_. All these, and more\nthan these, we had continually in superfluous abundance, caught by\nfalconers, fowlers, fishers, and brought by my lord\u2019s tenants and\npurveyors to victual our camp, which consisteth of fourteen or fifteen\nhundred men and horses. The manner of the hunting is this: Five or six\nhundred men do rise early in the morning, and they do disperse themselves\ndivers ways, and seven, eight, or ten miles compass; they do bring or\nchase in the deer, in many herds (two, three, or four hundred in a herd),\nto such or such a place as the noblemen shall appoint them; then, when day\nis come, the lords and gentlemen of their companies do ride or go to the\nsaid places, sometimes wading up to the middles through burns (streams)\nand rivers, and then they, being come to the place, do lie down upon the\nground till those foresaid scouts, which are called the _tinkhell_, do\nbring down the deer. But as the proverb says of a bad cook, so these\n_tinkhell_ men do lick their own fingers; for, besides their bows and\narrows, which they carry with them, we can hear now and then a harquebuss\nor a musket go off, which they do seldom discharge in vain. Then after we\nhad stayed there three hours or thereabouts, we might perceive the deer\nappear on the hills round about us (their heads making a show like a\nwood), which, being followed close by the _tinkhell_, are chased down into\nthe valley where we lay; then all the valley, on each side, being waylaid\nwith a hundred couple of strong Irish greyhounds, they are all let loose,\nas occasion serves, upon the herd of deer, that with dogs, guns, arrows,\ndurks, and daggers, in the space of two hours, fourscore fat deer were\nslain, which after are disposed of, some one way and some another, twenty\nand thirty miles, and more than enough left for us, to make merry withal\nat our rendezvous.\u201d\n\nDoubtless the scene must have been very picturesque before the _battue_\nbegan; but as sport what could be more unsatisfactory? For once modern\ncustoms seem to excel ancient ones, and the Scotch deer\u2010stalker of to\u2010day,\nin his arduous, solitary walk over the moors and through the forests, is a\nmuch more enviable personage than the high and mighty huntsman of King\nJames\u2019 train. The best sport recorded in this curious narrative was the\nresult of the unauthorized shots heard in the distance, when the\n_tinkhell_ men could not resist the temptation of \u201clicking their own\nfingers.\u201d\n\nIt was the result of all these centuries of wild life and romantic\nlawlessness that made Scotland so safe a retreat for the unfortunate\nPrince Charlie after the last stand had been so loyally and unsuccessfully\nmade at Culloden in 1745. Personal fidelity to a beloved chieftain, and an\nhabitual disregard of all laws of the \u201cSouthron\u201d that clashed with their\nown immemorial customs, made of the Scottish people the most perfect\npartisans in the world. Even at this day, when they are famed for their\nthriftiness, their amenableness to law, their eminently peaceful\nqualities, a strong undercurrent of romance lies at the bottom of their\nsurface tranquillity. The organization of clanship has disappeared, but\nthe feeling that put life into that system is itself living yet. The\nhumblest Scotsman is a born genealogist, and privately considers the blood\nof the laird under whose protection or in whose service he lives as\nimmeasurably _bluer_ than that of the German royal family that sits in the\nhigh places of England; and a characteristic instance of the clinging\naffection with which the national nomenclature of rank is still looked\nupon by the Scottish peasantry was afforded not many years ago, when the\ntenants of Lord Breadalbane were required to conform to modern usage, and\naddress their master as \u201cmy lord.\u201d \u201cWhat!\u201d they exclaimed, \u201ccall the\nBreadalbane _my lord_, like any paltry Southron chiel (fellow)?\u201d They\nthought\u2014and rightly, as it seems to us\u2014that the old appellation, \u201c_the_\nBreadalbane,\u201d as if he were sovereign on his own lands, and the only one\nof the name who needed no title to distinguish him from others of his kin,\nwas the only fitting one for their chief. The English title of marquis was\nnothing to that.\n\nThe superstitions of the Border, those of early times and those whose\ntraces remain even to this day, are another interesting phase in the\nannals of the moss\u2010troopers, but they would occupy more space than we have\nnow at command. We will close this sketch by quoting an old saying that\nshows that some at least of the Border chieftains, doubtless through the\ninfluence of their wives, had not relinquished all reverent belief in the\nthings of the world to come. They may not always have acted up to what\nthey believed; and indeed so wise a maxim as the following, if carried out\nin practice to its furthest limit, would have caused the pious Borderer to\nretire altogether from his adventurous \u201cprofession,\u201d unless, indeed, the\nobscure sentence in the second line of the couplet, \u201cKeep well the rod,\u201d\ncould have been twisted into an injunction to him to become an embodiment\nof poetical justice in the eyes of less discriminating moss\u2010troopers. The\ninscription is found over an arched door at Branxholm or Branksome Castle,\nand is in old black\u2010letter type:\n\n\n In varld. is. nocht. nature. hes. vrought. yat. sal. lest. ay.\n\n Tharefore. serve. God. keip. veil. ye. rod. thy. fame. sal. nocht.\n dekay. (62)\n\n\n\n\nAssunta Howard. IV. Convalescence.\n\n\n\u201cI have almost made up my mind to go back to bed again, and play possum.\nTruly, I find but little encouragement in my tremendous efforts to get\nwell, in the marked neglect which I am suffering from the feminine portion\nof my family. Clara is making herself ridiculous by returning to the days\nof her first folly, against which I protest to unheeding ears, and of\nwhich I wash my hands. Come here, Assunta; leave that everlasting writing\nof yours, and enliven the \u2018winter of my discontent\u2019 by the \u2018glorious\nsummer\u2019 of your presence, of mind as well as of body.\u201d\n\nMr. Carlisle certainly looked very unlike the neglected personage he\ndescribed himself to be. He was sitting in a luxurious chair near the open\nwindow; and he had but to raise his eyes to feast them upon the ever\u2010\nchanging, never\u2010tiring beauties of the Alban hills, while the soft spring\nair was laden with the fragrance of many gardens. Beside him were books,\nflowers, and cigars\u2014everything, in short, which could charm away the\ntediousness of a prolonged convalescence. And it must be said, to his\ncredit, that he bore the monotony very well _for a man_\u2014which, it is to be\nfeared, is after all damning his patience with very faint praise.\n\nAssunta raised her eyes from her letter, and, smiling, said:\n\n\u201cIngratitude, thy name is Severn Carlisle! I wish Clara were here to give\nyou the benefit of one of her very womanly disquisitions on man. You would\nbe so effectually silenced that I should have a hope of finishing my\nletter in time for the steamer.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind the letter,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle. \u201cCome here, child; I am pining\nto have you near me.\u201d\n\nAssunta laughed, as she replied:\n\n\u201cWould it not do just as well if I should give you the opera\u2010glass, and\nlet you amuse yourself by making believe bring me to you?\u201d\n\n\u201cPshaw! Assunta, I want you. Put away your writing. You know very well\nthat it is two days before the steamer leaves, and you will have plenty of\ntime.\u201d And Mr. Carlisle drew a chair beside his own.\n\nAssunta did know all about it; but, now that the invalid was so much\nbetter, she was trying to withdraw a little from any special attentions.\nShe felt that, under the circumstances, it would not be right to make\nherself necessary to his comfort; she did not realize how necessary he\nthought her to his very life. However, though she would skirmish with and\ncontradict him, she had never yet been able sufficiently to forget how\nnear he had been to death to actually oppose him. Besides, she had not\nthought him looking quite as strong this morning; so she put the\nunfinished letter back in the desk, and, taking her work\u2010basket, sat down\nbeside her guardian, and tried to divert him from herself by pointing out\nthe wonderful loveliness of the view. His face did have a weary\nexpression, which his quondam nurse did not fail to perceive. She at once\npoured out a glass of wine, and, handing it to him, said:\n\n\u201cTell me the truth, my friend; you do not feel very well to\u2010day?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not feel quite as strong as Samson,\u201d he replied; \u201cbut you forget,\nDalila, how you and the barber have shorn off the few locks the fever left\nme. Of course my strength went too.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, fortunately,\u201d said Assunta, \u201cthere are no gates of Gaza which\nrequire immediate removal, and no Philistines to be overcome.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not so sure of that,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle, putting down the wine\u2010\nglass. \u201cThere are some things harder to overcome than Philistines, and\nsome citadels so strong as to bid defiance to Samson, even in the full\nglory of his wavy curls. What chance is there, then, for him now, cruel\nDalila?\u201d\n\nAssunta wilfully misunderstood him, and, taking her work from her pretty\nbasket, she answered, laughing:\n\n\u201cWell, one thing is very certain: your illness has not left you in the\nleast subdued. Clara and I must begin a course of discipline, or by the\ntime your brown curls have attained their usual length you will have\nbecome a regular tyrant.\u201d\n\n\u201cGive me your work, _petite_,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle, gently disengaging it\nfrom her hand. \u201cI want this morning all to myself. And please do not\nmention Clara again. I cannot hear her name without thinking of that\nmiserable Sinclair business. It is well for him that I am as I am, until I\nhave had time to cool. I am not very patient, and I have an irresistible\nlonging to give him a horse\u2010whipping. It is a singular psychological fact\nthat Clara has been gifted with every womanly attraction but common sense.\nBut I believe that even you Catholics allow to benighted heretics the plea\nof invincible ignorance as an escape from condemnation; so we must not be\ntoo severe in our judgment of my foolish sister.\u201d\n\n\u201cHardly a parallel case,\u201d said Assunta, smiling.\n\n\u201cI grant it,\u201d replied her guardian; \u201cfor in my illustration the acceptance\nof the plea, so you hold, renders happiness possible to the heretic, to\nwhom a \u2018little knowledge\u2019 would have been so \u2018dangerous a thing\u2019 as to\nlose him even a chance among the elect; whereas Clara\u2019s invincible\nignorance of the world, of human nature, and in particular of the nature\nof George Sinclair, serves only to explain her folly, but does not prevent\nthe inevitable evil consequences of such a marriage. But enough of the\nsubject. Will you not read to me a little while? Get Mrs. Browning, and\nlet us have \u2018Lady Geraldine,\u2019 if you will so far compassionate a man as to\nmake him forget that he is at sword\u2019s points with himself and all the\nworld, the exception being his fair consoler. Thank you, _petite_,\u201d he\ncontinued, as Assunta brought the book. \u201cThere is plenty of trash and an\nincomprehensible expression or two in the poem; but, as a whole, I like\nit, and the end, the vision, would redeem it, were it ten times as bad.\nWell, I too have had a vision! Do you know, Assunta, that the only thing I\ncan recall of those weeks of illness is your dear form flitting in and out\nof the darkness? But\u2014may I dare say it?\u2014the vision had in it a certain\ntenderness I do not find in the reality. I could almost believe in your\ndoctrine of guardian angels, having myself experienced what their ministry\nmight be.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am afraid,\u201d interrupted Assunta, \u201cthat your doctrine would hardly\nstand, if it has no other basis than such very human evidence. Shall I\nbegin?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, wait a minute longer,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle. \u201c \u2018Lady Geraldine\u2019 will\nkeep. I wish to put a question to your sense of justice. When I was sick,\nand almost unconscious, and entirely unappreciative, there was a person\u2014so\nthe doctor tells me\u2014who lavished attentions upon me, counted nothing too\ngreat a sacrifice to be wasted upon me. But now that I am myself again,\nand longing to prove myself the most grateful of men, on the principle\nthat \u2018gratitude is a lively sense of favors _to come_,\u2019 that person\nsuddenly retires into the solitude of her own original indifference (to\nmisquote somewhat grandiloquently), and leaves me wondering on what hidden\nrock my bark struck when I thought the sea all smooth and shining,\nshivering my reanimated hopes to atoms. But,\u201d he added, turning abruptly\ntowards her, and taking in his the hand which rested on the table beside\nhim, \u201cyou saved my life. Bless you, child, and remember that the life you\nhave saved is yours, now and always.\u201d\n\nThe color had rushed painfully into Assunta\u2019s face, but her guardian\ninstantly released her hand, and she answered quietly:\n\n\u201cIt really troubles me, Mr. Carlisle, that you should attach so much\nimportance to a mere service of duty and common humanity. I did no more\nthan any friend so situated would have had a right to claim at my hands.\nYour thanks have far outweighed your indebtedness.\u201d\n\n\u201cDuty again!\u201d exclaimed Mr. Carlisle bitterly. \u201cI wish you had let me die.\nI want no _duty_ service from you; and you shall be gratified, for I do\n_not_ thank you for my life on those conditions. You spare no opportunity\nto let me understand that I am no more to you than all the rest of the\nworld. Be it so.\u201d And he impatiently snatched the _Galignani_ from the\ntable, and settled himself as if to read.\n\nAssunta\u2019s temper was always roused by the unjust remarks her guardian\nsometimes made, and she would probably have answered with a spirit which\nwould have belied the angel had she not happened to glance at the paper,\nand seen that it was upside down; and then at Mr. Carlisle\u2019s pale and\ntroubled features, to which even the crimson facings of his rich dressing\u2010\ngown hardly lent the faintest glow. The same sentiment of common humanity\nwhich had prompted those days of care and nights of watching now checked\nthe reproach she would have uttered. She turned over the leaves of Mrs.\nBrowning, until her eye lighted upon that exquisite valediction, \u201cGod be\nwith thee, my beloved.\u201d This she read through to herself; and then, laying\nthe book upon the table, she said with the tone and manner of a subdued\nchild:\n\n\u201cMay I finish my letter, please?\u201d\n\nMr. Carlisle scarcely raised his eyes, as he replied:\n\n\u201cCertainly, Assunta. I have no wish to detain you.\u201d\n\nIt was with a very womanly dignity that Assunta left her seat; but,\ninstead of returning to her writing\u2010desk, she went to the piano. For\nnearly an hour she played, now passages from different sonatas, and then\nselections from the grander music of the church. Without seeming to\nnotice, she saw that the paper at last fell from her guardian\u2019s hand; and\nunderstanding, as she did, every change in his expressive face, she knew\nfrom the smoothing of the brow and the restful look of the eyes that peace\nwas restored by the charm she wrought. When she was sure that the evil\nspirit had been quite exorcised by the power of music, she rose from the\npiano, and rang the bell. When Giovanni appeared, she said:\n\n\u201cI think that Mrs. Grey will not return until quite late, as she has gone\nto Tivoli; so you may serve dinner here for me as well as for Mr.\nCarlisle. If any one calls, I do not receive this afternoon.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, signorina,\u201d replied Giovanni. \u201cI will bring in the small table\nfrom the library.\u201d And he left the room.\n\n\u201cIt will be much pleasanter than for each of us to dine separately in\nsolitary state,\u201d said Assunta, going towards her guardian, and speaking as\nif there had been no cloud between them; \u201cthough I know that dining in the\ndrawing\u2010room must, of necessity, be exceptional.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was a very bright thought of yours,\u201d answered Mr. Carlisle, \u201cand a\nvery appetizing one to me, I can assure you. Will you read \u2018Lady\nGeraldine\u2019 now? There will be just time before dinner.\u201d\n\nWithout a word Assunta took the book, and began to read. She had nothing\nof the dramatic in her style, but her voice was sweet, her enunciation\nvery clear and distinct, and she showed a thorough apprehension of the\nauthor\u2019s meaning; so her reading always gave pleasure, and Mr. Carlisle\nhad come to depend upon it daily. The vision to which he had referred was\nrobbed, perhaps fortunately, of some of its sentiment, by Giovanni\u2019s table\npreparations; and his presence prevented all but very general comment.\n\nWhen they were once more by themselves\u2014Giovanni having left them to linger\nover the fruit and wine\u2014Mr. Carlisle said:\n\n\u201cBy the way, Assunta, you have not told me yet what your friend Miss\nPercival had to say for herself in her last letter. You know I am always\ninterested in her; though I fear it is an interest which partakes largely\nof the nature of jealousy.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d replied Assunta, \u201cshe tells me that she is going to be married.\u201d\n\n\u201cSensible girl! What more?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe regrets very much that her brother, whom she dearly loves, will not\nreturn from his year\u2019s exile in time for the ceremony.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo much the better,\u201d exclaimed Mr. Carlisle with unusual energy. \u201cI hope\nhe may lose himself in the deserts of Arabia, or wander off to further\nIndia, and there remain.\u201d\n\nAssunta laughed. \u201cTruly, my guardian is most charitable! I should not be\nsurprised if he did, one of these days, follow in the footsteps of S.\nFrancis Xavier. But what has he done to merit sentence of banishment from\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou know I am a student of human nature,\u201d rejoined her guardian, \u201cand I\nhave always observed that where a young girl has a brother and a friend,\nshe cannot conceive of any other destiny for the two objects of her\naffection than to make of them one united object in the holy bonds of\nmatrimony; and, in order to bring about the desired consummation, she\ndevotes herself to intrigue in a manner and with a zeal truly feminine.\nMary Percival has a brother and a friend; ergo, may her brother be\u2014induced\nto become an Oriental; that is all.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn this case,\u201d replied the young girl with a merry laugh, \u201cyour\nobservations are quite at fault. I am truly grieved to be compelled to\nspoil such a pretty romance. But, seriously, Mary has a far higher choice\nfor her brother than her most unworthy friend. She has but one desire and\nprayer for him, and that is that he may enter the holy priesthood. I\nbelieve she will not be disappointed. Did you ever see Mr. Percival?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I have never had the pleasure,\u201d replied Mr. Carlisle.\n\n\u201cI wish you might know him,\u201d said Assunta enthusiastically. \u201cI am sure you\nwould like him. He is not what would generally be considered handsome, but\nI think his face beautiful, it is so very spiritual. It is the beauty of a\nremarkable soul, which literally shines in his eyes. He has taken the\nhighest honors at college, and, if his health is only re\u2010established, I\nthink his sister\u2019s very laudable ambition will be more than gratified.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe certainly has a most ardent admirer. I did not know you could be so\nenthusiastic about any member of the _genus homo_,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle.\nAssunta was not to be daunted by the perceptible sneer, and she at once\nadded:\n\n\u201cI can hardly be said to admire him, but rather the power of grace in him.\nI have so great a reverence for Augustine Percival that I could not\nimagine it possible for any human affection to turn him from what I firmly\nbelieve to be his great vocation. So my guardian may see him return to the\nWest with equanimity, and may perhaps even be induced to look with favor\nupon another part of the letter.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is that?\u201d asked Mr. Carlisle.\n\n\u201cMary invites me very urgently to pass next winter with her in Baltimore.\nHer husband\u2010elect is a naval officer, and his leave of absence expires in\nOctober. She wishes me as a substitute, you understand.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it your wish to go, my child?\u201d said her guardian, looking at her\nearnestly.\n\n\u201cI never like to make any definite plan so long beforehand; but it seemed\nto me a very suitable arrangement. You remember,\u201d added Assunta, \u201cthat\nClara will probably be married before then.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not wish Clara to be mentioned; she has nothing to do with it,\u201d said\nMr. Carlisle imperiously; and then he added more gently, \u201cMay I ask,\n_petite_, what answer you have given her?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone, as yet; you remember you interrupted my letter. But I think I will\ntell her that my guardian is such an ogre that I dare not reply to her\ninvitation until after August. Will that do?\u201d\n\n\u201cTell her what you will,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle; \u201conly, for heaven\u2019s sake, say\nno more to me upon the subject. I am not Augustine Percival, and\nconsequently not elevated above the power of human feeling.\u201d\n\nPoor Assunta! she too was not above human feeling, and sometimes it was\nvery hard for her to keep her heart from being rebellious; but she had\nlearned to put God before every earthly consideration, and to find her\nstrength in his presence. But it required constant watchfulness and\nuntiring patience to conquer herself. Therefore she could not but feel\ngreat compassion for her friend, who must bear his disappointment with no\nhelp outside of his own strong nature. She rose from the table, and moved\nit a little to one side, in order that she might arrange the cushions for\nher guardian, who looked unusually weary to\u2010night.\n\n\u201cAre you angry with me, Mr. Carlisle?\u201d said she softly, as he sank back in\nhis chair.\n\n\u201cAngry, _petite_?\u201d he repeated, looking steadily in her face. \u201cYes, I am\nangry, but not with you, or with anything you have said to\u2010night, but\nrather with that accursed barrier. Go, child, ring for Giovanni, or I\nshall say what you will not like to hear.\u201d As she turned away, he caught\nher hand, saying:\n\n\u201cOne moment. I have been very rude, and yet I would die for you! There, I\nwill not say another word. Please ring for Giovanni, since I am compelled\nto be so ungallant as to request the favor of you; and then let us talk a\nlittle about the Sienna plans. I must try and put myself into a good\u2010humor\nbefore Clara comes; for she will have something to say about her handsome\nSinclair, and then I would not give much for my temper.\u201d\n\nThe table having been removed, and the wood which had been laid ready in\nthe fire\u2010place kindled into a blaze\u2014for the evenings were still cool\nenough to admit of its cheery influence\u2014the two, whose lives seemed so\nunited, and yet were, in reality, so far apart, drew towards the fire. The\nheavy curtains, which had been put aside to admit the warm, genial air and\nsunshine of mid\u2010day, were now closely drawn, in order to shut out the\nchilling dampness of evening. A hanging lamp cast a soft, mellow light\nthrough its porcelain shade upon an exquisite basket of roses and\ncarnations adorning the centre of the table, which was covered elsewhere\nwith books, arranged with studied negligence, and numberless little\nsuggestions of refinement and feminine occupation. Everything seemed\nfavorable to a most harmonious conversation, except that inevitable\nsomething which, like a malicious sprite, awakens us from our dreams just\nwhen they are brightest; breaks the spell of our illusions at the moment\nwhen we are clinging to them most persistently; ruthlessly crosses, with\nits fatal track, our promised pleasures; and unfeelingly interrupts us in\nsome hour of complete rest and satisfaction. Ah! we may fret in our\nimpatience, and wonder at the fatality which seems to pursue us. It is no\nmischief\u2010loving Puck, no evil\u2010minded genie, but a good angel, who thus\nthwarts us. This is no time to dream and cherish illusions which can but\ndeceive. It is no time for repose. To detach ourselves from all these\nthings which would make this world a satisfaction to us is the labor we\nmust all perform, more or less generously and heroically, if we would one\nday enjoy the reality of the one dream that never fades\u2014the vision of the\nApocalypse; the one repose that never palls\u2014the rest that remaineth for\nthe people of God. Welcome, then, those misnamed \u201cjuggling fiends\u201d that\n\u201ckeep the word of promise to our ear, and break it to our hope.\u201d Welcome\nthe many disappointments, trifling in themselves, the daily crossings of\nour will and pleasure, which seem so petty; they perform a great mission\nif they succeed in loosening ever so little the cords which bind down to\nearth the souls that were meant for heaven. Thrice welcome whatever helps\nto turn the sweetness of this world to bitterness!\n\nPoor Mrs. Grey! it had never occurred to her that she had a mission, still\nless such an one as we have now assigned to her. For it was her voice\nwhich caused Mr. Carlisle to sigh so profoundly that Assunta could not but\nsmile, in spite of the regretful feeling in her own heart. It was\nbetter\u2014and she knew it\u2014that the softening influence of the hour should be\nthus rudely interrupted; but nature will not be crushed without an\noccasional protest. The expression of annoyance still lingered on Mr.\nCarlisle\u2019s face when Clara entered the room, exclaiming:\n\n\u201cCome, _caro mio_, they have had the livelong day to themselves, and must\nhave talked out by this time, even if they had the whole encyclop\u00e6dia in\ntheir brains.\u201d And as Mr. Sinclair followed with an apologetic bow, she\ncontinued:\n\n\u201cThis ridiculous man has conscientious objections to interrupting your\n_t\u00eate\u2010\u00e0\u2010t\u00eate_. I am sure, Severn, if Assunta is not tired to death of you\nby this time, she ought to be, particularly if you have been as solemn all\nday as you look now. I would much rather spend the whole day in church\u2014and\nthat is the most gloomy thing I can think of\u2014than be condemned to the\ncompany of a man in a mood. Make a note of that, George.\n\n\u201cI think, Clara,\u201d said her brother, somewhat coldly, \u201cthat Mr. Sinclair\nwas judging others by himself, and in doing so he judged kindly in my\nregard and gallantly in yours; but this is not always the true criterion.\nMr. Sinclair, I beg you will be seated, and excuse me if I do not rise. I\nam still obliged to claim the invalid\u2019s cloak of charity. No doubt a cup\nof tea will be acceptable after your long drive; and it will soon be\nserved.\u201d\n\nThe eyes of the two men met. They had measured each other before now, and\nunderstood each other well; and each knew that he was most cordially\ndisliked by the other. Their ceremonious politeness was all the more\nmarked on that account. Assunta\u2019s tact came to the rescue, and made a\ndiversion. As she assisted Mrs. Grey in removing her shawl and hat, she\nsaid:\n\n\u201cAnd how have you enjoyed the day, Clara? You must be very tired!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I am nearly dead with fatigue,\u201d replied the lady, looking very bright\nand very much alive for a moribund; \u201cbut we have had a delicious time. You\nshould have seen George trying to support his dignity on a donkey which he\ncould easily have assisted in walking, as his feet touched the ground on\nboth sides; and which started with a spasmodic jerk every two or three\nminutes when the donkey boy brought down a small club on its back. I\nlaughed so much at Mr. Sinclair\u2019s gravity and the ludicrous figure he cut\nthat I narrowly escaped falling off my own donkey down a precipice.\u201d\n\n\u201c \u2018Now, what a thing it is to be an ass,\u2019 \u201d quoted Mr. Carlisle. \u201cMy\nlovely sister visits a spot whose present beauty is hardly surpassed by\nthe richness of its classic associations; where romance lurks, scarcely\nhidden, in the memory of Zenobia; where the olives that cover the\nhillsides have a primeval look; and, like a very Titania under the love\u2010\nspell, she wakes from her dream of the past, and, behold! her vision is\u2014a\ndonkey!\u2014no, I beg pardon\u2014_two_ donkeys; one that nearly lost its burden;\nand the other that its burden nearly lost!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow foolish you are, Severn!\u201d said Clara, pouting very becomingly, while\nthe others laughed heartily. \u201cBesides, you need not expect me to get up\nany sentiment about Zenobia. The mistake of her life was that she did not\ndie at the proper time, instead of retiring to a country town\u2014of all\nplaces in the world\u2014living a comfortable life, and dying a commonplace\ndeath in her bed, for all I know. It was just stupid in her!\u201d\n\nHer brother smiled. \u201cI think you are right, Clara. Zenobia should never\nhave survived her chains and the Roman triumph, if she had wished to leave\na perfect picture of herself to posterity. However, I doubt if we have the\nright to exact the sacrifice of her merely to gratify our ideas of\nromantic propriety. By living she only proved herself less heroine, more\nwoman. But, Clara, what _did_ you see?\u2014besides the donkeys, I mean.\u201d\n\nMr. Carlisle felt so keenly the antagonism of Mr. Sinclair\u2019s presence,\nthat he must either leave the room or find some vent; and therefore his\nsister was compelled to be safety\u2010valve, and submit to his teasing mood.\nPerhaps she was not altogether an innocent victim, since she it was who\nhad somewhat wilfully introduced the discordant element into the family.\n\n\u201cWe saw ruins and waterfalls, of course,\u201d she replied to the last\nquestion\u2014a little petulance in her tone, which soon, however, disappeared.\n\u201cBut the most enjoyable thing of the whole day was the dinner. I usually\ncannot see any pleasure in eating out of doors, but today we were obliged\nto do so, for the hotel was not at all inviting; and then it is the proper\nthing to do to have the table spread in the portico of the Temple of\nVesta. Gagiati had put up a delicious dinner at Mr. Sinclair\u2019s order, so\nwe were not dependent upon country fries and macaroni. Just as we were\nsitting down Lady Gertrude came up with her mother and lover, and we\njoined forces. I assure you we were not silent. I never enjoyed a meal\nmore in my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cO Tivoli! ancient Tibur, how art thou fallen! Donkeys and dinner!\u201d\nexclaimed Mr. Carlisle. \u201cWell, fair Titania, did you supply your gentle\nanimal with the honey\u2010bag of the \u2018red\u2010hipped humble\u2010bee,\u2019 or was his\nappetite more plebeian, so that \u2018a peck of provender\u2019 was more\nacceptable?\u201d\n\n\u201cAssunta, do you allow your patient to talk so much?\u201d said Mrs. Grey, her\namiability still proof against attack. \u201cIf he excites his imagination in\nthis way, he can hardly hope to sleep without a powerful anodyne.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy patient, as you call him,\u201d replied Assunta, smiling, \u201cis not quite so\nsubmissive, I find, as when obedience was a necessity, and not a virtue.\nStill, if he would allow me a very humble suggestion, I would remind him\nthat he has not been quite as well to\u2010day, and that it is some time past\nhis usual hour for retiring.\u201d\n\nThere was no irritation in Mr. Carlisle\u2019s face as he looked at Assunta\nwith one of his rare smiles. The very tones of her voice seemed to give\nhim a feeling of rest. \u201cA very broad hint on the part of my tyrant,\u201d he\nreplied, \u201cwhich I will be wise enough to take, in its present form, lest\nit should become more emphatic. Good\u2010night, Mr. Sinclair. I feel that\nthere is the less need of an apology for excusing myself, as I leave you\nin good hands Clara, when Giovanni has served the tea, please send him to\nme.\u201d\n\nIn leaving the room Mr. Carlisle dropped his cigar\u2010case, which Assunta\nperceived, and hastened with it to the library, where she knew she should\nfind him awaiting Giovanni.\n\n\u201c_Petite_,\u201d he exclaimed, as she entered, \u201ckill that man for me, and make\nme everlastingly your debtor.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am sure,\u201d she answered, laughing, \u201cyou have had it all your own way to\u2010\nnight. I began to think he must have taken a vow of silence.\u201d\n\n\u201cStill waters!\u201d said her guardian. \u201cHe can afford to be silent; he is\nbiding his time.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you not the least bit unjust and uncharitable?\u201d asked Assunta. \u201cBut\nnever mind, you shall not have a lecture to\u2010night, for you look very\nweary. Promise me that you will take the medicine I send you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will take it, if you bring it yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I cannot do that. I have your enemy to entertain, you know.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd much joy do I wish you,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle. \u201cI intend to study up\naffinities and repulsions psychologically; and then I shall perhaps be\nable to understand why one person, without any assignable cause, should\nact as a perpetual blister\u2014genuine Spanish flies\u2014and another, a certain\ndear little friend of mine for instance, should be ever a soothing balm.\u201d\n\n\u201cCold cream!\u201d suggested Assunta, \u201csince you will use such pharmaceutical\ncomparisons. And now, if I have shocked your sense of refinement\nsufficiently, I must say good\u2010night.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood\u2010night, dear child,\u201d returned her guardian cordially, but his next\nthought was a bitter one, and an almost prophetic feeling of loneliness\ncame over him, as he watched the smoke curling up from his cigar.\n\nAs soon as the incubus of Mr. Carlisle\u2019s presence was removed, Mr.\nSinclair threw off the silence which was so unnatural to him, and became\nat once the attentive, gallant man of the world. Even Assunta, had she met\nhim then for the first time, would not have received that impression of\ninsincerity which had repelled her formerly. She could hardly wonder to\u2010\nnight that Clara Grey, who never looked below the surface, or cared, so\nlong as peace reigned on the outside, what elements of disturbance might\nbe working in the depths, should have suffered her heart to confide itself\nto the keeping of one apparently so devoted. She had never before imagined\nthat they were so well suited to each other; and as Mr. Sinclair, after an\nhour, arose to take his leave, she was surprised into most unusual\ncordiality, as she bade him good\u2010night. But, unfortunately for the\nimpression he had been at such pains to produce, the glamour of\nfascination disappeared with his retreating footsteps; so that even while\nMr. Sinclair was congratulating himself upon his success, Assunta found\nherself wondering at the almost painful revulsion of feeling which\nfollowed his departure.\n\nMrs. Grey\u2019s bright face indicated no such change. She was perfectly\nsatisfied with her lover, and no less so with herself. She checked a\nmovement of Assunta\u2019s to retire by saying:\n\n\u201cDo you mind waiting a little longer, dear? I want so much to have a quiet\nchat. Come, let us draw our chairs up to the fire, the blaze is so\ncheering.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou do not look as if you needed any help from outside influences,\u201d said\nAssunta, and there was a shade of sadness in her tone. \u201cBut I am all ready\nfor a talk.\u201d\n\nA cloud\u2014a light summer one\u2014overspread Mrs. Grey\u2019s clear sky and shadowed\nher face, as she said, after a pause: \u201cAssunta, why does Severn dislike\nGeorge so much?\u201d\n\nAssunta was too truthful to deny the fact, so she simply said:\n\n\u201cWe cannot always control our feelings, Clara; but, as a general thing, I\ndo not find Mr. Carlisle unreasonable.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe certainly is very unreasonable in this case,\u201d returned Mrs. Grey\nquickly, \u201cand I am sorry it is so, for I love Severn very much. Still, I\nshall not allow an unfounded prejudice to stand in the way of my\nhappiness. Assunta, I have promised Mr. Sinclair that I will marry him in\nSeptember, when we shall be in Paris, on our way to America.\u201d\n\n\u201cI supposed,\u201d said Assunta, \u201cthat it would come soon, and I hope, dear\nClara, that you will be very, _very_ happy.\u201d Doubt was in her mind, but\nshe had not the heart to let it appear in her manner.\n\n\u201cAnd,\u201d Mrs. Grey continued, \u201cI want you to understand, dear, that with us\nyou will always have a home at your disposal, where you will be welcomed\nas a sister. George wished me to tell you that this is his desire as well\nas mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are both too kind,\u201d replied Assunta, touched by this thoughtfulness\nof her at a time when selfishness is regarded as a special privilege. \u201cMy\narrangements can easily be made afterwards; but I do very much appreciate\nyour kindness.\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d said Mrs. Grey, \u201cyou belong to us; and the difficulty will\nprobably be that we shall not be able to keep such an attractive bit of\nproperty.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are setting me the example,\u201d said Assunta, laughing.\n\n\u201cAh! yes,\u201d returned Mrs. Grey; \u201cbut then, there is only one George\nSinclair, you know, as a temptation.\u201d\n\nAssunta fancied she could hear Mr. Carlisle exclaim, \u201cGod be praised!\u201d to\nthat natural expression of womanly pride, and she herself wondered if it\nwould be possible for her to fall under such a delusion.\n\nBut Mrs. Grey had not yet reached the point of the conversation; what had\nbeen said was only preliminary. The truth was, she dreaded her brother\u2019s\nreception of the news, and she wished to avoid being present at the first\noutbreak.\n\n\u201cYou have so much influence with Severn,\u201d she said at last, \u201cI wish you\nwould tell him about it, and try to make him feel differently towards\nGeorge. I am sure you can. We are going to the Villa Doria to\u2010morrow, and\nthis will give you an opportunity. I hope the storm will be over before we\nreturn,\u201d she added, laughing; \u201cat any rate, the lightning will not strike\nyou.\u201d\n\nIt was like Mrs. Grey to make this request\u2014so like her that Assunta did\nnot think it either strange or selfish. She promised to break the news,\nwhich she knew would be unwelcome. But she could not conscientiously\npromise to use an influence in overcoming a prejudice she entirely shared.\nAn affectionate good\u2010night was exchanged, and then Assunta retired to her\nroom. It was not often that she indulged herself in a revery\u2014in those\nwaking dreams which are so unprofitable, and from which one is usually\naroused with the spiritual tone lowered, and the heart discontented and\ndissatisfied. But this had been a trying day; and now, as she reviewed it,\nand came at last to its close, she found herself envying her friend the\njoy which seemed so complete, and wondering why her lot should be so\ndifferent. Happiness had come to Mrs. Grey as to a natural resting\u2010place;\nwhile she, to whom a bright vision of it had been presented, must thrust\nit from her as if it were a curse and not a blessing. And here she paused,\nand better thoughts came to replace the unworthy ones. This lot which she\nwas envying\u2014was it not all of the earth, earthy? Would she change, if she\ncould? Had she not in her blessed faith a treasure which she would not\ngive for all the human happiness this world has power to bestow? And here\nwas the key to the difference at which she had for the moment wondered.\nMuch, very much, had been given to her; was it strange that much should be\nrequired? Had she, then, made her sacrifice only to play the Indian giver\ntowards her God, and wish back the offering he had accepted at her hands?\nNo, she would not be so ungenerous. In the light of faith the brightness\nwhich had illuminated the life of her friend grew dim and faded, while the\nshadow of what had seemed so heavy a cross resting upon her own no longer\ndarkened her soul. And soon, kneeling before her crucifix, she could\nfervently thank the dear Lord that he had granted her the privilege of\nsuffering something for his love; and she prayed for strength to take up\nher cross _daily_, and bear it with courage and generosity.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nInscription For The Bell \u201cGabriel,\u201d At S. Mary\u2019s Of The Lake, Lake George.\n\n\nGabrielem olim Dominam ad Mariam\nEv\u00e6 mutatum cecinisse nomen,\nGabriel tandem cecini sacratas\n Primus ad oras.\n\n\n\n\nSwitzerland In 1873. Lucerne. Concluded.\n\n\nAt this point we reached the first of the existing covered bridges. What a\ntransition! Like going back suddenly from the levelling monotony of steam\nand the feverish present\u2010day life to the individuality and repose of the\nmiddle ages! \u201cIt dates,\u201d said Herr H\u2014\u2014, \u201cfrom the year 1300\u2014just seven\nyears before William Tell and the R\u00fcti, eight before the battle of\nMorgarten, and eighty\u2010six before our great Sempach victory!\u201d\n\n\u201cWilliam Tell! What nonsense! Who believes now in William Tell?\u201d muttered\nthe young school\u2010boy C\u2014\u2014 to his sister; but the old man fortunately did\nnot hear him, and, his eyes beaming with affection for the old relic, he\nwent on: \u201cSome modern improvers\u201d\u2014laying contemptuous emphasis on these\nwords\u2014\u201ctalk of \u2018clearing it away.\u2019 But you see what a pleasant, cool walk\nit still is for foot\u2010passengers, with the green Reuss swirling beneath,\nand the lovely view from its open sides. I tell them that it would not\nonly be an act of vandalism, but, as there are so few antiquities to show\nin Lucerne, it would be like \u2018killing the goose with the golden eggs.\u2019 \u201d\nAnd so it would! It is in no one\u2019s way, and is, with the other bridge, the\nonly remnant of antiquity worth looking at. On opening our _Wordsworth_ we\nfound that this is the one first mentioned by him after leaving Sarnen:\n\n\n \u201cFrom this appropriate court renowned Lucerne\n Calls me to pace her honored bridge, that cheers\n The patriot\u2019s heart with pictures rude and stern\u2014\n An uncouth chronicle of glorious years.\u201d\n\n\nAnd we found it still as he describes it. The triangle of the rafters of\neach arch is painted, and though as works of art they are of little value,\nstill they are clever and quaint representations of the scenes, certain to\nmake an impression on young minds in particular, and easily discernible to\nan observant passer\u2010by. Going from the right bank of the river, reminders\nof events in Swiss and local history meet the eye, and, returning from the\nother side, the deeds of the two patron saints of the town, S. Leodegarius\nand S. Maurice. Both lives were most striking, and equally belonged to the\nearliest ages of the Christian era. S. Maurice especially is a favorite\nSwiss patron. He was the commander of the Theban Christian Legion in the\ntime of the Emperor Diocletian, which is said to have consisted of sixty\u2010\nsix hundred men. This legion had been raised in the Theba\u00efs or Upper Egypt\namongst the Christians there, and, officered by Christians, was marching\nwith the rest of the Roman army against Gaul, under the command of\nMaximian, when the latter ordered the army to offer sacrifices for the\nsuccess of the expedition. All encamped at the place called Octodurus,\nrepresented nowadays by the modest Martigny in the Valais; but the Theban\nlegion, refusing to join in the pagan worship, retired to the spot where\nnow stands S. Maurice, and day by day they were killed by orders of\nMaximian, until none remained. The Monastery of S. Maurice, built on the\nspot of their martyrdom, is one of the oldest in the world, said to have\nbeen first erected in A.D. 250, although the present edifice only dates\nfrom 1489. Switzerland and Savoy formerly disputed the honor of keeping\nthe relics, but at last settled the matter by a small portion being handed\nover to Piedmont, the abbey retaining the principal treasures. It is\ntherefore to this day one of the favorite places of pilgrimage in\nSwitzerland. A special connection seems to have occurred with Lucerne, for\ntwo hundred bodies of S. Maurice\u2019s companions are said to have been found\nat the village of Schoz, about two leagues distant, where there was an old\nchapel renowned for its privileges and indulgences. And this seems in no\nway unlikely, for we read in Butler\u2019s _Lives of the Saints_ and elsewhere\nthat several smaller corps of soldiers belonging to the legion were\nscattered here and there in Switzerland, and were put to death for the\nsame reason. Most interesting it is, in any case, to trace on this bridge\nthe union of two such heroic, manly saints in the affections and\nsympathies of the Lucerne citizens from olden times.\n\nThe bridge is five hundred feet long, and makes two sharp bends to suit\nthe current of the river, flowing swiftly and vigorously from the lake\nclose by through the old\u2010fashioned posts on towards old Father Rhine,\nwhich it joins between Schaffhausen and Basel. This irregularity adds to\nthe picturesque effect, and at one of these corners stands a tower,\nmentioned in some old documents of the year 1367. Possibly it may have\nexisted as part of the fortifications even before the bridge itself. It is\ncalled the Water Tower, and has four stories of one room each, which\nformerly served as treasury, prison, and record\u2010office; but at present it\nis used only for the latter purpose, and contains the archives of the\ncity. What tales it might tell had we moderns the time to spare for\nlistening!\n\nBut we moved on along the left bank of the river, and turned into the\nchurch, still called the \u201cJesuits\u2019 Church.\u201d It is large and unmistakably\nin their well\u2010known style. Here Herr H\u2014\u2014 explained how the order had been\nintroduced into Lucerne in 1574 by S. Charles Borromeo, who was such an\nally of these cantons. In less than four years they had founded a college\nand increased rapidly. Within one hundred more they erected this church,\nand the large buildings adjoining for their college, now used as\ngovernment offices\u2014the post and telegraph departments. Everything went on\nsatisfactorily for a second hundred years, until the suppression of the\norder by Clement XIV., in 1773, when it was also abolished in Lucerne. But\nthe towns\u2010people held their memory in grateful remembrance, and one of the\nfirst acts of the _Sonderbund_ in 1845 was to call back seven Jesuit\nfathers. When the Protestant cantons, however, finally succeeded in\ncrushing this League, they at once passed a law forbidding any Jesuit to\nremain on Swiss territory; so again the order had to leave Lucerne, and\nalso Schwytz, where they also had a large house.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d continued Herr H\u2014\u2014, \u201cthe liberals are clamoring for another\nrevision of our constitution\u2014a constitution which needs no revising,\nexcept in their sense of doing away with all faith, and meddling in our\nreligious affairs. But the people now will not bear that,\u201d he added\ngrimly. \u201cThey will resist calmly at first, but I know many who will rather\nfight than submit tamely to have their religion or their pastors\ninterfered with.\u201d\n\nIt was sad to hear these forebodings in such an apparently peaceful\natmosphere, and gladly we turned to watch the water\u2010hens, which abound in\nthis corner of the river. Herr H\u2014\u2014 knew them all, for they are public\nproperty, like the bears at Berne, and protected by statutes as far back\nas 1678. Nothing could be more graceful, gliding up and down the stream in\nnumbers, nor prettier than the friendly terms they are on with all the\ninhabitants. The origin of the custom and cause of the protection,\nhowever, seems lost in obscurity; at least he could tell us nothing but\nthe mere fact itself. A narrow footway runs along this side between the\nhouses and the river, up and down steps, and following the windings of the\nrapid stream, while the massive, unadorned senate\u2010house is seen opposite,\nand all the dwellings on that bank rise straight above the water. A true\nmedi\u00e6val picture it is\u2014high and low gables intermixed; quaint old\nbalconies filled with flowers above; comely housewives busy washing the\nhousehold linen in the fresh waters below; merry young faces peeping\nthrough upper windows or leaning out over the red\u2010cushioned sills to\ngossip with a laughing neighbor\u2014a locality made for a Walter Scott, and\nanother world of thought and association from the butterfly existence that\nnow borders the lake at only a few yards\u2019 distance.\n\nAnd by this ancient pathway we soon came to the second bridge, at the\nfurthest end of the town\u2014the \u201cSpreuner\u201d or Mill Bridge, or, more truly,\nthe \u201cDance of Death\u201d Bridge, celebrated by Longfellow in his _Golden\nLegend_.\n\nWe took out the poem, and read that passage on the spot, and most\nperfectly it answers his beautiful description. Prince Henry\u2019s words were\nuttered by us where he begins:\n\n\n \u201cGod\u2019s blessings on the architects who build\n The bridges o\u2019er swift rivers and abysses\n Before impassable to human feet,\n No less than on the builders of cathedrals,\n Whose massive walls are bridges thrown across\n The dark and terrible abyss of death.\n Well has the name of pontifex been given\n Unto the church\u2019s head, as the chief builder\n And architect of the invisible bridge\n That leads from earth to heaven.\u201d\n\n\nThis one is shorter than the Hafellbr\u00fccke, being only three hundred feet\nin length, and making a sharp bend in the centre, and was built a century\nlater\u2014in 1408\u2014but somehow it is not venerable\u2010looking, and its grim\npaintings give it a more sombre character. Elsie was quite right in\nexclaiming: \u201cHow dark it grows!\u201d It required many minutes to get\naccustomed to the darkness after the brilliant light we had left, and she\nmust have been thankful when Prince Henry proceeded with his explanation,\nsaying that it was\n\n\n \u201c \u2018The Dance of Death;\u2019\n All that go to and fro must look upon it,\n Mindful of what they shall be, while beneath\n Among the wooden piles, the turbulent river\n Rushes, impetuous as the river of life,\n With dimpling eddies, ever green and bright,\n Save where the shadow of this bridge falls on it.\u201d\n\n\nBy his aid we too followed the renowned pictures copied from those at\nBasel. There we saw:\n\n\n \u201cThe grim musician, who\n Leads all men through the mazes of that dance,\n To different sounds in different measures moving.\u201d\n\n\nThe\n\n\n \u201cYoung man singing to a nun,\n Who kneels at her devotions, but in kneeling\n Turns round to look at him; and Death, meanwhile\n Is putting out the candles on the altar.\u201d\n\n\nHere he\n\n\n \u201cHas stolen the jester\u2019s cap and bells.\n And dances with the queen.\u201d\n\n\nThere,\n\n\n \u201cThe heart of the new\u2010wedded wife,\n Coming from church with her beloved lord,\n He startles with the rattle of his drum.\u201d\n\n\nAnd under it is written,\n\n\n \u201cNothing but death shall separate thee and me!\u201d\n\n\nIn another division is seen\n\n\n \u201cDeath playing on a dulcimer. Behind him\n A poor old woman with a rosary\n Follows the sound, and seems to wish her feet\n Were swifter to o\u2019ertake him.\u201d\n\n\nUnderneath the inscription reads,\n\n\n \u201cBetter is death than life.\u201d\n\n\nAnd in this strain the paintings continue, until, what between the objects\nand the general gloom, the effect becomes most melancholy, and we heartily\nsympathized in Prince Henry\u2019s cry\u2014his _cri du c\u0153ur_:\n\n\n \u201cLet us go forward, and no longer stay\n In this great picture\u2010gallery of Death!\u201d\n\n\nIt led us straight into the heart of the old town, and with the poet we\nexclaimed:\n\n\n \u201cI breathe again more\n Freely! Ah! how pleasant\n To come once more into the light of day\n Out of that shadow of death!\u201d\n\n\nThe streets were narrow, clean, and well paved, however, and everything\nlooked so bright and cheerful\u2014perhaps doubly so after that gloomy\nbridge\u2014that our spirits at once revived. The shops were small, and all on\na homely, simple scale. But there were no signs of poverty or neglect in\nany direction, and a general air of contentment was perceptible on all\nsides.\n\nThe schools were just breaking up for their mid\u2010day hour\u2019s rest as we\npassed on, and the crowds of boys and girls flocking homewards made a\nbright contrast to the gloomy bridge. Troops of neatly\u2010dressed little\nmaidens were especially pleasant to look at, with their books slung in\ndiminutive knapsacks across their shoulders. A happy\u2010faced, merry\u2010looking\njuvenile population they all were.\n\nSome fine religious prints in a small shop\u2010window next attracted our\nattention, and, going in, we found it to be the principal bookseller\u2019s of\nLucerne. Numberless pamphlets on all the leading topics of the day lay on\nthe counter, of which one caught my eye from its peculiarly local title:\n_Festreden an der Schlachtfeier_, or _Speeches at the Festival_, held on\nthe anniversary of the battle of Sempach, on the 8th of July, 1873.\n\n\u201cWhat is this?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cThe celebration of our glorious victory over the Austrians!\u2014the Marathon\nof Swiss history, as its hero, Arnold von Winkelried, may be called our\nLeonidas,\u201d replied Herr H\u2014\u2014. \u201cIt took place in 1386. You passed near the\nsite yesterday, for the railway runs beside the Lake of Sempach, if you\nremember.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! this, then, is a celebration, I suppose, in the style of the twelve\nhundredth commemoration of Ely Cathedral which they are going to hold in\nEngland next month. We might as well celebrate Agincourt or Cr\u00e9cy. But\nthis cannot be called a \u2018centenary\u2019 or any name of that kind, as it will\nnot be five hundred years since the battle until 1886!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, it is nothing of the kind,\u201d he replied, \u201cbut is an anniversary\nreligiously kept every year. The town council of Lucerne, and the mayor at\ntheir head, with all the authorities and a vast multitude of people, go to\nthe battle\u2010field every 8th of July. We go there for two purposes: first,\nto pray for the dead who lie buried there, and then in order to keep the\nmemory of the heroism of that day and of those who gained us our freedom\nfresh in our own minds, and to transmit it to our children, as it has been\ntransmitted to us by our fathers. Allow me to present you with this\npamphlet. It contains the sermon preached on the last occasion by Herr\nPfarrer Haas of Hitzkirch, and the speech made at the Winkelried monument\nby Herr Regierungrath Gehrig, and they have been printed by order of our\ngovernment here. You will find them interesting, and also these,\u201d giving\nme another bundle, \u201cand they will show you that, next to love of our holy\nfaith, \u2018love of fatherland\u2019 and of \u2018liberty\u2019 are deep\u2010seated in the heart\nof every man belonging to these Catholic cantons.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo tell us about the festival!\u201d we cried. \u201cIs it a pretty sight?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have no idea how pretty,\u201d he answered\u2014\u201cpretty even if only as a\nsight; for so many priests come that they have to erect altars in the open\nair, and Masses are going on and congregations praying round them in all\ndirections over the ground the whole morning. This sermon,\u201d he continued,\nopening the pamphlet, and reading from it as he spoke, \u201copens poetically\nby allusions to \u2019the green fields, the singing of the birds, and the\npeaceful landscape, which alone form the decorations to the quiet prayer\nof the priests\u2014the \u2018Stilles Priestergebet\u2014which had been going on\nuninterruptedly from the first rosy dawn of morning up to that hour\u2019;\nwhile the speech equally begins by a reference to the \u2018lovely lake of the\nforest cantons, whence came the men who achieved the victory, and whose\ndescendants are as patriotic now as in those far\u2010off days.\u2019 You will\nseldom hear a sermon, by the way, in these parts, without allusion to the\nmagnificence of our nation, and to the great deeds of our forefathers. Old\nand young, clergy and laity, we are always exhorting each other to imitate\nthem. And is it not right? We feel the deep truth of the principle I have\nlately seen so beautifully expressed by a Catholic writer that I learned\nit by heart at the time. \u2018Nations,\u2019 he says, \u2018live by traditions, more\neven than individuals. By them the past extends its influence over the\npresent, illumines it with the reflection of its glory, and animates it\nwith its spirit. Traditions bind together the successive periods in a\nnation\u2019s existence, and preserve amongst its children the unity produced\nby a long community of dangers and struggles, of triumphs and reverses.\u2019\nRevolutionists alone wish to break with the past, which, in this country\nat least, is in direct opposition to their godless theories, and at\nvariance with all their passions. And long may it continue so! The last\npassage of Herr Gehrig\u2019s speech, by which he winds up, is very fine on\nthat point,\u201d he said, again reading: \u201c \u2018The Swiss, says an old proverb of\nthe XVIth century, have a noble land, good laws, and a wise Confederacy\u2014a\nConfederacy that is firm and strong, because it is not dictated by\npassion. Comrades! let us keep this legacy of our fathers sacred. The\nfatherland before all! God protect the fatherland!\u2019 \u201d\n\nAs he spoke these words we came to the senate\u2010house square, in sight of\nthe glaring frescos of this same battle of Sempach, and the list of all\nother Swiss victories, with which its tower has been recently covered.\n\n\u201cIt is not by badly\u2010painted representations such as these,\u201d he continued,\nsmiling, \u201cthat we try to keep up the old spirit, but by that true\neloquence which touches the heart and convinces the reason. These two\naddresses were most soul\u2010stirring\u2014the sermon and speech equally fine\u2014and\nmade the greatest impression. The speech is a short summary of our history\nand of Arnold von Winkelried, opening, as I said, by allusion to that\n\u2018pearl of creation,\u2019 that lake of the forest cantons, which is bordered by\nthe _Urschweiz_.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d asked Caroline C\u2014\u2014. \u201cI so often have noticed the\nword without understanding it.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt simply means, \u2018The original Switzerland.\u2019 The particle _ur_ means in\nGerman something very ancient, or the origin or root of anything. It is\nthe proudest title of these forest cantons, and therefore you will\nconstantly find it used, varied now and then as the _Urcantone_. They are\ntruly the cradle, not only of Switzerland, but of our freedom, and so far\npreserve the same spirit of independence and of courage up to this hour.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd the sermon\u2014what was that like?\u201d asked young C\u2014\u2014, whose interest,\nnotwithstanding his scepticism about William Tell, was now thoroughly\nroused.\n\n\u201cThe sermon was most suitable to the times,\u201d replied Herr H\u2014\u2014. \u201cThe\nsubject was concord or harmony; and its aim, to show how we ought to copy\nthose virtues of our ancestors which caused true harmony. It was divided,\nas you may see here, into four points; First, _Fidelity_, when the\npreacher drew a beautiful picture of Swiss fidelity from the earliest\nages\u2014a fertile theme. Next, _Justice_\u2014Christian justice, for he averred\nthat real justice never existed in the pagan world, and he again goes back\nto the XIVth century to show how the men of that age acted, so that the\nhistorian Zschokke calls it \u2018the golden age\u2019 of Switzerland! And he\nfortifies his assertions by quotations from old annals. Here is one from\nthe celebrated oath of the R\u00fcti, in 1307: \u2018Every man must protect the\ninnocent and oppressed people in his valley, and preserve to them their\nold rights and freedom. On the other hand, we do not wish to deprive the\nCounts of Habsburg of the smallest portion of their property, of their\nrights, or of their vassals. Their governors, followers, servants, and\nhirelings shall not lose a drop of blood.\u2019 Then, again, how the same men\nin 1332 gave an order to the judges \u2018not to favor any one in a partisan\nspirit, but to deal justice according to their oaths.\u2019 Again, in 1334,\nthey answer a proposition made to them by the emperor by proudly telling\nhim that \u2018there are laws which even princes should not transgress.\u2019 Of\ntheir own government they require \u2018that the citizens shall receive\nsecurity for honor, life, and property; that the magistrates shall listen\nto the complaints of the poor, and not answer them sharply; that they\nshall not pronounce judgment imperiously, nor, above all, condemn\ncapriciously.\u2019 This was in 1335. He continues then to prove how\nscrupulously they forbid feuds and lawless plundering; and the high\nrespect our ancestors showed for churches and ecclesiastical institutions\nis supported by a quotation from a league that was sworn to at Zurich\nimmediately after this very battle of Sempach, called, in consequence, the\nSempacher Brief, where this remarkable passage occurs: \u2018As the Almighty\nhas chosen the churches for his dwelling, so it is our wish that none of\nus shall dare to break into, plunder, or destroy any convent or chapel\nwhatsoever.\u2019 This took place in 1393, and Herr Pfarrer Haas ends this part\nby an appeal to the present generation: \u2018Do you wish to imitate your\nancestors? Then give weight in the council\u2010chamber, in the tribunals, in\nthe framing of laws, in their execution and administration, to that\nChristian justice which gives and leaves to each man that which by right\nbelongs to him. By that means you will preserve harmony in the land\u2014the\nfoundation\u2010stone of national prosperity, and the strength of the\nConfederacy. States grow old and pass away, but Christianity has eternal\nyouth and freshness. When a nation reposes on the rock of Christian\njustice, she never suffers from the changes of childhood, youth, manhood,\nor old age, but flourishes for ever in perpetual freshness and vigor.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\u201cThat is very fine!\u201d all exclaimed. \u201cBut it is the more striking when one\nfinds it was only spoken the other day. It sounds so like an old middle\u2010\nage sermon addressed to men of the \u2018ages of faith.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\u201cYou are right,\u201d returned Herr H\u2014\u2014; \u201cbut I assure you the tone is the\nordinary one of sermons in these districts, and elicited no astonishment,\nthough a great deal of sympathy. It will tire you, however, to hear more,\nso we had better go on!\u201d We had been lingering on the promenade while\nlistening to him, under the shady chestnuts facing the lake; but now all\nunanimously begged he would continue, merely moving to a bench nearer our\nhotel.\n\n\u201cWell, as you wish it, I shall obey!\u201d he said, making us a bow, with a\nsmile of pleasure at our increasing interest in his country. \u201cThe next\ndivision of the sermon, on virtue and morality, was ably argued, as you\nwill perceive whenever you read this pamphlet; especially in reference to\nthe modern doctrines on these subjects now propounded in other parts of\nSwitzerland.\u201d (We thought here of our recent experience at the book\u2010stall\nat Berne!) \u201cAnd the preacher complimented the inhabitants of the rural\ncantons on the Christian faith and simple, virtuous manners they still\nretain, ending by quotations from our Lord\u2019s words in the New Testament,\nand saying that \u2018enlightenment is not unbelief, but the true and proper\nuse of belief.\u2019\u2019 The fourth and last essential to harmony he shows to be\nthat interior peace which can be produced by the Christian faith alone. No\none can be a good citizen who does not conquer the passions of his own\nnature, and obtain that inner tranquillity of mind which is the growth of\ntrue religion. Amongst other proofs of his argument he quotes from Blessed\nNicholas von der Fl\u00fce. I presume you know who he was?\u201d\n\nEach of us in turn was obliged to answer \u201cNo,\u201d although the name was not\nunfamiliar to some. But the more we heard, the greater did our humiliation\ngradually become at finding how slightly we were acquainted with this\nSwiss life; and every one rejoiced when Herr H\u2014\u2014 replied:\n\n\u201cBlessed Nicholas was a hermit, but as great a patriot as he was a saint.\u201d\nHowever, you will hear enough about him when you visit Stanz and Sarnen.\nHis words carried immense weight in his day, and he is still very much\nrevered, and is perpetually quoted. He lived in the XVth century, and our\nHerr Pfarrer Haas here gives a long extract from one of his letters to the\nMayor of Berne in those years. After this he goes on to say: \u201cSuch was the\nfaith of your forefathers! The prayers which the combatants said on this\nvery spot amidst the scoffs of their enemies; the Sacred Host which the\npriest carried at Lauffen; the anniversaries they founded; the Holy\nSacrifice they ordered should be offered on those days of commemoration;\nthe crosses they erected over the graves of all who fell in the combat,\nprove where their souls sought and obtained rest and peace.\u201d \u201cFidelity,\njustice, virtue, and faith form the groundwork of the union and harmony of\na people. Let each one of us, in his circle, and amongst those whom he can\ninfluence, strengthen these pillars of the edifice, and in this manner we\ncan best help to secure the happiness and solidity of our dearly\u2010loved\nSwiss fatherland.\u201d Then he winds up by a beautiful peroration, thus: \u201cWe\nstand here on graves. Simple stone crosses rise above these tombs, where\nfor the last four hundred and eighty\u2010seven years the heroes of Sempach,\nfriends and enemies, repose after their hard day\u2019s work. Sleep in peace,\nye dead! I envy ye your rest! There may be fighting and storm o\u2019erhead,\nbut what matters that to the sleepers? Your eyes are closed! Ye do not\nwatch the troubles and sorrows of mankind, the cares and burdens of life,\nthe battle of the spirits, the play of passions. Once, too, your hearts\nbeat high in the decisive hour. Each Swiss and Austrian believed that he\ndefended the right. On both sides stood great men and great heroes. Death,\nbrave hearts, has united you in peace; and over your graves, for nearly\nfive hundred years, has stood the cross in token of conciliation\u2014the\nsymbol of peace, the badge of the confederates; indicating that\nSwitzerland will still stand firm in harmony when the hotly\u2010contested\nopinions surging in her midst at this day shall long since have sunk into\ndust and ashes.\n\n\n \u201c \u2018Our faith is firm in fatherland;\n Although brave sons may die,\n Swiss soil will still yield faithful band\n To wield the cross on high:\n The white, unsullied cross for aye\n O\u2019er Switzerland shall fly.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\n\u201cMagnificent!\u201d all again exclaimed, \u201cin language and sentiment! How we\nshould like to have heard it!\u201d\n\n\u201cThere was a great crowd this year,\u201d continued Herr H\u2014\u2014, \u201cthough numbers\nnever fail on any occasion. But a musical festival had taken place in\nLucerne the day before, so for that reason there were more than usual. The\nmajority now go by rail, but in my youth the procession of carriages was\nmuch more imposing. And Lucerne then was a Vorort, or capital of the\nConfederacy alternately with Zurich and Berne\u2014a system long since done\naway with; so that when the year came for its turn, all the deputies and\nthe diplomatic representatives were invited, and came too\u2014all except an\nold Austrian, whom nothing could move. I well remember hearing that his\ncolleagues used to laugh at him for keeping up the feeling after so many\nhundred years; but it was so strong that he never could hear William\nTell\u2019s name mentioned without calling him an \u2018assassin\u2019; and you may\nimagine how the others amused themselves by always bringing up the\nsubject. The feeling against the Austrians is very strong, too, amongst\nthe Swiss.\u201d\n\n\u201cI never understand it,\u201d remarked Caroline C\u2014\u2014. \u201cI have always been taught\nto look on Rudolph von Habsburg as a perfect character; and yet the moment\none comes to this country, one hears nothing but abuse of the Habsburgs.\nDo explain it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should have to give you a lecture on Swiss history, dear young lady, I\nfear, before you could understand it; and there is no time for that now.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! do tell us something. There is still half an hour before the _table\u2010\nd\u2019h\u00f4te_, and it is so pleasant sitting here. We should all like to have a\nclearer view of the reason of this dislike. I am always much puzzled, too,\nin Schiller\u2019s _William Tell_, at the conspirators always wanting to be\nunder the empire alone, and not through the Habsburgs; and it is so\ntroublesome to wade through a history when travelling,\u201d she replied.\n\n\u201cBut I should go back to the very beginning for that purpose,\u201d he\nanswered. \u201cHowever, if you insist, I shall give you a few leading facts\nthat you can find amplified whenever you feel inclined to read a Swiss\nhistory right through. May I presume, then, that you know,\u201d he continued,\nlaughing, \u201cthat the first inhabitants of Switzerland are supposed to have\nbeen offshoots of Northern tribes\u2014men driven from their homes by famine?\nThere were a few settlers before these, said to be refugees from Italy,\nbut only in a wild corner of the mountains, hence called Rh\u0153tia; and they\nwere so few and so isolated that they are not worth mentioning. The stream\nof inhabitants poured down by the Lake of Constance. Some say that the\nsame names are found to this day in Sweden as in the valleys of these\ncantons. In any case, the tradition is that two brothers, Switer and Swin,\narrived with their families and followers, and settled at the upper end of\nthis lake, and from them the territory they occupied was called Schwytz.\nIt is quite certain that this was the first part occupied; therefore the\ntitle it claims of \u2018Urschweiz,\u2019 or \u2018original Switzerland,\u2019 is most\nappropriate. They spread all round this lake and through these forest\ncantons, on from one valley to another, to the foot of the great snowy Alp\nregion, but not further. Other races came later, and settled at Geneva and\nelsewhere, and, coming into collision with Rome, then mistress of the\nworld, were finally made part of the Roman Empire. Then came the inroad of\nother barbarians on the downfall of Rome, and everything was in utter\nconfusion until the light of Christianity shone over the land. It was\nintroduced here, as in Germany, by missionaries who came from all parts,\nand a bishopric even was founded at Chur in the earliest Frankish times.\nConvents, too, rose on all sides. You will find remains of them in the\nmost remote valleys and out\u2010of\u2010the\u2010way corners of the country. S.\nSigebert, for instance, came from France, and built Disentis in the wilds\nof Rh\u0153tia, now the Grisons. S. Columba and S. Maughold preached along the\nReuss and the Aar, and the great S. Gall evangelized the wild district\nround the Lake of Constance, girt by forests filled with all manner of\nwild beasts. The celebrated convent of his name was built on the site of\nhis hermitage, and gave rise to the town of St. Gall. Einsiedeln, too, the\nfamous monastery which you are going to visit, dates also from that\nperiod, over the cell of the hermit Meinrad, and so on in every direction.\nEven Zurich and our own Lucerne owe their origin to convents. As in so\nmany other countries, so here likewise the monks spread civilization,\nopened schools, and taught the people agriculture. Then came another\nperiod of confusion after Charlemagne\u2019s reign, which ended by the greater\nportion of Switzerland falling to the share of his successors in the\nGerman Empire. There were numberless dukes and counts all over the land\nwho already held large possessions, but had been vassals of the Dukes of\nSwabia. Now, however, they set him at defiance, and would obey no one but\nthe emperor. Many of the monasteries, too, had acquired considerable\nproperty by this time, and their abbots were often powerful lords. They\nfollowed the example of the counts and dukes, and also assumed\nindependence. But, on the other hand, the towns equally rose in\nimportance, and often set the nobles and abbots at naught. These then, in\norder not to lose their influence, strove to increase the number of their\nvassals by making clearances in their forests, promoting the establishment\nof villages, and granting privileges to their inhabitants, in all which\nyou will find the origin of the extraordinary number of rural communes for\nwhich Switzerland has always been so noted. The nobles, who had no\noccupation but war, were engaged in constant feuds amongst themselves or\nwith the towns of which they were most jealous, and, leading lawless\nlives, wasted their inheritance little by little. The Crusades also\ncontributed to diminish them, for all the knights in the country flocked\nthither. In the course of time their numbers dwindled considerably by\nthese means, or by the sale of their property and feudal rights to the\ntowns and even to the villages. At the period we are talking of, however,\nthey were amongst the heroes of the land, and often fought bravely and\nmade themselves respected.\n\n\u201cIn one district, however, there were neither nobles, nor castles, nor\ntowns, nor monasteries, nor any inhabitants, except the descendants of the\nfirst settlers. That was in the wild region of Rh\u0153tia, and in what now\nconstitutes these forest cantons, or Vierwaldst\u00e4tter, as they are called\nin German. The latter all sprang from one common stock, and for a long\ntime had only one head and one church. This was in the Muotta Valley, and\nthither came the entire population of Schwytz, Unterwalden, and Uri. At\nlast, when they increased and multiplied, they divided into these three\ndistricts, built their own churches, and elected their own _Landamman_, or\nchief magistrate, and their own council. No one claimed sovereignty over\nthis mountain district but the emperor. To him the people never objected;\non the contrary, they were rather glad to enjoy his powerful protection,\nand willingly accepted, nay, often chose, the imperial judges to act as\narbitrators in cases of their own internal disputes. Now, these judges\nwere called governors, or Vogts, and, in order to distinguish them from\ninferior governors, were entitled _Reichsv\u00f6gte_, or governors of the\nempire. It is well to bear this in mind, for on this point turned the\nwhole dispute with the Habsburgs, and it was the cause of the conspiracy\nof the R\u00fcti and of our subsequent freedom. It must also be remembered that\nthe object of every community in the country at that period was to free\nitself from the yoke of the local laws, whether nobles or abbots, and to\nplace themselves directly under the empire. And in this almost every town\nsucceeded by slow degrees. The advantages were very great. First of all,\nthey were not liable to the constant petty exactions of near neighbors,\nand the imperial government was so far away that they were allowed to\nadminister their own property and to choose their own authorities, being\nonly asked in exchange to pay some light taxes to the imperial treasury,\nand to accept a _Reichsv\u00f6gt_, or governor. His office was merely to uphold\nthe emperor\u2019s rights, and to act as judge in matters of life and death\u2014a\ncondition never refused; for it was held that, being a stranger, he would\nbe more impartial than one of their community.\n\n\u201cAmongst the nobles who had gradually grown powerful at this time were the\nCounts of Habsburg, who lived in the Aargau, and, instead of diminishing,\nhad been daily extending, their possessions and influence. Suddenly and\nunexpectedly Count Rudolph was chosen Emperor of Germany. There were great\ndisputes between the German princes on the death of the late emperor, and\nthe story runs that they elected him simply on the assurance of the\nElector of Cologne, who declared that Rudolph von Habsburg was upright and\nwise, beloved by God and man.\n\n\u201cThis, as you know, proved true, and you were perfectly right in believing\nhim to have been a \u2018perfect character.\u2019 Moreover, he never forgot his old\nfellow\u2010countrymen, and showered favors on them as long as he lived. Many\nplaces were made direct fiefs of the empire by him, amongst others our\ntown of Lucerne, but more especially these forest cantons; and he raised\nthe Bishop of Lausanne and the Abbot of Einsiedeln to the rank of princes\nof the empire. As a natural result, the whole country grew devoted to him,\nand came forward with gifts of money and assistance of every kind whenever\nhe required it.\n\n\u201cBut with his successor, his son Albrecht, comes the reverse of the medal.\nIt was soon seen that he thought of nothing but increasing his own family\npossessions, and had no respect for the privileges of the towns or rural\npopulations. Foreseeing evil times, therefore, Uri, Schwytz, and\nUnterwalden met together, and made a defensive league, binding themselves\nby oath to stand by each other and to defend themselves against all\nenemies. Hence the origin of their name, \u2018Eidgenossen,\u2019 which in German\nmeans \u2018oath\u2010participators.\u2019 The Bishop of Constance and Duke of Savoy made\na separate agreement, and so did various others. At last the princes of\nGermany also became so discontented with Albrecht that they elected a\nPrince Adolf of Nassau in his stead. The whole country was soon divided\ninto two parties, one for and the other against Albrecht of Austria, as he\nhad then become. Down he marched with a large army, devastated the\nterritory of the Bishop of Constance, and Adolf of Nassau lost life and\ncrown in a desperate battle. The confederates had taken no part against\nAlbrecht openly as yet, and sent ambassadors to beg he would respect their\nancient rights, as his father of glorious memory had always done. But he\nonly answered \u2018that he would soon change their condition.\u2019 Meantime, the\nmajority of the nobles joined his side; but the towns resisted him, and\nBerne gained such a great victory that he got alarmed and made peace with\nZurich, confirming all its privileges. He then sent word to the\nWaldst\u00e4tter cantons that he wished to treat them as the beloved children\nof his own family, and that they had better at once place themselves under\nAustrian protection. But the sturdy, free\u2010hearted mountaineers replied\nthat they preferred the old rights they had inherited from their fathers,\nand desired to continue direct vassals of the empire. Albrecht was not\nprepared to enforce their submission, so he resorted to the expedient of\nsending them _Reichsv\u00f6gte_ who were wicked and cruel men, that were\nordered, besides, to oppress and torment them in such a manner that they\nshould at last desire in preference to place themselves under Austro\u2010\nHabsburg protection. Chief of these was the now far\u2010famed Gessler, and\nalso Landerberg, whose castle at Sarnen was the first destroyed later. Not\nonly were they cruel, but they insisted on living in the country, although\nall previous _Reichsv\u00f6gte_, or governors, had only come there\noccasionally, and had allowed the people to govern themselves. Unable to\nbear it, the celebrated \u2018three,\u2019 Stauffacher, F\u00fcrst, and Melchthal, whom\nyou now know through Schiller, if from no other source, met together.\nStauffacher came from Schwytz, Walther F\u00fcrst from Uri, and Arnold von\nMelchthal represented Unterwalden, and they chose for their meeting the\ncentral spot of the meadow, called the R\u00fcti, which you will pass when\nsailing up the lake. Each brought ten others with them, and in their name\nand that of all their fellow\u2010countrymen they took that oath which was\nquoted in the sermon as I read it just now. This union of the three\ncantons was the foundation of the Swiss Confederation. Lucerne joined it\nin 1332, and then it became the League of the Four Forest Cantons, all\nsurrounding this lake. Some say that Tell was one of the ten from his\ncanton, but others deny this. It does not much matter, for one fact is\ncertain: that the whole country was discontented, and Gessler grew alarmed\nwithout knowing of the conspiracy, which alarm was the cause of his\nconduct towards Tell.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! William Tell is all a myth,\u201d exclaimed young C\u2014\u2014, who never could\nconceal his sentiments on this point. \u201cNo one believes in him nowadays.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear young gentleman,\u201d answered Herr H\u2014\u2014 quietly, \u201cit is easy for\nmodern critics to say this. They may laugh and sneer as they like. Nothing\nis more easy than to argue against anything. I remember often hearing that\nArchbishop Whately\u2014your own archbishop\u2014was so convinced of this that he\nonce undertook to write a pamphlet in this style, disproving the existence\nof the First Napoleon, and succeeded triumphantly. But _I_ hold with\nBuckle\u2014your own Buckle too!\u201d he said, laughing\u2014\u201cwho declares that he\nrelies more on the strength of local traditions and on native bards than\non anything else. The great argument against William Tell, I know\nperfectly well, is that the same story is to be found in Saxo\u2010Grammaticus,\nand also in Sanscrit; but that does not disturb me, for there is no reason\nwhy the same sort of thing may not have happened in many a place. These\nmountaineers certainly had no means of studying either the one or the\nother in what _you_, no doubt, will call the \u2019dark ages\u2019! Just have\npatience until you see the Tell chapels and hear a little more on the\nsubject, and I hope you will change your mind. One thing is certain,\nnamely, that Tell was not the _cause_ of the conspiracy, and that his\ntreatment did not make the confederates depart from their original plan,\nwhich was to rise on the New Year\u2019s night of 1308. In _my_ humble opinion,\nSchiller has done poor William Tell no good, for between him and the opera\nthe story has been so much popularized that this alone has raised all the\ndoubts about it. People fancy it was Schiller\u2019s creation more or less,\naltogether forgetting that the chapels and the veneration for Tell have\nexisted on the spot these hundreds of years. It is fortunate Arnold von\nWinkelried has not been treated in the same way, or we should doubt his\nexistence too.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have not told us anything about Sempach yet,\u201d broke in Caroline C\u2014\u2014,\nanxious to stop the discussion, which seemed likely to vex the old\ngentleman, especially as she well knew her brother\u2019s school\u2010boy\ndisposition for argument.\n\n\u201cMorgarten and much more occurred before that, mademoiselle,\u201d answered\nHerr H\u2014\u2014, \u201call tending to increase the national hatred of Austria. As a\nnatural consequence of the R\u00fcti and its uprising, Albrecht became enraged\nagainst the forest cantons, and marched at once to Switzerland with a\nlarge force. But a most unexpected, startling event happened. He had a\nnephew, Duke John of Swabia, who was his ward, but from whom he continued\nto withhold his patrimony on one pretext or another. The young man at\nlength grew furious, and, as they were crossing this very same river Reuss\nat Windisch, Duke John stabbed his uncle, whilst a noble, a conspirator of\nJohn\u2019s, struck him on the head. There were a few others present, but in a\npanic they all fled, and left the Emperor of Germany to die in the arms of\na poor woman who happened to be passing.\n\n\u201cThe deed was so fearful that even Albrecht\u2019s worst enemies were\nhorrified, and it is said that the murderers wandered over the world, and\nultimately died as outcasts. Zurich shut its gates against them, and the\nforest cantons refused them all shelter. But Albrecht\u2019s family not only\npursued them, but behaved inhumanly. His widow and two children, Duke\nLeopold and Agnes, Queen of Hungary, came at once to Switzerland, and\nseized innocent and guilty right and left, destroying without scruple the\ncastle of any noble whom they suspected in the slightest degree, and\nexecuting all without mercy. Agnes in particular was cruel beyond measure.\nOne story related of her by Swiss historians is that, after having\nwitnessed the execution of sixty\u2010three innocent knights, and whilst their\nblood was flowing at her feet, she exclaimed: \u2018Now I am bathing in May\u2010\ndew!\u2019 Whether literally true or not, it shows what she must have been to\nhave given cause for such a tale. In fact, the stories of her merciless\ncharacter are too numerous and terrible to repeat now. At last she and her\nmother, the widow, built a magnificent convent on the site of the murder,\nwhich you may have heard of as _K\u00f6nigsfelder_, or the King\u2019s Field. There\nshe subsequently retired to \u2018end her days in piety\u2019; but the people\ndetested her, and Zschokke says that once when she was passing through the\nconvent, and bowed to one of the monks, he turned round and boldly\naddressed her thus: \u2018Woman! it is a bad way to serve God, first to shed\ninnocent blood, and then to found convents from the spoils of the\nvictims.\u2019 She died there, and we have a piece of silk in the arsenal in\nLucerne which formed part of her funeral apparel.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! how horrible,\u201d exclaimed Caroline C\u2014\u2014. \u201cBut I would give anything to\nsee it! How could we manage it?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery easily,\u201d replied Herr H\u2014\u2014. \u201cIf you only have time, we might go there\nafter dinner. It is close to the Spreuner Br\u00fccke, and I can get you in.\nThere are many trophies also from Sempach, and other victories besides.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo tell us about Sempach,\u201d I interposed. \u201cIt is getting late, and I fear\nthe dinner\u2010bell will soon ring.\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst came the battle of Morgarten, of which you will see the site from\nthe top of the Rigi. Albrecht\u2019s son Leopold followed up his father\u2019s\ngrudge against the forest cantons, and gave them battle there in 1308,\nwhen he was signally defeated. It was a glorious victory by a handful of\npeasants. But you will read about it on your journey. Sempach is our\nLucerne property. It did not take place for sixty\u2010nine years after\nMorgarten, but in the interval there had been constant fighting with the\nhouse of Austria, which still kept its possessions in Switzerland, and\nalso with the nobles, who hated the towns\u2010people, and clung to the\nHabsburgs more or less. It was about this time that a castle belonging to\nthe latter, on this lake, just round the projecting corner to our left,\nwas destroyed by the people. It was called here Habsburg, and has lately\nbeen restored by a foreigner. On all sides the worst feelings were kept\nalive, and it only required a spark to set all in a blaze. This eventually\nhappened by some angry Lucerners levelling to the ground the castle of a\nknight who had imposed undue taxes upon them. He, on his side, appealed to\nthe Habsburg of the day, who, by a curious coincidence, was also a Duke\nLeopold, son of the Leopold who was defeated at Morgarten. Full of anger,\nhe gathered all his forces, and marched in hot haste against Lucerne. But\non the heights near the Lake of Sempach he encountered the confederates.\nThey had come from Lucerne, with contingents, though in small force, from\nall the forest cantons. It was hilly ground, most unfitted for cavalry;\nbut Leopold would not wait for his infantry, and, making his heavily\u2010armed\nknights dismount, he ordered them to rush with their pointed lances in\nclose ranks on the enemy. It was like a wall of iron, and at first the\nconfederates could make no impression upon it. They fell in numbers, and\nwere just beginning to despair when a voice cried out, \u2018I will open a path\nto freedom! Faithful, dearly\u2010loved confederates, take care of my wife and\nchild!\u2019 and a man, rushing forward, seized as many lances as he could\nclasp, buried them in his own body, and fell dead. This was Arnold von\nWinkelried, an inhabitant of Stanz, about whom little else is known. Over\nhis corpse his comrades pressed forward through the opening he had thus\nmade, and they never again yielded the dear\u2010bought advantage. The struggle\nbecame fearful on both sides; prodigies of valor were performed, and it is\nsaid that three standard\u2010bearers were killed before the flag of Austria\ncould be captured. Eventually the knights turned in order to retreat; but\ntheir heavy armor impeded them, and their men, sure of victory, had led\ntheir horses far away. So they were cut down by hundreds. Duke Leopold was\nkilled by a man from Schwytz; but they all fought bravely, and defended\ntheir banners with such tenacity that one was found torn into small\nshreds, in order that the enemy might not get it, while its pole was\nfirmly clenched between the teeth of the dead man who had been carrying\nit. That was the glorious battle of Sempach, which finally crushed the\npower of the Habsburgs in Switzerland, and after which our liberty was\nfirmly established. Is it any wonder, then, that we celebrate it so\nreligiously, or that the antipathy to Austria was so deeply rooted in the\nnation? The whole aim of the Habsburgs after Rudolph\u2019s reign, and of the\nnobles who were their vassals, was to crush our privileges and freedom. In\nconsequence, they were so hated that no one could even venture to wear a\npeacock\u2019s feather, merely because it was the favorite ornament of the\nAustrian dukes. In fact, peacocks were forbidden in Switzerland; and a\nstory is told, to show how far the feeling went, of a man having broken\nhis wine\u2010glass at a public tavern, merely because he fancied that he saw\nthe colors of a peacock\u2019s tail in the play of the sun\u2019s rays on the\nglass.\u201d\n\nAs Herr H\u2014\u2014 pronounced these words the first dinner\u2010bell rang, and we all\nrose, thanking him cordially for his most interesting lecture. Caroline\nC\u2014\u2014 in particular was most grateful, declaring that she never could\nunderstand anything of Swiss history before, but now had the clearest view\nof its general bearings.\n\nAfter dinner all except myself and Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 started off at once for the\narsenal to see the \u201crelics,\u201d as they now called them; but we two adjourned\nto the Hofkirche at four o\u2019clock to listen to the organ, played there\ndaily for strangers, as at Berne and Freyburg. The Lucerne instrument is\nnot so well known as those two, but it is equally fine, if not finer. It\nwas admirably played, too, and we sat entranced by its tones, especially\nby its heavenly Vox Angelica, fully sympathizing with Wordsworth when\nstanding on the old Hofbridge that came up to the church hill in his day,\nand writing:\n\n\n \u201cVolumes of sound, from the cathedral rolled,\n This long\u2010roofed vista penetrate.\u201d\n\n\nWe had arranged to sleep that night at Vitznau, at the foot of the Rigi,\nin order to ascend by the first train next morning, and for this purpose\nwere to leave in a six o\u2019clock steamer. It seemed difficult to tear\nourselves so quickly away from Lucerne, and the hurry was considerable.\nThe remainder of our party, however, returned just in time, full of all\nthey had seen\u2014\u201cAgnes\u2019 shroud,\u201d a dreadful title for a piece of heavy silk\nused at her funeral, striped yellow and black, the Habsburg colors; Duke\nLeopold\u2019s coat\u2010of\u2010mail, in which he was killed at Sempach, and a dozen\nothers; a heap of lances taken there; numbers of trophies from Grandson\nand Morat, the battles with Charles the Bold; but, what interested them\nmost, the great standard of Habsburg, of yellow silk with a red lion on\nit, taken at Sempach, and another, a white flag, covered, they said, with\nblood, also captured there. Young C\u2014\u2014 was most struck besides with a very\nold vase decorated with the meeting at the R\u00fcti.\n\nIt was a lovely evening, but, though the sail promised to be delightful,\nwe left Lucerne and its worthy citizen with regret, thanking him\ncordially, over and over again, for the interest he had given us in his\ncountry, and at last persuaded him to come and meet us in a day or two,\nand act as our cicerone in part of the forest cantons, which by his means\nalready assumed a place in our affections.\n\n\n\n\nA Legend Of Alsace. Concluded.\n\n\nFrom The French Of M. Le Vicomte De Bussierre.\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\n\nOdile, who had returned to Hohenbourg without her father\u2019s consent, was\nnow forced to remain against her own will. Her reputation so spread\nthroughout the province that people of the highest rank went to see her,\nand several aspired to her hand. Among these suitors was a young German\nduke whose station, wealth, and personal qualities gave him an advantage\nover his rivals. Adalric and Berswinde joyfully gave their consent, and\nthe marriage settlements were agreed upon. The arrangement was then made\nknown to Odile, who declared firmly but respectfully that she had chosen\nChrist for her spouse, and could not renounce her choice. But this\nprojected marriage flattered the pride and ambition of her father, and,\nafter vainly endeavoring to persuade her to consent to it, he sought to\nobtain by force what mildness had not been able to effect. Odile, seeing\nthat her liberty of action was to be infringed upon, felt that flight was\nher only resource. Commending herself to God and Our Blessed Lady, she\nclothed herself early one morning in the rags of a beggar, and left the\ncastle unobserved, descending the mountain by an obscure and almost\nimpassable ravine. It was in the year 679. Her first intention was to take\nrefuge in the Abbey of Baume, but, considering that would be the first\nplace to seek for her, she resolved to conceal herself from all mankind,\nand lead henceforth a difficult and solitary life for the love of her\nRedeemer. She therefore directed her steps toward the Rhine, and, meeting\na fisherman, she gave him a small piece of money to take her across the\nriver.\n\nOdile had been accustomed to seclude herself several hours a day for\nprayer and meditation, so her non\u2010appearance excited no surprise. She was\nsupposed to be at her devotions, and was already several miles from home,\nwhen the report of her disappearance spread consternation throughout the\nmanor. The duke, distressed by her flight, assembled all his followers,\nordered his four sons to pursue her in four different directions, and\ndirected his servants to scour the surrounding country. Berswinde alone\ndid not share the general grief. She would indeed have been pleased by the\nmarriage of her daughter and the German duke, but Odile\u2019s motives for\ndeclining the alliance, the remembrance of the miracle wrought at her\nbaptism, and the manifest protection of heaven she was so evidently under,\nmade her mother sure that the support of the Most High would not in this\ncase be wanting.\n\nAdalric himself set off with several esquires, and unwittingly took the\nsame route as his daughter. He soon came to the Rhine, where he heard that\na young beggar\u2010girl, whose rags could not conceal her noble air and\nextreme beauty, had crossed the river and gone towards Fribourg. The duke,\nsure it was his daughter, likewise crossed over, and came so close upon\nher steps that it seemed impossible for her to escape. But the princess,\nsays the old chronicle of Fribourg containing these details, coming in\nsight of the city near a place called Muszbach, was so overcome with\nfatigue that she was obliged to sit down and take breath. She had hardly\nthanked God for his protection thus far when she perceived, at some\ndistance, a company of horsemen swiftly approaching. Then recognizing her\nfather and his followers, she raised her eyes to heaven, whence alone she\ncould expect succor, and prayed fervently: \u201cO my Saviour!\u201d cried she,\n\u201cspotless protector of virgins! I am lost unless thou shieldest me from\ntheir eyes, and coverest me with the shadow of thy wings!\u201d And our Lord,\nsays the legend, heard this earnest prayer: the rock on which she was\nseated opened to shelter her from her eager pursuers, and had hardly\nclosed upon her when Adalric came up. As soon as he had passed by Odile\ncame out, and, that posterity might not lose the remembrance of this\nmiracle, a limpid stream of healing waters flowed henceforth from the\nrock. This fountain became eventually the resort of pilgrims, and the\nsaint herself had a chapel built over it in commemoration of her\ndeliverance.\n\nThe duke, unsuccessful in his search, returned to Hohenbourg. Unable to\nresign himself to the loss of his daughter, he fell into a state of\nsadness and discouragement. Weeks, nay, months, passed, but no news of the\nfugitive. Adalric finally proclaimed throughout his duchy, at the sound of\nthe trumpet that he would henceforth leave his daughter free to pursue her\nown course of life, if she would only return to her family.\n\nHaving no longer any excuse for remaining away from her family, where she\nmight be called to labor for God, Odile left her retreat at Brisgau, and\nreturned home.(63)\n\n\n\nIX.\n\n\nAdalric\u2019s promises were sincere. He was eager to aid Odile as much as he\ncould in the realization of her most cherished hopes. \u201cFor it was in the\ndecrees of divine Providence,\u201d says an old Latin chronicle, \u201cthat this\nlight should be placed in a candlestick, that it might give light to all\nwho were in the house; and God had inspired Odile with the resolution to\nfound a community of noble virgins who would live in retirement and\nobserve the evangelical counsels.\u201d\n\nThe saint opened her heart to her father, representing to him that Alsace\nhad already convents for men, but no retreat for women who wished to\nrenounce the world, and that such a refuge would be useful and at the same\ntime pleasing to God. Adalric listened favorably to his daughter, and,\nwhether the proposition pleased him or he did not wish to oppose her\ninclinations, he gave her in due form, in the year 680, the Castle of\nHohenbourg with its vast dependencies and immense revenues, that she might\nconvert what had till then been the principal bulwark of Alsace into an\ninviolable asylum for noble ladies of piety who wished to consecrate\nthemselves to God.\n\nOdile then assembled a number of workmen, and had all the buildings\nremoved that would be of no use to a religious community. This done, they\nproceeded to construct the convent. It took them ten years. Adalric\ngenerously defrayed all the expenses, and even directed the architects,\nenjoining on them to neglect nothing that could contribute to the solidity\nand beauty of the edifice.\n\nAs soon as it was known that Odile intended forming a community of women,\na crowd of young ladies of rank came to Hohenbourg, renouncing their\nfamilies and earthly possessions for the love of Christ. They besought her\nto receive them as her companions, and to direct them in the way of\nsalvation. There were one hundred and thirty of them before the convent\nwas finished. Among them were Attale,(64) Eug\u00e9nie, and Gundeline, the\ndaughters of Odile\u2019s brother Adalbert,(65) and her own sister\nRoswinde.(66) All these renounced the joys of the world without regret,\nhoping to obtain eternal life. They united themselves to God by silence,\nrecollection, and prayer. Manual labor and the chanting of the Psalms\nvaried their occupations. Like the first Christians, they seemed to have\nonly one heart and one soul. Their only study seemed to be to equal their\nsuperior in humility, sweetness, piety, and self\u2010renunciation. They lived\non barley bread and vegetables cooked in water. They took wine only on\nfestivals, and passed their nights in vigils and prayer, permitting\nthemselves only some hours of sleep when exhausted nature absolutely\nrequired it. Then they slept only on a bear\u2019s skin with a stone for a\npillow. In a word, they only allowed the body what was necessary for the\npreservation of life.\n\nAdalric had a profound respect for Odile, as one under the special\nprotection of the Divinity. The system of her community, the devotion and\nthe rigid and holy lives of those who composed it, and above all their\ninexhaustible charity, led him to lavish his wealth on their monastery.\nNot satisfied with giving them his palace and its domains, and\nestablishing a foundation in perpetuity for one hundred and thirty young\nladies of noble birth, he likewise gave fourteen benefices for the priests\nwho served the convent chapels.\n\nOdile, in her ardent charity, wished there should be free access to her\nabbey, not only for all the members of her family and persons of high rank\nwho came often to discourse with her on the things of God, but also for\nthe poor, the unhappy, and the sick. The steepness of the mountain in some\nplaces made its ascent impossible for the aged. Our saint had an easy\npathway constructed, paved with broad flag\u2010stones. Thenceforth the\nunfortunate of all grades of society flocked to the abbey\u2014the poor to\nobtain assistance, the infirm for remedies, and sinners for salutary\nadvice. All who were unhappy or unfortunate, whoever they might be, were\nthe objects of Odile\u2019s tender affection. \u201cThe Gospel,\u201d she constantly\nrepeated to her companions, \u201cis a law of love,\u201d and she exhorted them, in\nimitation of Him who gave his life for us, to be charitable to their\nfellow\u2010creatures. Odile\u2019s charity was boundless. Not satisfied with\ndistributing alms, she cheered all with sweet words, carried them\nnourishment and remedies with her own hands, and dressed the most\nfrightful wounds. \u201cThere came one day,\u201d says a writer of that time, \u201ca man\ncovered with a horrid leprosy to the gates of Hohenbourg for alms,\nuttering most lamentable cries. He was so revolting, and he diffused so\ninfectious an odor, that none of the servants would approach him. One of\nthem, however, informed the saint of his condition. She at once prepared\nsome suitable food, and hastened to serve the leper. In spite of her\ntenderness towards the unfortunate and her habitual control over her\nsenses, her first movement was one of horror at the sight of so disgusting\na being. Ashamed of her weakness, and resolved to conquer it, she folded\nthe leper affectionately in her arms, and burst into tears. Then she broke\nthe food she brought into small pieces, and fed him. At the same time she\nraised her eyes to heaven, and, with a voice trembling with emotion,\nexclaimed: \u2018O Lord! deign to restore him to health or give him the courage\nnecessary to support such an affliction!\u2019 Her humble prayer was\nimmediately heard. The leprosy disappeared, and the repulsive odor gave\nplace to one of sweetness, so that those who avoided him a short time\nbefore were now eager to approach, to touch him, and to wonder.\u201d\n\nOdile gave bread, wine, and meat to all the poor who came to the abbey;\nshe was unwilling any should go away hungry. On feast days a great crowd\nof beggars would besiege the gates, and on one occasion, all the food of\nthe community, and even the wine, being given them, the Sister who had\ncharge of the wine\u2010cellar sought Odile in church to tell her there was\nnone left for dinner. The abbess replied with a gentle smile: \u201cHe who fed\nfive thousand persons with five loaves and two fishes will provide for us,\nif it be his will. Forget not, my daughter, that he has promised to those\nthat seek first the kingdom of heaven all other things shall be given. Go\nwhere duty calls you.\u201d The Sister went away, and at the hour of repast,\ngoing to the wine\u2010cellar, found a supply of excellent wine.\n\n\n\nX.\n\n\nThe two chapels already built by the duke were too small for celebrating\nthe divine service with suitable pomp. There was hardly room enough in\nthem for the sisterhood. The crowds from the neighboring villages were\noften obliged to kneel outside. A larger church was indispensable. Adalric\nprovided the materials, and it was completed by the year 690. Two square\ntowers of pyramidal form rose beside the grand entrance. The abbess had it\nconsecrated to the Blessed Virgin, her chosen patroness and her model. One\nof the side chapels she styled the Oratory of the Mother of God. There she\nloved to take refuge in her mental troubles, in tribulation, and in\nseasons of spiritual dryness. A second chapel she called Holy Rood Chapel.\nIn commemoration of her baptism she wished also to erect a small church in\nhonor of S. John the Baptist. Undecided about the location, she went out\nof the monastery one night about midnight, and, kneeling on a great rock,\nshe remained a long time buried in profound meditation. Suddenly, says the\nold legend, she was surrounded by a dazzling light, and before her stood\nthe radiant form of the precursor of our Lord in a garment of camel\u2019s\nhair, such as he wore in the desert. He seemed to indicate the spot where\nthe chapel should be erected. The next day it was commenced, and was\nfinished in the autumn of 696. The night before it was to be consecrated\nS. Odile spent in prayer therein. The prince of the apostles himself, with\na choir of angels, descended and performed the ceremony.\n\n\n \u201cThe air of paradise did fan the house,\n And angels officed all.\u201d\n\n\nThis miraculous chapel was sometimes called the _Sacrarium_, because the\nabbess deposited in it the _cassette_ of relics Bishop Erhard gave her on\nher baptismal day. It was afterwards more commonly called the Chapel of S.\nOdile, because she was buried there herself. Besides these, she built the\nChapel of Tears and the Hanging Chapel, so called because it stood on a\nsteep precipice looking down into a deep chasm. All these chapels were so\nmany stations where the abbess and her companions betook themselves to\nmeditate in silence and solitude.\n\nAdalric and Berswinde, weary of power and grandeur, retired to the Convent\nof Hohenbourg with their daughter. Advanced in age, they now thought only\nof preparing themselves for death by prayer and good works. The duke,\nnaturally violent and hard, had sometimes in his moments of passion\nforgotten his duty. There were many faults for him to expiate before God,\nand many scandals to repair before men. While he was practising all the\nvirtues of a holy penitent, he was attacked with a serious malady. Odile\nfelt that his last hour was at hand, and hardly left his bedside, wishing,\nnot only to give him the care his illness required, but to console,\nencourage, and prepare him for a holy death. Contemporary testimony\nexpressly declares: \u201c_Consolante eum et roborante beata Odilia_.\u201d She\nreceived his last breath and closed his eyes on the 20th of February. The\nyear is variously stated. It was between 690 and 700.\n\nA witness of her father\u2019s sorrow for his sins, and of his resignation in\nhis last moments, Odile hoped the mercy of God would be extended to him.\nShe imposed on herself the severest mortifications, and shed floods of\ntears for the solace of his soul in the chapel, called from this\ncircumstance the Chapel of Tears. On the fifth day she had an inward\nassurance of his salvation.\n\nThere are numberless traditions in Alsace respecting S. Odile. They have\nbeen handed down from one generation to another in the villages grouped\naround the foot of Mount Hohenbourg. One of these legends changes the\ntears of the saint into a limpid stream, where the blind, or those who\nhave any disease of the eyes, go for a remedy. Another says her tears\nperforated a rock. A third makes her and all her community behold her\nfather convoyed heavenward by a choir of angels led by S. Peter in\nsacerdotal robes. The more we examine S. Odile\u2019s life, the more numerous\nbecome these brilliant legends, and the more fully do we find her life\nmarked by acts of beneficence and by miracles.\n\nBerswinde survived her husband only nine days. She died suddenly while\npraying in the Chapel of S. John.\n\nThe descendants of the duke and duchess assembled at Hohenbourg to deplore\ntheir double loss. A magnificent funeral service was performed. All the\npeople of Alsace flocked to the convent to weep over their death. One\nwould have thought they had lost dear parents, say the chronicles. The\nduke\u2019s sons gave abundant alms on this occasion. The remains of the\ndeceased were placed in the Chapel of the Virgin, according to their\nrequest, and thither came pilgrims to pray by their tomb till they were\nremoved.\n\nAdalric, notwithstanding his generosity to the church, left immense\ndomains to his children. His oldest son, Etton, or Etichon, became Duke of\nBrisgau and Count of Argovie. He was the progenitor of the houses of\nEgisheim and Lorraine. The second son, Adelbert, had the duchies of\nAlsace, Swabia, and Sundgau. From him sprang the houses of Habsburg and\nZ\u00e4hringen. Hugo, the third son, died before his father, but left three\nsons. The oldest, Remigius, was Abbot of S. Gregory in the Val de M\u00fcnster,\nand finally Bishop of Strasbourg. He was a great friend of Charlemagne\u2019s,\nand built the celebrated nunnery of Eschau,(67) where two of his nieces\nwere successively abbesses.\n\nAfter the death of her parents, Odile kept up most intimate relations with\nthe rest of her family. She saw them frequently, and labored for their\nsanctification. Following her counsels, they founded a great number of\nconvents and churches, which, in that barbarous age, became the refuge of\nscience, literature, and the arts, and for centuries contributed\npowerfully to the prosperity of Alsace.\n\n\n\nXI.\n\n\nHitherto the inmates of Hohenbourg had been subjected to no written rule.\nOur dear saint was their living guide. But notwithstanding the ardor of\ntheir piety, she thought it proper to adopt some definite rule to obviate\nthe inconstancy of the human heart, and to restrain an excess of fervor.\nAssembling all her spiritual children, she gave them, after invoking the\nHoly Spirit, a fixed rule, probably drawn from that of S. Augustine.\n\nThe steepness of Hohenbourg made it so difficult of ascent for the aged\nand infirm, the very ones whom Odile desired the most to aid, that she\nresolved to build at its foot, on the south side, a spacious hospice with\na chapel, under the invocation of S. Nicholas.\n\nBerswinde, who was still living, gave up a part of her revenues for the\nbenefit of the poor who were received there. S. Odile daily descended this\nmountain, too steep and rough for others, to visit the hospice. She used\nto visit each inmate, and give him alms and advice with all the tenderness\nChristianity alone can inspire. Her children shared in her labors. They\nloved the freshness and solitude of the spot where the hospice stood, and\nthere was an abundance of water there, which was lacking on the summit.\nThe number of the infirm that resorted hither became so large as to\nrequire, night and day, the constant attendance of the Sisters, and they\nbegged the abbess to build another monastery near S. Nicholas, and\ndependent on that of Hohenbourg. Odile consented.\n\nOne day, while she was occupied in overseeing the workmen, an aged man\nbrought three branches of a linden\u2010tree, begging her to plant them. He\npredicted that the faithful would come to sit beneath their shade. Odile\ndid as he requested, planting the first in the name of the Father, the\nsecond in the name of the Son, and the third in the name of the Holy\nGhost. In fact, successive generations have sought repose beneath them,\naccording to the old man\u2019s prediction. Odile gave this new monastery the\nname of Niederm\u00fcnster (Lower Minster). She established there one\u2010half of\nthe community of Hohenbourg, retaining herself the direction of both\nhouses. She placed in the new house those who were most zealous in nursing\nthe sick, and had the greatest aptitude for it.\n\nMany foreign ladies, drawn to Alsace by Odile\u2019s reputation for sanctity,\nwere among their number. They lived at Niederm\u00fcnster in obedience to the\nrule of Hohenbourg, and led lives of austerity. These two cloisters, says\nFather Hugo Peltre, might be compared to two trees, apparently separated,\nbut really drawing nourishment from the same root.\n\nOdile, though advancing in years and broken down by her excessive\nausterities, daily descended the mountain. Neither frost nor rain nor\nfierce winds prevented her from visiting the hospice, which was her place\nof delight, for there she found a vast field for her charity. She was in\nthe habit of saying: \u201cJesus Christ has given us the poor to supply his\nplace. In caring for them we serve the Saviour in their person.\u201d The whole\nof Alsace blessed her name, seeing her constantly occupied in solacing\nsuffering humanity, in guiding her spiritual children in the paths of\nholiness, and in instructing the people in the sublime truths of the\nGospel.\n\nThere is a legend that Odile, bent down by the weight of years, was one\nday ascending the mountain alone when she saw lying in the path an old man\ndying of thirst and apparently breathing his last. Our saint tried to\nraise him, but, too feeble to do so, she had recourse to the divine\nassistance. After a fervent prayer, remembering what Moses did, she smote\na rock close by with her staff. A stream burst forth immediately, which\nrestored the old pilgrim to life. This fount is still venerated and\nfrequented. The water is considered miraculous.\n\n\n\nXII.\n\n\nOdile was ripe for heaven. Whether the state of her health announced it,\nor God gave her a secret presentiment of her approaching end, on the 13th\nof December (S. Lucius\u2019 Day) she called together her companions in the\nChapel of S. John the Baptist, which had become her oratory, and, after\nbegging them not to be afflicted at what she had to say, she sweetly\nannounced to them that she was near the end of her earthly pilgrimage, and\nher soul, ready to quit its prison of clay, would soon enjoy the liberty\nGod has promised his children. Then the holy abbess exhorted them to\nremain faithful to the Lord, not to allow their fervor to relax, to resist\nwith all their strength the temptations of the adversary, and to submit\ntheir wills to that of the Almighty.\n\nWhile she was speaking to them her three nieces, Attale, Eug\u00e9nie, and\nGundeline, shed floods of tears. Our dear saint, seeing their profound\ngrief, turned towards them and said: \u201cWeep not, beloved children. Your\ntears cannot prolong my existence here below. Go rather, all of you, to\nthe Chapel of Our Blessed Lady, pray together, recite the Psalms, and beg\nfor me the grace of a happy death.\u201d As soon as all the community had gone\nout to obey her wishes, the saint fell into an ecstasy, in which she had a\nforetaste of heavenly joys. Her companions, returning from the chapel and\nfinding her insensible, began to express their sorrow that she had\ndeparted without receiving Holy Communion. The saint, aroused by their\nsobs and groans, opened her eyes and said: \u201cWhy have you returned so soon,\nmy dear children, to disturb my repose? I was in the presence of the\nBlessed S. Lucius, and inexpressibly happy; for, as the apostle says, the\neye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart\nof man to conceive it.\u201d She then expressed an ardent desire to receive the\nmost Sacred Body and Precious Blood of our Lord. All at once, says the old\nlegend, a flood of dazzling light pervaded the chapel. The saint fell on\nher knees, all the Sisters imitating her example. A celestial ministrant,\nradiant with glory, appeared at the altar. He approached the dying abbess,\nplaced in her hands a wonderful chalice, and then reascended to\nheaven.(68) She communicated therefrom, murmured a last farewell to her\nchildren, joined her hands, and then the eyes, once opened by a miracle,\nclosed for ever to the light.\n\nAccording to her wishes, her body, extenuated with fasts and other\nausterities, was laid on a bear\u2019s skin, and exposed for eight days in the\nChapel of S. John the Baptist, on the Gospel side, and with the feet\nturned towards the altar. During this time a sweet odor spread throughout\nthe abbey. Her children felt that, instead of weeping for her who had\nfought the good fight, and never been wanting in her fidelity to God, they\nshould rather rejoice that she was called to receive the crown of\nrighteousness, and they to imitate her example and seek through her\nintercession for as happy an end.\n\nThus died, on the 13th of December, 7\u2014,(69) Odile, eldest daughter of\nAdalric, Duke of Alsace, abbess of the convents of Hohenbourg and\nNiederm\u00fcnster. Her mortal remains were covered with mastic, which, at\nfirst soft, became hard; then placed in a tomb of stone, which is still to\nbe seen.\n\nThe inmates of the two monasteries celebrated her obsequies with all the\nsolemnity due to their abbess and foundress, and with the recollection due\nto her sanctity. All the people of Alsace flocked to Hohenbourg to look\nonce more on the face of her to whom the unfortunate and the afflicted\nnever appealed in vain. Her inexhaustible charity, her zeal for Christian\nperfection, her austere and penitential life, and her good works without\nnumber, had during her life rendered her the object of public veneration.\nAs soon as she was dead a particular honor was paid her, first at\nHohenbourg, then throughout the whole province, which to this day invokes\nher as its patroness. This honor has been sanctioned by the church. Her\nvenerated sepulchre is in our day the most frequented place of pilgrimage\nin Alsace.\n\n\n\nXIII.\n\n\nOdile had acquired a taste for letters at the Abbey of Baume. She had a\nthorough knowledge of the Latin language, the Holy Scriptures, and\necclesiastical history. Her last will and testament, which has been\npreserved, proves that she was as enlightened as holy.(70) The monasteries\nshe founded did not degenerate in this respect. They were the asylums of\nlearning. In the XIIth century, says Grandidier, while a large part of\nEurope was plunged in ignorance and barbarism, the love of literature and\nthe sciences was to be found among some women of Alsace. Hohenbourg was\ninhabited by canonesses equally learned and regular. Three abbesses were\nespecially distinguished for their taste for poetry and literature in\ngeneral. The first, Ricklende or Kilinde, reformed the monastery in 1141.\nSome of her Latin verses, and the fragments of other works in that\nlanguage, have been preserved. Herrade de Landsberg, who succeeded her in\n1167, became still more celebrated. Grandidier, speaking of her, says:\n\u201cThe polite arts, painting, music, and poetry, charmed the leisure of this\nillustrious abbess.\u201d A collection of poetry in Latin, composed for the\ninstruction of her community, under the title of _Hortus Deliciarum_,(71)\nis still preserved. Gerlinde, her sister or cousin, succeeded her, and\nequalled her in taste and knowledge.\n\nThe first abbesses after S. Odile were her two nieces, S. Eug\u00e9nie and S.\nGundeline. They divided the authority. The first was Abbess of Hohenbourg,\nthe second of Niederm\u00fcnster. The revenues, which had hitherto been in\ncommon, were divided by Odile before her death. Only Oberehnheim remained\nundivided, that there might be a common tie between them.\n\nRegularity of monastic life and observances was maintained till the XIth\ncentury. The church was accidentally destroyed in 1045, but was rebuilt\nand consecrated to the Blessed Virgin by Bruno, Count of Dagsbourg, Bishop\nof Toul, and Landgrave of Alsace, a descendant of Odile\u2019s brother Etton. A\nfew years after it was again destroyed by the Hungarian invaders, and\nagain Bruno, who had become the Sovereign Pontiff in 1049 under the name\nof Leo IX., had it rebuilt. This pope, called to Germany by the interests\nof the church, went himself to Hohenbourg to consecrate the edifice and\nreassemble the dispersed sisterhood. He did not leave this place, so dear\nto his heart, till he had re\u2010established the monastic discipline.\n\nAbout a hundred years after this the community of Hohenbourg greatly\nrelaxed its fervor, the number of its subjects diminished, their revenues\ndecreased, and the buildings were decaying. The monastery would perhaps\nhave been abandoned had not Frederick Barbarossa, in his quality of Duke\nof Alsace, interfered to save so celebrated a house from falling. He sent\nto reform it Ricklende or Kilinde, whom he took from the Convent of Bergen\nin the Diocese of Eichstadt, and to whom he gave the title and rights of\nPrincess of the Holy Empire, and also bestowed on her large sums of money\nfor the reparation of the monastery. Ricklende, whom we have already\nmentioned, joined great zeal and piety to an enlarged mind and much\ninformation. Sustained by the authority of the emperor, she re\u2010established\ndiscipline in less than two years, as her successor, Herrade de Landsberg,\nformally testifies. The religious habit worn in this house was white,\n_albens quasi lilium_, says the _Hortus Deliciarum_. The bull of Pope\nLucius III. says they followed the rule of S. Augustine. Ricklende had\nunder her thirty\u2010three choir Sisters. In Herrade\u2019s time there were forty\u2010\nseven and thirteen lay Sisters. It was in the time of Herrade that the\nEmperor Henry VI., disregarding his oath, had Sibylla, the widow of\nTancred, and Constance, her daughter, arrested and conducted to Hohenbourg\nto take the veil.\n\nIn 1354 the Emperor Charles IV. visited S. Odile\u2019s tomb, Agnes de\nSlauffenberg being the abbess. He had the saint\u2019s body exhumed, and Jean\nde Lichtenberg, Bishop of Strasbourg, detached a part of the arm to be\ndeposited in the Cathedral of Prague. But, at the request of the\nsisterhood, Charles IV. drew up an act which forbade any one, under the\nseverest penalties, from ever opening the tomb again. The bishop\npronounced the sentence of excommunication on whomsoever should violate\nthis decree of the sovereign.(72)\n\nThe Abbey of Hohenbourg, or of S. Odile, as it was also called, was\ndestined to terrible disasters. It was sacked in the XIVth and XVth\ncenturies by the _grandes Compagnies_ by the Armagnacs and the\nBurgundians. It was still more unfortunate in the XVIth century.\nNiederm\u00fcnster was burned in 1542, and Hohenbourg on the 24th of March,\n1546. The canonesses and prebends then dispersed, and Jean de\nManderscheidt, Bishop of Strasbourg, fearing the Lutherans would seize the\nproperty belonging to the two abbeys, obtained permission from the Holy\nSee to annex it to the episcopal domains by paying the canonesses an\nannual pension. The monastery, rebuilt in 1607 by Cardinal Charles de\nLorraine and the Archduke Leopold, Bishops of Strasbourg, was burned anew\nin 1622 by the Lutheran army of the Count de Mansfeldt. The church was\nrepaired in 1630, but again devastated by the Brandenburg soldiers in\n1633. They removed the lead from the windows and organs for ball.\nSubsequent wars were also disastrous for Hohenbourg, and on the 7th of\nMay, 1681, the whole convent was again burned. Only the Chapel of Tears\nand that of the Angels remained standing.\n\nThe Premonstratensians of the ancient observance established themselves at\nHohenbourg in 1663, converting it into a priory. They began to rebuild it\nin 1684. Two of the monks, Father Hugues Peltre and Father Denys Albrecht,\ncarefully collected all the ancient accounts of S. Odile, and wrote\nbiographies of the saint, which we have freely made use of in this\naccount.\n\nNiederm\u00fcnster, which was given to the Grand Chapter of Strasbourg in 1558,\nis now only a heap of ruins. Rosine de Stein, who died in 1534, was the\nlast abbess.\n\nThe French Revolution had also its effect on Hohenbourg. A few days after\nthe decree of the National Assembly on the 13th of February, 1790,\nsuppressing the monastic vows, the Convent of S. Odile was vacated.\nNevertheless, pilgrimages to the shrine of the holy Patroness of Alsace\ncontinued to be frequent.\n\nNearly all that could nourish or excite the piety of the pilgrim had\ndisappeared from the antique cloister of Altitona, but Odile\u2019s tomb still\nremained and sufficed to attract a great number from all the surrounding\ncountries.\n\n\n\nXIV.\n\n\nOn the 7th of July, 1841, at nine o\u2019clock in the morning, the remains of\nS. Odile were taken out of the tomb where they had reposed so many\ncenturies, and exposed to public veneration on the altar of the chapel\nwhich bears her name. On the eve of this festival Mount Hohenbourg\npresented an animated spectacle. People from Alsace, Lorraine, and around\nMetz arrived in crowds. In ascending the mountain they dispersed to gather\nfoliage and wild flowers to deck the old Church of S. Odile with. Large\nvases were placed on the altars and the _boiserie_ around the church to\nreceive these floral offerings of successive groups. A fir\u2010tree from a\nneighboring forest stood beside each column of the nave. Garlands of box\nand of oak\u2010leaves hung from tree to tree and covered the trunks. S.\nOdile\u2019s tomb and altar were richly decorated and her statue crowned with\nflowers. The _ch\u00e2sse_ of the saint was placed on an elevation elegantly\ndraped. Thousands of pilgrims roamed around the precincts in the evening,\nvisiting successively the various sanctuaries.\n\nThe Chapel of Calvary particularly attracted them. It contained Adalric\u2019s\nremains, and among others a large painting in which were displayed the\ngenealogies of the houses of Alsace, Lorraine, France, and Austria, all of\nwhich drew their origin from Adalric and Berswinde, and, finally, an\nantique bedstead which tradition declared once belonged to King Dagobert.\n\nAt three o\u2019clock in the morning of July 7th the bells announced to the\nimpatient pilgrims that the doors of the church were open and the first\nMass about to commence. The edifice was immediately crammed; even the\nsanctuary was invaded. The neighboring chapels, the large court of the\nmonastery, and the green in front, were soon filled; but order reigned\neverywhere in the multitude of all ages, sexes, and ranks. Every face\nexpressed faith and the most fervent devotion. Eighty priests from Alsace,\nLorraine, the Grand Duchy of Baden, and even from Holland, enhanced by\ntheir presence the brilliancy of this festival, at once religious and\nnational. Masses succeeded each other till afternoon. The venerable Curate\nof Oberehnheim (the place of S. Odile\u2019s birth), who was the bishop\u2019s\ndelegate, gave the signal for the ceremony at nine o\u2019clock A.M. The\nremains of S. Odile were borne in procession by six priests. Censers waved\nand the sound of the bells mingled joyfully with the music and the ancient\nhymns of the church. The crowd opened for the procession to pass. Every\nface lights up, hands are clasped, and tears flow from all eyes. The\npresident of the festival, more than eighty years of age, pronounced the\npanegyric of the saint. Then followed a grand Mass, during which, and for\ntwo hours after, a constant file of pilgrims approached to venerate a\nrelic of the saint. The ceremonies closed with Benediction.\n\nThe _ch\u00e2sse_ was exposed during the whole Octave. From that time the\nconcourse of pilgrims has continued. There were fifteen hundred the\nfollowing Sunday. Hundreds of Communions are daily made at Hohenbourg, and\nperhaps the number of pilgrims has never been greater than of late.\n\nGlorious Patroness of Alsace, whose great heart, while on earth, was so\nfull of pity for the unfortunate, pray for thy unhappy country, now\ndevastated and full of woe!\n\n\n\n\nWind And Tide.\n\n\nI stood by the broad, deep river,\n The tide flowed firm to its mouth;\nI saw the sweet wind quiver,\n As it rose in the golden south.\nOn the river\u2019s bosom it fluttered,\n And kissed and caressed all day,\nAnd joys of the south it muttered:\n But the tide kept its northern way.\nTender and chaste was its suing,\n Till the face of the river\u2010bride\nRippled and gleamed in the wooing:\n But northward flowed the tide.\n\nAnd so, thought I, God\u2019s graces\n Woo our souls the livelong day,\nWhich brighten and smile in their faces:\n Sin bears us another way.\n\n\n\n\nMatter. IV.\n\n\nTo complete our investigation about the essential properties of matter,\none great question remains to be answered, viz.: _Is the matter of which\nbodies are made up intrinsically extended so as to fill a portion of\nspace, or does it ultimately consist of unextended points?_ We call this a\ngreat question, not indeed because of any great difficulty to be\nencountered in its solution, but because it has a great importance in\nmetaphysics, and because it has been at all times much ventilated by great\nphilosophers.\n\nThat bodies do not fill with their matter the dimensions of their volume\nis conceded by all, as porosity is a general property of bodies. That the\nmolecules, or chemical atoms, of which the mass of a body is composed, do\nnot touch one another with their matter, but are separated by appreciable\nintervals of space, is also admitted by our best scientists, though many\nof them are of opinion that those intervals are filled with a subtle\nmedium, by which calorific and luminous vibrations are supposed to be\npropagated. But with regard to the molecules themselves, the question,\nwhether their constitution is continuous or discrete, has not yet been\nsettled. Some teach, with the old physicists, that bodies are ultimately\nmade up of particles materially continuous, filling with their mass the\nwhole space occupied by their volume. These last particles they call\n_atoms_, because their mass is not susceptible of physical division,\nalthough their volume is infinitely divisible in a mathematical sense.\nOthers, on the contrary, deny the material continuity of matter, and hold\nwith Boscovich that, as all bodies are composed of discrete molecules, so\nare all molecules composed of discrete elements wholly destitute of\nmaterial extension, occupying distinct mathematical points in space, and\nbound by mutual action in mechanical systems differently constituted,\naccording to the different nature of the substances to which they belong.\n\nWhich of these two opinions is right? Although scientists more generally\nincline to the second, metaphysicians are still in favor of the first. Yet\nwe do not hesitate to say, though it may appear presumptuous on our part,\nthat it is not difficult to decide the question. Let the reader follow our\nreasoning upon the subject, and we confidently predict that he will soon\nbe satisfied of the truth of our assertion.\n\n_Groundless assumption of continuous matter._\u2014As the true metaphysics of\nmatter must be grounded on real facts, we may first inquire what facts, if\nany, can be adduced in favor of the intrinsic extension and material\ncontinuity of molecules. Is there any sensible fact which directly or\nindirectly proves such a continuity?\n\nWe must answer in the negative. For sensible facts are perceived by us in\nconsequence of the impressions which objects make on our senses; if,\ntherefore, such impressions are not calculated to reveal anything\nconcerning the question of material continuity, no sensible fact can be\nadduced as a proof of the continuity of matter. Now, the impressions made\non our senses cannot reveal anything about our question. For we know that\nbodies contain not only millions of pores, which are invisible to the\nnaked eye, but also millions of movable and separate particles, which are\nso minute that no microscope can make them visible, and which, though so\nextremely minute, are composed of millions of other particles still more\nminute, which have independent movements, and therefore possess an\nindependent existence. There are many species of animalcules (_infusoria_)\nso small that millions together would not equal the bulk of a grain of\nsand, and thousands might swim at once through the eye of a needle. These\nalmost infinitesimal animals are as well adapted to life as the largest\nbeasts, and their movements display all the phenomena of life, sense, and\ninstinct. They have nerves and muscles, organs of digestion and of\npropagation, liquids and solids of different kinds, etc. It is impossible\nto form a conception of the minute dimensions of these organic structures;\nand yet each separate organ of every animalcule is a compound of several\norganic substances, each in its turn comprising numberless atoms of\ncarbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. It is plain from this and other examples\nthat the actual magnitude of the ultimate molecules of any body is\nsomething completely beyond the reach of our senses to perceive or of our\nintellect to comprehend.(73) We must therefore concede that no impression\nreceived by our senses is calculated to make us perceive anything like a\nmolecule or to give us a clue to its constitution. To say that molecules\nare so many pieces of continuous matter is therefore to assert what no\nsensible fact can ever reveal.\n\nMoreover, we know of no sensible phenomenon which has any necessary\nconnection with the continuity of matter. Physicists and chemists, in\ntheir scientific explanation of phenomena, have no need of assuming the\nexistence of continuous matter, and acknowledge that there are no facts\nfrom which the theory of simple and unextended elements can be refuted.\nAnd the reason of this is clear; for the phenomena can be made the ground\nof experimental proofs only so far as they are perceived by our senses;\nand since our perception of them is confined within the narrow limits\nabove described, it is impossible to draw from sensible phenomena any\ndistinct conclusion regarding the constitution of molecules. Hence it is\nplain that no sensible fact exists which directly or indirectly proves the\ncontinuity of matter.\n\nSecondly, we may ask, Can the intrinsic extension and continuity of matter\nbe proved from the essence of material substance?\n\nThe answer must again be negative. For nothing can in any manner be\ninvolved in, or result from, the essence of material substance, unless it\nbe required either by the matter, or by the substantial form, or by the\nrelation and proportion which must exist between the form and the matter.\nBut neither the matter, nor the substantial form, nor their mutual\nrelation requires material continuity or material extension. Therefore the\nessence of material substance cannot supply us with any valid argument in\nfavor of the extension and continuity of matter.\n\nIn this syllogism the major proposition needs no proof, as it is evident\nthat material substance, like all other created things, essentially\nconsists of act and potency; and it is known that its act is called the\nsubstantial form, while its potency is called _the_ matter.(74) It is\ntherefore manifest that, if anything has a necessary connection with the\nessence of material substance, it must be of such a nature as to be needed\neither by the matter or by the substantial form, or by both together.\n\nThe minor proposition can be demonstrated as follows: In the first place,\ncontinuous quantity is not needed by the matter, whether actuated or\nactuable. For, as actuable, the matter is a \u201cmere potency\u201d (_pura\npotentia_) which has yet to receive its \u201cfirst actuality\u201d (_primum esse_),\nas philosophers agree; and accordingly it has no actual quantity or\ncontinuous extension, nor is it potential with respect to it, as its\npotency regards only existence (_primum esse_), and evidently existence is\nnot dimensive quantity. Hence the schoolmen unanimously maintain with\nAristotle that the first matter has \u201cno quiddity, no quality, and no\nquantity\u201d (_nec quid, nec quale, nec quantum_)\u2014a truth which we hope fully\nto explain in some future article. As actuated, the matter is nothing else\nthan a substantial term susceptible of local motion; for we know from\nphysics that material substance receives no other determination than to\nlocal movement, and for this reason, as we remarked in another place, it\nhas been defined _Ens mobile_, or a movable thing. Now, a term, to be\nsusceptible of local motion, needs no dimensions, as is evident. And\ntherefore the matter, whether actuated or not, has nothing in its nature\nwhich requires continuous extension.\n\nIn the second place, material continuity is not required by the nature of\nthe substantial form. This form may, in fact, be considered either as a\nprinciple of being or as a principle of operation. As a principle of\nbeing, it gives the first existence to its matter; and it is plain that to\ngive the first existence is not to give bulk. Our adversaries teach that\nwhat gives bulk to the bodies is quantity; and yet, surely, they will not\npretend that quantity is the substantial form. On the other hand, it is\nevident that _to be_ and _to have bulk_ are not the same thing; and since\nthe substantial form merely causes the matter _to be_, it would be absurd\nto infer that it must also cause it _to be extended_. As a principle of\noperation, the form needs matter only as a centre from which its exertions\nare directed. Now, the direction of the exertion, as well as that of the\nmovement, must be taken from a point to a point, not from a bulk to a\nbulk; and therefore the form, as a principle of operation, needs only one\npoint of matter. Thus it is clear that no material extension is required\nto suit the wants of the substantial form.\n\nIn the third place, material extension is not required to make the matter\nproportionate to its substantial form. We shall see later that no form\nwhich requires a determinate quantity of mass can be a substantial form in\nthe strict sense of the expression; at present it will suffice to keep in\nmind that the substantial form must give the first being to its matter,\nand that the matter is therefore perfectly proportioned to its substantial\nform by merely being in potency to receive its first being. Now, such a\npotency implies no extension; for if it did, the accident would precede\nthe substance. Besides, the matter before its first actuation is _a\nnonentity_, and, as such, is incapable of any positive disposition, as we\nshall more fully explain in the sequel. But a determinate bulk would be a\npositive disposition. Hence the matter which receives its first actuation\nis proportionate to its form independently of material extension. We can\ntherefore safely conclude that the essence of material substance supplies\nno proof whatever of the continuity of matter.\n\nThirdly, we ask, Can the continuity of matter be proved from mechanics?\n\nHere also our answer must be negative. For the theorems of mechanics are\neach and all demonstrated quite independently of the question of material\ncontinuity. The old writers of mechanical works (or rather the old\nmetaphysicians, from whom these writers borrowed their notion of matter)\nadmitted the continuity of matter on two grounds: first, because they\nthought that _nature abhorred a vacuum_; and, secondly, because they\nrejected the _actio in distans_ as impossible. But we have already shown\nthat no action of matter upon matter is possible, except on the condition\nthat the matter of the agent be distant from the matter of the patient;\nwhich implies that all the material particles, to act on their immediate\nneighbors, must be separately ubicated, with intervening vacuum. And thus\nthe only reasons by which the ancients could plausibly support the\ncontinuity of matter have lost all weight in the light of modern\nmechanics.\n\nFourthly: Can the continuity of matter be inferred from geometrical\nconsiderations?\n\nWe reply that it cannot. For geometric quantity is not a quantity of\n_matter_, but a quantity of _volume_\u2014that is, the quantity of space\nmensurable within certain limits. Hence it is evident that the continuity\nof the geometric quantity has nothing to do with the continuity of matter,\nand is not dependent on it, but wholly depends on the possibility of a\ncontinuous movement within the limits of the geometric space. In fact, we\nhave in geometry three dimensions\u2014length, breadth, and depth, which are\nsimple lines. Now, a line is not conceived as made up of material points\ntouching and continuing one another, but as the track of a point moving\nbetween certain limits; so that the continuity of the geometric dimensions\nis not grounded on any extension or continuation of material particles,\nbut on the possibility of continuous movement, on which the continuity of\ntime also depends. We must therefore remain satisfied that no geometrical\nconsideration can lend the least support to the hypothesis of material\ncontinuity.\n\nWe have thus exhausted all the sources from which any _\u00e0 priori_ or _\u00e0\nposteriori_ argument in favor of material continuity might have been\ndrawn, if any had been possible; and the result of our investigation\nauthorizes the conclusion that the hypothesis of continuous matter is both\nscientifically and philosophically gratuitous.\n\n_False reasonings in behalf of continuous matter._\u2014But some philosophers,\nwho are afraid that the denial of material continuity may subvert all the\nscholastic doctrines (to which they most laudably, but perhaps too\nexclusively, adhere in questions of natural science), contend that the\nexistence of continuous matter can be established by good philosophical\nreasons. It is therefore our duty, before we proceed further, to acquaint\nour reader with such reasons, and with our answers to them.\n\nThe first reason is the following: Geometry is a real, not a chimerical,\nscience; and therefore it has to deal with real bodies\u2014not indeed inasmuch\nas they are substances, but inasmuch as they have a quantity which can be\nconsidered in the abstract. Hence we must admit that the geometric\nquantity is a quantity of matter considered in the abstract; and\naccordingly, if the geometric quantity is continuous and infinitely\ndivisible, as no one doubts, the quantity of matter in the bodies must\nalso be continuous and infinitely divisible.\n\nWe reply that bodies have two very different kinds of quantity\u2014the\nquantity of the mass and the quantity of the volume\u2014and that geometry\ndeals indeed with the latter, but has nothing to do with the former. Hence\nthe geometric quantity is a quantity of volume or bulk, not a quantity of\nmatter; and therefore to argue that, because the geometric quantity is\ncontinuous and infinitely divisible, the same must be true of the quantity\nof matter, is to make an inexcusable confusion of matter with space. The\nargument might have some value, if the quantity of the volume could be\nmeasured by the quantity of the mass; but no one who has studied the first\nelements of physics can be ignorant that such is not the case. Equal\nmasses are found under unequal volumes, and unequal masses under equal\nvolumes. Volumes preserve the same geometric nature and the same geometric\nquantity, be they filled with matter or not. A cubic inch of platinum and\na cubic inch of water contain different amounts of matter, since the\nformer weighs twenty\u2010one times as much as the latter; and yet they are\ngeometrically equal. Geometry is not concerned with the density of bodies;\nand therefore geometrical quantities are altogether independent of the\nquantity of matter, and cannot be altered except by altering the relative\nposition of the extreme terms between which their three dimensions are\nmeasured. These dimensions are not made up of matter, but are mere\nrelations in space, with or without interjacent matter, representing, as\nwe have already observed, the quantity of continuous movement which is\npossible between the correlated terms; and their continuity depends on the\ncontinuity of space, not of matter.\n\nThe author from whom we have taken this objection pretends also that the\ngeometric quantity possesses no other attributes than those which belong\nto all quantity, and are essential to it; whence he concludes that\nwhatever is predicated of geometric quantity must also be predicated of\nthe quantity of matter. But the assumption is evidently false; for it is\nnot of the essence of all quantity to be continuous as the geometric\nquantity, it being manifest that discrete quantity is a true quantity,\nalthough it has no continuity. The general notion of quantity extends to\neverything which admits of _more_ or _less_; hence there is intensive\nquantity, extensive quantity, and numeric quantity. The first is measured\nby arbitrary degrees of intensity; the second is measured by arbitrary\nintervals of space and time; the third is measured by natural units\u2014that\nis, by individual realities as they exist in nature. It is therefore\nabsurd to pretend that whatever can be predicated of geometric quantity\nmust be predicated of all kinds of quantity.\n\nThe second reason adduced in behalf of material continuity is as follows:\nTo deny the continuity of matter is to destroy all real extension. For how\ncan real extension arise from simple unextended points arranged in a\ncertain manner, and acting upon one another? The notions of simplicity,\norder, and activity transcend the attributions of matter, and are\napplicable to all spiritual beings. If, then, extension could arise from\nsimple unextended elements by their arrangement and actions, why could not\nangels, by meeting in a sufficient number and acting on one another, give\nrise to extension, and form, say, a watermelon?\n\nThis argument has no weight whatever; but, as it appeared not many years\nago in a Catholic periodical of great reputation, we have thought it best\nto give it a place among other arguments of the same sort. Our answer is\nthat to deny the continuity of matter is not to deny real extension, but\nonly to maintain that _no real extension is made up of continuous matter_.\nAnd we are by no means embarrassed to explain \u201chow _real_ extension can\narise from simple unextended points.\u201d The thing is very plain. Two points,\n_A_ and _B_, being given in space, the interval of space between them is a\n_real_ interval, _really_ determined by the _real_ points _A_ and _B_, and\n_really_ determining the extension of the _real_ movement possible between\nthe same points. Such an interval is therefore a _real_ extension. This is\nthe way in which real extension arises from unextended points.\n\nNor can it be objected that nothing extended can be made up of unextended\npoints. This is true, of course, but has nothing to do with the question.\nFor we do not pretend that extension is _made up_ by composition of\npoints\u2014which would be a very gross error\u2014but we say that extension\n_results_ from the simple position of real points in space, and that it\nresults not _in_ them, but _between_ them. It is the mass of the body that\nis _made up_ of its components; and thus the sum _A_ + _B_ represents a\nmass, not an extension. The geometric dimensions, on the contrary, consist\nentirely of relations between distinct points intercepting mensurable\nspace. The distinct points are _the terms_ of the relation, while the\nextent of the space mensurable between them by continuous movement is _the\nformal reason_ of their relativity. And since this continuous movement may\nextend more or less, according as the terms are variously situated, hence\nthe resulting relation has the nature of continuous quantity. This\nsuffices to show that to deny the continuity of matter is _not_ to destroy\nall real extension.\n\nAnd now, what shall we say of those angels freely uniting to form a\nwatermelon? It is hardly necessary to say that this bright idea is only a\ndream. There is no volume without dimensions, no dimension without\ndistance, and no distance without terms distinctly ubicated in space and\nmarking out the point where the distance begins, and the point where it\nends. Now, nothing marks out a point in space but matter. Angels, as\ndestitute of matter, mark no points in space, and accordingly cannot\nterminate distances nor give rise to dimensions. Had they matter, they\nwould, like the simple elements, possess a formal ubication in space, and\ndetermine dimensions; but, owing to their spiritual nature, they transcend\nall local determinations, and have no formal ubication except in the\nintellectual sphere of their spiritual operation. It is therefore owing to\ntheir spirituality, and not to their simplicity, that they cannot form\nthemselves into a volume. Lastly, we must not forget that the \u201cangelic\u201d\nwatermelon should have not only volume, but mass also. Such a mass would,\nof course, be made up without matter. How a mass can be conceived without\nmatter is a profound secret, which the author of the argument very\nprudently avoided to reveal. But let us come to another objection.\n\nA third reason adduced in favor of continuous matter is that we cannot,\nwithout employing a vicious circle, account for the extension of bodies by\nthe notion either of space, distance, or movement. For these notions\nalready presuppose extension, and cannot be formed without a previous\nknowledge of what extension is. To think of space is, in fact, to think of\nextension. So also distance cannot be conceived except by imagining\nsomething extended, which lies, or can lie, between the distant terms.\nHence, to avoid the vicious circle, it is necessary to trace the origin of\nour notion of extension to the matter we see in the bodies. And therefore\nour very notion of extension is a sufficient proof of the existence of\ncontinuous matter.\n\nWe reply that this reason is even less plausible than the preceding one.\nTo form the abstract notion of extension, we must first directly perceive\nsome extension in the concrete, in the same manner as we must perceive\nconcrete humanity in individual men before we conceive humanity in the\nabstract. But in all sensible movements we directly perceive extension\nthrough space and time. Therefore from sensible movements, _without a\nprevious knowledge of extension_, we can form the notion of extension in\ngeneral. Is there any one who can find in this a vicious circle?\n\nThis answer might suffice. But we will further remark that the argument\nmay be retorted against its author. For if we cannot conceive movement as\nextending in space without a _previous_ knowledge of extension, how can we\nconceive matter as extending in space without a _previous_ knowledge of\nextension? And how can we conceive matter as continuous without a\n_previous_ knowledge of continuity, or time as enduring without a\n_previous_ knowledge of duration? To these questions the author of the\nargument can give no satisfactory answer without solving his own\nobjection. Space, distance, and movement, says he, involve extension; and\n_therefore_ they cannot be known \u201cwithout a previous knowledge of what\nextension is.\u201d It is evident that this conclusion is illogical; for if\nspace, distance, and movement imply extension, we cannot perceive space,\ndistance, and movement without directly perceiving extension; and, since\nthe direct perception of a thing does not require a _previous_ knowledge\nof it, the logical conclusion should have been that, to perceive space,\ndistance, and movement, no previous knowledge of extension is needed.\n\nOn the other hand, while our senses perceive the extension of continuous\nmovement in space, they are not competent to perceive material continuity\nin natural bodies. Hence it is from movement, and not from matter, that\nour notion of continuous extension is derived. In fact, to form a\nconception of the dimensions of a body, we survey it by a continuous\nmovement of our eyes from one end of it to the other. In this movement the\neye glides over innumerable pores, by which the material particles of the\nbody are separated. If our conception of the geometric extension of the\nbody depended on the continuity of its matter, these pores, as not\nconsisting of continuous matter, should all be thrown away in the\nmeasurement of the body. Why, then, do we consider them as contributing\nwith their own dimensions to form the total dimensions of the body? Merely\nbecause the geometric dimensions are estimated by movement, and not by\nmatter.\n\nNor is it in the least strange that we should know extension from\nmovement, and not from matter. For no one can perceive extension between\ntwo terms, unless he measures by continuous movement the space intercepted\nbetween them. The local relation between two terms cannot, in fact, be\nperceived otherwise than by referring the one term to the other through\nspace; hence no one ever perceives a distance between two given terms\notherwise than by drawing, at least mentally, a line from the one to the\nother\u2014that is, otherwise than by measuring by some movement the extent of\nthe movement which can take place between the two given terms. And this is\nwhat the very word _extension_ conveys. For this word is composed of the\npreposition _ex_, which connotes the term from which the movement begins,\nand of the verb _tendere_, which is a verb of motion. And thus everything\nshows that it is from motion, and not from continuous matter, that our\nfirst notion of extension proceeds.\n\nA sharp opponent, however, might still object that before we can perceive\nany movement we need to perceive something movable\u2014that is, visible\nmatter. But no matter is visible unless it be extended. Therefore\nextension must be perceived in matter itself before we can perceive it in\nlocal movement.\n\nBut we answer, first, that although nothing can be perceived by our senses\nunless it be extended, nevertheless we can see extended things without\nperceiving their extension. Thus we see many stars as mere points in\nspace, and yet we can perceive their movement from the east to the west.\nHence, although matter is not visible unless it be extended, it does not\nfollow that extension must be first perceived in matter itself.\n\nSecondly, we answer that when we perceive the movable matter as extended,\nwe do not judge of its extension by its movement, but by the movement\nwhich we ourselves have to make in going from one of its extremities to\nthe other. This is the only way of perceiving extension in space. For how\ncould we conceive anything as extended, if we could not see that it has\nparts outside of parts? And how could we pronounce that anything has parts\noutside of parts, if we did not see that between one part and another\nthere is a possibility of local movement? On the other hand, as soon as we\nperceive the possibility of local movement between distinct parts, we have\nsufficient evidence of geometric extension. And thus we have no need of\ncontinuous matter in order to perceive the volume of bodies.\n\nBefore we dismiss this subject, we must add that the advocates of\ncontinuous matter, while fighting against us, shield themselves with two\nother arguments. If matter is not continuous, they say, bodies will\nconsist of mere mathematical points acting at a distance; but _actio in\ndistans_ is the extreme of absurdity, and therefore bodies cannot consist\nof mathematical points. They also allege that _nature abhors a vacuum_,\nand therefore all space must be filled up with matter; which would be\nimpossible, were not matter continuous. That nature abhors a vacuum was\nonce considered a physical axiom; but, since science has destroyed the\nphysical grounds on which the pretended axiom rested, metaphysics has in\nits turn been appealed to, that the time\u2010honored dictum may not be\nconsigned to complete oblivion. It has therefore been pretended that space\nwithout matter is a mere delusion, and consequently that to make extension\ndependent on empty intervals of space imagined to intervene between\nmaterial points is to give a chimerical solution of the question of\nmaterial extension.\n\nThe first of these two arguments we have fully answered in our last\narticle, and we shall not again detain our readers with it. Let us notice,\nhowever, that when the elements of matter are called \u201cmathematical\u201d\npoints, the sense is not that they are not physical, but only that those\nphysical points are mathematically, or rigorously, unextended.\n\nThe second argument assumes that space void of matter is nothing. As we\ncannot enter here into a detailed examination of the nature of absolute\nspace, we shall content ourselves with the following answer: 1st. All real\nrelations require a real foundation. Real distances are real relations.\nTherefore real distances have a real foundation. But their foundation is\nnothing else than absolute space; and therefore absolute space is a\nreality. 2d. If empty space is nothing, then bodies were created in\nnothing, occupy nothing, and all spaces actually occupied are nothing. To\nsay, as so many have said, that empty space is nothing, and that space\noccupied by matter is a reality, is to say that _the absolute is nothing\nuntil it becomes relative_\u2014a proposition which is the main support of\nGerman pantheism, and which every man of sense must reject. 3d. Of two\ndifferent recipients, the greater has a greater capacity independently of\nthe matter which it may contain; for, whether it be filled with the rarest\ngas or with the densest metal, its capacity does not vary. It is therefore\nmanifest that its capacity is not determined by the matter it contains,\nbut only by the space intercepted between its limits. In the same manner\nthe smaller recipient has less capacity, irrespective of the matter it may\ncontain, and only in consequence of the space intercepted. If, therefore,\nspace, prescinding from the matter occupying it, is nothing, the greater\ncapacity will be a greater nothing, and the less capacity a less nothing.\nBut greater and less imply quantity, and quantity is something. Therefore\nnothing will be something.\n\nWe hope we shall hereafter have a better opportunity of developing these\nand other considerations on space; but the little we have said is\nsufficient, we believe, to show that the assumption of the unreality of\nspace unoccupied by matter is a philosophical absurdity.\n\nWe conclude that the existence of continuous matter cannot be proved, and\nthat those philosophers who still admit it cannot account for it by\nanything like a good argument. They can only shelter themselves behind the\nprejudices of their infancy, which they have been unable to discard, or\nbehind the venerable authority of the ancients, who, though deserving our\nadmiration in other respects, were led astray by the same popular\nprejudices, owing to their limited knowledge of natural science. We may be\nallowed to add that if the ancient philosophers are not to be blamed for\nadmitting continuous matter, the same cannot be said of those among our\ncontemporaries who, in the present state of science, are still satisfied\nwith their authority on the subject.\n\n_Mysterious attributes of continuous matter._\u2014Now, let us suppose that\nbodies, or their molecules, are made up of continuous matter, just as our\nopponents maintain; and let us see what must necessarily follow from such\na gratuitous assumption. In the first place, it follows that _a piece of\ncontinuous matter cannot be actuated by a single substantial act_. This is\neasily proved.\n\nFor a single act gives a single actual being; which is inconsistent with\nthe nature of continuous matter. Matter, to be continuous, must actually\ncontain distinct parts, united indeed, but having distinct ubications in\nspace. Now, with a single substantial act there cannot be distinct actual\nparts; for all actual distinction, according to the axiom of the schools,\nimplies distinct acts: _Actus est qui distinguit._ Therefore continuous\nmatter cannot be actuated by a single substantial act.\n\nAgain, a piece of continuous matter has dimensions, of which the beginning\nand the end must be quite distinct, the existence of the one not being the\nexistence of the other. But it is impossible for two things which have a\ndistinct existence to be under the same substantial act; for there cannot\nbe two existences without two formal principles. Hence, if there were any\ncontinuous matter, the beginning and the end of its dimensions should be\nactuated by distinct acts; and the same would be true of any two distinct\npoints throughout the same dimensions. Nor does it matter that the\ndimensions are supposed to be formed of one unbroken piece; for, before we\nconceive distinct parts, or terms, as forming the continuation of one\nanother, we must admit the substance of such parts, as their continuation\npresupposes their being. Hence, however intimately the parts may be\nunited, they always remain substantially distinct; which implies that each\none of them must have its own substantial act.\n\nMoreover, continuous extension is divisible. If, then, there is anywhere a\npiece of continuous matter, it may be divided into two, by God at least.\nBut as division is not a magical operation, and does not give the first\nexistence to the things which are divided, it is plain that the parts\nwhich after the division exist separately must have had their own distinct\nexistence before the division; and, evidently, they could not have a\ndistinct existence without being actuated by distinct substantial acts.\nWhat we say of these two parts applies to whatever other parts are\nobtainable by continuing the division. Whence it is manifest that\ncontinuous matter needs as many substantial acts as it has divisible\nparts.\n\nThe advocates of continuous matter try to decline this consequence by\npretending that matter, so long as it is undivided, is _one_ matter and\nneeds only one form; but this form, according to them, is divisible; hence\nwhen the matter is divided, each part of the matter retains its own\nportion of the substantial form, and thus the same form which gives\nexistence to the whole gives existence to the separate parts. This is,\nhowever, a mere subterfuge; for the undivided matter is indeed one\naccidentally, inasmuch as it has no _division_ of parts; but it is not one\nsubstantially, because it has _distinction_ of parts. This distinction\nexists before the division is made, and we have already seen that no\nactual distinction is possible without distinct acts. And again, the\nhypothesis that substantial forms are divisible, is a ridiculous fiction,\nto say the least. For nothing is divisible which has no multiplicity of\nparts and consequently a multiplicity of acts. How, then, can a\nsubstantial act, which is a single act, be conceived as divisible?\n\nThey also argue that as the soul, which is a simple form, actuates the\nwhole matter of the body, so can the material form actuate continuous\nmatter. This comparison may have some weight with those who confound the\n_essential_ with the _substantial_ forms, and believe that the soul gives\nthe first being to the matter of the body. But the truth is that the\nsubstance of the soul is the _essential_ form of the living organism, and\nnot the _substantial_ form giving the first being to matter. The organism\nand its matter must have their being in nature before being animated by\nthe soul; each part of matter in the body has therefore its own distinct\nmaterial form and its own distinct existence. The soul is a principle of\nlife, and gives nothing but life.(75) Hence the aforesaid comparison is\nfaulty, and leads to no conclusion.\n\nIn the second place it follows that _no continuous matter can be styled a\nsingle substance_.\n\nFor within the dimensions of continuous matter there must be as many\ndistinct substantial acts as there are material points distinct from one\nanother; it being clear that distinct points cannot have the same\nsubstantial actuation, and accordingly require distinct substantial acts\nand constitute distinct substances. Against this some will object that a\nmere point of matter is incapable of supporting the substantial form. But\nwe have already shown that the substantial form is not _supported_ by its\nmatter, as the objection assumes, but only terminated to it, the matter\nbeing the substantial term, not the subject, of the substantial form.(76)\nOn the other hand, it is manifest that a form naturally destined to act in\na sphere, by actuating a single point of matter, actuates just as much\nmatter as its nature requires. For it is from a single point, not from\nmany, that the action must be directed. Hence nothing more than a point of\nmatter is required to terminate the substantial form and to constitute a\nperfect substance. Additional proofs of this truth will be found in our\nnext article, where we shall rigorously demonstrate the impossibility of\ncontinuous matter. Meanwhile, nothing withstands our conclusion that there\nmust be as many distinct substances in continuous matter as there are\ndistinct points within its dimensions.\n\nIn the third place, it follows that _this multitude of distinct substances\nis not merely potential, but actual_.\n\nThis conclusion is very clear. For every multitude of actual parts is an\nactual multitude, or, as they say, a multitude in act. But in continuous\nmatter all the parts are actual, although they are not actually separated.\nTherefore the multitude of such parts is an actual multitude.\n\nThe upholders of continuous matter do not admit that this multitude is\nactual; they contend that it is only potential. For were they to concede\nthat it is actual, they would be compelled to admit either that it is\nactually finite, or that it is actually infinite. Now, they cannot say\nthat it is actually finite, because this would be against the well\u2010known\nnature of continuum, which admits of an endless division, and therefore\ncontains a multitude of parts which has no end. On the other hand, they\ncannot say that it is actually infinite; because, even admitting the\nabsolute possibility of a multitude actually infinite, it would still be\nabsurd to assert that such is the case with a piece of matter having\nfinite dimensions. Indeed, Leibnitz and Descartes did not hesitate to\nteach this latter absurdity; but they could not make it fashionable, and\nwere soon abandoned even by their own disciples. Thus the difficulty\nremained; and philosophers, being unable to solve it, tried to decline it\nby denying that there can be in the continuum an _actual_ multitude of\nparts. This was, in fact, the view of the old advocates of continuous\nmatter, who uniformly admitted that the parts of an unbroken continuum are\nmerely _potential_, and form a potential multitude. For, they say, the\n_actual_ multitude results from actual division, and therefore has no\nexistence in the undivided continuum.\n\nThis last view would be very good, if the continuum in question were\n_successive_\u2014as is the case with movement and time, which are always _in\nfieri_, and exist only by infinitesimals in an infinitesimal present, or\nif the continuum in question were _virtual_, as is the case with any\nmensurable interval of space; for evidently in these continuums no\n_actual_ multitude is to be found. But the case is quite different with\ncontinuous matter. For he who asserts the existence of continuous matter\nasserts the existence of a thing having parts _formally_ distinct and\n_simultaneous_. He therefore affirms the actual existence of a formal\nmultitude of distinct parts, or, in other terms, an actual multitude. To\ndeny the actual multitude of the parts, on the plea that there is no\nactual division, is to take refuge in a miserable sophism, which consists\nin denying the substantial distinction of the parts on the ground that\nthey are not divided, and in ignoring their actual being solely because\nthey have not a certain special mode of being.\n\nAs to the axiom that \u201cNumber results from division,\u201d two things are to be\nnoticed. The first is that the term \u201cdivision\u201d here means _mensuration_,\nnot separation. Thus we divide the day into twenty\u2010four hours, without\ndiscontinuing time for all that; and in like manner we divide the length\nof a journey into miles without discontinuing space. This shows that the\nnumbers obtained by the division of the continuum are only artificially or\nvirtually discrete, and that the continuum remains unbroken. The second is\nthat a number is not merely a multitude, but a multitude measured by a\ncertain unit, as S. Thomas aptly defines it: _Numerus est multitudo\nmensurata per unum_. Hence, if the unit of measure is arbitrary (as is the\ncase with all continuous quantities), the same quantity can be expressed\nby different numbers, according as a different unit is employed in\nmeasuring it. But so long as the unit is not determined, the quantity\ncannot be expressed by any definite number. And if the unit employed be\nless than any given finite quantity, the thing which is measured will\ncontain a multitude of such units greater than any given number. All such\nunits exist in the thing measured prior to its mensuration; and as such\nunits are actual and distinct, there can be no doubt that they constitute\nan actual multitude.\n\nSome modern advocates of continuous matter have imagined another means of\nevading the difficulty. Tongiorgi admits extended atoms of continuous\nmatter, but denies that their parts are _actually_ distinct. As, however,\nhe confesses that extension requires parts outside of parts (_Cosmol._, n.\n143), we may ask him: Are not such parts _actually_ distinct? Distinction\nis a negation of identity; and surely parts existing actually outside of\none another are not actually identical. They are therefore actually\ndistinct. Now, to use the very words of the author, \u201cwhere there are\ndistinct parts there is a plurality of units, that is, a multitude,\nalthough the parts which are distinct be united in a common term, as is\nthe case with the parts of continuum\u201d;(77) and therefore it is manifest\nthat the continuous atom involves actual multitude.\n\nLiberatore does not entirely deny the actual distinction of the parts in\ncontinuous matter, but maintains that the distinction is _incomplete_, and\naccordingly cannot give rise to an actual multitude. The parts of a\ncontinuum, says he, are united in a common term; hence they are\nincompletely distinct, and make no number, but are all one. They are\noutside of one another, yet in such a manner as to be also inside of one\nanother. They do not subsist in themselves, but in the whole. The whole\ndisplays many parts, but it is one, and its parts are so indeterminate\nthat they cannot be measured except by an arbitrary measure.(78)\n\nThis view scarcely deserves to be discussed, as the author himself owns\nthat it makes continuous matter seem somewhat\ncontradictory\u2014_Contradictoriis quodammodo notis subditur_\u2014though he\nattributes this kind of contradiction to the opposition which exists\nbetween the matter and the form\u2014an explanation which we do not admit for\nreasons which we shall give in our next article. But as to the assertion\nthat the parts of a continuum, on account of their having a common term,\nare only _incompletely_ distinct, we can show at once that the author is\nmuch mistaken. Incomplete distinction is a distinction which does not\ncompletely exclude identity. Hence where there is incomplete distinction\nthere is also incomplete identity. Now, not a shadow of identity is to be\nfound between any two parts of continuum. Therefore any two parts of\ncontinuum are completely distinct. Thus each of the twenty\u2010four hours into\nwhich we divide the day is completely distinct from every other, although\nthe one is united with the other in a common term; for it is evident that\nthe common term, having no extension, is no part of extension, and\ntherefore cannot originate identity between any two parts of extension. To\nsay that there is some identity, and therefore an incomplete distinction,\nbetween two extensions, because they have a common term which has no\nextension, is to pretend that the unextended has some identity with the\nextended; and this pretension is absurd. We conclude that, in spite of all\nthe efforts of our opponents, it is manifest that continuous matter would\nbe an _actual_ multitude of distinct, though not separated, substances.\n\nLastly, it follows that _actual continuous matter would be an actual\ninfinite multitude of substances_.\n\nThis conclusion is fully warranted by the infinite divisibility of the\ncontinuum. But here again the advocates of material continuity contend\nthat this divisibility is potential, and can never be reduced to act;\nwhence they infer that the multitude of the parts is not actual, but\npotential. We, however, repeat that if the division is potential, the\ndivisible matter is certainly actual; and therefore the potency of an\ninfinite division presupposes an infinite multitude of distinct terms\nactually existing in the divisible matter. And as we have already shown\nthat each distinct term must have a distinct substantial act, we must\nconclude that the least piece of continuous matter would consist of an\ninfinite actual multitude of substances\u2014a consequence whose monstrosity\nneeds no demonstration.\n\nHence we are not surprised to see that Goudin, one of the great champions\nof the old physics, considers continuous matter as \u201ca philosophic mystery,\nabout which reason teaches more than it can understand, and objects more\nthan it can answer.\u201d(79) He tries, however, to explain the mystery in some\nmanner, by adding that \u201cwhen the continuum is said to be infinitely\ndivisible, this must be understood mathematically, not physically\u2014that is,\nby considering the quantity as it is in itself, not as it is the property\nof a corporeal form. For in the process of the division we might finally\nreach a part so small that, if smaller, it would be insufficient to bear\nany natural form. Nevertheless, mathematically speaking, in that smallest\nphysical part there would still be two halves, and in these halves other\nhalves, and so on without end.\u201d(80)\n\nThis explanation is taken from S. Thomas (I _Phys._, lect. I.), and shows\nphilosophical thought; but, far from solving the difficulty, it rather\nproves that it is insoluble. For if, mathematically speaking, in the\nsmallest bit of continuous matter there are still halves, and halves of\nhalves, clearly there are in it distinct parts of matter, and therefore\ndistinct forms actuating each of them distinctly, as the being of each\npart is not the being of any other part. It is therefore false that\nnothing smaller is sufficient to bear any natural form. And hence the\ndifficulty is not solved. On the other hand, the necessity of resorting to\npurely mathematical (geometric) quantity clearly shows that it is _the\nspace_ inclosed in the volume of the body (of which alone geometry\ntreats), and not _the matter_ (of which geometry has nothing to say), that\nis infinitely divisible; and this amounts to a confession that continuous\nmatter has no existence.\n\nWhile making these remarks, we willingly acknowledge that S. Thomas and\nall the ancients who considered air, water, fire, and earth as the first\nelements of all things, were perfectly consistent in teaching that natural\nforms require a definite amount of matter. For by \u201cnatural forms\u201d they\nmeant those forms from which the specific properties of sensible things\nemanate. Now, all things that are sensible are materially compounded in a\ngreater or less degree, and possess properties which cannot be ascribed to\na single material point. So far, then, these ancient philosophers were\nright. But they should have considered that the required amount of matter\nought to consist of distinct parts, having their own distinct being, and\ntherefore their own distinct substantial acts. This would have led them to\nthe conclusion that the natural form of air, water, etc., was not a form\ngiving the first being to the material parts, but a form of natural\ncomposition giving the first being to the compound nature. But let us stop\nhere for the present. We have shown that continuous matter cannot be\nproved to exist, and is, at best, a \u201cphilosophic mystery.\u201d In our next\narticle we shall go a step further, and prove that material continuity is\na metaphysical impossibility.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nNew Publications.\n\n\n ALZOG\u2019S UNIVERSAL CHURCH HISTORY. Pabisch and Byrne. Vol I.\n Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. 1874. (New York: Sold by The\n Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n\nThis manual for ecclesiastical students is confessedly the best extant.\nDr. Pabisch, the chief translator and editor, is well known for his vast\nerudition, and his associate, the Rev. Mr. Byrne, has paid careful\nattention to the style of rendering the German into English. The\npublishers have made the exterior of the work worthy of its contents. We\nneed not say any more to recommend a work which speaks for itself and has\nreceived the sanction of names the highest in ecclesiastical rank and\ntheological repute in this country.\n\n\n HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. By James Walsh.\n Glasgow: Hugh Margey. 1874. (New York: Sold by The Catholic\n Publication Society.)\n\n\nThis is a valuable work, because it is the only one of its kind, and, even\nwere there others, it would stand on its own merits and still be valuable.\n\nScotland being so closely united in its history and destinies, and having\nso much in common with the sister countries, the history of the Scottish\nChurch must necessarily have a close affinity and throw much light upon\nthe ecclesiastical annals of England and Ireland; so that the interest and\nimportance of this work is greatly heightened by the fact that it supplies\nan integral part of the history of Christianity in the British Isles.\nHitherto that history was not complete. It may be said to be completed\nnow. If those among our separated brethren who pretend to seek so\ndiligently after truth in the teachings and practices of the early church\nwill deign to glance at these pages, they will find that Scotland too was\nevangelized by the popes, and that its first Christians professed, not a\nmutilated Christianity, but the whole cycle of Catholic doctrine. They\nwill learn, moreover, that the so\u2010called Reformation in Scotland was\nentirely a political job, and that there, as elsewhere, the Protestantism\nin which they pride themselves was tinkered up by a herd of fanatics and\nfoisted upon the people by a rapacious, profligate, unprincipled nobility.\nNever was there a more truthful page of history written than this. The\nauthor, though he modestly claims for himself nothing more than the title\nof compiler, has many of the qualifications of an historian; his research\nhas been long and laborious, and he notices only the most authentic\ndocuments and records of the past. In no instance do we discover any\nattempt to color or gloss over any of his statements, and he is never\nbetrayed into exaggerating the virtues or concealing the faults of his\ncountrymen.\n\n\n MANUAL OF MYTHOLOGY: GREEK AND ROMAN, NORSE AND OLD GERMAN, HINDOO\n AND EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. By Alexander S. Murray, Department of\n Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum. Second Edition.\n Rewritten and considerably enlarged. With forty\u2010five plates. New\n York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 654 Broadway. 1874.\n\n\nAs a manual of mythology this seems to be as concise, complete, and\naccurate as such a book can be made. As a specimen of art it is\nremarkable. The author is apparently one of our modern, cultivated pagans,\nvery much at home among the heathen religions he describes. The very brief\nexposition of his own theological opinions contained in his introduction\nignores the true and primitive religion revealed from heaven altogether,\nand propounds the utterly unhistorical, pernicious, and false notion that\nmonotheism is a development from polytheism produced by intellectual\nprogress. The author does not, however, put forth anti\u2010Christian views in\nan offensive or obtrusive manner, and indeed all he says is included in a\nfew sentences. We cannot, certainly, recommend the study of pagan\nmythology to young pupils, or consider the present volume as suitable for\nindiscriminate perusal. Those who are fit for such studies, and for whom\nthey are necessary or proper, will find it a very satisfactory compendium\nof information and a work of truly classical taste and elegance.\n\n\n CURTIUS\u2019 HISTORY OF GREECE. Vol. V. New York: Scribner, Armstrong\n & Co. 1874.\n\n\nThis volume completes the work of Dr. Curtius. We have already given it\nthe high commendation which it deserves in our notices of previous\nvolumes. It is one of the first\u2010class historical works of German\nscholarship, and this is the highest praise that can be given to any work\nin those departments in which German scholars excel, so far as learning\nand ability are concerned.\n\n\n A THEORY OF FINE ART. By Joseph Torrey, late Professor of Moral\n and Intellectual Philosophy in the University of Vermont. New\n York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1874.\n\n\nLooking through this treatise of Prof. Torrey, whose intellectual head,\nstamped in gold on the cover, leads the reader to expect a thoughtful work\non the most attractive subject of \u00e6sthetics, our impression is decidedly\nfavorable. The University of Vermont used to be considered as quite\nremarkable for an elevated, philosophical tone. Such seems to be the\ncharacter of this condensed summary of the retired professor\u2019s lectures on\nart, evidently the result of much study and observation, and given to the\nreader in that pleasing style which best suits such a very pleasant branch\nof knowledge.\n\n\n PROTESTANT JOURNALISM. By the author of _My Clerical Friends_.\n London: Burns & Oates. 1874. (New York: Sold by The Catholic\n Publication Society.)\n\n\nIt is enough to name the author of this collection of short, lively\nessays\u2014Dr. Marshall. It is the cream of the London _Tablet\u2019s_ articles,\nduring the author\u2019s active connection with that journal, on the most\nliving and interesting topics of the day in regard to the warfare between\nthe Catholic Church and her enemies. We recommend it to universal reading\nand circulation in the warmest possible manner, and with the most sincere\ndesire that the author may long be spared to continue his admirable and\nuseful career as a champion of religion and truth.\n\n\n CHARTERIS; A Romance. By Mary M. Meline. Philadelphia: J. B.\n Lippincott & Co. 1874.\n\n\nThis romance does not belie its name in its contents. Its plot and\nincidents are romantic and tragic in the highest degree. Bordering, at\nleast, on the improbable, as they are, they are nevertheless managed with\na very considerable degree of skill and power by the author, who has\nimproved very much on her last story, _In Six Months_. The characters are\ndrawn with free and bold strokes, and have dramatic individuality. The\nplot excites even a painful interest all through, and there is no mawkish\nsentimentalism anywhere. Some scenes are remarkably well drawn. There are\nno lectures on religion or morals, but the purity of a true Catholic\nwoman\u2019s faith and morality shines through the whole story. We may\ncongratulate the fair author on her success.\n\n\n KATHERINE EARLE. By Miss Adeline Trafton. Boston: Lee & Shepard.\n 1874.\n\n\nAn interesting story, beautifully illustrated and neatly bound.\n\n\n SUMMER TALKS ABOUT LOURDES. By Cecilia Mary Caddell. London: Burns\n & Oates. 1874. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication\n Society.)\n\n\nIn this little book the authoress relates some of the wonderful miracles\nof Lourdes. Its style is simple and chaste, and, we should say,\nparticularly suited for children.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CATHOLIC WORLD. VOL. XX., NO. 117.\u2014DECEMBER, 1874.\n\n\n\n\nThe Persecution Of The Church In The German Empire.\n\n\nThe Catholics are suffering today, in the very heart of Europe, a\npersecution which, if less bloody, is not less cruel or unjust, than that\nwhich afflicted the Christian Church in the beginning of the IVth century,\nunder the reign of the brutal old emperor, Diocletian. The prisons of\nGermany are filled with confessors of the faith, who, in the midst of\nevery indignity and outrage, bear themselves with a constancy and heroism\nnot unworthy of the early martyrs. And it is strange, too, that this\nstruggle should be only a renewal of the old conflict between Christ and\nC\u00e6sar, between the Son of Man and the prince of this world. In fact, anti\u2010\nChristian Europe is using every exertion to re\u2010create society on the model\nof Grecian and Roman paganism. This tendency is manifest in all the\nvarious realms of thought and action.\n\nWe perceive it\u2014and we speak now more particularly of Germany\u2014in\nliterature, in science, in the manner of dealing with all the great\nproblems which concern man in his relations with both the visible and the\nunseen world; and it looms up before us, in palpable form and gigantic\nproportions, in the whole attitude of the state toward the church. There\nhas never lived on this earth a more thorough pagan than Goethe, the great\nidol of German literature, to whom the very sign of the cross was so\nhateful that in his notorious Venetian Epigram he put it side by side with\ngarlic and vermin. The thought of self\u2010sacrifice and self\u2010denial was so\nodious to his lustful and all\u2010indulgent nature that he turned from its\ngreat emblem with uncontrollable disgust, and openly proclaimed himself a\n\u201cdecidirter Nichtchrist.\u201d \u201cDas Ewig Weibliche\u201d\u2014sensualism and\nsexualism\u2014were the gods of his heart, in whose praise alone he attuned his\nlyre. And Schiller, in his _Gods of Greece_, complained sorrowingly that\nall the fair world of gods and goddesses should have vanished, that one\n(the God of the Christian) might be enriched; and with tender longing he\nprayed that \u201cnature\u2019s sweet morn\u201d might again return.\n\nBoth the religion and the philosophy of paganism were based upon the\ndeification of nature, and were consequently pantheistic. Now, this pagan\npantheism recrudescent is the one permanent type amid the endless\nvariations of modern German sophistry. It underlies the theorizing of\nSchelling, Fichte, and Hegel, as well as that of Feuerbach, B\u00fcchner, and\nStrauss. They all assume the non\u2010existence of a personal God, and transfer\nhis attributes to nature, which is, in their eyes, the mother of all, the\nsole existence, and the supreme good. This pantheism, which confuses all\nthings in extricable chaos, spirit with matter, thought with sensation,\nthe infinite with the finite, destroying the very elements of reason, and\ntaking from language its essential meaning, has infected all non\u2010Catholic\nthought in Germany. When we descend from the misty heights of speculation,\nwe find pantheistic paganism in the idolatry of science and culture, which\nhave taken the place of dogma and morality. It is held to be an axiom that\nman is simply a product of nature, who knows herself in him as she feels\nherself in the animal.\n\nThe formulas in which the thought is clothed are of minor importance. In\nthe ultimate analysis we find in all the conflicting schools of German\ninfidelity this sentiment, however widely its expression may vary: that\nnature is supreme, and there is no God beside. The cosmos, instead of a\npersonal God, is the ultimate fact beyond which science professes to be\nunable to proceed; and therefore the duality of ends, aims, and results\nwhich underlies the Christian conception of the universe must necessarily\ndisappear. There is no longer God and the world, spirit and matter, good\nand evil, heaven and hell; there is not even man and the brute. There is\nonly the cosmos, which is one; and from this it necessarily follows that\nthe distinction between the spiritual and the temporal power is unreal and\nshould cease to be recognized.\n\nNow, here we have discovered the very germ from which the whole Prussian\npersecution has sprung. In the last analysis it rests upon the assumption\nthat the spiritual power has no right to exist, since the truths upon\nwhich it was supposed to be based\u2014as God, the soul, and a future life\u2014are\nproven to be myths. Hence the state is the only autonomy, and to claim\nauthority not derived from it is treason. Thus the struggle now going on\nin Prussia is for life or death. It rages around the very central citadel\nof the soul and of all religion. The Catholics of Germany are to\u2010day\ncontending for what the Christians of the first centuries died\u2014the right\nto live. To understand this better it will be well to consider for a\nmoment the attributes of the state in pagan Greece and Rome.\n\nHellenic religion, in its distinctive forms, had its origin in the\ndeification of nature and of man as her crowning work, and both were\nidentified with the state. Hence religion was hero\u2010worship; the good man\nwas the good citizen, the saint was the successful warrior who struck\nterror into the enemies of his country, and thus the religious feeling was\nconfounded with the patriotic spirit. To be a true citizen of the state,\nit was necessary to profess the national religion; and to be loyal to the\nstate was to be true to its protecting gods. The highest act of religion\nwas to beat back the invader or to die gloriously on the battle\u2010field.\nIndeed, in paganism we find no idea of a non\u2010national religion. The pagan\nstate, whether imperial, monarchical, or republican, was essentially\ntyrannical, wholly incompatible with freedom as understood in Christian\nsociety. To be free was to be, soul and body, the slave of the state.\nPlato gives to his ideal Republic unlimited power to control the will of\nthe individual, to direct all his thoughts and actions, to model and shape\nhis whole life. He merges the family and its privileges into the state and\nits rights, gives the government absolute authority in the education of\nits subjects, and even places the propagation of the race under state\nsupervision.\n\nThe pagan state was also essentially military, recognizing no rights\nexcept those which it had not the power to violate. Now, the preaching of\nChrist was in direct contradiction to this whole theory of government. He\ndeclared that God and the soul have rights as well as C\u00e6sar, and\nproclaimed the higher law which affirms that man has a destiny superior to\nthat of being a citizen of any state, however glorious; which imposes upon\nhim duties that transcend the sphere of all human authority. Thus religion\nbecame the supreme law of life, and the recognition of the indefeasible\nrights of conscience gave to man citizenship in a kingdom not of this\nworld. It, in consequence, became his duty as well as his privilege to\nobey first the laws of this supernatural kingdom, and to insist upon this\ndivine obligation, even though the whole world should oppose him.\n\nThis teaching of Christ at once lifted religion above the control of the\nstate, and, cutting loose the bonds of servitude which had made it\nnational and narrow, declared it catholic, of the whole earth and for all\nmen. He sent his apostles, not to the Jew, or the Greek, or the Gentile,\nbut to all the nations, and in his church he recognized no distinction of\nrace or social condition\u2014the slave was like the freeman, the beggar like\nthe king.\n\nThis doctrine, the most beneficent and humanitarian that the world has\never heard, brought forth from the oblivion of ages the all\u2010forgotten\ntruth of the brotherhood of the race, and raised man to a level on which\npaganism was not able even to contemplate him; proclaiming that man, for\nbeing simply man, irrespective of race, nationality, or condition, is\nworthy of honor and reverence. Now, it was precisely this catholic and\nnon\u2010national character of the religion of Christ which brought it into\nconflict with the pagan state. The Christians, it was held, could not be\nloyal citizens of the empire, because they did not profess the religion of\nthe empire, and refused to sacrifice to the divinity of C\u00e6sar. They were\ntraitors, because in those things which concerned faith they were resolved\nnot to recognize on the part of the state any right to interfere; and\ntherefore were they cast into prison, thrown to the wild beasts in the\nAmphitheatre, and devoured under the approving eyes of the worshippers of\nthe emperor\u2019s divinity. This history is repeating itself in Prussia to\u2010\nday.\n\nMany causes have, within the present century, helped to strengthen the\nnational feeling in Germany. The terrible outrages and humiliations\ninflicted upon her by the pitiless soldiers of the first Napoleon made it\nevident that the common safety required that the bonds of brotherhood\namong the peoples of the different German states should be drawn tighter.\nThe development of a national literature also helped to foster a longing\nfor national unity. In the XVIIth, and even down to nearly the end of the\nXVIIIth, century, French influence, extending from the courts of princes\nto the closets of the learned, gave tone to both literature and politics.\n\nLeibnitz wrote in French or Latin, and Frederick the Great strove to\nforget his own tongue, that he might learn to speak French with idiomatic\npurity\u2014an accomplishment which he never acquired.\n\nAs there was no German literature, the national feeling lacked one of its\nmost powerful stimulants. But in the latter half of the XVIIIth century,\nand during the first half of the XIXth, a literature rich, profound,\nthoroughly German, the creation of some of the highest names in the world\nof letters, came into existence, and was both a cause and an effect of the\nnational awakening. Goethe especially did much, by the absolute ascendency\nwhich he acquired in the literature of his country, to unify and harmonize\nthe national mind.\n\nStill, a thousand interests and jealousies, local and dynastic, old\nprescriptive rights, and a constitutional slowness and sluggishness in the\nGermanic temperament, stood in the way of a united fatherland, and had to\nbe got rid of or overcome by force before the dream of the nationalists\ncould become a reality.\n\nPrussia, founded by rapine, built up and strengthened by war and conquest,\nhas always been a heartless, self\u2010seeking state. The youngest of the great\nEuropean states, and for a long time one of the most inconsiderable, she\nhas gradually grown to be the first military power of the world. Already,\nin the time of Frederick the Great, she was the formidable rival of\nAustria in the contest for the hegemony of the other German states. This\nstruggle ended, in 1866, in the utter defeat of Austria on the field of\nSadowa. Hanover, Saxony, Hesse\u2010Cassel, and other minor principalities were\nat once absorbed by Prussia, who, besides greatly increasing her strength,\nthus became the champion of German unity. But German unity was a menace to\nFrance, who could not possibly maintain her preponderance in European\naffairs in the presence of a united Germany. Hence the irrepressible\nconflict between France and Prussia, which ended in the catastrophe of\nSedan.\n\nThe King of Prussia became the Emperor of Germany, and German national\npride and enthusiasm reached a degree bordering on frenzy.\n\nBy a remarkable coincidence the Franco\u2010Prussian war broke out at the very\nmoment when the dogma of Papal infallibility was defined, and immediately\nafter the capitulation of Sedan, Victor Emanuel took possession of Rome.\nThe Pope was without temporal power\u2014a prisoner indeed. The feeling against\nthe newly\u2010defined dogma was especially strong in Germany, where the\nsystematic warfare carried on by the _Janus_ party against the Vatican\nCouncil had warped the public mind. France, the eldest daughter of the\nchurch, was lying, bleeding and crushed, at the feet of the conqueror. The\ntime seemed to have arrived when the bond which united the Catholics of\nGermany with the Pope, and through him with the church universal, might\neasily be broken.\n\nThe defection of D\u00f6llinger and other rationalistic professors, as well as\nthe attitude of many of the German bishops in the council, and the views\nwhich they had expressed with regard to the probable results of a\ndefinition of the infallibility of the Pope, tended to confirm those who\ncontrolled the policy of the new empire in the opinion that there would be\nno great difficulty in forming the Catholics of Germany into a kind of\nnational religious body wholly subject to the state, even in matters of\nfaith. If we add to this the fact that the infidels of our day have a kind\nof superstition which leads them to think that all religious faith has\ngrown weak, and that those who believe are for the most part hypocritical,\ninsincere, and by no means anxious to suffer for conscience\u2019s sake, we\nshall be able to understand how Bismarck, who is utterly indifferent to\nall religion, and who believes in nothing except the omnipotence of the\nstate, should have persuaded himself to destroy the religious freedom\nwhich had come to be considered the common property of Christendom.\nAlready, in the month of August immediately following the close of the war\nwith France, we find the Northern German press, which obsequiously obeys\nhis orders, beginning to throw out hints that Rome had always been the\nenemy of Germany; that her claims were incompatible with the rights of the\nstate and hurtful to the national development; and that, in presence of\nthe newly\u2010defined dogma of Papal infallibility, the necessity of resisting\nher ever\u2010increasing encroachments upon the domain of the civil authority\nhad become imperative. The watchword given by the official press was\neverywhere re\u2010echoed by the organs of both infidel and Protestant opinion,\nand it at once became evident that the German Empire intended to make war\non the Catholic Church.\n\nThere was yet another end to be subserved by the persecution of the\nchurch. Bismarck made no secret of his fears of a democratic movement in\nGermany after the excitement of the French campaign had died away, and he\nhoped to avert this danger by inflaming the religious prejudices of the\ninfidel and Protestant population.\n\nOn the 8th of July, 1871, the Catholic department in the Ministry of\nPublic Worship was abolished, and the government openly lent its influence\nto the Old Catholic movement.\n\nAccording to the Prussian constitution, religious instruction in the\ngymnasia is obligatory; but where a portion or all of the students were\nCatholics, the state recognized that their religious instructors should\nnot be appointed until they had received the approbation of the bishop.\nDr. Wollmann, who had for a long time held the office of teacher of\nreligion in the Catholic gymnasium of Braunsberg, apostatized after the\nVatican Council, and was, in consequence, suspended from the exercise of\nthe priestly office by his bishop, who declared that, since Wollmann had\nleft the church, he could no longer be considered a suitable religious\ninstructor of Catholic youth. Von M\u00fchler, the Minister of Public Worship,\nrefused to remove Wollmann; and since religious instruction is compulsory,\nthe pupils who could not in conscience attend his classes were forced to\nleave the school.\n\nThis act of Von M\u00fchler was in open violation of the Prussian constitution,\nwhich expressly recognized in the Catholic Church the right of directing\nthe religious instruction of its members.\n\nTo require that Catholics should send their children to the lessons of an\nexcommunicated priest was to trample upon the most sacred rights of\nconscience. By declaring, as in this case, that those who rejected the\ndogma of infallibility were true Catholics, the German government plainly\nshowed that it intended to assume the competency of deciding in all\nmatters of faith, and consequently to wholly ignore the existence of any\nreligious authority distinct from that of the state.\n\nBismarck\u2019s next move was not less arbitrary or tyrannical. He proposed to\nthe Federal Council and Reichstag a law against what was termed the abuse\nof the pulpit, by which the office of preaching should be placed under the\nsupervision of the police.\n\nThis law, which was passed by a feeble majority, was simply a renewal of\nthe attempt to suppress Christianity made by the Jewish Council in\nJerusalem when the apostles first began to preach in the name of Jesus,\nwithout asking permission of the rulers of the people: \u201cBut that it may be\nno further spread among the people, let us threaten them, that they speak\nno more in this name to any man. And calling them, they charged them not\nto speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus\u201d (Acts iv. 17, 18).\n\nThe injustice of this law was very well shown by the Saxon member of the\nFederal Council, who pointed out the fact that, whilst liberty of speech\nwas denied to Catholic priests, socialists and infidels were permitted\nevery day to attack the very foundations of all government and\ncivilization.\n\nThis, however, is but the necessary consequence of the theory of the\n_state\u2010God_. To preach in the name of any other God is treason; whereas\natheism is the correlative of the omnipotence of the government. That the\npresent tendency in Germany is to put the nation in the place of God is\nexpressly recognized by the _Allgemeine Evang. Luth. Kirchenzeitung_,\nwhich is the organ of orthodox Lutheranism. These are its words: \u201cFor the\ndogmatic teaching of Christianity they hope to substitute the national\nelement. The national idea will form the germ of the new religion of the\nempire. We have already seen the emblems which foreshadow the manner in\nwhich this new worship is to be organized. Instead of the Christian\nfestivals, they will celebrate the national memories, and will call to the\nchurches the masses to whom the road is no longer known. Have we not seen,\non the anniversary of Sedan, the _eidolon_ of the emperor placed upon the\naltar, whilst the pulpit was surrounded with the busts of the heroes of\nthe war?\n\n\u201cDuring eight days they wove crowns of oak\u2010leaves and the church was\nfilled; whilst out of ten thousand parishioners, scarcely a dozen can be\ngot together to listen to the word of God. Such is the religion of the\nfuture church of the empire. Little more is needed to revive the ancient\nworship of the Roman emperors; and if the history of Germany is to be\nreduced to this duel between the church of the emperor and that of the\nPope, we must see on which side the Lutherans will stand.\u201d\n\nThe next attack on the church was made under cover of an enactment on the\ninspection of public schools. A project of law was presented to the House\nof Deputies, excluding all priests from the inspection of schools, and at\nthe same time obliging them to undertake this office whenever asked to do\nso by the state authorities. This latter clause was, however, so openly\nunjust that it was rejected by the House. But the law, even as it stands,\nis a virtual denial that Catholic schools have any right to exist at all,\nand is an evidence that the German Empire intends to destroy Christian\nfaith by establishing an atheistic system of popular education.\n\nAnd now war was declared against the Jesuits. The Congress of the Old\nCatholics, which met at Munich in September, 1871, had passed violent\nresolutions against the order; and later the Old Catholic Committee at\nCologne presented a petition against the Jesuits to the imperial\nParliament.\n\nThe debate was opened in the month of May, 1872. A project of law,\nrestricting the liberties of religious orders, and especially directed\nagainst the Society of Jesus, was brought before the Federal Council and\naccepted by a large majority. When it came before the imperial Parliament,\namendments were added rendering it still more harsh and tyrannical. The\norder was to be shut out from the empire, its houses to be closed, foreign\nJesuits were to be expelled, and the German members of the society were to\nbe confined to certain districts; and the execution of these measures was\nto be entrusted to the Federal Council.\n\nOn the 4th of July the law received the approval of the emperor, and on\nthe 5th it was promulgated.\n\nThus in the most arbitrary manner, without any legal proceedings, hundreds\nof German citizens, against whom there was not the slightest proof of\nguilt, were deprived of all rights and expelled from their country.\nBesides, the measure was based upon the most ignorant misconception of the\nreal condition of the church, and was therefore necessarily ineffective.\nThe religious orders and the secular priesthood do not represent opposite\ntendencies in the church; their aims are identical, and, in our day at\nleast, the secular priests are as zealous, as active, and as efficient as\nthe members of the religious orders.\n\nWhat end, then, was to be gained by expelling the Jesuits, whilst devoted\nand faithful priests were left to minister to the Catholic people, whose\nfaith had been roused by this scandalous persecution of men whom they knew\nto be guilty of no crime except that of loving Jesus Christ and his\nchurch? The blow struck at the Jesuits was, in truth, aimed at the church,\nand this the bishops, priests, and entire Catholic people of Germany at\nonce recognized. They saw now, since even the possibility of doubting was\nno longer left to them, that the German Empire had declared open war\nagainst the church; and Bismarck, seeing that his half\u2010way measures had\ndeceived no one, resolved to adopt a policy of open violence. With this\nview a new minister of Public Worship was appointed in the person of Dr.\nFalk, who drew up the plan of the famous Four Church Laws to which he has\ngiven his name, and which was adopted on the 11th of May, 1873.\n\nIn virtue of these laws\u2014which it is unnecessary to transcribe in full\u2014the\nstate arrogates the right of appointing to all ecclesiastical offices,\nsince the government claims authority to approve or annul all nominations\nmade by the bishops; and the President of the Province (_Oberpraesident_)\nis bound to interdict the exercise of any religious function to\necclesiastics appointed without his consent. The bishop who makes an\nappointment to the cure of souls without the consent of the civil\nauthority is fined from two hundred to one thousand thalers; and the\npriest who, appointed in this way, exercises spiritual functions, is\nvisited with a proportionate fine. This is an attempt to change the very\nnature of the church; it is a denial of its right to exist at all.\n\nThe third of these laws creates the \u201cRoyal Court of Justice for\nEcclesiastical Affairs,\u201d which claims and possesses by act of Parliament\nthe right to reform all disciplinary decisions made by the bishops in\nrelation to the ecclesiastics under their jurisdiction. This same court\nhas by law the right to depose any ecclesiastic whose conduct the\ngovernment may see fit to consider _incompatible with public order_.\n\nThe Pope is interdicted from the exercise of disciplinary power within the\nterritory of the Prussian monarchy.\n\nThe state takes control of the education of the young men destined to the\npriesthood. It requires them to pass the _arbiturienten\u2010examen_ in a\nGerman gymnasium, and then to devote three years to the study of theology\nin a German university, during which time they are not to be permitted to\nlive in an episcopal seminary; and thereafter they are to pass a public\nexamination before the state officials. All educational establishments for\nthe clergy, especially all kinds of seminaries, are placed under the\nsuperintendence of the government, and those which refuse to submit to\nthis supervision are to be closed. The education of priests, the fitness\nof candidates for holy orders, appointments to the cure of souls, the\ninfliction of ecclesiastical censures, the soundness of the faith of the\nclergy, are, in the new German Empire, matters to be regulated by the\npolice.\n\nThis is not a struggle between Catholicity and Protestantism; it is a\nbattle between the Atheist State and the Kingdom of God. The Protestant\nChurch in Germany does not alarm Bismarck, because it is feeble and has no\nindependent organization, since its ministers are appointed and ruled by\nthe emperor, and it is also well understood that very few of them have any\nfaith in positive religion.\n\nBut the orthodox Protestants of Germany thoroughly understand that the\nattempt to crush the Catholic Church is meant to be a fatal blow at the\nvital principle of all religion. This is recognized by the _Allgemeine\nEvang. Luth. Kirchenzeitung_ in the article from which we have already\nquoted. \u201cIt is a common remark,\u201d says this organ of orthodox Lutheranism,\n\u201cthat the blows struck at the Church of Rome will tell with redoubled\nforce against the evangelical church. But what is meant to injure, only\nhelps the Roman Church. There she stands, more compact than ever, and the\nworld is amazed at beholding her strength. Once the word of the Monk of\nWittenberg made her tremble, but to\u2010day the blows of power make her\nstronger. Let us beware of illusion; it is certain that in the Protestant\nNorth of Germany there has grown up a public opinion on the Church of Rome\nwhich provokes the respect even of the liberals. We have enough to do,\nthey say, to fight the socialists; it is time to leave the Catholic\nbishops in peace.\u201d\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nThe Veil Withdrawn.\n\n\nTranslated, By Permission, From The French Of Mme. Craven, Author Of \u201cA\nSister\u2019s Story,\u201d \u201cFleurange,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n\nXXVI.\n\n\nAmong the amusements of the Carnival, there was one in which I was not in\nthe least tempted to take part\u2014that of the _bal masqu\u00e9_, or, as it was\ncalled, the Festino di San Carlo. I ought to remark here, however, that it\nwas with respect to this amusement, above all, Naples differed from Paris.\nThere was no resemblance between the _bals masqu\u00e9s_ at San Carlo and those\ngiven at the opera in Paris. No virtuous or even prudent woman, I imagine,\nwould think of venturing to attend the latter; whereas at San Carlo it was\nnot only common to find married women of rank, but even young ladies under\ntheir mothers\u2019 protection as at any other ball. They wore their masks\nawhile, amusing themselves, if they had the turn, with mystifying their\nfriends; then, at a certain hour, several rooms having been formed by\nuniting a number of boxes, and illuminated, they all laid aside their\nmasks, and the various coteries, in groups of ten, fifteen, or twenty\npersons, took supper together. I certainly do not pretend to deny (my\nstory itself would forbid it) that the opportunity of profiting by this\ndisguise, in order to pass the evening in a less inoffensive manner, was\nnot made use of by more than one of the company. It could not be\notherwise, perhaps, in a place where this kind of folly reigns, even in a\nmitigated form. I only wish to describe its general character at that\ntime.\n\nI had not, however, the least inclination to attend. The very thought of\nwearing a mask was repugnant to me, and to see anybody else with one on\ncaused me a kind of fear. Besides, I never could understand what pleasure\nwas to be found in a mystery of this kind, which always seemed childish\nand trivial, if not culpable and dangerous. I had neither the faculty of\ndisguising my voice nor of making use of the jargon that constitutes the\nspirit of a _bal masqu\u00e9_. I therefore flatly refused to join a party of\ntwenty persons who were to attend the _Festino_ on _Jeudi\u2010Gras_, and,\nafter participating for awhile in the amusements of the ball\u2010room, were to\ntake supper together.\n\nStella had neither my repugnance nor my incapacity. She knew how to play\nthe part of another with grace and skill, and had been urged, as well as\nI, to join this merry party; but she denied herself the pleasure in order\nto attend a family supper with her aged relatives and their friends, and\nwe decided with mutual accord that our amusement for the day should be\nconfined to that which awaited us on my aunt\u2019s balcony on the Toledo.\n\nThe hour came at last, and found us under arms\u2014that is to say, our faces\nprotected by a kind of visor of wire netting, and all of us, except my\naunt, dressed in such a way as not to fear the clouds of flour we were to\nface, as well as the missiles which, under the name of _confetti_, were\nfearful to encounter, and had nothing sweet about them but the name. Some\ncarried their precaution so far as to prepare a _costume de bataille_\nexpressly for the occasion. Of this number were Teresina and Mariuccia,\nwho, at Lando\u2019s suggestion, had provided themselves with dresses of white\ncotton ornamented with bows of rose\u2010colored ribbon, which enabled them to\nencounter the showers of missiles, and were so becoming that they looked\nlike two of Watteau\u2019s shepherdesses. But my aunt disdained this mixture of\nelegance and economy. She did not give a thought to what was to take place\nin the street; her whole mind was absorbed in what was to occur in her\ndrawing\u2010room. Regardless of danger, she put on a dress of yellow silk of\nthe brightest shade, and set off her _chignon_ and false braids with a cap\nadorned with poppies and corn\u2010flowers, above which was fastened a bow of\nred ribbon, which streamed like a flag from the summit of a tower. This\ndisplay was intended to do honor to the visitors who merely came for their\nown convenience. For the most part, they only entered her house with an\neye to her balcony: but in order to obtain access to it, they were obliged\nto pass through the drawing\u2010room, where Donna Clelia herself was stationed\nto arrest the passers\u2010by and exact a tribute of politeness no one could\nrefuse, and which, brought to such close terms, every one liberally paid.\nNever had she, therefore, in a single day reaped a like harvest of new and\ndistinguished acquaintances; never had she received at once so great a\nnumber of desirable invitations, for could they do otherwise than requite\nhospitality with hospitality? My aunt thus had at the beginning of the day\none hour of happiness without alloy!\n\nAt length the battle began in earnest. To those who have taken part in\nsuch combats it is useless to describe the enthusiasm and madness which\nevery one ends by manifesting; to those who have not had the experience it\nis equally useless to try to give an idea of it. It must be acknowledged,\nhowever, that the first volley of _confetti_ is by no means very amusing\nto the recipient, and he is tempted to withdraw ill\u2010humoredly from what\nseems at first mere rough, childish sport. Then he endeavors to defend\nhimself by retaliating. By degrees the ardor of combat is awakened; he\nyields to it, he grows furious, and for hours sometimes he persists in\nreturning volley for volley, unmindful of fatigue, and regardless of the\nblows he receives. One thing is hurled after another\u2014hard _confetti_,\nfragile eggs, flour, sugar\u2010plums, flowers, and immense bouquets.... If the\nammunition fails, he throws out of the window whatever comes to hand. He\nwould rather throw himself out than give up the contest!\n\nThis sport had been going on for an hour, and we were still in full glee,\nwhen the Venetian gondola made its appearance in the street. It was\nwelcomed with shouts and cries of applause from the crowd. In fact,\nnothing so splendid of this kind had ever been seen before. It came slowly\nalong, stopping under every balcony. When it arrived before ours, it\nremained a long time, and a furious combat took place. Notwithstanding the\nvisor that concealed Lorenzo\u2019s face, I easily recognized him by his\nslender, stately form. Lando and Mario looked very well also, but Lorenzo\nsurpassed them all by the grace and ease with which he wore his costume,\nas well as the skill with which he threw his bouquets to the precise spot\nhe aimed at. He soon recognized me likewise, and threw me a bunch of\nroses!...\n\nAlas! those withered roses. I preserved them a long time in memory of a\nday that was to end in so strange a manner!...\n\nAfter the gondola had gone entirely out of sight, I concluded to leave the\nbalcony, in order to take some rest while awaiting the return of the\nbrilliant masquerade. This would not be till nightfall, when the gondola\nwas to be illuminated throughout. I had therefore nearly an hour before me\nin which to repair my strength. But when I entered the drawing\u2010room, I was\nfrightened at the sight which met my eyes. My poor aunt\u2019s brilliant toilet\nhad undergone the most disastrous consequences possible to imagine, and I\nfound her so covered with flour and blood that I scarcely recognized her!\n\nIn this kind of war, as in all others, nothing is more dangerous than to\nattract the attention of the enemy. A hat, a ribbon, any dress whatever\nthe least remarkable in its color, instantly becomes the object of\nuniversal aim. It seems Donna Clelia, after welcoming her company in the\ndrawing\u2010room, was tempted to go and see in her turn what was taking place\non the battle\u2010field; but no sooner had she stepped her foot on the\nbalcony, no sooner were her poppies visible, and her red ribbons began to\nwave in the air, than from every balcony, every window, in the\nneighborhood, there fell on her head such a hail\u2010storm of missiles of all\nkinds that, in a second, not only had her flowers, ribbons, and _chignon_\ndisappeared under a thick layer of flour, but, having neglected to provide\nherself with a visor, she had been struck in the very middle of the face\nby some of the _confetti_ I have spoken of, which are merely hard balls of\nplaster in the centre. No one perceived this in the ardor of the combat,\nno one left the _m\u00e9l\u00e9e_ to go to her assistance, and she was still in the\narm\u2010chair where she had thrown herself, stunned by the violence of the\nattack!...\n\nI sprang towards her, and hastened to bathe her face with cold water. I\nthen saw it was only her nose (a somewhat prominent feature in her face)\nthat had suffered a slight contusion, though sufficient to inundate her\nlaces and yellow dress with blood, so that the damage they sustained, as\nwell as her head\u2010dress, was irreparable!...\n\nBut in the midst of all this my aunt remained cool and courageous. Like a\ngeneral wounded on the day of victory, she smiled at the result of her\nrashness, and, while I was ministering to her wants, she exclaimed:\n\n\u201cIt is nothing; no matter! Thanks, Ginevrina mia! _Che bel divertimento!_\nI never passed such a day in my life!... Do you know, the Duchessa di L\u2014\u2014\nhas invited me to play _la pignata_(81) at her house a week from Sunday.\nAnd then the gentleman with H.R.H., the Count of Syracuse, has promised to\nget me an invitation to one of the amateur comedies. And the gondola\u2014what\ndo you say to that? Didn\u2019t your husband look handsome enough for you?...\nHow _simpatico_ that Lorenzo is!... Ah! _figlia mia_, the Madonna has done\nwell for you!... I hope she will think of us some day!...\u201d\n\nMy aunt rambled on in this way while I was trying to repair her disordered\nattire, after dressing her wounds. This took some time; but I still\nhesitated about leaving her, though she begged me to return to the balcony\nand not trouble myself any more about her. I obeyed her at last; but this\ninterruption had put an end to my enthusiastic gayety, and, when I\nreturned to my place, I no longer felt any disposition to resume the sport\nI found so amusing only a short time before. Besides, it was growing dusk\nand the combat was slackening, though the noise and confusion in the\nstreet increased as the time approached for the return of the gondola.\nWhile I was thus standing motionless in the obscurity of one corner of the\nbalcony where we were assembled, I suddenly heard some words from the\nadjoining balcony of the next house that attracted my attention:\n\n\u201cValenzano must be fabulously rich, but he is going to ruin at full speed,\nthe dear duke.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the first place, he is really very wealthy,\u201d was the reply; \u201cand when\nhe gains his lawsuit in Sicily, he will be the richest man in this part of\nItaly. I do not consider his entertaining company, however distinguished\nit may be, or giving his pretty wife a new set of ornaments now and then,\nor throwing away a few hundred dollars as he has done to\u2010day, as an\nextravagance that will ruin a man of his means.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, of course not, if that were all.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat else is there?... He used to play high, but they say he never\ntouches a card now.\u201d\n\nThe other speaker burst into a loud laugh, and, after a moment\u2019s silence,\nresumed in a lower tone:\n\n\u201cHe no longer plays in company, but I assure you _Qui a bu boira_ and _Qui\na jou\u00e9 jouera_. I should be satisfied with an income equal to what he\nspends in one evening at _lansquenet_ or _baccara_ since he stopped\nplaying whist and _\u00e9cart\u00e9_ in the drawing\u2010rooms to which he accompanies\nthe duchess.\u201d\n\nTheir voices grew still lower, and the few words I heard were so\nindistinct that I only caught the following:\n\n\u201cBut as there is no doubt as to the result of the lawsuit in Sicily, there\nis no danger of a catastrophe.\u201d\n\nAt that moment the uproar in the street became deafening. Shouts and wild\napplause announced the approach of the gondola, and redoubled in\nproportion to its nearness. It really presented a fairy\u2010like appearance.\nIt was lit up with a thousand lamps of all colors, and from time to time\nbrilliant rockets were sent up, casting a momentary gleam over the crowd,\nand then vanishing, leaving everything in obscurity except the dazzling\ngondola, which proceeded slowly along without stopping this time beneath\nthe balconies. No _confetti_ or flowers were thrown; the combat was over.\nIt was now merely a magnificent picturesque spectacle. I saw Lorenzo\nagain, and more distinctly than before, for he had taken off his visor;\nbut he could not see me in the obscurity of our balcony. He was standing\nin a group on the deck of the gondola as it went by. They were all dressed\nin Venetian costumes, which produced an extremely picturesque effect. It\nwas like a living representation of one of Paul Veronese\u2019s paintings. I\ncould not take my eyes off so brilliant and extraordinary a spectacle, and\nthe gondola had gone some distance when I suddenly saw Lorenzo (it was\nreally he; I should have known him, even if his face had not at that\nmoment been turned towards the bright light) rapidly ascend the light\nstaging at one end of the gondola, holding in his hand a small bunch of\njasmine tied with a white ribbon, which, when he arrived at the top, he\nthrew towards a window in which gleamed a little light. ... It reached its\ndestination. The window immediately closed, the light disappeared, and\nLorenzo descended and was lost in the crowd that thronged the gondola. All\nthis took place so quickly that I could hardly account for the attention\nwith which I watched this little evolution and the degree of vexation it\ncaused me. Lorenzo, in the course of the day, had thrown more than a\nhundred bouquets of the same kind. Why was I more curious to know the\ndestination of this one than I had been of the rest? But fatigue and the\ndeafening noise rendered me incapable of reflecting any length of time on\nwhat I had just witnessed and what I had heard on the balcony. There was\nalmost immediately a general confusion, for the return of the gondola was\nthe signal for dispersing. I remained till the last to ascertain the\ncondition of my aunt after her accident, and did not leave her till she\nhad promised to go to bed and let the baroness, who willingly accepted the\ncharge, accompany her daughters to the _Festino_ at midnight.\n\nHaving returned home, I likewise returned to my room, where I threw myself\non a sofa, exhausted with fatigue. Lorenzo returned at a later hour. He\ncame up to my room, spoke affectionately, advised me to take some repose,\nand inquired if I had absolutely decided not to go to San Carlo. I replied\nthat, even if I had intended going, I should be obliged to give it up now.\nHe did not insist, and my eyes were already beginning to close when he\nembraced me, as he was going away, and said: \u201cTill to\u2010morrow, Ginevra; for\nthe _Festino_ will not be over till daylight, you know.\u201d\n\n\n\nXXVII.\n\n\nI slept as the young do when suffering from unusual fatigue\u2014that is to\nsay, with a sleep so profound that, when I awoke, I had no idea of the\nlateness of the hour or where I was, and I felt as completely rested as if\nI had slept the entire night. The sound of carriage\u2010wheels on the gravel\nof the avenue facing my room had roused me from my slumbers, and I now\nheard steps and the sound of voices in a subdued tone in the chamber\nadjoining mine. My door soon opened, and Ottavia entered, moving\ncautiously, as if she supposed me asleep. But as soon as I spoke, I heard\na silvery laugh behind her, and, to my great surprise, Stella made her\nappearance. She had on a black domino with the hood thrown back, and in\nher hand she held two masks and another domino like her own.\n\n\u201cYou see I was right, Ottavia,\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cI was sure we should find\nher awake, and, what is still better, she is dressed! That is fortunate!\nNow, Ginevra, you must absolutely consent to indulge in the pleasure of\nspending an hour with me at San Carlo\u2014only an hour! Here, look at the\nclock; it is half\u2010past twelve. I promise to bring you back before two to\ncontinue the fine nap I have disturbed.\u201d\n\nI rubbed my eyes and looked at her, without comprehending a thing she\nproposed.\n\n\u201cCome, come, Ginevra!\u201d she continued, \u201cwake up, I tell you, and listen to\nwhat I say. In the first place, you must know we have had no supper or\ncompany at our house to\u2010night. My uncle had an attack of the gout and went\nto bed at nine o\u2019clock, and I played cards with my aunt till midnight. But\njust as we were both going to our rooms, she all at once\nremembered\u2014perhaps touched by my good\u2010humor\u2014how much she used to enjoy\ngoing to the _Festini_, and told me, of her own accord, it was not too\nlate to go, if I knew of any friend to accompany me. It occurred to me at\nonce, Ginevra, it would be very amusing for you to go and quiz _il Signor\nDuca_ a little. He is absolutely sure you are in bed fast asleep. You can\ntell him a thousand things nobody knows but yourselves, which will set him\nwild with amazement and curiosity. You can acknowledge everything to\u2010\nmorrow, and he will be the first to declare it an excellent joke. As for\nme, I am not sorry to have an opportunity of telling your august brother a\nfew truths in return for certain remarks about my exuberant gayety and\nlevity not quite to my liking. . . . Come, come, Ginevra, we must not lose\nany time. Consent, and I will tell you the rest on the way.\u201d\n\nIt is useless to enumerate the additional arguments she used. The result\nwas, she not only triumphed over my repugnance, but she succeeded in\nexciting a lively desire to meet Lorenzo in disguise. It seemed to me I\ncould say many things I should not dare breathe a word of to his face, and\nI could thus relieve my mind of the two or three incidents that had\ntroubled it within twenty\u2010four hours.\n\nStella saw I was ready to yield.\n\n\u201cQuick! quick! Ottavia, help me to put on her domino, and above all, put\nback her hair so it cannot be seen. The least curl peeping out of her hood\nwould be sufficient to betray her. Now, let us see; as we shall have to\nseparate on entering the hall, we must wear something not too conspicuous\nwhich will enable us to find each other in the crowd of black dominos. Let\nme hunt for something.\u201d\n\nShe looked around, and soon discovered a large basket, in which remained a\nnumber of small bouquets tied with ribbons of all colors, prepared for the\ncontests that morning.\n\n\u201cThe very thing,\u201d said she. And while Ottavia was executing her orders and\nconcealing my hair, Stella selected two small bunches of flowers, one tied\nwith red, and the other with white, ribbon.\n\n\u201cNothing could be better,\u201d said she. \u201cThe flowers are alike; the ribbons\nalone different. Look! see where I have put my badge. Here is yours. Put\nit in the same place, on the left side near the shoulder.\u201d\n\nBut when I saw that the little bouquet she gave me was of _jasmine tied\nwith a white ribbon_, the emotion I felt was extreme. I did not manifest\nit, however, for I knew if I told Stella the reason, she would burst into\nlaughter, and ask if I was going to worry myself about all the bouquets my\nhusband had thrown by the dozen that day upon all the balconies on the\nToledo, and if I intended to bring him to an account for them. I therefore\nmade no comment on this singular coincidence; but while I was fastening\nthe bouquet on, as Stella had directed, I suddenly recollected, I know not\nwhy, it was by giving Lorenzo a sprig of jasmine I pledged myself to be\nhis for life!\n\nHaving completed my preparations, with the exception of my mask, which I\ncarried in my hand to put on at the last moment, I drew up my hood and\nfollowed Stella, escorted to the foot of the staircase by my good old\nOttavia, who, though accustomed to the follies of the Carnival, shook her\nhead as she saw me depart, and looked at me with a more anxious expression\nthan usual. Was she thinking of the evening when she saw me set out for my\nfirst ball\u2014of fearful memory? Did she recall my mother\u2019s anxiety? And did\nshe remember to beg her to watch over her child and pray for her, as she\ndid then? . . .\n\nAs we approached San Carlo, I was again seized with fear, and regretted\nhaving yielded to Stella\u2019s entreaties.\n\n\u201cWhat will become of us alone in the crowd with no one to protect us?\u201d\nsaid I.\n\n\u201cOur masks are a sufficient protection, especially to\u2010night. There will be\nso large a number of ladies of rank at the _Festino_ that no one will\nventure to say a word to us that surpasses the bounds of pleasantry. There\nwould be too much danger of addressing some one who would resent it. As to\nour masks, you need not be anxious. The rules of the _bals masqu\u00e9s_\nabsolutely forbid any one\u2019s touching them, and these rules are respected\neven by those who do not respect any other. But, apropos of masks, it is\ntime to put yours on.\u201d\n\nI still hesitated. But at last, as I was on the point of descending from\nthe carriage, I decided to fasten my mask on, and I tremblingly followed\nStella, or rather, she took my arm and drew me along.\n\nMy first feeling, on finding myself in such a crowd, was one of\ninexpressible terror. I was seized with an invincible embarrassment and a\nsensation of suffocation so painful that it was with all the difficulty in\nthe world I kept myself from tearing off the mask that seemed to hinder me\nfrom breathing. But Stella laughingly encouraged me in a whisper, and by\ndegrees I became accustomed to the deafening sound of the music, the\nexclamations and resonant voices on every side, as well as the sight of\nthe dominos and masks of all colors in circulation around us. She led me\non some distance, cautioning me in a low tone to make no reply, and making\nnone herself, to the observations here and there addressed the two \u201cfair\nmasks\u201d who were gliding through the crowd. At length we came to a pillar,\nagainst which we leaned, and she whispered:\n\n\u201cLet this place be our rendezvous. You will certainly see Lorenzo pass by\nin a few moments. As for me, I do not see your brother anywhere, but\nyonder is Landolfo. I will amuse myself by talking nonsense with him. Do\nnot be afraid, and, above all, do not lose your badge, or I shall be\nunable to find you. I will be careful of mine also. If I arrive here\nfirst, I will wait for you. You must do the same.\u201d\n\nShe disappeared as she uttered these words, and I stood still for some\nminutes, looking around with uneasiness and terror caused by the\nimpossibility of persuading myself I was not seen and recognized by\neverybody. But after three or four gentlemen of my acquaintance passed by\nwith a mere glance of indifference, I began to take courage, and finally\nbecame sufficiently cool to consider what I should do and the means of\nattaining my object.\n\nI began by looking around on all sides, but for some time it was in vain.\nI could not see Lorenzo anywhere, and had decided to leave my post in\norder to search for him in some other part of the hall, when all at once I\nsaw him some distance off, coming in my direction. He was walking slowly\nalong, looking around with a certain attention, as if he was also in\nsearch of some one. We were separated by the crowd, and it was not easy to\nreach him. I advanced a few steps, however, and at that instant, but only\nfor an instant, there was an opening in the crowd which enabled him, in\nhis turn, to see me. I saw a flash of joy on his face. He recognized me,\nit was evident; by what means I did not ask. I no longer remembered my\nintention of mystifying him. I sprang towards him, and he towards me. I\npassed my arm through his, still too much excited by my previous fears and\nmy joy at finding him to utter a word....\n\nA moment passed\u2014a single moment, brief and terrible,... for he spoke\u2014yes,\nat once, and with vehemence, with passion!... But ... it was not to me!...\nNo, it was to her he expected to meet. I heard his lips murmur the\ndetested name that had not met my ear since I left Paris!...\n\nI was so astounded that I gave him time to say what I ought not to have\nheard, what I did not wish to hear!... Then ... I know not what impulse I\nyielded to, for I lost the power of reflection\u2014I abruptly withdrew my arm\nfrom his, and fell back with so quick and violent a movement that the\ncrowd opened a moment to make way for me, and then closed, completely\nseparating me from him.... I tore off the flowers and ribbon I wore, and\nthrew them on the ground. I could not now be distinguished from the other\nblack dominos around me. But I was no longer afraid. I cared for nothing\nnow but to get away\u2014to fly as fast as possible from so horrible a place. I\nhurried along in such a wild, rapid way that every one looked at me with\nsurprise, and stood aside for me to pass. I thus succeeded in leaving the\nhall and reaching the passage, where I was obliged to stop to take breath.\nThe passers\u2010by addressed me, but I heard nothing but the words that still\nresounded in my ears. I was conscious of nothing but a fearful anguish and\nthe rapid beating of my heart.\n\nWhile standing there, all at once ... O merciful heavens!... I saw a lady\npass only a few steps off.... She was of my height, and, like me, wore a\nblack domino with a sprig of jasmine tied with a white ribbon, similar to\nthe one I had just torn off, and doubtless the same my eyes had followed a\nfew hours before! I recognized her at once, and imagined I saw through her\nmask the sinister gleam of two large blue eyes! She traversed the passage\nand entered the hall, where she disappeared. I trembled fearfully from\nhead to foot, my sight grew dim, my strength began to fail me. I felt as\nif I should die on the spot if I did not take off the mask that was\nsuffocating me, and yet I was still conscious I ought to keep it on at all\nhazards. I threw around a glance of despair, hoping to see Stella, and\nforgetting she would not be able to recognize me, even if she thought of\nlooking for me so far from the spot where she left me. What torture! Great\nGod!... My strength was gone, my voice failed me, I felt my knees give\nway, when, O unlooked\u2010for happiness! I saw Mario pass by. The stifled cry\nI uttered died away on my lips before it could reach his ear, but he saw\nthe effort I made, he felt my hand on his arm, and stopped. He began to\naddress me in the customary way on such occasions, but I made no reply. I\nhad recovered strength enough, however, to draw him towards the door, and\nhe unresistingly followed my lead; but, as we were going out, he stopped\nme with an air of surprise, and said:\n\n\u201cI am ready to follow you wherever you wish, fair mask, but do you know\nyourself where you wish to go?\u201d\n\nI was only able to incline my head as a sign of affirmation, and he\nsuffered me to lead him into the street. As soon as we were out of doors,\nI tore off my mask, and found strength enough to say:\n\n\u201cIt is I, Mario. Help me to get away from this detestable place!\u201d\n\n\u201cGinevra!\u201d exclaimed he, drawing me along several steps to look at my face\nby the light of the torches not far off. He seemed frightened at my looks.\nMy face was convulsed and lividly pale.\n\n\u201cGood heavens, sister!\u201d said he gravely, \u201cwhat has happened? How is it you\nare alone in this place at such an hour? Where is Lorenzo? Shall I go for\nhim?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no! Oh! no,\u201d I exclaimed with anguish. \u201cFor pity\u2019s sake, Mario, be\nsilent. Help me to get away, I say. That is all I ask. Do this, and ask me\nno questions.\u201d\n\nHis face darkened He silently took hold of my arm, and led me to the place\nwhere he had left his carriage. I entered it, and was on the point of\ngoing away without another word when I bethought myself of Stella. I\nhesitated, however, to expose her to his sarcastic comments, and perhaps\nto the suspicions I saw were already excited in my brother\u2019s distrustful\nmind, and said in a supplicating tone:\n\n\u201cOne favor more, Mario, which I am sure you will no more refuse your\nsister than any other lady. I did not come here alone.\u201d\n\nAt these words his face assumed an expression which I answered with a\nsmile of disdain.\n\n\u201cDo you suppose, Mario, if I did not come here with Lorenzo, I would\naccept the escort of any other gentleman?\u201d I stopped a moment, at once\nirritated and impatient, but finally continued:\n\n\u201cThe fact is, Mario, if you must know it, it was he, it was Lorenzo\nhimself, I came to see. I wished to play a joke on him and mystify him a\nlittle, by way of amusing myself.\u201d\n\nI think my smile must have been frightful as I said this, for my brother\nlooked anxiously at me, though he seemed satisfied with my explanation.\n\n\u201cBut I have been punished,\u201d I continued, \u201cterribly punished.... I failed\nin my object,... and thought I should die in the crowd.\u201d\n\nI could say no more. The tears I could not repress choked me. Mario at\nonce softened.\n\n\u201cI understand, sister\u2014the noise, heat, and so forth were overpowering.\nThose who go to a _bal masqu\u00e9_ for the first time often experience this,\nbut another time it will not happen.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod preserve me from ever going to another!\u201d said I in a low tone. \u201cBut I\nwas about to say, Mario, that the person, the lady, who came with me is\nprobably looking for me by this time. Search for her. Her domino is like\nmine, and you will know her by a sprig of jasmine tied with a red ribbon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI saw such a domino not long ago on Lando\u2019s arm.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was she. Find her, and tell her not to be anxious; that I was ill, and\ncould not wait for her. That is all. Thanks, Mario. One word more,\nhowever. As I did not succeed with regard to Lorenzo, I do not wish him to\nknow anything about it.\u201d\n\nHe made a sign that he understood me, and closed the door of the carriage,\nwhich soon took me home. Ottavia, who alone sat up for me, was alarmed at\nseeing me return in such a condition. I repeated the account I had given\nMario, and had no difficulty in convincing her I was ill. The change in my\nface was sufficient to prove it; but what was this paleness, great God! in\ncomparison with the change that had come over my life within the hour that\nhad scarcely elapsed?\n\n\n\nXXVIII.\n\n\nThis time the thunderbolt had really fallen on my head! Many times had I\nheard it rumbling afar off, and once I thought myself fatally injured; but\nafter a few stormy days, calmness was restored, the blue sky became\nvisible, and the sun once more diffused the light and warmth of renewed\nconfidence and happiness. The desire of being happy seconded my effort to\nbecome so. And, as I have remarked, the liveliness, buoyancy, and love of\npleasure natural to the young, as well as the beauty of Naples and the\ninfluence of its climate, all tended to surround me with an atmosphere at\nonce enervating and intoxicating. But now, in an instant, without any\nwarning, all my hopes were crushed, annihilated, for ever at an end!\n\n\u201cShould Lorenzo become treacherous, unfaithful, and untrue to his word,\ncould I continue to love him? What would become of me in such a case?\u201d\nSuch were the questions I once asked myself, and they were the sincere cry\nof my heart.\n\nNow all this was realized. A person more treacherous, more deceitful, more\nuntrue than he it seemed impossible to find. Everything now became clear.\nThe words I heard, so plainly interpreted by the instinct they awakened\nand that had already warned me so strangely, enabled me to comprehend\neverything. Whether there was any good reason or not for his frequent\nabsence, it was evident he had always met her. It was therefore from these\ninterviews he had derived the cheerfulness and good\u2010humor that apparently\nmade him enjoy so much the comfort and splendor he afterwards came to\nparticipate in with me. Once\u2014who can tell for what reason?\u2014he had delayed\ngoing. It was then, probably, she came herself to meet him, not\nforeseeing, or he either, it would be before my very eyes!...\n\nEven at the present time it would perhaps agitate me and disturb the\ntranquillity of my soul, should I dwell too long on the thoughts which\nthen overwhelmed me, and from which I derived the conviction that I no\nlonger loved Lorenzo. But I suffered from the deadly chill his treachery\nhad struck to my heart. I would rather have experienced the torment of\njealousy than the chill of indifference. To suffer from that would still\nhave been life. To suffer as I did was like being paralyzed, petrified,\ndead.\n\nWomen more generous, more courageous, and more devoted than I, had, I was\naware, won back such inconstant hearts, and found happiness once more in\nthe sweetest of victories; but their example occurred to me without\nproducing any impression. I was not in a condition to be influenced by it.\nMy aimless life had resulted in the almost complete prostration of my\nstrength of volition. In this condition I could neither suffer with\ncourage, nor act with wisdom, nor resist temptation with any energy of\nwill....\n\nO my God! it is with my face prostrate in the dust I desire to write the\npages that are to follow. It is not without hesitation I continue my\naccount. But the remembrance of thy mercy prevails over everything, and\neffaces the very recollection of the faults and follies that serve to make\nit manifest! Like our divine poet wandering in the mazes of that gloomy\nforest which is the image of life, I, in my turn, attempt\n\n\n \u201cTo discourse of what there good befell;\n All else will I relate discovered there.\u201d(82)\n\n\nMario, Stella, and Ottavia were the sole confidants of my secret, and they\nkept it faithfully. Lorenzo had the less reason for suspecting I had been\nto the ball when, returning home at six o\u2019clock in the morning, he learned\nI had had a violent attack of fever in the night, and was not able to\nrise. There was no deception in this. It was not a mere pretext for\nkeeping my chamber, but the too natural consequence of the terrible\nexcitement of the night I had passed.\n\nLorenzo came several times to know how I was, and manifested more apparent\naffection than usual; and yet once or twice, though perhaps my imagination\ndeceived me, I thought I saw something like embarrassment or uneasiness in\nhis face. I was, however, too ill all the morning to observe him closely\nor make any reply to what he said.\n\nTowards evening I felt better, and, though still weak, I got up. Lorenzo\ncame to see if anything serious was likely to result from my\nindisposition, and, being reassured on this point, he went out as usual,\nleaving me alone with Stella, who had spent part of the day at my bedside,\nthough I had not been able to talk with her any more than with him. Her\nface was as grave that day as it was usually smiling. Stella\u2019s\ncheerfulness resulted from her complete lack of egotism. She regarded the\nhappiness of others as a treasure from which she took all she needed for\nherself; and was happy, therefore, through sympathy. It was, so to speak,\na reflected happiness. Admirable disposition! Incapable of exacting\nanything in view of her own lot, or of envying that of others, she was a\ndelightful friend in times of prosperity, and, at the same time, a devoted\nadherent in misfortune, and the sweet, compassionate confidant of others\u2019\nsorrows. My disappearance the evening before, the condition in which she\nfound me in the morning, the incoherent words I uttered, prepared her for\nsomething serious, and she knew beforehand I, of all people in the world,\nwould not hesitate to tell her the truth. In fact, as soon as we were left\nalone in a small sitting\u2010room next my chamber, I gave her for the first\ntime a full account of all that had taken place at Paris, as well as the\nnight before. She listened without interrupting me, and, after I ended,\nremained silent for some time.\n\n\u201cThis is indeed a good lesson for me,\u201d said she at length. \u201cI am cured for\nlife, I hope, of a folly like that I committed last night.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat folly do you allude to?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, that of coming here and persuading you to go to a place where you\nlearned what you might for ever have remained ignorant of.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd continue to be taken in, deceived, and blinded, to live in an\natmosphere of deception, hypocrisy, and lies, to love what no longer\nmerits affection? No, Stella, no; do not regret that, thanks to you, it is\nno longer the case. Were I to suffer even a thousand times more, were I to\ndie of anguish, as I thought I should on the spot when I saw that woman\npass by, I should be glad the veil had been torn from my eyes. I can no\nlonger be happy, it is true. My happiness is ruined beyond repair, but I\nlove truth better than happiness.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do you think,\u201d said Stella after a fresh pause, \u201cthat you can never\nforgive Lorenzo?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe must, at least, desire it, as you will acknowledge, and this is\nprecisely what will never happen.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I know Lorenzo. If I utter a reproach, it is he who thinks he has\nsomething to forgive. He really obeys no law but the impulse that happens\nto predominate. It is not in his nature, doubtless, to show me openly any\nill treatment, but he would break my heart without any scruple in order to\ngratify his inclinations. I have no doubt he thinks he has acted with\ngreat delicacy, because he has taken pains to conceal the base course he\nhas pursued; and when he finds out I have discovered it, it is he who will\nthink he has a right to be angry. That will be the result. What room is\nthere for forgiveness in such a tissue of falseness?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat can I say to you? It will be no consolation to hear there are many\nwomen who have husbands like him. It is sad to feel there is nothing in\nthe world so rare as happiness. Nevertheless, it is true, and, for my\npart, it has often consoled me for having had so little in my life. And\nhad I been happy in the beginning, who could tell what the future had in\nreserve for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd you have never thought of marrying again? You can content yourself\nwith a life devoid of happiness, as well as of suffering?\u201d\n\nShe smiled.\n\n\u201cMy life is not so exempt from suffering as you may suppose. Neither is it\ndevoid of happiness while I have my Angiolina. As for marrying again, I\nhave never happened to meet a person who inspired me with the least desire\nof that kind, and I imagine I never shall.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is certain, however, if you wish to marry, you would only have the\ntrouble of choosing.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps among men not one of whom pleases me. Who knows how it would be\nif I took it into my head to fancy some one? But let us leave my affairs\nand return to you. Tell me, are you sure Lorenzo has not discovered you\nwere at the ball?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I am certain he has not. If he had any suspicion, he would not\nconceal it from me. Besides, he found me too ill at his return to conceive\nsuch an idea. And yet...\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, go on.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I noticed something that seemed to indicate he is not so sure as he\nwas yesterday of my utter ignorance of all he has thought proper to hide\nfrom me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI agree with you, Ginevra. And shall I tell you what I think?\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat he supposes me to be the mask he addressed by mistake, and does me\nthe honor of supposing I have denounced him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat an idea!... Why should he suppose it was you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! by that aberration of mind common to gentlemen who frequent masked\nballs and persist in thinking they are right every time they are\nmistaken.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut once more: Why should he suppose you were at the ball? Your secret\nhas been as well kept as mine, I imagine.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot quite. In the first place, I spoke to several persons. And when Mario\ncame to deliver your message, I could not repress an exclamation of\nsurprise, which betrayed me, not only to your brother, but to Lando, on\nwhose arm I was then leaning. I do not know whether it was he or not who\nspread the report, but it has certainly been whispered around that I\nattended the _Festino_. Lorenzo has taken the idea I have mentioned into\nhis head, and of course supposes what I know has been communicated to you,\nor will be. This is what I have been wishing to say to you.\u201d\n\nMy faithful Ottavia now made her appearance to warn me it was time to\nretire. Stella left me, and, after her departure, I began to reflect on\nher conjecture and consider what reply I should make, should Lorenzo\nquestion me on the subject. I was far from suspecting the means he would\nadopt to anticipate the scene he foresaw.\n\nI was alone the following morning when I saw him enter, calm, smiling, and\nself\u2010possessed, as if there was no actual or possible cloud between us. He\nspoke of my health, and, satisfied that I was really better, proceeded to\nmore indifferent subjects, and then suddenly, with an assurance the\nrecollection of which still astonishes me, he said:\n\n\u201cApropos, Ginevra, the Marchesa di Villanera has been in Naples several\ndays.\u201d\n\nI turned pale.\n\n\u201cOh! do not be alarmed,\u201d said he. \u201cI have not the slightest intention of\nasking you to receive her. I remember too well the sentiments you\nexpressed on this point at Paris. No, I wish instead to let you know I am\ngoing to escort her to Milan myself, and shall remain there till after the\nCarnavalone.\u201d(83)\n\nMy heart gave a violent bound. I could not utter a word, but the surprise\nthat rendered me dumb enabled me to be calm, and, when I finally recovered\nmy voice, I said:\n\n\u201cYou are at liberty to go where you please, Lorenzo. It is a liberty,\nmoreover, you have always had, and have already made use of, and I cannot\nconceive why _this time_ (I emphasized these words) you feel obliged to\ntell me the precise object of your journey.\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I wish to be frank with you this time, and I should have been so\nbefore had I not remembered your reproaches, and wished to spare you the\noccasion of renewing them. Besides, I no longer have it in my power to\nprevent your jealousy, or forbid the conjectures you think proper to\nindulge in.\u201d\n\n\u201cLorenzo!\u201d I said almost in a scream, and I was on the point of giving\nutterance to all that filled my heart to overflowing when, with the stern,\nimperious accent he knew how to assume, though without rudeness or the\nleast violence, he stopped me.\n\n\u201cNot another word, Ginevra; not one, I beg, out of love for yourself. Do\nnot destroy your future happiness in a moment of anger! There are some\nthings I _will not_ listen to, and which, for your own interest as well as\nmine, I forbid your saying!\u201d\n\nI had no chance to reply, for he took my hand before I could prevent it,\nand said:\n\n\u201c_Au revoir_, Ginevra. I hope, at my return, to find you as calm and\nreasonable as I desire.\u201d\n\nHe kissed my hand and left the room.\n\nThe state in which he left me cannot be described. I need not say how\nincapable I was of reflection, of effort, or any struggle whatever against\nthe feelings it was natural I should have. I felt outraged as it seemed to\nme no woman had ever been. My mind lost its clearness, my judgment was\nimpaired, and for some hours I was wild.\n\nAfter Lorenzo\u2019s departure, it seemed impossible to remain alone. I could\nnot endure inaction and repose for an instant. I ordered my carriage for a\ndrive\u2014not, as usual, with Stella and in a direction where I should find\nsolitude, but, on the contrary, where I was most sure of meeting a crowd.\nI smilingly returned the numerous salutations I received, and, instead of\nappearing troubled or downcast, I looked around with eager interest, as if\nhoping to find some means of escaping from myself and leaving my troubles\nforever behind me.\n\nI returned home as late as possible, and found Stella awaiting me. She had\nbeen disappointed at my not calling for her, and had come to ascertain the\nreason. Finding I had gone out, she was surprised I had forgotten her, but\nwas still more so when I told her I should go to the ball at the French\nambassador\u2019s that evening. I seldom went anywhere alone, and it was only\nthe day before I had told her decidedly I should never attend another\nball. Her eyes were fastened on me with a look of sympathy, as she said:\n\n\u201cPoor Ginevra!\u201d\n\nI begged her in a hasty, irritated manner not to waste any pity on me, and\nthen added:\n\n\u201cTo\u2010morrow, if you like, we will talk about it; but not to\u2010day, I beg. Let\nus give our whole thoughts to the ball. You will go, I hope.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, if you have really decided to go.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is right. Good\u2010by till this evening, then.\u201d\n\nThus dismissed, she left me, and I summoned my waiting\u2010maid to do what I\nhad never required before. I ordered everything I was to wear to be spread\nout before me. I examined my diamonds and pearls, and gave the most minute\ndirections about the way I intended to wear them. I then began my toilet,\nthough long before the time, and was as long about it as possible. So many\nwomen, thought I, seem to take infinite pleasure in creating a sensation\nwhen they enter a ball\u2010room, receiving compliments and homage on all\nsides, why should I not try this means of diversion as well as other\npeople? I am beautiful, there is no doubt; very beautiful, they say. Why\nshould I not endeavor to excite admiration? Why not become vain and\ncoquettish in my turn?\n\nIn a word, the hour had arrived spoken of in the first part of this story,\nas the reader will recollect\u2014the hour when, for the first and only time\nafter my mother\u2019s death and the tragical end of Flavio Aldini, the lively\nvanity of girlhood, roused by irritation, jealousy, and grief, broke\nthrough the restraint which an ineffaceable remembrance and the grace of\nGod had imposed upon it, and for once I saw what I should doubtless have\nbeen without the divine, mysterious influence that warred within me\nagainst myself. I had corresponded to this grace, it is true, by my\nsincere, determined will, but my volition had now become feeble and\nuncertain, and I set out for the ball after thus carefully preparing in\nadvance the draught of vanity I wished to become intoxicated with.\n\nI had the satisfaction I desired in all its plenitude. I was handsome,\nstylish, and elegantly dressed; and yet all this is not the chief cause of\na lady\u2019s success in society. Let those who think so be persuaded of their\nerror. People accord to these gifts a certain respectful admiration, but\nsuch a success as I obtained that evening\u2014brilliant, demonstrative, and\nuniversal\u2014does not depend on the beauty a person is endowed with, but on\nthe wish to please she manifests, and this is why the victory is sometimes\nso strangely awarded!... I was changed in no respect, except in the\ndisposition with which I attended the ball, and yet I did not seem to be\nthe same person. I was surrounded as I had never been before. I excited a\nkind of enthusiasm. I received compliments that evening I had never\nlistened to before. And when, contrary to my usual custom, I announced my\nintention to dance, everybody contended for my hand. But, as the evening\nadvanced, I grew weary of it all, and began to feel my factitious,\nfeverish gayety subside. When I rose to waltz for the last time, it was\nwith an effort, and, after my partner led me back to my seat, my smile\nvanished, and a cold sense of my wretchedness came over me with unpitying\ngrasp. \u201cAll is useless,\u201d a secret, sorrowful voice seemed to say; \u201cyou\nmust awaken to the reality of your sufferings....\u201d\n\nAt that moment I heard beside me a familiar, half\u2010forgotten voice\u2014calm,\nsonorous, and sweet, but now somewhat sarcastic:\n\n\u201cI cannot aspire to the honor of dancing with the Duchessa di Valenzano,\nbut I hope she will not refuse to recognize me.\u201d\n\nI eagerly turned around, and there beside me I saw the person who uttered\nthese words was Gilbert de Kergy.\n\n\n\nXXIX.\n\n\nDuring the week following the ball a most unexpected change took place in\nmy feelings\u2014a change that at once afforded me so much comfort that I did\nnot hesitate to think and say that heaven had, in the hour of my greatest\nneed, sent me a friend.\n\nIt must be acknowledged, however, the hour when Gilbert de Kergy so\nsuddenly made his appearance was not exactly that in which I should have\nexpected an extraordinary intervention of divine Providence in my behalf.\nI ought even to say that the first feeling I experienced at seeing him\nagain was one of extreme confusion at exhibiting myself under so different\nan aspect from that he had seen me in before, and, in fact, so different\nfrom that which was usually mine. This confusion, added to my fatigue and\nthe painful reaction and disgust which inevitably follow such intoxication\nas I had voluntarily indulged in, sent me home in a totally different\nframe of mind from that I was in when I left. Two hours before, I beheld\nmyself in the mirror with great complacency; but when I now saw myself in\nthis same glass resplendent with jewels and flowers, I turned away with\ndispleasure, and do not think I should have felt the least regret had I at\nthat moment been told I wore this brilliant array for the last time.\n\nI hastily took off my diamonds and pearls, and changed my dress; and when\nat length I found myself alone, face to face with the thoughts I had\nvainly tried to escape from, for the first time since my interview with\nLorenzo a flood of tears came to my relief. The nature of the distraction\nI had sought now appeared in all its vanity, and the shame I felt was\nincreased by the remembrance of Gilbert\u2019s smile and the sarcastic accent\nof his words. It was not in this way he had addressed me at Paris. This\nwas not the grave, respectful manner, so different from that of any other\nperson, which had so touched and flattered me then. The contrast made me\nblush, and I longed to meet him again, that I might efface as completely\nas possible the impression now left on his mind.\n\nI longed also to inquire about his mother and Diana. In short, a thousand\nrecollections, as foreign as possible to everything that surrounded me\nnow, came to my mind and diverted it more effectually than any amusement\ncould have done from the cause of my present troubles. I slept more calmly\nthan I should have supposed after so exciting a day, and the following\nmorning when I awoke, though my first thoughts were of all I had suffered\nthe day before, I could not forget the pleasant event that had also\noccurred to lighten my burden.\n\nGilbert had asked at what o\u2019clock he could see me, and, at the appointed\nhour, I was ready to receive him. I anticipated his arrival with pleasure,\nand felt no embarrassment, except that which resulted from the\nrecollection of the previous evening. He came punctually, and, after an\nobservant look and a few minutes\u2019 conversation, he became the same he once\nwas; which reconciled me a little to myself. We talked about Paris, the\nH\u00f4tel de Kergy, and a thousand other things, and his conversation, as\nformerly, absorbed my attention, diverted my mind from my troubles, and\nawoke an interest in a multitude of things unconnected with him or myself.\n\nAs he was on the point of leaving, he smiled, as he said with something of\nthe sarcastic tone of the evening before:\n\n\u201cI suppose, madame, I cannot flatter myself with the hope of finding you\nat home, at least as long as the Carnival lasts.\u201d\n\n\u201cAllow me to undeceive you,\u201d I hastened to reply with a blush. \u201cWhatever\nyou may have thought last evening, I am not fond of dancing. I very seldom\ngo to a ball of my own accord, and am sure I shall not attend another this\nyear. This _soir\u00e9e_ was every way an exceptional one, as far as I was\nconcerned.\u201d\n\n\u201cReally! I hope you will not think me too bold if I acknowledge that what\nyou say affords me pleasure.\u201d\n\nHe said this in so frank and natural a way that I was restored to my ease,\nand laughingly replied:\n\n\u201cYou prefer my former manner? Well, Monsieur de Kergy, I acknowledge you\nare right, and let me assure you it was my true one.\u201d\n\nAs he was going away, I expressed the hope of seeing him again, and from\nthat time not a day passed in which I did not meet him. When I had no\nengagement elsewhere, I usually spent my evenings at home, where I\ninvariably received a certain number of friends who were in the habit of\nmeeting in my drawing\u2010room. These _soir\u00e9es_ were not interrupted when\nLorenzo was absent from home, but the number of those who composed the\nlittle circle was more restricted. Stella, of course, never failed to\ncome, and the other _habitu\u00e9s_ consisted of friends and some of the\nforeigners who lived in Naples, or were there temporarily, and preferred a\nquiet circle to gayer society.\n\nOn the first story, to the right and left, were two long, lateral\nterraces, united by a third which extended all along the front of the\nhouse. These terraces surmounted a Greek portico, whose colonnades\nsurrounded a small square court, like those of Pompeii, into which looked\nall the windows of the ground floor. All that part of the house, with the\nexception of Lorenzo\u2019s studio, was reserved for large parties, while the\nfirst story was used for ordinary reunions. We therefore generally\nassembled in an upper drawing\u2010room, which opened on one of the lateral\nterraces; and from the day I allude to Gilbert regularly formed a part of\nthe little coterie which met there every evening. His influence was\nspeedily felt, and the atmosphere once more changed around me as at Paris,\nand this change seemed even more beneficial than before. Every one felt\nGilbert\u2019s influence more or less. He possessed the enviable faculty of\nelevating the minds of others above their usual level, and of\ncommunicating to them the interest he felt in whatever he was conversing\nabout. Not that he tried to introduce subjects he had made a special study\nof, or to advance theories or opinions that first excited wonder and\nafterwards wearied the minds of those on whom he wished to impose them. On\nthe contrary, he seemed to take an interest in everything except what was\nlow, repulsive, and absolutely trivial. But subjects of this kind were\nrather not thought of than avoided intentionally in these conversations,\nwhich were lively, natural, unrestrained, and agreeable, and at the same\ntime different from those I took a part in anywhere else.\n\nIt soon became evident that this addition to our daily reunions added\nsingularly to their charm. Never had the annual influx of foreigners been\nso favorable to us. Stella, I observed, sometimes looked pensive while\nlistening to him, and one day she remarked to me she had never seen any\none like M. de Kergy. As for me, I felt the beneficial influence of his\nsociety, and welcomed it without analyzing the enjoyment that had come so\nopportunely to divert me from my present trials and renew the influences\nof the past, which seemed the best in my life.\n\nThe lively indignation that filled my heart every time I thought of\nLorenzo\u2019s absence and its cause continued to be felt. I bitterly compared\nthe world of perfidy and deceit he had forced me to know, with that to\nwhich Gilbert belonged. I thought of the hopes I once had, and how\nirreparably they had been deceived, and these reflections were my only\ndanger at the time I am speaking of.\n\nThe Carnival was now over, but it excited no surprise that Lorenzo wished\nto prolong it by remaining at Milan during the Carnavalone. No one even\nseemed to think it extraordinary he had gone there with a beautiful woman\nwho was returning without any escort. Naples, as I have said, was not a\nplace where evil reports were readily credited. People were not much in\nthe habit of discussing the deeds and actions of others. Rather than give\nthemselves up to conjectures common elsewhere, they would make a sign, by\nputting the hand to the chin, to signify a thing was nothing to them or\nconcerned them but little. But this charitable indifference did not\nexactly spring from love of their neighbor, and sometimes went so far, it\nmust be confessed, as to be scandalized at nothing.\n\nI soon perceived, therefore, that though the true cause of Lorenzo\u2019s\nabsence was known to almost everybody, and though his course inspired a\nuniversal sympathy and compassion for me which wounded my pride, it by no\nmeans excited against him the indignation that at least would have\nsomewhat avenged me.\n\nMario alone appeared grave and anxious, but Lando, who was not slow in\ndiscovering the real state of the case, confined himself to some\ncharacteristic remarks which would have appeared insulting had I not\nlearned never to take anything he said seriously, or attach any importance\nto it. One evening, however, finding himself by chance near me in the\ndrawing\u2010room, he said in his incorrigible way:\n\n\u201cIf I were in your place, I would punish that dear Lorenzo in the way he\ndeserves. Unfortunately, you are not the woman for that, I know. And,\nafter all, you need not take the trouble, for I can assure you the fair\nMilanese herself will be sure to avenge you.\u201d\n\nI did not utter a word in reply to this language, which wounded all the\npride and self\u2010respect in my nature, and, at the same time, excited a\ntorrent of bitterness and contempt for Lorenzo. I thought at that moment\nof the fearful vow Livia once spoke of, and asked myself if he, this\nperjured partner of my life, did not make this vow as well as I. By what\nlaw, then, was I bound to it, when he had chosen to be free?\n\nI abruptly turned away from Lando as he said this, and left the drawing\u2010\nroom, where we happened to be alone.\n\nThe fineness of the weather and some indications of activity in Mt.\nVesuvius had drawn all the company that evening out on the terrace. I went\nout as if intending to join them, but I did nothing of the kind. On the\ncontrary, I sought a place apart, where I could enjoy in peace the serene\nbrilliancy of the heavens, and took a seat overlooking the garden and\ncommanding a view of the Villa Reale, the bay, and the long line of\nmountains beyond It was one of those incomparable evenings in spring\u2010time\nwhen all you see or hear, and the very air you breathe, at once softens,\nenchants, and predisposes the heart to melancholy. I had thrown over my\nwhite dress a large veil of black lace, which I drew up over my head; and,\nthus protected from the scarcely perceptible dampness of the night, I gave\nmyself up without restriction to my feelings of admiration, as well as the\nsadness, indignation, and bitterness that filled my heart. Afar off on the\nsombre azure of the cloudless heavens streamed a reddish flame whose\nbrilliancy formed a strong contrast with the trembling, silvery light the\ngrowing moon cast over the waters of the sea. It was one of those\nawakenings of Vesuvius, the fearful but magnificent spectacle of which is\nalways regarded at Naples with a pleasure that greatly surpasses the\nanxiety it would be natural to feel at the probable consequences of a new\neruption.\n\nAll my guests were at that moment at the end of the terrace, where they\ncould have a full view of the flaming crater. But I was by no means\ndisposed to follow their example. I remained in the seat I had taken, my\nface uplifted and my eyes gazing into the blue, mysterious depths, which\nseemed to direct my thoughts to something far beyond the visible, starry\nheavens. I know not how long I had been in this attitude when I perceived\nGilbert, who had been on the other side of the terrace, now standing\nbefore me.\n\n\u201cMay I have a seat here, madame,\u201d said he, \u201cor do you prefer continuing\nyour reverie alone?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! no; remain. It is better for me to talk than to dream.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd yet, to judge from your looks while thus absorbed, your dreams must\nhave been delightful I longed to participate in them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not whether they were delightful or otherwise, but they were\ncommonplace and true. Alas! I was thinking that the heavens are as\nbeautiful as the earth is sad.\u201d\n\n\u201cSad?... Yes, without doubt, but likewise very beautiful at times,\nsomething like the sky above our heads, so glorious to\u2010night, but which\ndoes not always look as it does now.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the clouds pass away, and the sky again appears in its unchangeable\nbeauty; whereas....\u201d\n\n\u201cWhereas, a single day is sometimes sufficient to render our lives totally\ndifferent from what they were before. Yes, you are right,\u201d said he.\n\nHe was silent for an instant, and then resumed with a smile:\n\n\u201cBut these gloomy thoughts do not always prevail. It was very far from the\ncase the evening I first saw you in Naples.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! never speak again of that evening, Monsieur de Kergy, I conjure you,\u201d\nI exclaimed with a warmth I could not repress. \u201cHave I not already told\nyou that I was wretched, infatuated, desperate?...\u201d\n\nI stopped short, confused at what had escaped me. I saw his expression of\nsurprise, and noticed again the look of sympathy and emotion he had shown\nat Paris, as I wept while listening to Diana\u2019s music\u2014a look that silently\nasked me the cause of my tears. Alas! the day I last visited the H\u00f4tel de\nKergy was that on which the sadness that now wholly surrounded me first\ncast its shadow over my path. But I did not wish to betray what I felt\nnow, any more than I did then, and I instantly regretted the words I had\njust uttered. I think Gilbert perceived it.\n\n\u201cI assure you,\u201d said he after a moment, as if I had never spoken,\n\u201cnotwithstanding the brilliancy of your attire, you were far less imposing\nin my eyes than you are at this moment; and yet I am going to show a\nboldness I certainly should not have thought of manifesting that evening,\nto which I shall never allude again.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou seemed that night to belong to a world whose manners and language I\nwas ignorant of, and where I felt more out of place and uninitiated than a\nsavage. I could not have said such a word then. I hardly dared look at you\nafar off; whereas\u2014but you will think me presumptuous.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, say what you were going to.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then, you seem now, on the contrary, as you did at Paris, a member\nof the world I live in\u2014an inhabitant, a queen if you like, or a sister,\nperhaps, whose language I speak, as you can mine. That is why ...\u201d\n\nHe hesitated an instant, and then continued with an accent of truth and\nsimplicity that prevented his manner from appearing singular: \u201cThat is why\nI venture\u2014and it is showing myself very bold\u2014yes, venture, madame, to\nconsider myself worthy of being your friend, and, should you deign to\naccord me this title, I think I can safely promise never to show myself\nunworthy of it.\u201d\n\nWhat reply I made I hardly know, but what I am only too sure of is that\nthese words were welcome to a heart at once crushed and embittered as mine\nthen was. The void occasioned by Lorenzo\u2019s treachery caused a suffering\nlike that of intense hunger. My dignity, even more than my conscience,\nforbade my alleviating this hunger by giving vent to my grievances; nor\nwas I tempted to do so. But was there any reason why I should refuse\nmyself the solace of such a friendship as Gilbert now offered me? Had I\nany other duty now, with regard to Lorenzo, than to show a respect he had\nnot manifested to the tie that united us? Could not Gilbert, as he had\njust offered, be truly my brother in heart and soul? Was he not different,\nas Stella acknowledged, from any one I had ever met? And was I not myself\nin a position without parallel?\n\nI pass over the remainder of my reflections in silence, merely remarking\nhere that if all the women who believe themselves to be in an exceptional\nposition could be counted, they would be astonished, I imagine, to find\ntheir number so great, and would perhaps have to renounce some of the\nprivileges they lay claim to by virtue of the singularity of their\ndestiny.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nChurch Chant _Versus_ Church Music.\n\n\nConcluded.\n\n\u201cAh! but it is sad to think,\u201d objects a friend at our elbow, \u201cthat your\nrigid principles deprive the church of the use of the _best_ music. _I_\nthink she ought to have the very best of all that this world can offer.\u201d\n\nWe have already given our friend his answer, from one point of view, in a\nformer article. We will endeavor to give a fair interpretation of the\nanswer which the church herself would make:\n\n\u201cIt is not the best music, as such, that I want for my divine offices, any\nmore than I wish my priests to decorate the walls of my churches with the\n_chefs\u2010d\u2019\u0153uvre_ of painting and sculpture simply because they are\nmasterpieces of art. I certainly want, and rejoice to possess, _the best\nthat is suitable_ in art, whether of melody, painting, or sculpture, and\neven of scientific discovery or invention; but my canons of suitability\nwould be a besom of destruction to gas\u2010lighted altar\u2010candles and sanctuary\nlamps, fixed or portable opera\u2010glasses for the use of distantly\u2010placed\nworshippers, the manufactured mimic rain, hail, and thunder storms at the\nbeck of organ pedals, the statues of the Apollo Belvidere or the Greek\nSlave, valuable paintings of first\u2010class yachts, fast horses, or prize\ncattle, even if they came from the pencil of a Landseer or a Rosa Bonheur;\nand if I cared for melody of any style for its own sake, my child, I would\nstrongly advise my American clergy to engage the services of Theodore\nThomas or Patrick J. Gilmore, whose orchestral performances are truly\ndelicious, and the best for their purpose that can be procured in my\nbeloved dominions of the western hemisphere. _But the purpose of these\ndelightful concerts is not a part of my programme._ The disciples of the\nGrand Lama, I am told, turn off their rosaries and other prayers by means\nof a crank, as music is often made by mechanical organs; but my prayers\nand melodies are not made in this fashion. Have your _best_ music, as you\ndefine it, sung and performed where it suits the best; go and hear it, and\nGod bless you; but please do not let me hear of your inventing and using a\nsmall patent steam\u2010whistle to replace the acolyte\u2019s altar\u2010bell, nor a\nlarge one either in lieu of the church\u2010bell, for that would smack a little\ntoo much of the cotton\u2010mill or the iron\u2010foundry; and I do not think I\n_would_ tolerate that.\u201d\n\nWe must confess to having our patience severely tried when the question of\n\u201csuitability\u201d comes under discussion, and we burn to cry out, Where is the\nhonest musician who is not so engrossed with, and mastered by, his art as\nto become, like it, deprived of ideas, or at least of the power of\nexpressing them in one single logical affirmation, and who has a principle\nwhich he will fairly state and reason from instead of taking us into the\npathless dreamland of sentiment, or enticing us for ever off the track on\nto side switches of individual tastes and special pleas that lead nowhere?\nDiscussing the relative suitability of music and plain chant for the use\nof the Liturgy of the church is, in our experience, only equalled by the\npurgatory of suffering one\u2019s reason endures when talking \u201ccontroversy\u201d\nwith a Protestant. Has art no first principles? Is there no relation\nbetween art and the nature and purpose of the object to be expressed or\nillustrated by it? Do you _dare_ define \u201csuitability\u201d to be the harmony of\nthe subject with _your_ present mood, with the fashion of the hour, or\nwith the demands of ignorance and prejudice, or presume to close all\ndiscussion with your \u201c_Sic volo, sic jubeo; stet pro ratione voluntas_\u201d?\n\nBut this is a digression. Let us return to our argument.\n\n_Thirdly._ If we were to say that, contrasted one with the other, the\nexpression of plain chant is unimpassioned, and that of modern music is\nimpassioned\u2014in other words, that the former has not much, if any, capacity\nfor expressing human passions, and that the latter has not only a great\ncapacity for expressing them, but also for exciting them, we think we are\naffirming what every one who knows anything of the philosophy of music, as\nwell as every one who has been subjected to the influence of both, will\nreadily acknowledge to be true. There is martial music for soldiers, to\nexcite them to combat, or cheer them in victory, or stir their enthusiasm\non the triumphant return from battle. There is music for the dancers, and\ndistinct kinds of dance music which invite and sustain those who may wish\nto waltz or polka, thread the figures of the quadrille, or indulge in the\nlascivious mazes of other such\u2010like enjoyments not worthy of our mention\nor consideration outside of our duty as confessor or preacher. There is\nfunny music to make us laugh, and there are funereal dirges to keep us in\nfit mood as we march after a coffin. There is music which we know will\nrouse the wrath of our enemy, and there is amorous music which awakes the\npassion of love, pure and impure.\n\nWe have already signalized the cause which gave to music its sensuous\ncharacter. Lest it may be supposed that we are endeavoring to create a\ntheory without sufficient warrant, we quote from one who holds an\nundisputed post of honor in the musical world:\n\n\u201cVery well! that which musical doctrine had condemned, that which ages had\nproscribed, a man one day dared to do. Guided by his instinct, he had more\nconfidence in what it counselled him than in what the rules commanded, and\nin spite of the cries of horror which arose from a whole nation of\nmusicians, he had the courage to bring into relation the fourth note of\nthe gamut, the fifth, and the seventh (the tritone). By this one act he\ncreated the natural dissonances of harmony, a new tonality, the kind of\nmusic called _chromatic_, and, as a consequence, modulation. What a world\nof things produced by one single harmonic aggregation! The author of this\nwonderful discovery is Monteverde.(84) He gives himself the credit, in the\npreface of one of his works, for the invention of the modulated, animated,\nand expressive style of melody. In fact, the impassioned accent (_l\u2019accent\npassionn\u00e9_) does not exist, and cannot exist, except in the leading note\n(_la note sensible_), and this cannot itself be produced, except by its\nrelation with the fourth and fifth degrees of the gamut\u2014in other words\nthat any note placed in the harmonic relation of augmented fourth with\nanother note produces the sensation of a new tone, without the necessity\nof hearing the tonic or making a cadence, and that by this faculty of the\naugmented fourth to create immediately a leading note, modulation\u2014that is\nto say, the necessary succession of different tones\u2014is rendered easy.\nAdmirable coincidence of two fruitful ideas! The musical drama is born;\nbut the drama lives on emotions, and the tonality of plain chant, grave,\nsevere, and calm, could not furnish it with impassioned accents; for the\nharmony of its tonality does not contain the elements of transition. Hence\ngenius found inspiration in the demand, and all that could give life to\nthe music of the drama was brought into existence at one blow.\u201d(85)\n\nWe cannot refrain from adding the reflections of another eminent\nmusician\u2014M. Jos. d\u2019Ortigue:\n\n\u201cIs it not evident that a new order of ideas, a new social element, and a\nnovel spirit, were introduced in music by the fact alone of the creation\nof a tonality, and that dissonance, modulation, transition, the leading or\n_sensible note_, the _impassioned accent_ (mark the words), were but the\nmaterial clothing, the means, the outward expression, thanks to which this\nnew principle\u2014namely, the _moi humain_\u2014which had already, so to speak,\nbroken through the upper strata of thought, made for itself a vent by\nmeans of the art of music? For just as the ancient tonality, by the fact\nof its constitution, inspired the sentiment of repose\u2014that is to say, gave\nbirth to the ideas of permanence, of immutability, of the infinite, which\ncomport with the expression of divine things\u2014so also disturbance,\nagitation, the febrile and tumultuous expression of the passions, which\nare the essential characteristics of all earthly things, are inherent in\nthe modern tonality precisely in virtue of its constitution, which depends\nupon _dissonance_ and _transition_.\u201d(86)\n\nThose wise old Spartans who made it a capital crime to add a new cord to\nthe lyre, lest the people should be rendered effeminate, would certainly\ndespair of finding a man living in our XIXth century who was fit to be\ncalled a man, if they were told that the chord of the minor seventh was in\nsuch common use that hardly one melody can be found where its effeminate\ndissonance is not made to appear and to be felt.(87) We pray to be\nunderstood when we call the tonality of \u201cimpassioned accent\u201d effeminate. A\nfew words from M. Victor de Laprade will convey our meaning: \u201cI dare to\nclass music, and even women themselves, in the order of femininity\u2014that is\nto say, in that class in which sentiment rules ideas, in which the heart\nis more manifestly active than reason. It is bold, I acknowledge. We are\nno longer living in the age of the Book of Wisdom, of the sacred\nlawgivers, of the prophets, of the philosophers, nor simply of Moli\u00e8re; we\nare of the age of Saint\u2010Simon, of Fourier, of Auguste Comte, and we have\nchanged all that. We have put the heart on the right side. I am obstinate\nenough to feel it beating on the left.\u201d\n\nIn his famous Instructions (we beg our readers to recall our proposed\namendment of their title) the cardinal vicar feels the necessity of\nprotesting against this emotional tendency of music. \u201cWe forbid,\u201d he says,\n\u201ctoo lively or exciting movements,\u201d and dreads lest some composers may be\nled to express \u201cthe unbridled liveliness of the dance.\u201d He would not\n\u201cdeprive the music of that grace and coloring which art and _good taste_\nsuggest,\u201d but thinks it necessary to add that \u201can effeminate softness is\nto be avoided.\u201d\n\nWithout question, the best music, allied to words, as music, is in the\ncompositions for the opera. Those eminent composers who have written for\nthe opera and for the church have indisputably produced works of a higher\norder of musical merit for the former than they have for the latter.(88)\nAnd is not operatic music the most intensely impassioned of all melody,\nand is it not, alas! becoming a vehicle for the expression of the most\ndebased and lascivious passions of the human heart? Give to modern music\nlanguage and a stage, free it from all the restraints of Catholic\nmorality, and who does not see, after the experience of an operatic season\nin one of our great cities, that it would soon become the most powerful\nand dangerous of all the forces which are now threatening to enervate and\ndemoralize our modern society? We must not be surprised, therefore, nor\nshould we much regret, that \u201cmodern composers have failed in their works\nto meet the requirements of Catholic devotion.\u201d\n\nLet us see what spirit marks the ceremonies of the church when considered\nas opportunities for exhibiting, or as exciting causes of awakening, the\npassions. It is not possible to find one such occasion. All gesture which\nmight suggest aught but the most perfect calm and repose of the soul in\nthe actors is absolutely out of place. It is very difficult in sudden,\nunlooked\u2010for instances of disturbance for the priest not to show in his\ncountenance or by his manner symptoms of alarm, disgust, or annoyance; but\nhe ought not to do so, and would not fail to scandalize the people, unless\nsuch disturbance happened to be extraordinary. To betray by look, gesture,\nor intonation of voice the slightest emotion of sensual passion, however\ninnocent in itself, would disgust and horrify all observers. Neither do\nthe rubrics permit him or his assistants to excite any passion in the\nhearts of others; for the ceremonial directs their most simple movements,\nthe position of the body, the _tenue_ of the eyes, the hands, and the\nfeet. That \u201cecclesiastical modesty\u201d which forms so constant a theme of\ninstruction to candidates for the sacred ministry here finds its perfect\nrealization, and is exacted in the highest degree.\n\nThe sacred offices are essentially unlike opera, and the church has the\ngood sense to dread the introduction of anything in connection with her\ndivine ceremonies that might be suggestive of it. We now understand why\nthe cardinal vicar throughout the Instructions vehemently proscribes, and\nover and over again warns composers not to write, operatic or theatrical\nmusic, or anything like it, either in its _melodies_ or its character, nor\nborrow from it, nor imitate it in the use of ariettas, duets, trios,\nrec\u00edtative, _finales_, or _cabaletta_. Truly, \u201cthe best music\u201d is pretty\nwell ruled out by his eminence. By his cautious discrimination, and\nprudent lopping off, and general toning down he has pretty closely clipped\nthe wings of the steed of Helicon, and, after all, it must be\nacknowledged, has made of him rather a sorry and unreliable nag, not worth\nhalf the old horse who all his lifetime has never given out, or baulked,\nor behaved in any unseemly manner.\n\nWe trust that a distinct disavowal of any intent on our part to treat with\nflippancy and disrespect the oft\u2010quoted Instructions of his eminence is\nnot needed, for nothing could be further from our thought; but that our\nreaders will perceive that the point of our lance is directed against the\nendeavor to impose a restrictive and prohibitory circular\u2010letter of the\ncardinal vicar as a brief in favor of modern music with apostolic\nsanction. We complain, also, that the words of Benedict XIV. have been\nquoted by the same writers in such a way as to leave the impression on the\nmind of the general reader that the learned pope treated modern music as\n_un fait accompli_, and rather preferred it if composed according to\ncertain demands which he makes of musicians. Wherefore we quote again his\nwords, by which we get at his real sentiments: \u201cThe Gregorian chant is\nthat song which excites the minds of the faithful to piety and devotion;\nit is that music, therefore, which, if sung in our churches with care and\ndecorum, is most willingly heard by devout persons, and is justly\npreferred to that which is called figured or harmonized music. The\ntitillation of figured music is held very cheaply by men of religious mind\nin comparison with the sweetness of the church chant, and hence it is that\nthe people flock to the churches of the monks, who, _taking piety for\ntheir guide_ in singing the praises of God, after the counsel of the\nprince of psalmists, skilfully sing to their Lord as Lord, and serve God\nas God with the utmost reverence.\u201d\n\nThe learned Suarez has also been cited in favor of modern church\nmusic\u2014rather a strange fact, as the great theologian was dead and buried\nbefore the system of modern music was invented! S. Alphonsus\u2014no mean\ntheologian, nor a rigorist either\u2014says: \u201cThe devil usually gets more by it\nthan God does.\u201d\n\nThis attempt to argue a positive approval from prohibitory enactments\nreminds us of \u201ca little story.\u201d\n\n\u201cI had the honor this morning,\u201d boasted a vain soldier, \u201cof holding a\nconversation with his majesty the king.\u201d\n\n\u201c_You_ converse with his majesty?\u201d exclaimed his companion. \u201cAnd what did\nyou say to him?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! _I_ said nothing. His majesty alone conversed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd pray, what did _he_ say to _you_?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe said: \u2018Fellow, stand out of the way!\u2019 \u201d\n\nWho has ever thought of denying that the old plain chant suits exactly the\nceremonies of the church? There were never any \u201cInstructions\u201d promulgated,\nthat we know of, to curb its worldly, operatic, sensual, or effeminate\ntendencies, simply because by its essential melodic form it does not lend\nitself to any such aberrations. By its short intervals, its grave and\nunmeasured movement, and its intellectual character,(89) it is freed from\nall sensuousness. You can neither march to it, dance to it, nor make love\nwith it. But you can appropriately accompany any of the ceremonies of the\nchurch with it, and pray with it; that is\u2014to forestall the special plea of\na theological \u201cdistinction\u201d\u2014you can _adore_ with it, _propitiate_ the\ndivine justice with it, _supplicate_ with it, _praise_ and _thank_ God\nwith it; and doing all this, we respectfully ask, what more do you want,\nand, if you do want more, what right have you to ask it?\n\nIn the interests of art, do you say? Pshaw! You know well that the church\ncan offer but a very confined field for the cultivation of music _as an\nart_, and, compared with music inspired by other wants and tastes, the\nmusic written for her use is not worth mentioning. It is only fit to be\nconsigned to the flames, as our friend observes. Besides, the church is\nnot an Academy of Arts and Sciences. Try again.\n\nIf being content with what the church prescribes, refusing to admit what\nshe has not distinctly commanded, and contending stoutly for the fitness\nof that melody for the expression of her divine prayer, and as an\naccompaniment to her sublime offices, and which she has never declared to\nbe unsuitable, be to \u201ccensure the whole church, and even the Pope\nhimself,\u201d as it is insinuated we do, then we offer ourselves at once for\nsafe conduct to a lunatic asylum, for assuredly we have lost our senses.\n\n_Fourthly._ We hear much of the _coloring_ in the phraseology of modern\nmusic. That it is essentially rhetorical is plain enough. It is pretty\nmuch all made up of figures of speech, musically expressed. It is\nespecially antithetical, full of striking contrasts, and highly\nmetaphorical. We used to hear frequently in our own church, when we had a\n\u201cmixed\u201d choir and a gallery, a _finale_ of the Gloria in Excelsis which\nthe unlearned in musical gymnastics were accustomed to say sounded like\nthe men scampering after the women, and the women scampering after the\nmen, and neither coming out ahead of the other. This rhetorical character\nof music, this dealing in figures of musical speech, which we dare affirm\nis not free in many an instance from the faults of tautology, bombast, and\nmixed metaphor, lucidly explains the reason why the frequent repetition of\n_morceaux de musique_, whether anthems, motets, \u201cgrand Masses,\u201d or\n\u201cmusical Vespers,\u201d by any celebrated composer whomsoever, soon grows\ntiresome. The same rhetorical phrases and identical figures of speech in\nthe discourses of a preacher Sunday after Sunday would set all the people\nyawning, and, if the sacredness of the place and of the speaker were not a\nhindrance to such emotional display, laughing and hissing as well.\n\nThe metaphorical character of music is the result of its theme, which may\nbe, as we have already said, either pastoral, martial, amorous, saltatory,\nfunereal, or even prayerful, etc.; but it is not really pastoral, for\nthere are no green fields to pipe in or any hay\u2010making going on. It is\n_like_ pastoral music, and would be only tolerable, even in a concert\u2010\nroom, on the strength of the maxim, \u201cArt for art\u2019s sake\u201d\u2014a principle we\ncontend to be unphilosophical at best, and absolutely intolerable when\napplied to sacred ceremonies, and not sanctioned by a single instance in\nthe rubrics. So, also, there are no military evolutions, no love\u2010making or\ndancing, going on, for which reason the music is not _really_ martial,\namorous, or saltatory, but only _like_ such music. But there may be a\nfuneral, and there certainly is prayer going on; and what objection can\nthere be to funereal and prayerful music? We have never heard any funereal\n_music_ that was fit to accompany a Requiem Mass. We have heard musical\nhowling, wailing, sobbing, groans and sighs of despair, and even the\nspiteful cursing and gnashing of teeth of the damned, as in the\n_confutatis maledictis_ of Cherubini\u2019s _Requiem_; but let that pass for\nthe present. Prayer_ful_ music there is of incomparable sweetness and\nravishing harmony, but _prayer_ music\u2014_i.e._, music which _is_ prayer\u2014is\nquite another thing. Music does not lose its metaphorical character\nbecause its theme is prayerful. There is the greatest difference in the\nworld between first\u2010class paste and real diamond, or between vermeil and\npure gold, although it is possible that neither you nor we could\ndistinguish them without the application of a scientific test. The paste\nmay have a perfect diamond_ful_ glitter, if you will; but that this\nglitter is the expression of the substance of real diamond needs no\nargument to disprove.\n\nLet us again apply our test. The official acts of the celebrant and his\nassistants at the altar are not figurative, but real. The priest acts _as_\na priest, and not _like_ a priest. The chorus rise, kneel, bow, prostrate,\nas a chorus should, and not as a chorus might. All their acts are real,\nfinding their _ratio_ in themselves, and not in something else of which\nthey are now a good and admirable, or now a poor and far\u2010fetched, figure.\nMelody for such performances should be a faithful and _true_ expression of\nthese realities. That is to say, when you hear the melody, you should hear\nthe prayer which is the form of the _corpus rubricarum_, as the soul is\nthe form of the human body. Subjected to this test, the paste is easily\ndistinguished.\n\nNow, will the diamond, as we choose to typify the church chant, be as\nreadily known by the like test? There is nothing corresponding or similar\nto figures of speech in the chant, neither is it based upon metaphorical\nthemes. It has properly no theme, but only modes, with their special\nintonations, mediations, and cadences. Considered in its melodic form, it\nis a rhythmic combination of unities, the purest artistic expression of\ncommunion with the Infinite Unity\u2014with God. Sung in or out of the\ncelebration of the divine offices, if it be not simple rehearsal, it is\nprayer, and nothing else but prayer. It rejoices in the \u201cperennial\nfreshness\u201d of the Holy Mass and Divine Office, because, like these, it is\nnot metaphorical, but real; and hence we deduce at once the explanation of\nits lasting character. Its melodies do not wear out or become tiresome. It\nwould never occur to a child of the church, although he were the most\naccomplished musician the world ever knew, if his age surpassed that of\nMathusala, and he had heard High Mass every day of his life, that the\nPreface or the Pater Noster (and wherefore any other chant?) was a worn\u2010\nout or tiresome melody. There is a truth for the lovers of church _music_\nto digest.\n\nThe essential reason\u2014to go to the very bottom of the matter\u2014of the lasting\ncharacter of the chant, lies in the form of its phraseology, which is\npurely didactic, consisting of simple and therefore sublime affirmations;\nthis simplicity of its phraseology being often reduced to the utterance of\npure substantives, as if the soul were in rapture, meditating upon God and\nhis attributes, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Being\nof beings, the Eternal, the Omnipotent, the Everlasting, the All in all,\nthe All wise, the All fair, and the All good.\n\nThere is an instance of this sublime simplicity of language in Holy\nScripture which is an apt example to illustrate our meaning. It is the\ntwelfth verse of the viith chapter of the Apocalypse: \u201cAmen. Benedictio,\net claritas, et sapientia, et gratiarum actio, honor, et virtus, et\nfortitudo Deo nostro in s\u00e6cula s\u00e6culorum, amen\u201d\u2014Amen. Benediction, and\nglory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honor and power, and strength to our\nGod, for ever and ever, amen.\n\nThe test being applied, we think we may affirm and certify the diamond.\n\n_Fifthly._ From what we have already said, and to judge from the\nextraordinary pretensions of its capacity for expression put forth in\nthese later days, modern music is essentially dramatic, mimetic, or\nimitative. That it is especially suitable as the melody to accompany and\naid the expression of dramatic representation there is no question. There\nappears also to be hardly any limit of its capacity, as musicians affirm,\nfor word\u2010painting and scene\u2010painting. If the musical critics are not\ndeceived, we think that, with the full score of some genius who may be\neven now about to graduate in the school of \u201cthe music of the future,\u201d a\nThomas or a Gilmore might dispense with the actors on the stage\naltogether, and with the services of the scene\u2010painter as well. What is\nthought of this power of word\u2010painting, when employed to illustrate the\nsacred text of the church\u2019s offices, we quote from the _Dublin Review_,\nOct., 1868:\n\n\u201cWhat is called word\u2010painting in music is, of course, very effective, but,\nas a rule, it cannot be carried so far in sacred as in secular music\nwithout detriment to the dignity of the subject. Indeed, even where it is\nnot otherwise objectionable, it sometimes becomes tiresome from its\nconventionality. The run down the notes of the scale at the _descendit de\nc\u0153lis_, and such like effects, do not bear much repetition. Indeed, the\nattempt at minute expression has often led to odd blunders, such as in the\npassages _resurrectionem mortuorum_, where the music for the first word is\nusually made to have a joyful effect, the latter a lugubrious one (and\nthat, too, sometimes drawn out into musical passages cut off from the\nprevious word, as if it were a fresh sentence), the composer forgetting\nthat the phrase only comprehends one idea\u2014that of the resurrection. So\nwith the passage _remissionem peccatorum, exaltavit humiles_, and others\nthat might be named.\u201d\n\nWe have already mentioned a notable instance of this word\u2010painting\u2014the\n_confutatis maledictis_ from the _Dies Ir\u00e6_ of Cherubini. The vividly\ndescriptive and intensely dramatic power of that passage is well known;\nand if it were further heightened by a mechanically\u2010darkened church, with\na flash or two of stage\u2010lightning and the rumbling of sheet\u2010iron thunder,\nwe are sure the effect would be quite as much as we could bear, whether as\ncelebrant or as near relatives of the departed. Overpowered with the\nemotions of horror and fear which we are sure we would experience in thus\nhaving hell opened to us, we would be thinking a great deal more of the\ndevil than of the God of mercy and compassion when the cry of fright broke\nfrom our lips, \u201cLibera me, Domine, de morte \u00e6terna!\u201d Certainly, deprived\neven of any stage effects, we have never listened to it without a shudder.\nAnd now comes the pertinent question, Is dramatic, theatrical effect what\nthe church desires to obtain from her melody, or, at least, is she willing\nthat there should be anything of this kind at all employed to illustrate\nher liturgy? We refer to the Instructions of his eminence the cardinal\nvicar. He is \u201cpolarized,\u201d as we say in America, on that subject. We also\nquote from the late articles on church music in this magazine:\n\n\u201c \u2018Humana nefas miscere divinis\u2019 finds its application here. To carry the\nminds of worshippers in the church back to the theatre by the music is a\ncrime, for it is a desecration.\u201d\n\nMusicians themselves are not wholly devoid of the sense of propriety. Mme.\nde S\u00e9vign\u00e9 relates that _Baptiste_\u2014the celebrated Lulli\u2014hearing at Mass\none day an air which he had composed for the theatre, cried out: \u201cLord,\nLord, I crave your pardon. I did not write it for _you_!\u201d\n\nWe wonder if the correspondent of the _Herald_ was aware of the satire\ncontained in the following late announcement: \u201cSignor Verdi protests\nindignantly against his _Requiem_ being played in a circus at Ferrara.\u201d\n\nYet let us see if our comparison with the ceremonies of the liturgy and\nthe character of the actors holds good as before.\n\nThere is no scenery, nor should there be any for any occasion. No, good\nreader, not even for the Repository of Holy Thursday. Those puppet\u2010show\n\u201ctombs,\u201d with pasteboard soldiers sleeping and watching before pasteboard\nrocks, are not prescribed by the rubrics, or even tolerated, and are\ntherefore entirely out of order and unmeaning. The Holy Mass is a\ncontinuation of the crucifixion and sacrificial death of our Lord on Mount\nCalvary; but there is no dramatic representation of that event, for the\nreason, among others that we have alleged before, that it is not a\nrepresentation, but a reality. We could readily understand its propriety\nif the Episcopalians or other sects of Protestants were to have a stage\nerected with scenery of the \u201cupper room,\u201d and a supper\u2010table with living\nactors or wax\u2010figure ones, _\u00e0 la_ Mme. Tussaud or Mrs. Jarley, in order to\nvividly represent to their people the celebration of the Last Supper,\nbecause their \u201ccelebrations,\u201d high, low, broad, or evangelical, expect to\nhave nothing more at best than a representative sacrifice or commemorative\nsupper; but the Catholic Mass is a perfect and real sacrifice in itself,\nand mimics nothing.\n\nApart from the Mass, we have a remarkable example in our own day of a\nsacred drama, the Passion Play of Ober\u2010Ammergau, which is not a real but\nan imitative crucifixion, mechanical in the highest degree, passional,\nfigurative, and dramatic. Music for that, _\u00e0 la bonne heure_!\n\nLet us again bring the chant into comparison. When we say that it is pre\u2010\neminently the chant of priests, each one of whom is \u201calter Christus,\u201d(90)\nthe chorus song of psalmists, we at once proclaim it as pre\u2010eminently\nfitted for the expression of the liturgy, and therefore to be wanting in\ndramatic or word\u2010painting capacity. There have been a few insignificant\nattempts made by late composers to express, after a musical fashion, the\n_descendit de c\u0153lis_ with square notes on a four\u2010lined staff, in the hope,\nprobably, that it would be mistaken for plain chant; but the guise is too\nthin!\n\nHere is a fitting opportunity to explain our former intimation that\nhorrifying, tearful, and groaning melody is not suitable even for a\nrequiem. How often have we not heard it said, \u201cOh! Gregorian chant is\nadmirable for occasions of sorrow; just the thing for a Dead Mass\u201d; or\nagain, \u201cI think the chant is so lugubrious and solemn; every inflexion\nseems to be in the minor key,\u201d to which we reply:\n\nIn the first place, they who suppose plain chant to be in the minor key\nare simply in ignorance of its tonality. These we advise to study enough\nof the chant of their church to avoid making ridiculous objections to it.\nThe others evidently suppose, 1st, that the church intends to excite\nemotions of sadness at a requiem, and to perform, especially with the\nservices of the choir, the office of a paid mute; and if the friends and\nrelatives are moved to weep bitterly and for a long time, every one will\nsay, \u201cHow impressive, how touching!\u201d meaning, \u201cHow saddening! How\ndepressing to the spirits!\u201d 2d. That the Gregorian chant Requiem is most\nadmirably suited to this purpose, being a melody of _such_ a sorrowful\ncharacter and of _so_ lugubrious a tone.\n\nOn which we remark that they are most egregiously mistaken in both\nsuppositions. The object which the church has in view at a requiem is not\nto make people weep and wail, but to console, comfort, and soothe the\nbleeding hearts of the bereaved mourners; to pray herself, and to excite\nthem to pray earnestly, for the soul of the departed. Nothing could be\nfurther from her thought than to horrify them with visions of the grave\nand imaginations of the torments of the damned. No, it is rest, eternal\nrest, the rapture of the soul\u2019s enjoyment of the everlasting light of\nglory in heaven, that forms the burden of her funereal refrain,\n\n\n \u201cRequiem \u00e6ternam dona ei Domine,\n Et lux perpetua luceat ei!\n Requiescat in pace!\u201d\n\n\nThose who love to indulge in the luxury of woe, and who fancy that\nplentiful tears and a thoroughly broken\u2010hearted manner are the proper\naccompaniments to a mourning dress, highly approve of the anti\u2010rubrical\nexhibition of painted or embroidered skulls and cross\u2010bones, heightened in\neffect by a diapering of gigantic tears, which the artist in funereal\ntrappings has intruded upon the altar or about the catafalque. The Requiem\nMasses of Mozart and Cherubini would certainly admit of these imitative\nskeletons and mechanical grief; but not so the Gregorian Requiem.\n\nHark! what are those strange words which break the silence as the coffin\nis borne into the church? \u201cSubvenite sancti Dei, occurrite Angeli Domini,\nsuscipientes animam ejus, offerentes eam in conspectu Altissimi. Suscipiat\nte Christus qui vocavit te, et in sinu Abrah\u00e6 angeli deducant te.\u201d(91)\n\nAnd now the Introit begins, which gives the keynote, so to speak, to the\nwhole Mass:\n\n\u201cRequiem \u00e6ternam dona eis Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis.\u201d(92)\n\nWhat a world of comfort in those words! How soothing and hopeful; and\nchanted to such a smooth, sweet melody, like oil poured out upon the\ntroubled waters, calming the agitated and fretted spirits of the mourners,\nand gently turning all hearts away from the thoughts of the irreparable\nloss they have sustained, and shutting out the memory of the scenes of\nanguish and horror that marked the hours of the agony and death, solicits\nthem to pray for the soul of the beloved departed, and to cast all their\nsorrow at the feet of God.\n\nDoubtless you presume the chant is very sorrowful; and, like all Gregorian\nchant, this is, of course, \u201cin the minor key.\u201d Not at all, however\ninexplicable it may appear to you. Read over again what we have just\nwritten above, and now learn one more astonishing fact. The chant for this\nIntroit is written in the sixth mode, the only one of all the Gregorian\nmodes whose scale is identical with the scale of the modern major key!\n\nThere is not an invitation to weep in the whole Requiem, neither in the\nwords nor in the melody. It is true the church takes care to improve the\noccasion by preaching her sermon on the Judgment in the chant of the _Dies\nIr\u00e6_; but she soon returns to her keynote of comforting prayer, and at the\n_Communio_ (which, of course, is not sung at all at our concert requiems)\nshe essays even a bright and cheerful melody in the triumphant eighth\nmode, to the old refrain,\n\n\u201cLux \u00e6terna luceat eis,\u201d\n\nand, addressing the sweet mercy of God, inspires hope and submission to\nthe divine will by the reminder that he is ever kind and good\u2014\u201cquia pius\nes.\u201d\n\nOh! what is this? It is the sympathizing pressure of the hand of the old,\nold friend who has always been true in sunshine and storm, in our sins and\nour miseries; it is her sheltering arm that folds our drooping head upon\nher gentle breast, and her cheery voice that has so often gladdened us in\ndays gone by, soothing our broken heart with the only words that have\npower with us now\u2014\u201cGod is good,\u201d \u201cIt is his holy will.\u201d\n\nWhen we were aforetime groping in the darkness of heretical error, and\ndenied all privilege of stretching out our hands in prayer to help our\nbeloved dead through the mysterious way that death had opened to them, and\nsternly forbidden to hope for a deeper look into the future than the\nyawning chasm of corruption opened to our gaze in the earth, we felt\u2014alas!\nhow keenly\u2014the appropriateness of the only burial service we knew of then,\nwhose doleful burden\u2014\u201cashes to ashes, dust to dust,\u201d and \u201cWe commit this\nbody to the _ground_\u201d\u2014expressed well the faith that was of the earth,\nearthy. But now our voice is lifted up in praise, and our heart\u2010strings\ntuned to strains of festive joy, when God has spared our innocent loved\nones the dangers and sorrows of life, chanting their translation to the\nskies in robes of white, and in words of joy that erst were sung by angels\nproclaiming \u201cGlory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men\u201d; and\nat the borders of the tomb which hides from our sight the forms of those\nwho for many a year have grown with our growth, and knit our very\nexistence unto theirs, the earth with its darkening clouds is made to\ndisappear, and heaven itself is revealed as the herald who precedes the\nsoul to the gates of everlasting light, chants in our hearing its\nmelodious welcome to the home of rest and glory.\n\n\u201cIn paradisum deducant te angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres,\net perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te\nsuscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere \u00e6ternam habeas requiem.\u201d(93)\n\nThe Catholic Church calm in the face of death, and triumphant at the edge\nof the grave! Why does not the sight convert every Protestant and\nunbeliever before the setting of the sun? This is our answer: Because you\nhave brought upon the true Israel the calamity which Mardochai the just\nprayed God to avert when \u201cthe mouths of them that sing unto God are shut,\u201d\nand by your music have bedimmed one of the most sublime manifestations of\nthe church, and by the banishment of her chant have silenced her voice in\nthat supreme, faith\u2010inspiring hour!\n\n_Music_ at a funeral! We would as soon think of getting an Episcopalian\nparson to read his gloomy burial service, or of hiring a Methodist\npreacher to declaim by the hour, for the purpose of exhibiting his own\nvanity and ministering to ours.\n\nThe reason why the much\u2010lauded musical Masses, whether of requiem or for\nother occasions, have failed to meet the requirements of Catholic\ndevotion, is because their composers have sought by word\u2010painting to\nillustrate the words, as separately defined in a dictionary, instead of\ngrasping the chief and leading ideas to which the church strives to give\nexpression; pretty much as if a painter, intending to paint a man, should\nmost carefully sketch apart every separate bone, muscle, nerve, artery,\nand organ in the body. The result obtained would be a series of most\nexcellently delineated anatomical drawings, no doubt, but no bodily form\nof a man, and no expression of what makes the body a living body, which is\nthe soul.\n\nHence we deduce a most important conclusion. The _form_ of modern music is\nnot prayer, but recreation, the delectation of the imaginative faculty. It\naims at producing the impressions which material things excite by their\ncontact with the senses. It seeks to imitate motion in direction or\nvelocity, light and darkness, cold and heat, serenity or disturbance in\nnature. The piano alone is supposed to make us hear the booming of cannon,\nthe galloping and neighing of horses (the _tritone Si, Fa_, which in the\npalmy days of Gregorian chant was called _diabolus in musica_, and which\nis the _essential_ chord in the tonality of modern music, will be found to\ngive the exact notes of an ass\u2019 braying), the dying moans of the wounded\nin battle, the rising and setting of the sun, and a host of other equally\ncurious things. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t wonder,\u201d exclaims a witty writer, \u201cif one day\nI might see upon a piece of sheet music, \u2018_Demonstration of the square of\nthe hypothenuse_,\u2019 or \u2018_The theory of free trade_!\u2019 \u201d Will not some\ncomposer produce a \u201cwork\u201d which will give the impressions produced on the\nsouls of the people at Mass and Vespers? It might be found convenient for\nhome use on rainy Sundays!\n\nThis suggestion quite tickles our fancy. It has the smack of originality\nabout it, and we feel like playing with it, as a cat plays with a mouse.\nWho does not see at once that it opens a vast field for development of\nmusic as an art, and _precisely in the order in which musicians are now\nstriving to give it expression_? Yes, the glory of the invention is ours.\n\n\u201cPATENT MUSICAL IMPRESSIONS, adapted to every want in church and state.\u201d\n\n\u201cSave your fuel! _Summer Impressions_, warranted for the coldest climate.\u201d\n\n\u201cWatering\u2010places superseded! Refreshing _Winter Impressions_, deliciously\ncool, flavored with hops, serenades, moonlight excursions, sea\u2010views,\nAdirondack trips, etc., according to taste.\u201d\n\n\u201c_Sermon Impressions_, a great variety. Parties ordering will please state\ntheir religious views or the particular branch of the Episcopalian or\nother denomination to which they belong.\u201d _N.B._\u2014Agents and composers\nwanted.\n\nIf our readers think this to be nonsensical trifling, let them read a few\nof those lucubrations styled \u201cmusical criticisms.\u201d\n\nMusical _coloring_ has only been equalled in its fantastic conceptions by\nthe so\u2010called _ocular harmony_ and _visual melody_ imagined by the French\nJesuit, Father Castel, who lived about the beginning of the last century.\nStarting with a fancied principle that colors are reducible to a harmonic\nscale corresponding to the scale of musical sounds, he had manufactured\nwhat he called his _universal ribbon_, on which were graduated all colors\nand their most minute shades. Of this ribbon he made a little book, which\nhe ingeniously attached to a harpsichord in such a manner that certain\nleaves would open at the touch of the different keys, thus presenting to\nthe sight a particular shade of color at the same time that the hearing\nperceived the musical note. It is said that he spent large sums of money\non this hobby. He wished also to have silks and other stuffs woven after\nthis principle and \u201c_dans ce go\u00fbt_\u201d of which the sacerdotal vestments\nought to be made, so that every feast and season would be not only\ndistinguished by those parti\u2010colored robes, but also, according to his\nprinciple of the harmonic proportions of color, that by a scientific\narrangement of the colors derived from his graduated ribbon one might,\nand, as he contended, _should_, note upon the vestments melodies, and even\nharmony, so that a chasuble would _sing_ the Gloria in Excelsis or a cope\nthe Antiphons at Vespers! We do not find, however, in his works, any\nproposal to _sing_, in colors, either at Mass or Vespers, thunder and\nlightning, landscapes and sunrises, jigs and waltzes, serenades of love\u2010\nsick swains, the shrieks and gnashing of teeth of devils and lost souls,\nas our modern musicians have done with their musical coloring.\n\n_Sixthly._ One of the chief complaints justly made against church music is\nits liability to the abuse of bringing certain singers of remarkable\ntalent into an undue and often indecent prominence, and thus ministering\nrather to personal vanity, to petty jealousies and envies, and to the\ncritical delectation of the audience (?), than to the praise and glory of\nGod. That music can be written so as to preclude such an offensive result\nwe are not prepared to deny; but that there is any reasonable hope that it\never will be we do not believe. The principle upon which choice is made of\nit in preference to chant, and which has extorted the restricted and\nevidently unwilling toleration of it, forbids us to entertain such a hope.\nWe fancy that such a chastened style of music, composed so as to meet this\nrequirement, would soon be voted as \u201cconfessedly unequal to the task of\nevoking and expressing the feelings of Christian joy and triumph,\u201d and,\nwith plain chant under the same ban, this world would become indeed a vale\nof tears and\n\n\n \u201c... plain of groans,\n Whose arid wastes resound with moans\n Of weepers over dead men\u2019s bones.\u201d\n\n\nThe style inherent in music certainly calls for more or less of personal\ndisplay, and consequently for some sign of appreciation from the\nlisteners, if it be nothing more than that entranced silence which is\noften the most flattering applause, especially in church.\n\nA little incident has just occurred in connection with our own church\nchoir\u2014we hardly need say that no women sing in it, or that chant is its\naccepted melody\u2014which illustrates better than long argument the spirit\nthat Gregorian chant inspires in the hearts of the singers. One of their\nnumber, a little chorister, lies sick in a hospital. The members of the\nchorus have made an offering of all the merit they gain in the sight of\nGod, on account of their singing, for his recovery. We imagine the look of\npuzzled surprise if such an \u201cact\u201d were proposed to the singers of a\nmusical chorus in one of our ordinary gallery\u2010choirs.\n\nWe would furthermore ask whether music for the church could be, or is at\nall likely to be, composed so as not to betray the hand of the composer\nand elicit applause for him? Ought the people, or priest either, to suffer\nthe distraction of remarking interiorly, \u201cWe have Mgr. Newsham\u2019s Mass to\u2010\nday, but it is not so pleasing as Mr. Richardson\u2019s revised Mozart that we\nhad last Sunday. I do hope the organist will soon give us one of those\nMechlin prize Masses; but we cannot have that, I suppose, until we get a\nbetter tenor, for ours is rather a poor voice, etc., etc., etc.\u201d?\n\nWe say that all such reflections are out of order, and are a valid\nargument against the use of musical compositions.\n\nWhat of personal display in church ceremonies? It is not only in bad\ntaste, but irrational, stupid, and contemptible, if it be not grievously\nscandalous, as it might very easily become. Does any one ever dream of\napplause to be either given or acknowledged? Why does not the church offer\nprizes for the composition of \u201cMasses\u201d which will vie with each other in\ntheir literary style, their devotional phraseology, and other\ncharacteristics, so that the people may have the enjoyment of hearing a\nMass, now of the celebrated Dr. Brown, now of Dean Jones, and now of Canon\nRobinson, instead of being obliged to listen week after week to the same\nold, tiresome Masses of the Feasts of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and\nthe saints, the productions of the same \u201cbarbarous\u201d age which formed the\nchant, and whose composers are not known to one in a million? Do not the\nexigencies of modern progress, and the aspirations to see themselves in\nprint of more literati than she can find room for in her contracted temple\nof fame, demand that the church shall take this matter into serious\nconsideration? We advise the American daily press to press this matter\ninto the notice of the hierarchy at once, or at the reassembling of the\nVatican Council at furthest.\n\nAs to plain chant, it corresponds exactly with this anonymous character of\nthe present liturgy of the church, as every one can see\u2014immortal works,\nthat immortalize only the common faith which produced them\u2014and then _that_\nwill be got rid of, which is all we need or care to say on this point.\n_Verbum sap._\n\n_Seventhly_ (and lastly, for the present). Modern music is essentially\nnational and secular. It is the product of a natural and sensual\ncivilization (a question we have not the space to fully discuss here), and\nadvances in a degree corresponding to the cultivation of the arts for\ntheir own sake by this or that nation, besides receiving a marked impress\nfrom the national habits and tastes.\n\nArt for art\u2019s sake! What else could we expect from a civilization which\nhas ignored the supernatural and placed scientific investigation above the\nrevelations of God, whose painters have abandoned the ideal for servile\ncopying of nature, and whose highest type of beauty for the sculptor\u2019s\nchisel is a naked Venus?\n\nThe secular character of music\u2014by which we mean its variability with\nsucceeding centuries or still shorter periods of time\u2014is also\nunquestionable. It is of this age or of that; now \u201call the rage,\u201d and now\n\u201cold\u2010fashioned\u201d and \u201cout of date.\u201d Modern musical airs enjoy a very short\u2010\nlived popularity. Fashion is the autocrat, almost the divinity, of modern\ncivilization. It is the logical expression of cultivated sensualism, and\nthe art of music has basely given itself up to its tyrannical rule and\nwhimsical lusts. Church music has been forced to bend its neck and go\nunder the same yoke, and we do not believe it has the power to shake it\noff. Talk of making the style of music \u201calla Palestrina\u201d popular now! We\nhave been offered Chevalier Pustet\u2019s costly _Musica Divina_ for a song;\nand Herr Franz may call the attention of church musicians to the works of\nDurante until he is hoarse. We tell you that such music is \u201cout of\nfashion\u201d; and fashion\u2019s ban in the kingdoms of this world is as blasting\nas the ban of the church\u2019s excommunication in the kingdom of Christ.\n\nThere must be nothing national or secular, nothing suggestive of the petty\npartisanship and strifes of the world, about the melody which expresses\nthe universal and everlasting liturgy of the church. Kenelm Digby, whose\njudgment is of worth, says: \u201cSooth, no tongue can be adequate to give an\nidea of the impression produced by the plain song of the choir. It is full\nof poetry, full of history, full of sanctity. While the Gregorian chant\nrises, you seem to _hear the whole Catholic Church behind you\nresponding_.\u201d\n\nMusic may do for religions that are national or fashionable. Hymns in the\nGerman style may do for German Protestants; hymns and anthems in the\nEnglish style may do for English Protestants; and American music (if there\nbe such) may answer for all the requirements of devotion among the fifty\nodd sects that are struggling for existence amongst us\u2014and we advise them,\nif they wish to make their churches \u201cpay,\u201d to keep their music well up to\nthe fashion\u2014but the Catholic Church, who knows no present, past, or future\nin her eternal faith, whose liturgy has never been subjected to the genius\nof national language, whose motto, \u201cQuod ubique, quod semper, quod ab\nomnibus,\u201d has defied the attacks of fashion, as her rock\u2010founded edifice\ndefies the gates of hell, she must have, and, thank God, she has a melody\nno nation or age shall call \u201cits own,\u201d whose purity no _so\u00ed\u2010disant_\n\u201ccivilization\u201d shall ever be able to defile, which her faithful children\nshall always recognize as the voice of their true mother, and know it well\nfrom the voice of a foreign step\u2010dame or of a hireling housekeeper\u2014a voice\nwhich, through the mysterious link of divine generation, will ever speak\nto the child of the Father, who is his through the church, and whose\nPaternal compassion is sure to be moved by the tones of that song which\nthe Mother taught him to sing.\n\n\n\n\nAssunta Howard. V. Sienna.\n\n\nIt was on a beautiful evening in June, just when spring was merging into\nsummer, that Mr. Carlisle\u2019s family arrived in Sienna, and found a truly\ndelightful home awaiting them, thanks to Giovanni\u2019s energy and thoughtful\nskill. The soft but somewhat enervating air of Rome had failed to restore\nMr. Carlisle\u2019s strength; and the physician imperatively ordered that\npanacea which seems, in the opinion of the faculty, to be the last\nresource when other prescriptions have failed\u2014complete change. An almost\nunaccountable attraction had drawn their thoughts towards Sienna, and\nGiovanni had been despatched to Tuscany with _carte blanche_ as to\npreparations. He had proved himself entirely worthy of confidence; and the\npraises bestowed upon him by all the family, as they inspected the result\nof his efforts, were not unmerited. He had succeeded in engaging, for the\nseason, a pleasant, airy villa about a mile beyond the Florentine gate of\nthat quaint, proud city, and no expense had been spared to render it\ncomfortable and home\u2010like. A small grove in front of the house and a\nflower garden on one side promised many a pleasant hour during those days\nwhen shade and beauty afford relief and divert the mind from the power of\nthe midsummer sun. The _loggia_ in the rear of the house, where Mr.\nCarlisle, his sister, and ward were now standing, commanded a most\nextensive and beautiful view. Directly beneath them the land sloped down\ninto a graceful valley covered with vineyards. Beyond was a long stretch\nof _campagna_; and in the far distance, like a giant sentinel, rose\nRadicofani, on the summit of which still lingered the glory of a sunset\nwhose gorgeousness had already departed. There is much in first\nimpressions\u2014more, perhaps, than we are willing to acknowledge\u2014and it may\nwell be doubted whether any after\u2010sunshine would have secured for Sienna\nthe favor it now enjoyed had Radicofani appeared for the first time before\nthe little group assembled on the balcony, rising weird\u2010like from out a\nveil of mist and cloud.\n\nMrs. Grey actually sighed, as, instantly spanning with a loving, womanly\nthought the distance which separated her from the lover she had\nregretfully left in Leghorn, she turned to her companions, saying: \u201cOh! I\nwish George were here. I think Sienna is lovely. There! I have seen the\nnew moon over my left shoulder, and now I am sure he will not come this\nmonth.\u201d\n\nMrs. Grey was evidently very much in love. Mr. Sinclair\u2019s presence and\nabsence formed the light and shade of her life\u2019s picture; and a picture it\nwas whose colors were too glaring, its contrasts too striking, and it\nlacked deep feeling in its tone. After a pause she continued:\n\n\u201cBut then I have always noticed that George does not like views.\u201d And\nremoving her pretty travelling\u2010hat, she went away to superintend Amalie\u2019s\nunpacking.\n\n\u201cHe certainly did not like _my_ views,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle in a low voice\nto Assunta, \u201cwhen I expressed them to him rather freely the other day. But\nneither did I like his; so we were quits there.\u201d\n\nBut the attention of the traveller was soon entirely engrossed in securing\nthe rest needful after so fatiguing a journey; and it was some days before\nMr. Carlisle was sufficiently strong to explore the city, whose walls and\ntowers could be seen, in all their medi\u00e6val picturesqueness, from the\n_loggia_.\n\nAt last, however, the change recommended began to tell upon the invalid,\nand each day added its portion of renewed strength, until Mr. Carlisle\nthreatened every possible and impossible herculean labor, by way of\nproving that he was, as he said, \u201cready for anything.\u201d\n\nThe ladies had insisted upon postponing any sight\u2010seeing until all could\nenjoy it together, though Clara protested that complete stagnation was\nevidently her fate. One could not find much excitement in a grove and a\nmountain after the first hour of novelty. Still, as long as the mail\nbrought her a daily letter from Mr. Sinclair, and took in return the\ndainty, perfumed envelope containing so many pretty, loving nothings, she\ndid not appear to be hopelessly inconsolable.\n\nAssunta had, without scruple, made one exception to the generous\nresolution of waiting. But it was because she knew that the expedition she\nwished particularly to make alone would afford no pleasure to the others,\nwhile their presence might be the occasion of much pain to herself. Of\ncourse the interest Sienna had for her was its association with S.\nCatherine; and she longed to see the spot consecrated by the heroic\nsanctity of one whose humility was as profound as her influence on the\nworld was powerful. She took the opportunity on Sunday, after she and\nMarie had assisted at Mass in a little suburban church, to visit the house\nof the dyer whose honor and privilege it was to be the father of a woman\nthe life and character of whom might well be studied by the women of to\u2010\nday. S. Catherine possessed all that the most ambitious of her sex in the\npresent day could desire\u2014an immense public influence. How did she gain it?\nOnly by seeking to lose herself in the obscurity of an ignoble origin; in\nlabors and privations for the sake of a love whose consuming fire many\nwaters of tribulation could not quench; and in that truly hidden life in\nwhich God delights to work his wonders. The only right she claimed was\nthat of loving, and consequently of suffering, more than others. The only\ninsignia of rank she coveted was a crown of thorns, and it was granted to\nher by her Eternal Lover, who could refuse her nothing. Her power was in\nGod\u2019s exaltation of the humble, in his use of the weak things of the world\nto confound the mighty. Well might those hands, which were privileged to\nbear in them the marks of the Lord Jesus\u2014the sacred stigmata\u2014be made\ninstrumental in leading back to Rome its exiled pontiff\u2010king. Self\u2010\nannihilation was the secret of the influence of those glorious women of\nthe ages of faith who have since been placed upon the altars of the\nchurch. O restless, self\u2010seeking women of to\u2010day! striving for a power\nwhich will curse and not bless you, where is the sweet perfume of your\nhumility? Where are the fruits of mortification? Where the aureola of\nsanctity? Where are those grand works for God, offspring of a faith that\nbelieves all and a love that dares all? For these are the virtues in a S.\nCatherine or a S. Teresa which all can imitate. Or, if these standards are\ntoo high for modern souls, where are the homely qualities of those women\ncommended by S. Paul, who adorn themselves with modesty, learn in silence,\nare faithful in all things, having a care of the house? Thank God, the\nhand of the Lord is not shortened, and holy mother church cherishes many a\nhidden gem of sanctity which will one day adorn the bride at the coming of\nher divine Spouse! Yet these are but the exceptions, unknown in the midst\nof the vast, ever\u2010moving multitude seeking the open arena of life, and\ndesiring a part in its contests, animated by hopes as false as they are\nhuman, placing that almost insuperable barrier of pride between their\nsouls and the Sacred Heart of our divine Lord. S. James has given us this\nsimple rule of a holy life: \u201cTo visit the fatherless and widows in their\ntribulation, and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world\u201d\u2014in two words,\ncharity and purity. May the ever Blessed Mother of God and her glorious\nservant S. Catherine intercede for the women of the church, that they may\nnever covet those empty baubles for which the women of the world are now\nspending their lives!\n\nAssunta, simple child of the faith, thought nothing of all this, as she\npassed reverently over the threshold of the house, whose rooms, retaining\nstill something of their original appearance, are now converted into\nchapels. The sacristan, perceiving in the young girl an earnestness of\npiety to which he was not accustomed in most of the strangers who visited\nthis holy spot, showed to her, without solicitation, the crucifix before\nwhich S. Catherine was kneeling when she received the stigmata. With kind\nattention the good man placed a _prie\u2010dieu_ before the precious object of\nveneration and, then retiring, gave Assunta an opportunity to satisfy her\ndevotion. Making a place for Marie beside her, she was soon absorbed in\nprayer. Here, where the very atmosphere was filled with a spirit of love\nand sacrifice, where the crucifix before her spoke so eloquently of the\ncloseness of the union between the faithful soul and its suffering Lord,\nhow easy it seemed to make aspirations and resolutions which would of\nnecessity lose something of their heat when exposed to the chilling air of\nthe world\u2019s indifference! How far off now was Mr. Carlisle\u2019s affection, of\nwhose influence she never ceased to feel something; how near the divine\nlove of the Sacred Heart, that one sole object of S. Catherine\u2019s desire\nand adoration! It had been the last request of Father Du Pont, when he\ngave Assunta his good\u2010by and blessing, that, while in Sienna, she would\noften visit this holy house. He judged rightly that the evident presence\nof the supernatural would help to counteract the spirit of worldliness\nwhich surrounded her in her daily life. She herself already felt that it\nwas good for her to be there; and though, when she returned home, the\nsensible fervor of the moment died away, the effects remained in\nreanimated strength. \u201cCourage, my child, and perseverance; God is with\nyou,\u201d were the last words she had heard from the good priest\u2019s lips; and\nthey kept singing on in her soul a sweet, low harmony, like the music of\nseashells, soothing her in many an anxious hour.\n\nWhen once Mr. Carlisle was able to go out without danger of fatigue, Mrs.\nGrey could no longer complain of stagnation. The cathedral, the academy,\nand the numberless places of interest within the city walls, the drives,\nthe walks through the shady lanes near the villa, twilight strolls through\nthe vineyards, and excursions into the surrounding country, filled up the\ntime through all those pleasant weeks. Before they could realize it\nAssunta\u2019s birthday, her day of freedom, was at hand. A week before the\neventful occasion Mr. Sinclair had arrived in Sienna, making Mrs. Grey\nsuperlatively happy. The joy he imparted to the others must be expressed\nin something less than the positive degree.\n\nThe sun rose brightly on the 15th of August. Nature responded to the\njoyous Benedicite, and \u201call the works of the Lord\u201d seemed to \u201cmagnify him\nfor ever\u201d for the great things he had done in giving to heaven a Queen, to\nearth an Advocate. Nor was man silent. The grave city of Sienna put off\nits wonted dignity, and, by the unfurling of its gay flags, the spreading\nof tapestries, and the ringing of bells, testified its share in the common\nrejoicing of Christendom. It was the Feast of the Assumption, and Assunta\nHoward\u2019s twenty\u2010first birthday. Was it strange that the young girl should\nhave arisen with a heavy heart but little in sympathy with the glad sights\nand sounds that greeted her in these first waking moments? Surely, to\nthose who understand the workings of the human heart it was most natural.\nOn this day ended the relations between herself and her guardian. However\nhard the tie which bound her had made her duty towards him, it was harder\nstill to nature to sever the bond. She was free now to go where she would;\nand it would soon be right for her to separate from him who was no longer\nher guardian, and was not satisfied to be only her friend. She had not\nrealized before how much happiness she had experienced in the relationship\nwhich existed no longer; how she had rested content in the very face of\ndanger, because the peril had in it so much more of pleasure than of pain.\nHow sweet had been the intercourse which duty had sanctioned, and which\nduty must now interrupt! The feeling was all wrong, and she knew it, and\nshe would not fail to struggle against it. Her will was resolute, but it\nwas evident that she was not to conquer in life\u2019s battle by throwing aside\nher arms and withdrawing from the contest. The bearing of the cross must\nbe daily, and not only day after day, but year after year. Only to\u2010day she\nseemed to feel its weight more, and she sank a little beneath it. Was it\nher guardian angel that whispered courage to her soul, or was it the\nBlessed Mother, to whose loving protection she had been specially\nconfided, who reminded her that our dear Lord fell three times beneath the\noverwhelming burden of his cross, and bade her be comforted? Yes, it was\nthe feast of that dear Mother, and no mere human feeling should prevent\nher joining in the church\u2019s exultation and corresponding to her salutation\nin the Introit: \u201cGaudeamus omnes in Domino.\u201d\n\nAssunta had ordered the carriage to be in readiness to take her to San\nDomenico for early Mass, and Marie\u2019s knock at the door informed her that\nit was waiting. She had before visited the church, but only in the way of\nsight\u2010seeing. She had then been struck with its many points of interest;\nshe had no idea until this morning how devotional it was. After Mass, at\nwhich she had received, in the Holy Communion, strength and peace, she\nremained a long time before the chapel containing those most beautiful\nfrescos, by Razzi, of incidents in the life of the great saint of Sienna.\nThe finest of all, S. Catherine in Ecstasy, is a treasure both of art and\ndevotion. Apparently fainting, supported by two of her nuns, the\ncountenance of the saint has that indescribable expression of peace which\nwe see in those whose conversation is in heaven. But, more than this, the\nevident absence of all sensation indicates that the soul is rapt into an\nineffable union with its divine Lord, and has passed, for the moment,\nbeyond the confines of earth. Seemingly dead, and yet alive, the frail\nbody, with its beautiful, calm face, rests upon its knees in the arms of\nthe two Sisters, who, with all the tranquillity of the cloister, yet form\na contrast to her who is so wholly dead to the world.\n\nAssunta gazed upon the picture until it seemed to impart rest to her own\nsoul; and yet the impression was very different from that she always\nreceived in looking at the other S. Catherine whom angels are bearing to\nher sepulture. Marie at last interrupted her, and, reminding her that she\nwas the important personage at the villa on that day, suggested that she\nshould return to breakfast. And Assunta determined that no cloud should\ndisturb the serenity of the occasion, which all intended should be joyous.\n\nMr. Carlisle met her at the door on her return, and assisted her to\nalight. Then he took her hand in both his, and his eyes spoke volumes, as\nhe said:\n\n\u201cLet me look at you, child, and see how you bear your honors. You are more\nof a heroine than I thought; for even at this distance we have heard the\nbells and have seen the flags. What an important little body you are! No\none thought it worth while to ring me into my majority.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is because you did not come into the world under the same auspices,\u201d\nreplied Assunta.\n\n\u201cAuspice Maria\u2014that is the secret, then.\u201d And Mr. Carlisle lowered his\nvoice as he added: \u201cConsider me a Mariolater from this time, my devotion\nderiving an ever\u2010increasing fervor from the doctrine of the Assumption.\nWell, you are free, and I suppose I am expected to congratulate you. How\ndo you enjoy the sensation of liberty?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not think that I am yet enough accustomed to the use of my wings to\nfeel the difference between what I was yesterday and what I am to\u2010day. But\nin one point I am unchanged. I have an excellent appetite for my\nbreakfast.\u201d\n\nAssunta was determined to ward off all approach to sentiment.\n\n\u201cAnd here is Clara, wondering, no doubt, if I have been left behind in\nSienna.\u201d\n\nMrs. Grey came out into the garden, looking very lovely in her white\nmorning dress, and followed by Mr. Sinclair.\n\n\u201cSevern, you are the most selfish man I ever saw,\u201d exclaimed the impetuous\nlittle lady. \u201cDo you flatter yourself that you have the monopoly of\nAssunta, and that no one else is privileged to wish her _cento di questi\ngiorni_, as Giovanni says?\u2014though I am sure I should not like to live a\nhundred years. My beauty would be gone by that time.\u201d And she looked\narchly at her lover standing beside her.\n\n\u201cI fancy that even relentless time would \u2018write no wrinkles on thine\nantique brow,\u2019 reluctant to spoil anything so fair,\u201d said Mr. Sinclair in\nhis most gallant tone; then extending his hand to Assunta, he continued:\n\n\u201cMiss Howard, allow me to congratulate you, and to wish that your life may\nbe as cloudless as is this wonderful sky. The day is like\nyourself\u2014exquisitely beautiful.\u201d\n\nThe color mounted into Assunta\u2019s cheeks, but it was with displeasure at\nsuch uncalled\u2010for flattery. Mr. Carlisle turned away, and walked into the\nhouse; while his sister, with that amiability which often atoned for her\nwant of tact, exclaimed:\n\n\u201cBravo! George, you have said quite enough for us both; so I will only\nditto your speech, and add to it my birthday kiss. Now, dear, let us go to\nbreakfast. Severn is already impatient.\u201d\n\nThe table had been placed in a large hall running the whole length of the\nhouse; and as the three were about to enter, Assunta paused on the\nthreshold, in astonishment and delight at the magical transformation. The\nwalls were literally garlanded with flowers, and fresh greens were\nfestooned from the ceiling, while in the centre of the breakfast\u2010table was\na basket of the rarest exotics. Not only Sienna, but Florence, had been\ncommissioned to furnish its choicest flowers for the occasion. Assunta\u2019s\neyes filled with tears, and for a moment she could not speak. Mr.\nCarlisle, perceiving her emotion, offered her his arm, and led her towards\na side\u2010table, saying:\n\n\u201cAnd here are our trifling birthday gifts, which you must not despise\nbecause they fall so far short of expressing all that we feel for you.\u201d\n\nThere was a beautifully\u2010framed proof engraving of Titian\u2019s masterpiece,\nthe Assumption, from Mr. Carlisle. Clara had chosen as her gift a set of\npearls, \u201cbecause they looked so like the darling,\u201d she said. Mr.\nSinclair\u2019s offering was a bouquet of rare and exquisite flowers. He had\nall the penetration of an experienced man of the world, and understood\nwell that Miss Howard would prefer not to accept from him anything less\nperishable. Assunta put her hand in Clara\u2019s, as she said:\n\n\u201cI never can thank you, it is all so beautiful.\u201d And then she paused,\nuntil Clara exclaimed:\n\n\u201cWhy, Assunta love, what a solemn birthday face! To be sure, the flight of\ntime is a serious thing. I begin to feel it myself, and shall very soon\ndispense with birthdays altogether\u2014such disagreeable reminders as they\nare.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it, _petite_?\u201d asked Mr. Carlisle. \u201cYou know that to\u2010day you have\nonly to command us, and we will prove your most obedient subjects.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! it was nothing of any consequence; only a thought that you would\nconsider very foolish crossed my mind. I am sure my solemnity was quite\nunintentional.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, a penny for that thought, twice told.\u201d\n\nAssunta, perceiving that Mr. Sinclair was out of hearing, explained:\n\n\u201cAll this for my poor worthless self and nothing for Her whom God has\ndelighted to honor. I think I was feeling a little jealous for my dear\nMother. I did not want my feast to be better than hers.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that all?\u201d said Mr. Carlisle. \u201cTo hear is to obey.\u201d And without\nanother word he quickly removed from the table everything but the picture,\nand, taking flowers and candles from the mantel\u2010piece, he improvised a\nreally artistic shrine. Giovanni, who was serving breakfast, lighted the\ncandles, and surveyed the effect with satisfaction.\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d said Assunta, and she would not even remember that the love\nwas wanting which would give value to the offering. \u201cI shall hardly dare\nthink a wish to\u2010day, the consequence is so magical.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd now, Severn,\u201d said his sister, \u201cif you have finished your popery, you\nhad better call Assunta\u2019s attention to my ever\u2010increasing appetite.\nGiovanni, too, will not like to have his efforts to honor the occasion\nslighted by a want of appreciation.\u201d\n\nMr. Carlisle offered the young girl his arm, and led her to the table,\nsaying:\n\n\u201cThis is my first attempt at Mariolatry. Quite a success, is it not?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it were only an outward sign of inward grace,\u201d said Clara, laughing,\n\u201cexterior piety would be quite becoming to you, Severn. You really have an\nartistic taste. But you are too absent\u2010minded to\u2010day! Can you not see that\nwe are starving?\u201d\n\nAssunta was so accustomed to hear sacred things spoken of lightly, and\noften irreverently, that she had learned to make a little solitude in her\nheart, into which she could retire from the strife, or even the\nthoughtlessness, of tongues, and many a short act of reparation was there\nperformed for those who were unconscious of offence.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said Mrs. Grey, as after breakfast the party were standing on\nthe _loggia_\u2014\u201cI wonder if Giovanni has succeeded in finding a good balcony\nfor the races to\u2010morrow. I would not miss seeing them for the world. I\ndote on horses.\u201d\n\n\u201cI very much doubt,\u201d replied her brother, \u201cif the horses will excite the\nleast admiration, judging from the specimens Sienna has thus far produced.\nBut the races will be interesting, because they are entirely unique. I\nbelieve that Giovanni has been very successful in securing a balcony, and\nhe intends to have it surpass all others in decoration; so I hope that the\nladies will do their part, not to disgrace his efforts. He will expect the\njewels to be set in a manner worthy of the casket which contains them.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever fear, Severn! Do you think a lady ever failed to look her best on\nsuch an occasion? An open balcony and a crowd\u2014surely, she needs no other\noccasion for vanity.\u201d\n\nGeorge Sinclair removed his cigar to remark carelessly:\n\n\u201cAnd so the admiration of _one_ is, after all, insufficient to satisfy\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, it is not, you dear, lazy, old fellow, and you know it. It is only\nbecause I like your taste to be appreciated that I want others to admire\nme. I do not think there is a more delicious sensation than to feel that\nyou are pretty to begin with, and then dressed so as to show every point\nto the best advantage, and to know that every eye is fixed upon you. One\ncan be so innocently unconscious of it all the time.\u201d\n\n\u201cClara, I am ashamed of you,\u201d exclaimed her brother. \u201cYou are a perfect\nmirror of your sex; only, unfortunately, it is the weaknesses that you\nreflect to the life, and none of the virtues.\u201d\n\n\u201cHush, impertinence!\u201d replied Clara, laughing merrily. \u201cOne cannot always\nbe a well awfully deep and reflecting only the stars. Come, George, what\nwill be most becoming to me for to\u2010morrow?\u201d\n\nIf it had been a few months after marriage, instead of before, this\ndevoted lover would probably have replied, \u201cA fool\u2019s cap and bells, for\nall I care!\u201d As it was, he concealed his inward irritation, and no one\nwould have doubted his sincerity as he said: \u201cYou cannot fail to be\ncharming in anything; and I will not choose or suggest, because I would\nlike to enjoy the pleasure of a surprise.\u201d\n\nMr. Sinclair was sometimes fascinated by Clara\u2019s piquancy and brightness;\nbut she did not suit all moods, and to\u2010day Assunta\u2019s quiet dignity and the\nantagonism that Mr. Carlisle always excited more or less, produced an\ninterior disturbance of which a wife would surely have received the full\nbenefit. It is strange that an entirely worldly man will often, from a\nselfish motive, show a power of self\u2010control which Christians find it\ndifficult to practise, even for the love of God. Alas! that the devil\nshould receive many a sacrifice, many an offering of suffering and\nheroism, which, the intention being changed, would produce a saint.\n\nMrs. Grey had not penetration enough to see below the surface, and she was\nentirely satisfied with her lover, whom she considered the best and\nhandsomest man in the world, not even excepting her brother. She could\nrush fearlessly against a mood which would have kept a more appreciative\nnature at a distance; and here, perhaps, she had an advantage.\n\nShe was now about to answer Mr. Sinclair\u2019s very gratifying speech when an\ninterruption came in the shape of Giovanni with a note for herself, which\nshe read hastily, and then said: \u201cSevern, it is from Lady Gertrude. They\nwere passing through Sienna, and have remained over a day expressly to see\nyour humble servant. They wish me to dine with them this evening,\naccompanied by my _preux chevalier_\u2014her own expression, George. But I do\nnot know about leaving Assunta alone on her birthday, even for Lady\nGertrude.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I hope you will not disappoint your friends on my account,\u201d said\nAssunta. \u201cI have already had my celebration this morning, and it is quite\nproper that I should devote this evening to reflections upon my coming\nresponsibilities.\u201d\n\n\u201cBesides,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle, \u201cI beg to inform you that Assunta will not\nbe left alone. I flatter myself that I count for one, at least; and I will\nendeavor to act as your substitute, Clara, in most effectually preventing\nthose contemplated reflections. Responsibility and golden hair are an\nassociation of ideas quite incongruous, in my opinion.\u201d\n\n\u201cI see,\u201d said Clara, \u201cthat the balance is in Lady Gertrude\u2019s favor. What\ndo you say, _caro_?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you mean me,\u201d said George Sinclair in a slightly unamiable tone, \u201cI am\nalways at your service.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou bear!\u201d replied the irrepressible Clara, \u201cI will not allow you to go\nif you are cross. Well, Giovanni, come to my room in ten minutes for the\nanswer; and remember to order the carriage for half\u2010past five.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle, turning to Assunta after his sister had left\nthe _loggia_, \u201cI think I never saw so sunshiny a person as Clara. It is\nalways high noon with her.\u201d\n\nWhile Assunta assented cordially, Mr. Sinclair said to himself:\n\n\u201cToo much sunshine makes an unpleasant glare, and noon is always the most\ndisagreeable part of the day. I confess to liking a little of the shadow\nof repose.\u201d\n\nHe was careful, however, to keep his thoughts to himself. If the lover\ncould feel imperfections so keenly, it argued but poorly for the blindness\nof love on the part of the husband. And yet this blindness, false and\nunworthy as it is, seems to be the only chance of peace for worldly\nhusbands and wives, the only protection against the evil tendencies of\nuncontrolled human nature. All Clara\u2019s sunshine might fail to make even a\nsilver lining to the cloud rising in the distant future.\n\nThe sun shone brightly enough, however, when Mrs. Grey and Mr. Sinclair\ntook their seats in the barouche to drive into Sienna; and the lady, who\nso much delighted in the delicious sensation of undisguised admiration,\nmust have been more than satisfied this afternoon. Many eyes followed the\nhandsome pair, as they passed rapidly towards the hotel. Clara knew that\nshe was looking uncommonly well, and she was very proud of her companion\u2019s\ndistinguished air and manner; so, altogether, she enjoyed quite a little\ntriumph.\n\nAssunta and Mr. Carlisle dined alone; and, as they rose from the table\njust at sunset, Mr. Carlisle proposed a walk down into the vineyards.\n\n\u201cIt will soil that pretty white dress of yours, I know; but the air is so\nrefreshing, and I want you to occupy for a while the new rustic seat I\nhave had placed near the brook, in that lovely spot we discovered the\nother day. Take a shawl with you, _petite_, for it will be cooler as soon\nas the sun sets.\u201d\n\nThey strolled along slowly down through the narrow paths which separated\nthe vines heavy with the fast\u2010ripening fruit, pausing now and then, as\nsome new beauty in the distant view or in their immediate surroundings\nexcited their attention. At last, at the bottom of the valley, close\nbeside a brook, and beneath a clump of trees, they came upon one of those\nfairy spots where nature seems to have arranged herself expressly to\nattract an artist\u2019s eye.\n\n\u201cGiovanni is truly invaluable,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle. \u201cI had only to give him\na suggestion, and see how well he has carried out my ideas. This is the\nvery luxury of comfort.\u201d And seating himself, he lighted a cigar, advised\nAssunta to put on her shawl, and was evidently prepared for a pleasant\nhour.\n\nAs they sat there, almost in silence, the Angelus sounded from a distant\nconvent tower; and, as if in answer to its summons, Assunta began to sing\nin a sweet, low voice Schubert\u2019s Ave Maria. Mr. Carlisle did not say a\nword until it was finished; then he begged for just one more, and, knowing\nhow much he liked the simple Scotch songs, she sang \u201cRobin Adair.\u201d\n\n\u201cAssunta, your voice grows sweeter every day. It is perfect rest to me to\nhear you sing.\u201d Then, after a pause, he threw away his cigar, and turned\ntowards her a very earnest face.\n\n\u201c_Petite_, listen to me patiently a moment. I am a very proud man, as you\nknow, and one who is not apt to sue, even where he greatly desires. It\nseems\u201d\u2014and the peculiar smile broke over his face\u2014\u201cthat you have exercised\nsome magic power, and with a touch of your finger have thrown down the\nbarrier of pride against which an army might beat in vain. My child, you\nknow what I am going to say, because I have not changed since that\nmoonlight night in the Colosseum, except, indeed, that the feeling I then\nexpressed has strengthened and deepened every day. I made you a promise\nthat night. I confess that it has been poorly enough redeemed; still, you\nmust judge me by my self\u2010conquests rather than by my failures. But to\u2010day\nreleases me: and having ceased to be your guardian, I cannot give you up.\nI need not repeat to you what I have already said. You know that you are\ndearer to me than the life you have saved. I only ask, as before, the\nright to devote that life to you. May I?\u201d\n\n\u201cI had hoped, Mr. Carlisle, that you would consider my former answer as\nfinal,\u201d said Assunta; but, though her words were cold, her voice trembled.\n\u201cI, too, am unchanged since that night you speak of. I am compelled to be\nso.\u201d\n\n\u201cAssunta, you are such a child; do you, then, think it nothing to have won\nthe love of a man who has reached middle life and has never loved before?\u201d\n\n\u201cMr. Carlisle,\u201d said the young girl sadly, \u201cif I thought it nothing, I\nshould not feel the pain it costs me to repeat to you, that it cannot be.\nI am so unworthy of your love; you must not think I do not value it. Your\nfriendship has been more to me than I dare tell you, lest you should\nmisunderstand me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour heart pleads for me, child.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I must not listen to it; for the voice of God in my soul pleads more\nloudly.\u201d\n\n\u201cAssunta,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle, \u201cI think you did not understand me\nbefore\u2014you do not understand me now. Do you suppose I should interfere in\nyour religion? No more than I have ever done. You do not know me, child.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think I know you better than you know yourself, presumptuous as this\nsounds,\u201d said Assunta, forcing a smile. \u201cI am sure that, were I to marry\nyou, you would not be satisfied to hold a place in my heart second even to\nGod. But,\u201d she added, as the old expression of bitterness crossed her\nguardian\u2019s face, \u201call this is useless. Let me put a question to you, and\nanswer me candidly. Suppose I had made a promise to you, who love me\u2014made\nit, we will grant, out of love for you\u2014and afterwards, yielding to my own\nweakness, I should break that promise. Would you feel that I had done\nrightly\u2014that I was to be trusted?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly not, child. You ask strange questions.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I have, out of love for our dear Lord, made him a promise which I\nbelieved his love required of me. He is a jealous Lover, Mr. Carlisle. I\ndare to say this reverently. Suppose, for the sake of a human\naffection\u2014for your sake\u2014I should fail to keep my promise; would you not\nhave reason to doubt my fidelity to you, when I could be unfaithful to my\nGod?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy child, I do not comprehend such reasoning. You either do not, cannot\nlove me, or else you have suffered religious fanaticism to get the better\nof your judgment. I hoped that the plea of love would be sufficient to win\nmy cause; but it is not all. Look your future fairly in the face, Assunta.\nWhat are you going to do? You are young; I need not add, beautiful.\nSurely, you understand that without me you are unprotected. Have you any\nplans, or have you already become so independent that you prefer not to\nmake me your confidant? My pride is gone indeed when I put my suit in\nanother form. I ask only your hand. Let me have the right to protect you\nin the world you know so little. I will wait to win your heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cMr. Carlisle,\u201d interrupted Assunta with more emotion than he had ever\nseen in her before, \u201cyou are cruel in your persistence. You wilfully\nmisunderstand me. It seems to give you pleasure to make this trial as hard\nfor me as possible. I have told you before that I can never marry you; let\nthat be enough.\u201d And bursting into tears, she rose hastily from her seat.\n\nHer guardian was so taken by surprise that for an instant he sat\nmotionless; then he followed the excited girl, and joined her before she\nhad proceeded far along the vineyard path.\n\n\u201cTake my arm, _petite_,\u201d he said gently, and they walked some distance in\nsilence. At last Assunta said with regained composure:\n\n\u201cMr. Carlisle, you asked me about my plans, and you have a right to know.\nI have thought much of the future, as you may believe. My desire is to\nreturn to Baltimore with Clara after her marriage, and pass the winter\nwith Mary Percival. Further than this I need not look.\u201d\n\nThere was no immediate answer. After a pause Mr. Carlisle said:\n\n\u201cYou are your own mistress now. I shall of course place no obstacle in the\nway of your carrying out any wish or design which will conduce to your\nwelfare. As for myself, the time may come when I shall cease to regret\nthat I am in no wise necessary to your happiness. Meanwhile, it shall be\nas you say. Good heavens! to think that a mere girl should have the power\nto move me so,\u201d he went on, as if speaking to himself.\n\nAnd apparently his thoughts were so full of Assunta that he forgot her\nactual presence, for they reached the house in silence, and then Mr.\nCarlisle proceeded at once to his own room; and so ended the birthday.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nThe Sienna races are a thoroughly unique spectacle\u2014almost childish, like\nmany features of the Roman Carnival, to the over\u2010cultivated and\nconsequently over\u2010fastidious taste of this age. They take one back to the\ndays when men were more simple, when hearts did not grow old and faith was\nstrong. These childlike traits produced a race of men who were but\n\u201cchildren of a larger growth,\u201d and, like children, amused with even a\nsmall amount of pomp and show, heroes as they were. And a strange contrast\nwere the races of that 16th of August to the usual occupations of the\nSiennese. Mr. Carlisle\u2019s carriage passed beneath innumerable flags and\nbetween gayly\u2010tapestried windows, as it drove to the amphitheatre\u2010shaped\npiazza, the centre of which was already filled, while every seat placed\nagainst the houses which bounded the square was occupied. The bright\ncolors worn by the peasant women, with their large Tuscan hats and the\nmore subdued dress of the men, produced an effect at once very peculiar\nand very picturesque. A little cheer from the bystanders greeted Mr.\nCarlisle\u2019s party, as they appeared upon the balcony; for no other\ndecorations in all that vast piazza were so fine as those in which\nGiovanni had shown so much skill, and surely no other ladies were as\nbeautiful. There was no appearance of heartache or disappointment on any\nof the four faces which now looked out upon the crowd. We all, sooner or\nlater, learn to wear a mask before the world, and the interior life of\neach one of us is often a sealed book to our nearest friends.\n\n\u201cClara,\u201d said Assunta, as they seated themselves after their survey, \u201cyou\nseem to know more about the races than the rest of us. Please to enlighten\nmy ignorance.\u201d\n\n\u201cI heard about them at the hotel last night,\u201d replied Mrs. Grey; \u201cso you\nwill find me very learned. Sienna is divided into seventeen wards; but\nonly ten take part in the race, and these are decided by lot. The victor\nreceives a prize and a sort of diminutive triumph, while the losers may\nthink themselves lucky if they only get a scolding from their respective\nwards. The oracle has spoken, and further than this she is not informed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe rest we shall now see for ourselves,\u201d said Mr. Sinclair, \u201cfor I hear\nthe music which I suppose accompanies the procession.\u201d And, as he spoke,\nthe band entered the piazza from a side street. Then followed, in turn,\nthe representatives of the different wards, each representation consisting\nof two flags\u2014the colors of the ward\u2014a number of pages, the race\u2010horse led\nby an esquire, and the man who was afterwards to ride the racer, on\nhorseback as a knight. The flag\u2010bearers, as well as all in each division,\nwore exactly the colors of the flag of the ward, in costumes of the olden\ntime; and, as these flags were of entirely different combinations of\ncolors, and most of them very brilliant, the procession would have been\nvery effective without its peculiar charm. The flag\u2010bearers were men of\ngrace and skill, and from the moment of entering the square the flags were\nin continual motion\u2014waved above their heads, flung into the air, passed\nunder their arms and legs, and all without once touching the ground. It\nwas a very poetical combination of color and motion, and Mrs. Grey\nimpulsively clapped her hands with delight\u2014a performance which her\ndignified lover evidently looked upon as childish. After this part of the\nprocession came a large chariot drawn by four horses, with postilions, and\nbearing the ten different flags tastefully arranged. This was the model of\nthe old Siennese battle\u2010car, which bore the standard, and was in\nconsequence the scene of the thickest of the fight. Upon it, in time of\nbattle, stood a priest, invoking by his prayers protection and success.\nThere also was the trumpeter, in readiness to give signals. A truly\nmedi\u00e6val picture was this chariot, with associations which carried one\nback hundreds of years into the past. A band of music closed the\nprocession, which, after passing around the piazza, entered the court\u2010yard\nof the Palazzo Pubblico. Here the knights exchanged their helmets and\nplumes for jockey\u2010caps, and mounted their racers. As they emerged from\nbeneath the archway, and proceeded slowly towards the starting\u2010place,\nacross which a rope was drawn, Mr. Carlisle exclaimed, with a laugh in\nwhich there was more sarcasm than merriment:\n\n\u201cAre you a judge of horses, Clara? If so, you, who yesterday announced\nyour jockey proclivities, must be greatly disappointed; for truly a set of\nsorrier\u2010looking steeds I never beheld. The prize ought to be given to the\none that comes in last; for, where all are so slow, there would really be\nno little exercise of skill in moving more slowly than a coach\u2010horse going\nup\u2010hill, and yet moving at all.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think, Severn,\u201d replied his sister, \u201cthat your temper was not improved\nby the fever. It is very disagreeable in you to inform me that the horses\nare not Arabian chargers, for I never should have been the wiser.\u201d\n\n\u201cMost men are disagreeable,\u201d he retorted.\n\n\u201cGeorge, you hear that, and do not resent it?\u201d said Mrs. Grey indignantly.\n\n\u201cI leave that for you to do when you can, from experience of the contrary,\ndeny the charge. But the horses are starting on their three times round.\u201d\nAnd Mr. Sinclair leaned over the balcony with an air of interest.\n\n\u201cWhy do the men carry those short sticks in their hands?\u201d asked Assunta.\n\n\u201cI believe,\u201d said Mr. Sinclair\u2014for Mr. Carlisle became strangely\ninattentive\u2014\u201cthat the riders are allowed by rule to do all the damage they\ncan with the sticks, which are short, so as to limit somewhat their power;\nfor their aim is to knock each other off the horses.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe barbarians!\u201d exclaimed Clara. \u201cOh! look, see how many are falling\nback on the third round. It rests with the two now. I bet on the sorrel.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd he has won, Clara,\u201d said Assunta.\n\nThe whole piazza was now in motion. Shouts greeted the victor, and the\ndefeated retired into obscurity.\n\n\u201cThe modern Olympics are finished,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle. \u201cShall we go?\u201d\n\nAs they drove towards home in the red glow of the setting sun, Mr.\nCarlisle said abruptly:\n\n\u201cClara, when did you tell me that you and Sinclair intend to make each\nother miserable?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not answer such a question, Severn. You are a perfect dog in the\nmanger. You will not marry yourself or let any one else.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you wish to know,\u201d said Mr. Sinclair, \u201cwhen your sister intends to\nmake me the happiest of men, she has permitted me to hope that the end of\nSeptember will be the term of my most impatient waiting.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d continued Mr. Carlisle in the same abrupt tone, \u201cwe had better be\non our way to Paris. We might start day after to\u2010morrow, I think.\u201d\n\nMrs. Grey gave a little scream.\n\n\u201cSevern, you must be out of your mind. I thought you wished never to leave\nSienna.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am weary to death of it; but that is not all. I have business matters\nto arrange, and the preparation of your _trousseau_ will no doubt occupy\nweeks.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut it will be so warm in Paris,\u201d persisted Mrs. Grey.\n\n\u201cDo people whose hearts are filled with love and their minds with coming\nmatrimony think of weather, then? I thought such sublunary interests were\nleft to those whose hearts were still unthawed. However, there are fans\nand ices enough in Paris to cool you off. I will write to\u2010night to engage\nrooms.\u201d And then Mr. Carlisle relapsed into silence and abstraction.\n\nAssunta understood well enough the cause of this change in the plans; but\nshe was powerless to act, and could only submit. It, indeed, made little\ndifference to her.\n\n\u201cGeorge,\u201d said Clara to her lover, as they were strolling down the avenue\nin the moonlight, \u201ccan you imagine what is the matter with Severn? I never\nsaw him in such a mood.\u201d\n\n\u201cDisappointed in love, I should judge from appearances,\u201d he replied\nindifferently.\n\n\u201cNonsense! He does not know the meaning of the word,\u201d was the not very\nintelligent reply of the lady.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nSwinburne And De Vere.\n\n\nThe dramas _Bothwell_(94) and _Alexander the Great_,(95) which have so\nrecently come into the world side by side to challenge the attention of\nthat portion of it that speaks, or is supposed to speak, the language of\nShakespeare, offer all the contrasts that might be expected from their\nsubjects, as well as from the known thought, tone, and tendency of their\nrespective authors. One writer has taken for his chief character a great\nChristian woman whose story, look at it as we may, is at least of the\nsaddest that was ever told; the other has chosen for his subject the\nwonder of pagan history, the exemplar of pagan greatness, whose short\ncareer is the condensation of all earthly glory and triumph.\n\nIt will be at once manifest that to a modern writer, as far as the\nmaterials for the construction of an historical drama go, the life of\nMary, Queen of Scots, is beyond measure richer than that of Alexander. Her\nstory is religiously and politically one of the day. She is still on\ntrial, no longer before the narrow circles of York and Fotheringay, but\nbefore Christendom. The question of her innocence or guilt, and the\nconsequent justice or injustice of her sentence, is debated as fiercely\nto\u2010day as when alone she faced the sleuth\u2010hounds of Elizabeth in defence\nof her honor and her life.\n\nThe final judgment of Christendom may be said already to be a foregone\nconclusion in her favor, so fast is the long\u2010withheld evidence of her\ninnocence accumulating. But her life\u2010blood stains a nation and a religion,\nor what called itself such, and the verdict that declares her \u201cnot guilty\u201d\nlays a terrible and indelible blot on them. Hence every nook and cranny of\nhistory is searched, every historical cobweb disentangled, with an\neagerness and minuteness so thorough and complete that the reader is\nbetter acquainted often with the history of Mary Stuart than with that of\nthe century in which he lives.\n\nFor a dramatist a most important point is thus at once secured. His\naudience is interested in advance; and there is no further care for him\nthan to make a judicious use of the wealth of material at his disposal.\n\nAnd surely to one with a soul in his body never did a more fitting subject\nfor a tragedy offer itself than Mary, Queen of Scots. The only difficulty\nwould seem to be a right selection from a great abundance. The scenes and\ncharacters, the very speeches often, are ready made. Time, place,\ncircumstance, are ripe with interest. The march of events is terribly\nrapid. The scene is ever shifting, and with it the fortunes of the queen.\nAll the passions are there at strife. Plot and counterplot, tragedy within\ntragedy, love and hate, jealousy and wrath, hope and fear, the basest\nbetrayal and the loftiest devotion, surge and make war around this one\nwoman, and are borne along with her in a frenzied whirl to the terrible\nend, when the curtain drops silently on that last dread scene that stands,\nas it will for ever stand, in startling relief, far out from the dim\nbackground of history.\n\nThe name of Alexander the Great calls up no such interest as this. His\nlife would seem the least likely of subjects for a modern dramatist. Great\ncaptains, such as the first Napoleon, may look to him as at once their\nmodel and their envy; but happily such great men are few and far between.\nAlexander might indeed have formed an admirable theme for one of the\nlesser lights of the English Augustan era to celebrate in those sonorous\nheroics whose drowsy hum might serve at need as an admirable soporific.\nBut he and those who lived and moved about him are out of our world; and\nwhether he conquered ten empires or fifty, whether he defeated Darius or\nDarius him, whether he sighed for more or fewer worlds to conquer, is now\nall one to us. The sands of the desert have buried or wiped out his empire\nages ago; the sands of time have settled down on his memory and half\nobliterated it; and the mighty Alexander serves to\u2010day for little more\nthan to point a moral.\n\nOn the other hand, every scene and incident in which Mary, Queen of Scots,\nfigured is intense with dramatic force. She entered on her reign at what\nmight be called the dawn of modern history\u2014a lurid dawn presaging the\nstorm that was to come and is not yet over. The Reformation was convulsing\nEurope. It had just entered Scotland before her, and the raven that\ncroaked its fatal entrance was John Knox. In the person of this girl were\ncentred the hopes of the Catholic party for Scotland and England. Mingled\nwith the strife of creeds around her was the conflict of the great\nScottish families, whose miserable contentions rent and wrecked the\nkingdom. Any chieftain who chose and thought himself strong enough drew\nthe sword when and for what purpose pleased him. More than half of\nthem\u2014those of any note, at least\u2014were in Elizabeth\u2019s pay. Treason\nconstituted much of the political life of those days, while under and over\nand among the fierce strife of political parties rang and resounded the\nclangor and wrangle of the delirious sects that had just apostatized from\nRome. Such was the period when the helm of the most distracted state in\ndistracted Christendom was set in the hand of a gentle girl, who stood\nthere alone to guide it over unknown seas. All the tempest gathered\ntogether its fury and broke over her head. This is the figure chosen by\nthe author of _Bothwell_ for the centre of his tragedy. It was a time and\na scene and a tragedy worthy the philosophic mind of a Shakespeare and the\nterrible power of an \u00c6schylus. Mr. Swinburne\u2019s work scarcely gives\nevidence of the combination of these qualities.\n\nA subject of this kind, when attempted at all, suggests painful\nreflections if failure, emphatic failure, is the result. A goose essaying\nan eagle\u2019s flight would scarcely present a more absurd figure. Mr.\nSwinburne has fallen immeasurably below the level of a subject whose level\nis greatness. Not because he has chosen to paint Mary, Queen of Scots, as\na fiend, is this judgment passed on his work. Milton has proved that Satan\ncan be converted by genius into the most powerful dramatic villain that\never trod the stage. Lady Macbeth may thrill us with horror, but she never\ncauses us to yawn. The author of _Bothwell_ was at liberty, by the license\nallowed to poets, to make his heroine wicked enough even to satisfy his\nfastidious taste, and still have given us a drama that of its own force\nand brilliancy and coherence would have extorted the admiration of the\nunfortunate queen\u2019s most ardent defenders. But even her heartiest haters\ncould not resist the tendency to nod over the cumbrous wickedness, the\nvery heavy villany, of _Bothwell_, which is simply a dilution of Froude\nwith a tincture of Swinburne, well watered and administered in the largest\npossible doses, or, in plain English, a few scenes of the history of the\nperiod stitched loosely together and set to measured lines of blank verse.\n\nFive hundred and thirty\u2010two pages, with thirty lines to the page, in five\nacts and sixty scenes, make a tragedy indeed. Such is _Bothwell_. Yet,\nnotwithstanding its alarming proportions, it only extends from the death\nof Rizzio to the battle of Langside, thus omitting the scene that of all\nothers is the most thrilling and effective\u2014Mary\u2019s execution. This may have\nbeen done with a purpose; for even malevolence falters there. Such an end,\npreceded by her long captivity, so patiently borne, were she even as\nwicked as Mr. Swinburne would make her, might almost expiate any crime, as\nit sanctifies her innocence.\n\nThe entire first act, entitled \u201cDavid Rizzio,\u201d is absorbed by the murder\nof the character after which it is named. As far as its necessary\nconnection with the drama goes, it might have been entirely and very\nprofitably omitted. It serves, indeed, to introduce many of the\ncharacters, but to no special purpose that might not have been\naccomplished in any of the other acts. The author forgets that he is not\nwriting history, but a drama. We do not want the minuti\u00e6, everything that\neverybody said at any time, in any place, and under any circumstances\nwhile Mary, Queen of Scots, was living, which Mr. Swinburne seems to think\nhe was bound to give us, and in blank verse too, in _Bothwell_. We want\nthe situations, the great facts. What led up to them may be told or hinted\nat in a few lines. Mr. Swinburne does not seem to have realized this, and,\nas a consequence, his drama is crowded with scenes, incidents, and\npersonages that not only hinder, but are utterly irrelevant to, the main\naction of the piece, if indeed the piece can be truly said to possess any\nmain action. Thus it takes the entire first act, consisting of five scenes\nand _eighty\u2010nine_ pages, to kill Rizzio. At last he is happily despatched,\nto the relief, it must be said, of the reader, who, already wearied, finds\nthe second act entirely devoted to a similar sanguinary operation,\nperformed on Darnley this time. With a nice sense, notwithstanding his\npronounced communistic sympathies, of what is due even to second\u2010hand\nroyalty of the Darnley order, Mr. Swinburne, regardless of the liberal\nallowance of space allotted to the stabbing of Rizzio, feels it incumbent\non him to devote one hundred and forty\u2010seven pages and twenty\u2010one scenes\nto the blowing up of Mary\u2019s husband. Thus, although two hundred and forty\npages in all are given over mainly to the killing of these two characters,\nthe tragedy can be scarcely said to have begun, there being still three\ndreary acts to face.\n\nThe question naturally suggests itself here, What in the name of common\nsense, if not of tragedy, has Mr. Swinburne been doing with his space?\nPerhaps we have reason to congratulate ourselves after all that he did not\npursue his unhappy victim into England, and insist upon murdering her\nalso; for it is impossible, in the contemplation of such an event, to form\neven a wild conception of when and where Mr. Swinburne\u2019s tragedy was\nlikely to terminate. The truth is, he is no dramatist at all; he is a\nwriter of speeches, good, bad, or indifferent, as may be, but no more.\nLivy or Sallust have almost as just a title to be styled dramatists as Mr.\nSwinburne; Homer far more so. Speeches form perhaps the least, certainly\nthe easiest, portion of a drama; and the speeches in _Bothwell_ are more\nor less ready made. Mr. Swinburne cannot grasp a situation; he can only\nwrite _about_ it. He cannot picture it to us in a few telling lines. He\ncannot hint a future; he must foretell it in full, or wait until it comes.\nHe cannot content himself with leaving well alone. The Earl of Leicester\u2019s\nhistoric \u201cnod\u201d that meant so much is of course a very amusing caricature;\nbut the point of a caricature lies in the kernel of truth which it covers.\nPerhaps the most necessary of dramatic faculties is the capability of\nsaying much in a little; and that faculty Mr. Swinburne does not possess\nin the slightest degree. If anything, his special tendency lies in an\nopposite direction; he says remarkably little in a very great deal.\nInstead of mastering his material, he has become hopelessly embarrassed by\nit, and, like the miser in the story, perishes from want in the midst of\nthe treasures piled up around him. His characters, instead of being moved\nat his will, move him at theirs. When one, no matter of how great or how\nlittle importance, opens his or her mouth, not even Mr. Swinburne himself\ncan say when it will close. Speeches pages in length are thrown into\nanybody\u2019s mouth on the slightest provocation, and all pitched more or less\nin the same key. If Mary curses\u2014for Mr. Swinburne is more liberal than\ndiscreet in his distribution of strong language\u2014she is not content with\none good, round, blasphemous oath once in a while, but must indulge in\nhalf a dozen or so offhand. If Knox argues or preaches, he does so at as\ngreat length almost as when in the flesh. One of his speeches fills\nthirteen pages without a break. If the inevitable \u201cfirst, second, and\nthird citizen\u201d enter\u2014who, for the manner of their speeches or the matter\nof them, might with equal propriety be dubbed \u201cfirst citizen\u201d or \u201cfifty\u2010\nsecond citizen,\u201d or anything else\u2014they talk and talk and talk until they\ntalk themselves off, as they would beyond all doubt talk an audience out\nof their seats. Almost two\u2010thirds of the play is to the reader simply\nwearisome jabber, whose sense, like Gratiano\u2019s \u201cinfinite deal of nothing,\u201d\nis as \u201ctwo grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff.\u201d\n\nThe drama is so interminable that we can only call attention to the chief\ncharacter, which is not Bothwell, as the title would seem to imply, but\nMary, whose alleged amours with Bothwell form the groundwork of the piece.\nAs this article does not pretend to enter into an historical\ninvestigation, this is not the place to advance reasons for disagreeing\nwith Mr. Swinburne\u2019s estimate of Mary. One or two words, however, may be\npermitted.\n\nThe story that forms the foundation of this play has been torn to shreds\nby writers of every shade of opinion. Its truth, based mainly on the\n\u201ccasket letters,\u201d was never accepted even at the English court. Elizabeth\nherself was compelled to acquit her cousin of all such scandalous charges.\nYet on this Mr. Swinburne, with the chivalry of a poet and the honesty of\na man who must have read history, builds his nauseous drama. Again, Mary\nwas, by all concession, a lady. High and royal spirit she had indeed, of\nwhich in some notable instances she gave ample proof; but she has never\nbeen accused of indulging in language unworthy the royal woman she was, or\nsavoring in any sense of coarseness. She was also a consistent and\npractical Catholic, who knew her religion and how to hold it, even against\nthat fierce Calvinistic wolf, John Knox, to whom it were a happiness had\nhis insulted sovereign only meted out the measure he persistently\nadvocated for all Catholics. But she was too gentle\u2010natured to adopt means\nof enforcing silence and obedience more congenial to the spirit of her\nEnglish cousin, who had a very summary manner of dealing with theological\ndifficulties. This much being premised, let us now look at the Mary of Mr.\nSwinburne.\n\nHere we have her in the very first scene of the first act. Rizzio is\npleading with her the recall of Murray:\n\n\n QUEEN. \u201cWhat name is his who shall so strengthen me?\u201d\n\n RIZZIO. \u201cYour father gave him half a brother\u2019s name.\u201d\n\n QUEEN. \u201cI have no brother; a bloodless traitor he is,\n\n Who was my father\u2019s bastard\u2010born. By heaven!\n I had rather have his head loose at my foot\n Than his tongue\u2019s counsel rounded in mine ear.\u201d\n\n\nThis is only her fourth speech in the play. It does not seem to have\nimpressed Rizzio sufficiently; for, turning a page, we find her still\nrailing at the subject of her wrath in this vigorous style:\n\n\n ... \u201cBy my hand,\n Too little and light to hold up his dead head,\n It was my hope to dip it in his life\n Made me ride iron\u2010mailed and soldieress.\u201d\n\n\nWith occasional spurts of this nature the queen enlivens her somewhat\ntedious colloquy of thirteen pages with Rizzio concerning Murray. She is\ncandid enough to say in one place of her half\u2010brother, whom the Mary of\nhistory really believed in too long and too blindly for her own happiness:\n\n\n \u201cI am gay of heart, light as a spring south wind,\n To feed my soul with his foretasted death....\u201d\n\n\nAnd again:\n\n\n \u201cOh! I feel dancing motions in my feet\n And laughter moving merrily at my lips,\n Only to think him dead, or hearsed, or hanged\u2014That\n were the better. I could dance down his life.\n Sing my steps through, treading on his dead neck,\n For love of his dead body and cast\u2010out soul.\u201d\n\n\nVerily, a real Highland fling! And lest there should be any possible doubt\nas to the meaning of \u201ccast\u2010out soul,\u201d this gentle lady pursues it to its\nplace, and gloats over its eternal torments in this Christian fashion:\n\n\n \u201cHe shall talk of me to the worm of hell,\n Prate in death\u2019s ear and with a speechless tongue\n Of my dead doings in days gone out....\u201d\n\n\nIt is surely punishment enough to be condemned to carry on a conversation\nof any kind with the worm of hell and in the ear of death; but to compel\neven a cast\u2010out soul to perform this unpleasant duty \u201cwith a _speechless_\ntongue\u201d is punishment that passes ordinary comprehension. Doubtless,\nhowever, matters are or will be altered for Mr. Swinburne\u2019s special\nconvenience in the lower regions. Abandoning the wretched Murray to his\ndestiny, we look for other revelations of Mary\u2019s character, although\nsomething of her mettle may be gathered from the passages already given,\nwhich have been taken almost at random from the first twenty\u2010eight pages\nof the five hundred and thirty\u2010two. They are by no means the liveliest\nspecimens to be found.\n\nIt would display a lamentable lack of knowledge of nature supposed to be\nhuman to imagine for a moment that the woman\u2014if the expression is\nallowable\u2014revealed in these passages is likely to be at all squeamish or\nfoolishly coy about the profession of what Mr. Swinburne would probably\ncall her love for Bothwell. The insignificant facts that her own husband,\nDarnley, and Bothwell\u2019s wife, Jane Gordon, were still living, would\nnaturally weigh lightly as feathers in the balance against her desire.\nMost of the scenes between the queen and Bothwell might be shortly\ndescribed as \u201clinked foulness long drawn out.\u201d Were they even word for\nword true, it would still be a wonder and a shame to honest manhood that\nthey could be dwelt upon and gloated over by any writer at all. Horace\nboasted of belonging to the \u201cEpicurean herd.\u201d Were he living now, he\nwould, we honestly believe, feel conscientious scruples at admitting Mr.\nSwinburne into the company. Only such passages are quoted here as are\npresentable and necessary to endorse our judgment of this drama.\n\nWithout even an attempt at disguise, Mary and Bothwell discuss the best\nmeans of getting rid of Darnley. As a wife, expecting soon to be a mother,\nand as a Christian woman, it is only natural that she should urge on the\nnot unwilling Bothwell in this style:\n\n\n \u201c_Would I were God!_\n Time should be quicker to lend help and hand\n To men that wait on him. . . . Were I a man,\n I had been by this a free man.\u201d\n\n\nIn the course of the second act she falls sick, as she believes, to death.\nShe makes her dying confession to the Bishop of Ross, who, it is to be\npresumed, knew his religion. That being the case, it was somewhat rash in\nMr. Swinburne to put into his mouth a gross error. He assures the dying\nqueen that\n\n\n \u201cThe man that keeps faith sealed upon his soul\n Shall through the blood\u2010shedding of Christ be clean.\n And in this time of cursing and flawed faith\n Have you kept faith unflawed.\n Have no fear, therefore, but your sins of life\n\n Shall fall from off you as a vesture changed.\n And leave your soul for whiteness as a child\u2019s.\u201d\n\n\nOf course there is a sense in which this may be taken as correct. The man\nthat really keeps his \u201cfaith sealed upon his soul\u201d and \u201cunflawed,\u201d acts up\nto his faith and lives its life. But this is not what Mr. Swinburne means.\nIn several passages he is at pains to show that it is not. His meaning\nsimply is that because Mary held to the profession of the Catholic faith\nthe bishop assured her that her sins would be remitted. That faith alone\nwas sufficient for salvation was the heresy of Luther. We do not know\nwhether those useful little compendiums of Christian doctrine commonly\nknown as catechisms were much in vogue at the time. Had they been, Mary\nwould have found in hers the following question and answer, which would\nhave shamed the Bishop of Ross: \u201cWill faith alone save us?\u201d \u201cNo; it will\nnot without good works.\u201d\n\nIt must be remembered, however, that Mr. Swinburne, and not the bishop, is\nthe real father confessor to his own penitent, and a very indulgent one he\nmakes. The queen says:\n\n\n \u201cI would have absolution ere I die,\n But of what sins I have not strength to say\n Nor hardly to remember.\u201d\n\n\nAfter all that has gone before, that reads remarkably like a wilful lie,\nas Mr. Swinburne\u2019s bishop might have hinted, particularly as she has\nmemory enough left to enumerate her virtues, which conclude with this:\n\n\n \u201cI have held mine own faith fast, and with my lips\n Have borne him [God] witness if my heart were whole.\u201d\n\n\nWhereupon the worthy bishop takes occasion to repeat his blunder. Glossing\nbeautifully over her sins in a graceful sentence or two, the queen\nproceeds to \u201cremit all faults against her done,\u201d and ends in this edifying\nstrain:\n\n\n \u201cI will not take death\u2019s hand\n With any soil of hate or wrath or wrong\n About me, but, being friends with this past world,\n Pass from it in the general peace of love.\u201d\n\n\nJust at this happy moment, by what would doubtless be considered \u201ca stroke\nof genius,\u201d Murray is made to enter and announce the arrival of Darnley,\nthe unfortunate individual whose crime it is to persist in being Mary\u2019s\nlawful husband when she is in love with one who, by her own command, was\nsomebody else\u2019s lawful husband. As may be supposed from what we know of\nher already, the contrite queen greets the announcement as contrite queens\nin similar situations are wont to do, thus:\n\n\n \u201cBy heaven! I had rather death had leave than he.\n What comes he for? To vex me quick or dead\n With his lewd eyes and sodden, sidelong face,\n That I may die with loathing of him?\n By God, as God shall look upon my soul,\n I will not see him.\u201d\n\n\nAfter this there is clearly nothing left for the bishop to do but\nadminister the last sacraments and bid the Christian soul depart in peace.\nLuckily, however, at this critical juncture, and by another \u201cstroke of\ngenius,\u201d the well\u2010known tramp of Bothwell\u2019s heel falls on the ear of the\ndying queen, who immediately feels better, and bids her attendants \u201cbring\nhim in.\u201d\n\nOne more passage, and we have done with Mr. Swinburne\u2019s Mary. Darnley is\nnot yet murdered; Bothwell is not yet divorced from Jane Gordon; he who\nbecame James I. of England is about to be born; the queen has in the\npreceding scene made the \u201cconfession\u201d noticed above; the time, therefore,\nwas ripe for her to make the following declaration to Bothwell:\n\n\n \u201cI purge me now and perfect my desire,\n Which is to be no more your lover\u2014no,\n But even yourself, yea, more than body and soul,\n One and not twain, one utter life, one fire,\n One will, one doom, one deed, one spirit, _one God:_\n _For we twain grown and molten each in each,_\n _Surely shall be as God is, and no man_.\u201d\n\n\nWere there such a thing as love in _delirium tremens_, surely this would\nbe an instance; only that Mary is perfectly cool and collected in making\nso plain and definite a statement. And Bothwell is just the kind of man to\nunderstand and appreciate the pleasant prospect held out for them both. He\nresponds cheerily, hopefully, and prayerfully withal:\n\n\n \u201cGod speed us, then, till we grow up to God!\u201d\n\n\nThe reader has probably seen enough of Mr. Swinburne\u2019s Mary Stuart. It\nwill be clear to any impartial mind that beheading was far too easy a fate\nfor such a character.\n\nIn one thing at least has the author succeeded. He set out to paint a\nmonster, and a monster indeed he has painted in Mary. The question for the\nreader to determine is whether his very full\u2010armed Minerva be an emanation\nfrom the brain of this modern Jove or one who was a real, living woman. A\nwoman ravenous for blood, lost to all shame, hating even her unborn\noffspring, blasphemous as Satan, cruel and pitiless as hell, brawling as a\ndrunkard, full of oaths and coarse expressions as a trooper\u2014if this be a\ntrue picture of Mary, Queen of Scots, of the woman who in her day drew, as\nshe still continues to draw, the hearts of all true men and honest women\nto her side, then has the author done his work well and literature a\nservice. But if she be the opposite of all this\u2014a woman cruelly murdered\nand systematically wronged, at mention of whose name the heart of that\nchivalry which is never dead, and will never die while Christian manhood\nlives, leaps up\u2014one is at a loss to father the writer\u2019s monster on any\nother than himself. Viewed in this light, it can only be looked upon as\nthe product of an imagination diseased, an intellect debauched, and a mind\ndistorted\u2014the work of a man whose moral nature has gone astray, and to\nwhom consequently all that is true, pure, womanly, manly, godly, has lost\nits significance and value.\n\nFrom the Christian heroine to the pagan hero we turn with a feeling of\nrelief. The very title of Mr. de Vere\u2019s drama challenges criticism. To\nwrite about Alexander the Great is one thing; to make Alexander speak for\nhimself is another. The world, fashionable as it is to abuse its taste, is\ndiscriminating in the conferring of titles that are universal. Local\nmagnates of greater or less magnitude are common enough; but men whom all\ncivilized nations in all ages have agreed to crown with _greatness_ are\nvery few and very far between. From the number of these the son of Philip\nof Macedon probably stands out pre\u2010eminent In his brief career he\naccomplished more than any human conqueror ever accomplished, and he\nsucceeded in leaving more after him. So complete and marvellous was his\nsuccess, and so gigantic his projects, while his means were\nproportionately limited, that, beyond all possibility of doubt, the man,\nyoung as he was, must have been a marvellous genius. Being so, he must not\nonly have done great deeds, but thought great thoughts. He must have been\nfitted in every way to be a leader of men. This, perhaps the most\nmarvellous character in human history, is the one of all others whom Mr.\nde Vere, with a courage which, if not justified by the result, can only be\nlooked upon as either rashness or folly, has undertaken to set living and\nreal before us, speaking the speech, thinking the thoughts, scheming the\nschemes, dreaming the dreams of Alexander. Greatness thus becomes one of\nthe necessary standards by which we must judge Mr. de Vere\u2019s work. If his\nchief character is not great in thought and word, as we know him to have\nbeen in deed, he is not Alexander, and this work can only be regarded as a\nmore pretentious failure than the other. If he is great in thought and\nspeech, where are the elements of his greatness to be found? In the brain\nof the author, in the conception of the poet\u2014nowhere else. For in this\ncase the speeches are not, as they were in the other, ready made and to\nhand. The record of Alexander\u2019s deeds we have; but Alexander we must\nimagine for ourselves. What manner of man, then, is this that Mr. de Vere\nhas given us? is the first and most natural question to be asked.\n\nFriend and foe alike are busy about him. At the opening of the play\nParmenio, the testy but honest\u2010hearted veteran of Philip, before Alexander\nhas yet made his appearance, in words where the admiration of the soldier\nand the irritability and jealousy of old age are admirably blended, says:\n\n\n \u201cA realm his father owed me,\n And knew it well. The son is reverent too,\n But with a difference, sir. In Philip\u2019s time\n My voice was Delphic on the battle\u2010field.\n This young man taps the springs of my experience,\n As though with water to allay his wine\n Of keener inspirations. \u2018Speak thy thought,\n Parmenio!\u2019 Ere my words are half\u2010way out\n He nods approval or he smiles dissent.\n Still, there is like him none! I marvell\u2019d oft\n To see him breast that tempest from the north,\n Drowning revolt in the Danubian wave.\n The foe in sight, instant he knew their numbers;\n If distant, guess\u2019d their whereabout\u2014how lay\n The intermediate tract\u2014if fordable\n The streams\u2014the vales accessible to horse:\n \u2019Twas like the craft of beasts remote from man.\u201d\n\n\nAntisthenes, the rhetorician, describes the man of action as a rhetorician\nmight:\n\n\n \u201cThis king is valued past his worth:\n He nothing says that\u2019s sage, like Ptolemy,\n Or keen\u2010edged, like Craterus. This I grant him:\n _Sagacity supreme in observation_;\n He sees with eye inspired. Seeing with him\n Is Act and Thought, not sense.\u201d\n\n\nArsino\u00eb, the daughter of Darius, thinks that \u201che neither loves nor hates.\u201d\nHe is royal\u2010faced, \u201calbeit too eager\u2010eyed.\u201d And Hephestion, the strong\nfriend on whom alone of all men Alexander leans, tells her of him:\n\n\n \u201cHe loves not many, and himself the least:\n _His purposes to him are wife and child_.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cFree him from that conceit,\u201d says Parmenio later on, \u201cthat he\u2019s a god,\u201d\n\n\n \u201cThe man of men were he:\n None like him we have had since Marathon.\u201d\n\n PHILOTAS. \u201cI grant his greatness were his god\u2010ship sane,\n But note his brow: \u2019tis Thought\u2019s least earthly temple\n Then mark, beneath, that round, not human eye,\n Still glowing like a panther\u2019s! In his body\n No passion dwells; _but all his mind is passion,_\n _Wild, intellectual appetite, and instinct_\n _That works without a law_.\u201d\n\n PARMENIO. \u201cBut half you know him.\n There is a zigzag lightning in his brain\n That flies in random flashes, yet not errs.\n Chances his victories seem; but link those chances,\n And under them a science you shall find,\n Though unauthentic, contraband, illicit,\n Yes, contumelious oft to laws of war.\n Fortune, that as a mistress smiles on others,\n Serves him as duty\u2010bound; her blood is he,\n Born in the purple of her royalties.\u201d\n\n\nAnd so they go on describing him, each in his own way; for, with\nfelicitous art, the presence of Alexander is made to permeate the drama,\nyet so unobtrusively and unconsciously to all seeming that the mind of the\nreader, though held fast on the chief character throughout, never wearies\nof him. The extracts given, culled from here and there, point all in one\ndirection. They are consistent, however they may vary in expression, about\nthe man they describe. He is not like other men; he towers above them; he\nstands alone. But even this only tells us what men say of him. It may mean\nno more than any young\u2010lady novelist\u2019s description of her hero, whose\nbiting sarcasm and brilliant wit are gifts that it was thought were buried\nwith Sheridan. All which we are willing to concede, only that by some\nuntoward accident the brilliant wit and biting sarcasm never appear on the\nsurface. How does Alexander speak for himself?\n\nIn literature, as in life, very much depends on the impression a man makes\non his introduction. Alexander\u2019s introduction is happy and suggestive. He\nmeets us first at Troy when setting out on his expedition. Around him rise\nthe temples of the memorable dead who died in the Ten Years\u2019 War. He is in\nsearch of the fane of Achilles, his ancestor, as he claims. Aphrodite and\nHelen have no attractions for him, upon whose mind \u201cthe wise Stagirite\u201d\nhad impressed the high code of pagan morals, that the passions were \u201ca\nyoke which Action\u2019s strenuous sons should scorn to bear.\u201d He stands on\nground where heroes fought and strove for ten long years together, and the\nquestion comes at once to his earnest mind,\n\n\n \u201cThat ten years\u2019 war, what fruit thereof remains?\n What empire lives, its witness and its crown?\n What shall we say? That those were common men\n Made large by mists of Time? Or shall we rather\n Conclude them real, and our age a fraud?\u201d\n\n\nHis friend Hephestion is reminded by the fanes around, not of the\ngreatness, but of the littleness, of man and of the common ashes to which\nwe come at last. In what, had he the ear to hear it, had been for his\nleader a solemn warning, he cries out:\n\n\n \u201cAlas! how small an urn\n Suffices for the earth\u2010o\u2019erstriding dust\n Which one time shook the world!\u201d\n\n\nBut Alexander cannot contemplate the end of men and things in this calm\nfashion. To him, as to Achilles, death is \u201cmalign and intercepting.\u201d It\nbears no thought of peace or rest. He describes it as \u201cthat frustrate,\nstagnant, ineffectual bourn where substance melts to shadow.\u201d Far away in\n\u201cthe dimness of the dolorous realm\u201d he sees, though sad, \u201cthe\nunvanquishable youth\u201d of Achilles surviving and lamenting\u2014\n\n\n \u201cDespite the embalm\u2019d, purpureal airs and gleam\n Immeasurable of amaranthine meads,\n The keen, reviving, strenuous airs of earth,\n And blasts from battle\u2010fields\u201d\u2014\n\n\nthat is the very breath of his nostrils\u2014earth, life, action, with a\npurpose in it, and the keen intoxication of occasional \u201cblasts from\nbattle\u2010fields.\u201d\n\nBut he is not a mere genius errant, a Don Quixote of conquerors, wasting\nhimself on windmills and flocks of sheep. He has a clear, resolute purpose\nbefore his mind, to which he shapes all things. It is to make the world\none empire, which Grecian intellect should rule. The Governor of Sardis,\nwhen the Granicus is won, he bids:\n\n\n \u201cTell those realms\n Betwixt the Euxine and Pamphylian Seas,\n That Grecian galaxy of Lesser Asia,\n That Argive choir in eastern exile sad,\n That Doric garland on base Persia\u2019s brow,\n We came not here to crush them, but exalt;\n This hand shall lift them to their first estate,\n And lodge them mid the skyey heights of Greece.\u201d\n\n\nSuch is his plan; and whatever crosses him must break before or bend to\nthat. Kings, empires, mighty cities, religion, customs and traditions,\ncommerce, all must yield before his indomitable will. Nothing is sacred to\nAlexander, save what is sacred to Alexander\u2019s plan. All things were\nfashioned to his purpose, and existed only to be made subservient to him.\nHe gazes from the sea\u2010shore on Tyre of the ships, with its wealth, its\nenergies, its possibilities, and the little it has done with them, and\nbursts forth:\n\n\n \u201cWings without body! such\u2014no more\u2014is commerce\n Which rests not upon empire! Commerce, ruling,\n Disperses man\u2019s chief energies, _but, ruled_\n _By spirit heroic_, increase yields of thoughts\n That give to greatness wider basis. Tyre!\n How soon thy golden feathers forth shall fly\n Upon the storm of War!\u201d\n\n\nLacking the \u201cspirit heroic,\u201d Tyre\u2019s opportunities and life have hitherto\nbeen thrown away, as were thrown away the letters that Ph\u0153nicia gave,\nuseless to the inventors. He goes on:\n\n\n \u201cMen stumble thus on glories not for them,\n The rightful appanage of the capable.\n The empire I shall found shall tread the earth,\n Yet over it go flying. From its vans\n The twin\u2010born beams of Grecian Song and Science\n Shall send perpetual dawn.\u201d\n\n\nMr. de Vere\u2019s verse is tempting to quote; but we must hasten on. Some idea\nof his Alexander may be gathered from the passages given; but, as we said,\nhe permeates the book, and we must leave it to the reader himself to trace\nthe slow growth and development of this singularly\u2010rounded yet most\ndifficult conception. We do not believe that the author in this instance\nhas fallen below the level of his subject, high and remote as that level\nwas. A strong, resolute, far\u2010seeing character, possessed with the very\npassion of empire, speaks to us in every line of _Alexander_. Many of his\nsayings have almost the wisdom and the brevity of proverbs. \u201cTime takes\nstill the conqueror\u2019s side,\u201d he tells Hephestion; and when that great\u2010\nsouled character puts the deep and solemn question, \u201c_Is there forgiveness\nfor conquerors?_\u201d\u2014his answer is:\n\n\n \u201cAye; but for half\u2010conquerors, none.\u201d\n\n\nHere is his policy told in a line:\n\n\n \u201cStrong hand makes empire; hand that heals retains it.\u201d\n\n\nWhen, in a light moment, he asks his generals, were gods their slaves,\nwhat fortunes would they choose, and all cry out, \u201cA kingdom!\u201d he says\naside:\n\n\n \u201cNote this, Hephestion:\n Imagination is economist,\n And vastest ends move less the appetite\n Than small things near and easier of access.\u201d\n\n\nHere is a truth for conquerors to ponder. In the height of his conquest he\nis convinced that\n\n\n \u201cThe vanquish\u2019d must connive, or victory\u2019s self\n Its own grave digs in the end.\u201d\n\n\nAll the littleness of greatness, all those surroundings that to small\nminds stamp, if they do not constitute, greatness, are for him emptiness.\n\n\n \u201cTo breathe applauses is to breathe that air\n By breath of men defiled: I stand, and stood,\n On the mountain\u2010tops, breathing the breath of gods.\u201d\n\n\nThere is another aspect to his character at which we must glance. We have\ncalled attention at the beginning to his jealous hatred of death. Life and\ndeath are to him constant enigmas, to which he sees no solution. The only,\nor at least the great, obstacle that he sees in the way of accomplishing\nhis dream and passion of empire is death. No human foe he fears; but the\nfates. Time, he passionately says, is no friend of his. He has to build\nhis empire in few years. He is running a constant race with time, and\nsomething seems to whisper to him ever that his years are few. In this,\ntoo, lies an humbling fact. He, like others, is human and subject to\ndeath. This inward struggle and rebellion against his humanity is\nconstantly going on. The thought, What am I? What do I? Who am I? Whence\ncome I? Where go I?\u2014all these things for ever trouble him. He would be a\ngod; but he finds his loftiest aspirations bounded by a wall of flesh, and\nbeyond that\u2014a blank.\n\nWith keen dramatic instinct and happy thought the author gives him the\nopportunity of answering for himself these questionings. He visits the\ntemple at Jerusalem, and converses with the high\u2010priest. The truth is\nunfolded to him, and the true God made known. He hesitates, and finally\nrejects the truth. It clashes with his purpose.\n\n\n \u201cO\u2019er all the earth my empire shall be just,\n Godlike my rule,\u201d\n\n\nhe promises the high\u2010priest; whose answer is the solemn rebuke:\n\n\n \u201cYoung man, beware! God\u2019s prophet\n Awards thee Persia\u2019s crown, but not the world\u2019s:\n He who wears that should be the Prince of Peace.\n Thy portion lies in bounds. Limit and Term\n Govern the world.\u201d\n\n\nThis revelation tells on his character throughout the rest of the play. He\nhas no longer that blind confidence in himself, though his mind like a\nvise holds to its resolution of founding the empire he was warned he could\nnot found. His iron will and indomitable energy overcome all obstacles;\nbut time is creeping on, and he feels it. To unite Persian and Greek\ntogether, in order to win the Persian, he must be proclaimed a god; and a\ngod he is proclaimed. But the emptiness and mockery of the title are shown\nwith intense force in the workings of the king\u2019s mind up to this madness.\nHe strives to argue himself up to godhead only by arguing godhead down to\nhim:\n\n\n \u201cA race of gods hath fallen:\n Then Zeus in turn may fall. I find for gods\n No thrones secure; _to man\u2019s advance no limit_;\n No certain truth amid contending rites;\n No base for faith.\u201d\n\n\nHe remembers the warning about limit and term, only to say scornfully,\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s for others:\n To grasp a world for me is feasible;\n To keep a half\u2010world, not.\u201d\n\n\nHe turns further and further away from faith of any kind; his creed\nresembles that of more modern conquerors:\n\n\n \u201cThe man that empire founds\n Must measure all things by the needs of empire.\u201d\n\n\nAnd the final outcome of his thoughts is this:\n\n\n \u201cThis only know we\u2014\n We walk upon a world not knowable,\n Save in those things which knowledge least deserve,\n Yet capable, not less, of task heroic.\n My trust is in my work: on that I fling me,\n Trampling all questionings down.\u201d\n\n\nAnd yet the next moment he cries out:\n\n\n \u201cI sometimes think\n That I am less a person than a power.\n Some engine in the right hand of the gods,\n Some fateful wheel that, round in darkness rolling,\n Knows this\u2014its work, but not that work\u2019s far scope.\n Hephestion, what is life? My life, since boyhood,\n Hath been an agony of means to ends;\n An ultimate end I find not. For that cause,\n On\u2010reeling in the oppression of a void,\n At times I welcome what I once scarce brook\u2019d\u2014\n _The opprobrium of blank sleep_.\u201d\n\n\nThere are many scenes of strong dramatic power in this drama\u2014the death of\nDarius, the quarrel with Parmenio, the rebellion of the Greeks, the last\nscene with Philotas, and others; but the power and intensity deepen at the\nclose, when death at last creeps into the veins of the conqueror. He has\nlost Hephestion earlier in the drama, and this loss rends his heart. There\nis much truth in his singular, almost selfish love for his great\u2010souled\nfriend, who stood to Alexander as a wife would stand to another man. But\nhe to whom \u201chis purposes were wife and child\u201d could not lean on a woman.\nIt must be a man, strong, brave, keen\u2010eyed as himself, but calmer, larger\nhearted, humbler, greater souled. Such was Hephestion, and his strong yet\nsweet character is not only admirably drawn, but affords an excellent foil\nthroughout to the eager, impetuous, fiery nature and fiery words of the\nking.\n\nOmens thicken around him, and the end comes at Babylon. The fever that\nburns at his heart seizes on his body while sailing on the Lake of\nPallacopas. As the royal barge passes, a strain rises up from the waters:\n\n\n \u201cWe sate beside the Babylonian river:\n Within the conqueror\u2019s bound, weeping we sate:\n We hung our harps upon the trees that quiver\n Above the rushing waters desolate.\n\n \u201cIf I forget thee, Salem, in thy sadness,\n May this right hand forget the harper\u2019s art!\n If I forget thee, Salem, in my gladness,\n My tongue dry up and wither, like my heart!\u201d\n\n\nIt is a relic of the Babylonian captivity. The song forces from Alexander\nthe sad confession, significant to all conquerors:\n\n\n \u201cThe ages pass, like winds;\n The old wrong remains, rooted like tombs, and moves not:\n All may be done through Time; yet Time does naught.\n Let kings look well to that.\u201d\n\n\nThe end is on him. Though \u201cmaimed, and tamed, and shamed,\u201d he is resolute\nstill, but impotent, and the empire lacks completion, he confesses, while\n\n\n \u201cThe years, the months,\n The hours, like ravening wolves that hunt a stag,\n Come up upon my haunches.\u201d\n\n\nFighting time to the last, he succumbs; but he will not even die as other\nmen. In his half\u2010delirium he tells Ptolemy:\n\n\n \u201cI have a secret\u2014one for thee alone:\n \u2019Twas not the mists from that morass disastrous\n Nor death of him that died, nor adverse gods,\n Nor the Fates themselves; \u2019twas something mightier yet,\n And secreter in the great night, that slew me.\u201d\n\n\nAnd thus, surrounded by his warriors and his generals, with success within\nhis grasp, but that grasp nerveless, his last moments troubled with awful\nvisions and ill dreams, resentful to the last against what slew him, in\ndoubt and in fear, in youth and glory and empire, in the fatality of\nsuccess, staring with strained eyes into the dread void beyond that no ray\nof faith illumines, he whose nod was life or death to nations, Alexander,\n_the god_, passes away and dies\u2014of a little slow fever that has entered\nand claimed for its own the clay of which he was made.\n\nMr. de Vere has written at once a magnificent poem and a powerful drama.\nWe have devoted our attention in both instances to the chief characters,\nand thus many scenes and personages in _Alexander the Great_ on which in\nreading we have dwelt with much pleasure and admiration must pass\nunnoticed. The author, if we may say so, has surprised us by the strength\nand finish of this work. The action of the piece is rapid; the characters,\nsmall and great, rounded and full; the scenes most varied and dramatically\nset. The clew to the play we take to be that old whisper which first\nallured our parents from their allegiance, and tempts forever the race of\nman: _Ye shall be as gods_. The whisper runs through the piece from the\nfirst line to the last, and lends to it a purpose and a plan of its own.\nThe dramatist has taken the man who in human history came the nearest to\nexemplifying its truth to prove its utter and miserable falsehood, and to\nread with a new force the old and eternal command that alone can order the\nlife of man wisely and well: \u201cThou shalt love the Lord thy God, and him\nonly shalt thou serve.\u201d\n\nWhen he died, Alexander was nearly thirty\u2010three. With him really, though\nremnants lingered after him, his scheme and his empire passed away; and\nwhen to\u2010day we look for what is left of the world\u2019s conqueror, of\nAlexander the god, we must search in musty tomes and grope in desert\nsands. Nothing is left of him, save some words and histories; and even\nwere they lost also, and his very memory blotted out with them, the world\nto\u2010day would in reality be little or none the loser.\n\nSome centuries later there died Another at the age of thirty\u2010three. He\ncame into life silently; he went out of life ignominiously. He led no\narmy; he had no following of any note; he was the son of a carpenter, and\nborn of a despised race. He was born, he lived, he died, in poverty,\nsorrow, and suffering, a social outcast even from his own people. The last\nthree years of his life he spent in preaching in and about Jerusalem. His\ndoctrines were strange and startling. They were utterly subversive of all\nhuman glory and greatness. Like Alexander, he proclaimed himself divine,\nand claimed to be the Son of God. Like Alexander, he too died, but a death\nof ignominy. Before his name had spread far beyond Jerusalem, men rose up,\nJew and Gentile, king and priest, church and state, together hanged him on\na tree, nailed him there, tortured and slew him, and when he was dead\nsealed up the tomb in which he was buried. And there, humanly speaking,\nwas an end to him and his.\n\nTo the world what had he left? A memory\u2014nothing more. Men said that he had\nwrought wonders, that virtues flowed out of him, that his hands rained\nmercies, that the blind saw, the lame walked, the lepers were cleansed,\nthe very dead rose again. Idle rumors! like that other of his bursting the\ntomb and rising again, walking in the flesh and ascending into the heaven\nfrom which he said he had come. And this was \u201cthe Expected of the\nnations,\u201d \u201cthe Prince of Peace,\u201d who was to accomplish what the high\u2010\npriest warned Alexander was not for him, with all his power, to\naccomplish\u2014to unite all the nations under one yoke. A likely prospect with\nthe material he had left!\n\nHe left behind him no empire, no record, not a line of writing. He left a\nfew words, a few maxims, a few rules of life, a few prayers, a few\npromises, a few men who timidly believed in him, a few commands. The\nworld, its belief and non\u2010belief alike, its customs, maxims, tendencies,\nhe condemned as wrong. He commanded it to remodel itself according to the\nfew rules he had left\u2014rules singularly comprehensive, simple, and clear:\nto believe in him, to obey him as the son of God and God, to believe and\nobey those, and those only, whom he sent forth in his name, armed with the\npowers he gave them, fighting with the weapon of the cross. And what is\nthe result? Who is the conqueror of the world now? Jesus Christ, in whose\nname every knee shall bow, or Alexander the Great? Here is a mystery\nsurely that men should ponder. What shall explain the victory over the\nworld, over sin, and over death, of Him whom they nailed to the tree\nnineteen centuries ago? Nothing but the words of Peter\u2014\u201cThou art Christ,\nthe Son of the living God.\u201d Thou art he that was to come, and we look for\nno other. \u201cAnd he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood: and his\nname is called _The Word of God_. And he hath on his garment and on his\nthigh written King of kings and Lord of lords.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nRequies Mea.\n\n\nKeep me, sweet love! Thy keeping is my rest.\n Not safer feels the eaglet from beneath\nThe wings that roof the inaccessible nest,\nThan I when thou art with me, dearest, best,\n Whose love my life is, yea, my very breath!\n Thy Son to Egypt fled to prove our faith.\nNot Herod\u2019s men had snatched him from thy breast,\n Or changed his thron\u00e8d slumber into death.\nHow wonderful thy keeping, mighty Queen!\n So close, so tender; and as if thine eyes\nHad only me to watch, thine arm to screen;\n And this inconstant heart were such a prize!\n And thou the while, in beatific skies,\n Art reigning imperturbably serene!\n\n\n\n\nOntologism And Psychologism.\n\n\nOur readers sometimes complain that the philosophical articles of THE\nCATHOLIC WORLD are too hard to be understood. Yet some of these very\nreaders make a great effort to read these articles, and ask questions\nabout metaphysical subjects\u2014among others, about the very topic of the\npresent article\u2014showing a great desire to gain some knowledge about them.\nWe are going to try to make this article intelligible to these readers,\neven to those who are yet quite young persons, in whose laudable efforts\nto improve their minds and acquire knowledge we are greatly interested.\n\nWe shall begin, therefore, by explaining some terms which need to be well\nunderstood before they can be used in a satisfactory manner, and\nespecially the two which make up the title of this article. Ontology is\nthe name given to one branch of metaphysics, which is also called general\nmetaphysics, in distinction from the two other principal branches of that\nscience\u2014to wit, logic and special metaphysics. It is derived from two\nGreek words\u2014that is, the first two syllables from a word which means\nbeing, and the last two from one which means reasoning. It is therefore a\nreasoning about being, or the scientific exposition of the object of the\nidea of real being, of metaphysical truth, good and evil, beauty,\nsubstance, accident, quantity, causality, the finite and the infinite, the\ncontingent and the necessary, etc. Psychology is also a Greek derivative\nsignifying a scientific exposition of the rational soul of man, its powers\nand operations, which is a sub\u2010division of special metaphysics. Therefore\nevery philosopher must be an ontologist and a psychologist, in the proper\nsense of those terms. Yet, there is a difference between ontology and\nontologism, psychology and psychologism. Ontologism and psychologism are\nnames denoting opposite philosophical systems which diverge in opposite\ndirections from the scholastic philosophy, or that philosophy commonly\ntaught in the Catholic schools after the method and principles of the\nAngelic Doctor, S. Thomas Aquinas. Of the authority which this philosophy\npossesses in the church we cannot now treat at length. We will, however,\ncite here the latest utterance of the Sovereign Pontiff which has come to\nour knowledge, as a sample of a great number of similar official\nexpressions of approbation from the Holy See. In a letter to Dr.\nTravaligni, founder of the Philosophico\u2010Medical Society of S. Thomas\nAquinas, dated July 23, 1874, Pius IX. says: \u201cWith still greater pleasure\nwe perceive that, faithful to your purpose, you have determined to admit\nonly such members to your society as hold and will defend the doctrines\npropounded by the sacred councils and this Holy See, and in particular the\nprinciples of the Angelic Doctor concerning the union of the intellective\nsoul with the human body, and concerning substantial form and primary\nmatter (_materia prima_).\u201d We shall take for granted at present that in\nall its essential parts, as well as in those specified in the above\nquotation, the philosophy of S. Thomas has the highest sanction and\nauthority in the church which any system of philosophy can have, and that\nit is the only true and sound philosophy. The system of ontologism differs\nfrom it by proposing a totally different ontology, which is made the basis\nof an essentially different philosophy. The advocates of that system call\nthemselves ontologists, as claiming to be the only philosophers who\nunderstand rightly real being and the relation of intelligence to it as\nthe object of its intuition and knowledge. They are also called by that\nname by their antagonists for the sake of convenience and courtesy, as\nthose who believe in God, but not in revelation, are called theists,\nalthough neither party has an exclusive right to the appellation given to\nit by usage. Psychologism is a system which makes the basis and starting\u2010\npoint of philosophy to lie exclusively in the individual soul and its\nmodifications, like Des Cartes, whose first principle is, \u201cI think,\ntherefore I am.\u201d The opponents of the scholastic philosophy who pretend to\nbe ontologists give it the nickname of psychologism, because they either\nmisunderstand or misinterpret its ontological and psychological doctrine.\nThe scholastic philosophy is also frequently called Aristotelian, because\nS. Thomas derived a great part of his metaphysics from the great\nphilosopher of Greece; and Peripatetic, which was the name given to the\nschool of Aristotle, because the teachers and pupils used to walk up and\ndown during their lectures and discussions. Those who diverge from the\nphilosophy of S. Thomas in the same direction with the ontologists are\nalso frequently called Platonists, because they follow, or are supposed to\nfollow, Plato, in regard to certain opinions differing from those\nmaintained by Aristotle.\n\nThe philosophical disputes which have been lately carried on with so much\nvehemence about questions of ontology are by no means of recent origin.\nThey have been waged both within and without the limits of the Catholic\nChurch. Des Cartes, the great modern master of psychologism, always\nprofessed to be a loyal son of the church, and had many disciples among\nCatholics. Malebranche, the author of modern ontologism, was a devout\npriest of the French Oratory; and Cardinal Gerdil, who began as an earnest\nadvocate of the same doctrine, but gradually approached toward the\nscholastic philosophy in his maturer years, was really the second man to\nthe Pope for a long time in authority and influence, as well as a most\nillustrious model of virtue and learning. More recently, the principal\nadvocates of ontologism have been very devoted Catholics. The Louvain\nprofessors, Hugonin, Branchereau; for anything we know to the contrary,\nFabre, and many others, have been most zealous and devoted Catholics. Only\nGioberti, who was, however, the prince among them all, and one of the most\ngifted men of the century, among the well\u2010known leaders of that school,\nwas a disloyal Catholic. We have heard on very good authority that\nGioberti continued to receive the sacraments up to the time of his death,\nand was buried with Catholic rites. Nevertheless, as a number of priests\nwere still in the external communion of the church at the time Gioberti\nwas living in Paris, who were really heretics and have since apostatized,\nthis fact alone does not count for much as a proof that he died in the\nCatholic faith. All his works were long before on the Index; he was at\nleast suspended, if not _ipso facto_ excommunicated, as a contumacious\nrebel against the Pope. Dr. Brownson calls him \u201cthat Italian priest of\nmarvellous genius, and, we were about to write, Satanic power.\u201d And again\nhe says: \u201cGioberti died, we believe, excommunicated, and his last book,\npublished before his death, contains a scurrilous attack on Pius IX., and\nbears not a trace of the Catholic believer, far less of the Catholic\npriest.\u201d(96) For a long time the Church did not directly interfere with\nthe philosophical discussions which went on among her children in regard\nto ontology. Neither Des Cartes(97) nor Malebranche was condemned, nor\nwere any specific propositions in the works of Gioberti censured. The Holy\nSee has never been in the habit of using its supreme magisterial authority\nin deciding scientific controversies considered merely as scientific.\nScience is left to itself, to make its own way and fight its own battles,\nunless the interests of the faith become involved with those of science.\nWhen these interests demand the interference of the supreme authority, it\nutters its disciplinary edicts or its doctrinal decisions, as in its\nwisdom it deems opportune and necessary. For a considerable period of time\nphilosophy was left in the enjoyment of the largest liberty, so long as\nthe doctrines of the church were respected and maintained. But when\nprofessed Catholics, especially in Germany, began to frame systems of\nphilosophy manifestly dangerous to sound theology and subversive of it,\nthe Holy See began to exercise a more special vigilance over the teaching\nof philosophy in Catholic schools. Gregory XVI. and Pius IX. have\ncondemned a number of works, of systems, or of distinct propositions in\nwhich philosophical errors were contained, because these were directly or\nindirectly subversive of the Catholic faith. Among other errors condemned,\nontologism holds a prominent position. After various means more mild and\nindirect of correcting the evils which the teaching of this system\nthreatened to produce had failed, the Holy See pronounced (Sept. 18, 1861)\nits condemnation of seven propositions embracing the fundamental tenets\ncommon to the so\u2010called ontologists, and some particular tenets advanced\nby individual professors or writers of the same school. The professors of\nthe Catholic University of Louvain were required to make a formal act of\nsubmission to this decision of Rome, which they did in the most exemplary\nmanner.\n\nThe Abb\u00e9 Hugonin, when nominated to an episcopal see in France, was also\nrequired to make a formal renunciation of ontologism, which he had taught\nin his writings, as a condition of receiving the confirmation of the pope,\nand complied without hesitation. The Abb\u00e9 Branchereau, a distinguished\nFrench Sulpitian and professor of philosophy, voluntarily submitted a\nstatement of the doctrine contained in his _Prelections_ to the\nexamination and judgment of the Holy See, and, when the judgment\ncondemning his system was made known to him, promptly submitted and\nsuppressed his work. In fact, there has been everywhere a most ready and\nedifying submission given to the judgment of Rome on a system which was\nrapidly spreading and gaining ground, and toward which a great number of\nthe finest minds among Catholic scholars felt the strongest attraction.\nThe reason of this may be found in the fact that those who had embraced\nthis system or were inclined toward it were generally good Catholics,\nholding sound theological principles, and imbued with the love of truth\nand the love of the church, loyal to conscience, and well grounded in\nChristian humility and obedience. Consequently, ontologism, as a system,\nprevailing among Catholics and in Catholic schools, is dead, and rapidly\npassing into oblivion\u2014a great gain for science, as well as for religion,\nsince it removes a great obstacle in the way of the revival of the genuine\nand sound philosophy which alone contains the real and solid wisdom of the\nGrecian sages, the fathers of the church, and the gigantic masters of the\nmedi\u00e6val schools, combined, harmonized, and reduced to method.\n\nIt is time now to explain in what the essence of ontologism consists. In\nthe words of M. Fabre, a professor at the Sorbonne, \u201cOntologism is a\nsystem in which, after having proved the objective reality of general\nideas, we establish that these ideas are not forms or modifications of our\nsoul; that they are not anything created; that they are necessary,\nunchangeable, eternal, absolute objects; that they are concentrated in the\nbeing to which this name belongs in its simple signification (_l\u2019\u00eatre\nsimplement dit_), and that this infinite Being is the first idea\napprehended by our mind, the first intelligible, the light in which we see\nall the eternal, universal, and absolute truths. Ontologists say, then,\nthat these eternal truths cannot have any reality outside of the eternal\nessence, whence they conclude that they do not subsist except as united to\nthe divine substance, and consequently that it can only be in this\nsubstance that we see them.\u201d(98)\n\nWe will now give the first two, the fourth, and the fifth of the\npropositions condemned at Rome, and which, with the other three, were\ntaken from the prelections of a professor in a French seminary, never\npublished, but extensively circulated in lithograph or MSS., and which,\nthe reader will see, express the identical doctrine summarized so\nconcisely and ably by M. Fabre:\n\nI. The immediate cognition of God, at least habitual, is essential to the\nhuman intellect, so that without this it cannot know anything, since it is\nthe intellectual light itself.\n\nII. That being which we intellectively perceive in all things, and without\nwhich we perceive nothing intellectively (_quod in omnibus et sine quo\nnihil intelligimus_), is the divine being.\n\nIV. The congenital knowledge of God as simply being (_ens simpliciter_)\ninvolves every other cognition in an eminent manner, so that by it we have\nimplicit knowledge of every being, under whatever respect it is knowable.\n\nV. All other ideas are only modifications of the idea in which God is\nintellectively perceived (_intelligitur_) as simply being (_ens\nsimpliciter_).\n\nSimilar propositions to these are found in the fifteen submitted by M.\nBranchereau to the judgment of the Holy See, viz.:\n\n1. In the act of thought two things are to be essentially\ndistinguished\u2014the subject thinking and the object thought.\n\n2. Again, the object thought is distinguished into two things\u2014that which\nis being simply, and that which is being in a certain respect.\n\n3. By that which is being simply we understand real being, concrete and\ninfinitely perfect; ... in a word, that which is being simply is God.\n\n12. From the first instant of existence the mind enjoys ideal perception,\nnot indeed reflexively, but directly.\n\n13. Among the intelligible truths, which we apprehend ideally, God\noccupies the first place, the intellective perception of whom, although\nessentially distinct from the intuition of the beatified, is terminated,\nnot at a representative image, but at God himself.\n\nThe reader will now, we trust, understand without difficulty what is the\nfundamental idea of ontologism\u2014namely, that God is the _immediate object_\nof the intellect, the ideal object which faces it from its creation, is\npresent to it as its light and its luminous, intelligible term of vision,\nin which all ideal, necessary, self\u2010evident, eternal ideas, verities,\nrealities, are concentrated, beheld, made luminous; lighting up all\nobjects whatsoever which exist and are perceived by sense and intellect,\nso that the things that are made are clearly seen by the invisible things\nof God, even his eternal power and Godhead; as Malebranche expressed it,\n\u201cin Deo,\u201d and Gioberti, \u201cin Deo et per Deum\u201d\u2014in God, and by or through\nhim, as clouds in a luminiferous ether. For an explanation of the\nscholastic doctrine of the origin of universal ideas we refer the reader\nto a former article on Dr. St\u00f6ckl\u2019s Philosophy. In brief, it is the\nreverse of the one just delineated, viz., the universal and transcendental\nideas are derived by abstraction from created things, and the knowledge of\nGod is obtained by a discursive act of reasoning, by which we ascend from\nthe knowledge of creatures to the knowledge of the Creator, whose\ninvisible essence and attributes are understood by the things that are\nmade. That is, God is known by a mediate and not an immediate\napprehension, resulting in an intellectual judgment that he is. The mind\nterminates at a representative and inadequate image of God, and not at God\nhimself or that which is God, real, concrete, necessary, infinite being,\nwhich is the remote and reflected object of the intellect.\n\nWe are now prepared to answer the question, What is the harm and danger of\nontologism on account of which it has been condemned? It has not been\ncondemned as heretical, for it does not formally, directly, and explicitly\ncontradict any doctrine of faith. The Holy See has simply decided that it\ncannot be safely taught\u2014that is, that it cannot be taught with a safe\nconscience, without danger to the faith, and consequently without grievous\nsin. It must therefore contain in it an error which cannot be extensively\nheld and taught in Catholic schools without a serious danger of indirectly\nsubverting Catholic faith and doctrine, especially in the minds of the\nyoung and inconsiderate. While this danger was only remote or not yet\napparent, the error might be tolerated, and left to be opposed and refuted\nby argument. Moreover, it might be held and advocated in good faith and\nwithout sin by intelligent and pious men, who are liable to error when\nleft to their own reasonings about abstruse matters in theology and\nphilosophy. But when the danger was apparent and proximate, it was\nnecessary to appeal to the supreme authority of the Roman Church, that the\nwhole matter might be thoroughly examined and adjudicated; and, the\njudgment being once rendered, the cause is finished for all good\nCatholics. Thenceforth all that remains to be done is to study the import\nof the decision, and to search into the reasons by which the condemned\nerrors may be proved false by philosophical and theological arguments, and\nthe opposite truths brought out into a clearer light for the advancement\nof sound and solid science and the protection of the faith.\n\nThat part of Catholic doctrine which was endangered and indirectly\nsubverted by ontologism is the one which relates to the distinction\nbetween nature and grace, the rational knowledge of God attainable by man\nin this life, and the immediate intuition of God enjoyed by the blessed in\nheaven. Ontologism destroys the real distinction between the natural and\nthe supernatural orders, between the abstractive vision of God by reason\nand faith, and the intuitive vision of God without any medium, and face to\nface. It is true that ontologists have never taught that man has, or can\nhave, a clear vision of the divine essence, like that of the blessed, by\nhis unaided natural powers. This is a heresy condemned by the General\nCouncil of Vienne. Moreover, it would be too absurd for any sane person to\nmaintain that such a vision is congenital and possessed by all men from\nthe first instant of creation. Nor would any one who maintains that the\nidea of God is impressed on the soul at its creation be so extravagant as\nto assert that the clear and distinct conception of God which can be\nobtained by reason and faith is present to the minds of all men from their\nbirth. Ontologists are careful to state that there is a difference between\nthe immediate cognition of God in this life and that of the life to come.\nAnd all who maintain any kind of ideal cognition which is congenital or\ninnate, understand by this something which exists unconsciously in the\nsoul until its powers are developed. The object is there, facing the\nintellect, but the intellect has its eyes closed, and cannot perceive it.\nWhen it perceives it, it is first obscurely, then clearly, then more or\nless distinctly. Its congenital cognition is an unconscious, undeveloped\nact. But all the principles of conscious, developed cognition are in that\nact, and are only evolved by the operation of the senses and the\nintellectual faculties. The error condemned is the assertion that this\ncognition has God in his intelligibility as real and necessary being as\nits _immediate_ object. And though it is not formally a heresy, since it\ndoes not assert that the immediate cognition of God is identical with the\nbeatific vision, or deny the necessity of the light of glory to make the\nsoul capable of the beatific vision, it is erroneous, inasmuch as it\nremoves that which really makes the essential difference of the vision of\nthe blessed, as distinct from the natural cognition of any created\nintelligence. This difference is defined by Benedict XIV., in the Const.\n_Benedictus Deus_, to be that the blessed see God \u201cwithout the mediation\nof anything created which presents itself as the object seen\u201d\u2014_nulla\nmediante creatur\u00e2 in ratione objecti visi se habente_. Every other\ncognition of God must therefore have some created object of intellectual\nvision as an intermediary between the intellect and God\u2014that is, must be\nmediate and not immediate cognition. An immediate cognition, however\nobscure and imperfect, must therefore be essentially the same with the\nclear, beatific intuition of the essence of God, and capable of being\nexpanded, extended, developed, increased, made more penetrating or\npowerful, without being essentially changed, until it equals or surpasses\nthe intuition of the highest angel in heaven. The light of faith or the\nlight of glory can be therefore only aids to the improvement of the human\nintellect in its own natural capacity and activity\u2014as if one should see\nthe stars more plainly by a telescope, and afterwards receive a more\nperfect body with a visual organ superior to any telescope that was ever\nmade.\n\nA more elaborate similitude will make the difference of immediate and\nmediate cognition of God more plain. Let us suppose a barbarian lying\nasleep on the shore of his lonely island in the Pacific, while a large\nship, the first which has ever approached it, has just come within the\nmost distant range of vision. There is an object, then on his horizon,\nwhich he has the power to see, but does not perceive until he awakes. He\nperceives it at first as a very small and dimly\u2010seen object\u2014as\n_something_, he knows not what. It may be a cloud, a bird, a wave\nsparkling in the sun, a canoe. It is a large man\u2010of\u2010war which is the real\nobject perceived, but he does not know that it is a ship, or know its\ncontents, or even know what a ship is. This is an obscure perception. By\u2010\nand\u2010by he can see that it is not a cloud, or bird, or canoe, but a large,\nmoving structure, whose principal parts are visible to him. This is a\nclear perception. When it has anchored, he has been taken on board, has\nseen its crew and armament, its cabins and hold, and has learned what is\nits purpose and the utility of its principal parts, he has a distinct\nconception. After he has learned the language of the sailors, and has been\ninstructed to a greater or less extent, he acquires a more adequate and\nperfect knowledge, like that which the sailors themselves possess; he\njoins the crew, and becomes an expert seaman, and finds himself to have\nbecome much superior in knowledge and happiness to what he was before the\nship came to his island.\n\nLet us also suppose that a bottle is washed ashore at another island, and\npicked up by a native. When he opens it, he finds in it a drawing\nrepresenting a large ship, and a paper containing particular information\nabout the ship and its crew. This bottle had been thrown overboard after\nthe ship had sprung a leak in mid\u2010ocean, and was about to founder. After\nthe bottle has been found by the native, Europeans arrive at the island,\nby whom the papers are examined, and their contents explained to the\nnative, who learns also from the explanation of the drawing to understand\nwhat the ship is, its use, construction, parts, etc. He thus gains\nsubstantially the same knowledge of that ship and its crew with that which\nthe other native gained about the other ship, though in a different way,\nwithout ever seeing the ship itself, but only an image of it. One has\nimmediate, the other mediate cognition. One sees the object in itself, the\nother sees it in something else. In the first case the native saw\nsomething which was a ship, but while it was distant it was not visible as\na ship, only as an object. Afterwards it was visible in its outward shape\nand appearance as a ship, in clear, unmistakable contrast with every\ndifferent object, but not distinctly understood or closely inspected, or\nmade the principal object of the occupation, the attachment, the\nenjoyment, of the native\u2014in a word, the home and centre of his chief\nearthly good. When he first saw something in the distance, he really saw\nthe ship, and in that vision was virtually contained all that he\nafterwards discovered in respect to it; whereas, the other native never\nsaw the other ship, and never could see it by means of drawings or verbal\ndescriptions, although he could learn that it was a ship, and what ship it\nwas, where it sailed from, who sailed it, and when and where it foundered.\n\nThe above comparison is not perfect, since every comparison must limp at\nleast a little; but we think it is sufficient as an illustration of the\nprocess by which the human intellect attains to the knowledge of God and\nthe beatific vision of God, according to ontologism as differing from the\ndoctrine of sound Catholic theology. According to ontologism, God presents\nhimself to the intellect, when he creates it, as its immediate Object,\nobjective Idea, or intelligible Term. So soon as it is capable of\napprehending eternal verities, it apprehends that which is God, although\nnot yet knowing explicitly that what it apprehends is God\u2014that is, the\none, living, most perfect Being who is the creator and sovereign lord of\nall things. By another step it acquires a clear conception of God, and\nmakes the judgment that God is, and that he is eternal, infinite,\nomniscient, omnipotent. This judgment is an evolution from that cognition\nwhich existed at the beginning as a habit into an explicit act, as the\nexplicit act of faith is deduced from the habit of faith given to the\ninfant by baptism. That God is, is known by what he is\u2014that is, by his\nessence, which is seen in the eternal verities or divine ideas as they are\nin reality, not distinguishable from the divine substance. Faith gives an\nobscure perception of the interior mysteries of the divine substance which\nare beyond the ken of the intellect unaided by revelation, or, in other\nwords, are superintelligible verities; and the light of glory increases\nthe power of intellectual vision so that it sees clearly and distinctly\nthe interior essence of God, which completes the beatification of the\nsoul.\n\nIn this place we may cite the third of the seven condemned propositions,\nwhich expresses the afore\u2010mentioned theory, as taken in connection with\nthe fifth. This third proposition is: \u201cUniversals, objectively considered,\n_a parte rei_, are not really distinguishable from God\u201d; and the fifth:\n\u201cAll other ideas are only modifications of the idea in which God is\nintellectively perceived as simply being\u2014_tamquam ens simpliciter\nintelligitur_.\u201d Universals are general ideas, each one of which is capable\nof being predicated of a multitude of subjects. The logical universals are\nfive\u2014genus, species, differentia, attribute, accident. The ten categories\nof Aristotle include all the supreme genera, though some maintain that a\nbetter division may be made. The transcendental ideas are those which\ntranscend all generic classification, because they may be predicated of\nevery genus and all its inferiors. They are the ideas of being, unity, the\ngood, the true, the beautiful. They belong, therefore, to the universals,\nalthough predicated in analogous and not identical senses of the diverse\ngenera and their inferior subjects. Take the supreme genus substance, as\nan instance, and follow it down to man\u2014substance, corporeal substance,\norganized substance, animal, rational animal, _i.e._, man. His proximate\ngenus is animal, his differentia rationality, which constitute the species\nman. The concrete reality of the universals, substance, etc., terminating\nin the species which is rational animal is found only in individual men.\nThe direct universals, genus, species, differentia, exist, _a parte rei_,\nin each individual of the human species. Each man is a substance,\ncorporeal, organized, animal, rational, and these universals can be\npredicated of him as their subject. The transcendental predicates, also,\nare connected with individual men as their subject. Individual men have\nbeing, unity, verity, goodness, beauty. But these may be predicated in\nsenses which are only analogous to each other of the composite essence, of\nits distinct parts, soul and body, of the attributes or essential\nqualities of man, and of the accidents of individual men. For instance,\nthe human essence is essentially good; the soul and body are good each in\nits own order; rationality is good; learning, valor, amiability, moral\nvirtue, sanctity, are good; but there is analogy only, not identity, in\nthese various kinds of good. The same is true of being. It is absurd,\ntherefore, to speak, as Plato does, of a universal good, true, beautiful,\nor to speak of any universal idea, such as being, or a modification of\nbeing, as having any objective reality as a universal, except as a concept\nof the mind with a foundation in that which is or may be an actually\nexisting thing. They are metaphysical essences, with their generic,\nspecific, qualifying, and transcendental predicates. All the categories or\nsupreme genera together make up what is called the nature of things,\nconsidered metaphysically; considered in their physical being in the sum\nof all concrete existences, they make up universal nature. The\nmetaphysical essences are necessary, immutable, eternal, and potentially\ninfinite. They are the eternal verities, the necessary truths, which copy\nthe divine ideas upon nature or the universe, where God has impressed\nthem, and are abstracted from the works of the Creator by the intellect of\nman. They are distinguishable from God, therefore they are not in the\nessence of God, or the divine ideas subsisting in the divine substance,\nand are not there seen by the intellect. This was long ago proved by\nphilosophers and theologians. It is now declared by authority that it is\nunsafe thus to identify them with God, and thereby make him the immediate\nobject of the intellect. The reason why it is unsafe is that it destroys\nthe differentia which makes our rational cognition of God specifically\ndistinct from the intuitive cognition of the blessed. There are also other\ndangers to faith and sound theology involved in the doctrines or\ntendencies of ontologism, which we have not space to notice.\n\nNeither the absurdity nor the heterodoxy of ontologism is avoided by the\nsystem of Gioberti. The objection of Giobertians to pure ontologism, that\nit furnishes no dialectic principle uniting natural theology with other\nbranches of special metaphysics and with ontology, is, indeed, well taken.\nBut this only shows that pure ontologism is absurd and incoherent. It does\nnot remove the absurdity of that which is common to pure ontologism and\nthe ontologism of Gioberti. Neither does it remove its heterodoxy. Saying\nthat we have immediate cognition of something which is not God does not\nmake it more orthodox to say that we have immediate cognition of God.\nMoreover, Gioberti\u2019s doctrine, as taught by himself, and understood by his\nEuropean disciples and admirers, as well as by his acutest and most\northodox opponents, is far more heterodox than that of any other\nontologist who is also a Catholic. Evidence has been furnished which has\nnever been rebutted that Gioberti was a pantheist even before he published\nhis _Introduction to Philosophy_. In a letter to Mazzini, written before\nthat date, but only afterwards published from a motive of pique against\nhim, he says explicitly that he is a pantheist after the manner of\nGiordano Bruno, though a Christian pantheist. What does this mean, unless\nit means that he had conceived a plan of combining pantheistic philosophy\nwith the Catholic dogmas, as a part of his grand scheme of reconciling\npaganism with Christianity, and the European revolution with the Papacy?\nOn this supposition he must either have acted the part of a deliberate\nliar and hypocrite\u2014a baseness of which we believe him to have been\nincapable\u2014or he must have intended, and in a subtile manner insinuated\npantheism in the guise of his famous ideal formula, _Ens creat\nexistentias_. In this case whatever may bear a pantheistic interpretation\nor seem to point to a pantheistic conclusion must be pantheistically\ninterpreted, so far as the sense of the author is concerned. It is not\nstrange, however, that many have understood him in a sense not directly\nheretical, or even, perhaps, quite compatible with Catholic faith. For his\nworks are filled with passages which, taken in a Catholic sense, are gems\nof the purest and most precious sort. If the formula _Being creates\nexistences_ be taken in the orthodox sense, as equivalent to _God creates\nthe world_, it is obviously a directly contrary proposition to any one\nexpressing pantheism. To make it bear a pantheistic sense, definitions of\nbeing, create, and existences must be sub\u2010introduced which vitiate its\northodox meaning. But, leaving aside this question, we have already proved\nthat a Catholic must hold that the human intellect cannot have an\nimmediate cognition of the first extreme of the formula, viz., that real\nand necessary Being which is God. Without this he cannot have an immediate\ncognition of the creative act, as the act of God, or of created things in\ntheir ideas, considered as the divine ideas themselves in the divine mind,\nand really identical with the divine essence. It is certain that the Holy\nSee did not intend to condemn pantheism in the decree respecting the seven\npropositions, for it would never have affixed such a mild censure if it\nhad so intended. Ontologism, whether couched in Gioberti\u2019s formula or not,\nis condemned in that sense which is not pantheistic, and under every\nformula which includes an affirmation of the immediate cognition of God by\nthe human intellect, as defined by M. Fabre in the passage quoted at the\nbeginning of this article.\n\nBefore concluding we are obliged reluctantly to add a few words about a\npersonal controversy with Dr. Brownson, with whom we always regret to have\na difference respecting any matter which belongs to Catholic doctrine. We\ndesire to explain, therefore, that we made no statement to the effect that\nthe ontologism condemned by the Holy See had ever been formally and\nexplicitly taught in philosophical articles, whether written by himself or\nany one else, in this magazine. Moreover, in the passage where his name is\nmentioned there is no direct statement that \u201c_his own_ ontologism\u201d falls\nunder ecclesiastical censure. The utmost implied or asserted is that some\neducated men might think that some of his statements are \u201cunsound,\u201d\nphilosophically or theologically, and demand a certain benignity of\ninterpretation in order to escape the censure which a professed theologian\nwould justly incur if he made such statements in a book written for\nschool\u2010boys or young pupils. Dr. Brownson\u2019s own defence of his doctrine,\nas based on his definition of intuition: \u201cIntuition is the act of the\nobject, not of the subject,\u201d was cited as the precise distinction between\nhis own doctrine and the one condemned, upon which the question of the\ntheological soundness of his peculiar ontologism turns. We called it \u201ca\nnewly\u2010invented distinction between ideal intuition and perception or\ncognition,\u201d and qualified the definition above quoted as an \u201cassumption,\u201d\nwhich we think is quite correct. It is new in Catholic philosophy, and has\nnot been proved. We think, therefore, that the phraseology of Dr. Brownson\nmakes his doctrine liable to an interpretation, even by educated men,\nwhich makes it similar to that of the condemned ontologism. That it is\nsound and safe we are not prepared to say. Neither do we say positively\nthat it is not. If it is, we think Dr. Brownson can place it in a clearer\nlight than he has yet done, and we shall heartily rejoice to see him\ndistinctly enunciate and vindicate his fundamental doctrine, whether it\ndoes or does not accord with that which is held by the disciples of S.\nThomas. Of his loyal intention to conform his doctrine to the decisions of\nthe supreme authority in the church there can be no doubt. That he has so\nfar succeeded in doing so, at least by an exact and explicit expression of\nit, we cannot help doubting. We cannot see that the distinction between\nideal intuition and cognition, so far as we apprehend it, suffices.\n\nWe understand him to define ideal intuition as an act of God presenting\nhimself to the intellect as its object, and to call the act of the\nintellect apprehending this ideal object empirical intuition. We\nunderstand him also to identify the immediate object on which the active\nintellect exercises its discursive operations with real, necessary\nbeing\u2014_i.e._ God\u2014although it does not make the judgment that eternal\nverities are real being, and that real being is God, immediately, but by\nmeans of reflection and reasoning. Now, we cannot see any essential\ndifference between this doctrine and that of M. Branchereau and other\nontologists. We do not think it possible to escape the ecclesiastical\ncensure on the doctrine of the immediate cognition of God, unless\nsomething is placed, _ratione objecti visi_, between God and the\nintellect, making the cognition mediate. Moreover, we consider that the\nterm cognition in the Roman decree covers intuition and simple\napprehension, even in their confused state, as well as distinct\nconceptions and judgments. Dr. Brownson\u2019s peculiar terminology and\ninformal method of arguing make it, however, more difficult to understand\nhis real doctrine and compare it with that of standard authors than if it\nwere expressed in the usual style and method.\n\nDr. Brownson has also further charged the author of _Problems of the Age_\nwith having actually taught in the opening chapters of that essay, as\nfirst published in this magazine, the very ontologism condemned in the\nseven propositions. That there are ambiguous expressions and passages\nwhich taken apart from the whole tenor of the argument are liable to such\nan interpretation, we do not deny. But in reality, it was the doctrine of\nGerdil which was intended, and expressed with sufficient distinctness for\na careful and critical reader. This doctrine is expressed by the\nillustrious cardinal in these words: \u201cGod, who contains eminently the\nideas of all things, impresses their intellectual similitudes in us by his\naction, which constitute the immediate object of our perceptions.\u201d Upon\nwhich Liberatore remarks: \u201cIn these words Gerdil did not modify the\nontologism which he professed in his youth, but retracted it. And indeed,\nhow can even the shadow of ontologism be said to remain, when the\nimmediate object of our perceptions is no longer said to be God, or ideas\nexisting in God, but only their similitudes, which are impressed by the\ndivine action upon our minds.\u201d(99) A few quotations from the _Problems of\nthe Age_ will prove the truth of our assertion that it proposed a theory\nsimilar to the theory of Gerdil.\n\n\u201cIt is evident that we have no direct intellectual vision or beholding of\nGod. The soul is separated from him by an infinite and impassable\nabyss.\u201d(100) \u201cGod affirms himself originally to the reason by the creative\nact, which is first _apprehended by the reason_(101)_through the medium of\nthe sensible_.... Thus we know God by creation, and creation comes into\nthe most immediate contact with us on its sensible side.\u201d(102) \u201cThe\nknowledge of God is limited to that which he expresses by the similitude\nof himself exhibited in the creation.\u201d(103) \u201cIt is of the essence of a\ncreated spirit that its active intuition or intellective vision is limited\nto finite objects as its immediate terminus, commensurate to its finite,\nvisual power. _It sees God only mediately_, as his being and attributes\nare reflected and imaged in finite things, and therefore its highest\ncontemplation of God is _merely abstractive_.\u201d(104)\n\nMore passages might be quoted, but these may suffice. The form of\nexpression is frequently Giobertian, especially in the early chapters. But\nthe author understood Gioberti in an orthodox sense. In our opinion Dr.\nBrownson, as well as ourselves, failed to a very great extent to\nunderstand his artfully\u2010expressed meaning. We used language similar to\nthat of ontologism, but the sense in which we asserted the intuition of\nGod was that of an infused idea of necessary and eternal truths; having\ntheir foundation and _eminent_, but not _entitative_ existence in God, as\nFather Kleutgen teaches; by virtue of which the mind can rise by\ndiscursive reasoning through the creation to an explicit conception of\n_what_ God is, and make the judgment _that_ he is. All that introductory\npart of his work which treats of ontology was, however, suppressed by the\nauthor when the _Problems of the Age_ was published in book\u2010form,\nprecisely on account of the tincture of ideas and phraselogy, which too\nnearly resembled those of ontologists, and were too obscure and ambiguous.\n\nWe do not suppose that the ideology of those Catholic philosophers whom we\nmay call Platonisers, for want of a more specific term, has been\ncondemned; or the Peripatetic ideology enjoined as the only one which can\nsafely be taught in the schools; by any positive precept of the Holy See.\nNevertheless, we think the former ideology, in all its various shapes, has\nreceived a back\u2010handed blow, by the condemnation of ontologism, which must\nprove fatal to it. We see no logical alternative for those who reject\npsychologism, except between ontologism and the ideology of S. Thomas. The\nobjective term of intellective conceptions must be, if it has real\nexistence, either in God, in created things outside the mind, or in the\nmind itself. If it is the latter, a vague idealism which carries\nphilosophy into an abstract world, separated by a chasm from the real,\nseems unavoidable. There is no real, concrete being, except in God and\nthat which God has created. Unless the universals are mere conceptions or\nideas, and unless ideas are, not that _by which_ the intellect perceives,\nbut that _which_ it perceives\u2014and this is psychologism\u2014they must have\ntheir entitative existence in the essence of God, and be indistinguishable\nfrom it; or they must have it in created objects. The former cannot be\nsafely held and taught. Therefore we must take the latter side of the\nalternative, or fall into psychologism. There is no solid rational basis,\nexcept that of scholastic philosophy, on which we can stand. The master in\nthis school is the Angelic Doctor. Our interpretation, or that of any\ngreater disciple of S. Thomas, has no authority, except that which is\nintrinsic to the evidence it furnishes that it is really his doctrine. The\nevidence is clear enough, however, to any competent person who examines\nit, that we have stated his doctrine correctly, and that all the\ncriticisms upon the ideology we vindicate fall upon S. Thomas, and not\nupon us. Any one who will read the great works of Kleutgen and Liberatore\ncan see this proved in the amplest manner from the writings of S. Thomas\nand in his own distinct statements. And any person of ordinary common\nsense will conclude that a man of the acute intelligence,\nconscientiousness, and patient application which characterize Father\nLiberatore, in a lifelong study of the clearest and most lucid author who\never wrote, cannot have failed to understand his philosophical system.\nLiberatore avowedly confines himself to an exposition of the philosophy of\nS. Thomas pure and simple. And in his great work, _Della Conoscenza\nIntellettuale_, he has given the most ample and lucid exposition of that\nparticular part of it, with a solid refutation of the other principal\ntheories. Kleutgen is more original, and not less erudite, though perhaps\nnot equal to Liberatore in the thorough mastery of the writings of the\nAngelic Doctor; and he has given a most extensive and complete exposition\nof scholastic philosophy, accompanied by an exhaustive appreciation of\nmodern systems, in his _Philosophie der Vorzeit_. It is very well for\nthose who can do so to study S. Thomas for themselves, though even they\ncannot neglect his commentators. But it is idle to recommend this study to\nthe generality of students in philosophy and theology, as a substitute for\nthe study of the minor approved authors. Dogmatic and moral theology and\nphilosophy are real sciences, as they are taught in the Catholic schools,\nand they can be and must be learned from text\u2010books and the oral\ninstruction of professors. The presumption is in favor of the books and\nteachers approved by ecclesiastical authority, that they teach sound\ndoctrine. There cannot be anything more injurious to the interests of\necclesiastical or secular education than to depreciate and undermine their\nlegitimate authority, and thus awaken distrust in the minds of those who\nmust receive their instruction from them, or else undertake the task of\ninstructing themselves. Such an undertaking usually results in a failure\nwhich may have disastrous consequences. The greater number follow self\u2010\nchosen and dangerous guides. The few of superior intelligence and activity\nof mind; who throw off respect for all authority except that which they\nrecognize as absolutely infallible, or submit to through the worship which\nthey pay to genius and to ideas which have captivated their intellect and\nimagination; are apt to indulge the futile and dangerous dream of\nremodelling philosophy and theology. Such have been the leaders of\ndissension, of heresy, and of apostasy. De Lamennais, St. Cyran, Gioberti,\nand D\u00f6llinger are examples. They began to deviate by breaking away from\nthe common and present sense of the great body of authors in actual use\nand living teachers of theology. Every one knows where they ended. Similar\ntendencies and proclivities can be effectually suppressed only by a sound\ntheology and a sound philosophy, together with that spirit called the\n_piety of faith_, which goes much beyond a mere submission to absolute and\ncategorical decrees in regard to faith and morals. In conclusion, we\nventure very earnestly to advise all converts who have finished a liberal\neducation before entering the church, not to study theology without also\ngoing through a careful course of philosophy, beginning with text\u2010books\nsuch as those of Father Hill and Liberatore.\n\n\n\n\nReminiscences Of A Tile\u2010Field.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a king and a queen in a grand old group of\nGothic towers that was called the Louvre. Nowadays we should call their\nhouse a palace, but in those good old times kings built houses to fight in\nas well as to live in, and their abodes had to do duty at once as palace,\nfortress, and prison. At the time we speak of this mass of straggling\nroofs and gables resembled a citadel mounting guard over Paris from the\nwestern side, as the Bastile did from the east; but when Francis I. came\non the scene, he denounced the barbaric\u2010looking stronghold as a place too\nlike a dungeon for a king to live in, though it did well enough for a\nhunting\u2010lodge. It was too venerable to be thrown down, and too stern in\nits original character to bend to any architectural modifications, so he\ndecided to leave it as it was, and build a palace after his own fancy by\nthe side it. He began, accordingly, the florid Italian edifice which now\nforms the western side of the old Louvre. He did not live to see the work\ncompleted; but it was continued by his son, who died soon after it was\nfinished, and left his widow, Catherine de M\u00e9dicis, in enjoyment of it.\nBut the wily queen, looking to the future, saw that her son would one of\nthese days be reigning in the Louvre, and that it might not suit her to\nremain his guest; so she set about building a palace for herself, where in\ndue time she might plot and scheme, distil poisons, and light civil wars\nunmolested by the king\u2019s presence or the prying eyes of his court. West of\nthe Louvre, and in the then open country, was a tile\u2010field, which, from\nthe fact of _tuiles_ being manufactured there, was called _Les Tuileries_.\nThe M\u00e9dicean sorceress touched the tiles with her wand, and up rose under\nthat magic stroke the stately palace which was to be the centre of so many\nhigh and wonderful destinies, and which continued to bear through all\nchanges and vicissitudes its first homely title of Les Tuileries. One life\ncould not suffice for the completion of such a monument, however, and\nCatherine left it to her three king sons, successively to finish. But\nalready in her own time the tile\u2010field was baptized in blood. From one of\nits Gothic windows the mother pulled the trigger in the trembling hand of\nthe son which gave the signal for the massacre of S. Bartholomew. Thus in\nits very cradle did the Tuileries sign itself Haceldama, a field where\nblood should flow, where princes should sell and be sold, where a king\nshould wrestle with the powers of darkness, and be dragged forth in\nignominy to death. The two palaces, hitherto distinct and separate, were\nunited by Charles IX., who erected the long gallery by the river\u2019s side.\nIt was not entirely finished when he died, leaving his brothers to make it\nready for Henry IV., who is represented as traversing the gallery, leaning\non De Guise, the day before Ravaillac\u2019s dagger cut short the B\u00e9arnais\u2019\ncareer.\n\nThe idea of turning it into a museum was first suggested by Louis XVI.,\nwho reverted to the plan frequently, but was compelled by financial\ndifficulties to leave the glory of its execution to Bonaparte. Those who\nhave seen the beautiful old palace recently, before its partial\ndestruction, would hardly recognize it as the same which fifteen years ago\nwas choked up to its very windows by the rubbish of the encroaching town;\nthe space now cleared away between the two palaces, the Louvre proper and\nthe Tuileries, was filled with mean houses, for the most part shops. Even\nthe fa\u00e7ade of the Tuileries was cumbered and disfigured by a variety of\nshabby buildings, barracks, stables, and domestic offices, these latter\nbeing necessary for the convenience of its inmates\u2014since royalty must\ndine\u2014the original plan of the palace having made no provision for those\nvulgar essentials for the carrying on of daily life. It was an unsafe\nabode for royalty when safety needed to be thought of and the hearts of\nthe people had ceased to be the king\u2019s best stronghold; but when the\nM\u00e9dicis reared the noble, picturesque old pile, they were troubled with no\nsuch considerations. The ghosts of constitutionalism and _sans\u2010culottism_\nwere slumbering quietly unsuspected in the womb of the future, and no\nprovision was made for slaying or defying them. For nearly a century the\nTuileries had been uninhabited, when, on the wrathful day of the 6th of\nOctober, the mob surged from Paris to Versailles, and dragged Louis Seize\nand Marie Antoinette from their beds, and installed them within its empty,\nneglected walls.\n\n\u201cBuildings, like builders, have their destiny.\u201d Ever since the memorable\nmorning when insurrection reared its hydra\u2010head under the windows of the\nQueen of France, and battered in the chamber door with clubs and tricolor\u2010\nbedizened pikes, and sent her flying in terrified _d\u00e9shabill\u00e9_ through\nsecret corridors and trap\u2010tapestries into the king\u2019s room for safety; ever\nsince \u201crascality looked in the king\u2019s face, and did not die,\u201d but seized\nroyalty by the beard, and led it, amidst hootings of triumph, to lodge\nwhere the people willed, the grand ch\u00e2teau of Versailles has stood vacant\nof kings and queens, its polished floors reflecting the dead monarchs on\nthe walls, a great hush filling its broad galleries, grass growing in its\ncourts, the silence of the past brooding everywhere. Noisy demagogues may\nscream and howl in the theatre where the Grand Monarch applauded the\nverses of Corneille and Racine, and their nimble heels may tread down some\nof the grass between the paving\u2010stones of the Cour du Roi, but they are\nbut jackdaws chattering in the deserted temple. Versailles has lived its\nday, and outlived its generation.\n\nNeglected and uncomfortable as the Tuileries was, the royal family had no\nchoice but to go there. The Louvre was partly dilapidated and quite\nunfurnished, while the sister palace, though so long uninhabited, was\nstill furnished, and needed comparatively little to make it, even in this\nsudden emergency, a suitable domestic residence. The discomforts of the\nfirst few days were great, but the royal captives were absorbed in graver\ncares, and bestowed no idle regrets on such small matters as personal\naccommodation. Louis was satisfied with his truckle\u2010bed, hurriedly\nprovided by the nation in the tapestried room. \u201cWhere will your majesty\nplease to sleep?\u201d inquired an obsequious municipal, entering the presence;\nand majesty, with head bowed over his knees, answers, without deigning to\nlook around and choose, \u201cI am well enough here; let each lodge as he may.\u201d\nSo the truckle\u2010bed is got ready. Strange days followed this strange\nbeginning. Paris for a week was drunk with joy. The mob had got the king\nin their possession. Loyal subjects looked on, not knowing whether to weep\nor to rejoice. The Orleanist faction chuckled boldly over the degradation\nof the crown, and over the fact that the persons of the king and, above\nall, of the queen were safe in a gilded prison.\n\nThe queen was far too wise and keen\u2010eyed to be deceived by the pale\nglimmer of popularity which, during the early days of their abode in\nParis, shone upon them. Louis took pleasure in the scanty _vivats_ that\ngreeted him when he sauntered out for a walk on the terrace\u2014his only place\nof exercise now\u2014and within doors amused himself with carpentry and lock\u2010\nmaking. The Dauphin played at soldiering, dressed in military uniform, and\ngave the word of command to his men, a regiment of warriors from five to\neight years old. Marie Antoinette had her library brought from Versailles,\nand sought refuge from thought in reading. Mme. Elizabeth, meanwhile,\nwatches the signs of the coming storm, prays, loves, and hopes.\n\nThe Assembly had followed the king to Paris, and installed itself in the\nSalle de Man\u00e8ge, formerly the riding\u2010school of the Tuileries, and situated\nwithin sight of the palace on the north terrace. This proximity, whether\naccidental or designed, was a source of danger and humiliation to the\nking. The members could see the royal prison\u2010house from the windows of the\nMan\u00e8ge, and the prospect served to point many an insolent period in the\ntribune. Mirabeau used it with fine effect. \u201cI see,\u201d he cried, \u201cthe window\nwhence a king of France, under the influence of execrable advisers, fired\nthe shot which gave the signal of the massacre of S. Bartholomew!\u201d\n\nBut the Assembly did not content itself with pointing the arrows of its\nrhetoric at the doomed Louis; it sought to give him more practical proofs\nof disrespect. The riding\u2010school being situated on the Terrace des\nFeuillants, the members declared that this terrace belonged to them, and\nnot to the king; it was therefore thrown open as a public thoroughfare,\nthe palace being thus exposed to the coming and going of the populace, who\navailed themselves of the opportunity of flaunting their disloyalty under\nthe very windows of the sovereign. There was no longer any barrier on the\nnorth side, and, the external posts being all sentinelled by National\nGuards, the royal family had no control over either the courts or the\ngardens. This scandalous violation of his privacy roused even Louis to\nutter a mild protest to the Assembly, but it was met by one of the\nGirondists retorting that \u201cthe people lodged Louis in the Tuileries, but\nit nowise followed that they gave up to him the exclusive use of the\ngardens.\u201d The unhappy king had no resource henceforth but in dignified\npatience, fed by the hope of escaping to the freedom and seclusion of St.\nCloud at Easter. We know how, just as he had entered his carriage to start\nfor that suburban castle, it was surrounded by the mob, and he himself\nonly rescued from personal violence by Lafayette and his troop, who were,\nhowever, unable to effect his release. Louis re\u2010entered the Tuileries\ncrushed and humbled, but inwardly resolved on some desperate attempt to\nescape from the insupportable bondage of his position. The abortive\nattempt to leave the Tuileries, even for his usual summer residence,\nroused a bitter feeling of suspicion against him, and more especially\nagainst the queen, which was soon manifested by the increasing insolence\nof the mob. They dared no longer show themselves in public, and even their\nafternoon walk on the terrace by the river\u2019s side became impossible. They\ntried to avoid the humiliation and annoyance it provoked by rising at\ndaybreak, and taking an hour\u2019s exercise in the early dawn; but this soon\nbecame known, and had also to be abandoned. At last the queen complained\nthat she \u201ccould not even open her windows on these hot summer evenings\nwithout being subjected to the grossest invectives and threats.\u201d\n\nWhen things came to this point, the king was forced to lend an ear to the\nproposals which had up to this time met with a dogged and somewhat\ncontemptuous refusal. There was but one way of remedying the miseries of\ntheir position, and that was by flight. It was no longer a question of\nflying from humiliation, but from absolute and imminent danger. The most\nsanguine or the most obtuse observer could not but see that things were\nhastening to a fearful crisis, which, terminate how it may, must work ruin\nto the royal family.\n\nMany schemes were arranged, but for one reason or another they fell\nthrough. Finally, it was settled that the sovereign should escape with his\nwife and children and sister to Montm\u00e9dy. This was the utmost that could\nbe wrung from Louis, even in this extremity. No arguments could induce him\nto consent to leave France, or even to cross the frontier with the purpose\nof re\u2010entering France the next day, though by so doing he would have\nshortened the journey and lessened its dangers. If even then he had\nconsented to fly speedily, separately, instead of losing the precious days\nand weeks in preparations that only awoke suspicion and proved hindrances\ninstead of helps! But in the race of destiny, who wins? Not he who flies,\nbut he who waits. Louis waited too long, or not long enough; fled too\nlate, if he should have fled at all.\n\nThe story of the flight to Varennes has been written by historians of all\nshades and camps, but it is generally tainted with such vehement\npartisanship that the simple, underlying facts become obscured, almost\nobliterated, by hysterical reproaches of this one and that; whereas the\ncause of the failure of that memorable expedition is to be sought rather\nin the attitude of the entire population, the atmosphere of the times, or,\nlet us say at once, the mysterious leadings of the First Great Cause which\noverrules human events, even while it leaves the human instruments free to\ndecide the issue. It is easy for one historian(105) to lay the blame on\nMarie Antoinette, who \u201ccould not travel without new clothes,\u201d showing us\nhow \u201cDame Campan whisks assiduous to this mantua\u2010maker and to that; and\nthere is clipping of frocks and gowns, upper clothes and under, great and\nsmall\u2014such clipping and sewing as might be dispensed with. Moreover,\nmajesty cannot go a step anywhere without her _n\u00e9cessaire_, dear\n_n\u00e9cessaire_, of inlaid ivory and rosewood, cunningly devised, which holds\nperfumes, toilet implements, infinite small, queenlike furniture necessary\nto terrestrial life.\u201d Poor Marie Antoinette! her grand, queenlike soul was\nlifted far above such silly \u201cterrestrial life\u201d by this time, and it is not\nlikely that, when such tremendous stakes were impending, her care dwelt\nwith new clothes or perfume bottles\u2014so misleading does prejudice make the\nclearest mind, the most intentionally sincere witness. The plain truth is\nthat the difficulty of the new clothes existed, but from a very different\nmotive from that suggested by Mr. Carlyle. It was necessary that the queen\nand the royal children should be disguised, and for this purpose new\nclothes were essential, and it required all the ingenuity of Mme. De\nTourzel, and Mme. Campan, and every one connected with the affair to get\nthem made so as to fit the royal fugitives, and then conveyed into the\npalace without exciting the keen lynx\u2010eyes that were fixed on every\nincomer and outgoer passing through the queen\u2019s apartments. As to the\n_n\u00e9cessaire_ over which the Scotch philosopher breaks the vials of his\nscorn so loftily, it was wanted. Some box was wanted to hold the money,\njewels, and certain indispensable papers that were to be taken on the\njourney, and the queen suggested that her dressing\u2010case should be used,\nadding at the same time that she was loath to leave it behind her, as it\nwas almost the first present she had received from her husband\u2014no great\nsubject for philosophical sneers, as far as we can see. Nor did either\n_n\u00e9cessaire_ or new clothes\u2014though the obtaining and smuggling in of the\nlatter caused much delay\u2014give rise to any of the accidents which worked\nthe failure of the scheme.\n\nThen there was the new berlin to be provided\u2014a lamentable mistake, but not\none that deserves Mr. Carlyle\u2019s withering sarcasms any more than the\n_n\u00e9cessaire_. \u201cMiserable new berlin!\u201d he cries. \u201cWhy could not royalty go\nin an old berlin similar to that of other men? Flying for life, one does\nnot stickle about one\u2019s vehicle.\u201d It was not for the newness or dignity of\nthe vehicle that the queen stickled, but for its capability of carrying\n\u201call her treasures with her.\u201d She positively refused to fly at all, unless\nit could be so contrived that she was not separated for an hour of the way\nfrom her husband, her children, and her beloved sister\u2010in\u2010law, the\nPrincess Elizabeth. She insisted, moreover, that the few faithful friends\nwho were to share her flight should be with them also, and not exposed to\nsolitary risks in a separate conveyance. This was characteristic enough of\nthe queen\u2019s loyal heart towards those she loved, but it was unlike her\npractical sense and intelligence. M. de Fersen, who was taken into\nconfidence from the first, declared that no travelling\u2010coach was to be\nfound large enough to answer these requirements, and that one must be\nbuilt on purpose. It so happened that the previous year he had ordered a\nberlin, of just such form and dimensions as was now wanted, for a friend\nof his in Russia; he therefore went to the coach\u2010maker, and desired him\nwith all possible speed to build another on the same model for a certain\nBaronne de Korff, a cousin of his, who was about to return to St.\nPetersburg with her family and suite. The berlin was built, and, to baffle\nsuspicion more effectually, was driven through some of the most public\nstreets in Paris, in order to try it. The result was most satisfactory,\nand M. de Fersen talked aloud to his friends of the perfect coach he had\nordered and partly designed for his cousin, Mme. de Korff.\n\nThe journey was fixed for the 19th of June. Everything was ready, every\nprecaution had been taken, every possible obstacle anticipated. The\nMarquis de Bouill\u00e9, almost the only general whose devotion the king could\ntrust to the death, was in command of the army of the Meuse, and Montm\u00e9dy,\na small but well\u2010fortified town, was situated in the midst of it. Here the\nroyal family were sure of a safe and loyal asylum. The minor military\narrangements were entrusted to M. de Goguelat, an officer of engineers,\nwho was on Bouill\u00e9\u2019s staff, and personally devoted to the king and queen.\nThe Duc de Choiseul, under De Goguelat\u2019s orders, was to furnish local\ndetachments from his regiment of Royal Dragoons along the road, and to\nprecede the royal departure by a few hours, so as to ensure all being in\norder at the various stations. M. de Goguelat made two experimental\njourneys to Montm\u00e9dy himself, to ascertain the exact hour of arrival at\neach place. Unluckily, he forgot to calculate the difference between a\nlight post\u2010chaise and a heavily\u2010built, heavily\u2010laden \u201cnew berlin.\u201d Relays\nof horses were provided at each stage, and a detachment of cavalry from De\nBouill\u00e9\u2019s army was to be there also, and, after a short interval, to\nfollow the new berlin, picking up each detachment successively, and thus\nswelling the force at every stage. The utmost secrecy was observed with\nall except the leaders of the expedition; the pretext alleged to the\ntroops for all this marching being that a treasure was on its way to the\nnorth for payment of the army. All was waiting, when, at the last moment,\nowing to some difficulty about getting Mme. de Tourzel into the berlin,\nthe king sent a counter\u2010order for the departure, saying it must take\nplace, not on the 19th, but on the 20th. It was a woful delay. But at\nlast, on the night of the 20th, behold the travellers under way. Mme.\nRoyale\u2019s _M\u00e9moires_ give us the most authentic account of the mode of\nstarting: \u201cAt half\u2010past ten, on the 20th of June, 1791, my brother was\nwakened up by my mother. Mme. de Tourzel brought him down to my mother\u2019s\napartment, where I also came. There we found one of the _gardes\u2010du\u2010corps_,\nM. de Malden, who was to assist our departure. My mother came in and out\nseveral times to see us. They dressed my brother as a little girl. He\nlooked beautiful, but he was so sleepy that he could not stand, and did\nnot know what we were all about. I asked him what he thought we were going\nto do. He answered: \u2018I suppose to act a play, since we have all got these\nodd dresses.\u2019 At half\u2010past ten we were ready. My mother herself conducted\nus to the carriage in the middle of the court, which was exposing herself\nto great risk.\u201d\n\nThe _r\u00f4les_ were distributed as follows: Mme. de Tourzel, governess of the\nchildren of France, was Baronne de Korff; Mme. Royale and the Dauphin, her\ndaughters. The queen was their governess, Mme. Rocher. The Princess\nElizabeth was _dame\u2010de\u2010compagnie_, under the name of Rosalie. The king was\nDurand, the _valet\u2010de\u2010chambre_. The officers of the disbanded _gardes\u2010du\u2010\ncorps_ went as couriers and servants. This was a grievous mistake amidst\nso many others. These gentlemen were totally inexperienced in their\nassumed characters, and, by their personal appearance and ignorance of the\nduties they undertook, proved a fatal addition to the party. The\npreparations were altogether too cumbrous and elaborate, but it is\ndifficult to accuse any special portion of them as superfluous in a time\nwhen the public spirit was strained to such a pitch of suspicion and\nhatred; though prudence might have hinted that this heavy paraphernalia\nwas far more calculated to awake the jealous mistrust of the people than\nto baffle or allay it.\n\nAll being now ready, the fugitives furtively left the Tuileries, and\nproceeded to enter the hackney\u2010coach that stood in wait for them outside\nthe palace. \u201cMme. de Tourzel, my brother, and I got into the coach first,\u201d\nsays Mme. Royale. \u201cM. de Fersen was coachman. To deceive any one who might\nfollow us we drove about several streets. At last we returned to the Petit\nCarrousel, which is close to the Tuileries. My brother was fast asleep in\nthe bottom of the carriage.\u201d\n\nAnd now another traveller steals softly out of the palace, her face\nshrouded by a gypsy\u2010hat. As she steps on the pavement a carriage, escorted\nby torch\u2010bearers, dashes past. An unaccountable impulse moves her to touch\nthe wheel with the end of her parasol. The occupant of the carriage is\nLafayette, on his way to the king\u2019s _couch\u00e9e_. He is late, having been\ndelayed by urgent matters. They tell him the king has already retired for\nthe night. Meantime the lady in the gypsy\u2010hat, leaning on M. de Malden,\none of the amateur couriers, loses her way in the dark street, and keeps\nthe occupants and driver of the hackney\u2010coach half an hour waiting in an\nagony of suspense. At last, after crossing and recrossing the river, they\nmake their way to the coach, and start. Another presently follows them. So\nthey jog on through the dark night to the spot where the new berlin is\nwaiting; but, lo! they arrive, and no berlin is there. The king himself\nalights, and prowls about in search of it. M. de Fersen at last finds it,\noverturns the hackney\u2010coach into a ditch, mounts the berlin, and drives on\nto Bondy. There the travellers find a relay waiting in a wood. The\nchivalrous Swede stands bareheaded in the dewy dawn\u2010light, and bows his\nloyal farewell to the king and Marie Antoinette. They press hands in\nsilent thanks, and the chevalier goes his way\u2014to Stockholm, where that\nsame day, nineteen years hence, he will meet a more brutal end than that\nwhich awaits the royal pair he has befriended\u2014beaten to death with sticks\nby a savage mob, who, on the impulse of the moment, accuse him of having\nbeen accessory to the death of Prince Charles Augustus. But now he\nbreathes with a glad sense of victory and security, and stands with\nbright, moistened eye watching the huge berlin lurching on its way, the\nonly thing that broke the stillness of the wood, sleeping yet under the\nfading stars.\n\nAll went smoothly as far as Ch\u00e2lons\u2010sur\u2010Marne, about a hundred miles\nbeyond Bondy, and here the programme as arranged by the queen and De\nFersen ceased, to be taken up by the Duc de Choiseul and M. de Bouill\u00e9\u2019s\ndetachments. The berlin rumbled on through Ch\u00e2lons at four in the\nafternoon, and reached the next stage, Pont de Somme\u2010Velle at six, where\nM. de Goguelat\u2019s escort was to meet it. But no escort was to be seen. M.\nde Choiseul had been there at the appointed time, but owing to the slow\npace of the berlin and the time lost in the early stages\u2014one accident to a\nwheel causing two hours\u2019 delay\u2014they were four hours behind time, and M. de\nChoiseul, taking for granted something had occurred to change the plan\naltogether, drew off his dragoons, without leaving even a _vedette_ to say\nwhere he was going. Everywhere these unlucky troops turned out a hindrance\nand a danger. The soldiers accepted without _arri\u00e8re pens\u00e9e_ the plausible\nstory of their being on duty to protect the transport of pay for the army\nof the Meuse; but the municipal authorities looked on them with suspicion,\nand, long before the idea of the real cause of their presence got wind,\nthe soldiers were eyed askance in the towns they passed through. At this\nvery place, Somme\u2010Velle, one detachment caused a panic. It so fell out, by\none of those disastrous coincidences which pursued the berlin on its\nadventurous way, that some few days before there had been an affray\namongst the peasants of a neighboring estate, they having refused to pay\ncertain rates, in consequence of which the tax\u2010gatherers had threatened to\nenforce payment by bringing down the troops. When therefore the population\nbeheld De Choiseul and his cavalry they fancied they had been summoned for\nthe above purpose, and a spirit of angry defiance was roused against them.\nThe municipality sent the _gendarmerie_ to parley with the troops and\ncompel them to withdraw; but they failed in this overture, and words began\nto run dangerously high on all sides. Meanwhile De Choiseul was straining\neyes and ears for the approach of the berlin, in mortal dread of seeing it\narrive in the midst of the popular excitement. When, however, four hours\npassed, and there was no sign of it, he said to an officer, loud enough to\nbe heard by those near, \u201cI will draw off my men; the treasure I expected\nmust have already passed.\u201d\n\nThe accounts of this particular hitch in the itinerary of the flight are\nso conflicting\u2014some envenomed by bitter reproach, others equally hot with\nrecrimination from the accused\u2014that it is difficult to see who really was\nin fault. The time lost in the first instance appears to be the main cause\nof all the mishaps. Goguelat is blamed for not having taken better\nmeasures for ensuring the relays being found at once at every stage; but\nhe throws the blame on De Choiseul, under whose orders he was, and who was\nat any rate guilty of strange thoughtlessness in drawing off from the\npoint of rendezvous without leaving word where he could be found.\n\nLittle time, however, was lost at Somme\u2010Velle when the berlin at last\narrived there. It changed horses at once, and away to Sainte\u2010M\u00e9n\u00e9hould,\nwhich it reached at half\u2010past seven. But here the incapacity of the _soi\u2010\ndisant_ couriers caused fresh delay and danger. M. de Valory, one of them,\nnot knowing where the post\u2010house was, went about inquiring for it,\nexciting curiosity and some suspicion by his manner and uncourier\u2010like\nappearance. He was still looking for it when a special escort of troops\nrode up\u2014a circumstance which was very unfortunate, as the angry feeling\nexcited in the neighboring village by De Choiseul\u2019s huzzars the day before\nhad not yet subsided. The captain of the detachment, the Marquis\nd\u2019Andoins, sees the berlin, and tries to telegraph by glances to Goguelat\nwhich way lies the post\u2010house; but Goguelat cannot read the signals, and\ngoes up to him and asks in words, keeping up the sham of his yellow livery\nby touching his hat respectfully to the aristocrat officer. The king,\nimpatient and nervous, puts his head out of the carriage\u2010window, and calls\nto Valory for explanations; the marquis advances and tenders them\nrespectfully, but with seeming indifference, as to ordinary travellers\nasking information on their way. Unlucky Louis! Imprudent M. d\u2019Andoins!\nPatriots\u2019 eyes are sharp, and there are hundreds of them fixed on your two\nfaces now. These sharp eyes are suggesting some vague memory, a likeness\nto some forgotten and yet dimly\u2010remembered features. Whose can they be?\nAnd the lady with the gypsy\u2010hat who bends forward to thank the gracious\ngentleman, bowing in silence, but with a grace of majesty unmistakable, a\nsomething in her air and carriage that startles even these heavy\u2010souled\nprovincials into wondering \u201cwho can she be?\u201d The lady falls back in an\ninstant, and is hidden from further gaze; but that fat _valet\u2010de\u2010chambre_\nkeeps his head protruded for several minutes. The post\u2010house is found at\nlast, and the horses are coming. The postmaster and his son are busy at\ntheir service. The son has lately been to Paris, and has seen that head\nsomewhere. He whispers suspicion to his father, old Drouet, one of Cond\u00e9\u2019s\ndragoons in by\u2010gone days, and the two come closer, and steal a long,\nsharp, look. Yes, it is the same as the head on the coins and the\nassignats; there is no mistaking it. What is Drouet to do? He is a staunch\npatriot; is he to connive at the king\u2019s treachery to the nation, and let\nhim fly to the foreigner unimpeded? Never was the ready wit of patriotism\nmore severely tested. No need now to wonder at all this marching and\ncountermarching, this flying of pickets to and fro, this moving of troops\nalong the road to the frontier. Treasure to be transported! Ay, truly, a\ngreater treasure than gold or silver. But what was to be done? How was it\nto be stopped? There were the soldiers and chivalrous aristocrat officers,\nready to cut all the patriot postmasters in France to pieces, and then be\ncut to pieces themselves, rather than let a hair of one of those royal\nheads be touched. A word, and the village would be in a blaze; but only so\nlong as it would take those glittering swords to quench the flame in\npatriot blood. Drouet is a prudent man. He holds his tongue until the new\nberlin is fairly on its way, with the village gaping after it, the\nmilitary escort lounging about yet a little longer in careless\nindifference. M. de Damas was in command of the troops. Presently, after\nthe appointed interval, he orders them to move on in the wake of the\nberlin. But short as the time was, it had sufficed to stir up the town to\nterrified and resolute opposition. The people had flocked into the streets\nin angry excitement, and would not suffer the cavalry to advance. M. de\nDamas at first took a high tone of command, but it was of no use; his\nweapon broke in his hand. The troops turned round on him and joined the\nmob, and after a desperate struggle he was obliged to escape for his life,\nunconscious, even at this crisis, of the danger that threatened his\nmaster. Drouet, meanwhile, was flying after his prey to Clermont, the next\nstage to St. M\u00e9n\u00e9hould, and which by a fatal chance he never reached; if\nhe had, the final catastrophe would, in human probability, have been\naverted. On the road there he met his own postilions coming back, and they\ninformed him that the berlin had not gone on to Verdon\u2014the next stage\nbeyond Clermont; that they had overheard the courier on the seat say to\nthe fresh postilions, \u201cA Varennes!\u201d Drouet, who knew every stone of the\nroads, saw at once what a chance this gave him. He turned off the main\nroad, and started by a short cut across the country to Varennes. Varennes\nwas a small town, a village rather, where there was no post\u2010house, but\nwhere M. de Bouill\u00e9 had a relay waiting for the travellers, who, having\narrived before Drouet, and without any suspicion that he was pursuing\nthem, might have congratulated themselves on being at last safe over the\nRubicon. Yet it was here that danger was to overtake and overwhelm them.\nIn this secluded little dell, near midnight, when every one was asleep,\nhushed by the lullaby of the river hurrying on its way beneath the silent\nstars, no prying eyes to peer at them, no patriots to take offence or\nfright, with fresh horses waiting in the quiet wood, and young De Bouill\u00e9,\nthe general\u2019s loyal son, to superintend the relays, with a guard of sixty\nstaunch huzzars lodged in an old convent of the upper town, at hand in\ncase of now seemingly impossible accident\u2014it was here that the thunderbolt\nfell, and, as the king expressed it, \u201cthe earth opened to swallow him.\u201d\nValory, the clumsy courier in the gaudy gold livery, has been blamed for\nit all; but let us remember at least that a man who has ridden one hundred\nand fifty miles without breathing\u2010space in twenty\u2010three hours is entitled\nto mercy if, at the end of the ride, his mind wanders and his thoughts\nbecome confused. It was past eleven when he reached Varennes, and went\nlooking about for the relays, where he had been told he should find them,\nat the entrance of the faubourg; but no relays were to be seen. He pushed\non through the faubourg to the town, which had gone to bed, and could find\nno sign of the missing horses. After wandering about for nearly an hour,\nhe hears a sound of rumbling of wheels coming along the Paris road. Can it\nbe the berlin? And where, oh! where are the fresh horses? He hurries back\nin the direction of the sound, and finds the fugitives at the entrance of\nthe suburb, looking about for the relays. There was nothing for it but to\nwake up the village and make enquiries. The king and queen themselves got\nout, and went, with the couriers, knocking at doors, and calling to the\ninhabitants to know if they had seen horses waiting in the neighborhood.\nDrouet, meantime, was not asleep; he was up with his game now, and flashed\npast the berlin, like a man riding, not for life, but against life for\ndeath, just as the king alighted. He shouted something as he passed, but\nLouis did not hear it. It was an order to the postilions not to stir from\nthe spot. The relays all this time were ready waiting not at the entrance\nof the suburb on the Paris side, as had been specified to the king in M.\nde Goguelat\u2019s programme, but at the entrance of the faubourg _beyond_ the\ntown\u2014a safer and to all appearances more advantageous position, as the\nchange of horses would be sure to attract less notice out of the town than\nwithin it. The grievous mistake on De Goguelat\u2019s part was in not having\ntold the courier the exact place where the relays were to be found. But\nwhere were the officers commanding the sixty huzzars all this time? Fast\nasleep, it is said, though it is almost impossible to believe it. Certain\nit is that they and their huzzars, as well as the detachment of dragoons\nwhich, under command of M. Rohrig, was told off to keep watch over \u201cthe\ntreasure,\u201d kept out of the way while all this commotion was going on, and\nnever appeared until the entire village was on foot, lights gleaming in\nevery window, and the streets filled with the inhabitants, lately snoring\nin their beds. Drouet had managed his mission with a coolness and\ncleverness worthy of a nobler cause. He made no row, but went quietly to\nthe houses of some half\u2010dozen good patriots, told them what was abroad,\nand directed them how to act. Their first move was to hurry off to the\nbridge, and throw up a loose barricade which would prevent the berlin\npassing; they then flew to the other end of the town, and overturned some\ncarts that happened to be close by, and thus barricaded the exit by the\nroad. They were but \u201ceight patriots of good\u2010will,\u201d Drouet proudly asserts,\nin these momentous preliminaries, so sagaciously and quickly executed.\n\nThe mob were by this time thoroughly roused. They surrounded the carriage,\nand forced the travellers to alight. Mme. Royale thus describes the scene:\n\u201cAfter a great deal of trouble the postilions were persuaded that the\nhorses were waiting at the castle (at the other side of the town and\nriver), and they proceeded that way, but slowly. When we got into the\nvillage, we heard alarming shouts of Stop! stop! The postilions were\nseized, and in a moment the carriage was surrounded by a great crowd, some\nwith arms and some with lights. They asked who we were; we answered, \u2018Mme.\nde Korff and her family.\u2019 They thrust lights into the carriage, close to\nmy father\u2019s face, and insisted upon our alighting. We answered that we\nwould not; that we were common travellers, and had a right to go on. They\nrepeated their orders to alight on pain of being put to death, and at that\nmoment all their guns were levelled. We then alighted, and, in crossing\nthe street, six mounted dragoons passed us, but unfortunately they had no\nofficer with them; if there had been, six resolute men would have\nintimidated them all, and might have saved the king. There were sixty\nclose at hand, but the two officers who commanded them were asleep; and\nwhen at last the noise of the riot awoke them, they coolly rode away to\ntell the Marquis de Bouill\u00e9 that the king had been stopped, and all was\nover; while M. Rohrig, who commanded the treasure escort, rode off\nlikewise, leaving his men under a disaffected non\u2010commissioned officer.\u201d\nM. de Raigecourt, in his account of this eventful \u201cNight of Spurs,\u201d tells\nus how he and his brother officer, De Bouill\u00e9, \u201cat half\u2010past eleven\nreturned to their bed\u2010rooms,\u201d after strolling about the town, in hopes of\nseeing the travellers arrive. \u201cWe extinguished our lights,\u201d he says, \u201cbut\nopened our windows and kept a profound silence. About twelve we heard many\npersons passing and repassing, but without tumult; some even stopped under\nour windows, but we could not distinguish what they were saying.\u201d They\nremained quietly in their rooms, \u201cwondering what was the matter,\u201d until\nabout half\u2010past twelve, when they were enlightened by signals which even\ntheir unsuspicious minds could not mistake. The tocsin was rung, the drum\nbeat to arms, the tumult became very great. _Terror_ seemed to prevail. I\nbelieve that at that moment ten, or even fewer, determined men would have\nrouted that scared populace. A general cry informed us that the king was\nin Varennes, betrayed and a prisoner. Instead of now, at least, hastening\nto call out their men (who, we said, were lodged above the town in an old\nabbey), the two officers \u201ctook for granted that the huzzars had laid down\ntheir arms, as otherwise they would have come to the rescue and liberated\nthe king,\u201d and so they simply rode away to report the lamentable issue to\nDe Bouill\u00e9. It was about a quarter to one when they left Varennes.\n\nAt this juncture M. de Damas, who had escaped with a few faithful men from\nthe fray at Clermont, reached Varennes\u2014not with the idea of succoring the\ntravellers, but of rejoining them. He believed that the uproar which so\nsuddenly exploded at Clermont had been merely against the troops, and that\nthe royal fugitives were now in security, past all further dangers or\nhindrances. His consternation was therefore great when, on approaching the\nvillage of Varennes, he beheld a barricade across the high\u2010road, held by a\nband of peasants, who made an attempt to stop him. M. de Damas, however,\nleaped the barricade, and dashed past them into the town. But the\nchivalrous soldier was no war\u2010god descending on fire\u2010wings to save the\nroyal prisoners. He saw the huzzars walking about the streets, and in\nanswer to his question, \u201cWhat were they doing?\u201d they replied, \u201cNothing; we\nhave no orders.\u201d Those who should have given the orders had fled. M. de\nChoiseul was there with his drawn sword at the head of forty men; and\nthere was a detachment just arrived from another direction under M.\nDeslons. There was therefore, even at this point of the disaster, no lack\nof armed force to clear the way, if there had been but one vigorous will\nto use it. But everybody seemed too bewildered to act. No one had the\ncourage or the presence of mind to take the initiative. As to Louis\nhimself, he was like one paralyzed; not with personal cowardice\u2014that\nodious charge his subsequent conduct amply disproved\u2014but with a sort of\ndazed, mental stupor. When Deslons went the length of asking him for\norders, he replied, \u201cI am a prisoner, and have no orders to give!\u201d Deslons\nmight have taken the hint, and acted without orders; but the two officers\npresent were his superiors, and he lacked the genius or the desperation to\nseize the opportunity at the cost of a breach of military discipline. Even\nthe queen\u2019s imperial spirit seems to have abandoned her in this critical\nextremity, and she sat passive and dumb in Sausse the grocer\u2019s bed\u2010room,\nclasping her children to her heart, and taking with silent, humble thanks\nthe sympathy of Mme. Sausse, who forgets the queen in her pity for the\nmother, and stands over the group weeping womanly, unavailing tears. Tears\neven of \u201cwarlike men\u201d cannot help now, for the soldiers have fraternized\nwith the mob, as their wont is in France; and even if Louis could be\nelectrified by the shock of despair to arise and assert himself,\nremembering that he is a king, it is too late.\n\nThe journey so wisely planned, so deeply thought over, dreaded, and at\nlast attempted, had come to an end, and stopped at the first stage along\nthe road whose goal was the scaffold. The return to Paris resembled the\ncapture of a runaway malefactor. Every species of insult was poured out on\nthe unhappy victims of the popular fury. The brave men who stood by them\nin their hour of humiliation, MM. de Choiseul, de Damas, and de Goguelat,\nwere disarmed and sent to prison; the three _gardes\u2010du\u2010corps_, who\nfaithfully but clumsily played their part as servants to the last, were\nbound with ropes on the front seat of the berlin, and hooted at in their\nglaring yellow liveries by the mob; the National Guard of Varennes claimed\nthe glory of escorting the fugitives back to the capital, and the National\nGuard of all the towns the berlin had passed through on its ill\u2010starred\njourney fell in with the _cort\u00e9ge_ one after another, swelling it to ten\nthousand strong as it advanced. As these men were on foot, the journey\nhomewards lasted four days. When the king arrived at Sainte\u2010M\u00e9n\u00e9hould, M.\nde Dampierre came out to salute him, and paid for the loyal act by being\nmassacred on the spot. A little further on the prisoners were met by\nBarnave, Petion, and Latour\u2010Maubourg, members of the Assembly sent by\nLafayette to conduct them back to Paris. Barnave and Petion entered the\nberlin, Mme. de Tourzel leaving to make room for them, and following in\nanother carriage. From this strange meeting grew the quasi\u2010friendship of\nBarnave and the queen, which led to his honorable though futile efforts to\nsave her and all of them. At first the proud Austrian lady sat in sullen\nsilence, turned to stone, deaf to Petion\u2019s coarse sneers, as he sat\nopposite in ill\u2010suppressed jocularity of triumph; but Barnave\u2019s\ninterference to save a priest from being butchered, like loyal Dampierre,\nfor saluting the king, moved her to speech, and soon to confidence in the\nyoung representative of the nation. Barnave was surprised beyond measure\nto discover in Marie Antoinette\u2019s conversation such clear and strong\nintelligence, and so thorough a comprehension of the existing state of\nthings. He was captivated by her grace, as well as impressed by the\nserenity and courage that stamped her whole demeanor throughout that\nterrible journey; while his prejudices received nearly an equal blow in\nthe person of the king. There was no approaching Louis XVI. without being\nconvinced of his single\u2010minded honesty and good sense.\n\nIn this sorry guise did the new berlin re\u2010enter Paris. It had departed on\nMonday night, and behold it returning on Saturday towards sundown, a huge,\njolting, captured whale whom no miracle will compel to disgorge its prey.\nIn order to prolong the people\u2019s jubilee and the king\u2019s shame, it was\nbrought a league out of its direct way, so as to make an entry down the\nChamps Elys\u00e9es, and bear its occupants back to their gilded prison with\ndue pomp and emphasis by the front gate of the Tuileries gardens. So with\nserried ranks of bayonets pointed at it on every side, it reappears in\nParis, and jogs on to deposit its burden on the old M\u00e9dicean tile\u2010field,\nan ignominious procession, royalty degraded and fettered, a spectacle of\njoy to the king\u2010hating citizens. The royal family enter the Tuileries, now\na prison in the most cruel and literal sense. The queen and Mme. Elizabeth\nare henceforth watched, even in their chambers\u2014so watched that, as it is\nrecorded, the queen being one night unable to sleep, the National Guard on\nduty at her open door offered to come in and converse with her majesty\nawhile, conversation being sometimes conducive to sleep.\n\nEven at this distance, when we read the history of the flight to Varennes,\nit has the exciting effect of a fresh tale. We hold our breath, and fancy\nthat still at the last some deliverer will arrive just as all is lost;\nsome accident will prevent Drouet from reaching the scene in time; the\nfugitives will clear the bridge, and the mob be prevented by the soldiers\nfrom pursuing them. Never, even in the history of those most unfortunate\nof princes, the Stuarts, was there a series of mishaps, blunders, and\naccidents such as make up the chapter of the flight to Varennes. It is\nidle to conjecture what would have happened if it had ended differently.\nIf, when the berlin was first surrounded and the travellers ordered to\nalight, Louis had proudly defied the insolent command, and bade the\nsoldiers fire, how quickly the \u201cpale paralysis\u201d of baffled rage would have\nseized Drouet and his eight patriots of good\u2010will; how the froth of\nruffianism they had evoked would have melted away before that imperial\nword, and slunk out of sight, while the monarch fared on his way along the\nhigh\u2010road, the troops sweeping back all possible pursuers, and landing the\ndestinies of France safe beyond the reach of regicidal hands! All this was\nso much more likely to be than that which was! The reason why it was not\nis so mysterious! Enough that it was not; that the bloody deed of January\nthe 20th was to consummate the outrages and sufferings of the Night of\nSpurs; and that the fate of France was not shaped to a different issue, as\nwe, in our short\u2010sighted philosophy, fancy might so easily have been done.\n\n\n\n\nThe Ingenious Device.\n\n\n\u201cDoth no man condemn thee? And she answered, No man, Lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cWoman! thou\u2019rt over\u2010confident and sure\nTo answer thus the Infinitely Pure!\nHow knowest thou that He does not condemn,\nAnd will not cast at thee th\u2019 avenging stone?\u201d\n\u201cThe pure are merciful. His stratagem\nHas left me to be judged by such alone.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Rigi.\n\n\nThe Golden Lion of Weggis can scarcely be said to resemble its now famed\nnamesake of Granp\u00e8re. It shows neither coach\u2010house, stable, farmyard, nor\nbustling village life around it, and yet there is the one point of a\ncertain homeliness in common which suggests that it too may have seen many\na simple romance acted out beneath its roof, and have had its share in\nmany a life\u2019s heart\u2010story. It is difficult to imagine sentiment of any\nkind in connection with the monster hotels, or rather caravansaries, of\nmodern Switzerland. But this is a true inn, in the olden acceptation of\nthe word; modest and sedate enough to feel elated at the arrival of new\nguests, who are welcomed by the landlord himself, and instinctively made\nto understand that he will personally see to their comfort and proper\nattendance. At first sight it appears to be overshadowed by a new and\nlarger neighbor; but the Golden Lion does not care, for he enjoys the\nadvantage of mature age and well\u2010established fame, and justly prides\nhimself on his old customers, whose constancy is a good tribute to his\nhonesty and civility. Some who knew him in the quieter times of Rigi\nhistory still come and spend two or three days here when going to, or\nreturning from, the mountain, and it was one of these faithful friends who\nhad recommended us to choose it in preference to the larger establishment\nof more modern date. Truly, no spot seems more suitable for a romance.\nSituated on the lake, surrounded by the most lovely views of land and\nwater, removed from the rush and bustle which somewhat jar on the\nsentimental traveller at Vitznau, and even at Gersau, still with the\npleasant splash of the steamers as they halt alongside the shady pier,\nonly making just sufficient noise to remind him that, though not of the\nworld, he can still be in it whenever, or fly whithersoever, his fancy may\nimpel him. Yes; every steamer, backwards and forwards, stops at Weggis,\nthough generally merely to drop a stray traveller\u2014a man with alpenstock\nand knapsack, or two ladies with their waterproofs neatly strapped across\ntheir shoulders, thereby betraying their recent arrival from \u201cfatherland\nbeyond the Rhine.\u201d And every one walks leisurely and with consequent\ndignity on shore, as though life and plenty of time to enjoy it in were\nstill at their command. No feverish train is in the background; indeed, it\ncannot be even seen on the mountain sky\u2010line from Weggis, so that\nstrangers may pause and dine at ease up\u2010stairs in the clean, airy _table\u2010\nd\u2019h\u00f4te_ room of the Golden Lion, sip their coffee on its wide balcony\nfacing the Uri\u2010Rothstock and Rigi\u2010Nasen, or lunch _\u00e0 la carte_ in the\nleafy arbor of the garden, which is more trim and inviting than its\ncounterpart at Granp\u00e8re.\n\nIt was overpoweringly hot when we landed from the _Helvetia_, the sun\nbearing down with that full force which so often follows a heavy shower;\nand the leafy arbor in question irresistibly attracted us by its deep\nshade and cool, refreshing shelter. Here we resolved to dine, in order to\nstrengthen the \u201cinner being\u201d and let the noonday hours of heat glide by\nbefore attempting the ascent to Kaltbad, which promised to be a matter of\ntwo and a half hours at the least. The landlord was loud in praise of his\nhorses and men\u2014\u201cwell known before that Vitznau railway existed,\u201d he said\nin a tone rather contemptuous of such an upstart. \u201cThe price of each only\nsix francs to Kaltbad, fixed according to the tariff.\u201d And here an\nejaculation in praise of this tariff system, penetrating even to the heart\nof the mountain, may perhaps be allowed to us. None but those who have\nbenefited by it can understand the advantage of being able thus to\ncalculate beforehand the expense of every excursion, nor the unspeakable\ncomfort it brings when, on reaching the hotel at night, tired and sleepy,\nyou know that the guide cannot cheat you, and he feels you cannot cheat\nhim. No one thing contributes more to ensure peace or conduces to happy\nwanderings. Nor does any man more surely \u201cdeserve well of his country\u201d\nthan that Swiss, whoever he may have been, who first proposed this\narrangement; and after him we must be grateful to those authorities who\nhave so well carried it out. The dinner was the next matter for\nconsultation between Mr. C\u2014\u2014 and mine host, which ultimately ended in the\nlatter promising to do his best, and to have it ready in three\u2010quarters of\nan hour or thereabouts.\n\nBesides the arbor, the Golden Lion boasts of a tea\u2010house and a swimming or\nbath house projecting into the lake, and also many a well\u2010placed seat\ninviting to a most enjoyable _dolce far niente_ close by the pellucid\nwaters, without sound to disturb poetic musings; bright coloring and full\nfoliage forming a framework to the exquisite landscape which extends\nbeyond. Nothing could be more romantic, rural, or tranquillizing to soul\nand body; but before long, prompted by my \u201cnatural female curiosity,\u201d as\nMr. C\u2014\u2014 ungallantly styled it, I proposed a saunter through the village.\n\u201cThere is nothing whatever to see,\u201d he retorted. Still, with much good\u2010\nnature, he immediately offered to accompany his wife and me in our\nrambles. It certainly was true in the ordinary sense of the term. There\nwas nothing very remarkable to behold; still, the Swiss villages are\nalways pleasant to look at, especially in these forest cantons, and of\nthis class Weggis is an excellent specimen. It has probably seen its\npalmiest days, and is at present thrust aside by the hitherto despised\nsister, Vitznau, now in the spring\u2010tide of her charms, who seems to toss\nher head at her elderly and _pass\u00e9e_ rival with the conceit of young life\nand energy. Yet there no signs of decay. Far from it. It has a steady,\nold\u2010fashioned _commune_ life of its own, quite independent of the tourist\nelement, which only comes in\u2014very opportunely, no doubt\u2014to help it on its\nway. As at Gersau and many of these places, the population is much smaller\nthan appearances warrant, owing chiefly to the substantial size of the\nhouses and the straggling, independent manner in which they are placed.\nSometimes a dwelling stands endwise or sidewise to the road, just as the\nwhim of the ancestral great\u2010great\u2010grand\u2010father who built it centuries ago\ndictated. The walls are now mantled with vines, bright blue eyes peep\nthrough casements embosomed in leaves, gardens of glowing sun\u2010flowers and\nfig\u2010trees laden with fruit surround the cottages, while here and there a\nnoble Spanish chestnut throws its deep shade on all around. The street\u2010\nroad was almost deserted as we passed along, on account of the strong sun;\nbut many buxom, pleasant\u2010faced matrons sat working at their doors, while\nchubby children played beneath the trees hard by. Though innocent of\nmanufactories, and far more rural in its general aspect and atmosphere\nthan Gersau, the whole place breathes of prosperity and comfort. It gives\nthe impression, too, of greater space; for it is not shut in on all sides,\nand the open slopes extend much further back before they reach the\nprecipitous mountain\u2010side.\n\nAnd in accordance with this character is the church, which stands on a\nslight eminence at the end of the village. The cemetery too, though large\nand thoroughly well cared for, is more simple, and has none of those\npretty monuments that lend such poetry and beauty to the Camenzind\u2010K\u00fcttel\nresting\u2010place. But, if not, it possesses a very handsome stone crucifix in\none angle\u2014evidently a recent erection, and of which Weggis may well be\nproud\u2014with the following inscriptions on the base: \u201cPraise be to Jesus\nChrist in all eternity\u201d; on the front facing the entrance: \u201cSee, is there\nany sorrow like unto my sorrow?\u201d and \u201cIn the cross is salvation and\nbenediction\u201d on either side; whilst on the back, close to the Mortuary\nChapel, the words run thus: \u201cGentle Jesus, grant eternal rest to all\ndeparted souls.\u201d The children\u2019s quarter, too, was remarkable for its fresh\nflowers and superabundance of white ribbon; but not until quite near did\nwe notice a poor disconsolate mother decorating the grave of her child\u2014her\nlittle _engel_, or angel, as they are so often styled on the tiny\nheadstones or crosses. _She_ did not mind the sun, nor our presence\neither, but went on with her work, while large tears rolled unchecked down\nher cheeks. And this part is in a striking spot, right under the northern\nangle of the Rigi, the straight rocks of which rise perpendicularly from a\ngreen slope of pasture\u2010land behind the village church, covered with large\nboulders and _d\u00e9bris_ that seem to corroborate all the stories of land\u2010\nslips and stone\u2010rolling so common in this region. Standing here, it was\neasy to understand the most noted of these events\u2014the mud\u2010slide of 1795,\nwhich threatened Weggis with destruction. Thirty\u2010one houses and eighty\nacres of land were buried beneath the creeping mass. It occurred, like the\nfall of the Rossberg, after a peculiarly rainy season. Though the story\nsays that the slide was preceded by ominous symptoms, the earth so much\nresembles rich garden\u2010mould, and looks so loose and friable, that,\nrecollecting yesterday\u2019s rain, it made me quite nervous to look at it. Had\nI stayed gazing upwards much longer, I felt that I would certainly have\nfancied it was beginning to move downwards. \u201cWhat an idea!\u201d exclaimed Mr.\nC\u2014\u2014, laughing\u2014\u201cthe effect of nerves and sun combined! The church\u2010door is\nopen, and the sanctuary lamp burning; so it would be much wiser and better\nfor you to enter in!\u201d Saying which, he preceded me into the sacred\nbuilding.\n\nLarge, clean, and simple, as a rural church should be, it had three\ndistinguishing points: first, an altar dedicated to S. Justus, one of the\npatron saints of Weggis, who was an archbishop of Lyons in the first\ncenturies of its Christianity, thus affording, as in the case of S.\nLeodegar, another proof of the early ecclesiastical connection between\nSwitzerland and the Frank Empire. Next, a large processional banner placed\nnear the altar, and composed simply of the national standard\u2014the beautiful\nwhite cross on the red ground\u2014whose position in this spot it puzzled us to\nexplain. Lastly, the model of a boat suspended from the ceiling, with two\nsailors rowing, whilst a bishop in full canonicals stood erect in the\nstern, in the act of giving them his benediction. It looked like an _ex\u2010\nvoto_, but our communicative landlord later informed us that it was the\nemblem of the Guild of S. Nicholas, \u201cpatron of all who navigate upon the\nlake.\u201d Every Weggis man who has anything to do with the water belongs to\nthe confraternity. Before steamers existed they numbered many hundreds,\nand, though of late the village occupations have been turned into other\nchannels, the numbers are still numerous enough; for boats and smaller\ncraft are even now much used on the lake. The confraternity is still full\nof life and vigor. The Feast of S. Nicholas is religiously kept in the\nvillage. The members of the Guild often assemble, but on that day they go\nin a body to church, accompanied by their wives and families, to offer\nthanks for the past and implore protection for the coming year.\n\nWho shall describe our charming little dinner in the deep\u2010shaded arbor,\nwith the glowing sun\u2010color lighting up the mountains, seen through its\nleaf\u2010framed openings? Such a clean _Kellnerinn_ waited upon us, and the\n_Gastherr_ himself all smiles and conversation! The beautiful trout too,\n\u201cfresh from the Muotta\u2010Thal, just brought by the steamer from Brunnen.\u201d\nThe Muotta valley!\n\n\u201cBut what\u2019s in a name?\u201d said Mrs. C\u2014\u2014.\n\n\u201cA great deal more than we acknowledge,\u201d I answered.\n\nThis one struck again the chord of Schwytz and the \u201cUrschweiz\u201d in our\nminds, but perhaps much more that of Soovorof and the hard fighting on the\nsurrounding crags of the Muotta between his Russians and the French. Mr.\nC\u2014\u2014 knew the locality, and waxed eloquent on the subject, until\ninterrupted by an army of\u2014wasps! attracted by some delicious cream with\nwhich our landlord wound up the dinner. It became a regular battle, and a\ndoubtful one at first, waged in self\u2010defence. \u201cNever had there been such a\nyear for wasps,\u201d said our host, slaying a couple so dexterously with his\nnapkin that it betrayed considerable practice in the art. \u201cBut it had\naltogether been a prosperous season\u201d\u2014two more knocked down by Mrs. C\u2014\u2014.\n\u201cSo no one had a right to complain\u201d\u2014three or four more timidly but\neffectually killed by Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 and myself. \u201cThe villagers had made a great\ndeal of money by their fruit and flowers carried up the mountain by their\nchildren,\u201d he continued; until at last, counting our victims by tens and\ntwenties during this running dialogue, we were left in peaceful possession\nof the scene, and ready to hear wonderful reports of Weggis prosperity.\nThe Golden Lion evidently would have been pleased to keep us longer, but\nthe horses were waiting and the afternoon advancing; so, despite the\nattractions\u2014minus the wasps\u2014we were obliged to depart.\n\nOur path led at first up behind the hotel, through lanes, and meadows\nenamelled with wild flowers, and dotted here and there with picturesque\ncottages under magnificent chestnuts and walnut\u2010trees. The whole of this\nportion is on the site of the former land\u2010slip, now the richest and most\nhighly\u2010cultivated district of the mountain. On every side the views were\nenchanting; Mount Pilatus standing forth in all his grandeur just\nopposite, displaying folds and tracts of pasture\u2010ground we had not\nattributed to his rugged form. Lost in admiration, we rode on in\ncomparative silence, until we halted, to refresh the men and horses, at a\n_caf\u00e9_ under a splendid tree, and soon after reached a chapel sheltered by\na rock, called in our hand\u2010book the Heiligenkreuz, or Church of the Holy\nCross. \u201cThe beginning of the Stations to Kaltbad,\u201d said my guide, a dark\u2010\neyed, refined\u2010looking man, who had spoken but little hitherto. \u201cStations\nto the _Wallfahrtort_, or place of pilgrimage at Kaltbad,\u201d he repeated,\nnoticing my perplexed countenance. \u201cKaltbad is a _Gnadenort_, or \u2018place of\ngrace,\u2019 to us, madam,\u201d he continued, \u201calthough you perhaps only know it as\na _Curort_.\u201d And such was the sober truth. I had never heard it spoken of\nas anything but a huge hotel with salubrious air. So now I entered into\nconversation with my guide, and found that he constantly made the\nStations, in common with all the Weggis population, up this rugged ascent,\nuntil they reach the church at Kaltbad. \u201cWould I not go to see the\nchurch?\u201d he asked. \u201cIt was indeed a _Gnadenort_. But the feast of the year\nI could not see, for it takes place in the middle of May, just before the\nflocks are sent up to the summer pastures. Then there is a procession up\nthe mountain, with the banner we had noticed in the parish church\u2014the\nwhite cross on the red ground.\u201d\n\nSo here was the explanation of its place of honor inside the sanctuary\u2014one\nmore reason why the Weggis folks should hold it dear and we strangers\nregard it with reverence. Nay more: should we not love and cherish a flag\nwhich not only symbolizes, but is practically used by, a modern free\npeople in connection with their highest and noblest feelings? \u201cIn this\nprocession, headed by the priest,\u201d my informant continued, \u201cwe, the\npeople, make the Stations with hymns and prayers as we go up, and, after\nfirst visiting the Kaltbad church, all ends by the priest blessing the\npastures on all sides before the cattle are permitted to be brought up to\nthem for the summer season.\u201d The higher we ascended, the steeper became\nthe road under a straight face of rock, and we could readily fancy how\npicturesque, even from an artist\u2019s point of view, such a procession must\nbe, headed by the red flag, winding its way up this rugged mountain\u2010road;\nbut, combined with the spirit and faith which animate it, it is impossible\nto conceive anything more beautiful.\n\nThis peasant was a native of Weggis, and soon grew communicative. \u201cOh!\nyes, he had often been to Einsiedeln; every one in that country had many,\nmany times made the pilgrimage there.\u201d And in fervent language he\ndescribed the place to me. He had also been to Tell\u2019s Chapel often, but\nnot yet to Tell\u2019s Platform. That was the great object of his ambition,\nwhat he most wished to accomplish, with a visit to Sachslen to see \u201cBruder\nKlaus,\u201d as so many of his neighbors had done; but another year should not\npass without his carrying out his intentions. Amidst conversation of this\nkind we climbed up the straight wall of rock, which seemed to have no\nissue, until suddenly we reached a curious group called the Felsenthor,\ncomposed of large fragments fallen from above exactly in the semblance of\na \u201crocky gate,\u201d as the name implies, and whence the view is magnificent.\n\nThe afternoon was lovely. At each turn one snowy peak after another had\nbeen coming into view. The air, though warm, was fresher and brisker than\nat Weggis, while the vegetation had sensibly changed from the luxuriant\nchestnuts to the pines and fir\u2010trees of the Alpine heights. Nothing could\nbe more poetic and tranquil than our half\u2010hour\u2019s repose at this beautiful\npoint, noticing the approach of sunset\u2010tints on the mountain\u2010wall just\nopposite which overhangs Vitznau; watching the pretty steamers looking\nlike dragon\u2010flies hovering over the lake two thousand feet below; and then\nreflecting on the faith and piety of our humble attendants, which shed a\nvivifying atmosphere over the whole scene. Our minds were still full of\nthese thoughts as we set forth again for our last ascent to Kaltbad, about\nthree\u2010quarters of an hour distant, through a pretty dell of fallen rocks\nand fresh verdure. We had quite forgotten the existence of the railway or\nits feverish life, when all at once a turn in the road gave a rude shock\nto our peaceful meditations. There were the trains laboring up a barren,\nsteep hill beside us\u2014one that would be too steep for any horse without\nthree or four zigzag turns and windings. Three separate trains were coming\nup at certain distances in succession, the engines puffing and snorting,\npanting and laboring, in the effort to push the one carriage before each,\nas though the struggle were too much for their fast\u2010failing strength. It\nmade one tremble to watch them, and it seemed impossible to comprehend how\nthe passengers looked so quiet and unconcerned. How Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 and I\ncongratulated ourselves on having kept old\u2010fashioned ways and despised\n\u201cprogress,\u201d at least for once in our travels! And when I also thought of\nthe varied charms of our ride, and all that I had seen of the population\nand their ways, I felt that no one who rushes through a country at high\u2010\npressure railway speed can ever hope to understand its people half as well\nas those who come into closer contact with them.\n\nBefore we had time to recover from the impressions of the railway, Kaltbad\nitself appeared in sight, high above our heads, like a green\u2010jalousied\nmonster of some German watering\u2010place lifted bodily up from the depths\nbelow. Anything more unpoetic than its first view is not to be found;\nthough it must at once be admitted that first impressions are not to be\ntrusted in this particular case. It was a cruel shock, however, to our\nvisions of pious pilgrimages and processions; a return to the prose of\nlife we had never contemplated at four thousand four hundred and thirty\u2010\nnine feet above the level of the sea.\n\nOur young friends were anxiously awaiting us on the long terrace in front\nof the hotel with such sensational accounts of their railway journey as\nmight well have obliterated all remembrance of the _Wallfahrtort_, or\n\u201cplace of pilgrimage,\u201d but for the parting reminder of my guide, that \u201cthe\nchurch was behind the house, and he hoped I would be sure to see it.\u201d But\nthe C\u2014\u2014s\u2019 only thought now was of the sunset about to take place, and they\nhurried us off, without a moment\u2019s delay, to a beautiful spot, called the\nK\u00e4uzli, ten minutes\u2019 distance from the hotel. Certainly no view could be\nmore glorious! Before us spread half the northern portion of\nSwitzerland\u2014Mount Pilatus right opposite, Lucerne at our feet, Sempach,\nthe great lake, just beyond, bathed in a flood of crimson, as though in\nharmony with its memories, and bringing back to our minds at one glance\nArnold von Winkelried and all the grand history related to us so recently\nby Herr H\u2014\u2014. The seven great peaks of the Oberland, including the\nWetterhorn, Monk, and Eiger, towered above the clouds to our right, while\nthe summits on the south, half facing the sunset, were lit up by the same\nkaleidoscopic coloring that we had witnessed on the first evening of our\narrival at Lucerne. Spell\u2010bound by this fairy\u2010like scene, we lingered here\ntill nearly dark, and it seemingly became too late to seek out the little\nchurch. But young C\u2014\u2014 had discovered it that afternoon, and led me by an\nintricate back pathway to its very door. Even at that late hour it was\nopen, the lamp burning before the altar, and many figures could be\ndistinguished devoutly praying in the twilight. These, as I afterwards\nlearned, were servants of the hotel\u2014the laundresses, bath\u2010women, and\nporters, who came to pay their visit to the Blessed Sacrament before\nretiring to rest after their busy day\u2019s work. Mass was celebrated every\nmorning at half\u2010past seven o\u2019clock, they said. My own devotions over, I\nwas again led back to the hotel, where the brilliantly\u2010lighted rooms and\ncrowd of fashionably\u2010dressed ladies\u2014although the material comforts are by\nno means to be despised\u2014were still in harsh discord with our ideas of\nmountain life.\n\nNext morning, as if we had been in the plain, the church\u2010bell tolled at\nthe stated hour, and found us ready to sally forth in answer to its call.\nIn the hotel all was bustle and clatter; but what wonder? Three hundred\nguests and upwards have, on an average, to be provided for daily during\nthe season. In the middle of July four hundred and twenty were at one time\nunder this roof, but, happily for us, the numbers had now sensibly\ndecreased. No church, however, was visible, and it was only on inquiry\nthat I found a pathway in the rear of the house leading behind two rocks\u2014a\ntrue _Felsenthor_, or \u201crocky gate,\u201d they made\u2014hiding away their little\ntreasure. Once past them, there stood the church, with the sun shining on\nits roof, small and simple, but perfect in all its proportions, nestling\namongst the encircling crags and overhanging trees, from amidst which,\nopposite the door, trickled a stream of the clearest water. Mass had just\ncommenced at the centre altar, over which stood a statue of the Blessed\nVirgin and Child, surrounded by a garland of flowers, and two bouquets\nwere laid, evidently as a pious offering, on the two side altars, which\nwere also adorned by excellent paintings. A handsome silver lamp hung in\nthe sanctuary, and there was a confessional, besides benches capable of\naccommodating a couple of hundred people, all neatly painted and very\nclean. To\u2010day the congregation was small, for the servants could not be\nspared, we were told, at that hour from their work, and there were few\nCatholic visitors in the house; but we noticed that the clerk rang the\nchurch\u2010bell at the Gospel and the Elevation, so that the shepherds and\nothers scattered about on the mountain might join their intention with the\npriest at the altar. Nothing could exceed the quiet of the spot. It might\nhave been miles away from the noisy world hard by, no sound audible but\nthe trickling of the stream outside, heard through the open door, and\nenhancing the deep tranquillity of the scene. A most perfect haven of rest\nit made for weary souls or pious pilgrims, and a worthy aim, with the\nconstant presence of the Blessed Sacrament, for any procession toiling up\nthe precipitous mountain\u2010side. When Mass was over, we lingered awhile,\nand, looking round, a large, illuminated tablet caught our attention. What\nwas our delight to find it gave the whole history of the place in the\nfollowing words:\n\n\u201cKALTBAD ON THE RIGI.\n\n\n \u201cAmongst the venerated spots which the goodness of God seems to\n have especially chosen for the distribution of rich spiritual and\n temporal gifts, Kaltbad on the Rigi has for centuries enjoyed a\n well\u2010founded reputation. The natural operation of the remarkably\n cold water has in itself given life and health to thousands. But\n far more effect has been produced by trustful prayers, joined with\n the contrite and devout reception of the holy sacraments, and\n aided by the powerful intercession of the pure Virgin\u2010Mother of\n God and of other saints. Remarkable and often perfectly miraculous\n cures of countless Christians, in the most different circumstances\n of body and soul, have here taken place, which have partly been\n recorded in writing, and partly live on in grateful remembrance.\n\n \u201cIn former times this place was called the \u2018Schwesterborn,\u2019 or\n \u2018Spring of the Sisters\u2019; for the legend relates that in the reign\n of the Emperor Albert of Austria\u2014in the beginning of the XIVth\n century\u2014three pious sisters retired to this wilderness in order to\n escape from powerful governors, or _Vogts_, and here led holy and\n saintly lives. The first miraculous cure on record is that of a\n devout _Landsassen_ of Weggis, named Balthasar Tolen, in the year\n 1540. From year to year the reputation of this spring increased.\n In the year 1585, on the 20th of May, the first small chapel was\n consecrated in honor of God, of the holy Archangel Michael and the\n other angels, and of the holy shepherd Wendelin, by Balthasar,\n Bishop of Ascalon. It proved, however, insufficient for the number\n of Alpine inhabitants and pilgrims. Even after those belonging to\n the canton Schwytz built themselves a chapel, a hundred years\n later, at Mary in the Snow, or \u2018Maria zum Schnee,\u2019 the want of a\n larger church was still felt. The present one, with three altars,\n the middle one of which possesses the image of the ever Blessed\n Mother of God, and the two side ones the pictures of the holy\n martyr S. Lawrence and the father of the church, S. Jerome, was\n built in the year 1779, and considerably renovated in the year\n 1861, when the two new side altars and their paintings by Theodore\n von Deschwanden were added.\n\n \u201cOn the 20th of July, 1782, His Holiness Pius VI. granted a\n plenary indulgence to all the faithful, on any day whatsoever, on\n the condition that after approaching the holy sacraments of\n Confession and Communion, with contrite and worthy dispositions,\n they here devoutly pray for the union of all Christian princes,\n the extirpation of heresy, and the increase of the Holy Catholic\n Church\u2014an indulgence which can be applied to the souls in\n purgatory.\n\n \u201cIn order to afford the opportunity of assisting at divine service\n on Sundays and holidays to the shepherds as well as to the\n pilgrims, and also of approaching the holy sacraments, a special\n priest is here appointed during the whole summer season.\u201d\n\n\nSo here again, even here, the Austrians and imperial _Vogts_ were at the\nroot of all things\u2014in this instance, however, and unconsciously, the\nsource of good to many poor sufferers; for numberless _ex\u2010votos_ filling\nthe end of the little church eloquently told that it had proved to them a\ntrue \u201cplace of grace,\u201d as my guide of yesterday had so beautifully called\nit. And the little stream outside was the real \u201cKaltbad,\u201d whose wonder\u2010\nworking effects had first given the place its name. Quaint and rude were\nall the paintings, but full of life and feeling, mostly from the\nneighborhood\u2014from Weggis, Vitznau, and Gersau. Yes, there was a man in a\nboat in danger on the lake, just as we had seen from the Gersau hotel two\nevenings ago; but this one is praying fervently with clasped hands, and we\nlonged to know if those who were saved the other day had done likewise.\n\nThen here is a family of boys and girls kneeling in rows, the father and\nmother behind, all with their pink, and blue, and green rosaries twined\nround their hands, in the selfsame manner that the Gersau children had\ntheirs during Mass! Above, a child of two years old, kneeling beside its\nmother, has a rosary hanging on its arm; quaint little things in caps like\nthose of their elders, or infants tied on pillows with quantities of red\nbows. Red was so much the prevailing color that it seemed as if it must\nhave some reference to their beloved national flag. And then there were\nsmall waxen hearts, and ears, and a wooden hand with a fearful gash, the\noffering, no doubt, of a grateful wood\u2010cutter. Some of these are upwards\nof a hundred or a hundred and fifty years old, with inscriptions in the\nnative dialect, full of pathos and local color. But most striking of all\nis a large painting of the very wall of rock up which we had climbed from\nWeggis yesterday, bearing the following simple\u2010worded inscription:\n\n\u201cBe it known to all, that by the breaking up of the dangerous Rigirocks on\nthe Weggis mountain some of the inhabitants were threatened with the\ncomplete destruction of all their possessions. In this extremity and\ndistress they turned to heaven, and, with firm confidence in the gracious\nMother of all the angels, they here sought and found help; for instantly\nthe loosening of the rocks ceased, and all became quiet again. Therefore,\nas a perpetual memorial of praise and thanksgiving to God and the Mother\nof Mercy, they have consecrated and hung up this tablet, _anno_ 1753.\u201d\n\nThis was clearly forty\u2010two years before the fatal mud\u2010slide which\ndestroyed so much, and it would be most interesting to know whether the\nlater victims turned hitherward for succor; but of this no record exists\nin the church. In the above painting the Blessed Mother, holding the\ndivine Infant in her arms, is represented standing in the centre of the\nrock\u2010wall, with S. Michael on one side and S. Lawrence on the other, just\nas if they had been visible. Had we only beheld this tablet before, with\nwhat different eyes should we have looked at this face of rock yesterday\nfrom the cemetery below, as also during our ascent! And what proof such a\npicture and inscription give of the strong faith of the Weggis population\nin the unseen world under whose blessed protection they live in peace and\nconfidence! Whilst we tarried, peasant after peasant came in. One, an old\nwoman, took out her rosary, and told her beads leisurely; another, younger\nand busier, laid down her basket, prayed for a few minutes with\nrecollection, and then went on to her work; but what most struck us was a\nlittle girl of about twelve, who also had her basket, full of fruit and\nflowers, and had been there before we arrived for Mass. She waited until\nwe left, and then evidently thought that we had finally departed.\nUnexpectedly, however, I returned to look at the tablet again, and I\nbeheld the little maiden in the act of dropping some money into the poor\nbox, blushing modestly when her eyes caught mine. I asked, and found that\nshe was a Weggis child\u2014one of the number that climb the mountain like\nantelopes up to this hotel daily to sell their \u201cfresh figs,\u201d \u201cpeaches,\u201d\nand \u201cflowers\u201d\u2014for they offer them in good English\u2014the majority of whom\nfirst pay their visit to the Blessed Sacrament in this church, and leave\nsome little offering for themselves or their parents. She was a blue\u2010eyed,\nintelligent girl\u2014one who had made her first communion two years\npreviously, and approached the Holy Sacrament _manchmal_\u2014many times, she\nsaid, during the course of the year.\n\nAs time went on, experience taught us that the children of the Rigi are\none of its most distinctive characteristics. Intelligent, bright\u2010\ncountenanced, and yet modest, they are the most attractive race of\njuveniles to be met with in Switzerland, and, as yet, are unspoiled by\ncontact with the stranger crowd. They form the most remarkable contrast to\nthose of the Bernese Oberland, where the grandeur of Grindelwald and other\nspots is so much marred by the swarms of sickly beggar\u2010children that there\nflock round one from all quarters. Here, on the contrary, they are brimful\nof health and intelligence, and never once during all our wanderings in\nthe forest cantons did a beggar, old or young, ever cross our path. So\nmuch for the popular fallacy, or rather calumny, which says that\nprosperity, comfort, and thrift are alone to be found in the Protestant\ncantons, and that beggary, want, and uncleanliness mark the entrance into\nthe Catholic districts. Like many such sayings, it does not bear\ninvestigation; but when even the most just\u2010minded start on their travels\nwith prejudiced minds, it is astonishing how readily they accept the\nopinions of men whose want of observation they despise at home. Above all,\nshould the question be anything concerning Catholicity, their wilful\nblindness surpasses all belief. Some exceptions to this rule there\ncertainly are, increasing, too, each year, like the celebrated Dr. Arnold,\nfor instance, who frankly admitted that he had found nothing in\nSwitzerland to justify such a verdict being passed on its Catholic\npopulation, and was generous enough to acknowledge this.\n\nNor are the children who cover the Rigi, selling fruit and flowers, idlers\nin any way. The law requires their attendance at school up to the age of\neight all the year round, but from eight to twelve only during the winter\nmonths. This arrangement has been made in order that they may accompany\ntheir parents to the upland _ch\u00e2lets_, or, as often happens, mind the\ncattle alone on the higher pastures. A most interesting class they are,\nand one must ardently pray that nothing may ever change or modernize them,\naccording to the present ideas of so\u2010called \u201ccivilization\u201d!\n\nFor several days we took up our abode at Kaltbad, and never had cause for\none moment\u2019s regret. The hotel is in itself a marvel of material comfort\nand luxury at such an altitude; the air brisk, invigorating, and yet\nbalmy, and the views simply lovely. Who can forget the terrace facing the\nUri\u2010Rothstock, Tittlis, and many another peak and pass, and overhanging\nVitznau, whence we could even distinguish my favorite red standard\nfloating over its hotel, as the steamers came and went to Lucerne or\nFluelen, and the light smoke of the engines told that the trains were\ncreeping up towards us? Sometimes, it is true, the lake and all below were\nhidden by the clouds that settled in thick masses over the water or\nfloated beneath us in light, vapory forms, while the heights and summits\nopposite shone, like Kaltbad, in brilliant sunlight; making us more fully\nrealize the great elevation we were inhabiting in such tranquillity.\n\nThen, the mornings spent in the \u201cWilderness,\u201d which is represented\n_nowadays_ by fir\u2010trees, descendants of those the three sisters knew, but\nat present embedded in velvety turf on the hillside, with seats and tables\ncarefully placed at the best points of view! And the dear little church to\nturn into at all times and hours, with the lamp ever burning, and never\nquite empty! The afternoons we devoted to longer excursions, ascents and\ndescents in all directions. That to the _Kulm_, or Summit, was made by\nrail, despite its terrors and perils. The young people insisted on our\nmaking the experiment, but they could not succeed in persuading us elders\nto return, except on foot! The Kaltbad world seems to go through the\nordeal unconcernedly; but nervous and uncomfortable work it must always\nbe, no matter how custom may familiarize them with it. One spot especially\nis most alarming, where the precipice seems to go straight down from the\nrailroad to the plain many thousand feet below. As a matter of course, the\nsunset at the _Kulm_ is the great _event_ on the Rigi\u2014one, however, which\naltogether depends upon the weather. We were most fortunate in catching a\nclear atmosphere, and consequently distinct horizon. Then, sleeping at the\nlarge hotel at the top, we included the famed sunrise in the same\nexcursion. Oh! for the pen of poet to describe either of these sights\nproperly. They are among those grand scenes which nature holds so\ncompletely in her own keeping that no rush of commonplace humanity can\never lower or vulgarize them. Crowds from all countries were present, yet\nwe saw nothing save the glorious panorama before us\u2014the sun sinking\ngrandly behind the Jura Mountains in the west, or rising majestically from\nbehind the Sentis far away in Appenzell, after having first heralded his\napproach by coloring with the light touch of \u201crosy\u2010fingered morn\u201d the\nFinster\u2010Aarhorn, Wetterhorn, Monk, and Jungfrau, as they stand in gradual\nsuccession, facing the east, in the Bernese Oberland.\n\nHere, too, were all the scenes of that famous Swiss history which we had\nbeen studying within the last few days\u2014the town of Schwytz in the\nUrschweiz, bright and cheerful on its fresh, green meadows; Lomerz, where\nStauffacher commenced the great revolution; the small lake of Egeri, the\nsite of the battle of Morgarten; Kappel, on this side of the Zurich line\nof hills\u2014the Albis\u2014with its monument to Zwingle, who was killed here in\nbattle against the Schwytzers; K\u00f6nigsfelden, further north, the scene of\nAlbrecht\u2019s murder, and, later, the site of the sanguinary Agnes\u2019 convent;\nK\u00fcssnacht at our feet, with Tell\u2019s Chapel close by, the object of my\nguide\u2019s pilgrimages, and where the fatal arrow is said to have entered\nGessler\u2019s heart; the Lake of Sempach, and Lucerne towards the\nnorthwest\u2014every spot, in short, hallowed by some memory sacred to Swiss\npatriotism or piety.\n\nA circumference of three hundred miles is said to be included in this\npanorama, dotted here and there with thirteen lakes, distinguishable in\nclear weather. But it needs a mountaineer\u2019s eye to detect this number,\nfor, though they certainly do exist, as proved by the map, even the\nyouthful sight of George C\u2014\u2014 and his sister failed to count more than\neleven. The other two had \u201cto be taken on trust,\u201d on the word of the\nguides, who declared that particular gleams of sunlight rested on distant\nwaters. But it is not the number of lakes or the extent of view which\ngives such renown to this favorite spot. It is the grand poetry of its\nnature, the interest of its associations, and that great, indescribable\ninfluence which the poet addresses as\n\n\n \u201cSpirit of Beauty, that dost consecrate\n With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon.\u201d\n\n\nAmongst the pleasantest of many pleasant memories, that of Sunday at\nKaltbad stands forth pre\u2010eminent. The weather was brilliant, and high and\nlow appeared in corresponding costume. It cannot be said that in the hotel\nproper the day was altogether sanctified or edifying; for, except the\nCatholics, the English Protestants, and a rare few others, the foreigners\nshow little outward sign of remembering the day. Indeed, one lady\ningenuously confessed her surprise that we should be so careful about\nattending church, considering that _she_ never thought of it whilst\n\u201ctaking the waters,\u201d as she liked to fancy she was doing at Kaltbad. \u201cWho\ndid?\u201d she asked; and certainly it looked as if the majority were of her\nway of thinking. Not the peasants, however, and let us hope that their\nexample may yet influence the strangers. Alas! alas! how one trembles,\nlest the reverse may be the result of this inroad of \u201ccivilized\u201d\nmultitudes to their midst! But so far no harm seems to have come of the\ncontact. As the hour for Mass drew near, men and women were to be seen\ncoming from various points, and when we reached the church it was so full\nthat a large overflow of the congregation had taken up their position in\nthe little porch outside. It seemed as though the history of the past\ncentury would repeat itself over again; that a new church would become\nnecessary, and another new tablet be put up, telling future generations\nthat the present one had \u201cproved insufficient for the number of Alpine\ninhabitants and pilgrims.\u201d No sight could be prettier, considering the\nlocality, the bright sun, and all these people in their Sunday dress. In\nthe latter particular, however, one peculiarity had a singular effect,\nnamely, that on the Rigi \u201cfull dress\u201d for the men seems to consist in the\nabsence of their outer coats, and the Sunday distinction is shown only by\nthe snow\u2010white linen of their shirt\u2010sleeves and collars. All had their\nalpenstocks and their prayer\u2010books, which they read devoutly during the\nwhole time. Anna and I also remained outside, as there was no room within;\nbut we heard every word distinctly, and could see the altar through the\nopen door and windows. The service began by an oblation of the Mass and\nthe Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity in German, in the very manner and\nwords used in so many other countries, but notably in all the churches of\nIreland. This was followed by a good sermon, in which the preacher chiefly\nurged the necessity of \u201ckeeping holy the Sabbath day,\u201d of living in peace\nand concord, but likewise of holding fast to the principles of religion,\n\u201clike their forefathers of old,\u201d of whose virtues and steadfastness he\nspoke in glowing language. It was the first sermon we had had an\nopportunity of listening to in these parts, and it was very curious to\nhear, even in a small out\u2010of\u2010the\u2010way place of this kind, such allusions\nthus brought in as a matter of course, and so thoroughly in accordance\nwith Herr H\u2014\u2014\u2019s predictions. At its termination we were surprised to see\nhalf a dozen of the hotel guests rise and leave; but these, we later\nlearnt, were Lutherans, who, having no chaplain of their own, find no\ndifficulty in coming to the preliminary part of the Catholic service,\nthough they consider it their duty to leave before Mass commences. It was\na curious instance of liberalism, and of the little essential antagonism\nGerman Protestants entertain towards the Catholic Church. At the end of\nMass a prayer was said in German in honor of the Five Sacred Wounds,\njoined in by all, after which the congregation dispersed, some to the\nfront of the hotel, and others in various directions. On these days alone\na few picturesque costumes appear, but they are generally from other\nparts, as the Rigi boasts of nothing special of this kind. To\u2010day two\nwomen in bright bodices covered by silver buttons and crosses, and with\nsilvered head\u2010dresses, enlivened the group of women\u2014relations of the clerk\ncoming, they said, to visit this spot from B\u00fcrglen, a long distance on the\nother side of the lake, and beyond Sachslen, the sanctuary of \u201cBruder\nKlaus.\u201d\n\nNot wishing to disturb our Anglican friends, who were singing hymns and\nperforming their service in one of the drawing\u2010rooms of the house, Anna\nand I sauntered past the \u201cWilderness,\u201d until we reached the K\u00e4uzli. The\natmosphere was most clear, and the landscape so enchanting that a rest\nhere seemed a fitting and heavenly portion of our morning worship. Weggis\nlay below; its church and the children\u2019s corner, where I had stood lately\ngazing upwards in this direction, were at our feet, and Lucerne, with its\ngirdle of battlemented walls at the upper end of the lake, further north,\nits houses and boats distinctly visible in the transparent atmosphere. The\npeasants could be seen here and there returning to their gray\u2010roofed\n_ch\u00e2lets_, but, save the tinkling bells of the light\u2010limbed cattle\nbrowsing in our neighborhood, no sound broke the perfect stillness of the\nscene. All at once the peal of Lucerne Cathedral came booming to us across\nthe waters! It was eleven o\u2019clock, which in those cantons is the Angelus\nhour, and in a moment the deep\u2010toned bell of Weggis sent its sound up to\nour very resting\u2010place. Then swiftly the echo was caught up by the\nchurches of all the numberless pretty villages that here cover the land,\nuntil the whole country seemed to sound as with but one note. A more\nthrilling instance of faith and practice it were impossible to imagine,\nand, looking down at such a moment at this fruitful, prosperous district,\none felt as if our Lord had already heard its prayers, and in his mercy\nblessed it.\n\nOur afternoon walk was this day directed to the other Rigi sanctuary,\n\u201cMaria zum Schnee,\u201d or Mary of the Snow, the same mentioned in the Kaltbad\ntablet, and which, from Wordsworth\u2019s beautiful poem, has obtained a more\nworld\u2010wide name than its pretty neighbor; though in the locality itself no\ndifference in celebrity is admitted between the two. The only striking\ndistinction is that whilst Kaltbad has but the one simple appellation,\n\u201cMary of the Snow\u201d rejoices in a _pet_ name, by which it is more generally\nknown on the Rigi, where Kl\u00f6sterli, or \u201cthe little convent,\u201d is its\nfamiliar and every\u2010day title. It lies deep in a southern fold of the\nmountain, unseen from Kaltbad, but only a couple of miles distant; so that\nit is a favorite walk with those visitors whose strength is unequal to the\nlonger excursions. This year the charms of the mountain\u2010road have been\nsadly interfered with by the blasting of rocks necessary to the making of\nthe railway branch to the Scheideck, and another line up from Arth to the\nStaffel, besides the building of an additional hotel, all which modern\nmaterial improvements make one look forward with trepidation to their\nfuture effect on the old inhabitants. In a few years more these heights\nwill be one vast mountain\u2010city\u2014a new phase of life, which may have its own\npoetic side, it is true, and bring health and advantage to humanity in\ngeneral, but which, during two or three months of the year, so completely\nchanges the old character of the beautiful mountain that its friends of\ntwenty and thirty years\u2019 standing say they can no longer recognize its\nformer simplicity. Hence our musings were somewhat melancholy, as we\nwandered on above the new railway\u2010line, until, from a bend in the hill, we\nunexpectedly came in sight of a completely new scene, the curious _Mythen_\nrocks rising above Schwytz, in the distance, and Kl\u00f6sterli itself lying\npeacefully below us, as if sheltered from all harm in a dell beneath the\n_Kulm!_ It seemed a spot exactly made for snow, and one could almost fancy\nit buried at times under the soft embrace of some snow\u2010white drift.\nWhether the name first came from this circumstance of its position, or\nfrom its connection with the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome, we\nhad no opportunity of ascertaining; but, whatever the cause, the name and\nconnection seemed most appropriate. Certain it is that the painting which\nis the chief ornament of S. Maria zum Schnee is a copy of the one at the\ngreat basilica, and, moreover, that the church at Kl\u00f6sterli has been, as\nis fitting, affiliated to the one in Rome. The festival is kept on the\nsame day, the 5th of August, and the Rigi church was consecrated by a\nPapal Nuncio in 1700, and endowed since then with many privileges by Pope\nClement XII., so that the link in interest and connection has never been\nwanting. Mr. C\u2014\u2014 knew all the particulars, and as we descended the steep\npathway to Kl\u00f6sterli he recalled to us the beautiful tradition about the\nfoundation of Santa Maria Maggiore. He reminded us how a Roman senator and\nhis wife having been converted to Christianity, the latter had a dream\nwhich made her believe they ought to build a church in honor of the\nBlessed Virgin. Her husband, however, dismissed the idea as a fancy of her\nbrain, until, having had the same dream for three successive nights, his\nwife on the last occasion understood that she ought to choose the site\nwhich should be covered with snow on the following morning. Her husband,\nstill unwilling, accompanied her in the search, when, not far from the\nhouse, they found the top of the Esquiline Mount completely covered with a\nfine crust of snow! This occurred on the 5th of August, and, bringing\nconviction to the husband\u2019s mind, he at once consented to give up his\nfortune for the purpose, and built on the spot the Basilica, which now\ncovers the extent of ground marked out by the fall of snow. Another\nversion states that it was the result of a vision which the pope, S.\nLiberius, and John, the patrician, had on the same night, and which was\nconfirmed the following morning, the 5th of August, by a miraculous fall\nof snow, which extended over the space the church was to occupy. Certain\nit is that the fall of snow occurred, on this very spot too, and that the\nrecollection of this wonderful origin is still kept alive in Rome. On the\nFeast of Santa Maria ad Nives, on the 5th of the hot month of August, a\nshower of white leaves is made to fall on the congregation attending High\nMass at the great Basilica. What affiliation, therefore, could be more\nfitting for a mountain chapel? With renewed interest we hurried to the\nspot. The village consists entirely of a few inns, the convent\u2014where live\nthe Capuchin fathers who have care of the church\u2014and of the church itself,\nmuch larger than that at Kaltbad, and which forms the centre of the whole\nplace. The old character is maintained up to the present time, these inns\nbeing still most homely\u2014very different from the luxurious abodes elsewhere\non the mountain\u2014and the convent in reality an hospice for pilgrims, which\nat once gives the impression of a higher aim than mere pleasure\u2010seeking.\nThe Capuchin fathers, who glide about with serious mien in their brown\nhabits, add to the solemnity, further increased by the depth of the valley\n\u201cmaking sunset,\u201d as the sailors say, to the place long before it happens\non the surrounding heights. It has nothing cheerful or peculiarly\nattractive to the general public, so one might hope that it would escape\nthe contagion of a worldly spirit. This year the gloom has been added to\nby a dreadful accident connected with the unwelcome railway, and one heard\nof little else on the spot. A young lady who was sitting with her father\noutside the Sonne Hotel, writing at one of the small tables, was suddenly\nstruck by a large stone, thrown by the blasting of a rock close by, and\ndied in less than half an hour. She was to have gone away from Kl\u00f6sterli\non the previous day with the rest of her family, but had remained a while\nlonger merely to take care of him. His grief, consequently, was\noverwhelming. It was a melancholy inauguration of the \u201ciron road,\u201d and for\nthe moment made a deep impression on all concerned. But it is much to be\ndreaded that it will not be a lasting one. The father, to whom we spoke,\nshook his head gravely, as he pointed to the railway works, expressing his\nfears that from a place of pilgrimage they would soon convert his dearly\u2010\nloved Kl\u00f6sterli into a simple _Curort_, or, in modern parlance, a\n_Sanatorium_. He complained of its baneful influence already; for, though\nthe peasants are thoroughly good and pious, the immense influx of tourists\ngives them little time for devotions during the summer season, especially\nin the month of August, when the church festival occurs. They, the monks,\nbelong to the large Capuchin convent at Arth, from which two or three have\nbeen sent here at the special request of the commune, ever since the\nfoundation, to take care of this church and attend to the wants of the\npilgrims. But the numbers of the latter are diminishing from the above\ncauses, and hospitality has this year been chiefly bestowed on invalid\npriests, who here seek change of air for weeks at a time. The procession\nsimilar to that from Weggis, which used to come up from Arth for the 5th\nof August, making the Stations on the way, did not take place this time.\nNor had the people leisure, either, for their old games, which followed\nthe church services as a matter of course. Sad and melancholy, he seemed\nfearful of this inroad of materialism and the many temptations to which\nthe poorer classes may be exposed. The tranquillity of the spot will\ndoubtless be ruined by the puffing engine and obtrusive railway, and we\ncould not but rejoice doubly that the \u201chaven of rest\u201d at Kaltbad lies\nsafely hidden away behind its rocks out of reach of such disturbance. But\nso many have been the prayers answered and hearts cured within the last\ntwo centuries by the intercession of holy \u201cMary of the Snow\u201d that it is\nhard to believe so favored a sanctuary, though this may perhaps be a\nmoment of transition, will be altogether swept away or lose its holy\ninfluence on so essentially pious a population. The church is crowded with\n_ex\u2010votos_, many of them the same seen by Wordsworth in 1820, when he sang\nin the following strain of\n\n\n \u201cOur Lady Of The Snow.\n\n \u201cMeek Virgin Mother, more benign\n Than fairest star upon the height\n Of thy own mountain set to keep\n Lone vigils thro\u2019 the hours of sleep,\n What eye can look upon thy shrine\n Untroubled at the sight?\n\n \u201cThese crowded offerings, as they hang\n In sign of misery relieved,\n Even these, without intent of theirs,\n Report of comfortless despairs,\n Of many a deep and cureless pang\n And confidence deceived.\n\n \u201cTo thee, in this a\u00ebrial cleft.\n As to a common centre, tend\n All sufferings that no longer rest\n On mortal succor, all distrest\n That pine of human hope bereft,\n Nor wish for earthly friend.\n\n \u201cAnd hence, O Virgin Mother mild!\n Though plenteous flowers around thee blow,\n Not only from the dreary strife\n Of winter, but the storms of life,\n Thee have thy votaries aptly styled\n Our Lady of the Snow.\n\n \u201cEven for the man who stops not here,\n But down the irriguous valley hies,\n Thy very name, O Lady! flings,\n O\u2019er blooming fields and gushing springs,\n A holy shadow soft and dear\n Of chastening sympathies!\n\n \u201cNor falls that intermingling shade\n To summer gladsomeness unkind;\n It chastens only to requite\n With gleams of fresher, purer light;\n While o\u2019er the flower\u2010enamelled glade\n More sweetly breathes the wind.\n\n \u201cBut on!\u2014a tempting downward way,\n A verdant path, before us lies;\n Clear shines the glorious sun above;\n Then give free course to joy and love,\n Deeming the evil of the day\n Sufficient for the wise.\u201d\n\n\nIn our walk hither along the brow of the hill we had talked to some\npretty, bright\u2010eyed children running about to call in their father\u2019s\ncattle, asking their names and other questions; but, returning the same\nway, all our thoughts and attention were given to the distant sound of\navalanches, which the C\u2014\u2014s declared came to us across the mountain\u2010tops\nfrom the region of the great Oberland range. Anything more sublime it were\ndifficult to conceive in the fading light and soft hues of the sunset\ntwilight. We had quite forgotten the children, but they had been thinking\nof us, and, passing on by their _ch\u00e2let_, little Aloysius (a fair\u2010haired\nboy of three years old) was seen skipping down the green slope with a\npaper in his hand. It was a mysterious proceeding, especially when he came\nand eagerly presented it to me. But my surprise was greater on reading it\nto find that it consisted of prayers printed at Einsiedeln: the first\nteaching how to offer up one\u2019s intention with the Masses that are being\nsaid all over the world; another to be said when present during the\noffertory of the Mass; and a third, when unable to attend in person, for\ndaily recital at home in union with the priest at the altar. The little\nfellow evidently prized it, as taught by his mother, and it was fortunate\nthat I was able to promise him it should hold a place amongst my\ntreasures, and that I would say the beautiful prayers daily, which I have\nnever failed to do. But he could not altogether know how much happiness\nhis act caused me, chasing away the gloomy fears of the Capuchin father,\nand giving bright hope that a true spirit of piety will grow up with the\nrising generation.\n\n\n\n\nChurch Song.\n\n\n \u201cAnd when they had said an hymn, they went forth to the Mount of\n Olives.\u201d\u2014S. MARK xiv. 26.\n \u201cHymnum cecinit, ut et nos similiter faciamus.\u201d\u2014S. CHRYSOSTOM.\n\n\n\nThe Disciple.\n\n\n A world I\u2019d give to hear thee sing\n That song!\n Too long\n Is life until it bring\n The breaking of the bonds that cling\n About this deadly flesh.\n Sweet Lord, refresh\n My weary, longing soul;\n And this sad banishment condole\n With one faint echo of that strain\n Of melody divine, which must remain\n Yet murmuring through space\n Of all creation\u2019s bound;\n And so controls\n The harmony that rolls\n In floods of majesty and grace\n Throughout thy dwelling\u2010place,\n From tuneful lyres\n Of angel choirs,\n From ceaseless rapturous songs\n Of shining saintly throngs,\n That every sound\n Heaven hears doth merely seem\n Made to accompany thy theme.\n Wondrous Singer, O my Lord and King!\n Tell me, who taught thee how to sing\n So sweet a strain?\n\n\n\nThe Master.\n\n\n I heard my Mother\u2019s voice one morn,\n Whilst yet in womb unborn,\n Chanting the canticle of praise\n She still in heaven doth raise;\n And when a boy, oft at her knee,\n She did the tuneful mystery\n Unfold to me.\n Wouldst hear me sing?\n \u2019Tis no hard thing.\n Go, hearken to the singing of my Bride\n With whom my Presence ever doth abide;\n Who is a Mother unto thee,\n Like as the Virgin, full of grace, to me.\n Her voice, in melody her own,\n If thou wilt mark its heavenly tone,\n Hath cunning art\n To make thy heart\n Hear mine again.\n\n\n\n\nA Discussion With An Infidel.\n\n\n\nXVIII. Personal Continuance.\n\n\n_Reader_. The next question you treat, doctor, regards the immortality of\nthe human soul, or, as you call it, \u201cpersonal continuance.\u201d In your\nopinion the spirit and the body, the soul and the brain, are so intimately\nand inseparably connected that a soul without a body, as \u201cforce without\nmatter,\u201d can never exist. I remember having already answered some of the\ngrounds of this opinion; but as you make \u201cpersonal continuance\u201d the\nsubject of a special chapter, I presume that it is in this chapter that\nyou have condensed the strength and substance of all your arguments. How\ndo you, then, establish your position?\n\n_B\u00fcchner_. \u201cA spirit without a body is as unimaginable as electricity or\nmagnetism without metallic or other substances\u201d (p. 196).\n\n_Reader_. Unimaginable! Of course, a spiritual substance is not the object\nof imagination. Perhaps you mean that it is unthinkable, inconceivable, or\nunintelligible; which I deny.\n\n_B\u00fcchner_. \u201cUnprejudiced philosophy is compelled to reject the idea of an\nindividual immortality and of a personal continuance after death. With the\ndecay and dissolution of its material substratum, through which alone it\nhas acquired a conscious existence and become a person, and upon which it\nwas dependent, the spirit must cease to exist\u201d (_ibid_.)\n\n_Reader_. Beware of fallacies, doctor. You have not yet proved that the\nhuman soul needs a material substratum. Again, you merely assume that it\nis _through the body_ that the soul has acquired a conscious existence,\nwhilst the fact is that the soul _through itself_ is conscious of its own\nexistence in the body. Moreover, the soul does not become a person through\nthe body it informs, but, on the contrary, confers on the body the\nprivilege of being a part of the person. Lastly, the spirit is not\ndependent upon the body, except for the sensitive operations; and you\ncannot assume that the soul depends upon the body for its own being. Hence\nyour conclusion is yet unproved.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cAll the knowledge which this spirit has acquired relates to\nearthly things; it has become conscious of itself in, with, and by these\nthings; it has become a person by its being opposed against earthly,\nlimited individualities. How can we imagine it to be possible that, torn\naway from these necessary conditions, this being should continue to exist\nwith self\u2010consciousness and as the same person? It is not reflection, but\nobstinacy, not science, but faith, which supports the idea of a personal\ncontinuance\u201d (pp. 196, 197).\n\n_Reader._ I am rather amused than embarrassed at your identifying\nreflection with science and obstinacy with faith, as I know that you are\nabsolutely incapable of accounting for such a nonsensical ranting. It is\nnot true that \u201call the knowledge acquired by our soul relates to earthly\nthings.\u201d We have already discussed this point, and shown that our\nknowledge of earthly things is only the alphabet of human knowledge. Nor\nis it true that our soul \u201chas become conscious of itself by such things.\u201d\nConsciousness is, even objectively, an immanent act, and the soul cannot\nbe conscious of its own self, except by looking upon itself. No one can\nsay _I perceive_ without a knowledge of the _I_; and therefore the soul\nknows its own self independently of the perception of other earthly\nthings. But, as there are philosophers who account for self\u2010consciousness\nby the primitive accidental sensations experienced by the child, I will\nsuppose with you that our soul becomes conscious of its own existence by\nmeans of such sensations. Does it follow from this that the union with the\nbody is \u201ca necessary condition\u201d for the existence of the soul? Such a\nconclusion would be absurd. For it latently assumes that the soul must\nlose its consciousness of self by losing the instrument of its first\nsensation. Now, to assume this is at least as absurd as to assume that by\nlosing any of your senses you lose all the knowledge already acquired\nthrough them, or that by going out of Germany you cease to know everything\nthat is German.\n\nBut your greatest mistake regards the notion of personality. The spirit,\nyou say, \u201chas become a person by its being opposed against earthly,\nlimited individualities.\u201d What does this mean? First of all, the spirit\n_does not become_ a person, but is itself the source of human personality.\nSecondly, to be a person, there is no need of other earthly, limited\nindividualities, against which the spirit should be opposed. Any\nintelligent being, left to itself, with the free disposal of its own self,\nis a person. _Persona_, says Boethius, _est rationalis natur\u00e6 individua\nsubstantia_; and this celebrated definition, adopted by all the\nmetaphysicians of the old school, is far from becoming obsolete. It would\nseem, then, that you speak of personality without knowing in what it\nconsists. To prove that the soul cannot enjoy personal continuance in a\nstate of separation, you should prove that the soul separated from the\nbody _is not an intelligent being having a free use of its faculties_.\nWhatever else you may prove, if you do not prove this, will amount to\nnothing.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cPhysiology,\u201d says Vogt, \u201cdecides definitely and categorically\nagainst individual immortality, as against any special existence of the\nsoul\u201d (p. 197).\n\n_Reader._ Tell the physiologists to keep to their own business. The\nquestion of the immortality of the soul is not one of those which can be\nsolved from the knowledge of our organs and their functions. All the\nphysiologist can do is to show the existence in the organs of a principle\nwhich animates them, and which at death ceases to show its presence. What\nbecomes of it the physiologist, as such, has no means of deciding. Hence\nyour Vogt is supremely rash in affirming that \u201cphysiology decides\ndefinitely and categorically against individual immortality.\u201d\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cExperience and daily observation teach us that the spirit\nperishes with its material substratum\u201d (_ibid._).\n\n_Reader._ Indeed? Let us hear how experience and daily observation teach\nwhat you assert. It is extremely curious that mankind should be ignorant\nof a fact which falls under daily observation.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThere never has been, and never will be, a real apparition\nwhich could make us believe or assume that the soul of a deceased\nindividual continues to exist; it is dead, never to return\u201d (p. 198).\n\n_Reader._ Allow me to remark, doctor, that you change the question. You\nhad to show that experience and daily observation teach that the spirit\nperishes with the body. To say that there are no apparitions is not to\nadduce experience and daily observation, but to argue from non\u2010experience\nand non\u2010observation. Not to see a thing is not an argument against its\nexistence, especially if that thing be not the object of sight; and\ntherefore to infer the non\u2010existence of souls from their non\u2010apparition is\na logical blunder. But, secondly, is it true that \u201cthere never has been,\nand never will be, a real apparition\u201d?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThat the soul of a deceased person,\u201d says Burmeister, \u201cdoes\nnot reappear after death, is not contested by rational people. Spirits and\nghosts are only seen by diseased or superstitious individuals\u201d (_ibid._).\n\n_Reader._ I do not say that souls, as a rule, reappear, or that we must\nbelieve all the tales of old women about apparitions. Yet it is a fact\nthat Samuel\u2019s ghost appeared to Saul and spoke to him; and it is a fact\nthat the witch of Endor, whom Saul had consulted, was already famous for\nher power of conjuring up spirits, as it appears from the Bible, where we\nare informed that there were many other persons in the kingdom of Israel\npossessing a similar power, whom Saul himself had ordered to be slain. If\nyou happen to meet with Martinus Del Rio\u2019s _Magic Disquisitions_, you will\nlearn that in all centuries there have been apparitions from the spiritual\nworld. Devils have often appeared, saints have appeared, and, to make the\nreality of the apparitions incontrovertible, have left visible signs of\ntheir presence, or done things which no mortal man has power to do. I need\nnot descend to particulars; yet I may remind you of the great recent\napparition of Lourdes, and of the numberless miracles by which it was\naccompanied and followed, in the eyes of all classes of persons, including\ninfidels and Freemasons, who left no means untried to discredit the facts,\nbut they only succeeded in enhancing the value of the evidence on which\nsuch facts had been previously admitted. Come, now, and tell us that all\nthe witnesses of such public facts are \u201cdiseased or superstitious\nindividuals\u201d!\n\nIt is therefore proved, by experience and observation, that there are\napparitions, and that the human soul remains in existence after its\nseparation from the body. But, although this proof suffices to convince\nall reasonable persons, philosophers furnish us with other excellent\nproofs of the immortality of the soul. Are you able to show that all such\nproofs are inconclusive?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThere is something suspicious in the great zeal and the waste\narguments with which this question has at all times been defended, which\nyet, for obvious reasons, has rarely experienced serious scientific\nattacks. This zeal appears to show that the advocates of this theory are\nrather anxious about their own conscience, since plain reason and daily\nexperience are but little in favor of an assumption which can only be\nsupported on theoretical grounds. It may also appear singular that at all\ntimes those individuals were the most zealous for a personal continuance\nafter death whose souls were scarcely worthy of such a careful\npreservation\u201d (p. 198).\n\n_Reader._ This is vile language, doctor. Our zeal in defending the\nimmortality of the soul arises from the moral importance of the point at\nissue; and there is nothing \u201csuspicious\u201d about it. Our \u201cwaste of\narguments\u201d is not yet certified; whereas your waste of words is already\nfully demonstrated. The immortality of the soul \u201chas _rarely_ experienced\nserious scientific attacks,\u201d or rather, it has _never_ experienced them,\nbecause real science does not attack truth, and therefore all attacks\nagainst the soul\u2019s immortality have been, are, and will always be\nunscientific in the highest degree. \u201cPlain reason,\u201d without the least need\nof \u201cdaily experience,\u201d convinces every thoughtful man that a truth based\non good \u201ctheoretical grounds\u201d cannot be rejected as a gratuitous\n\u201cassumption,\u201d especially when it is also supported by undeniable facts.\nYour closing utterance deserves no answer. Every sensible man will qualify\nit as downright insolence. Meanwhile, where are your proofs?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cAttempts were made to deduce from the immortality of matter\nthe immortality of the soul\u201d (_ibid._).\n\n_Reader._ This is simply ridiculous. Who ever admitted the immortality of\nmatter?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThere being, it was said, no absolute annihilation, it is\nneither possible nor imaginable that the human soul, once existing, should\nbe annihilated; which would be opposed to reason\u201d (p. 199).\n\n_Reader._ Natural reason does not show the impossibility of annihilation;\nand therefore it was impossible for philosophers to argue as you affirm\nthat they did. But, since you think that annihilation is quite impossible,\nhow can you evade the argument?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThere is no analogy between the indestructibility of matter\nand that of spirit. Whilst the visible and tangible matter sensually\nexhibits its indestructibility, the same cannot be asserted of spirit or\nsoul, which is not matter, but merely an ideal product of a particular\ncombination of force\u2010endowed materials\u201d (_ibid._).\n\n_Reader._ You merely rehash the old blunder already refuted in one of our\npast conversations. If the soul were nothing but a product of material\ncombinations, it would certainly perish when those combinations are\ndestroyed, and there would be no need of annihilation to make it vanish.\nBut if the soul is an active principle, as you must admit, it cannot be a\nresult of material combinations, and consequently it is a special\nsubstance, and cannot perish except by annihilation, just in the same\nmanner as matter also cannot perish but by annihilation. Your ground for\ndenying the analogy between the destructibility of matter and that of the\nspirit is therefore a false supposition. It is plain that there is not\nonly analogy, but absolute parity, and that, if matter were really\nindestructible, the indestructibility of the soul would thereby be\nsufficiently established. But we do not avail ourselves of such argument;\nfor we know that matter is destructible. You say that \u201cthe visible and\ntangible matter sensually exhibits its indestructibility\u201d; but a little\nreflection would have sufficed to convince you that the possible and the\nimpossible are not objects of sensible perception, but of intellectual\nintuition. Then you say that the soul is an \u201c_ideal_ product of a\nparticular combination of force\u2010endowed materials\u201d; which is the veriest\nnonsense. For, were it true that a particular combination of materials\nproduces the soul, such a product would be _real_, not _ideal_. Thus you\nhave succeeded in condensing no less than three blunders into a few lines.\nBut let this pass. Have you anything to add in connection with this\npretended argument?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cExperience teaches that the personal soul was, in spite of its\npretended indestructibility, annihilated; _i.e._, it was non\u2010existing\nduring an eternity. Were the spirit indestructible, like matter, it must\nnot only, like it, last for ever, but have ever existed. But where was the\nsoul before the body to which it belongs was formed? It was not; it gave\nnot the least sign of an existence; and to assume an existence is an\narbitrary hypothesis\u201d (pp. 199, 200).\n\n_Reader._ You grow eloquent, doctor, but without cause. We all admit that\nthe soul did not exist before the body was formed. And, pray, how could\nthe soul be annihilated if it did not exist? Are you doomed to utter\nnothing but blunders?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cIt is in the very nature of things that all that arises should\nnecessarily perish\u201d (p. 200).\n\n_Reader._ By no means.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cIn the eternal cycle of matter and force nothing is\ndestructible; but this only applies to the whole, while its parts undergo\na constant change of birth and decay;\u201d (_ibid._).\n\n_Reader._ Try to be reasonable, dear doctor, and lay aside \u201cthe eternal\ncycle,\u201d which has no existence but in your imagination. You promised to\nargue from experience and observation. Keep your promise.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cI will. There is a state which might enable us to produce a\ndirect and empirical argument in favor of the annihilation of the\nindividual soul\u2014the state of sleep. In consequence of corporeal changes,\nthe function of the organ of thought is suspended, and the soul, in a\ncertain sense, annihilated. The spiritual function is gone, and the body\nexists or vegetates without consciousness in a state similar to that of\nthe animals in which Flourens had removed the hemispheres. On awakening,\nthe soul is exactly in the state it was before sleep. The interval of time\nhad no existence for the soul, which was spiritually dead. This peculiar\ncondition is so striking that sleep and death have been termed brothers\u201d\n(p. 200).\n\n_Reader._ This \u201cdirect and empirical argument\u201d may be turned against you.\nFor sleep is not real death; and the animal, when asleep, continues to be\nanimated. If, therefore, the soul remains in the body, even when the\norgans are in a condition which excludes the possibility of their\nconcurrence to the work of the soul, does it not follow that the soul\nenjoys an existence independent of the organs? It is true that, while the\norgans are in such a condition, the soul cannot utilize them for any\nspecial work; but it does not follow that \u201cthe soul is, in a certain\nsense, annihilated,\u201d nor that \u201cthe spiritual function is gone.\u201d You\nyourself admit that, \u201con awakening, the soul is exactly in the state it\nwas before sleep.\u201d I do not care to examine whether the state of the soul\nis _exactly_ the same; I rather incline to say that it is much better;\nbut, waiving this, it is still necessary to concede that the soul cannot\nkeep its state without preserving its existence, attributes, and\nfaculties, and a direct consciousness of its own being, which can be\nrecollected after sleep, when it has been accompanied, as in dreams, by a\ncertain degree of reflection.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ I expected, sir, that you would appeal to dreams; for \u201cthe\nphenomena of dreaming have been used as arguments against the supposed\nannihilation of the soul during sleep, by their proving that the soul is\nalso active in that state. This objection is founded upon error, it being\nwell known that dreaming does not constitute the state properly called\nsleep, but that it is merely a transition between sleeping and waking\u201d (p.\n201).\n\n_Reader._ I have not appealed to dreams. I simply mentioned the fact that\nin certain dreams, where a certain degree of reflection accompanies the\nacts of the soul, we have the possibility of remembering that we were\nconscious of our own being. Take away all dreams; you will not thereby\nlessen the certainty of our direct consciousness of our own being; you\nwill only suppress an experimental subsidiary proof, of which we are in no\nspecial need. Moreover, remark, doctor, that \u201cagainst the _supposed_\nannihilation of the soul during sleep\u201d we are by no means bound to bring\narguments. It is necessary only to say _Nego assumptum_, and it will be\nyour duty to prove your supposition. I observe, in the third place, that\nyou cannot consistently maintain that dreaming is a state intermediate\nbetween sleeping and waking. For, as you affirm that the soul exists in\nthe latter state, and does not exist in the former, you are constrained to\naffirm that in the middle state the soul cannot be said to exist, and\ncannot be said not to exist, but partakes of existence and non\u2010existence\nat the same time. Now, though you are so thoroughly accustomed to\nblundering, I am confident that you cannot but shrink from the idea of a\nnon\u2010existent existence. And thus your definition of dreaming destroys your\nsupposed annihilation of the soul during sleep.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cCertain morbid conditions are still more calculated to prove\nthe annihilation of our spirit. There are affections of the brain, _e.g._,\nconcussions, lesions, etc., which so much influence its functions that\nconsciousness is suspended. Such perfectly unconscious states may continue\nfor months together. On recovery, it is found that the patients have no\nrecollection whatever of the period which has passed, but connect their\nmental life with the period when consciousness ceased. This whole time was\nfor them a deep sleep, sleep or a mental death; they in a sense died, and\nwere born again. Should death take place during that period, it is\nperfectly immaterial to the individual, who, considered as a spiritual\nbeing, was already dead at the moment when consciousness left him. Those\nwho believe in a personal immortality might find it somewhat difficult, or\nrather impossible, to explain these processes, or to give some clue as to\nthe whereabouts of the soul during these periods\u201d (p. 202).\n\n_Reader._ It is neither impossible nor difficult to ascertain where the\nsoul is during such periods; for it is in the body all the while. Only the\nactual conditions of its existence in the body preclude, by their\nabnormity, the exercise of some faculties. The soul is, in such cases,\nlike the organist, who is unable to elicit the wonted sounds from the\norgan so long as the pipes are not properly supplied with wind. The\npatients you allude to are not corpses; and although you affirm that \u201cthey\n_in a sense_ died and were born again,\u201d it is evident that they did not\ndie at all, but only lost the proximate power of performing certain\noperations. The soul and the body, so long as they are together, must work\ntogether. Even the purely intellectual operations, in which the body has\nno part, are always naturally associated with the imaginative operations,\nin which the body has a considerable part; and when these latter, through\nthe abnormal condition of the brain, are suspended, the former also are\nsuspended, so far at least as there is question of reflex acts. And this\nfully accounts for the phenomena accompanying certain morbid states,\nwithout resorting to your pretended annihilation of the spirit.\nAccordingly, if you wish to argue against personal continuance, you must\ndraw your objections from some other source.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe annihilation of a personal soul has been protested against\nupon moral grounds. It was, in the first place, asserted that the idea of\nan eternal annihilation is so revolting to the innermost feeling of man\nthat it must be untrue. Although an appeal to feelings is not a scientific\nmethod of proceeding, it must certainly be admitted that the thought of an\n_eternal life_ is more terrifying than the idea of eternal annihilation.\nThe latter is by no means repugnant to a philosophical thinker.\nAnnihilation, non\u2010existence, is perfect rest, painlessness, freedom from\nall tormenting impressions, and therefore not to be feared\u201d (pp. 204,\n205).\n\n_Reader._ This way of reasoning, doctor, is most extraordinary. First, you\nassume that the moral grounds on which our knowledge of the immortality of\nthe soul is based consist of mere feelings. This is false. Secondly, you\ndo not consider that there are rational tendencies which, whether you call\nthem feelings or not, ought to be taken into account in a philosophic\ndiscussion, as they are of such a character that their fulfilment cannot\nbe a matter of doubt. Thirdly, you exhibit _eternal life_ as a synonym of\n_perpetual torments_; for you suppose that the idea of eternal life is\nterrific, and that, to be free \u201cfrom all tormenting impressions,\u201d\nannihilation is necessary. Thus you conceive that after this life there\ncan be nothing but the torments of hell. This is most certainly true with\nregard to unrepenting Freemasons; they have nothing else to expect, not\neven annihilation; and it would truly be better for them if they were\nannihilated or _had never been born_, as we know from the Gospel. But why\nshould you take for granted that there is no heaven? It is plain that your\nargument in favor of annihilation is nothing but a miserable sophism.\nLastly, I wish to remark, though it is of little importance to the\nquestion of immortality, that annihilation, or non\u2010existence, is _not_\nperfect rest, as you imagine. For who is it that rests? Can you have the\nsubject after its annihilation, or the rest without the subject? You see,\nI hope, that your logic here, too, is at fault.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cPhilosophers, perceiving the loose ground upon which they\nstand in regard to this question, have, in their endeavors to reconcile\nphilosophy and faith, tried to help themselves by very singular\nexpedients\u201d (p. 205).\n\n_Reader._ Loose ground and singular expedients indeed! Who will believe\nyou?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe desire of our nature,\u201d says Carri\u00e8re, \u201cto solve so many\nproblems requires immortality, and the many sorrows of this earth would be\nsuch a shocking dissonance in the world if it were not to find its\nsolution in a higher harmony, namely, in the purification and development\nof personal individuality. This and other considerations render\nimmortality, from our point of view, a subjective certainty\u2014a conviction\nof the heart\u201d (p. 206).\n\n_Reader._ Do you consider these words as a very singular expedient to\nreconcile philosophy and faith? What can you object to the thought they\nexpress?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cEvery one may, certainly, have _convictions of the heart_, but\nto mix them up with philosophical questions is unscientific. Either\nsomething accords with reason and experience\u2014it is then true; or it does\nnot accord\u2014then it is untrue, and can find no place in philosophical\nsystems\u201d (_ibid._).\n\n_Reader._ I see your trick, doctor. There are two kinds of convictions of\nthe heart. Some of these convictions are accidental, transitory, not\nuniversal, and not invincible; others universal, permanent, and\nunchangeable. The first kind originates in accidental affections of\nparticular persons in particular circumstances; and this kind of\nconvictions should not be mixed up with philosophical questions. But the\nsecond kind owes nothing to accidental circumstances, and shows in its\nuniversality and invincibility its universal and unconquerable cause,\nwhich cannot be other than our rational nature; and this kind of\nconvictions must be taken into account in the philosophical questions\nconcerning our rational soul; for it is from the nature of the effects\nthat we discover the nature of the causes. Now, \u201cthe conviction\u201d which\nCarri\u00e8re mentions belongs to this second kind; for it is common to all\nrational beings, and cannot be shaken off even by those who, like you, try\nto convince themselves of a future annihilation. We therefore can and must\ntake into account such a conviction when we examine philosophically the\nnature of the soul.\n\nAccordingly, it is absurd, on your part, to pretend that an appeal to such\na conviction is \u201cunscientific.\u201d Nothing is more unscientific than to lay\naside the effects while one wishes to investigate the causes.\n\nAs to your aphorism, \u201ceither something accords with reason and\nexperience\u2014it is then true; or it does not accord\u2014then it is untrue,\u201d I do\nnot think that it can help you much. A thoughtless reader may indeed be\ndazzled by its fine glittering, and candidly believe that you are a most\nresolute champion and acute investigator of truth; but he who reflects on\nyour reckless disregard of logic, tergiversation, and intellectual\nperversity will only wonder at your audacity in appealing to a principle\nwhich you trample upon in every page of your production. Yes, sir; what\naccords with reason and experience is true; but how can this be a plea for\ndenying immortality?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cIt may be that it would be very fine if in heaven, as in the\nlast act of a heart\u2010stirring drama, everything would resolve in a touching\nharmony or in general joy; but science has nothing to do with what _may\nbe_, but with what _is_, and is accordingly compelled to infer from\nexperience the finiteness of human existence. Indeed, a perfect solution\nof the enigmas of the universe, as Carri\u00e8re desires, must be considered as\nimpossible for the human mind. The moment we arrive at this point we are\ncreators and capable of shaping matter according to pleasure. Such a\nknowledge would be equivalent to dissolution\u2014annihilation\u2014and there exists\nno being which can possess it. Where there is no striving there can be no\nlife; perfect truth would be a sentence of death for him who has acquired\nit, and he must perish in apathy and inactivity\u201d (p. 206).\n\n_Reader._ It is of no use, doctor, to heap up assertions of this kind.\nThey are all groundless. When you say that science has nothing to do with\nwhat may be, but with what is, you latently assume that between what may\nbe and what is there must be opposition; whereas it is plain that nothing\nis but what could be. And again, when you mention _science_, what do you\nmean? Physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, and the like have certainly\nnothing to do with the immortality of the soul; but philosophy has\nsomething to do with it, and philosophy, the highest of sciences, decides\nthat the human soul not only _may be_, but _must be_, immortal. In the\nthird place, it is ludicrous to affirm that \u201cexperience shows the\nfiniteness of human existence\u201d; for our experience is limited to human\nlife upon earth, whereas our discussion refers to after\u2010life. In the\nfourth place, you pretend that a full knowledge of truth is impossible to\nthe human mind, for the wonderful reason that we would then be \u201ccreators\nand capable of shaping matter according to pleasure.\u201d In this you commit\ntwo blunders; for, first, the knowledge of natural truths does not\nnecessarily entail a physical power of shaping matter according to\npleasure; and, secondly, were our souls to acquire such a power, we would\nnot yet be creators, as creation is infinitely above the shaping of\nmatter. You are never at a loss to find false reasons when needed to give\nplausibility to false assertions. Thus you invent the prodigious nonsense\nthat a perfect knowledge of natural things \u201cwould be equivalent to\nannihilation,\u201d and to support this strange notion you argue that \u201cwhere\nthere is no striving there can be no life,\u201d as if a human soul, when in\nfull possession of truth, could not find in its contemplation a sufficient\nexercise of intellectual life. Yet it is clear that striving for a good\nmust end in a peaceful enjoyment of the same good; or else all our\nstriving would be purposeless. On the other hand, if \u201cperfect truth were a\nsentence of death for him who has acquired it,\u201d would it not follow that\nthe more we know, the less we live? But to conclude. How can you\nconciliate these two things: \u201cThe moment we possess full knowledge we are\ncreators,\u201d and \u201cthe moment we possess full knowledge we are annihilated\u201d?\nor these two things: \u201cWe become capable of shaping matter according to\npleasure,\u201d and \u201cwe perish in apathy and inactivity\u201d? Answer, old fox?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cIt may be that we are surrounded by many riddles\u201d (p. 206).\n\u201cIn doubtful questions we must apply human knowledge, and examine whether\nwe can arrive at any solution by experience, reason, and the aid of\nnatural sciences. . . . Some believe they can give scientific reasons for\nthe doctrine of individual immortality. Thus Mr. Drossbach discovered that\nevery body contains a limited number of _monads_ capable of self\u2010\nconsciousness . . .\u201d (p. 208).\n\n_Reader._ There is no need of discussing such absurdities. We know, that\nmonads are not self\u2010conscious.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ In fact, \u201cDrossbach\u2019s monads are too intangible to concern\nourselves about them. We may, however, take this opportunity of alluding\nto the unconquerable difficulties which must arise from the eternal\ncongregation of innumerable swarms of souls which belonged to men who, in\ntheir sojourn upon earth, have acquired so extremely different a degree of\ndevelopment\u201d (_ibid._).\n\n_Reader._ What unconquerable difficulties do you apprehend?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cEternal life is said to be a perfectioning, a further\ndevelopment, of earthly life, from which it would follow that every soul\nshould have arrived at a certain degree of culture, which is to be\nperfected. Let us think, now, of the souls of those who died in earliest\nchildhood, of savage nations, of the lower classes of our populations! Is\nthis defective development or education to be remedied beyond? \u2018I am weary\nof sitting on school\u2010benches,\u2019 says Danton. And what is to be done with\nthe souls of animals?\u201d (pp. 208, 209).\n\n_Reader._ Indeed, doctor, the ignorance of the unbeliever is astounding!\nOur children and the lower classes of our populations are not half as\nignorant as you are. They would tell you that the light of the beatific\nvision dispels with equal facility all degrees of darkness which may\nremain in our souls in consequence of imperfect education, without any\nneed of your \u201cschool\u2010benches\u201d or other imaginary devices. They would tell\nyou also \u201cwhat is to be done with the souls of animals,\u201d on which you most\nstupidly confer \u201cthe same rights\u201d as are possessed by the human soul. If\nbeasts have the same rights as men, it is a crime to kill them; or, if\nthis is no crime, it must be as lawful to kill and devour men! Are you\nready to accept this doctrine?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThere is no essential and natural distinction between man and\nanimal, and the human and animal soul are fundamentally the same\u201d (p.\n209).\n\n_Reader._ Do you understand what you say? What do you mean by\n\u201cfundamentally\u201d?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ I mean that the animal soul is only distinguished from the\nhuman soul \u201cin quantity, not in quality\u201d (_ibid._).\n\n_Reader._ Then you yourself must have the qualities of an ass, and there\nwill be no difference between you and the ass, except in this: that the\nasinine qualities are greater in you than in the ass. Your efforts to\nprove that beasts are endowed with intellect, reason, and freedom are very\namusing, but lack a foundation. It would be idle to examine minutely your\nchapter on the souls of brutes; it will suffice to state that your\nreasoning in that chapter is based on a perpetual confusion of the\nsensitive with the intellectual faculties. Sense and intellect do not\ndiffer in quantity, but in quality. No sensation can be so intensified as\nto become an intellectual concept or a universal notion. Hence no\nintellect can arise from any amount of sensibility. Brutes feel; but,\nalthough their sensitive operations bear a certain analogy to the higher\noperations of the intellectual soul, nothing gives you the right to assume\nthat brutes can reason. So long as you do not show that asses understand\nthe rules and the principles of logic, it is useless to speak of the\nintellect of beasts. Their cognitions and affections are altogether\nsensitive; reasoning, morality, and freedom transcend their nature as much\nas your living person transcends your inanimate portrait in the\nfrontispiece of your book.\n\nBut reverting to the immortality of the human soul, I wish you to\nunderstand that in the course of your argumentation you have never touched\nthe substantial points of the question. You not only have not refuted, but\nnot even mentioned, our philosophical proofs of immortality. You have been\nprating, not reasoning. To crown your evil work a couple of historical\nblunders were needed, and you did not hesitate to commit them. The first\nconsists in asserting that \u201cthe chief religious sects of the Jews knew\nnothing of personal continuance,\u201d while it is well known that the chief\nreligious sect of the Jews was that of the Pharisees, who held not only\nthe immortality of the soul, but also the resurrection of the body. The\nsecond consists in asserting that \u201camong the enlightened of all nations\nand times the dogma of the immortality of the soul has had ever but few\npartisans\u201d (p. 213), while the very reverse is the truth.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cMirabeau said on his death\u2010bed, \u2018I shall now enter into\nnothingness,\u2019 and the celebrated Danton, being interrogated before the\nrevolutionary tribunal as to his residence, said, \u2018My residence will soon\nbe in nothingness!\u2019 Frederick the Great, one of the greatest geniuses\nGermany has produced, candidly confessed his disbelief in the immortality\nof the soul\u201d (p. 213).\n\n_Reader._ You might as well cite Moleschott, Feuerbach, yourself, and a\nscore or two of modern thinkers, all _enlightened_ by Masonic light,\n_celebrated_ by Masonic pens and tongues, and _great geniuses_ of\nrevolution. But neither you nor your friends are \u201camong the enlightened of\nall nations and times.\u201d Before you can aspire to this glory you must study\nyour logic, and, I dare say, the Christian doctrine too.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ If the soul survives the body, \u201cwe cannot explain the fear of\ndeath, despite all the consolations religion affords\u201d (p. 214).\n\n_Reader._ You cannot; but we can.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Men would not fear death, \u201cif death were not considered as\nputting an end to all the pleasures of the world\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ I too, doctor, acknowledge that death puts an end to all the\npleasures of this world; but this does not show that our soul will not\nsurvive in another world. We fear death for many reasons, and especially\nbecause we are sinners, and are afraid of the punishment that a just Judge\nshall inflict on our wickedness. We would scarcely fear death, if we knew\nthat our soul were to be annihilated. And therefore our fear of death is a\nproof that the belief in the immortality of the soul is more universal\nthan you imagine.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cPomponatius, an Italian philosopher of the XVIth century,\nsays: \u2018In assuming the continuance of the individual we must first show\nhow the soul can live without requiring the body as the subject and object\nof its activity. We are incapable of thought without intuitions; but these\ndepend upon the body and its organs. Thought in itself is eternal and\nimmaterial; but human thought is connected with the senses, and\nperceptions succeed each other. Our soul is, therefore, mortal, as neither\nconsciousness nor recollection remains\u2019 \u201d (p. 214). Can you answer this\nargument?\n\n_Reader._ Very easily. That the soul can live without the body is proved\nby all psychologists from its spirituality\u2014that is, from its being a\nsubstance performing operations in which the body can have no part\nwhatever. Such operations are those which regard objects ranging above the\nreach of the senses altogether; which, therefore, cannot proceed from an\norganic faculty, nor from any combination of organic parts. Now, if the\nsoul performs operations in which the organs have no part, it is evident\nthat the soul has an existence independent of the organs, and can live\nwithout them. Accordingly, the body is _not_ the \u201csubject and object\u201d of\nthe activity of the soul.\n\nThat \u201cwe are incapable of thought without intuitions\u201d is true, in the same\nsense as it is true that we are incapable of digesting without eating. But\nwould you admit that therefore no digestion is possible when you have\nceased eating? Or would you maintain that I cannot think to\u2010day of the\nobject I have seen yesterday? Certainly not. Yet it is evident that I have\nto\u2010day no sensible intuition of that object. That thought in itself is\n\u201ceternal\u201d is a phrase without meaning. Thought is never in itself; it is\nalways in the thinking subject. That \u201chuman thought is connected with the\nsenses\u201d in the present life is true, not, however, because of any\nintrinsic dependence of the intellect on the senses, but only because our\npresent mode of thinking implies both the intellectual and the sensible\nrepresentation. The consequence, \u201cour soul is therefore mortal,\u201d is\nevidently false, as well as the reason added, that \u201cneither consciousness\nnor recollection remains.\u201d Pomponatius was a bad philosopher, but still a\nphilosopher. His objection is vain, but still deserves an answer. His\nreasoning is sophistical, but there is still some meaning in the sophism\nitself. Not so with you. After three centuries of _progress_ you have not\nbeen able to find a single objection really worth answering, either in a\nscientific or in a philosophical point of view.\n\nPomponatius brings in another argument against immortality by saying that\nvirtue is much purer when it is \u201cpractised for itself without hope of\nreward.\u201d You quote these words (p. 214), but without gaining much\nadvantage from them. You might have argued that \u201cas the hope of reward\nmakes virtue less pure, it would be against reason to suppose that God can\noffer us a reward, the hope of which must thus blast our virtue.\u201d In your\nnext edition of _Force and Matter_ you may develop this new argument, if\nyou wish. Your future adversaries, however, will refute it, as I fancy,\nwith the greatest facility, by observing, first, that the hope of a reward\nmay accompany the practice of virtue without interfering with its purity;\nfor we can love virtue _for itself_ without renouncing the reward of\nvirtue. Do you not expect your fees from your patients as a compensation\nfor your services? And yet I presume that you would take it as an insult\nif any one pretended that you practise medicine for the love of money. It\nmight be observed, secondly, that as sin deserves punishment, so virtue\ndeserves reward; hence a wise and just Providence, which we must recognize\nas an attribute of Divinity, cannot leave the virtuous without a reward,\nnor the sinner without a punishment. And, since it is plain that neither\nthe reward nor the punishment is adequately meted out in this world, it\nremains that it should be given in the next. I shall not enter into any\ndevelopment of this argument, which is the most intelligible among those\nusually made use of by philosophers to prove the immortality of the human\nsoul. It suffices for me to have shown the utter falsity of your reasons\nagainst this philosophical and theological truth.\n\n\n\nXIX. Free\u2010Will.\n\n\n_Reader._ Do you admit free\u2010will?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cA free\u2010will,\u201d says Moleschott, \u201can act of the will which\nshould be independent of the sum of influences which determine man at\nevery moment and set limits to the most powerful, does not exist\u201d (p.\n239).\n\n_Reader._ Do you adopt this view?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Of course. \u201cMan is a product of nature in body and mind. Hence\nnot only what he is, but also what he does, wills, feels, and thinks,\ndepends upon the same natural necessity as the whole structure of the\nworld\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ Then free\u2010will, according to you, would be a mere dream;\npolitical and religious freedom would be delusions; _free_\u2010thinkers could\nnever exist; and, what may perhaps strike you most of all, _Free_\u2010masons\nwould be actual impossibilities.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe connection of nature is so essential and necessary that\nfree\u2010will, if it exists, can only have a very limited range\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ What! Do you mean that free\u2010will can exist, if \u201cwhat man does,\nwills, feels, and thinks depends upon the same natural necessity as the\nwhole structure of the world\u201d? Can you reconcile necessity and freedom?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cHuman liberty, of which all boast,\u201d says Spinoza, \u201cconsists\nsolely in this, that man is conscious of his will, and unconscious of the\ncauses by which it is determined\u201d (_ibid._)\n\n_Reader._ This answer does not show that liberty and necessity can be\nreconciled. It would rather show, if it were true, that there is no\nliberty; for if the human will is determined by any cause distinct from\nitself, its volition cannot be free. Accordingly, your assertion that\n\u201cfree\u2010will, _if it exist_, can only have a very limited range,\u201d is\ninconsistent with your principle of natural, essential, and universal\nnecessity, and should be changed into this: \u201cFree\u2010will cannot exist, even\nwithin the most limited range.\u201d If you admit the principle, you must not\nbe afraid of admitting the consequence; or if you shrink from the\nconsequence, it is your duty to abandon the principle from which it\ndescends.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe view I have expressed is no longer theoretical, but\nsufficiently established by facts, owing to that interesting new science,\nstatistics, which exhibits fixed laws in a mass of phenomena that until\nnow were considered to be arbitrary and accidental. The data for this\ntruth are frequently lost in investigating individual phenomena, but,\ntaken collectively, they exhibit a strict order inexorably ruling man and\nhumanity. It may without exaggeration be stated that at present most\nphysicians and practical psychologists incline to the view in relation to\nfree\u2010will that human actions are, in the last instance, dependent upon a\nfixed necessity, so that in every individual case free choice has only an\nextremely limited, if any, sphere of action\u201d (p. 240).\n\n_Reader._ \u201cLimited, if any\u201d! It is strange that you hesitate to say which\nof the two you mean to advocate. Why do you not say clearly, either that\nfree\u2010will has a certain sphere of action, or that it has no existence at\nall? Instead of explaining your opinion on this point, you try to obscure\nthe question. Individual free\u2010will is to be ascertained by the statistics\nof the individual, not by that of the collection.\n\nWhen a crowd moves towards a determinate spot, individuals are carried on\nto the same spot, be they willing or unwilling, by the irresistible wave\nthat presses onward. So also when any collection of men, from a nation to\na family, lives under the same laws, experiences the same wants, enjoys\nthe same rights, and holds the same practical principles, the general\nmovement of the mass carries in the same direction every individual member\nof the collection, by creating such conditions all around him as will\nmorally compel his following the general movement. But this is only\n_moral_ necessity, against which man can rebel in the same manner as he\ncan rebel against the divine or the human law; whereas our question\nregards the existence or non\u2010existence of a _physical_ necessity,\nphysically binding the human will, and determining every one of its\nactions. Hence, even were it true that \u201ca strict order inexorably rules\nhumanity\u201d\u2014that is, the collection of human beings\u2014it would not follow that\nthe individual will is inexorably ruled by a physical necessity.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe conduct and actions of every individual are dependent upon\nthe character, manners, and modes of thought of the nation to which he\nbelongs. These, again, are, to a certain extent, the necessary product of\nexternal circumstances under which they live and have grown up. Galton\nsays: \u2018The difference of the moral and physical character of the various\ntribes of South Africa depends on the form, the soil, and the vegetation\nof the parts they inhabit.\u2019 ... \u2018It is about two hundred and thirty\nyears,\u2019 says Desor, \u2018since the first colonists, in every respect true\nEnglishmen, came to New England. In this short time they have undergone\nconsiderable changes. A peculiar American type has been developed,\nchiefly, it appears, by the influence of the climate. An American is\ndistinguished by his long neck, his spare figure, and by something\nirritable and feverish in his character.... It has been observed that,\nduring the prevalence of easterly winds, the irritability of the Americans\nis considerably increased. The rapidity of the American state development,\nwhich surprises us, may thus, to a considerable extent, be ascribed to the\nclimate.\u2019 As in America, so have the English given rise to a new type in\nAustralia, especially in New South Wales....\u201d (pp. 241, 242).\n\n_Reader._ Has all this anything to do with the question of free\u2010will?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Certainly. \u201cIf the nations are thus in the aggregate, in regard\nto character and history, dependent upon external circumstances, the\nindividual is no less the product of external and internal natural\nactions, not merely in relation to his physical and moral nature, but in\nhis actions. These actions depend necessarily, in the first instance, upon\nhis intellectual individuality. But what is this intellectual\nindividuality, which determines man, and prescribes to him, in every\nindividual case, his mode of action with such force that there remains for\nhim but a minute space for free choice? What else is it but the necessary\nproduct of congenital physical and mental dispositions in connection with\neducation, example, rank, property, sex, nationality, climate, soil, and\nother circumstances? Man is subject to the same laws as plants and\nanimals\u201d (pp. 242, 243).\n\n_Reader._ I do not see any ground for this conclusion. Our \u201cintellectual\nindividuality\u201d is, I surmise, our individual soul, or our individual\nintellect. Now, our intellect may speculatively prescribe, in individual\ncases, some mode of action, but even then it lets our will free to obey\nthe prescription. Moreover, it is not true that our intellect prescribes,\nin every individual case, a determinate mode of action. How often do we\nnot hesitate, even after long intellectual examination, what line of\naction we should adopt! How often do we not entertain distressing doubts,\nand have no means of emerging from our state of perplexity! It is\ntherefore false that our \u201cintellectual individuality\u201d prescribes to us, in\nevery individual case, our mode of action. Hence your other assertion,\nthat the same intellectual individuality urges us \u201cwith such a force that\nthere remains for us but a minute space for free choice,\u201d needs no further\ndiscussion, as being contrary to constant experience and observation. It\nis curious that a man who professes, as you do, to argue from nothing but\nfacts, should coolly assume as true what is contradicted by universal\nexperience; but you have already accustomed us to such proceedings. What\nstrikes me is that your blunder cannot here be excused by the plea of\nignorance, as you cannot be ignorant of your own mode of action; whence\nyour reader must infer that your direct intention in writing is to cheat\nhim to the best of your power.\n\nAs to education, example, rank, climate, soil, and other circumstances, I\nadmit that they are calculated to favor the development of particular\nmental and physical dispositions; but I deny, first, that such\ndispositions are the \u201cintellectual individuality,\u201d and, secondly, that the\nexistence of such dispositions is incompatible with the exercise of free\u2010\nwill. Of course, we experience a greater attraction towards those things\nwhich we are accustomed to look upon as more conducive to our well\u2010being,\nand towards those actions of which we may have acquired the habit; but\nthis attraction is an invitation, not a compulsion, and we can freely do\nor choose the contrary, and are responsible for our choice.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cNatural dispositions, developed by education, example, etc.,\nare so powerful in human nature that neither deliberation nor religion can\neffectually neutralize them, and it is constantly observed that man rather\nfollows his inclinations. How frequently does it occur that a man, knowing\nhis intellectual character and the error of his ways, is yet unable to\nstruggle successfully against his inclinations!\u201d (p. 244.)\n\n_Reader._ I do not deny the power of natural or acquired dispositions, and\nI admit that men usually follow their inclinations; but this is not the\nquestion. The question is, \u201cDo men follow their inclinations freely or\nnecessarily?\u201d The assertion that \u201cneither deliberation nor religion can\neffectually neutralize\u201d such inclinations is ambiguous. If you mean that,\nin spite of all deliberation, we continue to feel those inclinations, the\nthing is obviously true, but proves nothing against free\u2010will; if, on the\ncontrary, you mean that, after deliberation, we cannot act against such\ninclinations, the assertion is evidently false; for we very often do\nthings most repugnant to our habitual inclinations.\n\nThat a man, knowing the error of his ways, \u201cis unable to struggle\nsuccessfully against his inclinations,\u201d is a wicked and scandalous\nproposition. As long as he remains in possession of his reason, man is\nable to struggle successfully, not only against his own inclinations, but\nalso against his predominant passions. The struggle may indeed be hard,\nfor it is a struggle; but its success is in the hands of man. How could\ncriminals be struck by the sword of justice, if, when committing crime,\nthey had been unable to check the temptation? Your doctrine would, if\nadopted, soon put an end to the existence of civil society, and transform\nmankind into a herd of brutes. If we cannot successfully struggle against\nour bad inclinations, then theft, murder, adultery, drunkenness, and all\nkinds of vice and iniquity are lawful, or at least justifiable, and\nnothing but tyranny can undertake to suppress them or to inflict\npunishment for them. Is it necessary to prove that a theory which leads to\nsuch results is a libel against humanity?\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ \u201cThe most dreadful crimes have, independently of the will of\nthe agent, been committed under the influence of abnormal corporeal\nconditions. It was reserved for modern science closely to examine such\ncases, and to establish disease as the cause of crimes which formerly were\nconsidered as the result of deliberate choice\u201d (p. 245).\n\n_Reader._ Modern science pretends, of course, to have established a great\nmany things. But how can you explain the fact that, when \u201cthe most\ndreadful crimes\u201d are committed by common criminals, science still\nconsiders and condemns them as a result of deliberate choice, whilst, if\nsuch crimes are committed by members of secret societies, science\nattributes them to abnormal corporeal conditions? Can we trust a science\nwhich so nicely discriminates between the Freemason and the Christian? Yet\neven your modern science, not to become ridiculous, is obliged, in order\nto absolve criminals, to put forward a plea of _temporary insanity_, thus\nacknowledging that a man who enjoys the use of his reason is always\nresponsible, as a free agent, for his actions. Hence, even according to\nyour modern science, our actions, so long as we are not struck with\ninsanity, are the result of our deliberate choice. It is only when you\nlose your brain that you are \u201cunder the influence of those abnormal\ncorporeal conditions\u201d which prevent all deliberate choice.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Yet man\u2019s freedom \u201cmust, in theory and practice, be restricted\nwithin the narrowest compass. Man is free, but his hands are bound; he\ncannot cross the limit placed by nature. For what is called free\u2010will,\nsays Cotta, is nothing but the result of the strongest motives\u201d (pp. 245,\n246).\n\n_Reader._ It is difficult, doctor, to hold a discussion with you. Your\nviews are contradictory, and your argumentation consists of assertions or\nquotations for which no good reason is, or can be, adduced. If man is\nfree, his hands are _not_ bound; and although he cannot cross the limits\nof nature by which he is surrounded, he has yet a great latitude for the\nexercise of freedom within said limits. We are not free to attain the end\nwithout using the means, to live on air, to fly to the moon, to add an\ninch to our stature; but these are limits of physical power, not limits of\nfree volition. Our will is moved by objects through the intellect; and no\nobject which is apprehended as unnecessary to our intellectual nature can\nnecessitate the will. To admit that what is presented to the will as\nunnecessary can produce necessity, is to admit an effect greater than its\ncause. Hence the range of free\u2010will is as wide as creation itself; for no\ncreated object can be considered by the intellect as necessary to our\nrational nature. One object alone may be so considered\u2014that is, God, whose\npossession alone is sufficient, and therefore necessary, to fill the\ncravings of our heart. Thus man\u2019s freedom is not to be restricted \u201cwithin\nthe narrowest compass,\u201d as you pretend, but is to be stretched to the very\nlimits of creation.\n\nBut \u201cwhat is called free\u2010will,\u201d you say, \u201cis nothing but the result of the\nstrongest motives.\u201d I answer that the stronger the motive is, the intenser\nis the movement of the will, since the effect must be proportionate to its\ncause. But the movement of the will is not a reflex act; it is merely an\nindispensable condition for it, and its existence does not necessarily\nentail the existence of the rational volition. The first movements of our\nappetitive faculty are not formally free; for they are not originated by\nthe will, but by the objects. It is only when we reflect upon ourselves\nand our movements that we become capable of rationally approving or\nreprobating that towards which or against which we feel moved; and\nconsequently it is only after such a reflection that our will makes its\nchoice. Now, it is impossible that the rational soul, reflecting upon\nitself and its first movements towards a finite good, should consider its\npossession as a necessity of its own nature; for all good that is finite\nis deficient, and if the rational soul considered finite good as necessary\nto its happiness, it would in fact consider its deficiency also as\nnecessary to its happiness; which cannot be. Hence, whatever the strength\nof the motives by which we are impelled, no movement excited by finite\ngood interferes with the freedom of the volition.\n\nAnd now, is it true that our choice always answers to the strongest\nmotives? This question may be understood in two ways, according as the\nmotives are considered objectively or subjectively. The motives which are\nthe strongest objectively may become the weakest subjectively, and _vice\nversa_. It is with our will moved by different motives as with the lever\nloaded with different weights. The heavier weight absolutely prevails over\nthe lighter; but if the arms of the lever be suitably determined, the\nlighter will prevail over the heavier. Thus the lightest motives may\nprevail over the strongest ones, when our soul adapts itself to them, by\nshifting, so to say, its own fulcrum, and thus altering the momenta of the\nopposite forces. The motives which prevail are therefore the strongest in\nthis sense only: that the will has made them such; and, properly speaking,\nwe should not even say that they are the strongest, but only that they are\nthe most enhanced by the will.\n\nThese explanations may be new to you, but they are the result of\nexperience and observation. I abstain from developing them further, as it\nis no part of my duty to vindicate them by positive arguments. No truth is\nso universally and unavoidably recognized as the existence of free\u2010will. A\nman of common sense must be satisfied of this truth by simply reflecting\nupon his own acts. Criminals may pretend that they have not the power to\navoid crime; but doctors should not countenance such a pretension contrary\nto evidence. To excuse crime on such a miserable plea is to encourage the\ntriumph of villany and the overthrow of human society.\n\n_B\u00fcchner._ Indeed, it has been said that \u201cthe partisans of this doctrine\ndenied the discernment of crime, and that they desired the acquittal of\nevery criminal, by which the state and society would be thrown into a\nstate of anarchy.... What is true is that the partisans of these modern\nideas hold different opinions as regards crime, and would banish that\ncowardly and irreconcilable hatred which the state and society have\nhitherto cherished with so much hypocrisy as regards the \u2018malefactor\u2019 \u201d\n(p. 247).\n\n_Reader._ To denounce the state and society as hypocritical is scarcely a\ngood method of exculpating yourself. Yet your denunciation is false, so\nfar at least as regards Christian states and Christian society; for as\nregards anti\u2010Christian societies connected with Freemasonry, and states\nfallen under their degrading influence and tyranny, I fully admit that\nthey cannot, without hypocrisy, hate malefactors. Those who plunder whole\nnations, who corrupt public education, who persecute religion, who sow\neverywhere the seeds of atheism, materialism, and utilitarianism, have no\nright to hate malefactors. As to those who teach that \u201cneither\ndeliberation nor religion can effectually neutralize the dispositions of\nman,\u201d and that \u201cman, knowing the error of his ways, is yet unable to\nstruggle successfully against his inclinations,\u201d what right have they to\nspeak of crime or of malefactors? Can there be crime and malefactors\nwithout free\u2010will? You see, doctor, that your materialistic doctrines do\naway with all morality, and that a society imbued with them cannot be\nmoral. Hence it is bad taste in you to declaim against modern society, as\nyou do (p. 247), on account of vices which are nothing but the result of\nmaterialism. \u201cWe are astonished,\u201d you say, \u201cthat our society is so\nticklish as regards certain truths taught by science\u2014a society whose\nsocial virtue is nothing but hypocrisy covered by a veil of morality. Just\ncast a glance at this society, and tell us whether it acts from virtuous,\ndivine, or even moral motives! Is it not, in fact, a _bellum omnium contra\nomnes_? Does it not resemble a race\u2010course, where every one does all he\ncan to outrun or even to destroy the other?... Every one does what he\nbelieves he can do without incurring punishment. He cheats and abuses\nothers as much as possible, being convinced that they would do the same to\nhim. Any one who acts differently is treated as an idiot. Is it not the\nmost refined egotism which is the spring of this social mechanism? And\ndistinguished authors who best know human society, do they not constantly\ndepict in their narrations the cowardice, disloyalty, and hypocrisy of\nthis European society? A society which permits human beings to die of\nstarvation on the steps of houses filled with victuals; a society whose\nforce is directed to oppress the weak by the strong, has no right to\ncomplain that the natural sciences subvert the foundations of its\nmorality.\u201d These last words should be slightly modified; for the truth is\nthat such a society is the victim of your modern theories, which you\ndignify with the name of _natural sciences_, and which have already\nsubverted the foundations of social morality. The society you describe in\nthis passage is not the old Christian society formed on the doctrine of\nthe Gospel, but the materialistic society formed on modern thought. The\nmoral distemper of modern society is the most irrefragable condemnation of\nall your doctrines. By its fruits we know the tree.\n\n\n\nConclusion.\n\n\nWe ask the indulgence of our readers for having led them through so many\ndisgusting details of pestilential philosophy. Without such details it was\nimpossible to give a clear idea of the futility and perversity which\ncharacterize the teaching of one of the greatest luminaries of modern\ninfidelity. We have shown that Dr. B\u00fcchner\u2019s _Force and Matter_, in spite\nof all its pretensions, is, in a philosophical point of view, a complete\nfailure. We have omitted many of the author\u2019s passages, which we thought\ntoo profane to be inserted in these pages, and which, as consisting of\nvain declamation, arrogance, and assumption, had no need of refutation. As\nto our mode of dealing with our adversary, we have been pained to hear\nthat some consider it harsh. We beg to say that a man who employs his\ntalents to war against his Creator has no right to expect much regard from\nany of God\u2019s creatures. Men of this type are frequently treated with too\nmuch forbearance, owing to the false idea that every literary character\nshould be treated as a gentleman. Blasphemers are not gentlemen, nor\nshould they be dealt with as gentlemen. They should be made to feel the\ndisgrace which attaches to their moral degradation. Such was the practice\nin the good old times; and we may justify it by the example of One who did\nnot hesitate, in his infinite wisdom, publicly to rebuke the Scribes and\nPharisees in terms not at all complimentary, and certainly much stronger\nthan those which we have used in censuring the author of _Force and\nMatter_.\n\n\n\n\nThe Ice\u2010Wigwam Of Minnehaha.\n\n\nThe winter of 1855\u201056, memorable for its excessive and prolonged cold,\nwhile it brought suffering to many a household throughout the land, and is\nrecalled by that fact almost solely, is fixed in my memory by its\nverification of an old Indian legend of the ice\u2010wigwam of Minnehaha.\nLongfellow has made this name familiar to the English\u2010speaking world, and\nbeyond. A little waterfall, whose silvery voice is for ever singing a\nlove\u2010song to the mighty Father of Waters, and into whose bosom it hastens\nto cast itself, bears the name and personates the Indian maiden.\n\nOn the right bank of the Mississippi, between the Falls of St. Anthony and\nthe mouth of the Minnesota, is a broad, level prairie, starting from the\nhigh bluffs of the Mississippi, and running far out in the direction of\nsundown. In the month of June this prairie is profusely decked with bright\nflowers, forming a carpet which the looms of the world will never rival.\nStretching far into the west is a tortuous ribbon of rich, dark green,\nmarking the path of a stream which stealthily glides beneath the shadows\nof the long grass. As it nears the eastern border of the prairie, this\nstream becomes more bold. Its expanded surface glistens in the noon\u2010day\nsun. Here it passes slowly under a rustic bridge, upon an almost seamless\nbed of rock. Then its motion quickens, as if in haste to reach the ledge\nwhich overhangs the broad valley of the Mississippi, when, with one bound,\nit plunges into its basin sixty feet below. This is Minnehaha, the little\nhoiden who throws herself upon the outstretched arm of the great Father of\nWaters with a merry laugh that wins the heart of every comer. Beautiful\nchild of the plain! How many have sought you in your flower\u2010decked home,\nand loved you! Hoiden you may be; but coquette, never. Your life is freely\ngiven to be absorbed in the life of him you seek.\n\nBut Minnehaha is at times the ward of another\u2014an old man whose white locks\nare so often the sport of the winds, whose very presence makes the limbs\nof mortals tremble, and their teeth chatter at his approach. Yet he is\nwondrous kind to his beautiful ward\u2014touchingly kind is the Ice\u2010King of the\nNorth. When the blasts from his realms, freighted with the chill of death,\nscourge the lands over which they pass, and a silence awe\u2010inspiring and\ncomplete falls on all; when the flowers are being buried beneath the snow,\nand the mighty river bound with ice, then it is the ice\u2010king exhausts his\npowers to build for Minnehaha a palace worthy of her. The summer through\n(and spring and autumn scarce are known where Minnehaha dwells) the maid\nhas worn about her, as a veil, a cloud of mist and spray. O wondrous\narchitect! Of mist and spray you build a palace even Angelo might not\nconceive in wildest dreams, were marbles, opals, pearls, all gems and\nstones and precious metals, cut and fashioned ready to his hand! Thy\nbreath, O ice\u2010king! fashions mist and spray into grand temples, palaces,\nmore chaste and cold than any stuff Italian quarries yield! Behold the\nice\u2010king build! He breathes upon the mist, and on all sides strong\u2010based\nfoundations fix about the space he would enclose. The walls on these rise\nup, as mist and spray are gathered there and set with his chill breath.\nHeight on height they rise, until the arch is sprung; and then the dome is\ngathered in to meet the solid rock above, and all the outer work is done.\nWithin, the decorations form as do the stalactites within the caves. Then\nthese are covered with the diamond frost, such as December\u2019s shrubs and\ntrees so oft put on to greet the rising sun. And Minnehaha, so the legend\nsays, sings here the winter through. This is the masterpiece of the great\nice\u2010king. Solomon in all his glory possessed no temple to compare with\nthis, nor Queen of Sheba ever saw its counterpart.\n\nA party of four started from St. Paul in the latter part of March, 1856,\nto visit this wonder of the North. For many years the winters had not been\nprotracted enough to permit the planting of a Maypole upon the ice of Lake\nPepin, nor had eye seen the ice\u2010wigwam of Minnehaha. Marquette, Hennepin,\nLesueur, and the early Catholic missionaries had carried with them their\nlove for the month of Mary into that cold region, and settlers and\nChristian Indians made the opening day of this month one of joyful\nfestivity. To plant a May\u2010pole upon the ice of Lake Pepin (which is always\nthe last point on the Upper Mississippi where the ice breaks up, as no\ncurrent helps to cut or break it) was quite an event. The May\u2010pole, decked\nwith garlands of green and dotted with the many\u2010colored crocuses that\nspring up and bloom at the very edge of the melting snow, and long before\nthe drifts and packs have disappeared, if planted on the ice, permitted\ndancing on its smooth surface, and pleasanter footing than the loose,\nmoistened soil. May\u2010day can seldom be pleasantly celebrated in that region\nout\u2010of\u2010doors, except upon the ice. Ice on Lake Pepin, then, is to the\nyoung folk of that latitude as important an event as a bright, sunny day\nin latitudes below.\n\nDuring the month of March, 1856, a bright, warm sun melted the snows to\nsuch an extent as to cover the level prairies with several inches of\nwater, confined within banks of melting snow. Wheels were taking the place\nof runners. Our party drove over the undulating prairie to St. Anthony,\ncrossed the Mississippi by the first suspension bridge which spanned its\nwaters just above the Falls of St. Anthony, and from Minneapolis, on the\nwest bank, moved out into the dead level which extends south and west\ntoward the Minnesota River. A splashing drive of four miles brought us to\nthe bridge above the Falls of Minnehaha, from which we could see on our\nleft a cone of dirty ice, disfigured here and there with sticks and stones\nand clods of earth; its base far down within an ice\u2010lined gorge, its top\nclose pressed upon an overhanging ledge. Was _this_ the wonder we had come\nto see? A wonder, then, we came. But we did not turn back at this\nunsightly scene. There was a charm about this legend of Minnehaha\u2019s ice\u2010\nwigwam that surely did not have its source in the charmless thing before\nus. Nor could we believe the imagination of the red man capable of drawing\nso poetic an inspiration from so prosaic a source. We therefore set to\nwork to discover the hidden things, if such there were. With large stones\nwe broke away the ice about the top of the cone, hoping to peer through\nthe opening by which the water of the stream entered. We failed in this,\nbut let in the western sun through the opening we had made. Then we\ndescended to the bottom of the gorge, over ice and snow, to seek a new\npoint of observation. Here, to the east, lay the broad, snow\u2010covered\nvalley of the Mississippi; before us, at the west, rose the cone of ice\nfull sixty feet in height, its wrinkled surface all discolored and\ndefaced, inspiring naught of poetry, stifling imagination. Moving\nnorthward around the ungainly mass, and part way up the north side of the\ngorge, we reached a terrace which led behind the cone and underneath the\noverhanging ledge. We enter from the north (by broad steps of ice, each\nrising three or four inches above the other) a hall twelve by twenty feet,\nfloored, columned, curtained, arched, and walled with ice. At somewhat\nregular intervals elliptical columns of ice rose from floor to spring of\narch. Between these columns curtains hung, with convolutes and folds and\nborders, filling all the space\u2014and all of ice. Above us was the ledge of\nrock overhanging the basin of the fall, behind us the bluff, and under our\nfeet the terrace of earth midway the cone; and all was paved and curtained\nand ceiled with ice. Before us stood the upper half of the cone, meeting\nthe ledge above.\n\nWhile giving play to admiration of the architectural beauties of the\nplace, our ears were greeted with a sound muffled or distant, as of\nfalling water. Whence could this come? Could there be life or motion\nwithin that frozen mass? In the chill of that drear winter was not the\nlaughing voice of Minnehaha hushed?\n\nThe sun was dropping down the western sky, and a shadow lengthened in the\ngorge below. The broken edges of the ice which overhung the quiet stream\ngave back the borrowed rays of sunlight more brilliant than they came.\n\nOne of the party had, slung to his side, the customary long\u2010knife of those\ndays. With it in hand he started in search of the creature whose voice\nlured him on, not, as the siren, to destruction, but to a scene of beauty,\nbrilliance, glory, with which the fabled cave of Stalacta was but as\nshadow. Between him and the voice he sought a wall of ice imposed. The\nknife at once was called to play its part. Between two columns this wall\nwas cut away, a window opened, through which we saw the glories of the\nwigwam. Our eyes were dazzled and our senses mazed. The curtain rent\nexposed to view the inner surface of a dome high\u2010arched and perfect in its\ncurves. From base, through all its height, it was hung with myriad\nstalactites of ice, which seemed to point us to the laughing voice still\nrippling on the waters far below. These stalactites were covered thick\nwith richest frost\u2010work; and from ten thousand upon thousand points the\nglinting light fell off in floods. Near to the centre of the upper dome\nthe waters of the stream pour in in one broad sheet. An instant only is\nsuch form preserved. The sheet of water breaks, and countless globes, from\nraindrops to a sphere the hand would scarcely grasp with ease, come down,\nand break still more in passing through the air, until within the basin\nall is mist and spray. These globes at first arrange themselves in systems\nnot unlike the planetariums of the schools, where sun and planets, with\ntheir satellites, are shown the youths, to aid such minds as seek to learn\nthe grander works of God in space. These systems, as they fall, are\ncountless; and by common impulse, which means law, the smaller range\nthemselves about a greater central orb. And so they pass through space, to\nfall upon the bosom of the pool in mist. Is there no emblem here of life\nand God?\n\nAnd as we look, behold! the walls and dome are striped and slashed with\nsilver and with gold; then barred; and then again are panelled with this\nsilver sheen and gold. The gold and silver interchange positions, fade,\nreturn, as the Northern Lights dissolve or chase each other here and\nthere. The mystery of this party\u2010colored scene was soon resolved. The ice\nwe broke away with stones had let the sun shine through the opening, and\nthe waters, flowing in, disputed passage with the light. There is an ebb\nand flow in running water so like to pulse\u2010beats that it may not seem\nstrange to those who stop to think, that ruder men have worshipped streams\nas gods. This ebb and flow upon the ledge so changed the depth of water\nthere that the sunlight, as it struggled through these different depths\n(for ever changing), cast the light in silver or in gold upon the walls\nand dome.\n\nAnd now the sun bows down still more, and shines still more within the\ndome; its rays are kissed by countless water\u2010drops, and changed by that\ncaress from white to all the colors of the bow or prism. But, strange, no\nbow is formed; but in its stead a circle of the varied hues is poised\nwithin the midst of all this splendor, as though the sun and flood had\ncome to crown the Indian maid, and vie with the ice\u2010king in doing fullest\nhomage to his ward.\n\nSuch is the legend realized. The time, the accidents, and every impediment\nwe overcame seemed but steps so prearranged that we might see complete the\nefforts of the cold, the light, the water, all combined to create The\nBeautiful. It was the meeting of extremes in harmony for common end,\ninstead of conflict. Here was a grand display of powers without jealousy.\nThe cold took irresistible possession of the water, mist, and spray, and\nreared a work that art can scarcely copy. But all was cold and chaste and\nwhite. The light possessed itself of the water also, but with a touch so\ndelicate and warm that color mantled the coldest, chastest, whitest ice.\n\nDo you, dear reader, imagine this a fancy sketch? Be undeceived. Three of\nthe \u201cfour\u201d still verify its truth. The fourth has fallen upon the\noutstretched arm of the great Father of mankind. It is in tribute to his\nmemory that I write; for never soul more chaste, or heart more warm, or\nlife more full of love for all the beautiful, made up a man.\n\n\n\n\nA Russian Sister Of Charity.\n\n\nBy The Rev. C. Tondini, Barnabite\n\nOn the fifth of August died in Paris Sister Nathalie Narishkin, a Russian\nby birth, and descended from the same family from which sprang the mother\nof Peter the Great. Born on the 1/13th of May, 1820, Sister Nathalie\nNarishkin abjured the Greek Church August the 15th, 1844. This first step\nhad cost her a fearful struggle\u2014that struggle of heart for which Jesus\nChrist prepared us when he said, \u201cI came to set a man at variance against\nhis father, _and a daughter against her mother_\u201d (S. Matt. x. 35). We mean\nthat endurance which is perhaps the hardest of martyrdoms, at least when\nGod requires it of a soul whose love of him is combated by an unusual\ntenderness of affection towards the authors of her being. Such was\nNathalie Narishkin.\n\nBut as any sacrifice we offer to God enables us, by strengthening our\nwill, to make fresh sacrifices for his love, she had not yet attained the\nage of twenty\u2010eight when she resolved to follow more closely the footsteps\nof our Lord, and in March, 1848, she entered the novitiate of the Sisters\nof Charity in Paris. A few years afterwards she was named superioress of\nthe convent in the Rue St. Guillaume, where she died.\n\nForeigners who visit Catholic countries often imagine themselves\nacquainted with Catholicity when they have hastily glanced through the\nstreets of our capitals, visited the museums, the public buildings, and\ntheatres, and inspected the Catholics in the churches at some mid\u2010day or\none o\u2019clock Mass on Sundays. Hence it follows that in reality they have\nnothing to relate concerning the influence of the Catholic faith in the\nsanctification of souls. What would have been their edification, and\nperhaps surprise, had they visited that convent of the Rue St. Guillaume,\nand had the good\u2010fortune to converse with Sister Nathalie! No one who\napproached her could help feeling that he was in presence of a soul in\ncontinual union with God, and in whom self\u2010abnegation and the profoundest\nhumility had grown, as it were, into a second nature. With these\nqualities, which at once struck the beholders, she combined the most\nrefined gentleness of manners and language\u2014a gentleness which, let us\nremark, was in her the same when soliciting from the Emperor Alexander\nII., at the Elys\u00e9e, in 1867, permission to enter Russia for the purpose of\nnursing the sick attacked with cholera, as when answering the meanest\nbeggar asking at her hands a morsel of bread. \u201cEvery one who had to deal\nwith Sister Narishkin departed satisfied\u201d\u2014this is the general testimony of\nall who ever had occasion to speak with her.\n\nIt is needless to add that, with regard to charity\u2014that virtue which is\nthe special vocation of the daughters of S. Vincent de Paul, and the\nsurest token of true Christianity, as pointed out by Christ himself\u2014Sister\nNathalie was second to no one; and this was made manifest on the day of\nher funeral by the multitude of poor who accompanied her remains to the\ncemetery, and the tears they shed on their way to the grave. What is the\npomp of the sepulture of kings and the great ones of the nations when\ncompared to this tribute to the memory of a Catholic Sister?\n\nFather Gagarin, S.J., himself a Russian convert, though scarcely recovered\nfrom an illness, and in spite of his age and physical sufferings\u2014which did\nnot permit him to walk without difficulty, and leaning on a stick\u2014would\nnot fail to follow the funeral on foot. The body was deposited in the\nCemetery of Mont Parnasse\u2014in that same cemetery where for fifteen years\npast have reposed the remains of that other Russian convert and Barnabite\nfather, Schouvaloff, who, speaking of those among his countrymen who had\nbecome Catholics, said: \u201cFear not, little flock; we are the first\u2010fruits\nof that union which every Christian should desire, and which we know will\ntake place. Fear not; our sufferings and our prayers will find grace\nbefore God. _Russia will be Catholic._\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNew Publications.\n\n\n THE ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC FAMILY ALMANAC FOR THE UNITED STATES, FOR\n THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1875. Calculated for Different Parallels of\n Latitude, and Adapted for Use throughout the Country. New York:\n The Catholic Publication Society.\n\n\nThis annual is already known in almost every Catholic home in the land.\nIts cheapness places it within the reach of all, whilst its literary and\nartistic excellence renders it acceptable even to the most fastidious. The\nissue for 1875 even surpasses its predecessors in the variety of subjects\ntreated and in the beauty of its illustrations.\n\nPublications of this kind undoubtedly do very much to awaken a truly\nCatholic interest in the contemporary history of the church, and therefore\ntend to enlarge the views and widen the sympathies of our people. The\nlife\u2010current of the universal church is borne through the whole earth, and\nwhatever anywhere concerns her welfare is of importance to Catholics\neverywhere.\n\nThe opening sketch in the _Almanac_ for the year which even now \u201cwaiteth\nat the door\u201d carries us to Rome, in a biographical notice of Cardinal\nBarnabo, whose name will long be held in grateful remembrance in the\nUnited States.\n\nThere are also sketches of the lives of the late Archbishop Kenrick,\nArchbishop Blanc of New Orleans, Bishop Whelan. Bishop McFarland\u2014brief,\nbut sufficiently comprehensive to give one an insight into the character\nand labors of these apostolic men. Col. Meline and Dr. Huntington, who\nstrove so faithfully and so successfully, as men of letters, to defend and\nadorn Catholic truth, receive due tribute, and are held up as examples for\nthose of our Catholic young men to whom God has given talent and\nopportunity of education.\n\nCardinal Mezzofanti, the greatest of linguists; Cardinal Allen, who was\nthe first president, and we may say founder, of the Douay College, which,\nduring the darkest period of the history of the Catholic Church in\nEngland, gave so many noble confessors of the faith to Great Britain;\nArchbishop Ledochowski, who is to\u2010day suffering for Christ in the dungeons\nof Ostrowo, all pass before us in the pages of the _Catholic Almanac_ for\n1875.\n\nThen we have sketches of John O\u2019Donovan, the famous Irish antiquarian; of\nFather Gahan, the great Irish preacher; of Father Clavigero, the historian\nof Mexico and California, and of Joan of Arc, whose name may yet be\ninscribed by the church among those of her saints. The miscellaneous\nmatter with which the present issue of the _Catholic Almanac_ is filled\nhas been chosen with admirable tact and with a special view to the wants\nof our own people.\n\nIf the standard of excellence which this publication has now reached be\nmaintained, it cannot fail to command a steadily increasing patronage, and\nto become in yet wider circles an instrument for good.\n\n\n NOTES ON THE SECOND PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. By Rev. S.\n Smith, D.D., formerly Professor of Sacred Scripture, Canon Law,\n and Ecclesiastical History at Seton Hall Seminary. New York: P.\n O\u2019Shea. 1874.\n\n\nThe author of these _Notes_ makes his observations on a considerable\nnumber of very practical questions, some of which are of the greatest\nmoment and of no small difficulty, with great modesty and moderation of\nlanguage. Evidently, he seeks to promote piety, discipline, and the well\u2010\nbeing of the church in an orderly manner, and with due respect to\nauthority and established usage. _The Decrees of the Second Plenary\nCouncil of Baltimore_ is intended as a text\u2010book of instruction for the\nclergy and seminarists on what we may call \u201cpastoral theology\u201d\u2014that is, on\nthe whole range of subjects relating to the conduct, preaching, and\nadministration of those who are invested to a lesser or greater degree\nwith the pastoral office. The author makes the Acts of the Council\ntherefore the basis of his _Notes_, or familiar disquisitions on practical\ntopics of canon law, giving also a general exposition of certain\nfundamental canonical principles and laws, chiefly derived from the\nstandard authors Soglia and Tarquini. Some valuable documents are also\ncontained in the appendix. Such a work as this is evidently one that, if\nit can be made complete, and also carry with it sufficient intrinsic and\nextrinsic authority to give its statements and opinions due weight, will\nbe one of great utility. Due respect to the author, who has given us the\nresults of careful and conscientious labor, as well as the great\nimportance of the topics he discusses, demand that we should not attempt\nto express a judgment upon his work or the opinions contained in it\nwithout a minute and detailed examination and discussion of every point,\nsupported by reasons and authorities. We are not prepared to do this at\npresent. We may say, however, that, in our opinion, a work of this kind\ncannot easily be brought to completion by a first and single effort. It\nis, in many respects, _tentative_ in its character. As such, we regard it\nas a promising effort, creditable to its author, and in many ways likely\nto prove a serviceable manual for the clergy and those who are engaged in\nteaching canon law in seminaries.\n\n\n THE MISTRESS OF THE MANSE. By J. G. Holland. New York: Scribner,\n Armstrong & Co. 1874.\n\n\nWe never pardon the reviewer who praises a novel by telling us its plot.\nTherefore we shall not spoil the pleasure of the reader by revealing the\nstory of this poem. We will only say that the heroine is the wife of a\n\u201ccountry parson,\u201d and that their conjugal life is beautifully drawn. A\nCatholic will not find anything to move his righteous indignation, as he\ndid in the author\u2019s _Marble Prophecy_ though here and there he will come\nupon something which\n\n\n \u201cIn the light of deeper eyes\n Is matter for a flying smile.\u201d\n\n\nFor instance, a poet who can write such Tennysonian verse does not blush\nto place in the same \u201cevangelical\u201d library \u201cAugustine\u201d and \u201cAnsel\u201d (we\nsuppose he means S. Anselm) by the side of\n\n\n \u201cGreat Luther, with his great disputes,\n And Calvin with his finished scheme.\u201d (!)\n\n\nAfter the flood of light which even Protestant research has poured on the\ncharacters of Luther and Calvin, how can a poet (of all men) dare to hold\nthem up to admiration?\n\n\n MARIA MONK\u2019S DAUGHTER. An Autobiography. By Mrs. L. St. John\n Eckel. New York: Published for the Author by the United States\n Publishing Co.., 13 University Place. 1874.\n\n\nThe writer of this notice well remembers reading, when a boy of fifteen,\nthe _Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk_, and _Six Months in a Convent_, by\nRebecca Reed. With great satisfaction he recalls the fact that his own\nfather, who was a Presbyterian minister of Connecticut, together with a\nvery large number of other most respectable Protestants, condemned and\nrepudiated the calumnies of Maria Monk from the first moment of their\npublication. The effect of these books and of the exposure so honorably\nmade by Col. Stone on our own young mind, and undoubtedly upon the minds\nof thousands besides, to open our eyes to the falsehood and dishonesty of\nthe gross misrepresentations of the Catholic religion and its professors\nwhich have been rife among Protestants, and are still prevalent among the\nless enlightened of them, both gentle and simple. Afterwards the task\ndevolved upon us to prepare a set of documents concerning Rebecca Reed and\nMaria Monk which Bishop England had collected, for publication in the\nedition of his works issued by his successor in the see of Charleston.\nWhile we were correcting the last proofs of the printer at Philadelphia,\nthe _Times_ of that morning furnished us the last item of news respecting\nthe unfortunate Maria Monk, which came to the knowledge of the public\nbefore the publication of the volume under notice, viz., that she had died\nin a cell on Blackwell\u2019s Island. After the lapse of twenty\u2010five years, we\nfind before us the autobiography of a daughter of Maria Monk, who seeks to\nexpiate her mother\u2019s crime, and to make reparation for the wrong done to\nthe clergy and religious of the Catholic Church by her pretended\ndisclosures made in the fictitious character of an escaped nun. The\nunhappy young woman herself, though we believe she was the daughter of an\nEnglish officer at Montreal, seems to have had a very unkind mother, and,\nfor some reason to us unknown, to have been brought up without education,\nand early turned adrift without any protection. Having fallen into a\ncondition of desperate misery, she resorted to the expedient of inventing\nher _Awful Disclosures_ in order to get money and escape from present\nwretchedness. The men\u2014far more malicious and base in their villainy than\nthis poor forlorn girl, so much sinned against and so fearfully punished\nfor her own sins that we pity more than we blame her\u2014who prepared the vile\nbook of _Awful Disclosures_, and published it under the name of HOWE AND\nBATES, cheated her out of her share of the profits. We are glad to see\ntheir infamy once more exposed, and the honor of the Catholic religion\navenged. Although the most honorable class of Protestants are exempt from\ncomplicity with this and similar gross libels on Catholics and caricatures\nof all they hold dear and sacred, nevertheless their cause and name are\ndisgraced by the fact that they are so frequently and generally implicated\nin a mode of warfare on the Catholic Church which is dishonorable. The\nstatements which are continually made current among them respecting\nCatholics and their religion, and which are so generally believed, do no\ncredit to their intelligence or fairness. We remember hearing the\nArchbishop of Westminster remark that the most ridiculous fables about the\nCatholic religion are accepted as truth among the aristocratic residents\nof the West End of London. The coarse and angry assaults of the English\npress upon the Marquis of Ripon, on account of his conversion, show, what\nDr. Newman has so humorously and graphically described, the extent and\nobstinacy of vulgar prejudice and hostility in England. There is less\nhere, and it is diminishing; yet there is enough to make Mrs. Eckel\u2019s\naudacious spring into the arena of combat against it well timed as well as\nchivalrous.\n\nWe do not intend a criticism on her book, but merely, as an act of justice\nto one who has braved the criticism of the world, to aid herself and her\nbook to meet this criticism fairly, without prejudice from any false\nimpressions which may be taken from its title. We therefore mention the\nfact, which may not be known to those who have not read the book or any\ncorrect account of its contents, that Maria Monk, according to the\nprobable evidence furnished in the book, and which does not seem to have\nanything opposed to it, was really married to a man who was a gentleman by\nbirth and of respectable connections, although reduced by his youthful\nfollies to a condition which was always precarious and sometimes very\ndestitute. Mrs. Eckel is the offspring of this marriage. After a childhood\nof hardship, she was adopted into a respectable family related to her\nfather, Mr. St. John, and made the most strenuous efforts to acquire the\neducation and good manners which are suitable for a lady. She married a\ngentleman of respectable position and of very superior intellectual gifts\nand culture, Mr. Eckel, who afterwards fell into distressed circumstances,\nand died in a very tragical manner. Mrs. Eckel separated herself from him\nsome time before this occurred, and very shortly before the birth of her\ndaughter, as it seems to us for very good reasons which exonerate her from\nall blame for the misery into which her husband fell when he lost the\nsupport of her sustaining arm. The remarkable history of her subsequent\ncareer in Paris must be sought for in the pages of the autobiography. The\ncircles in which she moved while there were the highest, and many of her\nintimate friends were persons of not only exalted rank, but of the most\nexemplary piety, and of universal fame among Catholics. Of her own accord,\nwithout either compulsion or advice, she did what she was not bound in\nconscience to do\u2014abandoned her brilliant position in the world, made known\nthe secret of her origin, and has now thrown open the history of her life\nto the inspection of the world. That history must plead for itself and for\nthe author before impartial and judicious readers. In our opinion it is\nsubstantially true. We believe the author has written it from a good\nmotive, and that she is sincere in her statements. Divested of all the\nadventitious glitter of the successful woman of the world, she presents\nherself for precisely what she is in herself, and, as we think, is far\nmore worthy of honor and respect now than ever before, or than the most\nbrilliant marriage in France could have made her.\n\nEverybody who can read this book will do so, as a matter of course, even\nif they have no other motive than they would have in reading one of\nThackeray\u2019s romances. It is a romance in real life, and an instance of the\ntruth of the old adage, \u201cTruth is stranger than fiction.\u201d Such fictitious\nworks as _Lothair_ and the _Sch\u00f6nberg\u2010Cotta Family_ have served as a\npolemical weapon against the Catholic Church, and we do not see why a\nromantic but true history, of much greater literary merit than the whole\nclass of that sort of trash, should not answer a good purpose on the other\nside. If the readers of the book find in it many things open to criticism,\nand jarring upon a delicate and cultivated Catholic sense of propriety and\nreverence, they should remember that the author lacks the advantage of\nlong and careful Catholic discipline, is still comparatively young, and a\nnovice in everything that relates to the spiritual and religious life. She\ndoes not profess to give the history of her life as a model to be\nimitated, or to instruct others as one competent to teach on spiritual\nmatters, but to write her confessions for the encouragement of other\nwayward and wandering souls, and to speak out freely what she thinks as\nshe goes along, with very little regard to censure or fear of it.\n\nThere seems a Nemesis in the publication of such a book which should give\na salutary lesson to those who dare to throw dirt on the spotless robe of\nthe Catholic Church. We have often thought that this Nemesis is frequently\napparent of late in the punishments which have come from divine or human\njustice on notorious corrupters of public and private morals. Dreadful as\nare the actual corruptions and the corrupt tendencies in the bosom of our\npolitical and social state, we hope this is a sign that God has not\nabandoned us. It is hardly necessary to say that this is not a book\nsuitable for very young people.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CATHOLIC WORLD. VOL. XX., NO. 118.\u2014JANUARY, 1875.\n\n\n\n\nThe Persecution Of The Church In The German Empire.\n\n\nConcluded.\n\nIn the spring of 1870, whilst the discussion concerning the opportuneness\nof defining the infallibility of the Pope was attracting the attention of\nevery one, and when the distant mutterings of the Franco\u2010Prussian war were\nnot yet audible, the leading organs of the Party of Progress in Berlin\nsought to weigh the probable results of a definition, by the Vatican\nCouncil, of the much\u2010talked\u2010of dogma. In case the Pope should be declared\ninfallible, the _Volkszeitung_, of Berlin, affirmed that many would favor\nthe interference of the government to prevent all further intercourse\nbetween the bishops of Prussia and the Roman Pontiff, which would result\nin the creation of a national church wholly independent of Rome.\n\nBut this organ of the Party of Progress openly avowed that there was not\nthe slightest probability that the state could, by any means at its\ncommand, succeed in separating the Catholic Church in Prussia from\ncommunion with the See of Peter; nor was there, it confessed with perfect\ncandor, a single bishop in Germany who would desire such a separation.\n\nAnd yet, as we have shown in a former article, the task which the German\nEmpire has set itself is precisely the one which is here pronounced\nimpossible; and we propose now to continue the history of the tyrannical\nenactments and harsh measures by which the worshippers of the God\u2010State\nhope to destroy the faith of thirteen millions of Catholics. The project\nof the Falk laws was brought before the Landtag on the 9th of January,\n1873, and on the 30th of the same month the Catholic episcopate of the\nkingdom of Prussia entered a solemn protest against this iniquitous\nattempt to violate the most sacred rights of conscience and religion.\n\nIn the name of the natural law, of the historical and lawfully\u2010acquired\nrights of the church in Germany, of the treaties concluded by the crown of\nPrussia with the Holy See, and, in fine, in the name of the express\nrecognition of these rights by the Constitution, they protest against the\nviolation of the inalienable right of the Catholic Church to exist in the\nintegrity of its doctrine, its constitution, and its discipline.\n\nIt is of the duty and right of each bishop, they declare, to teach the\nCatholic doctrine and administer the sacraments within his own diocese; it\nis also of his duty and right to educate, commission, and appoint the\npriests who are his co\u2010operators and representatives in the sacred\nministry; and it is of his duty and right to exhort and encourage them in\nthe fulfilment of their charge, and, when they obstinately refuse to obey\nthe doctrine and laws of the church, to depose them from office, and to\nforbid them the exercise of all ecclesiastical functions; all of which\nrights are violated by the proposed laws. As to the Royal Court for\nEcclesiastical Affairs, they affirm that they can never recognize its\ncompetency, and that they can see in it only an attempt to reduce the\ndivinely\u2010constituted church to a non\u2010Catholic and national institution.\n\nThe Memorial concludes with the following noble and solemn words:\n\n\u201cConcord between church and state is the safeguard of the spiritual and\nthe temporal power; the indispensable condition of the welfare of all\nhuman society. The bishops, the priests, the Catholic people, are not the\nenemies of the state; they are not intolerant, unjust, rancorous towards\nthose of a different faith. They ask nothing so much as to live in peace\nwith all men; but they demand that they themselves be permitted to live\naccording to their faith, of the divinity and truth of which they are most\nthoroughly convinced. They require that the integrity of religion and\ntheir church and the liberty of their conscience be left inviolate, and\nthey are resolved to defend their lawful freedom, and even the smallest\nright of the church, with all energy and without fear.\n\n\u201cFrom our inmost souls, in the interest of the state as much as of the\nchurch, we conjure and implore the authorities to abandon the disastrous\npolicy which they have taken up, and to give back to the Catholic Church,\nand to the millions of the faithful of that church who are in Prussia and\nin the Empire, peace, religious liberty, and security in the possession of\ntheir rights, and not to impose upon us laws obedience to which is\nincompatible, for every bishop and for every priest and for all Catholics,\nwith the fulfilment of duty\u2014laws, consequently, which violate conscience,\nare morally impossible, and which, if carried into execution by force,\nwill bring untold misery upon our faithful Catholic people and our German\nfatherland.\u201d\n\nThe organs of the government declared that the Memorial was an\n_ultimatum_, \u201ca declaration of war\u201d; that \u201cit was impossible to keep the\npeace with these bishops; and that they should be reduced as soon as\npossible to a state in which they could do no harm.\u201d Accordingly, the\ndiscussion of the Falk laws was hurried up, and they were adopted in May\nby a majority of two\u2010thirds.\n\nIn the meantime, the government continued to follow up its harsh measures\nagainst the religious orders, going so far as to close the churches of\nroyal patronage in Poland, in order to prevent their consecration to the\nSacred Heart of Jesus. It even forbade the children of the schools to\nassist at the devotions of the Sacred Heart. The Catholic casinos were\nclosed; the Congregations of the Blessed Virgin, the Society of the Holy\nChildhood, and other religious associations were suppressed. The Catholic\nsoldiers of the Prussian army had already been outraged by having their\nchurch in Cologne turned over to the Old Catholics.\n\nBy the beginning of 1873 nearly all the Jesuits had withdrawn from the\nterritory of the German Empire, and taken refuge in France, England,\nAustria, Belgium, Brazil, the Indies, and the United States. Those who\nstill remained were interned, and, deprived of all means of subsistence,\nplaced under the supervision of the police. The government next proceeded\nto take steps to suppress those religious orders which it considered as\n_affiliated_ to the Jesuits. A mission which the Redemptorists were giving\nat Wehlen, near Treves, was broken up by the police. Another mission which\nthey were about to open at Oberjosbach (Nassau) was interdicted; whilst\nalmost at the same time several Redemptorists were decorated \u201cfor services\nrendered to the fatherland during the war.\u201d A community of Lazarists at\nKulm was dissolved, and houses of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, of the\nSisters of Notre Dame, of the Sisters of Charity, and of the Sisters of S.\nCharles were closed.\n\nVon Gerlach, the President of the Court of Appeals of Magdeburg, himself a\nProtestant, has informed us, in a pamphlet which he published about this\ntime, of the effect of these persecutions upon the Catholics of Germany.\n\n\u201cAs for the Catholic Church,\u201d he wrote, \u201cpersecutions strengthen her. In\nfact, her moral power is increased under pressure. The Catholic Church is\nto\u2010day more zealous, more compact, more united, more confident of herself,\nmore energetic, and better organized, than she was at the commencement of\n1871. The Roman Catholics have good reason to be thankful that their\nchurch has gained in faith, in the spirit of sacrifice and prayer, in\ndevoutness in worship, and in all Christian virtues.\n\n\u201cIt is even evident that the interior force of the religious orders,\nespecially that of the Jesuits, has been proportionately augmented. Around\nthese proscribed men gather all those who love them to protect and help\nthem.\u201d\n\nThe courageous conduct of the German bishops in taking a firm and decided\nstand against the persecutors of the church met with the almost unanimous\napproval of both priests and people. Dr. D\u00f6llinger and his sect were\nforgotten. If there had ever been any life in the impossible thing, it\nwent out in the first breath of the storm that was breaking over the\nchurch. All the cathedral chapters gave in their adhesion to their\nrespective bishops, and their example was followed by the pastors,\nrectors, and vicars of the eleven Prussian dioceses. They repelled with\nhorror, to use the words of the clergy of Fulda, the attempt to separate\nthe members from the head, and to give to the priesthood tutors in the\nperson of a state official. Even the twenty\u2010nine deacons of the Seminary\nof Gnesen entered their protest, recalling in their address to Archbishop\nLedochowski the beautiful words of S. Laurence to Pope Sixtus as he was\nled to martyrdom: _Quo sine filio, pater?_\n\nThe Catholic nobility, in their meeting at M\u00fcnster in January, 1873,\nopenly proclaimed their fidelity to the church and their firm resolve to\ndefend her rights and liberties; and the Catholic people began to organize\nthroughout the Empire.\n\n\u201cThe Association of the Catholic Germans,\u201d which now counts its members by\nhundreds of thousands, was formed, with the motto, _Neither rebel nor\napostate_. Its _Wanderversammlungen_ (migratory reunions) spring up\neverywhere, and become the centre of Catholic life. This association is\nbased upon the constitutional law, its acts are public, the means it\nemploys are lawful, and the end it aims at is distinctly formulated in its\nstatutes.\n\nIn this manner the Catholics of Germany prepared themselves, not to commit\nacts of violence or to transgress the law, but to offer a passive\nresistance to tyranny and oppression, to uphold liberty of conscience\nagainst state omnipotence, and to suffer every evil rather than betray\ntheir souls\u2019 faith.\n\nThe Imperial government, on the other hand, showed no intention of\nwithdrawing its arbitrary measures, but through its organs openly declared\nthat \u201cthe execution of the clerical laws would form a clergy as submissive\nand tractable as the Prussian army\u201d; whilst Herr Falk proclaimed in the\nReichstag \u201cthat the government was resolved to make use of every means\nwhich the law placed within its power; and if the present laws were not\nsufficient, others would be framed to ensure their execution.\u201d\n\nThe ukase, signed by Bismarck on the 20th of May, 1873, suppressed the\nconvents of the Redemptorists, of the Fathers of the Holy Ghost, of the\nLazarists, and of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart; and the members of these\norders were commanded to abandon their houses before the end of the\nfollowing November. The Ladies of the Sacred Heart were accused of\ndesiring to acquire \u201cuniversal spiritual dominion.\u201d\n\nThe bishops were called on to submit for the approval of the government,\nin accordance with the tenor of the May laws, the plan of studies and the\ndisciplinary rules of their diocesan seminaries; which, of course, they\ndeclined to do, whilst foreseeing that their action would bring about the\nclosing of these institutions. Herr Falk, the Minister of Worship, ordered\nan examination into the revenues of the different parishes, without even\nasking the co\u2010operation of the bishops; and the civil authorities were\nwarned of their duty to notify the government of any changes which should\nbe made in the body of the clergy. The police received orders to\ninterfere, at certain points, with Catholic pilgrimages, which, in other\ninstances, were positively interdicted.\n\nThe annual allowance of twelve hundred thalers to Mgr. Ledochowski,\nArchbishop of Posen, was withdrawn, his seminary was closed, and all\nteachers were forbidden to ask his permission to give religious\ninstruction. In November, 1873, the archbishop\u2019s furniture was seized;\neven his paintings were carried off. The people, gathering in crowds,\nshouted after the officials: \u201cThief! thief!\u201d On the 23d of the same month\nMgr. Ledochowski was condemned to pay a fine of five thousand four hundred\nthalers, or, in default, to an imprisonment of two years, for having made\nnine appointments to ecclesiastical offices contrary to the laws of May.\n\nBefore the end of December, the fines imposed upon the archbishop reached\ntwenty\u2010one thousand thalers. In January, 1874, he was cited before a\ndelegate judge of the Royal Court for Ecclesiastical Affairs, but refused\nto appear, since he could not, in conscience, recognize the competency of\na civil tribunal to pass sentence on the manner in which he had exercised\nhis pastoral functions. He moreover averred that, in case the threat to\ndrag him into court should be carried out, it was his firm resolve to say\nnothing.\n\nSeveral priests of the Diocese of Posen had already been incarcerated for\nfailure to pay the fines of the government, and on the 3d of last\nFebruary, at five o\u2019clock in the morning, the archbishop was himself\narrested and carried off to prison in Ostrowo, a town of about seven\nthousand inhabitants, chiefly Protestants and Jews.\n\nThe bishops of Prussia at once drew up a letter to the clergy and the\nCatholic people of their dioceses, in which they declared that \u201cthe only\ncrime of Archbishop Ledochowski was that of having chosen to suffer\neverything rather than betray the liberty of the church of God and deny\nCatholic truth, sealed by the precious blood of the Saviour.\u201d\n\nThe canons of the Chapter of Posen were ordered by the government to elect\na capitular\u2010vicar; and as they declined to give their approval to the\ncruel and unjust imprisonment of their archbishop, a state official was\nappointed to take charge of the affairs of the diocese.\n\nBoth the priests and people of Prussian Poland remain firm, and give noble\nexamples of steadfastness in the faith.\n\nThe history of the persecution in one diocese is, with a few unimportant\ndifferences, that of all. More than a year ago, the annual allowance of\nthree thousand four hundred and seventy thalers made to the Theological\nSeminary of Cologne was withdrawn. Archbishop Melchers and his vicar\u2010\ngeneral were cited before a civil tribunal for the excommunication of two\napostates. The Lazarists were driven from the preparatory seminaries of\nNeuss and M\u00fcnstereifel.\n\nOn the 22d of November, 1873, the archbishop was condemned to pay a fine\nof twenty\u2010five hundred thalers for five appointments made in violation of\nthe May laws; and almost every week thereafter new fines were imposed,\nuntil finally his furniture was seized on the 3d of last February, and in\na very short time the venerable prelate was incarcerated, not even his\nlawyer being allowed to visit him. His prison\u2010cell was thought to be too\ncomfortable, and he was soon changed to one under the very roof of the\njail. A great number of pastors and vicars of his diocese were deprived of\ntheir positions, and some of them imprisoned.\n\nOn the 20th of November, 1873, the priests of twenty\u2010eight towns and\nvillages of the Diocese of Treves were interdicted by the government, and\nthe bishop fined thirty\u2010six hundred thalers. The Theological Seminary was\nclosed, \u201cnot to be reopened until the bishop and rector should accept in\ngood faith the laws of May, 1873.\u201d Any seminarians who might be found\nthere on the 12th of January, 1874, were to be forcibly ejected.\n\nThe 15th of this same month the professors were forbidden to instruct the\nstudents of theology, under penalty of a fine of fifteen thalers or five\ndays\u2019 imprisonment for each offence; and this prohibition is to remain in\nvigor until the bishop accepts the Falk laws. On the 21st of January, an\ninventory of the furniture of the episcopal palace was taken. The goods\nwere sold at public auction on the 6th of February; in a few days, Bishop\nEberhard was thrown into prison; and before the end of last August sixty\nof his priests were confessing the faith in the dungeons of Treves and\nCoblentz.\n\nThe old Dominican convent in Treves had been converted into a prison, and\nit is there that the bishop and some thirty of his priests were\nincarcerated. The prison discipline is rigid and harsh in the extreme.\nThese confessors of Christ are forced out of their beds at five o\u2019clock in\nthe morning, and from this until they retire at nine in the evening they\nmust either walk to and fro in their cells, or sit upon stools, since\nchairs are not allowed. If during the day they wish to lie down for a\nmoment, an official at once informs them that this is not permitted; if\nthey lean against the wall, the table, or the bed, they again receive the\nsame warning. A jailer accompanies them whenever necessity forces them to\nleave their cells. All letters to and from the prison are read by the\nofficials, and, in case the slightest pretext can be found, are destroyed.\nNone save those who have voluntarily given themselves up, and who, after a\nfirst imprisonment, have not received an ovation from the people, are\nallowed to say Mass. The bishop is permitted to celebrate the Holy\nSacrifice, but no one is suffered to be present except the server and the\nindispensable government official.\n\nThe food seems scarcely sufficient to sustain life. Three times in the\nweek, each of the prisoners receives a small piece of meat, and this is\nthe only change ever made in the bill of fare which we have just given.\nWhat we have called \u201cporridge\u201d is known at Treves under the name of\n_Schlicht_, and is a kind of flour\u2010paste. When we reflect that there are\nin Germany to\u2010day not less than a thousand priests who are suffering this\nslow and cruel martyrdom, we shall be able to realize that the present\npagan persecution may in all truth be compared to those which, in the\nfirst ages of Christianity, gave to the church her legions of martyrs and\nconfessors. It is not necessary that we should enter into a detailed\naccount of the persecution in the other dioceses of Germany. The same\nscenes are everywhere enacted\u2014fines, citations, seizure of effects,\ninterdicts, and imprisonments, on the part of the government; whilst the\nCatholics, standing in unshaken fidelity to God and conscience, suffer in\npatience every outrage that their enemies can inflict, rather than betray\nthe sacred cause of the religion of Christ. The May laws of 1873 did not\nprove sufficiently harsh or tyrannical to satisfy the Prussian infidels;\nand they were consequently supplemented by clauses which passed both\nhouses of the Reichstag last May. In virtue of these amendments, the state\ncan decree the sequestration of the goods of an ecclesiastical post not\noccupied in the manner prescribed by the Falk laws. In this case, these\ngoods are to be administered by a royal commissary.\n\nThe Royal Court for Ecclesiastical Affairs receives the power to depose\nbishops; and, this deposition being once pronounced, they are forbidden to\nexercise any ecclesiastical functions in their respective dioceses, which\nby this very fact are placed under interdict. When the bishop is deposed\nby the Royal Court, the cathedral chapter is summoned to proceed to elect\nhis successor; and in case it fails to comply with this injunction within\nten days, all goods belonging to the episcopal see, as well as those of\nthe chapter of the diocese, and of the parishes, are sequestrated and\nadministered by the government.\n\nThis miserable legislation gives to the state the entire spiritual power,\nand ignores alike the rights of God and those of the free Christian\nconscience. Still, it is only the legitimate and logical expression of the\nviews and aims of the modern heathendom which is organizing throughout\nEurope for the destruction of the religion of Christ.\n\nThe May laws of 1873 required the bishops to convert all the incumbents\nhaving charge of churches into permanent and irremovable parish priests;\nin consequence of which the position of twelve hundred and forty\u2010one\nincumbents in the Rhine Province became illegal on the 11th of last May. A\ngeneral interdict was therefore expected, and even a process to compel the\nbishop to comply with this clause was looked for; but Herr Falk seems to\nhave been frightened by his own legislation, since already, on the 8th of\nMay, he announced in the Reichstag that only those priests whom \u201cthe\ngovernment considered dangerous\u201d would be notified of the proceedings\ntaken against the bishops, and that no others would be held to come under\nthe operation of the law. In this manner the Prussian Minister of Worship\navoided the odium of a general interdict, whilst by a slower process he\nhopes eventually to bring about this result. The moment the incumbent of a\nchurch receives official notification that his bishop has been put under\nrestraint, he is by the very fact forbidden to perform any ecclesiastical\nfunction, and his post is considered vacant. The _Landrath_ then declares\nthis _vacancy_, and invites the parishioners to prepare for the election\nof a successor to their former pastor.\n\nThat this election may take place, it suffices that ten men, who are of\nage and in the full possession of their civil rights, put in an\nappearance, that the person chosen by them and approved of by the civil\nauthority may be recognized as the lawful incumbent.\n\nThe evident aim of this law is to create a schism in every parish in the\nGerman Empire, which, by fomenting divisions amongst the Catholics, would\ngreatly aid the government in its efforts to destroy the church. But this\nis only one of innumerable instances in which the persecutors have been\nwholly mistaken.\n\nThey counted first upon the weakness of the Catholic bishops; confidently\nexpecting that one or the other of them would place himself at the head of\nthe Old Catholics, and thus, whilst causing great scandal in the church,\ngive to that still\u2010born sect at least a semblance of respectability. But\nnot one of the German prelates wavered. They go to prison, like the\napostles, rejoicing that they are found worthy to suffer for Christ, and\ndeclare that they are willing to shed their blood for the holy cause.\nTheir enemies are not more ready to inflict than they to bear everything\nfor the love of Jesus. Then, there was no doubt in the minds of the\nPrussian infidels that large numbers of the clergy would take advantage of\nthe bribes offered by government to apostates to throw off the authority\nof the bishops, and to constitute themselves into a schismatical body. On\nthe contrary, the persecution has only drawn tighter the bonds which unite\nthe priests with their chief pastors. In all Germany there have not been\nfound more than thirty rationalistic professors and suspended priests who\nwere willing to take sides with D\u00f6llinger in his rebellion; and the\njuridically\u2010proven immorality of Bishop Reinkens will no doubt give us a\ntrue insight into the characters of most of the men who have elected him\ntheir ecclesiastical superior.\n\nWhen the persecutors found that both bishops and priests were immovable in\ntheir devotion to the church, they appealed to the Catholic people, and,\nby the laws of last May, placed it in their power to create a schism, by\ngiving them the right to elect their own pastors, with the promise that\ngovernment would turn the churches over to them. But this attempt to show\nthat the bishops and priests of Germany have not the sympathy and\nconfidence of the laity has met with signal rebuke.\n\nThe elections for the Prussian Landtag in November, 1873, and those for\nthe Reichstag in January last, had not merely a political significance;\ntheir bearing upon the present and future welfare of the church in the\nGerman Empire is of the greatest importance. Opportunity was given to the\nCatholic people to make a public confession of faith; to declare, in words\nwhich could not be misunderstood, whether or not they were resolved to\nstand firm in the struggle into which their leaders had been forced.\n\nIn the November elections, in spite of every effort of the government, the\nCatholics increased their representatives in the Landtag from fifty\u2010two to\neighty\u2010nine; whilst in the Reichstag their members have grown from sixty\u2010\nthree to considerably more than one hundred.\n\nThe entire Rhenish Province elected Catholics. Cologne, D\u00fcsseldorf,\nTreves, Coblentz, Aix\u2010la\u2010Chapelle, Crefeld, Bonn, Neuss, D\u00fcren, Essen,\nMalmedy, M\u00fclheim, all the cities of the Lower Rhine, made their vote an\nact of faith. Windthorst, the leader of the Catholic party, was elected at\nMeppen (Hanover) over Falk, the author of the May laws, by a majority of\nnearly fifteen thousand. The entire vote for Falk was only three hundred\nand forty\u2010seven.\n\nThe result of the elections undoubtedly startled the government, and\npossibly shook Bismarck\u2019s confidence in the power of persecution to\ndestroy Catholic faith; but the struggle had grown too fierce to allow him\nto think of withdrawing.\n\nOn the contrary, the firmness of the Catholic people incited the\npersecutors to still harsher measures; but nothing that they have done or\ncan do will succeed in breaking the combined passive opposition of the\nclergy and the laity.\n\nIn the Vatican Council, the most determined resistance to the definition\nof the infallibility of the Pope was made by the German bishops, who felt\nno hesitation in openly declaring with what anxiety they regarded the\nprobable effects of such a definition upon the Catholics of their own\ncountry. Divisions, apostasies, schisms, seemed imminent; and it is not\neasy now to determine what might have been the result had not God\u2019s\nprovidence interfered.\n\nIn the first place, at the very moment when the definition was made, the\nterrible conflict between France and Prussia broke forth, and raged so\nfiercely that the loud earth was struck dumb, and men held their breath\ntill it should be ended. In the meantime, the angry feelings aroused by\nthe discussions in the Vatican Council had, in great measure, been calmed,\nand it was possible to take a fairer and more dispassionate view of the\nwhole subject.\n\nThen the attempt of the government to destroy the Catholic Church in\nGermany, by tearing it away from its allegiance to the Pope, and debasing\nit to a mere function of the state, roused those who might have been\ndisposed to waver, and brought about a universal reawakening of faith. It\nis the fate of the enemies of God\u2019s people to bless when they mean to\ncurse. In fact, when Catholics begin to suffer, they begin to triumph; and\nhence even those who hate us have of nothing so great horror as of making\nmartyrs and confessors. They know the history of martyrdom\u2014that in the\nwhole earth and in all ages it means victory.\n\nThe church, which sprang from the conflict of the God\u2010Man with death, like\nhim, in her greatest humiliation shows forth her highest power.\n\nHer march through the world and through the ages is not along pleasant\nroads and through peaceful prospects, or, if so, only at times and rarely.\nIf she move in pomp amid the acclamations of peoples, her triumphal\nprocession ends in sorrow. The bark of Peter must be storm\u2010tossed; and\nwhen the angry waves would swallow it, the divine voice speaks the magic\nword, and the quiet deep bears it up on her peaceful bosom.\n\nThe road wherein the progress of the church is most secure is the blood\u2010\nstained way of the cross. When she is all bruised, and there is no\ncomeliness left in her; when her eyes are red with weeping, and the world,\nbeholding her agony, mocks and jeers and laughs her to scorn, then is she\nstrongest; for her strength comes from humility, from suffering, from the\ncross. When she is humbled, God exalts her; when he permits her enemies to\nentomb her in ignominy, he is near at hand to crown her with the immortal\nglory of a new life. The word of Christ is: \u201cYou shall live in the world\nin the midst of persecutions; but take heart: I have conquered the world.\u201d\n\nWithin the memory of those who are still young, it was the fashion with\nour enemies to proclaim that the church was decrepit, that she was dying,\nthat of her own weight she would fall to pieces in the new society that\nwas growing up around her: to\u2010day we hear that she is everywhere waxing\ntoo strong, and men appeal against her to tyranny and to brute force.\n\nThe most powerful and the most thoroughly organized of the modern nations,\nthe great _Cultur\u2010Staat_ of the age, has confessed that it is unable to\ncheck the growth of the church by legitimate means, and it has therefore\nhad recourse to the most arbitrary legislation and to the harshest\nmeasures of compulsion and violence. This, of course, is the most explicit\navowal of its own impotence. We find also that the two nations which have\nmanifested the most supercilious indifference to the Catholic Church, as\nbeing something which did not and could not concern them, now applaud this\nPrussian tyranny, in spite of the pretence of the love of freedom and fair\nplay. The sympathy of the English press, and to a great extent of the\nAmerican press, in this struggle, is with the absolute and liberty\u2010\ndestroying government of Prussia. The favorite motto of \u201ccivil and\nreligious liberty all the world over\u201d has been wholly lost sight of, and\nEnglishmen and Americans give moral aid to a state which wantonly tramples\nupon both.\n\nThis, too, was a cherished watch\u2010word: The church is the friend of\nabsolutism, the enemy of freedom.\n\nBut to\u2010day we behold the Catholic Church, single\u2010handed, fighting again\nthe same battles of liberty which she fought and won in the early\ncenturies of Christianity. Now, as then, she opposes absolutism in the\nstate; denies, as she then denied, that C\u00e6sar can lawfully lay claim to\n\u201cthe things of God\u201d; and protests, in the name of the outraged dignity of\nhuman nature, that there is a freedom which transcends the sphere of all\nearthly authority. Her children, when nothing else remains to be done,\nutter the divine words: _Non possumus_\u2014we cannot; we must obey God rather\nthan men.\n\nReferring to this struggle, Bismarck has said, in a memorable speech, that\n\u201cit is the ancient contest for power, which is as old as the human race\nitself\u2014the contest for power between king and priest.\u201d This is necessarily\nthe view which he takes, since he believes in nothing but force. But the\ndualism here is not in the combatants alone; it is in the objects for\nwhich they contend.\n\nIt is indeed the ancient contest between good and evil, between the spirit\nand the flesh, between the Christ and the rulers of this world, which\nmakes life a warfare and the earth a battle\u2010field, and which must continue\nuntil the end. Never has it been fiercer than in our day, and the battle\nis yet hardly begun. But very few indeed understand, as yet, the nature of\nthe struggle, or are at all aware of the real principles and interests\nwhich are at stake. Few men can see further than an hour or beyond the\nlittle circle that bounds their private interests; but each day it is\nbecoming more evident that men must take sides; that not to be for Christ\nis to be against him.\n\nTwice in the last eighteen hundred years the church has been the ark of\nthe nations: she destroyed paganism; she converted and civilized\nbarbarism. Some historian will tell, in another age, how, when Christian\nsociety, grown luxurious and corrupt, without God and without future hope,\nwas sinking back into the flesh\u2010worship and the death of ancient paganism,\nshe, gathering around her the remnant of her children, and fearlessly\nfacing the storm and the wrath of those who had ceased to know her, kept\nher own pure and undefiled till the dawn of the brighter day, to become\nthe leaven of the social state that is to be.\n\n\n\n\nChristmas\u2010Tide.\n\n\n\u2019Twas the hallowed Christmas even\u2014\n Christmas of the olden time,\nEarth in snowy robes lay sleeping,\n But there came a ringing chime\n From the forest\nDeck\u2019d with glittering frozen rime.\n\nBright the golden stars were gleaming\n Through the cloudless frosty air,\nLike the tapers softly beaming\n Round some holy shrine of pray\u2019r,\n And the night wind\nChants an anthem faint and rare.\n\nCheer\u2019ly shone the Yule\u2010log, glowing\n In an old baronial hall,\nGhost\u2010like shadows rose and faded\n On the ancient panelled wall:\n O\u2019er my spirit\nMournful fancies seemed to fall.\n\nHappy hearts were gathered round me\u2014\n Laughing childhood, free from stain;\nMaidens, in their girlish beauty;\n Manhood\u2019s gaze, undimm\u2019d by pain;\n And the aged,\nWho might never meet again.\n\nGathered on that Christmas even\n In the old ancestral home,\nBreathing words of hope and kindness,\n \u2019Neath that lofty arching dome,\n Ere they parted\nThrough life\u2019s thorny paths to roam.\n\nTwo beside the hearthstone lingered\u2014\n Aged sire, and lady fair;\nHe of life\u2019s long journey weary;\n But her softly waving hair\n Graced a forehead\nYet unmarked by trace of care.\n\nSpake then out that youthful mother\n With her babe upon her knee\nTo the grandsire old and hoary,\n Like a leafless forest tree:\n \u201cTell me, father,\nWhat thought Christmas brings to thee.\u201d\n\nSilently he gazed upon her,\n On her brow so pure and white,\nOn her dark eyes, softly beaming\n With affection\u2019s holy light;\n But a shadow\nLay upon his soul like night.\n\n\u201cDaughter, in life\u2019s joyous morning\n Christmas comes with merry cheer,\nFancy tints a glowing pathway\n Bright\u2019ning with each coming year:\n On the picture\nFalleth not a shade of fear.\n\n\u201cChildhood smileth in its gladness,\n Archeth Hope her rainbow bright\u2014\nAh! he strives to grasp the vision;\n Fades it from his eager sight:\n Soon around him\nCloses Disappointment\u2019s night.\n\n\u201cIn the noontide, manhood kneeleth\n Low before Ambition\u2019s shrine,\nPraying: \u2019Goddess, hear thy vot\u2019ry,\n I no altar seek but thine\u2019:\n Fame\u2019s wan fingers\nWithered chaplets for him twine.\n\n\u201cBut when fall the length\u2019ning shadows,\n When life\u2019s even stealeth on,\nMemory opes her golden casket,\n Counts her jewels one by one\u2014\n Earth\u2019s dream fadeth;\nHer bright smile remains alone.\n\n\u201cOne by one my loved departed\n To the far\u2010off spirit\u2010land\u2014\nOne by one they crossed my threshold,\n Till, the last of that bright band,\n Sad and weary,\nBy a stranger hearth I stand.\n\n\u201cAs the wand\u2019rer homeward speeding\n Marks the Southern Cross decline,\nI am looking ever backward\n To the stars that faintly shine;\n But one beameth\nWith a radiance all divine.\n\n\u201cStar of Bethlehem! ere the sunlight\n Of another Christmas blest\nRises in the glowing Orient,\n Light, oh! light me to my rest!\n I would slumber\nCalmly in earth\u2019s quiet breast.\u201d\n\nSlowly, slowly crept a Shadow\n Through that silent, dark\u2019ning room\u2014\nSoftly loosed the cord of silver,\nLed that soul from Sorrow\u2019s gloom\n To the valleys\nWhere the flowers immortal bloom.\n\n\n\n\nThe Veil Withdrawn.\n\n\nTranslated By Permission, From The French Of Madame Craven, Author Of \u201cA\nSister\u2019s Story,\u201d \u201cFleurange,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n\nXXX.\n\n\nThe portrait of Gilbert I have drawn is not incorrect. He was as noble as\nI have represented him, and it is certain that, in speaking to me as he\ndid that day, he was very far from the thought of laying a snare for me,\nor even for himself. Whether he was absolutely sincere or not I cannot\nsay, but probably as much so as I, at least during the few first days\nafter this conversation. Thanks to the method of reasoning I have given\nabove, and which I thought original, it seemed to me that this frequent\nintercourse with a man unusually superior to any one I had ever known, and\nwho, very far from addressing me any silly flattery, almost invariably\nappealed to all that was highest in my nature, and, without alluding to\nthe cause of my troubles, knew how to divert my mind completely from\nthem\u2014it seemed to me, I say, that this intimacy, this sort of imaginary\nrelationship which I had accepted, was not only lawful, but beneficial,\nand I regarded it even as a just compensation for so many cruel\ndeceptions. In a word, I had lost, through the frivolity of my recent\nlife, that clearness of spiritual vision which is maintained by vigilance\nalone, and I was a long time without suspecting that this idle frivolity,\nwith all the exuberant gayety that accompanied it, was a thousand times\nless dangerous than the long conversations, to which the perfect harmony\nof a kindred mind, and the contact with a soul so noble that it seemed to\nennoble mine, lent such a charm, and gave to my life a new interest which\nI had never experienced before.\n\nThere was no apparent, or even real, difference in our interviews from\nwhat they were before, and any one might have heard every word he\naddressed me. And yet I felt that he by no means talked to me as he did to\nothers, and I, on my side, conversed with him as I did with no one else.\nWe were seldom alone together, it is true, but every evening, either in\nthe drawing\u2010room or on the terrace, he found an opportunity of conversing\nwith me a few moments without witnesses. He did not conceal from me that\nhe regarded these as the most precious moments of the evening; and as to\nthis I scarcely differed from him. Occasionally, something inexpressible\nin his voice, his looks, and even in his silence, made me tremble, as if I\nfelt the warning of some approaching danger. But as he never deviated a\nsingle word from the _r\u00f4le_ he had taken, my torpid conscience was not\naroused! Lorenzo was still absent, though the time fixed for his return\nhad long gone by; and when I was expecting him the second time, I received\na letter announcing a further delay, caused, as he said, by \u201ca\ncircumstance that was unforeseen and independent of his will.\u201d\n\nA flush of anger rose to my face while reading this letter, though I felt\nand acknowledged that the prolongation of his absence did not cause me the\nsame chagrin it once would. I did not ask why. I took pleasure in\nrecalling with a kind of complacency the aggravating wrongs I had\nrepeatedly endured, and it seemed to me he had less right than ever to\ndeny a heart he had so cruelly wounded any consolation whatever that\nremained.\n\nThe day this second letter arrived we were on the point of starting for\nMt. Vesuvius, where, for a week, crowds of people had been going out of\ncuriosity, as is the case at every new eruption. It was nearly night\nbefore we set out. My aunt and her two daughters were of the party,\nbesides Gilbert, Mario, and Lando, as well as two foreigners who, from the\ntime of the Carnival, had assiduously haunted the steps of my two cousins.\nOne was a young Baron von Brunnenberg, an excellent dancer and a great\nlover of music; the other an Englishman, no less young, of fine figure and\nherculean proportions, whose name was Harry Leslie.\n\nThere was a certain embarrassment at our departure among the members of\nthe party, caused by the simultaneous desire of several of them to avoid\nthe _cal\u00e8che_ in which Donna Clelia had at once installed herself. I\nobserved this hesitation, which was far from flattering to my poor aunt,\nand hastened to take a seat beside her. The young baron, who escorted her,\nthen concluded to follow my example, and I made a sign to Lando to take\nthe vacant place. He obeyed me less eagerly than usual. Stella, my two\ncousins, and the young Englishman took possession of the other carriage,\nwhich assumed the lead, followed with an envious eye by the baron as well\nas Lando, who, I remarked, seemed in a less serene frame of mind than\nusual. Gilbert and Mario came after in a _carozzella_, which formed our\nrear\u2010guard.\n\nAt first everything went on pleasantly. My aunt was very fond of pleasure\nexcursions, and she regarded this as one, particularly as we were all to\ntake supper together at my house on our return. The conversation did not\nslacken an instant as far as Resina, where we arrived at nightfall. There\nwe left the main road to take that which led directly to Mt. Vesuvius.\n\nA new crater had this time been formed below the well\u2010known cone from\nwhich the fire and smoke generally issued. It was like a large, gaping\nwound on the side of the mountain, which sent forth torrents of fire,\nashes, and red\u2010hot stones.\n\nConsequently, instead of being obliged to climb to the summit in order to\nwitness the eruption, we were able to drive so near the stream of lava\nthat we only had to walk a short distance to see the terrible opening,\nwhich was approached more or less closely, according to the degree of\nboldness or curiosity with which each one was endowed.\n\nBut the spectacle presented an imposing appearance long before we saw it\nclose at hand, and I was in the height of admiration when I heard a murmur\nbeside me: \u201cO Ges\u00f9, Ges\u00f9!... O Madonna santa!...\u201d Turning around, I beheld\nmy aunt, pale with fright, kissing the cross of the rosary she held in her\nhand.\n\nDonna Clelia, as we are perfectly aware, knew how to brave danger when she\nfound an occasion worthy of the trouble. We had a proof of this on the\nmemorable day of the combat on the Toledo. But, as it has perhaps also\nbeen perceived, she was rather indifferent to the picturesque.\nConsequently, there was nothing at this moment to stimulate her courage,\nand I was alarmed at the condition in which I saw her.\n\n\u201cO Ginevrina mia!...\u201d said she at last in a trembling voice, \u201c_non mi\nfido!_ No, I have not the courage to go any further.... Madonna!...\u201d\n\nThis last appeal was caused by a stream of fire brighter than any of the\npreceding ones, and accompanied by a loud detonation.\n\n\u201cBut merciful Lord! What folly!\u201d she continued. \u201cWhat caprice! What\nmadness! How can you wish to rush into such a lake of fire while you are\nstill alive!... Oh! no, not yet; no, never! _O mamma mia!\nmisericordia!_...\u201d\n\nEach new stream of fire produced a more lively exclamation of terror. All\nat once she leaned her head on my shoulder, exclaiming:\n\n\u201cGinevrina!... I feel I am going to have a _papariello_!\u201d(106)\n\nAt this we stopped the carriage. It was evidently dangerous to take her\nany further. But what should we do?... Must we give up our excursion, and\nretrace our steps? We were not inclined to do this. Besides, the other\ncarriage was some distance in advance, and could not be recalled. In this\ndilemma we were rejoined by the _carozzella_. Gilbert and Mario leaped\nfrom their carriage to ascertain what had happened to us.\n\n\u201cWhat is it, Zia Clelia?\u201d said Mario, approaching the carriage, and\nperceiving my aunt in the attitude I have just mentioned. She raised her\nhead.\n\n\u201cO Mario! _figlio mio!_ It is because I cannot endure this storm of fire.\nIt is the end of the world\u2014the day of judgment!... How it oppresses me!...\nHow it stifles me!... O my God! and the _povere ragazze, dove sono?_... O\nholy Virgin, lead us all back safe and sound to Naples, and I promise you\nthat for nine days....\u201d\n\nShe finished her vow mentally, for Mario at once decided on the only thing\nthat could be done, and devoted himself to the task. He would take her\nback to Resina in the carriage, and there await our return.\n\nThe exchange was soon effected. My aunt did not require any insisting,\nafter we promised to bring her daughters back without allowing them to\nincur any danger. In the twinkling of an eye she was placed beside Mario\nin the _carozzella_ with her back to Mt. Vesuvius, while Gilbert took her\nplace beside me, and we pursued our way as fast as possible, in order to\nmake up for the time we had lost.\n\nWe soon arrived at the place where we were obliged to leave the carriage.\nGilbert aided me in descending, and then gave me his arm, while Lando and\nthe baron went in search of the other members of the party, who only had\nMr. Leslie to protect them. They were soon out of sight, and Gilbert\nremained alone with me.\n\nI will not repeat here what every one has seen or read concerning the\neruptions of Mt. Vesuvius. I will merely say to those who have not had the\nexperience, that this extraordinary spectacle, assuredly the most\nwonderful and at the same time the most terrific in the whole world of\nnature, causes a singular fascination which induces the spectator to\napproach continually nearer and nearer the fiery crater. It seems\nimpossible to turn away his eyes. He keeps on, therefore, without looking\nto the right or left, without seeing where he is walking, stumbling at\nevery step over heaps of lava scarcely cold, regardless of the rough path\nwith its sharp, burning stones, the effect of which is afterwards seen on\nhis garments and shoes, though he does not think of it while exposed to\nthe danger, more apparent, perhaps, than real, but which indubitably\nexists, however, as is proved by the numerous accidents that occur at\nevery new eruption.\n\nLeaning on Gilbert\u2019s arm, I was too firmly supported to stumble, and was\nable to ascend to the top of a ridge of lava formed by preceding\neruptions; and there, protected by an immense block on the very edge of\nthe flaming abyss, I contemplated the awful, imposing spectacle! Gilbert\ndid not utter a word, and I attributed his silence to the impression which\nlikewise rendered me dumb in the presence of this terrific convulsion of\nnature. The burning lava, issuing, as I have said, from a crater on the\nside of the mountain, did not spring up to fall back again on the summit,\nas usual, but it advanced like a large river of fire over the heaped\u2010up\nmasses of cold, black lava, giving them the most singular, fantastic\nforms. It was like a city, not on fire, but of fire! It seemed as if one\ncould see houses, towers, and palaces; and in the midst of these imaginary\nedifices moved the fiery stream! For lava does not flow. However steep the\ndescent, it stops and goes no further as soon as the crater ceases to emit\nit. But it had not yet stopped. On the contrary, it pursued its slow,\npitiless course, consuming vineyards, swallowing up houses, and burning\nthe trees and bushes in its way.\n\nIt was a sight difficult to endure for a long time, and yet I could not\nturn my eyes away from so mysterious and terrible a spectacle.\n\n\u201cO my God!\u201d I murmured, \u201cthis is truly _la citt\u00e0 dolente!_ We have before\nour eyes an exact representation of the last day of the world!...\u201d\n\nGilbert made no reply. He was overcome by I know not what emotion more\npowerful than mine, and, looking at his face by the red light of the fire,\nI was alarmed at the change in his features and their unusual expression.\n\n\u201cWould that that day had arrived for me!\u201d said he at length. \u201cWould that\nthis were really the last day of my life! Yes, I would like to be\nswallowed up in that flame! I would like to die here on the spot where I\nam\u2014beside you\u2014worthy of you....\u201d\n\nIn spite of the terrific scene before me, in spite of the noise of the\nexplosions and the sullen sound of the lava, the tone in which he spoke\nwas distinctly audible, and made my heart beat with mingled emotion and\nfear.\n\n\u201cI am afraid you are becoming dizzy, Monsieur de Kergy,\u201d said I in a\ntrembling voice; \u201ctake care. Its effect, they say, is to draw one into the\nabyss.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Donna Ginevra,\u201d replied he in the same strange tone, \u201cyou are right.\nI am dizzy. I am approaching the verge of an abyss, I know. I have rashly\nexposed myself to the danger. I have presumed too much on my strength.\u201d\n\nThe look he fastened on me, as he uttered these words, gave them a meaning\nI could not mistake. It was no longer Gilbert who spoke\u2014it was not he to\nwhom I had accorded the rights of a safe and faithful friend. The veil\nwith which I had wilfully blinded my eyes suddenly fell off, and the\nemotion I was seized with, the material flames that surrounded me, and the\ncertain peril into which another step would have plunged me, gave an exact\nidea of the danger to which I had foolishly exposed my honor and my soul!\n\nI covered my face a moment with my hands, but spoke as soon as I dared.\n\n\u201cMonsieur de Kergy,\u201d said I in a supplicating tone, \u201ccease to look at the\nfire around us. Lift up your eyes, and see how calm and beautiful the\nnight is above this terrible _inferno_.\u201d\n\nIn fact, a bright moonlight was diffused over this terrific scene, and the\ncontrast between the earth and sky could not have been more striking.\n\nGilbert\u2019s eyes followed mine, and remained for some time fastened on those\npeaceful starry worlds, which seemed as far remote from the agitation of\nour hearts as they were above this frightful convulsion of nature. I felt\nin my soul the need of powerful assistance, and murmured in a low tone: \u201cO\nmy God, have mercy on me!\u201d with a fervor that for a long time I had not\nfelt in my prayers.\n\nAfter a long silence, Gilbert said to me in a low, agitated tone:\n\n\u201cWill you pardon me, madame? Will you trust in me to take you away from\nthis place?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I trust you. But let us make haste to leave so dangerous a spot. Do\nyou not hear the frightful explosions? Do you not see the red\u2010hot stones\nthat are flying over our heads?...\u201d And as I spoke a cloud of thick smoke\nadded obscurity to all the other horrors of the place.\n\n\u201cDo not be alarmed,\u201d said Gilbert in a tone once more calm and decided.\n\u201cWe must certainly hurry away, but there is no danger yet, unless from\nfear. Give me your hand.\u201d\n\nBut I hesitated when he endeavored to take it, and made an involuntary\nmovement, as if going to descend without his assistance.\n\n\u201cIn the name of heaven,\u201d said he rapidly, trembling with agitation and\nterror, \u201cdo not refuse my assistance in the danger we are in. You cannot\ndo without it. You _must_ give me your hand, madame.\u201d\n\nHis agitated voice became almost imperious. I gave him my hand, and even\ncomplied when he told me to rest the other firmly against his shoulder.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cdescend carefully. You need not be afraid. I will support\nyou. In spite of this whirlwind of fire and smoke, I can clearly\ndistinguish my way.\u201d\n\nHe made no further observations, as we slowly descended; and as soon as we\nwere in a place of safety, I left him, and leaned against a tree at some\ndistance, trying to get breath. Besides the violent agitation of my heart,\nthe suffocating air that surrounded us gave me a feeling of giddiness and\nfaintness that was almost overpowering.\n\n\n\nXXXI.\n\n\nThe stream of fire and smoke that obliged us to leave the place where we\nwere standing had a like effect on all who were in the vicinity of the\nfiery current. We were therefore soon joined by Teresina and Lando,\nMariuccia and the baron. But I felt extremely anxious at seeing nothing of\nStella and young Leslie, who had left the others to go further below, in\norder to get a better view of the lava in its course to the plain. The\nfear lest some accident had happened to them began to chill the blood in\nmy veins, but I was soon reassured by seeing them at last reappear with\nblackened faces and torn garments, while Stella was bareheaded, and her\nhair streaming in disorder.\n\n\u201cGood heavens! what has happened to you?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing, nothing,\u201d said Stella, out of breath. \u201cWe will tell you\neverything by\u2010and\u2010by.\u201d\n\nHere Mr. Leslie interposed, declaring that the Countess Stella was \u201cthe\nbravest woman he had ever met\u2014a heroine, and an angel of goodness.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are entirely mistaken,\u201d said Stella, drawing up the hood of her\ncloak. \u201cBut I have lost my bonnet, and nearly destroyed my shoes also, I\nfear. Let us start immediately. We will relate everything afterwards.\u201d\n\nAs she was there safe and sound, it was really much better to put off any\nfurther particulars till another time, and return to Naples as quickly as\npossible. We started, therefore, without any delay, only stopping at\nResina long enough to take my aunt, who, having devoted the whole time of\nour absence to a siesta, was completely rested, and had quite recovered\nfrom her terror. Mario was less good\u2010humored; but when, a little after\nmidnight, we all assembled at last around the supper\u2010table that awaited\nour return, every one seemed satisfied with the excursion we had made. I\nalone felt I had brought back a heart more agitated than at our departure.\n\nStella still refused to answer our questions, pretending to be too hungry\nto think of giving the account we were all so eager to hear; but Mr.\nLeslie was only too glad to assume the task, and at once proceeded to\nsatisfy our curiosity.\n\n\u201cWe were,\u201d said he, \u201cwatching the lava, as it advanced with a dull sound\nresembling the distant report of grape\u2010shot, when all at once we heard a\nsuccession of heart\u2010rending groans a few steps off. At our approach we\nfound a man lying on the ground. I endeavored to raise him. Impossible: he\nhad broken his leg. Countess Stella questioned him, and the story he\nrelated was a sad one. Like so many of the other poor creatures, he had\ndeferred leaving his house till the last moment. His wife was ill in bed,\nwith a little boy of five or six years old beside her. He kept hoping the\nlava would stop before it could reach his dwelling\u2014they all hope that! He\nwent out two or three times an hour to see how far it had progressed, and\nfinally saw all hope was vain. The lava kept on its course, regardless of\nany one. He had barely more than half an hour to save his wife and child,\nand then carry away what he could. He rushed towards the house; but in the\nhaste with which he endeavored to make up for lost time, he had fallen\nfrom one of those black rocks you are so familiar with, on the spot where\nwe found him, unable to rise. It was necessary to hasten; the lava was\ncontinually advancing. In less than a quarter of an hour it would reach\nhis hut, and his wife and child were there!... I could not understand what\nhe said,\u201d continued the young Englishman with an expression of benevolence\nand courage which added to the effect of his narrative, \u201cbut while I was\ngazing at the devouring current that was advancing towards a house I\nsupposed empty, I suddenly saw the countess dart forward without any\nexplanation. I understood it at once, and followed her. Outrunning her, I\nwas the first to arrive at the house, and had already taken the woman and\nmattress in my arms when the countess joined me. \u2018Take the child!\u2019 I\ncried. He was screaming, the poor thing; for, in taking up his mother, I\nhad, without intending it, thrown him on the floor. He was a boy of about\nsix years of age, and heavy to carry, I assure you. But kindness and\ncourage gave strength. The countess picked him up as if he were a feather,\nand we hurried out of the house. The heat of the fire was already\nintolerable, and the earth under our feet heaved at every step. I thought\na dozen times we had sacrificed our own lives in trying to save theirs.\nBut no, thank God! we all succeeded\u2014woman, child, and ourselves, with the\nmattress\u2014in reaching the poor wounded man, whose cries of terror now gave\nplace to those of joy. He had reason\u2014the poor creature!\u2014for we were hardly\nin safety before we heard a horrid sound, this time like the noise of\ncannon\u2014it was the shock of the burning lava against the house we had just\nescaped from. What a sight! Good God!... But since it must have happened,\nI am not sorry I was there! The fiery stream first passed around the\nhouse, then rose, as if to wrap its red flame around it, and finally swept\nover the roof; and when everything was engulfed, it quietly continued its\ncourse. The poor people wept; but, after all, they were thankful to be\nalive, and kissed the hands of the Countess Stella, calling her an angel\nsent by the Madonna and a thousand other things of that kind. It was now\ntime to call for assistance, and by the aid of two or three peasants we\ntransported them all into a habitation, where they were received for the\nnight. To\u2010morrow I shall go and carry them some assistance. And now,\nMadame la Duchesse, you know how the Countess Stella lost her bonnet, and\nwhy we were so late.\u201d\n\nThe effect produced by this account cannot be described. Gilbert eagerly\nraised his head, and I saw his eyes glisten as he listened. As for me, my\nheart leaped with a kind of transport, while my dear, noble Stella made\nfruitless efforts to stop the acclamations her courage drew even from\nthose who were the least accessible to enthusiasm.\n\n\u201cWhat an absurdity!\u201d exclaimed she as soon as she could make herself\nheard. \u201cWho of you would not have done the same thing? Stop, I beg of you,\nor rather, listen to me. Let us all join in buying these poor people a\ncottage to replace the one they have lost.\u201d\n\nThis proposition was of course acceded to with ardor and unanimity. My\nAunt Clelia instantly plunged into the depths of her pocket, and had\nalready opened her well\u2010stocked _porte\u2010monnaie_ when Lando rose and\nexclaimed:\n\n\u201cStop, Donna Clelia; put your gold back in your pocket\u2014for the moment. I\nhave an idea. Let us do as they do in Paris.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! bravo!\u201d exclaimed my two cousins in a breath.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Teresina with enthusiasm, \u201cas at Paris, I beg of you. But\nwhat? how? say!\u201d\n\n\u201cListen, all,\u201d said Lando\u2014\u201clisten to my programme. It contains a _r\u00f4le_\nfor us all. First, Donna Ginevra\u2019s is the easiest, but most indispensable.\nShe must lend us one of her drawing\u2010rooms where a small but select number\ncan assemble. This _r\u00e9union_ shall take place to\u2010morrow, ... no, the day\nafter to\u2010morrow, when\u2014pay special attention now, Monsieur le Comte de\nKergy.\u201d\n\nGilbert, hearing his name, looked up with surprise, while Lando stopped to\nsay very swiftly in Italian to his neighbor, \u201cYou know he is celebrated\nfor his eloquence,\u201d then continued: \u201cAnd then, the Comte de Kergy, here\npresent, shall, at the opening of the meeting, make a brief discourse, in\norder to explain the object of the contribution we shall afterwards expect\nof each one. He will relate the account we have just heard, and add all he\npleases about the excursion we have made together and the various\nincidents that have taken place. We shall depend on his omitting nothing\nthat occurred. _Poi_, Donna Teresina and Donna Mariuccia will sing a duet,\naccompanied by the Baron von Brunnenberg; and if you wish for a general\nchorus, here we are, Mario, Leslie, and myself, ready to lend our\nassistance. _Finalmente_, we come to the most important; the Countess\nStella will recite some poetry of her own choice, and you who have heard\nher know what is in reserve for those who are to hear her for the first\ntime. After that is the moment to present your contributions, and you\nshall give me the result. _Che ne dite!_\u201d\n\nI could not have declined, even if I had had any serious objections\nagainst this proposition, which was unanimously received with even more\nenthusiasm than the first. Stella, though really endowed with the talent\nLando was desirous of profiting by, seemed annoyed. Gilbert\u2019s face\ndarkened, and he resumed the gloomy, preoccupied expression he had for an\ninstant shaken off; but to protest or refuse was as impossible for them as\nwell as me, and before separating, at two o\u2019clock in the morning, the\nmeeting was decided upon and appointed for the next day but one.\n\nWhen I found myself alone, it was impossible to think of sleep,\nnotwithstanding the advanced hour of the night. My chamber was at one end\nof the house, and opened on the lateral terrace opposite that of the\ndrawing\u2010room. I opened my window, and took a seat outside. There, in the\nimposing silence of that beautiful night, I sought calmness and the power\nof reflection. The uncommon courage Stella had just given a proof of\nproduced a salutary effect on me. Her example reacted somewhat against a\nfatal enervation that was gradually diminishing my moral strength. I\nadmired courage, and my soul, however enfeebled it might be, responded at\nthis moment to her noble, generous impulse. With my eyes fastened on the\nflame that now lit up the whole horizon with its sinister gleam, I thought\nthe sight ought to inspire Stella with a lofty emotion such as follows the\naccomplishment of an heroic deed; whereas I\u2014it was with a shudder I\nthought of the contrast it suggested!... I tried to avoid dwelling on what\nhad taken place. I wished to believe it was my imagination alone that\ndisturbed and alarmed me; that nothing was changed; but I could not\nsucceed, and at last I was forced to consider what I should do\u2014what was\nthe course prescribed by the new light to which I could no longer close my\neyes? But as soon as this question was clearly placed before me, I\nexperienced the most violent repugnance to solve it.\n\nGilbert\u2019s sweet, beneficent friendship alone had enabled me to endure the\ndestruction of my happiness. Could I admit the necessity of renouncing it?\nWhat had he ever done till to\u2010day to give me reason to regret my\nconfidence in him? For an instant, it is true, and only for an instant, he\nhad not seemed like himself, and my heart beat, in spite of myself, as I\nrecalled his look and the accent of his voice; but did I not attach too\nmuch importance to words which, after all, were vague and incoherent?\nShould I not take time to reflect? Such were the questions I asked myself,\nin order to impose silence on my reason and the actual voice of my\nconscience. I succeeded so far as to defer the reply I was unwilling to\nlisten to, and put off my decision, whatever it might be, till the\nfollowing day.\n\nIt was late when I awoke, for I did not go to sleep till daylight; and I\nhad not yet left my chamber when the following letter was brought me. It\nwas dated the same day at three o\u2019clock in the morning:\n\n\u201cMADAME: A few hours ago I addressed you in a moment of delirium. What I\nsaid I know not. But what I do know is that you understood me, and, in\norder to regain your confidence and make you forget what I uttered, I\nshould be obliged to declare what is false, and this I cannot do. No, I\nwill not be false to myself, were I, by speaking the truth, to forfeit a\nhappiness I ought to have courage enough to deny myself, and which I\nshall, at least, renounce if you require it.\n\n\u201cI only ask you not to condemn me without a hearing. For once allow me to\nspeak plainly, though it be of myself; which is repugnant to me, as you\nmay have perceived. But it is necessary to do this in order to throw light\non the decision you will afterwards have to make.\n\n\u201cI believe I have a high idea of the use a man should make of his life, as\nwell as a profound conviction he will have to render an account of the way\nhe spends it. In a word, I adhere, thank God, to the faith of my mother,\nand desire to live as much as possible in accordance with this faith, and\nas it becomes an honest man and a Christian to live.\n\n\u201cTo this end, I have given my activity every possible scope\u2014long,\nfatiguing journeys, hard study, active concurrence in a multitude of\nenterprises that seemed to have an useful object. I have entered eagerly\ninto everything that could absorb my mind and time, not so much out of\ndisinterested zeal for doing good, as from a calculation that is\nallowable, I think; for it is founded on a distrust of myself, resulting\nfrom an exact knowledge of the shoals on which I might easily be wrecked.\n\n\u201cI dreamed of a happiness, common enough in many countries, but rare in\nours\u2014that of knowing, loving, and choosing the one I would make my own;\nbut this is a difficult thing in France, and I had a strong repugnance to\nany other way of deciding my lot. I persistently refused to consent to any\nof those so\u2010called chance encounters one is constantly drawn into by\nofficious friends without number in Paris, who are always ready to take\npossession of any one who has the misfortune to be considered a _bon\nparti_.\n\n\u201cIn avoiding these encounters I was spared other temptations still more\ndangerous, and I met with nothing to disturb my peace of mind till the day\nI saw you the first time, madame. I had no conversation with you on that\noccasion, but I observed you, I heard your voice, and listened to some of\nyour remarks. I noticed your indifference to the homage that surrounded\nyou, and the evident absence of vanity which your beauty rendered so\nstrange, and I became afraid of you. Yes, I felt I must avoid you, and I\ndid so resolutely. One day, however, you were, without my being aware of\nit, in the audience I addressed, and Diana afterwards presented me to you.\nThe opinion of every one else immediately became indifferent to me. I only\ncared to know what you thought of my discourse, and to ascertain if there\nwas any mental sympathy between us. I thought I discovered some in the few\nwords we exchanged, and my resolution to avoid you only became the more\nfixed. I even resisted my mother\u2019s entreaties to join some of the\nexcursions she made with you. Consequently, I only met you once, as you\nare aware, madame, and that was at home, where I could not avoid the\nhappiness of being beside you.\n\n\u201cI perceived you were sad that evening, in spite of your charming smile\nand gayety of manner, which were no less dangerous to me than your tears.\nI saw it, and was terribly agitated. And when at last the time came to bid\nyou farewell, I could not summon the resolution, but said instead \u2018_au\nrevoir_.\u2019\n\n\u201cNevertheless, I allowed long months to pass. I waited till time had\nsomewhat effaced the vividness of my recent impressions, so I should no\nlonger fear to meet you, and then I made an excuse to stop at Naples a few\ndays on my way to Egypt. The day I arrived here, though I detest balls, I\ncould not avoid attending that given by the French ambassador, and there I\nsaw you once more!\n\n\u201cShall I acknowledge it? When I saw you in all the splendor of your\ndazzling beauty, enhanced by your dress, and surrounded by adorers, I felt\na momentary relief. I congratulated myself on having braved the danger of\nseeing you again. It seemed to me at that moment the image I had so\ncherished in my heart was effaced, and I was no longer in any danger.\nAlas! the next day you were no longer the same. I found you as you once\nwere, but I had not the courage to fly from you. My stay was to be short,\nand I yielded to the happiness allotted me, persuading myself the habit of\nseeing you daily might diminish the effect of your influence.\n\n\u201cAt length, madame, in good faith, as I thought, I ventured one day to ask\nyou to regard me as a friend, and promised to be worthy of the favor. I\nfirmly believed I promised you nothing beyond my strength. A single\ninstant was sufficient to reveal to me, even more clearly than to you, the\nextent of my illusion. You see I make no attempt to conceal anything from\nyou now. I no longer try to deceive you. But in spite of all I have said,\nI implore you not to bid me depart. In asking this I feel sure of never\noffending you again. I cannot hope for the return of your confidence. I no\nlonger claim to be regarded as a friend. I even promise to speak to you\nhenceforth but seldom. But I beseech you not to deprive me of the\nhappiness of seeing you! Do not punish me so severely! Do not yet command\nme to _go_. That word would be an order I should at once obey, or rather a\nsentence I should submit to without a murmur; but there is no criminal who\nhas not the right to petition for mercy, and that mercy I now implore at\nyour feet.\n\n\u201c_Gilbert._\u201d\n\n\n\nXXXII.\n\n\nMy mother, in portraying the lineaments of my youthful soul, once spoke of\na precious jewel hidden in its depths. She doubtless referred to the\ninclination for what is right and the lively horror of evil she discovered\nthere. But does not this jewel exist with more or less purity and\nbrilliancy in the depths of every human soul, requiring only a perverted\nwill to crush it utterly, or a feeble, undecided will to tarnish its\nlustre and diminish its value? My life, though not very culpable in\nappearance, was now drawing me in its soft current into that state of\nsluggishness, inaction, and weakness which is a dissolvent of this\nsupernatural jewel without any equal in the natural world.\n\nLorenzo, notwithstanding his jealous vigilance during the earlier period\nof our married life, did not hesitate to take me to all the theatres, and\nat Paris he placed in my hands some of the most celebrated romances of the\nday. This somewhat disturbed the equilibrium of my mind, and produced a\ncertain agitation of soul, which is the natural consequence of an\nunhealthy interest in works to which genius and talent have the cruelty to\nlend their irresistible power. When we reflect on the value of these\ndivine gifts, the source from which they emanate, and their power of\ndiffusing light and awakening the mental faculties, we cannot help\nthinking how cruel it is to employ them in kindling everywhere a fire so\ndestructive to the human soul\u2014the only real, irrevocable death.\n\nBut, in spite of the inevitable effect spoken of above, the strong disgust\nand repugnance they speedily produced in my mind prevented their poisonous\nemanations from affecting me seriously. Now, after being so long exposed\nto influences doubtless less deleterious than those, but by no means\nstrengthening, a more subtle snare was laid for me.... The letter I held\nin my hand was not an effusion that should instantly have aroused my\nconscience, which, though torpid, was not hardened; no, its language was\nsuch that I read and reread it, and allowed the sentiments it expressed to\npenetrate my very heart. And yet, what was the substance of this letter;\nwhat was its real signification? However noble and superior to other men\nGilbert might appear in my eyes, of what avail was this nobleness, this\nsuperiority, this purity of his soul even, when he began to tread the\nlower path of common mortals with the vain thought that he could maintain\na straight course better than others; ... that he could make me so\ndecidedly explicit a declaration, and promise me an inviolable respect,\nwhich he immediately deviated from the first time he had the\nopportunity?...\n\nBut this truth did not at that time appear in the light in which I saw it\nat a later day, and a terrible struggle took place in my heart. Illusion\nwas no longer possible. I could no longer say I had a sure, faithful\nfriend whose attachment was allowable, and yet I could not decide to give\nit up. I tried to persuade myself, with all those arguments that present\nthemselves as soon as one is ready to listen to them, that this sacrifice\nwas unnecessary. In the bottom of my soul, however, another voice made\nitself heard, repeating more strongly the warning of the night before\u2014a\nsweet, divine voice, scarcely audible in the midst of all this agitation,\nand, when heard, was not listened to!\n\nThat was the day I usually went to see Livia, but it was quite late before\nI remembered it. My first thought was to omit going for once, but as I had\nalways been punctual at these interviews, in spite of every obstacle, and\nSaturday was the only day I could be received, after some minutes\u2019\nhesitation I surmounted the temptation to remain at home.\n\nDuring the whole period of frivolous gayety that marked the first months\nof my life at Naples, far from wishing to avoid seeing Livia, I took\npleasure, on the contrary, in asking her advice, which I was by no means\nas afraid of, even in Carnival time, as my Aunt Clelia. I was something\nlike a place besieged and almost surrounded by the enemy, but still not\nwholly inaccessible to the friendly power disposed to deliver it. As I\nhave said elsewhere, Livia\u2019s voice always took a correct pitch,\nunmistakable to the ear, and I loved to listen to it, even when mine was\ntoo weak to sound the same note with like power and clearness.\n\nBut from the day of Lorenzo\u2019s departure, so doubly fatal, instead of the\ncareless gayety I usually went to the convent to acknowledge and correct,\nI was filled with a sadness and anxiety Livia was not slow to perceive,\nand, instead of gently shaking her head, as she smiled at my account of\nthe somewhat too gay a life into which I had been led by Lorenzo, she now\nfastened a grave, anxious look on me, to which I replied by pouring out\nall the bitterness of my fresh grievances without any restraint. After\nthis explanation, which sufficiently accounted for the change she had\nremarked, I spoke no more of myself, and never once mentioned Gilbert\u2019s\nname. I was angry with myself for this reserve. I longed to overcome it,\nand tell her, as I had often told myself, that in Gilbert heaven had sent\nme a friend whose influence was delightful, salutary, elevated, pure, and\nso on. These words came to my lips, but I could not utter them before her.\n\nOnce (it was the Saturday before) there was a new change in the expression\nof my face\u2014a change which reflected, I suppose, the insecure and dangerous\nhappiness to which I had unscrupulously yielded. Seeing me appear with a\nsmiling air and a calm, untroubled face, she at first seemed pleased, but,\nafter observing me for some time, said:\n\n\u201cHas Lorenzo returned?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\nShe looked thoughtful.\n\n\u201cDo you know when he will return?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said I bitterly; \u201cand, in fact, I begin never to expect\nhim, and almost not to wish him to return.\u201d\n\nI saw a slight movement of her clasped hands like a shudder. She raised\nher large eyes, and, looking me in the face, said:\n\n\u201cTake care.\u201d\n\nHer look and words greatly troubled me, and I did not recover from the\nimpression till it was time for Gilbert to arrive in the evening, when his\npresence made me forget it. I thought of this to\u2010day, and perhaps the\nremembrance added to the repugnance I felt to go to the convent. Perhaps\nit also caused the unusual emotion I experienced when I found myself once\nmore in the parlor\u2014the very parlor that filled me with so much terror the\nfirst time I entered it, but which I afterwards forgot, so different were\nthe impressions that followed.\n\nBut whatever the joy, the trouble, the agitation, or, as to\u2010day, the\nanguish, with which I came, a few minutes sufficed to put me in harmony\nwith the inexpressible tranquillity that reigned around me. The pulsations\nof my heart diminished, and I experienced the effect a pure, vivifying air\nproduces on one who has just come from a heavy, feverish atmosphere. The\nbare walls, the wooden seats, the extreme simplicity and austerity on\nevery side, inspired me with a kind of attraction that would have\nsurprised those who daily saw me in my sumptuous home, surrounded by all\nthat wealth and the most refined taste could procure. This attraction,\nincomprehensible to myself, was like that vague perfume the traveller\nbreathes when approaching some unknown shore which he does not yet\nperceive....\n\nBut on this occasion these things, instead of producing their usually\nbeneficial, soothing effect, caused me a kind of uneasiness akin to\nremorse, and I soon found the solitude so difficult to endure that I had\nsome idea of profiting by the interval that remained in order to leave the\nconvent under some pretext without seeing my sister. But the strength of\nmind that, thank heaven, I still possessed prevented me from leaving the\nplace, and I became absorbed in thoughts I dared not fathom, so utterly\ndiscordant were they with everything around me, and so different from what\nthey seemed in the light by which I regarded them only an hour before.\n\nAt last the door opened, the curtain was drawn aside, and Livia made her\nappearance.\n\n\u201cYou are late, Gina,\u201d said she. \u201cI was afraid I should not see you to\u2010\nday.\u201d\n\nI stammered some excuse, as she gave me a scrutinizing look with her usual\nexpression of extreme sweetness.\n\n\u201cYou do not look so happy as you did last Saturday, Ginevra. You are\nagitated and excited to\u2010day. Will you not tell me the reason?\u201d\n\nI was tempted to make her a thorough, sincere confession; but the moment I\nwas about to begin I was struck with the impossibility of speaking in that\nangelic place of what seemed elsewhere only natural, excusable, and almost\nlegitimate.\n\nSeeing I made no reply, she gently said:\n\n\u201cLorenzo has not yet come home. Of course his absence afflicts you. Be\npatient and forbearing, I conjure you, Ginevra.\u201d\n\nHer words caused me a kind of irritation, though I was glad to elude her\nprevious question, and I hastily replied:\n\n\u201cLivia, you require too much of me. Some day I may become patient and\nforbearing, but at present it is impossible.\u201d\n\n\u201cGina, Gina, do not say so,\u201d said she in the tone in which she used to\ncorrect the faults of my childhood.\n\n\u201cO Livia! your poor sister finds life hard, I assure you. How happy you\nare!...\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I am happy,\u201d she softly replied.\n\n\u201cWho would have said it, however,\u201d I continued in an agitated tone, \u201cwhen\nLorenzo came to woo me with so many assurances of affection, so many\npromises of happiness?... That all this should prove false and\nillusory!... Oh! when I think of it, I no longer have the strength to....\u201d\n\n\u201cGinevra!\u201d said Livia, suddenly interrupting me in a tone of authority,\n\u201cit is useless to talk in that manner. You speak like a child!\u201d\n\nShe seldom spoke to me in this way, and I stopped.\n\n\u201cAt the time you are speaking of,\u201d she resumed, \u201cdo you remember my\ntelling you one day\u2014it was only a short time before your marriage....\u201d\n\nI hastily interrupted her in my turn.\n\n\u201cI have not forgotten our conversation, Livia. That was the day you told\nme I was going to pronounce _the most fearful vow there is in the world_.\nBut, sister, I was not the only one who made it.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, certainly not. You mean to say that Lorenzo has violated the solemn\nvow that bound you together.... Yes, Gina, it is horrible, I acknowledge,\nbut listen to me; if you continue to think more of your own wrongs than of\nGod, whom he has offended a thousand times more; if you continue to\ncomplain and dwell on your injuries, the result will be, you will soon\nseek likewise to be released from the fidelity you vowed to him. And then\n(may God preserve me from ever seeing that day, when I shall be truly\nseparated from you!) your fall will be speedy, rapid, and terrible. You\nwill fall as low, perhaps, as you might now rise high.\u201d\n\nShe saw me shudder at these words, and continued with her usual mildness:\n\n\u201cNow, my dearest Gina, may God and his angels watch over you!... It is\ngrowing dark. The bell is about to summon me away. I have only time for\none word: _Forget your heart_, I implore you. Believe me, God will some\nday satisfy its cravings, if you cease to listen so weakly to them,\nlonging to have them gratified at all costs. Forget your heart, I say, and\nthink only of your soul!\u201d\n\nThe bell rang while she was speaking. She raised her hand, and made the\nsign of the cross in the air. I bowed my head, and when I raised it again\nshe had disappeared. But she had not spoken in vain. The clouds that\nobscured my reason began to disperse, my courage began to revive, and the\njewel within to regain the brilliancy that had been obscured in the depths\nof my soul. The course I ought to pursue was set before me with painful\ndistinctness, but I no longer turned my eyes away from it.\n\nI was not happy when I left the convent. I did not even feel calm or\nconsoled; but I had come to a decision.\n\nIt was so late when I arrived home that the garden was filled with\nmoonlight. I walked there a long time, absorbed in my reflections, and\nsincerely endeavoring to strengthen a resolution whose fulfilment I did\nnot yet dare to consider. I trembled as I asked myself if it was necessary\nto utter the decisive word before another day, or if I could wait till\nafter the _soir\u00e9e_ organized by Lando, when it would be no longer possible\nto defer it.\n\nI still hesitated as to this point. Though I had come to a decision, I did\nnot cease to suffer, but I ceased to be weak. I was very far from the\nsummit, but I resolved to attain it, instead of remaining as far below as\nI now stood. A circumstance, insignificant in itself, now occurred to\nconfirm the change in my mind.\n\nThe door of Lorenzo\u2019s studio was open, and, wishing to shorten the way to\nmy chamber, I entered it, and was proceeding towards the other door when I\nfound myself face to face with the vestal of which I was the model. The\nmoon threw so brilliant a light over it as to produce a striking effect. I\nstopped to look at it, and, while doing so, it seemed as if this statue of\nmyself spoke to me in its own way, and in a language similar to that I had\nso recently been listening to.\n\nAnd what was the idea which Lorenzo really intended to express in this\nvestal\u2014the finest of his productions?\n\nOne of those ideas which, under the inspiration of genius, sometimes\nsprang from his soul, and seemed for an instant to show a sense of the\ngood equal to that he had of the beautiful. This was, alas! only a\ntransitory gleam of light, but it was sufficient to justify the ambitious\nhopes I once felt for a day\u2014hopes so fatally illusory at the very time\nthey were conceived!\n\nLorenzo\u2019s idea in choosing the ancient guardians of the sacred fire as his\nsubjects was to represent under these two figures the woman who was true\nto her highest mission, and the woman who was untrue to it; the latter\nmaking use of the holy fire under her charge to kindle a flame that would\nend in destruction and woe; the other striving to keep this very fire\nalive, diffusing its clear, brilliant, beneficent light, not only over\nherself, but over everything around her.\n\nSuch was the idea he had not been able to embody, he said, till he had me\nfor his model. All this was doubtless the dream of an artist; but while I\nstood contemplating what had resulted from it, the effect I experienced\nwas so strange, the thoughts that came to my mind were so vivid, that they\ncould only have been the whisperings of the voice that for an hour had\nspoken more and more clearly to my heart.\n\nThe statue, however idealized it might be by the genius of the sculptor,\nresembled me sufficiently for me to recognize the likeness. Flooded as it\nnow was by a brilliant, unearthly light, I looked at it with an attention\nI had never done before. I observed its simple, dignified attitude; the\nhead slightly inclined towards the symbolic flame that rose from the lamp\nshe bore in her hands with so much ease, and yet with care and vigilance;\nand, finally, the mouth and eyes, in which it seemed to me no artist had\never expressed so clearly the gentleness, firmness, and purity he wished\nto depict. It was thus Lorenzo imagined the guardian of the divine fire\nwhich not only burned on the sacred altar, but kindled and fed the noblest\ninspirations of genius....\n\nYes, the conception was a beautiful one, and I felt proud and gratified\nthat he had found me worthy of being the model to realize it!\n\nAll at once I was struck with a kind of terror, as it occurred to me,\nShall this resemblance be merely external? Are not many things wanting in\nmy nature which this statue seeks to express, and of which its beauty is\nonly the reflection?...\n\nO my God! I thank thee! Everything becomes an instrument in thy hand. It\nwas thou, and not this marble, who didst suggest this thought, and it was\nthrough thy grace that, at that moment, quicker than I can express it, and\nas clearly as the eye beholds a picture placed suddenly before it, I all\nat once saw if Lorenzo were present, under the roof that was his, and\nGilbert were also there\u2014Gilbert, who called himself my friend and not\nhis\u2014there would exist at my fireside, there would be infused into my life,\na perpetual lie, unmistakable treachery, and constant danger. I saw and\nrealized that, though he might not apparently have anything to reproach me\nfor, everything within and around me would henceforth continually reproach\nme. I saw if the sacred lamp did not actually fall from my hands, the\npurity of its flame would speedily be dimmed, and certainly end by being\nwholly extinguished....\n\nAll this became clearly visible and palpable, and in the presence of this\nvoiceless marble, before the image of this pagan priestess, I renewed the\ntacit promise I had an hour before made to her who was the living\nChristian realization of this ancient ideal of a virtue pure and chaste.\n\n\n\nXXXIII.\n\n\nI went up to my chamber, not only startled at the vividness of the\nimpression I had received, but decided as to my course. The words\n_falsehood_ and _treachery_ that came to my mind produced a powerful\neffect on me, and would, perhaps, have had the same effect on every woman\nwho happened to be in a similar position, if she had the courage to call\nthings in this way by their right names. It is pleasant and delightful to\ninspire and to experience those profound emotions sung by poets and\nexalted by writers of fiction, but it is not noble to be false. No poet\nhas ever said so, no writer of fiction has ventured to insinuate it. Now,\nit is this falsity, so essential a feature in all these little dramas of\nthe heart (real or fictitious), which ought, it seems to me, to disgust\neven those who do not act from any higher motive than those of the world.\nAs for me, the mere thought that it would henceforth be impossible to\nspeak of Gilbert\u2019s friendship without falsehood, and, at Lorenzo\u2019s return,\nthat I should not have the same right as before to look him in the\nface\u2014this thought, I say, was sufficient to inspire me at this moment with\nso much determination that I thought my irresolution at an end. It seemed\nas if I should have but little difficulty in accomplishing the task from\nwhich I no longer endeavored to escape. But in the evening, when, at a\nlate hour, Gilbert arrived, I was somewhat moved at perceiving my outward\ncalmness and animation made him suppose I acquiesced in his wishes; for,\nafter looking at me an instant, he seemed suddenly relieved from a lively\napprehension, and his eyes flashed with joy.\n\nThere was considerable company in the drawing\u2010room that evening, and\nconsequently a good deal of noise. They had a kind of rehearsal of what\nwas to take place the following evening. My cousins were at the piano with\nthe baron and Lando. Leslie, at a distance, was gazing at Stella, who,\nunder the pretext of looking over a volume of Dante, in order to select\nsomething to recite, was seated apart, silent and absorbed. There was no\none on the terrace, and I proceeded in that direction. I felt that\nGilbert\u2019s eyes followed me; but he hesitated about joining me. I likewise\nfelt some hesitation, but, fearing I might again become irresolute, and\nwishing at once to make it impossible to yield to the danger, I looked up,\nand motioned for him to follow me. In an instant he was at my side, and,\nas I remained silent, he said in an agitated tone:\n\n\u201cI hope you have pardoned me, madame.\u201d\n\nI was terribly moved on my part, but it would not do to manifest it.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I replied, \u201cI forgive you; for you have been sincere, and that is\nworth everything else. But, Monsieur de Kergy, I must be sincere likewise.\nLet me therefore say to you, leave Naples. You ought to, and it is my\nwish.\u201d\n\nHe was greatly agitated, but did not utter a word. I continued with a\ncalmness that astonished me, though my heart beat with frightful rapidity:\n\n\u201cTo\u2010morrow, I know, every one will depend on hearing you speak, and I\nalso. But do not remain in Naples beyond the following day, if you can\npossibly help it. And after you are gone; I am sure you will be glad you\nobeyed me.\u201d\n\nHe made no reply.\n\n\u201cWho knows?\u201d continued I gently. \u201cThe day will come, perhaps, when we can\nmeet again\u2014when we can be truly friends without deceit, without falseness\nin the real sense of the word. What is impossible now may not be always.\u201d\n\nWhile I was speaking he leaned against the wall with folded arms. He\nlistened at first with his head bent down; but he now suddenly raised it,\nand I saw such a veil of sadness over his eyes and whole face that I had\nto make a violent effort to maintain my self\u2010command.\n\nAt last he said:\n\n\u201cYou are right. It was folly in me to come; it would be greater folly to\nremain. I will obey you, madame. I cannot complain, and I respect you as\nmuch as I....\u201d\n\nHe stopped, for I made a deprecatory gesture. What I had to say was said,\nand I felt our interview ought not to be prolonged. I was about to leave\nthe terrace when he detained me.\n\n\u201cA moment more, madame, I beg\u2014only one, and the last; for who knows if you\nwill grant me another, even to bid you farewell?...\u201d\n\nI stopped.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d continued he slowly, \u201cI would like to think, as you say, that I\nshall be permitted to see you again some day, and sincerely be your\nfriend. Time will pass over my head and yours. You will not always be\nyoung and beautiful. Long years will doubtless pass. To enable me to\nendure the present, I must look forward to the time when I shall be no\nlonger young, and can see you again, and resume without fear the title I\nought not to claim, I acknowledge, while there is any danger of profaning\nit. I await that day.\u201d\n\nIt was by no means with indifference I listened to his agitated, trembling\nvoice; but I manifested nothing outwardly, and was even able to smile, as\nI replied:\n\n\u201cIt will not be necessary to wait so long as you suppose, I assure you.\nLong before my hair grows white, what there is good and true in your\nfriendship will be restored to me. For before that day some one, more\nbeautiful than I (whom it will not be difficult to find), and, moreover,\nworthy of you, to whom you can give your whole heart, will have effaced\nthe remembrance of the passing fancy I have caused without intending it,\nbut which shall not be prolonged a single instant with my consent.\u201d\n\nI passed by him without looking up or giving him time to reply, and\nreturned to the drawing\u2010room. There I seated myself on a sofa in an\nobscure corner of the room, or rather, I fell on it, pale, faint, and\nexhausted by the effort I had made.\n\nI did not believe a word of what I had just said to Gilbert. My duty was\nto send him away, and this duty was accomplished! But I by no means\ndesired another should so soon efface my image. I said so to allay his\nregret and appear indifferent. I was proud of the courage I had\nmanifested. When I compared myself with Lorenzo, I thought myself\nperfectly heroic, and I was about to have reason to think myself a\nthousand times more so.\n\nLando at that moment left the piano, where he had been stationed all the\nevening beside Teresina. The latter, it may be remarked _en passant_, had\nprofited so well by his hints that her toilet had become irreproachable,\nand now added singularly to the effect of her beauty. Lando perceived it,\nand it was evident he also thought of my cousin\u2019s by no means despicable\ndowry among her other attractions, as a possible means of abridging his\nexile and returning to Paris before the two years had expired. When,\ntherefore, I saw him coming with a grave air towards the place where I was\nseated, I thought I was about to receive a communication I had long been\nprepared for. I did not suspect what he had to say concerned me much more\ndirectly than himself.\n\n\u201cCousin Ginevra,\u201d said he in a low tone, as he took a seat beside me, \u201cI\nhave had news from Milan.\u201d\n\nI started involuntarily. He did not notice it, but continued:\n\n\u201cNews which proves I was not mistaken the other day when I told you the\nbeautiful Faustina would take good care to avenge you. Only, I did not\nthink it would be so soon.\u201d\n\nBrought back so suddenly to the most painful reality of my life, I was the\nmore startled and confounded at what he said. Lando\u2019s gossip was usually\nodious to me; but now, instead of imposing silence on him, I insisted, on\nthe contrary, that he should conceal nothing from me.\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d continued he, \u201cit seems the fair Milanese, notwithstanding\nher _belle passion_ for Lorenzo, had never been able to console herself\nfor being deprived of the duchess\u2019 coronet on which she had depended. So\nwhile neglecting nothing to maintain the ascendency she had regained over\nhim, she was not wholly indifferent to the homage of a certain potentate\nfrom the Danube who offered to share with her his principality and his\nmillions. She was still hesitating, it seems, between ambition and love,\nwhen Lorenzo, who had some suspicion, and was on the alert, unexpectedly\ncame upon his rival. Then there was a violent scene and high words, which\nended in a challenge. They were on the point of fighting when the lady\nprevented the affair from going any further by declaring she would give\nher hand to the potentate!... So in a short time, I imagine,\u201d continued\nLando, rubbing his hands, \u201cDonna Faustina will take her departure for the\nbanks of the Danube. You will be delivered for ever from her, and we shall\nsoon see Lorenzo come home in a terrible humor. But, frankly, it is good\nenough for him. This punishment is not the hundredth part of what he\nmerits when he has a wife like you!\u201d\n\n\u201cO merciful heaven! what a fate is mine! and what a husband I am obliged\nto immolate myself to!...\u201d\n\nSuch was my first thought on hearing this account, and an hour after, when\nI went to my chamber, I had not yet overcome the bitterness and agitation\nit caused me. My temptation became stronger and more formidable than ever,\nand the desire again sprang up in my heart to retract the sentence I had\nso recently pronounced. To see him, hear him, sometimes speak to him, and\nmeet his sympathetic glance\u2014was all this really forbidden me? Would this\nbe failing in my duty to the husband who had outraged me so publicly? No,\nno, it could not be.... No one yet knew Gilbert was to leave Naples. A\nline, a word, from me, would suffice to prevent his departure. The new\nlife created by his presence would continue as if nothing had happened\nthat ought to terminate it!... I had already seized my pen and written the\nword ... when suddenly there awoke in my memory the words of Livia: \u201cThink\nof God, whom he has offended a thousand times more than he has you\u201d; and\nafterwards these: \u201cIf you seek likewise to be released, your fall will be\nspeedy, rapid, and terrible.\u201d\n\nThe recollection of these words stopped me and made me shudder. I now\nperceived what gradations I had passed through within a month. I felt that\nLivia was right\u2014should I descend from the height I had just attained, it\nwould indeed be to fall lower than I was before, and perhaps to the lowest\ndepths!\n\nMy sister in her quiet cell still aided me with her prayers, which\ndoubtless augmented the increasing light in my soul. I tore up the note I\nhad begun to write, and, again preparing myself to struggle and suffer\nmore than ever, I calmly renewed the resolution I had been so near\nbreaking. It seemed to me this slight victory, though it did not lessen my\nsadness, added to my strength, and made the jewel within gleam with a\nlustre somewhat brighter than before.\n\n\n\n\nAnother General Convention Of The Protestant Episcopal Church.\n\n\nThe late convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church has, we believe,\ndisappointed everybody. With skilful care to avoid anything which might\ncause a rupture, the various factions of this large and respectable\ndenomination have spoken to each other, and parted. The world is none the\nwiser, and we hardly think that _they_ are. High\u2010Churchmen have maintained\ntheir ground with smooth dignity; Low\u2010Churchmen have gained some points,\nwhile they have lost others; and Ritualists have hidden themselves in\nsilence. If neither party is suited, there is the consolation that no one\nis pleased; and from this universal negative we presume the conclusion\ncomes to an universal affirmative that all are pleased. We have long ago\nforeseen this result, and they who, arguing from the defection of Bishop\nCummins, expected to hear something decisive in the way of doctrine, have\nlearned how peace may be maintained by simply abstaining from war. The\nEpiscopal Church has no fixed creed. Its articles of faith contradict its\noffices. Its various members interpret both, so that from the Babel of\nconflicting opinions no certain sound can be heard. Thus it has been, and\nthus it will be to the end. There is only one thing on which Episcopalians\nunite\u2014namely, hostility to the Catholic Church. With various degrees of\nignorance or honesty, they are enemies of the only body which teaches with\nauthority, whose forms they counterfeit by sad travesties or servile\nimitations.\n\nThe action of this convention, as far as it concerns the interior\nstructure of the church, which they profess to have modelled after the\nAmerican Constitution, has no particular interest for the world. Some\nimprovement may have been made in the canons, of which we can be no\njudges. Legislation is one of the peculiarities of our day. If it be\nharmless, it is looked upon as a safe use of force and nerve which,\nexpended in another direction, might have done damage. We proceed to\nnotice a few things which are of importance, and they are the only acts of\nthe convention which, on the reading of the journal, strike us as of any\nconsequence.\n\nWe are happy to be able to congratulate our friends on the rejection of\nthe _provincial system_. With them it would have worked very badly,\nbecause a province supposes some central government and a unit in\nauthority. When a province separates from its parent state, it becomes\nindependent. If there be no home government, there can be no province,\nproperly so\u2010called. The committee very _learnedly_ explains the\nconstitution of the primitive church, and concludes that it would not\napply to them, and could not without injury be forced upon them.\n\n\n \u201cYour committee assume that the terms \u2018provincial system\u2019 are used\n in the resolution in their full ecclesiastical and primitive\n sense. In the early church there were: 1. the parish; 2, the\n diocese; 3, the province; 4, the patriarchate. The parish had its\n priest, the diocese its bishop, the province its archbishop, the\n patriarchate its patriarch. Among these, the dominant and most\n active power was the province with its archbishop. Speaking\n generally, we may say that it possessed the powers of this body\n and of the House of Bishops, and many of the powers of our\n diocesan councils. The provinces were disconnected and\n independent, except as, by very slender ties, they were united in\n the patriarchate. Such a system would dismember this church, and\n out of this now compact, now united body create five, or seven, or\n ten separate churches. The ties which may at first unite them will\n grow weaker and weaker. However similar they may be at the moment\n of dismemberment, at that moment the process of divergence will\n begin, and it will go on until the separation will be as great as\n that now existing between York and Canterbury. Those provinces now\n communicate with each other only informally.\n\n \u201cAny institution of provinces or provincial synods, with powers\n subject at all times to revocation by the General Convention,\n would be useless and illusory. The provinces, if invested with\n irrevocable powers, and discharged from the constant and necessary\n authority and supervision of the General Convention, certainly\n might, and probably would, soon diverge into widely differing\n practices and opinions, engendering ecclesiastical conflicts,\n threatening the unity of our church.\u201d\n\n\nNothing could be plainer than this argument. In any Protestant\norganization, the least separation makes an independent church. It could\nnot be otherwise where there is no infallible authority and no divine\ngovernment to bind all the members to one head. It must be sad to the\nlovers of primitive purity to know how imperfect the constitution of the\nearly church was. Everything tended to disintegration, and a more perfect\nsystem has been found out by the wisdom of modern days. In the mind of the\ncommittee, the hand of God had nothing to do with the primitive church;\nfor there is only _one_ author of confusion and disorder. These learned\nantiquarians never heard of the See of Rome, and do not know that our Lord\nsaid to Peter, \u201cThou art the rock, and on this rock will I build my\nchurch.\u201d Viewing them, however, from their own standpoint, we are glad to\nnote their acuteness, and to congratulate them that they have not\n_divided_ themselves.\n\nIt appears also that there was some disposition to consider the American\nEpiscopal Church as a province of the English, and to treat the Archbishop\nof Canterbury as a kind of patriarch. This disposition was rebuked by the\nconvention. The following are among the remarks made in the House of\nDeputies which show that the _quasi_ mission of the Bishop of Lichfield\nwas fruitless:\n\n\n \u201cThe right reverend gentleman who has taken so strong an interest\n in this subject has made a proposition, and the proposition is\n that we should become one great province, if you please, with the\n Archbishop of Canterbury as metropolitan of these United States\n for the nonce, and that in all these conferences the Archbishop of\n Canterbury, as the great metropolitan or patriarch, is to preside.\n\n \u201cI know that many are wont to call the Church of England the\n mother church. I hold that she is not. If so, I claim her to be\n nothing but a very poor stepmother. The church in this country\n never was perfected till she got her perfection by the\n consecration of Seabury from the bishops of Scotland; and if we\n acknowledge a mother other than the mother church of Jerusalem\n (which I am not prepared to acknowledge), we must acknowledge\n Scotland, not England.\n\n \u201cI could say a great deal more on this subject\u2014full of it I am;\n but, under the circumstances, I think I have said enough to\n satisfy the members of this house that they had better let it\n alone, and wait till the bishops tell us what they think of it.\n They are the persons interested. They accepted the first\n invitation without asking us \u2018with your leave\u2019 or \u2018by your leave.\u2019\n Now, after they have been bluffed, and this church, I would say,\n insulted as it has been by the Dean of Canterbury, and by the\n prearrangement of keeping out the very question which these\n gentlemen, at a large expense of time and money, went to attend\n to, why not leave them first to express their opinion? My word for\n it, from what I know of the self\u2010respect of the members of that\n house, if you wait for that, you will wait to the end of the term.\n\n \u201cThere are several parties to this movement, of different\n temperaments. One of them is the great apostolic prelate whom we\n have welcomed twice to this convention\u2014the illustrious prelate, of\n whom I speak with the most unbounded admiration as a churchman, as\n a gentleman, as a historian, as a man. In every capacity in which\n I can know human nature, he deserves honor and affection. I do not\n enter into the motives of this movement, but I simply say that he\n is affirmatively moving, in my belief, to gratify what he has\n largely developed in his great nature\u2014the power of organism. He\n does wish, I have no doubt, something like an organic union of the\n two churches of the two great English\u2010speaking races. That\n movement, to a certain extent, is creditable and desirable, but to\n a certain other extent it is extremely dangerous and utterly\n inadmissible.\u201d\n\n\nThe organic unity of the Anglican with the American Episcopal Church is as\nfar from perfect as the union of provinces would prove if the _primitive_\nsystem, as stated by the learned committee, were adopted. The independence\nof the two churches is as complete as that of the Presbyterian or\nMethodist denominations in this country. Neither is bound by the doctrinal\ndecisions of the other. This being the case, we hardly understand the full\nsignificance of the ceremony by which an \u201calms\u2010basin\u201d was presented by the\nGeneral Convention to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Bishop of\nLichfield, explaining his part in the august rite, says:\n\n\n \u201cIt was my happiness to present that alms\u2010basin to the Archbishop\n of Canterbury in concert with one whose loss we all lament, who is\n now with God in his rest\u2014Bishop McIlvaine, of Ohio, who, hand\u2010in\u2010\n hand with me, each of us holding the alms\u2010basin by one hand and on\n bended knee, presented that alms\u2010basin for the Lord\u2019s table in S.\n Paul\u2019s Cathedral, on the fourth of July, on that occasion.\u201d\n\n\nOne of the members of the House of Deputies tells us that\n\n\n \u201cThis basin was procured from the Messrs. Kirk, of the city of\n Baltimore. The price of it was one thousand dollars, and it is\n said to be the finest piece of work of silver and gold and\n precious stones combined that has ever been made upon our\n continent. It was sent through the hands of the Bishop of\n Lichfield, who presented it on bended knees to the Archbishop of\n Canterbury, to be placed upon the altar of S. Paul\u2019s Cathedral;\n and in this basin the bishops of the Church of England made their\n own offerings first. It is understood that the basin is to be\n preserved by the archbishop and transmitted to his successors, to\n be used in all future times at the consecration of English bishops\n and the opening of the Houses of Convocation, and upon all public\n and great occasions in which the Church of England is interested,\n and to be preserved as a pledge and token of unity and good\u2010will\n between our own church and our mother Church of England.\n\n \u201cI may say here, too, that both Houses of Convocation, by\n resolution adopted unanimously, went in their scarlet convocation\n robes from their sittings in the chamber near Westminster Abbey,\n in solemn procession, to the celebration of the Holy Communion in\n S. Paul\u2019s Cathedral, especially to do honor to the American\n Church; and in this procession Bishop McIlvaine and the Lord\n Bishop of Lichfield carried our basin, and it was presented to the\n Archbishop of Canterbury in form.\u201d\n\n\nWhy did these prelates _kneel_ to the archbishop on this occasion, unless\nto do him homage? And what function does an \u201calms\u2010basin\u201d discharge in the\nconsecration of bishops and the opening of the Houses of Convocation? We\nask in all sincerity, because our knowledge of ecclesiology is imperfect\nin reference to these points.\n\nWhile we praise the manly spirit of our American friends in not yielding\nto the spirit of toadyism before English prelacy, we confess we are\nsomewhat pained at a seeming want of self\u2010respect in their attempt to deal\nwith the \u201cHoly Orthodox Eastern Church.\u201d This body, though having valid\norders, holds all the doctrines condemned by the Thirty\u2010nine Articles, and\nhas plainly and openly anathematized Protestantism. Why will the\nEpiscopalians consent to be snubbed and slapped in the face for the sake\nof an intercommunion which is utterly impossible? If _they_ like it, we\nought not to repine; yet, for the sake of our manhood, we protest against\nit. The Rev. Dr. Fulton, of Alabama, said:\n\n\n \u201cThere is a great body of Christian people, constituting one of\n the three great bodies of the Holy Catholic Church, throughout the\n world, which to\u2010day are not in visible communion, although they\n are in unity of spirit, and hope for a more clearly\u2010defined bond\n of peace. Hitherto it has only been possible for these various\n bodies, or at least two of them\u2014that is to say, the Anglican\n Church and the Holy Orthodox Eastern Church\u2014to meet each other in\n courtesy. Now, arrangements have been made through the Archbishop\n of Canterbury by which the dead of our communion from England or\n this country can be buried by the Orthodox clergy, and other\n offices of courtesy and kindness can be performed. The Archbishop\n of Syra, representing the Holy Orthodox Eastern Church, lately\n visited the Church of England, and was there received with the\n greatest honor. Prelates of our own church and clergy of lower\n degree have likewise been received by the Eastern clergy. There\n are, in this city, with the approbation of the bishop of the\n diocese clergy of the Holy Orthodox Eastern communion. It is\n believed\u2014in fact, it is known\u2014that they are present now in this\n house; and, as a member of the Russo\u2010Greek Committee, it was\n suggested to me that, in the general recognition of the clerical\n rank and character which these resolutions imply, these brethren\n should be likewise recognized. It touches not at all the doctrine\n of their churches; it touches not at all the doctrines of their\n church; it touches not at all their attitude toward us; it simply\n recognizes that they are clergy of a church toward which we hope\n that, in the providence of God, we may be drawn in love, without\n any sacrifice of our own principles.\u201d\n\n\nWe doubt not that, when gentlemen meet, they treat each other with\ncourtesy. Even Roman Catholic, whom Dr. Fulton would not invite to the\nconvention, are courteous and polite. But this does not mean any\ncompromise in questions of doctrine. If Dr. Potter approves of the\npresence of Rev. Mr. Bjerring in New York, we are quite sure that the\nRussian priest never dreams of acknowledging his authority. Is it not very\nmuch beneath the dignity of a large and respectable body to take mere\npoliteness for any approach to unity in faith or communion? A letter of\nthe Metropolitan of St. Petersburg was handed round among the deputies as\na curiosity and a wonderful sign of Eastern favor to the Protestant\nEpiscopal Church. We are not sure if the following is an exact copy of the\nletter. If so, it is a gentle rebuke, given as politely as could be done\nunder the circumstances. We extract the letter and the comments thereon\nfrom a secular paper generally trustworthy:\n\n\u201cThe Convention\u2019s Proposition Spurned By Orthodox Catholics.\n\n\n \u201cApropos of the efforts of the Protestant Episcopal Church for a\n closer union and affiliation with the Orthodox Eastern Church, the\n following letter, translated from the _Birzheviga Vedomosty_, a\n Russian journal of a semi\u2010official ecclesiastical status, will be\n interesting. It is a reply to the petition of the Protestant\n Episcopal Church for a more intimate union with the Russo\u2010Greek\n Church, and is now for the first time published on this continent:\n\n \u201c \u2018TO THE WELL\u2010BELOVED IN CHRIST, AND THE RIGHT REVEREND COMMITTEE\n OF THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE\n UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:\n\n \u201c \u2018Your letter, addressed to his Excellency the Procurator\n General, Count Tolstoy, having been presented by him to the\n consideration of the Most Holy Governing Synod of Russia, together\n with the report and the concurrence of the House of Bishops,\n approved by the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, in reference\n to the establishment upon a true catholic basis of a spiritual\n fraternity between the American and Orthodox Churches, especially\n in the Territory of Alaska, was received by the Most Holy Synod of\n all the Russias with the utmost pleasure, as a new proof of\n respect shown by the representatives of the Episcopal Church, and\n of their estimable purpose concerning the union of the churches.\n The Most Holy Synod, on their part, will make it an object of\n their constant care that a spirit of Christian tolerance and\n fraternal love and esteem, in accordance with the precepts and\n usages of our church, shall continue to pervade all the relations\n existing between the members of the Orthodox Church and those of\n the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, and particularly in\n the Territory of Alaska.\n\n \u201c \u2018As to the hypothesis of a reciprocal participation in the\n solemn performance of the sacrament of the Eucharist, the Eastern\n Church firmly adheres to the principles and convictions so clearly\n stated in the messages sent in 1723 by the Orthodox patriarchs of\n the East in reply to the Anglican bishops. It considers a previous\n agreement in faith as absolutely indispensable to the practical\n mutual participation in the sacraments, inasmuch as the first is\n the only possible ground\u2010work or basis for the last. In order to\n attain this most desired end, a thorough study and investigation\n of the differences in the doctrine of both churches would be\n absolutely requisite; and to promote this, a great principle of\n co\u2010operation will undoubtedly be found in the spirit of peace and\n charity which animates both churches, the Orthodox as well as the\n American, and in those prayers for the peace of the whole world\n and for the union of the holy churches of the Lord which arise to\n the God of truth and mercy from the Orthodox churches, and which\n are most certainly shared in by the American churches.\n\n \u201c \u2018Having been authorized by the Most Holy Governing Synod, I\n assume the duty of presenting their answer to the House of Bishops\n of the American Episcopal Church, and beg you to accept the\n assurance of the highest esteem of your brother and co\u2010servant in\n Jesus Christ.\n\n ISIDORE,\n\n \u201c \u2018First Presiding Member of the Governing Synod of all the\n Russias, and Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg.\u2019\n\n \u201cThe only ecclesiastical representative of the Russian Church in\n this city, the Rev. N. Bjerring, has corroborated the facts set\n forth in this letter, and furthermore stated to the writer, in\n answer to inquiries, that the Orthodox Church seeks not exclusive\n affiliation with the Anglican and American Episcopal Churches, but\n desires to hold friendly relations with all Christian\n denominations; and in this spirit of fraternal love he receives in\n his own house, as personal friends, not only members of his own\n household of faith, but ministers and members of the Lutheran and\n Reformed Churches, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, and Roman\n Catholics, with all of whom he maintains the most cordial\n relations. But he declares that there can be no such thing as\n sacramental union between his church and any other, unless there\n shall have been first complete agreement in dogmas and an\n unconditional acceptance on the part of the affiliating churches\n of the authority and acts of the first seven \u0152cumenical Councils.\n This is a _conditio sine qu\u00e2 non_ from which the Russian Church\n cannot move a step nor deviate one line from the dogmatic truth\n handed down to her from the apostolic church; nor can she at the\n same time permit anything to be added to these dogmas.\u201d\n\n\nThe Eastern churches will never recognize the Episcopalians as anything\nbut a sect of Protestants. They deny the validity of their orders, and\ncondemn their articles of faith as heretical. Not one of their bishops or\npriests would be recognized as possessing any sacerdotal power, or could\never receive Holy Communion at the hands of the Greeks, whom they are\ninclined to receive with so much favor.\n\nThe following words of one of their leading agents in England are\nsufficiently decisive, though we fear not plain enough to convince our\nbrethren who are so sensitive about their apostolic succession, which\nevery one denies but themselves:\n\n\u201cNo other Protestant church was ever so full of contradictions, so full of\nvariegated heresy, as the English Church was and is, and will be to the\nend of her existence. With _such an heretical church_ the Orthodox Eastern\nChurch never would allow her bishops to transact.\n\n\u201cIf Rome considered all ordinations by Parker and his successors\u2014_i.e._,\nthe whole present English episcopate and clergy\u2014to be invalid, null, and\nvoid, and consistently re\u2010ordained all those converts who wished and were\nfit for orders, the Eastern Church can but imitate her proceedings, as\nboth follow, in this point, the same principles.\n\n\u201cThe Anglo\u2010Catholics are _most decidedly_ no Catholics, but Protestants,\nalthough inclining hopefully towards Catholicism. It is astonishing how\nthe zealous Intercommunionists dive into the depths of orthodox learning,\nrove in the remotest districts, compile the minutest arguments, while they\noverlook the _chasm at their feet_. They most ingenuously demand to\ndispense with ceremony, and to join hands all at once over _the vast deep_\nstretching out between them.\u201d(107)\n\nVery little has been done by this convention in the way of doctrinal\ndecisions. The House of Bishops having solemnly declared that in baptismal\nregeneration, as the term is used in the Prayer\u2010Book, no _moral change_ is\nsignified, the effort to drop the term altogether was voted down. Thus, in\nharmony with the customs of this church, a term is retained which has no\nreal significance. Those who object to it can only console themselves by\nthe conviction that it means nothing.\n\nA former convention had quite plainly denied the real presence of Christ\nin the Holy Eucharist, and hence the condemnation of any adoration of the\nsacrament is quite natural. We are not certain that the Ritualists will\nsee anything to startle them. They would hardly hear any voice, however\nloud it might be. Yet we think the rest of the world will be satisfied\nthat no adoration can be paid to the _elements_ of the Protestant\nEpiscopal communion, for the reason that they are in their very nature and\nsubstance, and that Christ is not in them. An important canon on ritual\nwas passed bearing chiefly on this subject. As it first received the votes\nof the House of Deputies, it condemned \u201cthe use of incense; the placing,\ncarrying, or retaining a crucifix in any part of the place of public\nworship; the elevation of the elements in the Holy Communion in such\nmanner as to expose them to the view of the people, as objects towards\nwhich adoration is to be made; and any act of adoration of or towards the\nelements, such as bowings, prostrations, or genuflections.\u201d As amended by\nthe House of Bishops, and afterwards passed by both houses, the use of\nincense and of the crucifix is not forbidden. One deputy explained that\nthe Greek Church is in the habit of using incense, and that the Lutherans\nretain the crucifix. Perhaps these may be among the reasons for the action\nof the bishops. We conclude that while the crucifix may be placed in the\nchurch, and incense be used at the will of ministers or their people, no\nact of adoration can be allowed towards the Eucharist. The force of this\ncanon will depend much upon the disposition of the bishop, who can wink at\nthese observances or fail to know anything of them. The law, however,\nobliges him to examine the matter if any two of his presbyters complain,\nand, referring the subject to his standing committee, to admonish the\noffending minister. And if the minister disregard this admonition, he must\nbe tried for a breach of his ordination vow. If this canon means anything\nat all, it will put a stop to all the practices of the Ritualists by which\nthey endeavor to imitate the beauty of Catholic worship, and their whole\nceremonial is at once excluded from any Episcopal church. Let us see if\nthis law will be either respected or obeyed.\n\nThe rejection of Rev. Dr. Seymour, elected to the bishopric of Illinois,\nis a still further condemnation of any Eucharistic adoration. For chiefly\nfor this adoration, which he was supposed to favor, was he refused the\nvote of the clerical and lay deputies. The majority against him was so\ngreat that hardly any one can doubt of the mind of the convention. He had\nbeen involved in the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, either\ndirectly or indirectly, and this fact alone was sufficient to cause his\nrejection. It seems to us pretty evident that the Episcopal Church by her\nhighest authority has denied both baptismal regeneration and the real\npresence of Christ in the Eucharist. Yet this denial will have little\neffect, because all Episcopalians will think as they please, and no\ndoctrinal decision influences their faith. Creeds are with them written on\npaper, and have no further value. One would naturally expect the believers\nin these rather important doctrines to forsake a church which condemns\nthem. But few will do so. They will talk of the primitive days and the\nhopes of better times, when the \u201cthree branches\u201d of the Catholic Church\nshall come together. Until that time there is no authority for Anglo\u2010\nCatholics. If the Protestant Episcopal communion should by synod deny the\nexistence of God, we believe they would still remain in her, bearing their\nburden, persecuted by their own church, and with great self\u2010denial waiting\ntill the truth should revive in the hopeful mother that bore them. This\nnew species of self\u2010abnegation and of moral martyrdom by one\u2019s own church\nis the glory of Ritualistic confessorship. They have not learned that the\nfirst duty of a true church is to teach, and that the first step in\nholiness is to mortify self\u2010will.\n\nOn the subject of education, the Protestant Episcopal Church has _nearly_\ntaken a step forward, and we sincerely regret that the step was only half\nmade. The Committee on Christian Education recommended the organization of\n\u201csisterhoods\u201d and \u201cbrotherhoods\u201d to supply teachers. They say:\n\n\n \u201cThe great want will not be met until some method of organization\n be adopted, such as brotherhoods or sisterhoods, whose members\n make teaching their special work, and who therefore cultivate the\n teaching faculty, and acquire all the branches of useful learning,\n in order to do Christ\u2019s work for the young, under the direction\n and at the call of their bishops and pastors. And while an\n organized work seems to be the only one likely to meet our\n necessities, and while the religious motive is the only one\n powerful enough to draw men and women to such work for the best\n years of their lives, it should be borne in mind that the truths\n of the Gospel, and the Catholic faith, as this church hath\n received the same, have strength and vitality sufficient to\n furnish motive and method to such associations without\n exaggerations or additions in doctrine or practice, and without\n borrowing distinctive dress, nomenclature, or usages from the\n Church of Rome. In some of the schools or colleges at present\n belonging to us, such associations might be developed\u2014teaching\n orders\u2014Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, Sisters of the Holy\n Childhood\u2014composed of men and women of sound judgment, moral\n force, thorough education, patient and winning ways, who would ask\n for no higher work than to train the minds and mould the\n characters of the young in accordance with the gracious teachings\n of the church, and with the sanction of, and in loyal submission\n to, the authority of those who are rulers in the same.\u201d\n\n\nIn accordance with this recommendation, a canon to establish \u201cdeaconesses\nor sisters\u201d was reported to the convention. It, however, failed to pass,\nand the words of the committee stand before the world on their own merits.\nThough there are grave difficulties in the establishment of communities\nwhere there is no religious rule or any unity in faith, yet we would like\nto see this imitation of Catholic life tried among our Protestant\nbrethren. It might do good, and gradually lead the earnest and truly self\u2010\ndenying soul to the one home of all Christian life and zeal.\n\nIt is a disappointment to us, however, that this convention has done\nnothing in regard to parochial schools. Some years ago the language of the\nEpiscopalian bishops led us to think that they realized the full\nimportance of guarding the young from the dangers of an infidel education.\nColleges and academies will very poorly meet this great evil. The children\nmost exposed are those who every day go to our public schools, where no\nreligion can be taught, and where a non\u2010Christian system of instruction is\nequivalent to infidelity. The truth of this assertion needs no\ndemonstration, for the facts of every day prove it, and the tide of\nunbelief is at our very doors.\n\nThe report of the Committee on the State of the Church dwells on some\ngeneralities, but yet admits a substantial decline during the three years\npast:\n\n\n \u201cBut there are in these documents some facts that are not cheering\n or satisfactory. In 1871 there were 448 candidates for holy\n orders, and in 1874 but 301\u2014decrease in three years, 147. In 1873\n it is said there were no ordinations in 17 dioceses, and of the\n whole number of candidates only 60 or 70 were able to maintain\n themselves. Thus we have not only the supply of the ministry\n diminished, but the fact revealed that parents of pecuniary\n ability, elevated social position, and great culture, seemingly\n withheld their sons from the Lord\u2019s higher service. We have also\n had our attention called to the fact that, in many instances, the\n young novice is admitted to the diaconate and priesthood with such\n imperfect qualification that we are forced to the conclusion that\n there is great imperfection in our legislation, or they whose\n office and duty call them to decide upon the qualifications of\n candidates are too lenient in their admission of the applicants.\u201d\n\n\nWe do not find any comparative table of communicants, but should be led to\nconclude that as the ministry diminishes in numbers, the members would\ndecline in the same ratio. Perhaps a little more attention to schools and\nthe training of the young would be advisable. If the Episcopal Church\nwishes to hold its own in this age and country, it will have to give more\nattention to the dangers of the public schools.\n\nWe do not know precisely what authority belongs to the address of the\nbishops at the end of the convention. It has not one word in regard to\ndoctrine, and the allusions to any differences of opinion are so very\ngeneral that no party could be offended. We do not even gather the precise\nmeaning of the writer. We utterly fail to comprehend his idea of \u201cthe\n_liberty_ of Christian faith,\u201d or understand his notion of freedom in\nobedience. The pastoral was evidently written to offend no one, and in\nthis we think it must have succeeded.\n\nThere are some good words on the subject of divorce, but we can hardly\ntell how far they go. Those \u201cwho put away an uncongenial wife or husband,\u201d\nand marry again, taking advantage of the license of the civil courts, are\ncondemned as adulterers, unless they do so for the cause of fornication.\nWe do not know how to explain this. Is fornication or sin before marriage\na reason for divorce? Is adultery after marriage considered sufficient to\nbreak the tie of matrimony, so that a new marriage is permitted? If the\nbishops mean to say this, we would earnestly recommend them to study the\nsacred scriptures of the New Testament. Their halfway protest against\ncivil divorce is nevertheless something to be thankful for in these days.\n\nNow, having rehearsed all the important points which we have been able to\nsee in the doings of this General Convention, we would ask any person of\nhonest mind who really believes in the divinity of Jesus Christ if there\nis in the Protestant Episcopal community any trace of the one true church\nwhich he established. It is to be found neither in the unity of faith nor\nin any consciousness of sacerdotal gifts. No conception of the fundamental\nidea of a church has any place in her councils, and the truth of Christ\u2019s\npresence in his adorable sacrament, which is the very life of his elect,\nis the constant object of assault. While they, against all facts and the\ntestimony of all which they pretend to hold as the Catholic Church, assert\nthe validity of their orders, they prove beyond all cavil that the grace\nof the priesthood is not theirs. For God never left that grace, even in\nheresy and schism, without the consciousness of its tremendous power. As a\nmere Protestant body, it may keep its exterior before the world. It has no\ninterior life whatever, no heart and no soul, that we might mark it and\ndistinguish it among the hosts of a divided Christianity. Nevertheless,\nthere is light enough to guide the sincere to the one faith, and the plea\nof invincible ignorance will be a poor excuse for many in the dread day of\naccount. Let us pray earnestly to God for these souls in the night of\nerror. \u201cWhat will it profit them to gain the world, and then to lose their\nsouls?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAssunta Howard. Concluded.\n\n\n\nVI. Woman\u2019s Influence.\n\n\n\u201cAnd so I have you all to myself once more; no interference from cruel\nguardians on your side, and none from unreasonable husbands on mine.\nJoking apart, Assunta darling, I think God has been very good to me to\ngive me such a compensation for Harry\u2019s long absence. Every trial seems to\nhave a blessing in its train, by way of a set\u2010off. And you are just the\nvery dearest of blessings.\u201d And Mary Lee moved her chair a little nearer\nto her friend, by way of showing her appreciation. Assunta looked up from\nher work with a bright smile, as she replied:\n\n\u201cYou are not in the least changed from the dear Mary Percival of convent\ndays\u2014and happy days they were, too\u2014while I feel twenty years older than I\ndid the day I bade you good\u2010by at the garden gate. But now you are\nmistaken. I am the one blessed, not blessing. For think what it is to me\u2014a\nwaif\u2014to find awaiting me so kind a welcome and so pleasant a temporary\nhome. God only knows what would have become of me without you.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Mary, \u201cmy only fear was that, with so many claimants for the\nhonor, I should never succeed in carrying off the prize. I am sure, until\nit was decided, and I saw your trunks safely landed at my door, I looked\nupon Mrs. Sinclair as my deadly enemy.\u201d\n\n\u201cClara is very kind\u2014much more so than I deserve,\u201d said Assunta, while an\nexpression of seriousness passed over her face; \u201cbut I should not have\nliked to accept her hospitality now. I think the present arrangement is\nmore for the happiness of all parties.\u201d\n\nAnd the remembrance of a certain evening on board the steamer, when Mr.\nSinclair, a married man, had dared to tell her, his wife\u2019s friend, that\nshe had first possessed his heart, and that his love for her was still\nunchanged, made her shudder now involuntarily. He must indeed have\nstrangely forgotten himself, when, after that, he added his entreaties to\nthose of his unsuspecting wife that she would look upon their home as\nhers. Assunta felt as if the word love had indeed been profaned by the\nlips of George Sinclair. God is love; but she knew that he would not\nhesitate to take even that most holy name in vain. Why then scruple to\nprofane the attribute? However, all this was a secret, known to herself\nalone.\n\n\u201cMrs. Sinclair must have been a lovely bride,\u201d said Mary musingly. \u201cBut,\nAssunta, why did Mr. Carlisle return at once to Europe? I should think he\nwould be tired of travelling by this time, and would like to settle down\nfor a while on his own place. I have heard it is so beautiful.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe habit of travelling grows upon one,\u201d replied Assunta. \u201cHe only\nreturned to Maryland to attend to certain matters in regard to his\nsister\u2019s property and mine. It was his intention to spend some time longer\nin Europe and the East.\u201d Then, to change the subject, she continued: \u201cBut,\nMary dear, when does your brother enter the seminary?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said Mrs. Lee. \u201cI cannot understand Augustine at all. He\nseems just as good and earnest as ever, and yet something troubles him, I\nsee it plainly. But he is unusually reserved with me; so that I feel a\nreluctance to question him. I wish you would ask him about the seminary.\nYou can do it quite incidentally; and very likely he would tell you all\nabout it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI certainly will,\u201d said Assunta. \u201cHe is your brother; so I almost feel as\nif he were mine too.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not think,\u201d continued Mary, \u201cthat he is well. I am afraid his trip\nto the East may have done him more harm than good. He always protests that\nhe is perfectly well, if I ask him; but I am sure he does not look so.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have thought so myself, and I think we must look upon his case as our\nnext duty.\u201d And Assunta arose, as the clock struck eleven.\n\nThe opportunity to take the case in hand came much sooner than the fair\nconspirators had anticipated. The next afternoon, while Mrs. Lee had\nexcused herself for a few hours, in order to pay the expected weekly visit\nto her mother\u2010in\u2010law, Mr. Percival joined Assunta, as she sat alone in the\ncosey library, finishing a garment for a poor child in whom she was\nalready interested. Assunta noticed more than usual the paleness of the\nspiritual face she had always so much admired, and the weariness of its\nexpression; but, with true feminine tact, she made no comment; only, as he\nseated himself beside the table, she looked up with a smile of welcome, as\nhis sister might have done.\n\n\u201cHard at work, as usual. I hope I do not interrupt you, Miss Howard?\u201d said\nMr. Percival, with an answering smile.\n\n\u201cOh! no indeed. I am delighted to see you this evening. We have not had a\ngood long talk since I came; and yet we have so many topics of mutual\ninterest.\u201d\n\nMr. Percival took from his pocket a little box, and, opening it, said:\n\n\u201cMiss Howard, I have ventured to bring you a souvenir of my travels, which\nI beg you will accept from Mary\u2019s brother, and because of the\nassociation.\u201d\n\nHe placed in her hand a heart\u2010shaped locket, plain but heavy, in the\ncentre of which glowed a large crimson ruby, and around it were engraved\nthe words, \u201cCor cordium.\u201d Within, on one side, was a miniature painting of\nthe Sacred Heart of Jesus; on the other side was set a tiny crucifix,\ncarved from the olive\u2010wood of Gethsemani by one of the monks of Jerusalem,\nand which had been laid upon the altar in the Chapel of the Holy\nSepulchre.\n\n\u201cAnd I prayed for you in that sacred spot most fervently, you may be\nsure,\u201d said Mr. Percival.\n\nAssunta\u2019s eyes were still fixed upon the beautiful treasure which she held\nin her hand. Tears were in them, as she raised them at last, saying:\n\n\u201cWords are poor thanks for such a gift as this. You know, Mr. Percival,\nhow much I shall value it. Indeed, I feel most unworthy to possess\nanything so precious; yet I shall accept it, as you said, from the brother\nof my dearest friend, who is to me truly a sister in affection.\u201d And\npressing her lips to the crystal which protected the crucifix, she\ncarefully replaced the locket in its case.\n\n\u201cAnd so you did not forget those foolish, fanciful remarks I made by\nShelley\u2019s grave. I had not dreamed they would have dwelt in your memory so\nlong; still less did I imagine they would inspire so beautiful a design as\nthis, which is, of course, your own.\u201d Then she added after a little pause:\n\u201cThere is one greater gift even than this that I shall ask of you one of\nthese days. It is one of your first Masses, when, as a priest, you are\nprivileged to offer the Holy Sacrifice.\u201d\n\n\u201cMiss Howard,\u201d exclaimed Mr. Percival, with deep emotion, \u201cthat is a\nsubject of which I cannot even think without suffering.\u201d\n\n\u201cForgive me,\u201d murmured Assunta, surprised beyond measure. \u201cIt was indeed\nunpardonable in me to pain you by speaking of that which is between\nyourself and God alone. My only excuse is that I thought the matter had\nlong been settled.\u201d\n\nThen followed a silence, so prolonged that Assunta began to wonder what\nkept that manly head bowed forward upon the table. Was it confusion, was\nit prayer, or had he perhaps fainted? At last he suddenly looked up, and\nfixed those fine, earnest eyes of his full upon Assunta\u2019s face; and even\nin that moment the thought struck her what pure, true eyes they were.\n\n\u201cMiss Howard, you are the last person on earth to whom I ought to speak on\nthis subject, and I know not what impels me to do so now. Pray for me; for\nmy salvation may depend upon it.\u201d\n\nAssunta tried to be calm, as she said gently, while she breathed a silent\nprayer for guidance:\n\n\u201cYou must think of me as almost a sister.\u201d\n\nMr. Percival went on:\n\n\u201cEven your image, true and beautiful and holy as it is, and pure as an\nangel\u2019s, should never have been allowed to come between me and the God to\nwhose special service I was inclined. But believe me, Miss Howard, never\nfor one moment have I cherished a hope that you might be to me other than\nyou are; only, when I have striven to rise above all human feeling, and to\ngive myself unreservedly to him who demanded the sacrifice, God help me!\nyou seemed to fill his place in my soul. Forgive me and pity me! I am\nmiserably weak.\u201d\n\nAfter a moment he continued:\n\n\u201cAh! Miss Howard, you know what I mean. It is only because of my own\nweakness that I have found the memory of you an obstacle to my advance\ntowards the perfection to which I aspired.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd to which you will still aspire.\u201d And Assunta\u2019s voice was low and\nsweet, as she for the first time broke silence. \u201cI had not dreamed of\nthis, Mr. Percival, but I hope you will never have occasion to regret the\nconfidence you have reposed, not in the ideal which has for a moment\npassed as a cloud of temptation between your soul and its high calling,\nbut in one who, though full of faults, may yet offer you her sympathy and\nher prayers.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod bless you!\u201d escaped from Mr. Percival\u2019s lips.\n\n\u201cI am too young and inexperienced,\u201d continued Assunta, \u201cto give you\ncounsel; besides, I am a woman; but, with my woman\u2019s intuition, I think I\nsee how all this has come about.... May I go on?\u201d\n\n\u201cI beg you will; it is the sort of soul\u2010wound that needs probing.\u201d\n\nAssunta smiled. \u201cI do not think such severe treatment will be\nrequired\u2014only an examination, perhaps, preparatory to healing. You met me\nin Rome\u2014forgive me if I speak too freely of myself\u2014surrounded by that\natmosphere of beauty and poetry which steals into the soul, because it\nbreathes from the very centre of Catholic faith and the glory of the\nchurch militant. But when you met me, I was with those whose hearts were\nnot open to such influences; and it was very natural that you and I should\nfeel drawn to each other by the attraction of a common faith and hope. Do\nyou think I could have said those foolish words, which it seems you have\nremembered only too well\u201d\u2014and she glanced at the little case in her\nhand\u2014\u201cif I had not felt that you could sympathize with my thoughts,\nhowever poorly they were expressed? Believe me, it was a certain\nearnestness of faith in me, which your presence drew out into somewhat too\nfree expression and which remained in your memory as an attraction; and\nthe devil has ingeniously made use of that little opening to insinuate\nsome subtle poison. But his power is at an end, thank God! He has, for me,\noverreached his mark. The very fact that you could speak of this to me\nproves that the danger is already passing. O my friend! think what a poor,\nmiserable substitute is even the greatest human happiness for the life to\nwhich God calls you. Think of the reward! Heaven is the price! However, it\nis the Holy Spirit, not I, that should speak to your soul. Will you not\ngive him the opportunity? Will you not, perhaps, go into retreat? Or\nrather, please do not listen to me, but go to your director, and open your\nheart to him. I can only give you a few words of sympathy and\nencouragement. He can speak to you as the voice of God.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou do not despise me, then, for having wavered?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not say that, Mr. Percival,\u201d exclaimed the young girl earnestly. \u201cWhat\nsaint is there that has not suffered temptation? Despise you? I envy you,\nrather. Think of the vocation God has given you! If it proves to be the\nmountain of sacrifice, and you ascend it with the cross upon your\nshoulders, will you not be all the better priest from your likeness to Him\nwho was at once both priest and victim!\u201d\n\n\u201cMiss Howard, pardon me, but you speak as if the lesson of Calvary were\nnot new to you; as if you, too, knew what it is to suffer\u2014not, as I have\ndone, through your own weakness\u2014God forbid! That I could never think.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe each of us must bear some cross,\u201d said Assunta hastily; and then, to\ngive a lighter turn to the conversation, she added: \u201cI am sorry that I\nshould have proved to be yours.\u201d\n\nFor the first time Augustine Percival smiled, as he said:\n\n\u201cBut if, through you, I win my crown, you will not then regret it?\u201d\n\n\u201cO that crown!\u201d exclaimed Assunta; \u201clet us both keep it ever in sight as\nan incentive. The way will not then seem so long or so hard. Mr. Percival,\nwill you see your director to\u2010night?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go to him now. It is what I have neglected only too long. God\nbless you, Miss Howard! But dare I now, after all that has passed, ask you\nto retain my trifling gift, that you may not forget to pray for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall prize it most highly,\u201d said Assunta. \u201cBut I shall not need to be\nreminded to commend you very often to the Sacred Heart of our divine Lord,\nwhere you will find strength and consolation. I am sure the least I can do\nfor you is to pray for you, having been the occasion of your suffering.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd of something more than that,\u201d said Mr. Percival.\n\n\u201cAnd I shall still hope for the other greater gift,\u201d said Assunta in\npleading tones.\n\n\u201cMiss Howard,\u201d replied Mr. Percival, almost with solemnity, \u201cif I,\nunworthy as I am, should ever be permitted to offer the Holy Sacrifice, my\nfirst Mass shall be for you, God willing. But I dare not yet look forward\nwith hope to such a possibility. Once more, God bless you! Pray for me.\u201d\nAnd in a moment more he had left the house.\n\nAssunta attended Mass daily at the cathedral. The next morning, as she was\nleaving the church, Mr. Percival joined her; but, without saying a word,\nhe placed a note in her hand, and at the corner he turned, and took his\nway in the opposite direction. In her own room the young girl read these\nwords:\n\n\u201cTo\u2010day I start for Frederick, where I shall make a retreat with the good\nJesuit fathers. In solitude and prayer I hope that God may make known to\nme his will. Pray, that I may have light to see and grace to follow the\ninspirations of the Holy Spirit. The words you spoke last night are known\nto the loving Heart of Jesus. He will reward you. I can say no more now.\nYour brother in Christ,\n\nA. P.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank God!\u201d exclaimed Assunta.\n\nAfter breakfast, Mary came to her, as she stood for a moment by the\nwindow, and, putting her arm about her affectionately, said:\n\n\u201cDarling, we need not make any more plans to entrap poor Augustine into a\nconfession, for I do believe he is all right. He came here for a few\nminutes early this morning to say good\u2010by, as he was going to Frederick.\nOf course that must mean a retreat; and a retreat is, of course, the first\nstep towards the seminary.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am very, _very_ glad,\u201d said Assunta, smiling. \u201cWomen are not always as\nbright as they think they are, you see.\u201d\n\nThree weeks from that day Augustine Percival sailed for Europe to enter\nupon his theological course in Rome. And two faithful hearts daily begged\nfor him of Almighty God grace and fortitude with that happy confidence\nwhich seems almost a presage of answered prayer.\n\nAnd five years passed away\u2014long and often weary in the passing, but short\nand with abundant blessings in the retrospect\u2014five uneventful years, and\nyet leaving a lasting impress upon the individual soul. Assunta\u2019s home was\nstill with her friend, Mary Lee\u2014an arrangement to which she most\ngratefully consented, on condition that she might, from her ample income,\ncontribute her share towards the ease and comfort of the family. It thus\nbecame a mutual benefit, as well as pleasure; for Capt. Lee\u2019s pay as a\nnaval officer was small and their only dependence. Assunta had won the\nhearts of all, even down to Mary\u2019s two little ones, who came bringing\nplenty of love with them, as well as adding much to the care and\nsolicitude of the young mother and her younger friend.\n\nThey saw but little of Mrs. Sinclair during those years. She had become a\nthorough woman of the world\u2014a leader of fashion in her own circle. She had\nlost much of the simplicity and _na\u00efvet\u00e9_ of character and manner which\nhad made her charming in the old Roman days. Her laugh had not the genuine\nring which her own light heart used to give it. She was still\nbeautiful\u2014very beautiful as queen of the ball\u2010room. But Mary Lee always\ninsisted that she had the unmistakable look of one who has an interior\ncloset somewhere which might reveal a skeleton; and Assunta thought\u2014but\nher thoughts she kept to herself\u2014that it was not very difficult to divine\nwhat that skeleton might be. She understood her, and pitied her from her\nheart; and she loved her, too, with the old affection. But their life\u2010\npaths, once seemingly parallel, had now diverged so widely that she felt\nshe could not help her. The consolation Clara sought was very different\nfrom anything her brother\u2019s ward could supply.\n\nAnd that brother, Mr. Carlisle\u2014did Assunta never think of him? Daily,\nbefore God, she remembered him; but it was not for her peace to allow him\na place in her memory at other times. They were entire strangers now, and\nshe had long since given up the hope of any return to the old friendship.\nHe had dropped out of her life, and God alone could fill the place left\nvacant by the surrender of this human love. She prayed for him, however,\nstill, but as one might pray for the dead. Her days glided quietly by,\neach one bearing a record of deeds of love and kindness; while the\nconsciousness of duty fulfilled gave her a peace that it is not in the\npower of mere human happiness to bestow. The blessings of the poor\nfollowed her, and the blessing of God rested upon her soul.\n\nMary sometimes protested against this \u201cwaste of life,\u201d as she called it.\n\n\u201cMy darling,\u201d she said one day, as she was rocking her baby to sleep in\nher arms, \u201cyou will be a nun yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear not,\u201d replied Assunta. \u201cI might have wished to enter religion, but\nit seems that God does not call me to that life.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, Assunta, why don\u2019t you marry? It would break my heart to lose you,\ndarling; but, truly, it grieves me to have you settle yourself down to our\nstupid life and ways, and you so young and rich and beautiful. It is\ncontrary to nature and reason.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe patient with me, dear,\u201d said Assunta. \u201cI do not believe that you want\nto be rid of me. Some time we shall know what it all means. I am sorry to\ndisappoint my friends, but my life is just as I would have it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you are a saint,\u201d said Mary with a sigh; \u201cand as I am the gainer, I\nam the last one to complain. But I wish you had a dear little bother of\nyour own like my Harry,\u201d And the maternal kiss had in it such a strength\nof maternal love that the baby\u2010eyes opened wide again, and refused to\nshut.\n\nMary heard occasionally from her brother; and sometimes she heard _of_ him\nin a way that filled her heart with joy. Austere, yet with wonderful\nsweetness, full of talent and a hard student, yet with touching humility,\nAugustine Percival, by a life of mortification and prayer, which his\nstudies never interrupted, was preparing himself to do great things for\nGod. A few words, uttered simply by a true\u2010hearted Christian woman, had\nturned the scale for him; and God will receive so much the more glory.\nThere will come a day which will reveal many such works, performed through\nthe perhaps unconsciously\u2010exercised influence of some noble woman, whose\nmission is none the less real because it is accomplished silently and out\nof the world\u2019s sight.\n\n\n\nVII. Credo.\n\n\nFive years had passed away, and their close found Mary Lee welcoming back\nto her home her long\u2010absent brother, now a priest. Augustine Percival\nreturned, the same, and yet changed. There was the same tender, earnest\nnature; but upon that nature grace had built up a superstructure of such\nstrength and virtue that, in most respects, he was a different\nman\u2014purified by suffering, sanctified by penance, and now consecrated by\nthe sacrament of Holy Orders.\n\nIt was a happy circle that gathered around the blazing wood\u2010fire on that\ncool October evening\u2014so happy that they were almost subdued, and thought\nmore than they talked. It was towards the end of the evening that Father\nPercival said quite incidentally:\n\n\u201cMr. Carlisle returned in the steamer with me. I suppose he will soon pay\nhis respects to the ladies.\u201d\n\nAssunta did not start. Why should she? Had the name of one long since dead\nbeen mentioned, it might have caused an emotion of tenderness; but that\nwould have been all. Mr. Carlisle was dead to her, and every memory of him\nhad long been buried. So, though her face became a shade paler, she went\non with her work, and her hand did not tremble.\n\n\u201cIs he well?\u201d asked Mary, continuing the conversation, \u201cand is he as fine\u2010\nlooking as he used to be?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is just recovering from a very severe illness,\u201d replied her brother.\n\u201cIt has told upon him fearfully, so that you will find him much changed.\nStill, I hope his native air will restore him to health; and no doubt,\nMary, his good looks will follow. He was already much better when I parted\nfrom him yesterday.\u201d And then Father Percival questioned Mary about her\nabsent husband and her children, and listened with interest to the young\nmother\u2019s enthusiastic description of Harry\u2019s brilliancy and the little\nAssunta\u2019s sweetness.\n\nThe next evening, as Father Percival was giving the two ladies an account\nof his last days in Rome, Mr. Carlisle\u2019s name was announced, and\nimmediately he himself entered the pleasant drawing\u2010room. He was indeed\nmuch altered, for the traces of sickness and suffering were only too\nvisible. There was another change, perceptible to one who had known him\nwell. In his bearing there seemed to be less pride than of old, and more\ndignity; in his face the expression of bitterness had given place to one\nmore contented, more peaceful. Suffering had evidently done a work in that\nproud spirit. But as Mr. Carlisle extended his hand to Assunta, who\ngreeted him with the frank simplicity so peculiar to her, the same old\nsmile lighted up his thin, pale face, and he truly seemed her guardian\nonce more. Assunta was for the moment surprised to see the cordiality with\nwhich Mr. Carlisle took the hand of the young priest, and held it in both\nhis, as if a brother\u2019s affection were in the pressure, and which was\nreturned as warmly. A comfortable arm\u2010chair was placed near the fire for\nthe guest; and while he seated himself, as if fatigued, he said:\n\n\u201cAugustine, have you kept my secret?\u201d\n\n\u201cMost faithfully. I did not even betray that I had one, as a woman might\nhave done.\u201d And Father Percival glanced at his sister, who pretended\nindignation, but said nothing.\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle, \u201cI must tell my own story. Assunta, come and\nsit by me.\u201d And he pointed to the vacant chair beside him, while Assunta\nobeyed at once, the words and manner were so like those of the old days.\n\n\u201cForgive me,\u201d Mr. Carlisle went on, \u201cif I call you to\u2010night by the\nfamiliar name. I could not say Miss Howard, and tell you what I have to\ntell. And, Mrs. Lee, if I seem to address myself too exclusively to your\nfriend, I beg you will pardon me, and believe that, if my story interests\nyou, I am more than glad that you should know all. Assunta, put your hand\nhere.\u201d And taking her hand in his, he laid it upon his brow. \u201cIn that\nRoman sickness it has often rested there, and has soothed and healed. Tell\nme, child, do you feel no difference now?\u201d\n\nAssunta looked at him wonderingly\u2014still more so when she caught sight of a\nmeaning smile on Father Percival\u2019s face.\n\n\u201cMr. Carlisle, you puzzle me,\u201d she said.\n\nAgain that peculiar and beautiful smile, as he continued:\n\n\u201cThe sign of the cross has been there; do you understand now, my child?\nNo? Then, in one word, I will explain all. _Credo_\u2014I believe! Not yet?\nAssunta, you have, I know, prayed for me. Your prayer has been answered. I\nam a Catholic, and, under God, I owe all to Augustine Percival.\u201d\n\nAssunta could not speak. For a moment she looked in his face with those\nearnest blue eyes, as if to read there the confirmation of his words, and\nthen she bowed her head upon her hands in silence. Mr. Carlisle was the\nfirst to break it.\n\n\u201cAnd so you are not sorry, _petite_, to welcome so old a sinner into the\nfold?\u201d\n\n\u201cSorry!\u201d exclaimed Assunta at last. \u201cLife will not be long enough to thank\nGod for this happiness.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are so little changed, child, after all these years, that I must look\nat myself to realize how the time has gone. But shall I tell you how all\nthis has come about? Three months ago I was as miserable an unbeliever as\never lived.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease tell us all,\u201d murmured Assunta.\n\n\u201cAll the story of these five years would be long and wearisome. Life to me\nhas been simply an endurance of existence, because I dared not end it. I\nhave travelled a great deal. I have _stood_, not _kneeled_, in the Chapel\nof the Holy Sepulchre, and have wandered as a sight\u2010seer through the holy\nplaces in Jerusalem. I have been in almost every part of Europe. Need I\ntell you that I have found satisfaction nowhere? And all this time I was\ndrawn, by a sort of fascination, to read much on Catholic subjects; so I\nsneered and cavilled and argued, and read on.\n\n\u201cAt last, about four months since, the same uneasy spirit which has made a\nvery Wandering Jew of me for the last five years possessed me with the\nidea of returning home, and I started for Paris. I engaged my passage in\nthe next steamer for New York; and, though feeling far from well, left for\nHavre. I reached the hotel, registered my name, and went to my room for\nthe night. The steamer was to sail the next morning. I knew nothing more\nfor three weeks. Fortunately, I had fallen into good hands, or I should\nnever have been here. They said it was brain\u2010fever, and my life was\ndespaired of. Assunta, child, you need not look so pale. You see it is I\nmyself who have lived to tell it.\u201d\n\nFather Percival here rose, and, excusing himself on the ground of having\nhis Office to say, left the room. As soon as he was gone Mr. Carlisle\nexclaimed:\n\n\u201cThere is the noblest man that ever lived. No words can tell what he has\nbeen to me. It seems that, when I was beginning to give some hope of\nrecovery, Father Percival arrived at the same hotel on his way to America.\nThe landlord happened to mention the fact of the illness of a fellow\u2010\ncountryman, and showed the name upon his books. Father Percival at once\ngave up his passage, and remained to perform an act of charity which can\nonly be rewarded in heaven.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou remember, Assunta,\u201d said Mrs. Lee, \u201cAugustine wrote that he was\ndetained a few weeks by the illness of a friend.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Assunta; \u201cbut how little we dreamed who the friend was!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd a most ungrateful friend he was, too, at first,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle.\n\u201cWhen he came to see me, and I learned his name, and that he had become a\npriest, it was nothing but weakness that prevented my driving him from the\nroom. As it was, I swore a little, I believe. However, with the tenderness\nof a woman he nursed me day and night; and even when I was better, there\nwas still no word about religion, until one day I introduced the subject\nmyself. Even then he said but little. I was too weak to have much pride,\nor that little would not perhaps have made the impression that it did. My\npride has always been the obstacle, and it is not all gone yet, _petite_,\u201d\nhe added, looking at Assunta, who smiled in answer.\n\n\u201cOne night, from what cause I do not know, I had a relapse, and death\nseemed very near. Then Father Percival came to me as priest. I can hear\nnow the solemn tones in which he said: \u2018Mr. Carlisle, I will not deceive\nyou. I hope that you will recover, but you may not. Are you willing to die\nas you are now, unbaptized?\u2019 I answered, \u2018No.\u2019 \u2018Do you, then,\u2019 he said,\n\u2018believe the Catholic Church to be the infallible teacher of truth, and\nwill you submit to her teaching?\u2019 Here I paused. The question was a\ndifficult one; the word _submit_ was a hard word. But death was very near,\nand at last, with desperate energy, I said: \u2018Yes; baptize me!\u2019 He then\nknelt beside me, and made for me an act of contrition\u2014for I seemed to be\nsinking fast\u2014and in a moment more I was baptized, a Catholic. He then left\nme instantly, and went for the parish priest, who came and administered\nExtreme Unction to\u2014as they supposed\u2014a dying man. But the sacrament did its\nwork for life, and not for death. From the moment of receiving it the\nscale turned. Of course much that I have told you I have learned since\nfrom Augustine. I was conscious only of the one act\u2014the _submission_.\n\n\u201cAnd how mean a specimen of a man I have since felt myself to have\nbeen\u2014resisting God year after year with all the strength of human pride\nand that most powerful auxiliary of the devil\u2014pride of intellect; and\nthen, when life was at its last gasp, and everything had slipped from\nunder me but that one foothold\u2014then to say, \u2018Life is going; the world has\nalready gone. I have lost everything else; now I, a sinner, will\ncondescend to receive the portion of the saints\u2014God and heaven!\u2019 Do you\nthink, Assunta, that the angels would have had much cause for rejoicing\nover such an addition to their bright company?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a genuine drop of your old bitterness, Mr. Carlisle,\u201d replied\nAssunta, laughing, nevertheless, at his frankness.\n\n\u201cOh! there is plenty of it left, _petite_. But to go on: when I found that\nI was to live, I was determined, before leaving for home, to make my\nprofession of faith in the church, as a Christian should who is not\nashamed of his colors. Augustine would do nothing official for me after\nthe baptism, but he was ever the kindest friend, and I love him with a\nreal David and Jonathan affection. Oh! child, how often have I thought of\nyou and of how much you would have been amused to see me, Severn Carlisle,\nmeekly receiving instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice from that\nsimple French priest. Truly, I needed some one to identify me to myself.\nWell, to bring this long story to an end, the day before sailing I made my\nprofession of faith and received Holy Communion in the quiet little parish\nchurch. And now I am here, the same proud, self\u2010sufficient man as of old,\nI fear, but with a peace of soul that I have never known before.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow good God is!\u201d exclaimed Assunta.\n\n\u201cWhat does your sister say?\u201d asked Mrs. Lee.\n\n\u201cMy sister? I do not think she took in the idea. Her thoughts would have\nto travel miles before they would approach a religious sentiment. Poor\nClara! I find her much changed. I spent two or three hours with her this\nafternoon. She was very gay, even brilliant\u2014too much so, I thought, for\nreal happiness. She did not imagine how transparent her mask was, and I\nwould not destroy her illusion. I did not see Sinclair at all. But,\u201d\nexclaimed he, looking at his watch, and rising hastily, \u201cit is eleven\no\u2019clock. I ordered the carriage for ten, and no doubt it has been waiting\na long time. I owe you ladies many apologies for my thoughtlessness and\negotism.\u201d\n\n\u201cMr. Carlisle,\u201d began Assunta, placing her hand in his, as she bade him\ngood\u2010night; but the words would not come as readily as the tears.\n\nMrs. Lee had gone to summon her brother, so the two, so long parted, were\nleft alone.\n\n\u201cMy child,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle in a low voice, \u201cI know all that you would\nsay, all the sweet sympathy of that tender, unchanged heart. I have much\nto say to you, Assunta, but not to\u2010night\u2014not in the presence of others.\u201d\n\nThen turning to Father Percival, who entered the room, \u201cAugustine,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cI am going for a few days to my place in the country for rest, and\nalso that I may see how much it has suffered from my long neglect. Come\nand see me there. It will do me good, heart and soul.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will try to arrange my plans so as to give myself that pleasure,\u201d\nreplied the priest, as he assisted Mr. Carlisle into the carriage.\n\nWhat strange contradictions there are in human nature! How little can we\naccount for our varying moods and the motives which influence our actions!\nAnd how often we seem to get at cross\u2010purposes with life, and only see how\nfar we have been wrong when a merciful Providence, overruling all, unknots\nthe tangled thread and straightens the crooked purpose!\n\nExcepting the visit of a few hours paid by Father Percival to his friend,\ntwo months passed by, and nothing was heard of Mr. Carlisle. Those two\nmonths were to Assunta longer, more wearisome, than the five years that\nhad preceded them. We may talk of hopes that are dead, and may honestly\nbelieve them buried deep down in the grave which duty has prepared and\ntime has covered. But hope is the hardest thing in this world to kill; and\nthank God that it is so! Let but a gleam of sunshine, a breath of the warm\nupper air, into that sepulchre, and the hopes that have lain buried there\nfor years will revive and come forth with renewed vigor. It is much more\ndifficult to lay them to rest a second time.\n\nAssunta had borne her trial nobly; but, as she sat alone on Christmas Eve,\nand her thoughts naturally dwelt upon that happy return, and then the\nunaccountable disappearance of Mr. Carlisle, her courage almost failed\nher, and her brave heart sank within her, as she thought how dreary the\nfuture looked. She had excused herself from joining the others at a little\nfamily party, and for an hour she had sat idle before the fire\u2014a most\nunwonted self\u2010indulgence for one so conscientious as Assunta Howard.\n\nA ring at the door and a voice in the hall made her start and tremble a\nlittle, as she had not done on that first evening of Father Percival\u2019s\nreturn. She had scarcely recovered herself when Mr. Carlisle entered the\nroom.\n\n\u201cI have come to account for myself,\u201d were his first words. \u201cI hoped that I\nshould find you alone to\u2010night.\u201d\n\n\u201cMrs. Lee has gone to her mother\u2019s,\u201d was the reply.\n\n\u201cYes, I knew it. Assunta, what have you thought of me? Still more, what\nwill you think of me now? I have suffered much in these two months;\nperhaps it is ungenerous in me to say this to you. Assunta, never for one\nmoment have I been unfaithful to the love I told you of so many years ago;\nbut I had given up the hope of ever possessing yours. Even when the\nobstacle you know of had been removed, I thought that I could bear to see\nyou happy, as I believed you were, in a life in which I had no share. I\nfelt that it would not be right even to ask you to marry one so much older\nthan yourself, with broken health and darkened spirits. And your fresh\nbeauty, still so girlish, so all\u2010unchanged, confirmed my purpose. Ah!\nchild, time, that has silvered my hair, has not dimmed the golden aureola\nwhich crowns your dear head. But in the many lonely hours that I have\npassed since my return, my courage has grown faint. I have longed for your\nsweet presence in my home, until an answering voice has urged me to come\nto you. Assunta, once, beneath the shadow of the cross, in the moonlit\nColosseum, I offered you my love, and you put God between us. Again I\nurged my suit, and again you erected the same impassable barrier. To\u2010night\nI am so selfish that, even as I have described myself to be, I come to you\na third time with a love which years have but strengthened. My darling,\nGod no longer comes between us; can I ever hope to win that true, brave\nheart?\u201d\n\nWith a child\u2010like simplicity and a true womanliness Assunta put her hand\nin his, and said:\n\n\u201cMr. Carlisle, it has long been yours. \u2018Unless he can love you _in God_,\u2019\nmy mother said. I believe that the condition is now fulfilled.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd may God bless the love he sanctions!\u201d said Mr. Carlisle solemnly.\nAfter a silence\u2014for where hearts understand each other there is no need of\nmany words\u2014Assunta said in her own sweet tones:\n\n\u201cDo you regret now the decision of that night in Rome? Was I a true\nprophetess?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we have lost so many years,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle.\n\n\u201cYes, lost for time, but gained for eternity.\u201d\n\nWhen Mrs. Lee returned, she greeted the guest with surprise, as well as\npleasure; but both those emotions were lost in a still greater joy when\nMr. Carlisle, drawing Assunta towards him, said:\n\n\u201cMrs. Lee, this is my Christmas gift\u2014a precious treasure, is it not, to be\nentrusted to one so undeserving?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed it is a precious treasure,\u201d echoed Mary enthusiastically; \u201cbut,\nMr. Carlisle, there is not a man in the world in whose possession I would\nlike to see it so well as in yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cBless you, Mrs. Lee, for your kind words! _Petite_, perhaps your taste is\nnot so much in fault after all.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd, Mary,\u201d said Assunta archly, \u201che may yet recover his good looks, you\nknow.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Mr. Carlisle, \u201clove and happiness are said to be great\nbeautifiers. I have no objection to trying the experiment.\u201d\n\nOne bright morning, soon after Easter, there was a nuptial Mass at the\ncathedral, celebrated by Father Percival, and after the ceremony and a\nquiet breakfast, Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle drove in their private carriage to\nthe beautiful country residence which was to be their future home.\n\nJust at sunset, as they entered the long avenue which with many windings\nled towards the house, Mr. Carlisle said:\n\n\u201cMy darling, we are at home. I have waited, like Jacob, almost seven years\nfor my Rachel. I cannot say, as he did, that the days have seemed _few_,\nthough I believe my love has been no less.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd suppose,\u201d replied Assunta, with the happy confidence of a loving\nwife\u2014\u201csuppose your Rachel should turn out a Lia after all?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn that case,\u201d said her husband coolly, \u201cI should insist that the\ndescription of that much\u2010injured lady had done her great injustice. And I\nshould consider myself a lucky fellow to have been cheated into the\nmistake, and be ready to wager my Lia against all the Rachels in the\nworld. And now, my precious wife, welcome home!\u201d\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nTen years later. It is not always a pleasure to look in upon loved friends\nafter a lapse of ten years. Sickness, sorrow, death, or disgrace may each\ndo a mighty work in even fewer years, and, at the best, time itself brings\nabout marked changes. But a glance at Carlisle Hall, on this tenth\nanniversary of that happy wedding\u2010day, will only show that same happiness\nripened into maturity. In a marriage like that of Severn and Assunta\nCarlisle, whatever life might bring of joy or sorrow would come to both\nalike, and nothing could divide them. Even death itself would but _seem_\nto part them, for their union was _in God_. In Assunta the added dignity\nof wife\u2010hood and motherhood had taken nothing from the charm of earlier\nyears; and, if the beauty of the young girl had faded somewhat, the ever\u2010\ngrowing grace and purity of soul more than supplied its want, even in her\nhusband\u2019s eyes. And Mr. Carlisle? Noble by nature, and possessing the\nfinest qualities of mind and heart, his soul was now developed to the full\nstature of its manhood. He was a proud man still, but with a pride which\nS. Paul might have commended. He was so proud that he was never ashamed to\nkneel beside the poorest villager in the little church. In his pride he\ngloried in Jesus Christ, and him crucified. The beautiful church itself\nhad been erected as a thank\u2010offering, by Mr. Carlisle and his wife, in the\nfactory village two miles from their home; and for some years Father\nPercival had been parish priest of the Church of the Assumption. And\nCarlisle Hall resounded with the merry voices of three children at the end\nof those ten years: Severn, the pride of his mother\u2019s heart; Augustine,\nFather Percival\u2019s godchild and special favorite, already destined for the\npriesthood by the wishes of the senior trio; and the baby, her father\u2019s\ndarling, to whom he would give the name of Mary, and no other, \u201cto show,\u201d\nhe said, \u201chow he had progressed in Mariolatry since his first lesson in\nSienna.\u201d\n\nFather Percival had been the only guest at this anniversary\u2010dinner,\nexcept, indeed, the children, who must appear on this occasion, at no\nmatter how great a risk of noise and accident. They had now returned to\nthe nursery, but the others still lingered at the table.\n\n\u201cFather Augustine,\u201d said Assunta\u2014for she had learned to follow the little\nones in their name for the priest they loved so well\u2014\u201cI received a letter\nyesterday from dear old Father Joseph. He is just as happy in our marriage\nto\u2010day as he was when he first heard of it, and he blesses it, and us, and\nthe children so sweetly and kindly. How much I should like to see him\nagain!\u201d\n\n\u201cI suppose,\u201d said Father Percival, \u201che looks upon the marriage as a\nstriking illustration of the wonderful ways and goodness of God, as it\nsurely is. S. Ignatius ought to send Father Dupont here, to see for\nhimself the result of his direction, and, I must add, of your generosity\nand faithfulness, Mrs. Carlisle.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am so sorry, Severn,\u201d said Assunta after a pause in the conversation,\n\u201cthat Clara would not come to us to\u2010day. I think a glimpse of quiet\ncountry life might be a pleasant change for her.\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear,\u201d replied her husband sadly, \u201cthat poor Clara has much to suffer\nyet. It is my opinion that Sinclair has no intention of returning from\nEurope at all. But who could have made her believe, in those sunshiny\ndays, that she would ever live to be a deserted wife? _Petite_, the\nsubject is a very painful one. I am going to change it for one of which I\nam never weary. Augustine, it is not the custom, I believe, for a man to\ntoast his wife on such an occasion, but I am going to be an exception to\nthe rule to\u2010day. Lord Lytton has in that grand work of his, _My Novel_,\ntwo types of women\u2014the one who exalts, and the one who consoles. He\nprobably had never seen the combination of the two types in one person. I\nnow propose\u2014and, my darling, you must drink and not blush\u2014\u2018Assunta\nCarlisle: blessed be the woman who both exalts and consoles!\u2019 And let me\nadd that a happy man was I\u2014unworthy\u2014when, ten years ago, that woman became\nmy wife.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMatter. V.\n\n\nAlthough continuous matter cannot be proved to exist, yet its existence,\nas every one knows, is still very commonly believed, even by philosophers,\non the ground that it was believed for centuries by all great men, and has\nnever been conclusively refuted. From some hints which we have given in\nour previous article about the difficulties of this ancient doctrine, the\nintelligent reader may have already satisfied himself that material\ncontinuity is not merely \u201ca philosophical mystery,\u201d as Goudin confesses,\nbut a metaphysical absurdity. As, however, this last conclusion, owing to\nits paramount importance in metaphysics and in natural philosophy,\ndeserves a more explicit and complete demonstration than we have yet\ngiven, we propose to develop in the present article a series of arguments,\ndrawn from different sources, to show _the absolute and intrinsic\nimpossibility of continuous matter_. The prejudices of our infancy may at\nfirst resist the demonstration, but it is to be hoped that they will\nfinally yield to reason.\n\n_First argument._\u2014We know, and it is conceded by the advocates of\ncontinuous matter, that a _finite_ being cannot involve in its composition\nan _infinite_ multitude of distinct terms; for evidently the infinite\ncannot be the constituent of the finite. Now, we have shown in our\npreceding article that, if there were a piece of continuous matter, it\nshould involve in its continuous constitution an infinite multitude of\ndistinct terms, every one of which should have its own distinct existence\nindependently of the others. Therefore continuous matter cannot exist.\n\n_Second argument._\u2014A primitive substance cannot absolutely be made up of\nother substances. But if there were any continuous matter, a primitive\nsubstance would be made up of other substances. Therefore no continuous\nmatter can exist. The major of this syllogism is quite evident; for a\nprimitive substance, if made up of other substances, would be primitive\nand non\u2010primitive at the same time. The minor can be easily proved. For it\nis plain that continuous matter, if any such existed, would necessarily\nconsist of continuous parts, substantially distinct from one another, and\ntherefore having their own distinct matter and their own distinct\nsubstantial act, and ranking as distinct, complete, and separable\nsubstances, as we have shown in our last article. Now, assuming that\neither of these parts is a primitive substance, it is evident that the\nprimitive substance would be made up of other substances; for such a part,\nbeing continuous, is itself made up of other parts, which are likewise\ndistinct and complete substances, as we have just remarked. And since a\ncontinuum cannot be resolved into any but continuous parts, the conclusion\ncannot be avoided that the primitive material substance would always be\nmade up of other substances. To elude this argument, the advocates of\ncontinuous matter are compelled to deny that there is any _primitive_\nmaterial substance mathematically continuous. But, even so, their position\nis not improved. For if there is no primitive material substance\nmathematically continuous, the combination of such primitive substances\nwill never give rise to continuous matter, it being obvious that all the\nelementary constituents of continuum must be continuous, as all\nphilosophers agree. Whence we again conclude that no continuous matter is\npossible.\n\n_Third argument._\u2014No continuum can be made up of unextended constituents,\nas we have just observed, and as our opponents not only concede, but also\ndemonstrate most irrefragably in their own treatises. Now, continuous\nmatter, if any such existed, would be made up of unextended\nconstituents\u2014that is, of mere mathematical points. Therefore continuous\nmatter would be a formal contradiction. The minor of our syllogism is\nproved thus. All the points which can be designated within the dimensions\nof the continuum are _immediately_ united with one another, and therefore\nno room is to be found between any two consecutive points; which shows\nthat in the constitution of the continuum we would have nothing but mere\npoints. For let there be a continuous plane and a continuous sphere. The\nsphere, if perfect, cannot touch the plane, except in a single indivisible\npoint, as is proved in geometry; nevertheless, the sphere may move along\nthe plane, and, always touching the plane in a single point, may measure a\nlinear extension of matter, which, accordingly, would contain nothing but\nmathematical points immediately following one another. In other terms, the\nextended matter would be made up of indivisible points; and since all\nadmit that this is impossible, it follows that continuous matter is\nimpossible. Against this argument the objection is made that it proves too\nmuch; as it would prove the impossibility of measuring space by continuous\nmovement. But this objection has no good foundation, as we shall show\nafter concluding the series of our arguments.\n\n_Fourth argument._\u2014All the points that can be designated in a material\ncontinuum would necessarily touch one another in such a manner as to form\na continuous extension; hence their contact would necessarily be\n_extensive_. But an _extensive_ contact of indivisible points is\nintrinsically impossible. Therefore material continuity is intrinsically\nimpossible. The major of this syllogism is a mere corollary from the\ndefinition of continuum; for, if there be no contact, the continuum will\nbe broken, and if the contact be not extensive\u2014that is, such as to allow\neach point to extend beyond its neighbor\u2014no continuous extension will\nresult. The minor of our syllogism can be proved as follows:\n\nThe contact of a point with a point is the contact of an indivisible with\nanother indivisible; and, since the indivisible has no parts, such a\ncontact cannot be partial, but must needs be total. Accordingly, the\nsecond point, by its contact with the first, will be _totally_ in the\nfirst; the third, by its contact with the second, will be _totally_ in the\nsecond, and consequently in the first; the fourth, by its contact with the\nthird, will be _totally_ in the third, and consequently in the second and\nin the first, and so on. Therefore all the points which are in\nmathematical contact will necessarily correspond to the same point in\nspace. Now, to be all in the same point, and to form a continuous\nextension, are contradictories. And thus it is manifest that material\ncontinuity is a mere contradiction.\n\nSome will say that the contact is indeed made in the points, but that the\nparts, which touch one another in a common point, are quite distinct. But\nthis appeal to the parts of the continuum, though much insisted upon by\nmany ancient philosophers, is of no avail against our argument. For the\nexistence of these parts cannot be assumed, without presupposing the\ncontinuity of matter. Such parts are, in fact, assumed to be continuous;\nand therefore, before we admit their existence, we must inquire whether\nand how they can have intrinsic extension and continuity. And dividing\nthese parts into other parts, and these again into others without end, of\nall these parts of parts the same question must be asked\u2014that is, whether\nand how they can have intrinsic extension and continuity. Hence one of two\nthings will follow: either we shall never find the intrinsic reason of\nmaterial continuity, or we shall find it only after having exhausted an\ninfinite division\u2014that is, after having reached, if possible, a term\nincapable of further division, viz., a mathematical point. But in the\nmathematical point it is impossible to find the intrinsic reason of\nmaterial continuity, as we have just shown. And therefore the material\ncontinuity of the parts has no formal reason of its constitution, or, in\nother terms, the parts themselves are intrinsically impossible.\n\nMoreover, the very distinction made by our opponents between the points of\ncontact and the parts which touch one another in those points, is\naltogether irrational. For _a parte rei_\u2014that is, considering the\ncontinuum as it is in itself\u2014there is no foundation for the said\ndistinction, it being evident that in a homogeneous continuum no place is\nto be found where we cannot mark out a point. Hence it is irrational to\nlimit the designability of the points in order to make room for the parts.\nIn other words, the parts themselves cannot be conceived as continuous\nwithout supposing that all the neighboring points which can be designated\nin them form by their contact a continuous extension, which we have proved\nto be inadmissible. The aforesaid distinction is therefore one of the\nsubterfuges resorted to by the advocates of material continuity, to evade\nthe unanswerable difficulties arising from their sentence; for it is true\nindeed, as Goudin remarks, that material continuity is \u201ca philosophic\nmystery, against which reason objects more than it can answer,\u201d though not\nbecause in this question \u201creason proves more than it can understand,\u201d but\nbecause continuous matter is shown to be an absolute impossibility.\n\n_Fifth argument._\u2014It is a known metaphysical principle that \u201cnothing can\npossibly become actual, except by the intervention of an act\u201d\u2014_Impossibile\nest aliquid fieri in actu nisi per aliquem actum_ (S. Thomas _passim_).\nBut no act can be imagined by which matter would become actually\ncontinuous. Therefore no actually continuous matter can possibly exist.\nThe minor of our syllogism is proved thus. Acts are either substantial or\naccidental; hence if any act could be conceived as giving actual\ncontinuity to matter, such an act would be either substantial or\naccidental\u2014that is, it would give to its matter either its first being or\na mere mode of being. Now, neither the substantial nor the accidental act\ncan make matter actually continuous. For, first, no substantial act can\ngive to its matter a being for which the matter has no disposition. But\nactuable matter has no disposition for actual continuity, for where there\nare no distinct terms requiring continuation, there is no disposition to\nactual continuity, as is evident; and it is not less evident that the\nmatter which is to be actuated by a substantial act involves no distinct\nterms, and does not even connote them, but merely implies the privation of\nthe act giving it its first being, which act is one, not many, and gives\none being, not many, and consequently is incapable of constituting a\nnumber of actual terms actually distinct, as would be required for actual\ncontinuity. To say the contrary would be to deny one of the most\nfundamental and universal principles of metaphysics, viz., _Actus est qui\ndistinguit_, which means that there cannot be distinct terms where there\nare no distinct acts.\n\nMoreover, continuity presupposes quantity; hence, if the substantial act\ngives actual continuity to its matter, it must be conceded that a certain\nquantity exists potentially in the actuable matter, and is reduced to act\nby the first actuation of matter. This quantity would therefore rank among\nthe essentials of the substance, and could not possibly be considered as\nan accident; for the immediate result of the first actuation of a term by\nits substantial act is not a mere accident, but the very actuality of the\nessence of which that act and that term are the principles. Whence it\nfollows that so long as quantity remains an accident, it is impossible to\nmake it arise from the substantial act; and, accordingly, no substantial\nact can make matter actually continuous.\n\nThat actual continuity cannot arise from any accidental act is no less\nevident. For the only accidental act which could be supposed to play a\npart in the constitution of a material continuum would be some actual\ncomposition. But as composition without components is impossible, and the\ncomponents of continuous matter, before such a composition, are not\ncontinuous (since we must now consider continuity as a result of the\ncomposition), our continuous matter would be made up of components\ndestitute of continuous extension\u2014that is, of mere mathematical points.\nBut, as this is avowedly impossible, it follows that it is as impossible\nto admit that matter becomes actually continuous by the reception of an\naccidental act.\n\n_Sixth argument._\u2014In a philosophico\u2010mathematical work published in England\na few years ago,(108) from which we have already borrowed some plain\narguments concerning other questions on matter, the impossibility of\ncontinuous matter is proved by the following argument: \u201cA compound which\nhas no first components is a sheer impossibility. Continuous matter, if\nadmitted, would be a compound which has no first components. Therefore\ncontinuous matter is a sheer impossibility. In this argument the first\nproposition is self\u2010evident; for the components are the material\nconstituents of the compound; and therefore a compound which has no first\ncomponents is a thing which is constituted without its first constituents,\nor a pure contradiction. The second proposition also is undeniable. And,\nfirst, there can be no doubt that continuous matter would be a _compound_;\nfor continuous matter would be extended, and would have, accordingly,\nparts distinct from parts; which is the exclusive property of compounds.\nNow, that this compound would be _without first components_, can be proved\nas follows: If continuous matter has any first components, these\ncomponents will either be extended or unextended. If they are supposed to\nbe _extended_, then they are by no means the _first_ components; since it\nis clear that in this case they have distinct parts, and therefore are\nthemselves made up of other components. If they are supposed to be\n_unextended_, then they are by no means the _components_ of continuum;\nsince all know and admit that no continuum can be made up of unextended\npoints. And, indeed, unextended points have no parts, and therefore cannot\ntouch one another partially; whence it follows that either they touch each\nother totally, or they do not touch at all. If they do not touch at all,\nthey do not make a continuum, as is evident. If they touch totally, the\none will occupy exactly the same place which is occupied by the other, and\nno material extension will arise. And for this reason geometrical writers\nconsider that a mathematical line cannot be conceived as made up of\npoints, but only as the track of a single point in motion. We see, then,\nthat a material continuum is a compound, of which the first components\ncannot be extended, and cannot be unextended. And since it is impossible\nto think of a third sort of first components which would be neither\nextended nor unextended, we must needs conclude that continuous matter is\na compound which has no first components. And therefore continuous matter\nis a mere absurdity\u201d (p. 30).\n\nThis argument is, in our opinion, altogether unanswerable. Those\nphilosophers, in fact, who still venture to fight in favor of continuous\nmatter, have never been able to solve it. When we urge them to declare\nwhether they hold the first components of continuous matter to be extended\nor unextended, they constantly ignore and elude the question. They simply\nanswer that the components of material substance are \u201cthe matter\u201d and \u201cthe\nform.\u201d But if the matter which lies under the form has no distinct parts,\nit is evident that the substance cannot be continuous. The composition of\nmatter and form does not, therefore, entail continuity, unless the matter\nwhich is under the form has its own material composition of parts; and it\nis with reference to the composition of these parts of matter, not to the\ncomposition of matter and form, that we inquire whether the first\ncomponents of continuous matter be extended or unextended. To ignore the\ngist of the argument is, on the part of our opponents, an implicit\nconfession of their inability to cope with it.\n\n_Seventh argument._\u2014Material substance, as consisting of act and potency,\nlike everything else in creation, is both active and passive, its activity\nand passivity being essentially confined, as we have already\nexplained,(109) to the production and the reception of local movement.\nHence, so long as material substance preserves its essential constitution,\nit is impossible to admit that matter is incapable of receiving movement\nfrom natural causes. But continuous matter would be incapable of receiving\nmovement from natural causes. Therefore it is impossible to admit\ncontinuous matter. To prove the minor of this syllogism, let there be two\nlittle globes of continuous matter, and let them act on one another. Since\nno finite velocity can be communicated by an immediate contact of matter\nwith matter, as shown in a preceding article, it follows that the velocity\nmust be communicated by virtual contact in accordance with the law of the\ninverse squared distances. Hence, since some points of the two globes are\nnearer to one another, and others are farther, different points must\nacquire different velocities. Now, one and the same piece of matter cannot\nmove onward with different velocities, as is evident; it will therefore be\nunable to move so long as such different velocities are not reduced to a\nmean one, which shall be common to the whole mass. Such a reduction of\nunequal velocities to a mean one would meet with no difficulty, if the\nglobes in question were made up of _free_ and _independent_ points of\nmatter; for in such a case the globes would be compressed, and each point\nof matter would act and react according to known mechanical laws, and thus\nsoon equalize their respective velocities. But in the case of material\ncontinuity the reduction of different velocities to a mean one is by no\nmeans possible. For \u201cin a piece of continuous matter,\u201d to quote again from\nthe above\u2010mentioned work of molecular mechanics, \u201cany point which can be\ndesignated is so _invariably_ united with the other points that no impact\nand no mutual reaction are conceivable; the obvious consequence of which\nis that no work can be done within the continuous particle in order to\nequalize the unequal velocities impressed from without. Moreover, in our\ncase the reduction ought to be rigorously instantaneous; which is another\nimpossibility. In fact, if distinct points of a continuous piece of matter\nwere for any short duration of time animated by different velocities, the\ncontinuum would evidently undergo immediate and unavoidable resolution;\nwhich is against the hypothesis. Since, then, the said reduction cannot be\nmade instantaneously, as we have proved above, nor, indeed, in any other\nway, and, on the other hand, our continuous particle cannot move onward\nbefore the different velocities are reduced to one of mean intensity, it\nis quite evident that the same continuous particle will never be capable\nof moving, whatever be the conditions of the impact. And since what is\ntrue of one particle on account of its supposed continuity is true also of\neach of the other particles equally continuous, we must conclude that\nbodies made up of particles materially continuous are totally incapable of\nreceiving any communication of motion.\u201d(110)\n\nThis argument, though seemingly proving only the non\u2010existence of\ncontinuous matter in nature, proves in fact, also, the impossibility of\nits existence. For, if a substance could be created possessing intrinsic\nextension and continuity, that substance would essentially differ from the\nexisting matter, and would therefore be anything but matter. Hence not\neven in this supposition would continuous matter exist.\n\n_Eighth argument._\u2014The inertia of matter, and its property of acting in a\nsphere, might furnish us with a new argument against material continuity.\nBut we prefer to conclude with a mathematical demonstration drawn from the\nweight of matter. The weight of a mass of matter depends on the number of\nmaterial terms to which the action of gravity is applied, and it increases\nexactly in the same ratio as the number of the elementary terms contained\nin the mass. This being the case, let us assume that there is somewhere an\natom of continuous matter. The action of gravity will find in it an\ninfinite multitude of points of application; for it is of the nature of\ncontinuum to supply matter for an endless division. Hence if we call _g_\nthe action of gravity on the unit of mass in the unit of time, the action\nof the same gravity on any of those infinite points of application will be\n\n\n _g_ \u03c1 _dx dy dz_,\n\n\n\u03c1 being the density of the mass, and _dx_, _dy_, _dz_ the three dimensions\nof an infinitesimal portion of it.\n\nNow, since we know that gravity in the unit of time imparts a finite\nvelocity to every point of matter in the atom, we must admit that the\naction exerted on the infinitesimal mass \u03c1 _dx dy dz_ has a finite value;\nand therefore, since the volume _dx dy dz_ is an infinitesimal of the\nthird degree, the density \u03c1 must be an infinite of the third order. But a\ncontinuous mass whose elements have an infinite density has itself an\ninfinite density; hence, if its volume has finite dimensions, the mass\nitself (which is the product of the volume into the density) is\nnecessarily infinite, and will have _an infinite weight_. Hence the\nassumption of continuous matter leads to an absurdity. The assumption is\ntherefore to be rejected as evidently false.\n\nWe will put an end to the series of our proofs by pointing out the\nintrinsic and radical reason why matter cannot be continuous. The matter\nwhich is under the form is _a potency_ in the same order of reality in\nwhich its form is _an act_. Now, the only property of a potency is to be\nliable to receive some determinations of a certain kind; and the property\nof a potency whose form is an active principle of local _motion_ must\nconsist in its being liable to receive a determination to local\n_movement_. Hence, as the matter receives its first being by a form of a\nspherical character, and becomes the real central point from which the\nactions of the substance proceed, so also the same matter, when already\nactuated by its essential form, receives any accidental determination to\nlocal movement; and, inasmuch as it is liable to local movement, it is in\npotency to extend through space\u2014that is, to describe in space a continuous\nline; and when it actually moves, it actually traces a continuous\nline\u2014that is, it extends from place to place, continuously indeed, but\nsuccessively; whence it is manifest that its extension is nothing but\n_Actus existentis in potentia ut in potentia_ Aristotle would say, viz.,\nan actual passage from one potential state to another. Such is the only\nextension of which matter is capable. Such an extension is always _in\nfieri_, never _in facto esse_; always dynamical, never statical; always\npotential and successive, never formal or simultaneous. We can, therefore,\nascribe to matter _potential_ continuity, just as we ascribe to its active\nprinciple a _virtual_ continuity; for the passivity of the matter and the\nactivity of the form correspond to one another as properties of one and\nthe same essence; and whatever can be predicated actively or virtually of\na substance on account of its form can be predicated passively or\npotentially of the same substance on account of its matter.\n\nThese remarks form a complement to our fifth argument, where we proved\nthat no substantial and no accidental act could make matter _actually_\ncontinuous. For, since matter cannot receive any accidental act, except\nthe determination to local movement, and since this movement, although\ncontinuous, is essentially successive, it follows that by such a\ndetermination no actual and permanent continuity can arise, but a mere\ncontinuation of local changes. Thus matter, according to its potential\nnature, has only a potential extension; or, in other terms, it is not in\nitself actually continuous, but is simply ready to extend through space by\ncontinuous movement.\n\nThe preceding proofs seem quite sufficient, and more than sufficient, to\nuproot the prejudice in favor of material continuity; we must, however,\ndefend them from the attacks of our opponents, that no reasonable doubt\nmay remain as to the cogency of our demonstration.\n\n_First objection._\u2014The globe and the plane, of which we have spoken in our\nthird argument, though destitute of proportional parts suitable for a\nstatical contact, become proportionate to one another, says Goudin, by the\nvery movement of the one upon the other; and thus our third argument would\nfall to the ground. For a successive contact partakes of the nature of\nsuccessive beings. Hence, as time, although having no present, except an\nindivisible instant, becomes, through its flowing, extended into\ncontinuous parts, so also the contact of the globe with the plane,\nalthough limited to an indivisible point, can nevertheless, by its\nflowing, become extended so as to correspond to the extended parts of the\nplane. For, according to mathematicians, a point, though indivisible when\nat rest, can by moving describe a divisible line.\n\nTo this we answer that a globe and a plane cannot by the movement of the\none on the other acquire proportionate parts. For, although it is true\nthat a successive contact partakes of the nature of the successive being\nwhich we call movement, it is plain that it does not partake of the nature\nof matter. In fact, the material plane is not supposed to become\ncontinuous through the movement of the globe, but is hypothetically\nassumed to be continuous before the movement, and even before the\nexistence, of the said globe. The continuous movement is, of course,\nproportionate to a continuous plane; but it is evident that it cannot\noriginate any proportion between the plane and the globe; because this\nwould be against the essence of both. No part of the plane can be\nspherical, and no part of the globe can be plane; hence, whatever may be\nthe movement of the one upon the other, they will never touch one another,\nexcept in a single point.\n\nThat time, although having no present, except an indivisible point,\nbecomes extended by flowing on, is perfectly true; but this proves\nnothing. For, in the same manner as the act of flowing, by which time\nflows, has nothing actual but a single indivisible instant, so also the\nact of flowing, by which the contact of the globe with the plane flows,\nhas no actuality but in an indivisible point of space; and as an\nindivisible instant by its flowing draws a line of time without ever\nbecoming extended in itself, so also an indivisible point by its flowing\ndraws a line in space without ever becoming extended in itself; and as the\ninstant of time never becomes proportionate to any finite length of time,\nso also the point of contact never becomes proportionate to any finite\nline in space.\n\nThat a line, therefore, arises from the flowing of a point in the same\nmanner as time from the flowing of an instant, is a plain truth, and there\nwas no need of Goudin\u2019s argumentation to make it acceptable. To defeat our\nargument, he should have proved that the _actual_ flowing of an instant\ntakes up a length of time. If this could have been proved, it would have\nbeen easy to conclude that the flowing contact also extends through a\nlength of space. But the author did not attempt to show that an instant of\ntime flows through finite lengths of time. It is evident, on the contrary,\nthat an instant flows through mere instants immediately following one\nanother. And thus the objection has no weight.\n\n_Second objection._\u2014If a material continuum is impossible, all continuum\nis impossible, and thus we are constrained to deny the continuity of both\nspace and time. For space and time\u2014as, for instance, a cubic\u2010foot and an\nhour\u2014include within their respective limits an infinite multitude of\nindivisible points, or indivisible instants, just as would continuous\nmatter include within its limits an infinite multitude of material points;\nfor it is clear that space and time cannot be made up of anything but\npoints and instants. Hence, if, in spite of this, we admit continuous\nspace and continuous time, we implicitly avow that our first argument\nagainst continuous matter is far from conclusive.\n\nWe reply that there is no parity between the continuity of space and time\nand the continuity of matter; and that the impossibility of the latter\ndoes not show the impossibility of the former. The continuity of space and\nof time is intimately connected with the continuity of local movement.\nMovement, though _formally_ continuous, or rather owing to its formal\ncontinuity, is necessarily successive, so that we can never find one part\nof the movement coexisting with another part of the same movement; and\nconsequently there is no danger of finding in such a movement any _actual_\nmultitude, whilst we should necessarily find it in continuous matter. Time\nalso, as being nothing else than the actuality or duration of movement, is\nentirely successive; and consequently no two parts of time can ever be\nfound together; which again prevents the danger of an _actual_ multitude\nof coexisting instants. As to space, we observe that its continuity is by\nno means formal, but only virtual, and that space as such has no parts\ninto which it can be divided, whatever our imagination may suggest to the\ncontrary. We indeed consider space as a continuous extension, but such an\nextension and continuity is the property of the movement extending through\nspace, not of space itself. Space is a region _through which movement can\nextend in a continuous manner_; hence the space measured, or mensurable,\nis styled _continuous_ from the continuity of the movement made, or\npossible. We likewise consider the parts of the extension of the movement\nmade or possible as so many _parts of the space measured or mensurable_.\nAnd thus space is called _continuous_, _extended_, and _divisible into\nparts_, merely because the movement by which space is, or can be, measured\nis continuous, extended, and divisible into successive parts; but space,\nas such, has of itself no _formal_ continuity, no _formal_ extension, and\nno _formal_ divisibility, since space, as such, is nothing else than the\nvirtuality, or extrinsic terminability, of divine immensity, as we may\nhave occasion hereafter to show.\n\nHence neither space, nor time, nor movement is made up by composition of\npoints or of instants; but time and movement owe their continuous\nextension to the flowing of a single instant and of a single point, whilst\nspace, which is only virtually continuous, owes its denomination of\ncontinuous to the possibility of continuous movement through it. But if\nthere were any continuous matter, its formal extension would arise from\n_actual_, _simultaneous_, and _indivisible_ points constituting a _formal\ninfinite multitude_ within the limits of its extension. Hence there is no\nparity between continuous matter and continuous space or time; and the\nimpossibility of the former does not prove the impossibility of the\nlatter.\n\n_Third objection._\u2014Accelerated movement is a movement the velocity of\nwhich increases by continuous infinitesimal degrees\u2014that is, by\nindivisible momenta of motion. It is therefore possible for a quantity of\nmovement to arise from the accumulation of indivisibles. Why, then, should\nnot the quantity of matter arise in a like manner from the accumulation of\nindivisible points? That which causes the acceleration of movement is, in\nfact, continuous action\u2014that is, a series of real, distinct, and\ninnumerable instantaneous actions, by which the movement is made to\nincrease by distinct infinitesimal degrees; which would show that it is\nnot impossible to make a continuum by means of indivisibles.\n\nWe reply, first, that there is no degree of velocity which can be styled\nindivisible; for however small may be the acceleration of the movement, it\nmay become smaller and smaller without end, as we shall presently explain.\n\nBut, waiving this, we reply, secondly, that intensive and extensive\nquantity are of a very different nature, and, even if it were true that\nintensive quantity can arise from an accumulation of indivisibles, the\nsame would not be the case with extension. The degrees of intensity never\nunite by way of composition; for all intensity belongs to some _form_ or\nact, whilst all composition of parts regards the _material_ constituents\nof things. Hence movement, though increasing or decreasing, by continuous\ndegrees, is not _composed_ of them; whereas the continuum of matter, if\nany such existed, should be _composed_ of its indivisible elements. In\nmovement the increased velocity is not a multitude of distinct acts, but a\nsingle act, equivalent to all the acts which we may distinguish under the\nname of degrees of velocity. Hence such degrees are only virtually\ndistinct, and do not constitute a formal multitude; whence it follows that\nthere is no absurdity in the notion of accelerated or retarded movement.\nBut with a material continuum the case is entirely different; for such a\ncontinuum would be an extensive, not an intensive, quantity, and would\nhave parts not only mentally or virtually, but entitatively and formally,\ndistinct, and making an actual infinite multitude within the limits of a\nfinite bulk.\n\nAs to the continuous action which causes the acceleration of movement, it\nis not true that it consists of a sum of distinct instantaneous actions.\nThe action may be considered either _in fieri_ or _in facto esse_. The\naction _in fieri_ is the exertion of the agent, and the action _in facto\nesse_ is the determination received by the patient. Now, the exertion of\nthe agent is successive; for its continuity is the continuity of time, and\nis therefore _continuation_ rather than _continuity_. Hence nothing exists\nof the action _in fieri_, except an instantaneous exertion corresponding\nto the moment of time which unites the past with the future. All the past\nexertions have ceased to be _in fieri_, and all the future exertions have\nstill to be made. Accordingly, continuous action is not made up of other\nactual actions, and, though passing through different degrees of\nintensity, is not an actual multitude.\n\nOn the other hand, if we consider the action _in facto esse_\u2014that is, the\ndetermination as received in the patient\u2014we shall find that, although such\na determination is the result of a continued exertion, and exhibits its\ntotality under the form of velocity, nevertheless this result consists of\nintensity, not of continuity, and therefore contains no formal multitude,\nbut is, as we have said, a simple act equivalent to many. Hence\naccelerated movement is one movement, and not many, and a great velocity\nis one velocity, and not a formal multitude of lesser velocities. In a\nword, there is not the least resemblance between continuous acceleration\nand continuous matter.\n\nAlthough the preceding answer sufficiently shows the flimsiness of the\nobjection, we may yet observe that actions having an infinitesimal\nduration are indeed infinitesimal, but are not _true indivisibles_. For\nthe expression of an accelerating action, in dynamics, contains three\nvariable functions\u2014that is, first, the _intensity_ of the action at the\nunit of distance in the unit of time; secondly, its _duration_; thirdly,\nthe _distance_ from the agent to the patient. Hence, in the case of an\naction of infinitesimal duration, there still remain two variables, viz.,\nthe _intensity_ of the power, and the _distance_ from the patient; and\ntheir variation causes a variation of the action in its infinitesimal\nduration. Thus it is manifest that actions of infinitesimal duration can\nhave a greater or a less intensity, and therefore are not _true\nindivisibles_ of intensity. If, for instance, two agents by their constant\nand continuous action produce in the same length of time different\neffects, it is evident that their actions have different intensities in\nevery infinitesimal instant of time; hence such infinitesimal actions,\nthough bearing no comparison with finite quantities, bear comparison with\none another, and form definite geometric ratios.\n\n_Fourth objection._\u2014If the contact of one indivisible with another cannot\nengender a continuum, we must deny the existence of time and of local\nmotion. For time is engendered by the flowing of an instant towards the\ninstant immediately following, and movement is engendered by the flowing\nof a point in space towards the point immediately following. If, then,\nindivisibles cannot, by their contact, give rise to continuous extension,\nneither time nor local motion will acquire continuous extension.\n\nOur answer to this objection is that time and movement are not engendered\nby a formal contact of a real instant with the instant following, or of a\nreal point with the point following. Duration is not a sum of indivisible\ninstants formally touching one another, nor is the length of space a sum\nof indivisible points touching one another. We may have points _in space_,\nbut not points _of space_; and in like manner we have instants _in\nsuccession_, not instants _of succession_, though in common language we\nusually confound the latter with the former. Yet, when we talk of a point\nof space, our meaning is not that space is made up of points, but simply\nthat a point of matter existing in space marks out its own ubication, thus\nlending to the space occupied the name of _point_. Hence no movement in\nspace can be conceived to extend by successive contacts of points, or by\nthe flowing of a point towards other points immediately following; for\nthese _points immediately following_ exist only in our imagination. Nor\ndoes a flowing point engender a line of space, but only a line of\nmovement; and even this latter is not properly _engendered_, but merely\n_marked out_ in space; for all possible lines are already virtually\ncontained in space, and therefore they need no engendering, but simply\nmarking out by continuous motion.\n\nThe same is to be said of the origin of time. Time is not a formal sum of\ninstants touching one another. The instant just past is no more, hence it\ncannot touch the instant which is now; and the instant which is to follow\nis not yet, hence it cannot be touched by the instant which is now.\nAccordingly, as the movement of a single point marks out a continuous line\nin absolute space, so also the flowing of a single instant extends a line\nin absolute duration. For, as S. Thomas teaches, in the whole length of\ntime there is but a single instant _in re_, though this same instant\nbecomes virtually manifold _in ratione prioris et posterioris_ by shifting\nfrom \u201cbefore\u201d to \u201cafter.\u201d And in the same manner, in the whole length of a\nline measured in space by continuous movement, there is but a single point\n_in re_ actually shifting its ubication from \u201chere\u201d to \u201cthere,\u201d and thus\nbecoming virtually manifold in its successive positions. And for this\nreason both movement and time are always and essentially developing (_in\nfieri_), and never exist as developed (_in facto esse_); since of the\nformer nothing is actual but a point, and of the latter nothing is actual\nbut an instant.\n\nIt is scarcely necessary to repeat that, if there were any continuous\nmatter, its parts would all be actual and simultaneous. Its continuous\nextension would therefore be properly engendered by the contact of\nindivisible points, not by the shifting of a point from one end of its\ndimensions to another. This sufficiently shows that from the continuity of\nmovement and of time nothing can be concluded in favor of continuous\nmatter.\n\n_Fifth objection._\u2014Between two given points in space infinite other points\ncan be placed. Now, what is possible can be conceived to be done; and thus\nwe can conceive an infinite multitude between the two points. Accordingly,\nan infinite multitude can be contained within limits; and if so,\ncontinuous matter is not impossible, and our first argument has no weight.\n\nWe answer that, although an infinite multitude of points can be placed\nbetween any two given points, yet nothing can be inferred therefrom in\nfavor of continuous matter. For those innumerable points either will touch\none another or not. If they do not touch, they will not make a continuum;\nand if they touch, they will, as we have shown, entirely coincide, instead\nof forming a continuous extension. It is plain, therefore, that the\ndistance between the two given points cannot be filled _continuously_,\neven by an infinite multitude of other points. And therefore the objection\nhas no force.\n\nNor is it true that by the creation of an infinite multitude of points\nbetween two given points such a multitude would be an infinity _within\nlimits_. For the two given points are limits, or rather terms, of a local\nrelation, but they are no limits of the multitude, or discrete quantity,\nwhich can be placed between them; for, without altering the position of\nthose two points, we can increase without end the number of the\nintervening points. As volume is not a limit of density, so the distance\nof two points is not the limit of the multitude that can be condensed\nbetween them.\n\n_Sixth objection._\u2014All the arguments above given against the continuity of\nmatter are grounded on a false supposition; for they all take for granted\nthat _a continuum must be made up of parts_\u2014an assumption which can be\nshown to be false. For, first, in the geometric continuum there are no\nactual parts; for such a continuum is not made up by composition, but is\ncreated, such as it is, all in one piece. Whence it must be inferred that\nthe primitive elements of matter, though exempt, as primitive, from\ncomposition of parts, and really simple, may yet possess extension.\nSecondly, who can deny that God has the power to create a solid body as\nperfectly continuous as a geometric volume? Such a body, though divisible\ninto any number of parts, would not be a compound; for its parts would be\nmerely possible, not actual; and therefore it would be simple, and yet\ncontinuous. Thirdly, those who deny the possibility of continuous matter\nadmit a vacuum existing between simple points of matter. Such a vacuum is\na continuous extension intercepted between real terms, and is nothing else\nthan the possibility of real extension. But the real extension, which is\npossible between real terms, is not, of course, a series of points\ntouching one another, for such a series, as all admit, is impossible. It\nis, therefore, an extension really continuous, not made up of parts, but\nonly divisible into parts. Hence matter may be continuous and simple at\nthe same time.(111)\n\nThis objection tends to establish the possibility of _simple\u2010extended_\nmatter. Yet that simplicity and material extension exclude one another is\nan evident truth; in other terms, material continuity, without composition\nof parts, is utterly inconceivable. If, therefore, we persist in taking\nfor granted that a material continuum must be made up of actual parts, we\ndo not make a gratuitous supposition.\n\nThe three reasons adduced in the objection are far from satisfactory. The\nfirst makes an unlawful transition from the geometric extension of volumes\nto the physical extension of masses. Such a transition, we say, is\nunlawful; for the geometrical extension is only _virtually_ continuous,\nand therefore involves no actual multitude of parts; whereas the physical\nextension of the mass of matter would be _formally_ and _materially_\ncontinuous, thus involving a formal multitude of actual parts perfectly\ndistinct from one another, though united to form one continuous piece. The\ngeometric extension is measured by three linear dimensions, and has no\ndensity. Now, a geometric line is nothing else than the trace of the\nmovement of a point; and accordingly its continuity arises from the\ncontinuity of the movement itself, which alone is _formally_ continuous;\nfor the space measured by such a movement has no formal continuity of its\nown, as we have already explained, but is styled \u201ccontinuous\u201d only\ninasmuch as it is the region of continuous movement. There is no doubt,\ntherefore, that geometric extension is merely virtual in its continuity;\nand for this reason it is not made up of parts of its own, but simply\ncorresponds to the parts of the movement by which it can be measured.\nMaterial extension, on the contrary, would be densely filled with actual\nmatter, and therefore would be made up of actual parts perfectly distinct,\nthough not separated. To apply, as the objection does, to material\nextension, what geometry teaches of the extension of volumes, is therefore\na mere paralogism. It amounts to saying: _Vacuum is free from composition;\ntherefore the matter also which would fill it is free from composition._\n\nWe may add that even geometric extension, if real, involves composition.\nFor, evidently, we cannot conceive a geometric cube without its eight\nvertices, nor can we pretend that a figure requiring eight distinct points\nas the terms of its dimensions is free from composition. Now, if an empty\ngeometric volume cannot be simple, what shall we say of a volume full of\nmatter? Wherever there is real extension, there are real dimensions, of\nwhich the beginning, and the end, and all the intermediate terms are\nreally distinct from one another. Hence in a material extension there\nshould be as many distinct material terms as there are geometric points\nwithin its limits. And if this is _simplicity_, we may well ask what is\n_composition_?\n\nThe second reason adduced in the objection is a mere _petitio principii_.\nFor he who says that God can create \u201ca solid body as perfectly continuous\nas a geometric volume\u201d assumes that such a continuous body involves no\ncontradiction; he therefore begs the question. On the other hand, to\naffirm that God can create a solid body as perfectly continuous as a\ngeometric volume, is to affirm that God can create a body of infinite\ndensity\u2014that is, an infinite mass within finite dimensions. For the mass\nof a body of matter is the product of its volume into its density; hence,\nif its volume be finite, and its density infinite, the mass will be\ninfinite. Now, a body materially continuous implies infinite density; for\nit excludes porosity, and it supplies matter for an endless division.\nHence a continuous mass of matter filling a finite volume would be _an\ninfinite mass contained within limits_. We think we are not presuming too\nmuch when we say that God cannot create such a metaphysical monstrosity.\n\n\u201cSuch a body,\u201d says the objection, \u201cthough divisible into any number of\nparts, would not be a compound.\u201d This is evidently false; for all that is\ndivisible into parts has parts, and therefore composition. Nor is it true\nthat the parts of a continuous body \u201cwould be merely possible, not\nactual\u201d; for if such parts are not actual, how can the body be actual? No\nactual continuum can exist without actual parts. The divisibility of\ncontinuum is not the possibility of actual parts, but the possibility of\ntheir actual separation.\n\nThe third reason is based on our admission of a vacuum between material\npoints. Such a vacuum, it is objected, is a continuous (virtual)\nextension, founding the possibility of some other (formal) extension. This\nwe concede; but when it is argued that this other extension which is\npossible between the material terms is the extension of continuous matter,\nwe deny the consequence. It is only continuous local movement, not\ncontinuous matter, that can formally extend from term to term, as we have\nproved. When two real points of matter have a distinct ubication in space,\nthe interval between them cannot be estimated otherwise than by the extent\nof the movement which can be made from one point to the other. We cannot\nperceive the distance between two terms, except by drawing, at least\nmentally, a line from the one to the other; and for this reason, as we\nhave remarked elsewhere, the relation of distance is conceived by us as a\nquantity measured by movement, not by matter, and representing the\nextension of continuous movement, not of continuous matter. Hence a vacuum\nintercepted between real points is a _real_, though only _virtual_,\nextension; and that other _real_ and _formal_ extension, which is possible\nbetween the same real points, is the extension of local movement. Our\nopponent concedes that \u201cthe real extension possible between real terms is\nnot a series of points touching one another; for such a series, as all\nadmit, is impossible.\u201d Now, this suffices to show that the real extension\npossible between such real terms is not the extension of continuous\nmatter; for such an extension, as we have abundantly proved, would be made\nup of nothing but of a series of points touching one another.\n\nNothing, perhaps, more evidently shows the unquestionable solidity of the\nthesis we have undertaken to defend than the necessity felt by our\nopponents of admitting in matter _an extended simplicity_ and a\n_simplicity divisible into parts_, as witnessed by this last objection,\nwhich we have transcribed from a grave and learned professor of\nphilosophy. _Extended and simple matter_ is such an absurdity as few would\nadmit to be a corollary of their own theories; yet it cannot be escaped by\nthose who consider the _first_ elements of matter as endowed with bulk.\nFor physical simplicity is an essential attribute of all primitive beings;\nand, if primitive elements are nevertheless supposed to be intrinsically\nextended, it is plain that their simplicity will be an extended\nsimplicity.\n\nThe main reason why some philosophers still cling to material continuity\nis their fear of _actio in distans_. We have already shown that such a\nfear, though very common, cannot be justified. We grant that, owing to\npopular prejudice and an incorrect notion of things, many are apt to dread\naction at a distance as a dangerous shoal; but when they resort to an\n\u201cextended and divisible simplicity,\u201d they steer their ship directly\nagainst the reefs.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nChristmas In The Thirteenth Century.\n\n\nFew are the hearts that do not feel the benign and joyful influence of\nChristmas. It is the one feast that neither the all\u2010destroying zeal of the\nReformation nor the cold indifferentism of the present age has dared to\nabolish or desecrate. To how many is it the sole remaining word that\nreminds them of the sacred name of Christ! There _was_ a time when\nChristmas was but one of the many holydays that with each succeeding month\nrecalled to Christian hearts some great event in the life of their divine\nMaster; but heresy has swept away one by one those sacked days of repose\nand prayer. Even in Catholic countries the church has found it necessary\nto reduce the number of Days of Obligation, so cold have grown both faith\nand devotion.\n\nWealth and material prosperity\u2014these are the sole ends for which a\nheartless world would have us exert all our energies, and it would fain\nclog with the sordid love of gain all the higher aspirations of the soul.\n\nBut we are forgetting that this is Christmas time\u2014a time for innocent\npleasure, and not for moralizing; so, leaving the present age, with all\nits faults, we will ask our readers to transport themselves with us, in\nimagination, some six centuries back, and witness how was celebrated in\nthose Ages of Faith the holy night of the Nativity of our Lord.\n\nThe period selected is about the middle of the XIIIth century. Religion\nwas then in the fullest splendor of its power. It was the light of\ncivilization, the custodian of all learning. Every art had combined to\nrender its outward expression worthy of the great and holy mysteries it\ntaught. Gothic architecture had at this date attained its highest\nperfection; painting and sculpture were almost exclusively devoted to the\ndecoration of God\u2019s temples; poetry and music were united to render\nattractive the sublime and rarely\u2010interrupted Offices of the church. The\nliturgical works of the period are mines of poetic and musical riches that\nfor the most part lie hidden and uncared for in their musty tomes.\n\nSome will doubtless smile when we speak of the Latin poetry of the middle\nages, and certainly those who seek in it the polished and classical verses\nof a Horace or a Virgil will be disappointed. They will, however, find\nthat, despite their somewhat strange Latinity, these productions of a so\u2010\ncalled barbarous age contain a depth of feeling, a strength and freshness\nof expression, quite unknown to the pagan poets, and were as appropriate\nto those grand old cathedrals under whose roofs they were to resound as\nwere the classic odes and songs to the luxurious banquet\u2010halls of Rome or\nthe effeminate villas of Naples. In fact, to adequately judge of the\npoetry contained in the Offices of the medi\u00e6val period, we must place\nourselves amid the surroundings in which they were performed; we must\n_not_ view it from the stand\u2010point of the present age, with its entirely\ndifferent ideas of both religious life and religious art.\n\nIt will be, then, in an old French cathedral that we shall ask our readers\nto spend this Christmas night; for the office, or rather religious drama,\nat which we intend to make them assist, is taken from a Roman\u2010French\nmissal of the XIIIth century.\n\nThe night has closed in. Within the city walls the tortuous and narrow\nstreets are nearly deserted; but lights gleam from many a diamond pane,\nfor inside joyous circles are gathered around the glowing logs that\nbrightly sparkle in the ample chimneys. Old stories are repeated by\nvenerable grandfathers to merry grandchildren, who in return sing with\nsilvery voices quaint old carols. Suddenly a well\u2010known sound fills the\nair; from the high cathedral towers burst forth the joyous chimes that\nherald the approach of Christ\u2019s natal hour. The notes that ring out so\nclearly in the cold December air are those of the familiar Christmas hymn,\n_Christe Redemptor omnium_.(112) Soon a hurrying throng begin to fill the\nstreets, all wending their way towards the same point, through narrow and\nwinding streets. By gabled house and arched doorway, by mullioned window\nand jutting tower, they press forward until they reach the central square,\nwhere rises, in all its splendor, the old cathedral church.\n\nBeautiful and imposing at all times is a Gothic cathedral, but never more\nso than when the trembling light of a winter moon throws around it a soft\nhalo, just enough to make its grand proportions visible amid the\nsurrounding gloom, while leaving all the finer details wrapt in sombre\nmystery. Doubly lofty appear tower and spire, and strangely weird each\nfantastic gargoyle, as a stray moonbeam falls athwart its uncouth\ncountenance.\n\nLet us follow the crowd, and enter beneath the richly\u2010sculptured doorway.\nDim is the light within, only just sufficient to find your way among the\nthrong that now begins to fill every part of the vast edifice. The\nnumerous assemblage of priests and choristers are singing the Office of\nMatins, the grand old melodies of S. Gregory resounding beneath the\nvaulted roof with that wonderful effect that makes them, when sung by\nchoir and congregation, the most truly religious music that exists. As the\nlast solemn notes of the _Te Deum_ die out, a white\u2010robed chorister\u2010boy\nrepresenting an angel advances into the centre of the choir, and in sweet,\nclear accents chants the words of the angelic message, \u201cNolite timere:\necce enim evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum, quod erit omni populo, quia\nnatus est vobis hodie Salvator mundi, in civitate David. Et hoc vobis\nsignum: Invenietis infantem pannis involutum, et positum in\npr\u00e6sepio\u201d\u2014\u201cFear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,\nthat shall be to all the people: for this day is born to you a Saviour,\nwho is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign\nunto you: You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling\u2010clothes, and laid\nin a manger.\u201d\n\nThen from the high triforium\u2010gallery seven pure young voices ring out, as\nif from heaven, the words sung by the angel\u2010host on the first Christmas\nnight: \u201cGloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bon\u00e6\nvoluntatis.\u201d These familiar words that herald the pious representation of\nthe holy scenes whose reality centuries ago hallowed this night in the\nmountains of Jud\u00e6a, are listened to by the vast congregation with rapt and\ndevout attention. In their simple and earnest faith the assistants feel\nthemselves transported back to the days of Herod and to the village of\nBethlehem, as they behold emerging from the western porch, and slowly\nadvancing up the nave, a train of shepherds with staves in their hands,\nsinging, as they proceed in search of their newborn King, the following\nhymn. Both words and music are full of beauty, and the cadence is well\nsuited to a Christmas carol:\n\n\n Pax in terris nunciatur,\n In excelsis gloria.\n\n Terra c\u0153lo f\u0153deratur,\n Mediante gratia.\n Mediatur homo Deus\n Descendit in propria,\n Ut ascendat homo reus\n Ad amissa gaudia.\n Eia! Eia!\n\n Transeamus, videamus\n Verbum hoc quod factum est\n Transeamus, ut sciamus\n Quod annunciatum est.\n\n In Judea puer vagit,\n Puer salus populi,\n\n Quo bellandum se pr\u00e6sagit\n Vetus hostis s\u00e6culi.\n\n Accedamus, accedamus\n Ad pr\u00e6sepe Domini,\n\n Et dicamus:\n Laus fecund\u00e6 Virgini.\n\n (Peace on earth is announced, and in heaven glory,\n\n Earth is reconciled through divine grace. The Mediator God\u2010Man\n descends amongst his own, that guilty man may ascend to lost joys.\n\n Let us go over, let us see this word that is come to pass.\n\n Let us go over, that we may learn what has been announced.\n\n In Jud\u00e6a an infant cries\n\n An Infant, the salvation of his people,\n\n By whom the ancient enemy of the world foresees he must be warred\n upon.\n\n Let us approach, let us approach the cradle of our Lord,\n\n And let us sing: Praise to the fruitful Virgin.)\n\n\nA crib has been arranged at the extreme end of the choir, containing the\nfigure of the divine Infant and our Blessed Lady. It is surrounded by\nwomen, to whom naturally is given the charge of watching over the Virgin\nMother and her new\u2010born Babe. Towards this crib the shepherds wend their\nway, passing beneath the carved rood\u2010screen through the open portals of\nthe choir. Two priests advance to meet them, and greet them with the\nfollowing versicle: \u201cQuem qu\u00e6ritis in pr\u00e6sepio, pastores, dicite?\u201d\u2014\u201cWhom\nseek ye in this manger, shepherds, tell us?\u201d\n\nThey reply: \u201cSalvatorem Christum Dominum infantem pannis involutum\nsecundum sermonem angelicum\u201d\u2014\u201cChrist our Lord and Saviour, an infant\nwrapped in swaddling\u2010clothes, according to the word of the angel.\u201d\n\nThe women around the crib now draw back the curtains that have, until this\nmoment, kept it concealed from view, and, showing to the shepherds the\ndivine Infant reclining in the manger, sing these words: \u201cAdest hic\nparvulus cum matre sua de quo dudum vaticinando Isa\u00efas dixerat propheta:\nEcce virgo concipiet et pariet filium: euntes dicite quod natus est\u201d\u2014\u201cHere\nis the little Child and his Mother of whom of old Isaias prophesied:\nBehold, a Virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son; go forth and\nannounce that he is born.\u201d The shepherds salute the Virgin and Child, and\nsing the following charming little carol in honor of the Virgin Mother:\n\n\n Salve Virgo singularis;\n Virgo manens, Deum paris,\n Ante s\u00e6cla generatum\n Corde patris;\n\n Adoremus nunc creatum\n Carne matris.\n\n Nos, Maria, tua prece\n A peccati purga fece;\n Nostri cursum incolatus\n Sic dispone,\n Ut det sua frui natus\n Visione.\n\n (Hail, O Virgin incomparable! remaining a Virgin, thou hast\n brought forth the Son of God, begotten of his Father before all\n ages.\n\n Now we adore him, formed of the flesh of his Mother.\n\n O Mary! purify us from all stain of sin; our destined course on\n earth so dispose, that thy Son may grant us to enjoy his blessed\n vision.)\n\n\nAfter this hymn they fall on their knees and adore the divine Babe; then,\nturning towards the choir, they with joyful accents exclaim, \u201cAlleluia,\nAlleluia. Jam vere scimus Christum natum in terris, de quo canite omnes\ncum prophetis dicentes\u201d\u2014\u201cNow we truly know that Christ is born on earth,\nlet all sing of him with the prophet.\u201d Answering to this invitation, the\nchoir intone the prophetic words of the introit of the midnight Mass: \u201cThe\nLord has said to me, Thou art my Son; this day I have begotten Thee.\u201d\n\nThe priests and assistants advance slowly in procession to the foot of the\naltar, and the solemn celebration of High Mass commences.\n\nThe lessons conveyed by this beautiful and symbolic representation are\nhappily continued when the reality of the divine mysteries has taken its\nplace. The priests who represented the shepherds, quitting the crib where\nthey were the first to do homage to the Child\u2010God, proceed to occupy the\nmost exalted places in the choir, and to take the leading parts in the\nchants that accompany that Holy Sacrifice in which the same Child\u2010God once\nmore descends on earth.\n\nAmong the many impressive ceremonies of the Catholic Church, there is none\nmore touching than the celebration of the midnight Mass. Whether it be in\na vast cathedral or in a modest village church, it never fails to bring\nhome to the heart, in a wonderful manner, the realization of the two great\nmysteries of the Incarnation and the Eucharist, awakening in the soul a\nlively devotion towards them. If such be the effect of the sacred rite on\nmen who have only just quit the bustle and turmoil of life, as they enter\nthe church, what must it have been on minds prepared by so graphic a\nrepresentation of those very mysteries that the Mass not only\ncommemorates, but actually reproduces in a manner far more perfect, if\nless perceptible to the outward senses.\n\nHow conspicuous, then, was the wisdom of the church in encouraging the\nperformance of these pious dramas\u2014not only as affording an innocent\npleasure to the spectators, but as a preparation for the better\nunderstanding of the sacred mysteries that were commemorated in each\nsucceeding feast; for on the popular mind how far more powerful than the\nmost eloquent sermon is the effect of any ceremony that appeals directly\nto the senses!\n\nAt the termination of the Mass the officiating priest, turning towards the\nshepherds, intones the following anthem: \u201cQuam vidistis, pastores? dicite,\nannunciate nobis in terris quid apparuit\u201d\u2014\u201cTell us, O shepherds, whom you\nhave seen? Announce to us who has appeared on earth.\u201d To which they reply:\n\u201cNatum vidimus et choros angelorum collandantes Dominum. Alleluia,\nalleluia\u201d\u2014\u201cWe have seen the Lord, who is born on earth, and the choirs of\nangels praising him.\u201d\n\nThe office of Lauds, which terminates the night\u2010office, then commences.\nThe shepherds, still occupying the places of honor, but divided in two\nchoirs, sing the poetic paraphrase which on all solemn feasts in those\ndays took the place of the Benedicamus and Deo Gratias. After which they\nall unite in chanting the following antiphon, which forms a fitting\ntermination to the ceremonies of the night: \u201cEcce completa sunt omnia qu\u00e6\ndicta sunt per angelum de Virgine Maria\u201d\u2014\u201cBehold, all things are\naccomplished that were announced by the angel concerning the Virgin Mary.\u201d\n\nSuch were the pious festivities that six hundred years ago filled with joy\nand devotion many a vast congregation in cathedral and church throughout\nFrance on Christmas night. We have described them as far as they can be\ngathered from the Office\u2010books of the period; but how many beautiful\ndetails, handed down by tradition and introduced from time to time, must\nnecessarily have escaped us at this distant period! We venture to hope,\nhowever, that we have succeeded in giving our readers at least a slight\nidea of the deep religious feeling, and at the same time poetic beauty,\nthat characterized these sacred dramas of the middle ages.\n\n\n\n\nThe Civilization Of Ancient Ireland.(113)\n\n\nThe greatest difficulty experienced by students of Irish history, whether\nforeigners or to the manner born, arises out of the crudeness of the mass\nof fables and myths, contradictions and harsh criticisms, which confuse\nand disfigure many histories of the country. Unfortunately, native Irish\nhistorians and annalists have been wont to indulge much too freely in\nexaggeration and romance, substituting the airy creations of the poets for\nauthenticated facts, and dogmatically putting forward the most minute\ndetails of remote, and therefore necessarily indistinct, actions in a\nmanner to overtax our credulity and weaken our faith even in well\u2010\nestablished authorities. English writers, on the contrary, from Giraldus\nCambrensis downward, have erred on the other side. Always ignorant of the\nGaelic tongue, and generally of the customs, laws, and religion of the\npeople whose history they assumed to chronicle, they invariably attempted\nto conceal their defective knowledge by ignoring the claims of the Irish\nto a distinctive and high order of civilization, not only before the\nadvent of the Anglo\u2010Normans, but anterior to the introduction of\nChristianity. The want of adaptability of the English mind to historical\ncomposition, even in relation to domestic matters, may account for much of\nthis unfair method of treating those of a subjugated nation. National and,\nof late centuries, sectarian animosity has been, however, the leading\nmotive of the British historiographers, with one exception, for falsifying\nthe records of the past, no matter to what country they belong. To have\nacknowledged that S. Patrick preached the Gospel to a race possessing\nconsiderable social refinement and mental culture; that, under Providence,\nan entire people were converted to Christianity without any material\nchange in their civil polity or disruption of their general domestic\nrelations; and that, even in his lifetime, he had the happiness to see his\nwork completed, and to feel that he would leave behind him a native\npriesthood, whose piety and learning were for ages afterwards to edify and\nastonish Europe, was to concede the glory and the wisdom of the church in\nintroducing and perpetuating the faith of her divine Founder at that early\nperiod of her existence.\n\nWith the Irish historians, who fully admitted this great central fact in\nthe annals of their country, it was different. They knew the language,\nlaws, and habits of their countrymen, but the circumstances by which they\nwere surrounded rendered it impossible for them to consult freely the\noriginal records then existing, or to compare and collate them with that\nscrutiny and care with which documents of such antiquity ought to be\nregarded. Thus, Dr. Keating wrote his work in the recesses of the Galtee\nMountains, while hiding from the \u201cPriest\u2010hunters\u201d of James I.; and the\nAbb\u00e9 McGeoghegan composed his while in Paris, a fugitive from William of\nOrange\u2019s penal laws, where at best he could only consult second\u2010hand\nauthorities. As for Moore, though illustrious as a poet, his knowledge of\nhis native country was of the most meagre and inaccurate description, and\nhis ignorance of its language and antiquities, as he subsequently\nconfessed, is apparent in every page of his book.\n\nAt the time of the Norman invasion, and for two or three centuries\nafterwards, the number of Irish MSS. in Ireland, including histories,\nannals, genealogies, poems, topographical and otherwise, historical tales,\nand legends, was immense. Many of them, fortunately, are still extant,\nbearing date from the Xth, XIth, and XIIth centuries; but the greater\nportion are either destroyed or hidden in inaccessible places. As the\ncivil wars progressed, and the ancient nobility were slaughtered or driven\ninto exile, the cultivation of native literature gradually ceased, and\nconsequently many of the most valuable national records were ruined or\nlost, so that their titles only remain to us; while others, escaping the\ngeneral spoliation, became scattered among the libraries of the Continent,\nor found their way into careless or hostile hands. At the present day\nseveral are in the British Museum; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; in Paris\nand Brussels; St. Gall, in Switzerland; and St. Isidore\u2019s, in Rome. One\nhundred and forty are yet preserved in the library of Trinity College,\nDublin; while many of the most valuable are the property of the Royal\nIrish Academy and of private collectors.\n\nThe decline of learning in Ireland, like so many of her other calamities,\ncan be dated from the period of the \u201cReformation,\u201d as its revival may be\nsaid to have been contemporary with the uprising of the people, which led\nto the partial emancipation of the Catholics, less than half a century\nago. Then it was that the Irish, breathing something like the air of\nfreedom, began in earnest to gather up the broken threads of their ancient\nhistory, and to demonstrate to the world that, though long enslaved and\nsilenced, the spirit of true nationality was as indestructible in their\nhearts as was the faith for which they had so long and heroically\nsuffered. In 1826 appeared O\u2019Conor\u2019s translation of the first part of the\n_Annals of the Four Masters_; some years after Dr. Petrie published his\nmasterly work on the _Round Towers_, and in 1851 Dr. O\u2019Donovan issued the\nentire _Annals_, the great vertebr\u00e6 of Irish chronology, in seven large\nvolumes, containing more than four thousand pages; the text in Irish\ncharacters, the translation and copious, critical notes in English. Late\nin the next year a commission of Irish scholars was appointed by the\ngovernment to collect, transcribe, translate, and publish the _Ancient\nLaws and Institutes of Ireland_, which, after a great deal of labor and\nexpense, has now been accomplished. The first volume of this most valuable\nwork appeared under the title of _Senchus Mor_, in 1865, the second four\nyears later, and the third, we learn, has recently been issued from the\npress in Dublin. Meanwhile, the Celtic and the Arch\u00e6ological Societies,\nseparately and combined, for many years past have been publishing several\nvaluable detached works on Ireland, which have attracted much attention in\nliterary circles in Europe, and quickened at home the popular desire for\nproductions of a similar character. In 1867 Dr. Todd\u2019s _Wars of the\nGaedhil with the Gaill_, a translation of all the original documents\nextant bearing on the wars of the Danes and other Norsemen in Ireland\nduring the two centuries preceding the battle of Clontarf, A.D. 1014, was\nadded to the collection of historical records.\n\nBut the merit of elevating the study of Irish history to the dignity of a\nprofession belongs to the Catholic University of Ireland; thus\nconstituting a claim on the affections of the Irish people in every clime\nwhich will long remain among the foremost of its many distinctions. At its\nfoundation a chair of Irish History and Arch\u00e6ology was established, and\nthe late Eugene O\u2019Curry, of all men then living the most fitted for the\nposition, was selected to fill it. In 1855\u201056 Prof. O\u2019Curry delivered\nbefore the students a course of twenty\u2010one lectures, afterwards published\nat the expense of the University under the title of _Lectures on the MS.\nMaterials of Ancient Irish History_. This work, including a valuable\nappendix, embraces six hundred and sixty pages, and contains a full and\nmost interesting account of all known documents relating to Irish history.\nThese lectures were followed by a series _On the Manners and Customs of\nthe Ancient Irish_, delivered during the years 1857\u201062, and recently\npublished in two handsome volumes, with an introduction and explanatory\nnotes by the editor, W. K. Sullivan, in an additional volume of six\nhundred and forty\u2010four pages. The value of O\u2019Curry\u2019s last work, as well as\nof the very profound introduction by Prof. Sullivan, can hardly be over\u2010\nestimated. In them are contained a complete, vivid, and harmonious series\nof pictures of the laws, religion, territorial and class divisions,\nliterature, art, social habits, weapons, dress, and ornaments of the\npeople of ancient Ireland from the remotest times to the Xth or XIth\ncentury. The style of O\u2019Curry in presenting these instructive historical\ntableaux is clear, concise, and sufficiently varied to attract the\nattention of the least diligent student; while any of his statements which\nmay appear to savor of an over\u2010fondness for the things of antiquity, or\nundue reverence for the past, find an efficient corrective in the critical\nand exhaustive commentaries of the editor, who, in addition to being a\ndistinguished chemist, is evidently an excellent philologist and\nethnologist; as familiar with the genius of the continental languages and\nantiquities as he is with those of his own country.\n\nWith the results of the labor of two such men before him, the student of\nIrish history, though unacquainted with Gaelic, and beyond the reach of\nthe original documents, has now no excuse for not becoming as familiar\nwith Gaelic historical and arch\u00e6ological lore as with those of the other\nraces of the Old World. He will be rewarded, also, in his studies, by the\ncontemplation of a system of civilization without a parallel in the\nrecords of any other nation of which we have a knowledge; equally removed\nfrom the elaborate, artificial life of the Greeks and the oligarchical\npaganism of Rome, as it was from the rude barbarism of the Northmen and\nthe refined sensuality of the East.\n\nBefore the commencement of our era the history of the various tribes who\nare said by tradition to have visited Ireland as colonists or invaders is,\nof course, obscure, and can be traced only through the legend\u2010tales of the\npoets and story\u2010tellers of more recent but still very remote times. There\nis no doubt, however, that about the middle of the first Christian century\nthe island was peopled by two distinct and to some extent hostile tribes;\none described as a tall, red or golden haired, blue\u2010eyed, and fair\u2010\ncomplexioned people; the other dark and small of stature\u2014evidently the\nsubject race. About this time a revolution, or rather a series of revolts,\nby those known by the name of the _Aithech Tuatha_, or rent\u2010paying tribes\n(the _Atticotti_ of continental writers), broke out, and resulted in the\ntemporary success of the servile race and the annihilation of the greater\npart of the nobility. The aristocracy, however, regained their power after\nsome years of violent and varying struggle, and to prevent the recurrence\nof such bloody scenes, as well as to disunite their enemies, they\nredistributed them throughout the island, while at the same time they\nbuilt a number of duns, or forts within easy supporting distance of each\nother, the better to consolidate their authority and ensure the protection\nof their families.\n\nThe leader of the restored nobles was Tuathal, \u201cthe Legitimate,\u201d who,\nhaving been declared King of Ireland, reorganized the government, founded\nthe Irish Pentarchy, established great national and provincial fairs, and\nenacted the greater part, at least, of the body of laws known as the\n_Senchas Mor_. He was in fact the first able soldier, as well as law\u2010\ngiver, of whom we have any definite and well\u2010authenticated account in\nGaelic history. As the country at that time, and for centuries after, was\nessentially agricultural, we naturally find that the laws of Tuathal and\nhis successors are mainly devoted to agrarian matters; the divisions,\nrights, and duties of the various classes of occupants of the soil being\nset forth with a minuteness and exactness rarely to be found in modern\ncodes. Politically, the island was divided into five subordinate kingdoms,\nnearly corresponding with the present four provinces, except that the\nfifth, which was called Meath, embraced not only that county, but\nWestmeath and a portion of the surrounding territory. Here were situated\nTara, the principal palace of the _Ard\u2010Rig_, or supreme monarch, and the\nmensal land set apart for his use. Sometimes the _Ard\u2010Rig_ was also King\nof Meath, but generally, as in the cases of Con \u201cof the Hundred Battles,\u201d\nNial, \u201cof the Nine Hostages,\u201d and Brian, \u201cBoru,\u201d he was the head of some\nof the great northern or southern septs. In theory the sovereignty was\nelective, and by the law of Tanistry the king\u2019s successor was designated\nduring his lifetime; but in practice, when the crown did not descend\nhereditarily, it was most frequently the prize of successful warfare. The\nsame may also be said of the provincial kings. There appears to have been\nno such thing known in that age as a Salic law for the exclusion of women\nfrom a participation in the affairs of government; for we find numerous\ninstances of kingdoms being swayed and armies led into action by the\ngentler sex, notably the celebrated Meave, the Queen of Connaught, and the\ndarling heroine of Irish fiction.\n\nThe provincial kingdoms were divided into _Mor Tuaths_, each of which\ncomprised several _Tuaths_, and these again were sub\u2010divided into _Bail\u00e9\nBiatachs Caethramhadhs_, or quarters; _Seisreachs_, or ploughlands; and\n_Bail\u00e9\u2010boes_, or cow\u2010lands, each of the latter containing about sixty\nacres. According to a poem of the VIth or VIIth century, there were in\nIreland at that epoch 184 Tuaths; 5,520 Bail\u00e9 Biatachs; 22,080 Quarters;\n66,240 Plough\u2010lands; and 132,480 Ballyboes\u2014equal to about 7,948,000 acres.\nThe lowest rank in the nobility was that of _Flath_, or lord of a _Tuath_;\nthe highest in the commons were the _Bo\u2010aires_, or farmers who, though\nthey held lands from the _Flath_, were freemen, entitled to all the rights\nand privileges of witnesses, jurors, bails, and local courts. Next beneath\nthem were the _saer_ and _daer Ceiles_, or free and base tenants. As there\nwere no towns or villages of any importance, the rules of the agrarian\nlaws were applied to all classes, and hence skilled workmen, such as\ngoldsmiths, blacksmiths, dyers, and other mechanics, were, equally with\nthe smaller tenant farmers, called free _Ceiles_, holding by contract from\nthe _Flaths_, and paying in labor or kind a determined equivalent. The\nbase _Ceiles_ were of two kinds\u2014one who held lands by uncertain tenure, or\nas tenants at will; and the other, who performed personal service as\nmercenary soldiers or laborers upon the mensal lands of the lord. \u201cThough\nthe free _Ceiles_ were all freemen,\u201d says Sullivan, \u201cand consequently\npossessed some political rights, it is evident that the extent of those\nrights differed. In some cases they must have been confined to bearing\narms and obtaining a share of the common land. All _Ceiles_, whether free\nor base, had certain definite rights in the territory, such as the right\nto have a habitation and the usufruct of the land; but besides these were\nseveral other classes, who possessed either very few rights, or occupied\nso low a position in the social scale as to have been practically in a\nstate of complete servitude; these were the _Bothachs_, _Sencleithes_, and\n_Fuidirs_.\u201d The _saer_ or free _Bothachs_ were simply occupiers of cabins,\nand the _daer Bothachs_ were menials; while the _Sencleithes_ included all\nsorts of poor dependents, generally the descendants of strangers,\nmercenaries, or prisoners of war. The _Fuidirs_, to whom S. Patrick in his\ncaptivity belonged, were absolutely serfs attached to the land, and in\nsome respects the property of the chief. It was only a _Flath_, however,\nwho was entitled to retain those belonging to the three servile classes;\nand where the condition grew out of mutual compact, it could be ended by\neither at any time. Prisoners of war, malefactors, and non\u2010paying debtors,\nsimilar to peons, were of course excluded from this privilege. Those\nvarious classes and sub\u2010divisions did not constitute perpetual castes; on\nthe contrary, a member of the lowest order, through lapse of time,\nundisturbed possession, and the accumulation of property, could ascend,\nnot only to the highest place in the commons, but enter the charmed circle\nof aristocracy itself.\n\nIt must not be supposed, however, that the entire ownership of the soil\nwas vested in the _Mor\u2010Flaths_, or great chiefs; in fact, they only owned\ntheir proper estate and the mensal lands attached to their office, upon\nwhich were employed their _Ceiles_ and _Fuidirs_, who tilled the farms and\npaid rent by supplying their masters\u2019 tables, and by other tributes. In\nlike manner the subordinate _Flaths_ and _Air\u00e9s_ held their own proper\nlands in fee, paying their superior a tax, or _Bes\u2010Tigi_, in\nacknowledgment of his authority, and exacting labor and service in turn\nfrom their _Bothachs_, _Sencleithes_, and base _Fuidirs_. The remainder of\nthe land belonged to the freemen of the _Tuath_ in common, subject only to\nthe dominion of the chief, though on certain conditions the usufruct could\nbe devised or alienated. \u201cIn process of time,\u201d says Sullivan, \u201cestates\nwere carved out of this public land, as appanages of offices, as rewards\nfor public services, or by lapsing into prescription. The holders of such\nestates were the _Aires_, and as such were in an especial manner the\n_C\u00e9iles_ of the _Rig_. The king, with the consent of his council, might,\nhowever, grant a portion of it as allodium at once. It is probable that\nMagh Ai\u00e9, now the plains of Boyle, in Roscommon, was public land.\u201d Around\nthe duns or fortified residences of the chiefs their retainers and menials\nbuilt their wattled huts for the sake of convenience and protection, and\nthus were formed the nuclei of so many towns and villages still marked on\nthe map of Ireland, of the names of which _Dun_ forms a part; just as in\nlater times the early Irish Christians crowded round the churches and\nmonasteries, and, thus forming new communities, took the names of their\npatrons with the prefix _Kil_, derived from _Cill_, church. Another class\nof subjects, artisans, farmers, and teachers, were to be found in the\nneighborhood of the courts of law and permanent places for elections, who,\nforming corporations or guilds, gradually laid the foundation of boroughs\nand privileged towns, under the management of _Brugfers_, or magistrates.\n\nThere were several degrees of rank among these officials. Some, whose duty\nwas confined to the regulation of copartnerships in farms and the fixing\nof metes and bounds; others who held courts in their own houses,\nentertained guests, and presided over the election of the chiefs and their\n_Tanistes_. This class belong to the _Air\u00e9_ rank, and every freeman had\nthe right to vote at the assembly of the _Tuath_, and appear as a witness,\njuror, or bail in court. The _Brughfer_ of a province held six different\ncourts, and superintended the choice of the provincial king and his\nsuccessor. On these occasions the voters were all of the _Flath_ rank, and\nwere supposed to represent their clans or _Fin\u00e9s_. This term, though\nliterally meaning a house or family, was in law used in three different\nsenses: first, as applied to all relations by consanguinity to the\nseventeenth degree, who were entitled to inherit property, as well as\nbeing liable for fines and mulcts; secondly, to the lord and his\ndependents; and, thirdly, to all the inhabitants of a _Tuath_, no matter\nof what condition. So, also, the word _Cland_, or clan, which, in its\nrestricted meaning, was applied only to the nobles and their immediate\nfamilies, was in its territorial application interpreted to signify all\nthe people of the same district, who usually assumed the surname of the\nchief, though no relationship existed between him and them. There is\ntherefore no more reason to suppose that an O\u2019Brien or a Murphy of to\u2010day\nis descended from the victor of Clontarf or the traitor of Ferns, than\nthat his ancestors were _Fuidirs_ under either of those kings. In fact,\nfamily names were only generally introduced into Ireland in the XIth\ncentury.\n\nWith few exceptions, the punishment of crime under the ancient laws of the\ncountry was by fine, so that jails and penitentiaries were unknown. This\nfine, or _eric_, was paid by the criminal, or by his _Fin\u00e9_ or clan, to\nthe party aggrieved or his representative, and upon failure thereof the\nculprit was reduced to the condition of a _Fuidir_. The servile classes,\nwho had no goods, could not, of course, be fined or further degraded; but\ntheir lords were compelled to respond in damages, and in case of injury\ndone to his defenceless tenants the landlord was entitled to compensation.\nIn the _Senchus Mor_, \u201cevery nice offence bears its comment,\u201d according to\nthe enormity of the crime and the rank of plaintiff and defendant; so, in\none sense at least, every man in Erinn may be said to have had his price.\nThe courts in which those _erics_ were levied seemed to have been\norganized on a very just plan, and their procedure exhibits marked germs\nof our present jury system\u2014or trial by a certain number of neighbors and\nequals.\n\nMinor causes were tried in the courts of the _Tuaths_ or _Aires_, but\ngreater ones were determined at the provincial assemblies, which appear to\nhave exercised both legislative and judicial functions. The absence of\ncities or stationary places of barter was supplied by the institution of\nvast provincial fairs, held at stated times and in central localities. The\nmost famous of these were that of _Tailt\u00e9_ in Meath, _Ailech_ in Derry,\nand _Carman_ at Wexford. The latter, which took place in August of every\nthird year, was the most extensive, as well as the most ancient; its\norigin lying far back in the mythical ages, and its discontinuance dating\nso late as the XIth century. For some strange reason these great national\nfairs were invariably held in pagan cemeteries, and in ante\u2010Christian\ntimes were always commenced with games and funeral ceremonies, closing\nwith horse\u2010racing, martial and athletic sports. According to the ancient\nchronicle, there were three markets at each fair, viz.:\n\n\u201cA market for food and clothes; a market for live\u2010stock, cows and horses,\netc.; a market of foreigners and exiles, selling gold and silver, etc. The\nprofessors of every art, both the noble arts and the base arts, and non\u2010\nprofessionals, were there, selling and exhibiting their compositions and\ntheir professional works to kings, and rewards were given for every work\nof art that was just or lawful to be sold or exhibited or listened to.\u201d\n\nThe most important business of the assembly, however, consisted of the\nmaking of new laws and the revision of old ones for the province for the\nthree succeeding years; and, as the _Rig_ and his officers were always in\nattendance, the hearing and decision of serious causes on appeal from the\ninferior courts. In the presence of the sovereign and his court the\ngreatest order and decorum were enjoined, and whoever was found to disturb\nthe public peace by violence or fraud was summarily condemned to death;\nthe offence being in some sort adjudged treason, and not condonable by\n_eric_ fine. The time not devoted to law\u2010making, trials, and traffic was\noccupied in amusement and various sorts of pastimes; and if the ancient\npeople of Erinn had as much relish for fun and frolic as their\ndescendants, we can well imagine what mirth, sociability and interchange\nof opinions must have prevailed among such a light\u2010hearted multitude,\nwhose only opportunity for enjoyment and mutual recognition occurred every\nthird year. An old poem, \u201cwhich,\u201d says O\u2019Curry, \u201cI believe to have been\ncontemporary with the last celebration of the feast, if not of even a more\nancient date,\u201d thus enumerates the different classes of persons who\nattended on such occasions, and the intellectual wares they brought with\nthem for the delectation of the gathering:\n\n\n \u201cTrumpets, _Cruits_,(114) wide\u2010mouthed horns,\n _Cusigs Timpanists_, without weariness,\n Poets and petty rhymesters;\n\n \u201cFenian tales of Find(115)\u2014an untiring entertainment\u2014\n Destructions, cattle\u2010preys, courtships,\n Inscribed tablets and books of trees,(116)\n Satires and sharp\u2010edged runes;\n\n \u201cProverbs, maxims, royal precepts,\n And the youthful instruction of Fithal;\n Occult poetry, topographical etymologies,\n The precepts of Cairpri and of Cormac;\n\n \u201cThe Feasts, and the great Feast of Teamar;\n Fairs, with the fair of Emania,\n Annals there are verified,\n Every division into which Erin was divided.\u201d\n\n\nThe Feast of _Teamair_, or Tara, here alluded to as having constituted one\nof the subjects of the recitations at _Carman_, was also triennial, but of\na different nature, and involving much higher occupations than those of\nthe provincial fairs or feasts. It was an assembly of the subordinate\nkings and the nobles for elective, legislative, and judicial purposes;\nbut, though nominally held every three years, was in reality celebrated as\noften as a new king was to be crowned, a general public law to be\npromulgated, or when some extraordinary occasion demanded the presence of\nthe chiefs and _Rigs_ before the supreme monarch. Again, many years are\nknown to have elapsed without an assembly or _Feis_, owing to the\nexistence of internal dissensions or foreign invasions. This assembly is\nsaid to have owed its origin to _Tuathal_ the Legitimate, and it is\ncertain that it only ceased to be held when Tara was abandoned as a royal\nresidence in the VIIth century. The court of the _Ard\u2010Rig_ on such\noccasions was not only attended by the provincial magnates and, in pagan\ntimes, by the chief Druids, but by their followers, poets, doctors, and\nhistorians, with their respective household guards. It was a knowledge of\nthis custom, doubtless, that led S. Patrick to select the hill of Tara as\nthe place, and the assembly of the _Feis_ as the fitting occasion, upon\nwhich to disclose to the darkened minds of the whole people the splendid\ntruths of Christianity.\n\nThe palace and adjoining houses of ancient Tara, judging by the extensive\ntraces of their foundations yet remaining, must have been built on a very\nlarge scale; but as they were constructed entirely of wood, the buildings\nproper have long since disappeared. Still, we have accounts, more or less\nauthentic, that collectively they were able to afford shelter and\naccommodation to many thousands of visitors, and that the barracks alone\nallowed quarters for twenty\u2010four thousand soldiers. Of the style of\narchitecture of the king\u2019s house we have no description, save that it was\nrectangular, and that its principal room or hall, which was used for\ndeliberations as well as for feasts, was profusely ornamented with\ncarvings in gold, silver, and bronze. Before the introduction of\nChristianity all buildings were of wood, some square or rectangular,\nothers oval or round. Those of the higher classes were made of solid logs,\nbut the smaller farmers and laborers dwelt in huts made of interlaced\nwattles or twigs, the interstices closed by mortar made with wet earth and\nstraw. Stone structures were unknown before S. Patrick\u2019s time; for, though\nlime was used as a wash for the interior and exterior of houses, its\nemployment as a cement dates from the Christian ages. Hence there are no\npagan ruins to be found in the country. The Round Towers, now proven\nbeyond doubt to have been church belfries, are the most ancient stone\nmemorials existing. It may be also remembered that the Druids had no such\nplaces of worship as temples or covered sanctuaries, and whatever rites\nthey performed must have been celebrated in the open air. Indeed, our\nknowledge of those mysterious people and of their equally occult religious\nsystem is merely of a negative character; for, as O\u2019Curry says:\n\n\n \u201cWe only know that they worshipped idols from such examples as\n that of the idol gods taken into the Druid\u2019s bed, so as to\n influence his visions, as described in Cormac\u2019s _Glossary_, and\n that of the invocation of the idols in the case of the _Teinm\n Laeghdha_; and we know that in certain ceremonies they made use of\n the yew\u2010tree, the quicken or roan\u2010tree, and of the black\u2010thorn, as\n in the instance of the ordeal or test of a woman\u2019s character by\n means of fire made of these sacred woods. That the people of\n ancient Erinn were idolaters is certain, for they certainly adored\n the great idol called _Crom Cruagh_, in the plain called _Magh\n Slecht_, as I showed on a former occasion. But it is remarkable\n that we find no mention of any connection between this idol and\n the Druids, or any other class of priests or special idol\u2010servers.\n We have only the record of the people, generally, assembling at\n times to do honor to the idol creation. As little, unfortunately,\n do we know of the organization of the order of the Druids, if they\n were indeed an order. They certainly were not connected as such\n with the orders of learned men or profession of teachers, such as\n before explained. The Druids were often, however, engaged in\n teaching, as has been seen; and it would appear that kings and\n chiefs, as well as learned men, were also frequently Druids,\n though how or why I am not in a position to explain with certainty\n at present.... I have refrained from suggesting any theory of my\n own on the subject. This negative conclusion, nevertheless, I will\n venture to draw from the whole: that, notwithstanding the\n singularly positive assertions of many of our own as well as of\n English writers upon the subject, there is no ground whatever for\n believing the Druids to have been the priests of any special\n positive worship; none whatever for imputing to them human\n sacrifices; none whatever for believing that the early people of\n Erinn adored the sun, moon, or stars, nor that they worshipped\n fire; and still less foundation for the ridiculous inventions of\n modern times (inventions of pure ignorance), concerning honors\n paid to brown bulls, red cows, or any other cows, or any of the\n lower animals.\u201d\n\n\nNext in rank and social importance, if not the equals or superiors of the\nDruids, were the _Ollamhs_, or doctors, the _Files_, or poets, and the\n_Brehons_ or judges. In the earliest ages these three classes were all\nincluded under the term _Fileadh_, poets, who not only professed\nphilosophy, such as it then was, but recorded history and chronology in\nverse, and expounded the laws so preserved, in the various local courts\nand tribunals. A tendency, however, to mystify and confuse the statutes of\nTuathal and his successors, led to the expulsion of the children of song\nfrom the forum, while the offices about the sovereign, when grave matters\nwere to be considered, fell to the lot of the philosophers. This latter\nclass had also an especial charge of educational matters, and usually\nsuperintended personally the training of the children of the _Rigs_ and\nchiefs. The _Ard\u2010Rig_, the provincial kings, and the _Flaths_ had their\nown philosophers, poets, and judges, with their special duties assigned\nthem. Of the first, besides making and preserving regular records, \u201cthey\nwere bound by the same laws,\u201d says O\u2019Curry, \u201cto make themselves perfect\nmasters of that history in all its details, and to teach it to the people\nby public recitals, as well as to be legal referees upon all subjects in\ndispute concerning history and the genealogies.\u201d No person could be a\n_Brehon_ without first becoming an _Ollamh_, and twelve years\u2019 study was\nrequired for that honor. But the poets, like their tribe in every land and\nage, were the nobly honored and the most privileged of any order in the\ngovernment. They flattered kings and satirized them with impunity, charmed\nthe masses with the melody of their songs and the fertility of their\nimagination; but, while they were generally on the side of popular liberty\nin their verses, they were always to be found at the tables of the nobles,\nwhere good cheer and rich largesses awaited them. However, as their poems\nwere the only vehicles through which the history, traditions, and even\nlaws of the nation could possibly have been transmitted to us, we owe them\ntoo much to blame their amiable weaknesses. Like the teacher, when the\n_File_ travelled about the country he was accompanied by his pupils, and\nevery hospitality was shown to him and them, partly from love of his\ncalling, and not seldom through dread of his satires. Many instances are\nrecorded in popular tales of the dire effects of the poet\u2019s wrath, of\nwhich sickness, loss of property and reputation, were among the least.\n\nIn connection with the courts we find two classes of paid advocates, one\nthe _Ebe_, attorney, and the other the _Aighne_, or counsellor. When it is\nremembered that slander and libel were offences severely punished in the\nBrehon courts by _eric_ fine, we can admire the grim humor which\ndiscriminated against the attorneys, who, as the wise law\u2010givers of old\nargued, being professional libellers of other men, had no right to exact a\nfine when their own characters were assailed.\n\nThe custom of fosterage, about which so much unfavorable comment has been\nmade by modern ill\u2010informed writers, is fully and clearly explained by\nO\u2019Curry, who classes it as a part of the educational system of the\ncountry, and not, as some erroneously suppose, the partial desertion of\nchildren by their parents. In Lecture XVII. he asserts:\n\n\n \u201cWe have ample proof that this fosterage was not a mere\n indiscriminate custom among all classes of the people, nor in any\n case one merely confined to the bare physical nurture and rearing\n of the child, which in early infancy was committed to the care of\n a nurse and her husband; but that the fosterhood was generally\n that of a whole family or tribe, and that in very many cases it\n became a bond of friendship and alliance between two or more\n tribes, and even provinces. In those cases the fosterers were not\n of the common class, poor people glad to perform their nursing for\n mere pay, and whose care extended to physical rearing only. On the\n contrary, it is even a question, and one not easily settled,\n whether the term nursing, in the modern acceptation of the word,\n should be applied at all to the old Gaelic fosterage, and whether\n the term pupilage would not be more appropriate.... The old Gaelic\n fosterage extended to the training and education, not only of\n children up to the age of fourteen, but sometimes of youths up to\n that of seventeen years.\u201d\n\n\nOne of the chief duties of the foster\u2010father was the military training of\nthe young chieftains. This consisted principally of the management of the\nhorse, either in pairs for the chariot or singly for riding, the use of\nthe casting spear and sling, and the sword exercise. Of strategy the\nancient Irish soldiers had no idea, and very little of tactics; so that\ntheir battles were hand\u2010to\u2010hand combats, and therefore bloody and\ngenerally decisive. Their weapons of bronze or iron, many fine specimens\nof which we examined years ago in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy,\nstill exhibit evidences of high finish and excellent temper. We do not\nfind any mention of cavalry in the accounts handed down to us of the\nvarious battles fought in the earlier centuries, and very slight allusions\nto defensive armor. Ornaments of gold and other precious metals, such as\ncrowns, collars, torque rings, and shield\u2010bosses, were worn in great\nprofusion and variety, not only by nobles and generals, but by ordinary\nofficers; in fact, so gorgeous are the poets\u2019 descriptions of the\ndecorations of their favorite heroes that we might be inclined to accuse\nthem of gross exaggeration had we not also been shown some magnificent\nantiques of this description, in a perfect state of preservation, by the\ngentlemen of the academy during several visits made to that depository of\nIrish antiquities. Some of these valuable decorations are made of native\nore, but by far the greater number were manufactured out of the spoils of\nwar\u2014the plunder wrested from the adjacent islands and the coast of France\nby the numerous expeditions that were fitted out in Ireland in the three\nor four centuries preceding S. Patrick\u2019s mission.\n\nThe dress of the higher classes was, it seems, equally magnificent, and\neach rank was distinguished, not only by the peculiar shape of its\ngarments, but by the number of colors allowed to be worn. Thus, servants\nhad one color; farmers, two; officers, three; women, four; chiefs, five;\n_ollamhs_ and _files_, six; kings and queens, seven; and, according to the\nancient records, bishops of the Christian Church were afterwards allowed\nto use all these combined. Red, brown, and crimson, with their shades and\ncompounds, were the colors generally used; green, yellow, blue, and black\nsometimes, but not frequently. Prof. Sullivan, in that part of his\nintroduction treating of the various dye\u2010stuffs used in ancient Ireland,\ntakes occasion to dissipate some popular errors with regard to national\ncolors. He says:\n\n\n \u201cGarments dyed yellow with saffron are constantly spoken of by\n modern writers as characteristic of the Irish. There is no\n evidence, however, that saffron was at all known by the ancient\n Irish, and _Lenas_ or _Inars_ of a yellow color are only mentioned\n two or three times in the principal tales. From what has been\n shown in the _Lectures_ and in this _Introduction_ about the color\n of the ancient Irish dress, it will be evident that there was no\n national as distinguished from clan color for the _Lena_; a\n saffron\u2010dyed one, if at all used in ancient times, would be\n peculiar to a single clan.\u201d\n\n\nThe _Lena_ here spoken of was an inner garment which hung down to the\nknees like a modern kilt, usually made of linen, and sometimes interwoven\nwith threads of gold. In addition to this were worn a shirt, or _Leine_; a\ncloak (_Brat_); an _Inar_, or jacket; _Triubhas_, or trowsers; a _Bor_, or\nconical hat; and _Cuarans_, or shoes made of raw\u2010hide. The costume of the\nwomen differed little from that of the men, except that they discarded the\n_triubhas_, and wore their _lenas_ and _leines_ longer. \u201cThey were,\nhowever,\u201d says Sullivan, \u201cdistinguished from the men by wearing a veil,\nwhich covered the head. This veil was the _Caille_, which formed an\nessential part of the legal contents of a lady\u2019s work\u2010bag. In a passage\nfrom the laws, quoted in the _Lectures_, it is called \u2018a veil of one\ncolor\u2019; as if variegated ones were sometimes used.... The white linen\ncloth still worn by nuns represents exactly both the Irish _Caille_ and\nthe German _Hulla_.\u201d In many other respects, besides the matter of dress,\nwomen were placed on a footing nearly equal to that of men in those remote\ntimes; and if their liberal and respectful treatment may be considered one\nof the tests of civilization, the old Gaels were in refinement far in\nadvance of any other race in pagan Europe, and indeed of many of our own\ntimes. We find women not only taking part in public affairs as rulers and\ngenerals, but as Druidesses, judges, poets, and teachers. At Tara and the\ngreat provincial fairs a separate portion of the grounds was assigned\nthem, so that they could observe the games and enjoy the amusements\nwithout interruption; while in the homes of the _Rigs_ and chiefs the best\nrooms, and sometimes an entire building, called _Grianan_, or sunny house,\nwas exclusively reserved for their use. Most of the principal places in\nthe country, such as the locations of the great fairs and the sites of\nroyal palaces, were named in their honor, as well as the mountains and\nrivers and other objects in nature suggestive of symmetry, beauty, and\nelegance. We also read in the _Senchus Mor_ several very minute and\nstringent laws protecting their rights of person and property, assigning\ntheir dowry before marriage and their separate ownership of property\nafterwards. They were, in fact, to a great extent pecuniarily independent\nof their husbands; and though polygamy was tolerated and divorce allowed\nin pagan times, they were so hedged in by restrictions and conditions that\nit is more than probable little advantage was taken of the latitude thus\nafforded both parties.\n\nBeing almost exclusively an agricultural people, with very little commerce\nwith the outward world, the food of the ancient Irish was confined to the\nnatural productions of the soil, flesh\u2010meat, milk, and fish. Wheat, spelt\u2010\nwheat, barley, and oats were produced in abundance, while cattle were so\nplentiful and so general an article of traffic that in the absence of coin\nthey formed the currency of the country, and in them fines were paid and\ntaxes levied. Butter, milk, and cheese were luxuries, but vegetables, such\nas leeks, onions, and water\u2010cresses, were to be found growing in the\ngarden of the lowest _Fuidir_. Beer, likewise, appears to have been the\npopular drink. Imported wine and native mead, distilled from honey, were\nconsidered the aristocratic beverages of the period. That large quantities\nof the latter were consumed at the triennial feasts there can be no doubt,\njudging from the tales of the poets; and it was on occasions when it was\ncircling round the board that the _Cruits_ (harps), _Timpans_, or violins,\nand _Cruiscach_, or pipes, the three principal musical instruments of the\nGaels, came into play. The poets, too, were there to sing their songs of\nlove and war, and the historians to recite the traditions of the tribes of\nErinn. It is not positively known whether the pagan Irish had a written\nlanguage or alphabet. O\u2019Curry is disposed to believe they had, while\nSullivan is of opinion that letters and writing were introduced with\nChristianity, and that previous to S. Patrick\u2019s time all teaching in the\nancient schools was oral, and the genealogies and histories were committed\nto memory and transmitted from father to son. They both, however, agree\nthat there was a system of writing known only to the initiated, now called\n_Ogham_, which was inscribed on prepared wood, and engraved on monuments\nand tombstones, many of which latter, though still well preserved, are\nillegible to the best antiquarian scholars. The ancient Gaels, like their\ndescendants, had a special reverence for their dead, and indulged in\nprotracted wakes, as well as extensive funerals. In pagan days their\nfuneral ceremonies were most elaborate, but in Christian times these gave\nway to the solemn offices of the church. Each person was buried according\nto his rank while living; the corpse was deposited deep in the ground, and\na cairn or mound of earth and stone was erected over the grave to mark the\nspot. We have no reason to suppose that they had even the faintest notion\nof a future life or of the immortality of the soul, their mythology\nlimiting the supernatural to celebrated _Tuatha da Danians_, real\npersonages, who had left the surface to inhabit the bowels of the earth,\nand to fairies, the \u201cgood people\u201d of the modern peasantry.\n\nThose, then, were the people, computed to have been about three millions\nin number in his time, to whom S. Patrick preached the New Law, and whose\ncomplete conversion and subsequent undying attachment to Catholicity have\npuzzled as well as confounded the enemies of the church. Though pagans,\nthey were neither barbarous nor over\u2010superstitious, and their ready\nappreciation and acceptance of God\u2019s mysterious and elaborate Word is the\nbest proof that their hearts were pure and their minds active and\ncomprehensive.\n\n\n\n\nRobespierre.\n\n\nThe father of the great revolutionary demagogue was an advocate at Arras,\na peaceful citizen, who had nothing about him in character or manners to\nsuggest that he was to be the parent of the monster known to history as\nthe tiger\u2010man. Nay, so little of ferocity was there about the worthy\nadvocate that, when his wife died, he nearly went melancholy\u2010mad for\ngrief, and in his despair left his native town, and took to wandering\nabout France, then beyond it to Germany and England, where he finally\ndied. There are, it is true, some ill\u2010natured local chronicles extant\nwhich pretend that it was not so much grief as debt that drove the\ndisconsolate widower into exile; and this harsh and unpoetic version is\nsupported by the fact of his having, by his flight, abandoned to\nloneliness and utter destitution the three little children, two boys and a\ngirl, whom the wife he so bitterly lamented had left to his paternal care.\nMaximilien Marie Isidore, the eldest of the three, was born on the 6th of\nApril, 1760. The solitary position and the poverty of the deserted\nchildren attracted the compassion of some kind persons of the town, and\nnotably that of the _cur\u00e9_ of the parish, who sent Maximilien to school,\nwhere soon, by dint of hard work and intelligence, the boy shot ahead of\nall his class fellows, and justified the predictions of friends that he\nwould make a name for himself in whatever trade or calling he embraced.\nThe Bishop of Arras, Mgr. de Conzi\u00e9, was also interested in the little\nfellow; his industry and desolate poverty making a claim on the prelate\u2019s\npaternal notice. He used his influence with the abbot of the famous Abbey\nof Waast to grant Maximilien one of the abbatial _bourses_ at the College\nof Louis le Grand, in Paris. The very first steps in life of the future\npersecutor of priests and religion were thus guided by the hand of the\nchurch, his poverty enriched, his orphanhood fathered, by her charity. The\nAbb\u00e9 Proyart, then president of Louis le Grand, continued to the poor\nprovincial student the fostering kindness of those worthy ecclesiastics\nwho had placed him under his charge. Maximilien was also at this time\nlargely assisted and most kindly befriended by the Abb\u00e9 de la Roche, a\ncanon of Notre Dame, who, all through the period of the young man\u2019s\nstudies in Paris, kept watch over him, and showed him the most sincere and\ndelicate affection. When at the age of nineteen, Maximilien left the\ncollege, the Abb\u00e9 de la Roche used his influence to secure the vacant\n_bourse_ for the younger brother, Augustin Robespierre, and succeeded.\nMaximilien was called to the bar very soon after leaving Paris, and began\nat once to excite attention by his talent as a speaker. The first mention\nwe find of his forensic success is in 1783, when he was engaged in a case\nagainst the corporation of St. Omer, a small town near Arras, in behalf of\na gentleman who had erected a lightning\u2010conductor on his house, and been\nprosecuted on account of it, and condemned by the corporation. He appealed\nto the higher court of Arras. Robespierre pleaded his cause, and won a\ntriumphant reversal of the first verdict. We find a note of this incident\nin the _Memoires de Bachaumont_: \u201cThe cause about the _paratonnerre_ has\nbeen before our court three days, and has been pleaded by M. de\nRobespierre, a young lawyer of extraordinary merit; he has displayed in\nthis affair\u2014which was, in fact, the cause of art and science against\nprejudice\u2014a degree of eloquence and sagacity that gives the highest idea\nof his talents. He had a complete triumph; on the 31st day of May the\ncourt reversed the sentence, and permitted M. de Boisvale to re\u2010erect his\n_paratonnerre_.\u201d Robespierre was just three\u2010and\u2010twenty at this date. He is\nstyled _de_ Robespierre by the writer, and had assumed the _particule\nnoble_ at a much earlier date; he is entered at college with it, and at\nthe bar, and was elected to the States\u2010General as _de_ Robespierre. The\npretentious prefix cost him dear, as we shall see; it afforded a poisoned\nshaft to Camille Desmoulins long after the Regenerator of the people had\nerased the feudal particle from his signature. But these were sunny days,\nwhen he might use it with impunity, and even to some advantage. The young\nadvocate was courted and admired, and made welcome in clubs and drawing\u2010\nrooms; he wrote essays and won prizes from learned societies, thus\nestablishing a literary as well as legal reputation. He even aspired to be\na poet, and addressed sonnets to ladies of fashion at Arras, which gained\nhim the smiles of the Ariadnes and Arachnes that he sang to, and caused\nhim to be rallied as a squire of dames. This time of merry dalliance,\nhowever, soon came to an end, and graver ambitions began to open out\nbefore Robespierre. He was elected member of the States\u2010General. M.\nDumont, the distinguished journalist, gives a lively description of the\nfigure made by the \u201cavocat, de Robespierre,\u201d in one of the earliest\nsittings of that Assembly: \u201cThe clergy, for the purpose of surprising the\nTiers Etat into a union of the orders, sent a deputation to invite the\nTiers to a conference on the distresses of the poor. The Tiers saw through\nthe design, and, not willing to acknowledge the clergy as a separate body,\nyet afraid to reject so charitable and popular a proposition, knew not\nwhat answer to make, when one of the deputies, after concurring in the\ndescription of the miseries of the people, rose and addressed the\necclesiastical deputation: \u2018Go tell your colleagues that, if they are so\nanxious to relieve the people, they should hasten to unite themselves in\nthis hall with the friends of the people. Tell them no longer to retard\nour proceedings and the public good by contumacious delays, or to try to\ncarry their point by such stratagems as this. Rather let them, as\nministers of religion, as worthy servants of their Master, renounce the\nsplendor which surrounds them, the luxury which insults the poor. Dismiss\nthose insolent lackeys who attend you; sell your gaudy equipages, and\nconvert those odious superfluities into food for the poor.\u2019 At this\nspeech, which interpreted so well the passions of the moment, there arose,\nnot applause\u2014that would have appeared like a bravado\u2014but a confused murmur\nof approbation much more flattering. Every one asked who was the speaker.\nHe was not known, but in a few minutes his name passed from mouth to\nmouth; it was one which afterwards made all France tremble\u2014it was\n_Robespierre_!\u201d\n\nOne is at a loss which to admire most in this brilliant _sortie_, the\nskill and power of the speaker in playing on the passions of his hearers,\nor the dastardly ingratitude which led him to use the eloquence he owed in\nso large a measure to the clergy for the purpose of stigmatizing his best\nbenefactors. The first time Robespierre\u2019s voice was raised in the tribune\nit was to vituperate the men to whom he owed his education, almost, it may\nbe said, his existence. The reward of this treachery was not delayed; he\nelectrified his audience, and henceforth became known to fame, though not\nyet to infamy. It is only just to Robespierre to admit that when he\nentered on his public life, his character was unstained by any of the\nvices which it developed later; he was in private life held to be\nvirtuous, and suspected of no vice beyond the honorable one of ambition.\nProbably he would have lived and died amongst his fellow\u2010citizens without\nearning a worse reputation than the rest of them, if this latent ambition\nhad not led him to seek to rise above them, and if his ability had not\nseconded the aspiration. Even in his demagogic career he kept his\nreputation for integrity, and gained the surname of the Incorruptible.\nIncorruptible by money he certainly was, while the instinct of either\ncowardice or sagacity induced him to disavow all personal ambition. Power\nwas what he thirsted for; wealth and pageant he despised. These\nprinciples, aided by his fiery talent as any orator and his shrewd\nknowledge of the times, soon lifted him above all competitors, and made\nhim a kind of uncrowned monarch long before he became so in reality as\ndictator of the republic. It is interesting to note the various decrees he\npassed while reigning in the National Assembly. One of the first was the\nturning of the Church of S. Genevi\u00e8ve into a Pantheon for the ashes of\ngreat men, and the inauguration of the paganized Christian temple by the\nentombing of Mirabeau\u2019s remains there. Then we see him ardent in\nendeavoring to carry the abolition of capital punishment\u2014an instance of\nthat strange paradox so common to Frenchmen, who shrink with morbid\nsentimentality from inflicting death on the vilest malefactor by the hand\nof justice, while so ready to shed the blood of innocent men without\nremorse, nay, with exultation, the moment their passions are roused.\n\nThe flight of the royal family to Varennes wrought a sudden and decisive\nchange in the state of public affairs. Robespierre was just then at the\nsummit of his reputation as an orator, admired as the most prominent\nfigure in Mme. Roland\u2019s coterie, which numbered all the cleverest men of\nthe new school, though the gifted and ill\u2010starred centre of the group\nseems, even in the days of their closest friendship, to have resented\nRobespierre\u2019s stubborn independence, which contrasted disagreeably with\nthe unqualified adulation of his fellow\u2010devotees.\n\nThe abortive attempt of the unfortunate Louis to fly from a position which\nhad become unbearable had set the match to the train which Robespierre and\nhis Jacobin faction had so long been preparing. The question, hitherto\nwhispered in ambiguous words, was now spoken boldly aloud: What was to be\ndone with the king? Lafayette was for keeping him a prisoner in the\nTuileries, he, meanwhile, acting as a sort of military viceroy; the\nOrleanist faction had another solution to offer; the Jacobins and the\nGirondists another. There was a stormy sitting at the Assembly. Brissot\nproposed that the people should like one man rally round the republican\nflag, and sign a petition for the abolition of the king. There arose in\nanswer to this daring proposition a tempest of applause, terror, anger,\nand loyal indignation. The Assembly rejected it, and voted for maintaining\nthe king. Robespierre rushed out of the hall, tearing his hair and crying\nout, \u201cMy friends, we are lost! The king is saved!\u201d This was on the 15th of\nJuly. A meeting had been already called of the Jacobin Club for the 17th\non the Champs de Mars for the purpose of expressing the national will. The\nclub, on hearing the vote of the Assembly, kept up a farce of respect by\nissuing a counter\u2010order. But the sovereign people were hampered by no such\nmock scruples; they, in the person of Brissot, drew up a fresh petition,\nand invited all classes of their fellow\u2010citizens to attend at the\nappointed day on the Champs de Mars, where the altar of fatherland would\nbe erected, and where all patriots could sign the petition towards the\nfreedom of the country. A tragi\u2010comic incident marked the proceedings at\nan early hour. Two men were found hid under the \u201caltar,\u201d and detected in\nthe act of boring a hole in it with a gimlet; they were forthwith dragged\nout and massacred on the spot, though the only evidence of guilt brought\nagainst them at the time, or afterwards, was that one of them had a wooden\nleg, and the other a basket of provisions. The mob were like dry powder\nthat only wanted a spark to make it ignite, destroying and self\u2010\ndestructive. The wildest inferences were drawn from the discovery of the\ntwo unlucky eaves\u2010droppers: they were laying a mine to blow up the\npatriots assembled round the altar of fatherland; the absence of all\nappliances for this terrible purpose proved nothing; some cried out that\nthey were spies in the king\u2019s pay; others that they were secreted there as\ndupes to be murdered by Lafayette\u2019s creatures as a pretext for beginning\nthe massacres that followed. We even find Mme. Roland repeating some\nabsurd notions of this kind; but nothing is too monstrous or too\npreposterous for prejudice to swallow. However, let the motives of the two\nmen have been what they may, their murder was undoubtedly the signal for\nthat onslaught of the troops which completely destroyed Lafayette\u2019s\ntottering popularity, and compelled him to leave Paris for a command on\nthe frontier. The real odium of the unpremeditated blood\u2010shedding fell,\nlike every mistake of the time, on the king. On the 5th of February, 1792,\nRobespierre was named Public Accuser, and from this event dates the\nexplosion of personal rivalry between him and Brissot. He never could\nforgive the latter having been chosen to draw up that famous petition of\nthe Champs de Mars, and for keeping the ascendency which this fact gave\nhim in the Assembly and in the Jacobin Club. But Robespierre did not long\nretain the subordinate position of Public Accuser; he hated the bondage of\nhaving to attend at fixed hours, and some months after his nomination he\nresigned and started a newspaper called the _D\u00e9fenseur_. Blood and terror\nwere henceforth the watchwords of the journalist\u2010patriot. He effected a\nsham reconciliation with Brissot and all other enemies, and the Judas kiss\nof hate and treachery went round.\n\nRoland was named minister at this crisis; a clever and honest man,\nmoderate, and, above all, the husband of Mme. Roland, his nomination was\nhailed with joy by all. Robespierre alone was furious at seeing the\nmediocre provincial farmer placed over his head. His jealous vengeance\nagainst Mme. Roland dated from this elevation of her husband. The success\nof his journal consoled him, meanwhile, for the delay of larger triumphs,\nwhile it procured him competence and independence, which were all he\nrequired. He lodged with a man named Duplay, a carpenter, who had a wife\nand two daughters. One of the latter became branded in connection with the\nname of her father\u2019s tenant. Robespierre vindicated his surname of\nIncorruptible all through the period of his popular power, inasmuch as he\nwas inaccessible to the temptation of money or any of the softer bribes\nwhich sometimes beguile hard, ambitious men into acts of mercy or passing\ntenderness.\n\nIn August, 1792, he suspended his labors as a journalist, and henceforth\ndevoted his undivided energies and his whole time to the political events\nwhich were thickening around him. The last number of the _D\u00e9fenseur_\ncontains an inflammatory appeal which is too significant of the man and\nthe times to be omitted. It was decided that a convention should be\nelected to choose a new form of national government. The issue depended\nalmost entirely on the character and principles of the members who should\ncompose it. Robespierre determined at any and every cost to be one of the\nelected. It was his supreme opportunity; if he missed it, his career as a\npopular leader was broken, and he must sink back into the ranks of obscure\nmediocrities who had shot up from the mass of agitators like rockets,\nburning bright and fierce for a moment, and then subsiding in darkness. He\nhad that instinct of genius which enables a man to read the temper of his\ntime, and to this sanguinary temper he passionately addressed himself in\nthe closing number of his paper:\n\n\u201cYou must _prepare_ the success of this convention by the regeneration of\nthe spirit of the people. Let us awake\u2014all, all arise, all arm, and the\nenemies of liberty will hide themselves in darkness. Let the tocsin of\nParis be re\u2010echoed in all the departments. Let the people learn at once to\nreason and to fight. You are now at war with all your oppressors, and you\nwill have no peace till you have punished them. Far be from you that\npusillanimous weakness or that cowardly indulgence which the tyrants so\nlong satiated with the blood of the people now invoke when their own hour\nis come! Impunity has produced all their crimes and all your sufferings.\nLet them fall under the sword of the law. Clemency towards them would be\nreal barbarity\u2014an outrage on injured humanity.\u201d This manifesto revealed\nthe true aim and policy of Robespierre, and just gave the touch that was\nnecessary to set the wheel revolving. Danton cried amen to it, and all the\nfaction shouted amen in chorus. \u201cWe must dare, and dare again, and dare to\nthe bitter end!\u201d said Danton, and the word acted like a trumpet\u2010call to\nthe bloodhounds of the revolution. The prisons of Paris were at this\nmoment gorged with aristocrats awaiting their trial. The people shouted,\nTry them! The tocsin sounded, the prison\u2010doors were surrounded. Mock\ncourts of justice were set up in the courtyards. Quickly, one by one, the\nprisoners are called out, questions are rapidly put and answered; the jury\ndecides: \u201cLet the prisoner be enlarged!\u201d The _gendarmes_ seize him; they\nopen the gate and \u201cenlarge\u201d him. He falls forward on a mass of glittering\npikes and bayonets, and dies, cut to pieces. Soon the number of the\nbutchered is so great that the amateur executioners have to pause and\nclear the space by piling up the corpses to one side before they resume\ntheir work. Every prison presents the same scene. At La Force a remnant of\nthe Swiss Guard is called out. \u201cThey clasp each other spasmodically, gray\nveterans crying, \u2018Mercy, gentlemen, mercy!\u2019 But there is no mercy! They\nprepare to die like brave men. One of them steps forward. He had on a blue\nfrock\u2010coat. He was about thirty. His stature was above the common, his\nlook noble and martial. \u2018I go first,\u2019 he said, \u2018since it must be so.\nAdieu!\u2019 Then, dashing his hat behind him, \u2018Which way?\u2019 cried he to the\nbrigands. \u2018Show it me.\u2019 They open the folding gate. He is announced to the\nmultitude. He stands a moment motionless, then plunges forth among the\npikes, and dies of a thousand wounds.\u201d(117) The fair and saintly Princesse\nde Lamballe fell, butchered by the same pikes; her head paraded through\nthe streets, her remains profaned by the most unheard\u2010of indignities. As\nit always happens in these storms of human souls, there were tones of a\ndivine harmony to be heard striking through the hideous din. Old M. de\nSombreuil is dragged out to die. His daughter, a tender girl in the first\nblush of maidenhood, rushes out, fearless and bold, clinging to him, and\nappeals to the tigers about to shed his blood: \u201cO good friends! he is my\nfather! He is no aristocrat! We hate aristocrats; tell me how I can prove\nit to you?\u201d They fill a bowl full of the hot blood of an aristocrat just\nslain, and present it to her, saying: \u201cDrink this, and we will believe\nthee and spare thy father.\u201d\n\nShe drinks the loathsome draught, and clasps her father amidst the\n_Vivats_ of the mob. Alas! it was only a respite that the brave deed had\ngained for the beloved old man. He died by those same blood\u2010stained hands\nbefore the year was out. At the abbey a picture of rest and calm is to be\nseen: \u201cTowards _seven_ on Sunday night, we saw two men enter, their hands\nbloody, and armed with sabres. A turnkey with a torch lighted them; he\npoints to the bed of the unfortunate Swiss, Reding. Reding was dying. One\nof the men paused; but the other said: _Allons donc!_ (come along!) and\nlifted the dying man, and carried him on his back out to the street. He\nwas massacred there. We looked at one another in silence; we clasped each\nother\u2019s hands; we gazed on the pavement of our prison, on which lay the\nmoonlight, checkered with shadows.... At _three in the morning_ we heard\nthem breaking in one of the prison\u2010doors. We thought they were coming to\nkill us.... The Abb\u00e9 Lenfant and the Abb\u00e9 de Chapt\u2010Rastignac appeared in\nthe pulpit of the chapel, which was our prison. They had got in by a door\nfrom the stairs. They said to us that our end was at hand; that we must\ncompose ourselves and receive their last blessing. An electric movement,\nnot to be described, threw us all on our knees, and we received it. These\ntwo white\u2010haired old men blessing us from their place above, death\nhovering over our heads\u2014the moment is never to be forgotten.\u201d(118) Half an\nhour later the two priests were dragged out and massacred, those whom they\nhad strengthened with their last words to meet a like fate listening to\ntheir cries.\n\nThe massacres began on the 2d and lasted till the 6th, when Robespierre\nand Danton were elected to that legislative body called the Deputation of\nParis, composed of twenty\u2010four members, the first name on the list being\nRobespierre, the last Philippe Egalit\u00e9. It was on this occasion that the\nfuture regicide adopted the surname of Egalit\u00e9, he being compelled to\nchoose some appellation not obnoxious to the people.\n\nThe great struggle now began between the Jacobins and the Girondists, or\nvirtually between the leaders of the two factions, the old rivals,\nRobespierre and Brissot. All the ultra\u2010republicans, who were represented\nby the Deputation of Paris, grouped themselves on the top benches of the\nconvention to the left of the president, and were called the Mountain\u2014a\nname henceforth identified with its prophet, Robespierre. The question\nstill was, What was to be done with the king? The Jacobins were for\nkilling him, the Girondists for putting him aside. The wretched weakness,\nvacillation, and cowardliness of the Girondists make them objects of\ncontempt, without exciting in us the kind of horrified awe inspired by the\nmonstrous feats of those Titanic fiends, the Jacobins. By what fatality is\nit in France that the honest\u2010meaning party is always the cowardly one that\ndares not assert itself, but bows down, cowed by the cynical audacity of\nthe anarchists? The Girondists might have turned the scales, even at this\ncrisis, if they had had the courage of their consciences; but they were\ncowards. Their policy was to run with the hare and cry with the hounds,\nand it met with the fate it deserved. But we must not anticipate. The\nMountain, on the other hand, did not lack the courage of its creed; it\nout\u2010heroded Herod in its fury against the king and all appertaining to the\nold order which he represented. Roman history was its Bible, and the\nexamples there recorded were for ever on its lips. All citizens were\nheroes, Cincinnatuses, Catos, Ciceros, etc.; all sovereigns were Neros and\nCaligulas. The Girondists turned these fine texts against their rivals by\naccusing them of plotting to set up a triumvirate, to be composed of\nRobespierre, Marat, and Danton. This was only three weeks after the orgy\nof blood which ushered in the reign of Robespierre and of Terror. Danton\nmounted the tribune, and made an eloquent defence of Robespierre, who\nnever spoke impromptu when he could avoid it. Marat then rose\u2014for the\nfirst time in the convention\u2014and was hooted down; but he persisted, and\nmade them listen while he exposed his revolting doctrines of wholesale\nmurder and anarchical rule.\n\nSo the days passed, in boisterous invective, idle perorations, and savage\nthreats of one party against another. The Girondists, however, were\nworsted in the fight, and the strength of the position remained with\nRobespierre and his more bloody and unscrupulous faction, who had from the\nstarting traced out his plan, and adhered to it without flinching. The\nking was foredoomed to the scaffold, but some semblance of legality should\naccompany the decree. So strong was the Jacobin influence at this crisis\nthat those who did not share the murderous design were terrified into\nseeming to do so, and, while looking with horror at the regicide in\npreparation, were cowed into silent acquiescence. M. Thiers, in his\n_History of the Revolution_, says: \u201cMany of the deputies who had come down\nwith the intention of voting for the king were frightened at the fury of\nthe people, and, though much touched by the fate of Louis XVI., they were\nterrified at the consequences of an acquittal. This fear was greatly\nincreased at the sight of the Assembly and of the scene it presented. That\nscene, dark and terrible, had shaken the hearts of all, and changed the\nresolution of Lecointre of Versailles, whose personal bravery cannot be\ndoubted, and who had not ceased to return to the galleries the menacing\ngestures with which they were intimidating the Assembly. Even he, when it\ncame to the point, hesitated, and dropped from his mouth the terrible and\nunexpected word, \u2018death.\u2019 Vergniaud, who had appeared most deeply touched\nby the fate of the king, and who had declared that \u2018nothing could ever\ninduce him to condemn the unhappy prince\u2019\u2014Vergniaud, at the sight of that\ntumultuous scene, pronounced the sentence of death.\u201d It must truly have\nbeen an appalling spectacle, the like of which the civilized world had\nnever before beheld. Mercier, in his _Sketches of the Revolution_, gives\nus an animated and glowing picture of the court during the trial: \u201cThe\nfamous sitting which decided the fate of Louis lasted seventy\u2010two hours.\nOne would naturally suppose that the Assembly was a scene of meditation,\nsilence, and a sort of religious terror. Not at all. The end of the hall\nwas transformed into a kind of opera\u2010box, where ladies in _n\u00e9glig\u00e9e_ were\neating ices and oranges, drinking _liqueurs_, and receiving the\ncompliments and salutations of comers and goers. The _huissiers_\n(bailiffs) on the side of the Mountain acted the part of the openers of\nthe opera\u2010boxes. They were employed every instant in turning the key in\nthe doors of the side galleries, and gallantly escorting the mistresses of\nthe Duke of Orleans, caparisoned with tri\u2010colored ribbons. Although every\nmark of applause or disapprobation was forbidden, nevertheless, on the\nside of the Mountain, the Duchess Dowager,(119) the amazon of the Jacobin\nbands, made long \u2018ha\u2010a\u2010has!\u2019 when she heard the word \u2018death\u2019 strongly\ntwang in her ears.\n\n\u201cThe lofty galleries, destined for the people during the days which\npreceded this famous trial, were never empty of strangers and people of\nevery class, who there drank wine and brandy as if it had been a tavern.\nBets were open at all the neighboring coffee\u2010houses. Listlessness,\nimpatience, fatigue, were marked on almost every countenance. Each deputy\nmounted the tribune in his turn, and every one was asking when his turn\ncame. Some deputy came, I know not who, sick, and in his morning\u2010gown and\nnight\u2010cap. This phantom caused a great deal of diversion in the Assembly.\nThe countenances of those who went to the tribune, rendered more funereal\nfrom the pale gleams of the lights, when in a slow and sepulchral voice\nthey pronounced the word \u2018death!\u2019\u2014all these physiognomies which succeeded\none another, their tones, their different keys; d\u2019Orleans hissing and\ngroaning when he voted the death of his relative; some calculating if they\nshould have time to dine before they gave their vote; women with pins\npricking cards to count the votes; deputies who had fallen asleep and were\nwaked up in order to vote; Manuel, the secretary, sliding away a few\nvotes, in order to save the unhappy king, and on the point of being put to\ndeath in the corridors for his infidelity\u2014these sights can never be\ndescribed as they passed. It is impossible to picture what they were, nor\nwill history be able to reach them.\u201d\n\nAmongst the timid Girondists who dared not vote for acquittal, and shrank\nfrom decreeing the king to death, many hit upon a half\u2010measure, which was\nthat of coupling their vote\u2014for death with conditions that practically\nnegatived it. This cowardly transaction is said to have given rise to some\ntrickery in the counting of the votes, which enabled the scrutineers to\nmake the majority of _one_ voice by which the sentence of death was\ncarried. It was this sham proceeding which prompted Si\u00e8yes to say when\nrecording his vote, \u201cDeath\u2014without palaver!\u201d\n\nRobespierre\u2019s figure stands out with vivid and terrible brilliancy against\nthe background of this picture. He dismissed the question of the king\u2019s\ninnocence or guilt\u2014that had, he knew right well, nothing whatever to do\nwith the issue\u2014and proceeded to demand his death on the grounds of urgent\npolitical expediency. \u201cThe death of the king was not a question of law,\nbut of state policy, which, without quibbling about his guilt or\ninnocence, required his death; the life of one man, if ever so innocent,\nmust be sacrificed to preserve the lives of millions.\u201d There was honesty\nat any rate in this plain speaking, and so it was better than the odious\nhypocrisy displayed by the other actors in the tragic farce. On\nRobespierre\u2019s descending from the tribune, his brother Augustin, rose and\ndemanded in the name of the people \u201cthat Louis Capet shall be brought to\nthe bar, to declare his original accomplices, to hear sentence of death\npronounced on him, and to be forthwith conducted to execution.\u201d Wild\nconfusion covered this extravagant motion, but no notice was taken of it.\nThe 21st of January was near at hand; even the Mountain could afford to\nwait so long.\n\nOn the 10th of March, the Revolutionary Tribunal was decreed. A month\nlater there broke out a violent altercation between Robespierre and some\nof the Girondists in the Convention; numbers clamored for the \u201cexpulsion\nof the twenty\u2010two\u201d obstreperous Girondists; they were arraigned before the\nbar where the king whom they so basely betrayed had lately stood; the\ntrial lasted four days; even that tribunal, used to dispense with all\nproof of guilt in its victims, could not decide on condemning twenty\u2010two\nmen at one fell swoop without some shadow of reason, and there was none to\nbe found. But Robespierre was not going to lose his opportunity for a\nquibble; impatient of the delay, he drew up a decree that \u201cwhenever any\ntrial should have lasted three days, the tribunal might declare itself\nsatisfied with the guilt of the prisoners, might stop the defence, close\nthe discussions, and send the accused to death!\u201d This abominable document\nwas read and inscribed on the register of the tribunal the same evening,\nthe Girondists were at once condemned, and sent to the scaffold next\nmorning.\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nThe Better Christmas.\n\n\n\u201c\u2019Tis not the feast that changes with the ever\u2010changing times,\nBut these that lightly vote away the glories of the past\u2014\nThe joys that dream\u2010like haunt me with the merry matin chimes\nI loved so in my boyhood, and shall doat on to the last.\n\n\u201cThere still is much of laughter, and a measure of old cheer:\nThe ivy wreaths, if scanty, are as verdant as of yore:\nAnd still the same kind greeting for the universal ear:\nBut, to me, for all their wishing, \u2019tis a \u2018merry\u2019 feast no more!\u201d\n\nI said: and came an answer from the stars to which I sighed\u2014\nThose stars that lit the vigil of the favor\u2019d shepherd band.\nAnd \u2019twas as if again the heavens open\u2019d deep and wide,\nAnd the carol of the angel\u2010choir new\u2010flooded all the land\n\n\u201cGood tidings still we bring to all who still have ears to hear;\nTo all who love His coming\u2014the elect that cannot cease;\nAnd louder rings our anthem, to these watchers, year by year,\nIts earnest of the perfect joy\u2014the everlasting peace.\n\n\u201cArt thou, then, of these watchers, if thou canst not read the sign?\nThe world was at its darkest when the blessed Day\u2010star(120) shone.\nAgain \u2019tis blacker to her beam: and thou must needs repine,\nAnd sicken, so near sunrise, for the moonlight that is gone!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEnglish And Scotch Scenes.\n\n\nThe home life of England has ever been a favorite topic with American\nwriters. The first thing that strikes an American travelling through\nEngland is the age of everything he sees, the roots by which every\nexisting institution, custom, or pleasure is intimately connected with its\nreal, tangible prototype in the past. He sees, too, how the people live a\nthoroughly characteristic life\u2014that which consists in identification with\neverything that is national. No one is so unadaptive as the pure\u2010bred\nBriton, and it has truly been said that an Englishman carries his country\nwith him wherever he goes. You never see an Englishman to advantage except\nat home; but, once enthroned amid his local surroundings, there is a\nsturdy native dignity in him which none can help admiring. He is no\npolitician in the mercenary, personal, business\u2010like sense of the word,\nbut he takes a pride in following the course of his country\u2019s progress, in\nbearing a hand in all reforms, in exercising his right of censure\u2014or, as\nsome foreigners plainly call it, \u201cgrumbling\u201d\u2014and especially in watching\nclosely over the well\u2010being of his own county and neighborhood. By this\nminute division of labor every county becomes, as it were, a self\u2010governed\nlittle nation, jealous and tenacious of its rights, keenly alive to its\ninterests, intensely vigorous, and occasionally aggressive. Political and\nsocial life are closely intermingled, and personal disinterestedness is\nalmost everywhere the rule. The varied traditions of different\nneighborhoods and the strong individuality shown by the different sections\nof the country, contribute a picturesque element to modern life, and often\nmake the most inherently prosaic actions take on a mask of romance.\n\nElections to Parliament afford a multiplicity of such scenes, and form one\nof the greatest periodical excitements that stir up country towns. The\ncandidate is generally one of the sons of some family well known in the\ncounty, or sometimes the chief proprietor of the neighborhood, if he be\nstill under fifty. The county constituencies almost always return a member\nof this class; the commercial representatives come from the great\nmanufacturing towns, where they have slowly toiled to make their fortunes,\nand risen, by earnest application to business, from the rank of a\nvestryman to that of lord mayor. The country town in which the hustings\nand polling\u2010booths are erected is as animated as it would have been at a\ngreat fair of the middle ages or an extraordinary sale of wool, which in\nGloucestershire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire was a great article of\ntrade in the XIVth century. Everything in the shape of bunting,\nevergreens, allegorical pictures, flaming posters, and unlimited ale has\nbeen done by both sides to enhance their popularity with the electors and\nnon\u2010electors. Indeed, the latter are quite as important as the former, for\nfrom their ranks are recruited the bands of music and the array of\nstalwart supporters, ready to fight, if required, and to shout at the top\nof their lungs, so as to bewilder the voters and claim or surprise their\nvotes. The canvassing that goes before an English election is neither a\npleasant nor a creditable thing to dwell on; when subjected to the\nanalysis of uncompromising morality, it resolves itself into deliberate\nand organized \u201chumbug\u201d; for it includes every species of flattery under\nthe sun, not to speak of direct bribery. Very funny incidents sometimes\noccur to break the monotony of the usual routine. For instance, in\ncanvassing a large seaport town, the Liberal candidate bethinks himself of\nhis yacht\u2014a gem in every way\u2014and organizes a large party, to which are\ninvited the voting citizens and their wives and daughters. A splendid\nluncheon is provided, and each dame and damsel goes home with the\nconviction that her smiles have won the heart of the candidate, and that\nhe has sworn them by a tacit but flattering contract to further his claims\nwith their all\u2010powerful husbands and fathers. \u201c_Honi soit qui mal y\npense._\u201d The latter are as proud of the expectant M.P.\u2019s notice of the\nfemale members of their households as the ladies themselves, and the issue\nis trembling in the balance, when an announcement goes forth that the\nConservative candidate has had his drag and four horses sent down from\nLondon, and proposes parading the young ladies and the more fearless\nmarried women on the roof of this ultra\u2010fashionable vehicle. The\ninvitations are of course more limited than those for the yacht, but\npromises of repeating them, until all the free electors\u2019 families have\nbeen included, cheer up the spirits of those not asked the first day. The\nLiberal pits his yacht against his rival\u2019s drag, and invites the maids and\nmatrons to another sail. Apparently, Neptune does not intend to vote for\nhim, for a slight breeze arises, and the waves roll more than landsmen\nfind pleasant. The cabin fills rapidly, and faces once rosy and saucy,\nturn pale and shrunken; the return against wind and tide is a wretched\njourney. The poor candidate, in despair, tries to become nurse and doctor,\nas well as consoler; but he, too, feels his cheeks blanch, not at the\nlurching of the vessel, but at the fear of the effect of this accident\nupon the votes which he was already reckoning up so confidently. As the\nforlorn party lands, the drag sweeps by, drawn by its four fiery horses,\nthe whip cracking, the smart grooms grinning at the windows (in these\ncarriages, made like a mail\u2010coach, the servants sit _inside_ and the\nmaster drives, while his guests are packed on the outside seats at the\ntop), the women huddling under cloaks and umbrellas, but all giggling with\ndelight at the adventure, neither damped nor dismayed by water that cannot\ndrown them, and wind that cannot make them sea\u2010sick. The next day those\nwho have recovered from their marine excursion are invited to try the\ndrag, and the Liberal candidate\u2019s chances fall as visibly as the barometer\ndid yesterday. When the great day comes, the drag has done its work, and\nthe Conservative is returned by a triumphant majority.\n\nTo return to our country town in its holiday attire. No great arts are\nresorted to here; the common kind of canvassing will do for these quiet,\nagricultural people, and the only day that is worth mentioning is that of\nthe election itself. The festive look of the place does not portend any\nvery desperate contest, although there is a free display of the two\nopposite colors\u2014blue (Conservative) and yellow (Liberal). The rivals come\ndown from their neighboring seats in gay carriages full of the ladies of\ntheir families, wearing their respective colors. The horses and postilions\nwear bunches of blue or yellow ribbon; even the whip has its conspicuous\nknot of color. Brass bands clash forth a whole host of discords; the hired\npartisans good\u2010humoredly shout for one or the other party; an air of great\ngood\u2010will prevails. The whole thing looks more like the welcoming home of\na bride than a serious political gathering. The candidates ascend the\nhustings, or platform for speeches, and cordially shake hands with one\nanother. They think it fun to be opposed to each other in public, whereas\nin private they are friends, companions, and neighbors; they have had the\nsame training, the same education, the same associations, the same local\ninterests, and the question that will decide their election will more\nlikely be their reputation as farmers and their popularity as landlords\nthan their political opinions as to the affairs of the nation at large.\nTalking of bribery and undue influence in elections, there is a law yet in\nforce (though, of course, its effect is merely nominal) which forbids any\npeer to be present at an election. His presence is, by a legal fiction,\nsupposed to hamper the freedom of the voters, and the law thus provides\nagainst the appearance of coercion or intimidation. The candidates for the\ncounties are almost invariably the sons, brothers, or nephews of peers;\nbut, however near the relationship, no member of the House of Lords is\nallowed to infringe on this rule. A contested election, one in which party\nspirit runs high and the passions of the people are artfully fanned and\nexcited on both sides, is a scene worth witnessing once; but the\nexcitement is of too rough a sort to make one wish for a second edition of\nit. A foreigner once said that the two best sights which England had to\noffer to a stranger were an Oxford \u201ccommemoration\u201d and a contested\nelection. The latter seldom takes place in the peaceful neighborhoods of\nthe midland counties, and the only other species of elections, as\ndistinguished from the festive one which we have just sketched, is, as a\nremnant of old\u2010time indifferentism, a curiosity in its way. There are no\nlonger what were called \u201crotten boroughs\u201d and \u201cpocket boroughs,\u201d the\nformer representing what had once been a populous town or large village,\nnow reduced to half a dozen ruinous tenements and an old, disused parish\nchurch, but still retaining the right to return one or more members to\nParliament; the second being a village still worthy of the name, but from\ntime immemorial voting strictly in accordance with the wishes of the \u201clord\nof the manor,\u201d whether peer or commoner. These were also called \u201cclose\nboroughs.\u201d The Reform Bill of 1830 did away with all such transparent\nabuses, but family influence, exerted in a milder form, still remains an\nimportant element in all agricultural counties; and it sometimes happens\nthat for a whole generation, no one will think it worth his while to\noppose a candidate whose good working qualities are recognized by friend\nand foe, and whose personal popularity, joined with his powerful\nconnections, makes his success almost absolutely certain. Such was the\ncase in the election at O\u2014\u2014, for which the same member has run unopposed\nfor at least a quarter of a century. The nomination was made by the high\nsheriff and the magistrates of the county, assembled in the town\u2010hall.\nThis is a portion of a ruined castle or abbey, the Norman windows of which\nstill assert their identity, though they have been shamefully mutilated\nand forced to conform to the ugly, shallow openings called windows in our\ndays. The inside showed no signs of beauty. It was a huge barn, with grim\u2010\nlooking benches or pews at one end, towering amphitheatre\u2010wise one above\nthe other. Public business of all kinds was transacted there. The\ndecoration of the hall is somewhat peculiar, consisting of nothing but\nhorse\u2010shoes. From time immemorial the custom of the county has been that\nevery peer setting foot within the little town should put up a horse\u2010shoe\nin this hall, or give an equivalent in money, which is spent by authority\nof the town council in buying a horse\u2010shoe in his name. There is some\ndispute as to when and how the custom originated. The common belief is\nthat Queen Elizabeth, passing through O\u2014\u2014, stopped to get one of her\nhorses shod, and, in perpetual memory of her royal visit, gave the town\nthe privilege of exacting the tribute of a horse\u2010shoe from every peer\nsetting foot within the county. By an anachronism, which at any rate does\nhonor to O\u2014\u2014\u2019s public spirit, there are horse\u2010shoes bearing dates far more\nremote than the XVIth century, and some one has actually put the Conqueror\nhimself under contribution, and unblushingly labelled a very antique shoe\nwith his mighty name and the eventful date, 1066. During the last three\nhundred years genuine historical horse\u2010shoes have abounded; some plain as\nthe real thing, some gold or silvered, some painted with heraldic devices,\nsome immense as children\u2019s hoops, some minute as the shoe of a Shetland\npony. Whether the thousand\u2010year\u2010old superstition of the connection between\nluck and a horse\u2010shoe, and the belief in the power of the latter against\nwitches, has anything to do with the custom, we do not know for certain,\nbut it is not unlikely.\n\nIn this remarkable town\u2010hall were assembled the electors and magistrates\none November morning. All the prominent country \u201cgentlemen\u201d and many\nfarmers and tradesmen were present, besides a few ladies, come to see the\nproceedings. The member who had been re\u2010elected every time that an\nelection took place for the previous twenty years was the brother of one\nof the great land\u2010owners of the neighborhood, and a Conservative. No one\nthought of opposing him. His friends and constituents mostly appeared in\nriding\u2010boots, some in \u201cpink.\u201d(121) One young magistrate got up and\nproposed him formally to the electors in a girlish, awkward speech;\nanother seconded him in a still briefer address, and the question was\nasked: \u201cHas any one any objections to make or any candidate to oppose?\u201d A\nsqueaky voice at the end of the hall propounded a query in this form:\n\n\u201cWould the honorable member vote for universal suffrage and cry down\nchurch rates?\u201d\n\nA laugh ran through the crowd, and an impatient movement stirred the knot\nof magistrates. Year after year some wag of this kind mounted the Radical\nhobby, and rode it in this unoffending fashion at the steady\u2010going\n\u201cchurchman\u201d and loyal upholder of the constitution who represented the\ncounty in Parliament. The uneasy movement continues, and horses are heard\nneighing and pawing outside. Men in red coats take out their watches and\nput on long faces. It is nearly twelve o\u2019clock, and the business of the\nnation is delaying the \u201cmeet.\u201d The hounds are waiting not far off, and\ncandidate, sheriff, magistrates, and electors are all alike anxious to be\noff. The hall is soon cleared and the election quietly over\u2014a very\nsecondary matter in the consideration of those who have been kept from\nkennel and field for two long hours. They rush out with all the zest of\nschool\u2010boys let loose to play, and the hunt that day has twice its\nordinary success, or at least its members think so, because the beloved\nsport has been intermitted, and requires extra enthusiasm as a peace\u2010\noffering at their hands. So with redoubled vigor the search after foxes\ngoes on, and not till long after sundown will the candidate, magistrates,\nand constituents return to their homes.\n\nVery different are those elections whose surroundings remind us rather of\na clan gathering to the standard of their chief than a modern constituency\ncrowding to the polling\u2010booths. The mere description of these election\nscenes through Great Britain and Ireland would form an interesting chapter\nin contemporaneous history. The political differences need not even be\nalluded to; the contrast of outer circumstances is suggestive enough. In\nan agricultural neighborhood, such as that round the town of O\u2014\u2014, a\ncertain kind of torpidity exists among the prosperous and contented\nfarmers. Not a hundred miles from the palace of the people at Westminster\nthe interest in politics is subordinate to that excited by a cattle\u2010show\nor the prospect of a drought; in a word, there is so little local change\ncalled for which could be beneficial to the county that the passive but\ndeep\u2010rooted clinging to old traditions, which is so characteristic of the\ngenuine Englishman, is in this case rather a matter of course than a\nvirtue or a meritorious turning away from temptation.\n\nLife is hard to the masses in a city. Sharp ills require sharp remedies,\nsay the demagogues; and straightway the voters adopt the extremest\ndoctrine they can find, and fancy it a panacea for all ills. An English\npaper recently defined this kind of voter as the man \u201cwho has just learned\nsufficient to be sure that there can only be one side to a question.\u201d The\nIrish elections, proverbial for their storminess, are of another nature;\nappealing to our sympathy by the wild earnestness of the voters, and\ngoverned by feelings which, though often misdirected, are yet noble in\ntheir origin. Religion and patriotism are the prime movers of the passions\nof Irish constituents; they often look upon their exercise of the\nfranchise as a protest against tyranny and a confession of faith. And\nindeed the \u201ctyranny\u201d is no mere political scarecrow to them. It is very\ntangible; it strikes home to them, for its immediate result may be\neviction and starvation. The wild, humorous individuality of the people of\nthe western baronies of Ireland redeems much that is reprehensible from\nvulgarity in the faction fight\u2014a not infrequent concomitant of the\nelection. There is a rough romance left in these fights, making them the\ndirect counterparts of the sudden encounters between the clans of the\nvarious kings of Celtic history; and what is best and most palliative is\nthis: that sordid considerations are almost wholly absent from the voters\u2019\nminds. If men must fight, let them do it for anything rather than money;\nand, to do these electors justice, we will say that there is less bribery\nin all the Irish country districts put together than in one English\nmanufacturing town. You will say there is intimidation instead; but, even\nthat is better than bribery, for it is less degrading to a human being to\nbarter away his vote, in view of the threats of his landlord to turn his\nwife and children out of doors, than to sell it for money. But there are\nother elections to speak of\u2014those in the Highlands of Scotland.\n\nEducation is more universal among the humbler classes in Scotland than in\neither of the sister countries, and by nature the Scotchman is more\nreflective than the Englishman or Irishman. There is less of collective\nlife in his country; the land is poor and barren, the northern parts are\nbroken up by lochs and treacherous estuaries, and many counties include\nrocky islands among the billows of the Atlantic. In Inverness\u2010shire the\nelector is far removed from all common external influence. He thinks\nslowly and seriously, working out his own problems, answering his own\nquestions by the aid of his strong native sense. He and many of his\nfellow\u2010voters are shepherds or \u201ckeepers.\u201d They inhabit an isolated cottage\nin some remote glen\u2014a cottage that is only approached by some faint sheep\u2010\ntrack. Australia or the Territories of the United States are hardly less\nsolitary; but, on the other hand, the Scottish Highlands, if solitary, are\nnot barbarous. In newly\u2010settled countries, where the population is only\ngradually fusing into a national _people_, there is lawlessness to contend\nwith; the school and the church are yet open to the attack of ruffianly\nbands, and dependent on a few respectable though equally rough settlers to\nstop the brigandage of their unruly neighbors. An old country, however\nsparsely peopled, has the past to guide it; its hermit settlers are the\nheirs, not the founders, of a state and a history. So it is with ancient\nScottish shires, and thus you will find their electors sober, silent,\nreflective men, conscious of their dignity as clansmen of the old families\nwhose names are in the records of Scotland from the VIIIth and IXth\ncenturies; and perfectly aware of their personal, political value as\npresent electors to the joint Parliament of a great empire. In England\nthere were serfs, but in Scotland (and in Ireland also) there were\n_clansmen_\u2014not slaves, but sons by adoption; freemen with the right to\nbear arms; protected, not owned, by the great chiefs of the North. They\nwere used to a certain degree of power and responsibility, and their\ndescendants were not intoxicated by a sudden rise to independence, as were\nthe corresponding classes in England when the franchise was extended to\nthem.\n\nTo continue our description of the local surroundings of the Inverness\u2010\nshire voters\u2014men removed from the ordinary circumstances which make most\nelections pretty much the same dull, time\u2010worn, vulgarized sight\u2014we quote\nfrom a recent article in an English publication: \u201cThe nearest neighbors on\none side are beyond a great mountain\u2010range, while for miles upon miles on\nthe other there stretch the unpeopled solitudes of a deer\u2010forest. The\nnearest carriage\u2010road is eight miles off, and that is travelled only three\ndays in the week by a mail\u2010cart that carries passengers. The church and\nschool are at twice the distance; so the children must trust to the\nparents for their education, and the father can only occasionally join in\nthe Sunday gossip, in the parish churchyard, that expands the ideas of\nsome of his fellow\u2010parishioners. His cottage is ten miles from the nearest\nhovel where they sell whiskey. His work is arduous; he is afoot among his\nsheep from the early morning until dusk. In the best of times and in the\nheight of summer it is but seldom that a stray copy of the county paper\nfinds its way to the head of the glen. He is thoughtful by nature, as you\nmay see in his face, which has much the same puzzled expression of\nintelligence that you remark in the venerable rams of his flock. No doubt\nhe thinks much, after a fashion of his own, as he goes \u2018daundering\u2019 about\nafter his straggling sheep, or stretches himself to bask in the hot\nsunshine, while he leaves his collies (sheep\u2010dogs) to look after his\ncharge.\u201d\n\nThis is a very true picture. Of course, in such a situation, it is\nimpossible for the Highland shepherd to follow the questions that affect\nthe fate of ministries. He can know nothing of foreign affairs, probably\nnever heard of the _Alabama_, and would be at sea on the subject of the\nFranco\u2010Prussian war. Mr. Gladstone\u2019s financial schemes are not only\npuzzles but _terra incognita_ to his mind. He knows nothing of the\nextension of the suffrage in counties, and even local rates are\nindifferent to him, as the only one that concerns him is the dog\ntax\u2014_concerns_ him, but does not _affect_ him; for his master pays the\ntax, and he himself is more or less exempted from extra trouble, according\nto the number of sheep\u2010dogs for which that master chooses to pay. His\ninterest in the man who represents him in Parliament is therefore either\npurely theoretical or, what happens oftener, purely personal. There are\ncountry gentlemen everywhere who, though no newspaper may blow the trumpet\nof their fame, are nevertheless known throughout a wide expanse as good\nmen and true, kind yet just landlords, upright magistrates, and sound\neconomists. Their names are household words; their memory is always\nassociated with some generous deed; they are looked up to and honored in\nthe county. They are generally scions of the old historical families of\nthe land\u2014of those families to which the Scotchman clings with a proud\naffection, and which have been perpetuated by the very institutions that\nsome coiners of new political creeds find so deleterious to the human\nrace. The shepherd probably turns his mind to some such man of whom\nnothing but good has ever been recorded, and willingly entrusts to his\nsafe\u2010keeping the interests of himself, his clan, and his country. Judging\nfrom the particular to the general, he concludes that, since this\ncandidate has always been a kind master and a good landlord to his own\nfolks, he is likely to be a conscientious law\u2010maker and an earnest\nprotector of the nation\u2019s liberties. Questions of detail may fairly be\ntrusted to him; the main thing is that no widow or orphan has ever had any\ncomplaint to make of him.\n\nThis is the aspect on the voter\u2019s side. Let us see what it is on that of\nthe candidate. There is no question here of bill\u2010sticking, of distributing\ncockades, or of having bands of music and hired groups of partisans in\nyour wake. Canvassing means \u201cposting long distances in dog\u2010carts, seeking\nrelays at widely\u2010separated inns, where the stable establishments are kept\non a peace footing, except during the tourist season. In winter the roads\nare carried across formidable ferries, where, if you bribe the boatman to\nimprudence, your business being urgent, you are not unlikely to meet the\nfate of Lord Ullin\u2019s daughter.\u201d But this is not all; for when you have\nbraved the floods, and arrive famished and half\u2010frozen at some out\u2010of\u2010the\u2010\nway hamlet whence the scattered cottages may be gained, there is yet the\nordeal of the interviews before you. The Scottish hermit can hardly be\nexpected to forego or shorten such a rare opportunity of contact with the\noutside world. He will tax your ingenuity with the shrewdest, perhaps\npolitically inconvenient, questions; and never doing anything in a hurry\nhimself, he will resent his visitor\u2019s seeming to be pressed for time. No\nhasty and transparent condescensions will do for him. He will not be\nsatisfied, like the comfortable trader of the towns, with the candidate\u2019s\nkissing his youngest born and promising his eldest son a rocking\u2010horse.\nSmiles and hand\u2010shakings are cheap gifts; but he wants no gifts, only\npledges. He wishes to be met as an intelligent being, a man who, if worth\nwinning, must be worth convincing. He expects a straightforward, if short,\nexplanation of your general opinions; and though the sense of his own\ndignity as a voter is great, he does not forget that political does not\nentail social equality. Grave and earnest, he will resent flippancy as an\ninsult to his understanding; and a joke that would win over a dozen votes\nin a small commercial town will very probably lose you _his_ vote, and his\ngood opinion too.\n\nBut there are also other constituents to be called upon. The numerous\nislands on the east coast of Scotland afford a still larger field for the\ndanger and romance of canvassing. The islanders are very sensitive, and\nfeel terribly hurt at the insinuation that their home lies out of the\nworld. If their votes are necessary, is the courtesy to ask for them\nsuperfluous? They lead hazardous, daring lives themselves, and do not\nunderstand how any man can shrink from the danger that may be incurred in\nnearing their rocky island. If he does, what is he worth? they will argue;\nfor the natural man readily judges of his fellow\u2010man\u2019s mental qualities by\nhis physical endurance. Then (we quote again the graphic sketch above\nreferred to), \u201cthat island canvass means chartering some crank little\nscrew, beating out into the fogs among the swells and the breakers, taking\nflying shots at low reefs of inhabited rock, enveloped in mists and\nunprovided with lighthouses. Landing\u2010places are almost as scarce as light\u2010\ntowers, and you may have to bob about under the \u2018lee of the land\u2019 in\nimpatient expectation of establishing communications with it. When you do\nget to shore, you must be hospitably _f\u00eated_ by the minister and the\nschoolmaster, the doctor and the principal tacksmen, until what with sea\u2010\nsqueamishness and the strong spirits, it becomes simply heroic to preserve\nthe charm of your manners. Moreover, you had better not make your visit at\nall than cut it uncivilly short. Our friend the shepherd may have made up\nhis mind to support you; but you may rely upon it that he will promise\nnothing until you have set yourself down for a solemn \u2018crack\u2019 with him.\u201d\nThe day of the election itself is a suitable ending to this romantic\nepisode in the life of an ordinary, drudging M.P. When a Highlander sets\nabout a thing, he never gives in before it is accomplished. Honor binds\nhim to redeem a promise, whether made to another or to himself; pride\ncompels him to prove himself superior to circumstances, almost to nature\nherself; and he doggedly goes on his way, undeterred by any wayside\ntemptation to turn into smoother and pleasanter paths. So the voters\n\u201cclimb over mountains and plod over snow\u2010fields, wade mountain streams,\nnavigate lochs in crank cobles, and cross raging estuaries in rickety,\nflat\u2010bottomed ferry\u2010boats; so that, should the winds and the weather\ninterfere too seriously with the exercise of the electors\u2019 political\nrights, the polling of a great Highland constituency may possibly have a\ngloomily dramatic finale.\u201d(122)\n\nWhile we are on the subject of Scotland, we may mention the various\noccasions on which national gatherings draw together thousands of\npicturesquely\u2010clad men and women. The games are the most characteristic of\nthese meetings. They take place in various places, mostly during the\nmonths of August and September. They are generally held under the\npatronage and supervision of some great family of the neighborhood.\nSomething of old clan feeling is revived. The men often march in in\nbodies, preceded by their pipers, and wearing their individual tartan,\nwith distinctive badges. The villages for fifty miles around send their\ngroup of representatives and their athletes and champions in the games.\nVehicles of primitive build with rough, wiry little ponies bring in their\nload of farmers and petty freeholders. The country\u2010houses and shooting\u2010\nboxes fill with guests from England; and in the neighborhood of Balmoral,\nto which we more particularly allude, there is of course the additional\nattraction of royal countenance and patronage. The queen and the royal\nfamily sometimes become the guests of their subjects on these occasions,\nand an almost German simplicity reigns for a few days among those to whom\netiquette must be so sore a chain. The princes wear the Highland dress,\nand the queen (that is, before her widowhood) something of tartan in her\nplain toilet. The national sports, such as throwing the hammer, lifting\nheavy weights and supporting them on the outstretched hand, etc., require\nboth strength and dexterity, and the champions who contend in these games\nare generally \u201cprofessionals.\u201d Sometimes, however, some village athlete\nambitiously enters the lists against the trained champions, and\noccasionally bears off a prize. A competition of pipers is often a feature\nof the day, and these worthies make a brave appearance in their velvet\njackets covered with a breast\u2010plate of medals, severally won in various\ncontests. The shrill, clarion\u2010like tones of the bagpipes are not agreeable\nto the untrained ear, but to the Highlanders, whose national associations\nare proudly entwined with this wild, primitive music of the hills, they\nare naturally sweeter than the most sublime strains of the old masters. No\none, even though not Highland\u2010bred, can listen to the pipes, playing a\npibroch among the echoes of the mountains, without feeling that the soul\nof the people is in it; that the spirits of \u201cthe Flood and the Fell\u201d which\nWalter Scott so graphically introduces in his _Lay of the Last Minstrel_\nmight have used just such tones for their fateful, wailing speech; and no\none having more than common ties binding him to Scottish traditions and\nScottish homes can think of the wild dirges or stirring war\u2010calls of the\npipes without sympathy and loving regret. Not quite so inspiring, however,\nis this music when the piper marches round a small dining\u2010room, and plays\nthe distinctive tune of the host\u2019s clan to the guests assembled over their\nwine and dessert. The narrow space makes the music harsh and grating, just\nas a confined room takes from the Tyrolese _jodel_ all its romance, and\nturns the sounds into the caricature of a loud roulade. The games often\nlast for three days, and a sort of encampment springs up by magic to\nsupply the deficiencies of the crowded inns of the neighborhood. At the\nend of that time there is a ball given at one of the principal country\u2010\nseats, and a torch\u2010light dance for the people. The queen and the royal\nfamily accompany their host and hostess, and are content with a hasty\ndinner, served with a delightful relaxation from etiquette; for this is\ntheir holiday from political anxieties and social duties, and the more\ninformal this assembly, the better it pleases them. The ball\u2010room is not\nvery large, and its simple decorations are in keeping with the character\nof the feast and the style of the lodge or cottage in which it is given.\nThere are flowers in abundance, flags and evergreen garlands, Highland\nbadges and emblems, and stags\u2019 heads with branching antlers\u2014the trophies\nof the host\u2019s skill in stalking the red deer. Outside the house is a wide\nspace, destined for the torch\u2010light dance. Great iron holders and pans\nlifted on rude tripods contain the torches and the resinous fluid which,\nwhen set on fire, burns steadily for many hours. To and fro flit the\nkilted Highlanders, with their jewelled dirks or daggers, and their hairy\nsporrans decorated with silver plates the size of large coins. The\nchampions of the games are there, the rival pipers, the mountain\nshepherds, the gillies or game\u2010keepers, all the household servants and\nthose of the guests; the women wearing tartan ribbons of different clans,\nand Scotch flowers, blue\u2010bell, heather or bog\u2010myrtle, in their caps or\nbodices. The pipes strike up the music of the sword\u2010dance; a noted dancer\ncomes forward, and lays two naked swords of ordinary length on the ground,\ncrossing them at right angles. Within the four narrow spaces between the\npoints of this cross he then begins a series of marvellous steps, leaping\nhigh in the air, shuffling, crossing his feet, and invariably alighting in\nthe right spot, within a few inches of the swords, always in these four\ninterstices, but never touching nor even grazing the blades. If he were to\ntouch one ever so lightly, and but for an instant, his reputation would be\ngone. Another succeeds him, and so on, till all the famous dancers have\nexhibited their skill. No novice appears; they take care never to dance in\npublic till they are perfect in this feat. Scotch reels for the most part\ntake up the rest of the night, and are danced by four people, two men and\ntwo women, the former standing back to back, and their partners opposite.\nVarious figures follow each other, the figure eight being the most\nfrequent. This is managed by the four dancers locking arms and giving a\nswing round, then passing on to the next person; arms are locked again,\nand another turn given, and so on till the four have changed places, and\nin doing so have described the figure eight. Of course, in this dance, it\nis the men who show to most advantage, as they perform a series of regular\nsteps, snapping their fingers meanwhile, and, as soon as they get excited\nand enter into the spirit of the national dance, uttering a peculiar sort\nof cry. The women mostly walk and jump through their evolutions. The less\ncharacteristic dancing in the ball\u2010room, but in which reels are also\nmingled with quadrille and waltz, ceases about two o\u2019clock in the morning,\nand the musicians are at liberty to join the fun outside. The Highlanders\nsometimes take possession of the deserted ball\u2010room, and continue their\nown revels there till daybreak, when the torches flicker out and the spell\nis broken. Another national dance is the strathspey, which we never had\nthe good fortune to see performed.\n\nIn winter curling is the favorite game; it is played on the ice with heavy\nround stones, about eight or nine inches in diameter, and three to three\nand a half inches thick. These stones are neither rolled nor thrown at the\nline and mark, but propelled, by the strength of wrist of the player,\nalong the surface of the ice, and aimed to displace the stones already set\nup by the opposite side. Whichever side, at the end of the game, has most\nstones near the line which serves as a mark, is declared by the umpire to\nbe the winner. Miniature curling\u2010boards are very common in Scotch country\u2010\nhouses, with stones two or three inches in diameter; it is an amusing game\non a rainy day, and, though so small, no little skill is required to guide\nthese stones aright.\n\nThe same house to which we have taken the reader to be present at the\ntorch\u2010light dance is a very pretty specimen of Scotch hunting\u2010lodges.\nBuilt at various times, it consists of several cottages, once detached,\nbut now irregularly connected by picturesque galleries, verandas, and\nstaircases. One part has much the appearance of a Swiss _ch\u00e2let_; another\nthat of a river\u2010side villa on the Thames, with its glass doors opening on\nto a lawn, and its rustic porch smothered in climbing roses. Though so\nstraggling, it is a very comfortable house. Nothing is wanting\u2014billiard\u2010\nroom, smoking\u2010room, boudoir, and innumerable pigeonholes for guests\u2014a\ncharming house for persons of sporting tastes; the halls carpeted with\ndeer\u2010skins, and the walls hung with antlers, bearing each the date of the\ndeath of the stag to which they belonged; equally charming to the delicate\nLondon beauty wearied with her social triumphs, for here she finds the\nthousand elegances of a _rococo_ drawing\u2010room, the luxurious arm\u2010chairs,\nthe rare china, the velvet screen hung with miniatures, and little gilt\nbrackets, each supporting a tiny cup or a porcelain shepherdess\u2014in a word,\nevery pretty refinement of the latest fashion. The neighborhood is famous\nfor stalking\u2014that is, following the red deer through moor and forest\nalone, with your rifle and your slight bag containing some biscuits and a\npocket\u2010flask. You may have to trudge over miles and miles of heather,\nwatching every turn of the breeze, lest it betray your whereabouts to your\nbeautiful victim; making immense _d\u00e9tours_ to reach him from some\nconvenient cover; creeping along on all fours, or even flat on the ground;\noften taking a long, cold bath in the mountain burn (stream), wading\nthrough it, or waiting in it, so as not to let him scent your trail. If\nfor no other reason, this sport is superior to any because it demands\nsolitude; though it is hard to discover why one should not be privileged\nto take a twelve hours\u2019 walk or saunter without the pretext of the rifle\nslung at one\u2019s back, and also without incurring the charge of\neccentricity. A forest in Scotland is treeless; the term is applied to a\nwide expanse of mountain, covered knee\u2010deep with heather, and perhaps here\nand there with a few stunted bushes or clumps of graceful birches. Here\nthe red deer feeds in herds, and you sometimes come across six or seven of\nthese \u201cmonarchs of the glen.\u201d The sportsman, however, seldom pursues or\nkills more than one in a day. A moor is much the same in appearance as a\nforest, but that term is reserved for those tracts of heather\u2010land where\nthe grouse and the black\u2010cock abide. These are often rented to Englishmen,\nthe forests seldom; so that the Southron, if he have a taste for deer\u2010\nstalking, generally depends for his chance of indulging it on the\nhospitality of some Scottish friend.\n\nThis neighborhood is full of romantic glens and hollows where mountain\nstreams gurgle through narrow channels of rock, where tiny waterfalls\nsplash under bridges mossy with old age, and where real forests of pine\nand birch and rowan, or mountain ash, make a variegated network across the\nblue horizon. In one little gorge tradition says that a hunted partisan of\nCharles Edward took refuge after the fatal battle of Culloden, in 1745,\nand lived there concealed for several weeks. The particular place where he\nhid was under a projecting ledge or table of rock, overhanging the brown,\nfoaming waters of the mimic torrent, which, though not large in volume,\nmight yet have strength enough to dash you in pieces, if you fell into the\nnarrow bed bristling with sharp, rocky points and irregular boulders,\nround which the water boils and hisses, as if chafing at its imprisonment.\nThe rocks incline their jagged sides so far forward over the stream as\nalmost to meet in an arch above it, and the chasm can be easily, almost\nsafely, leaped. Indeed, the rift is invisible from the road, which passes\nwithin a few yards of it. Its sides are fringed with heather, and are\nundistinguishable, except when one is standing close upon them.\n\nThe North of England, with its mountains and its lakes, its solitary tarns\n(pools or smaller lakes) and its becks, has a family likeness to Scotch\nscenery. Its people, too, are akin to the Lowland Scotch in their\ntaciturnity, their hardy, physical nature, and their language; yet to\nthose who know both well the difference is very perceptible. In olden\ntimes Lancashire and Yorkshire, lying to the west of the Lake country,\nwere emphatically the land of the church, one vast net\u2010work of beautiful\nabbeys with their immense possessions. Even after the Reformation these\ntwo counties remained the stronghold of Catholicity, and to this day they\ncontain more Catholics (exclusive of the large modern towns and their\npopulation) than any other part of England. The favorite sport of\nLancashire is otter\u2010hunting.\n\nA certain breed of hounds, having very long bodies and short legs, is kept\nfor the purpose; the streams abound in otters, and the hunt is very\nexciting. The gentlemen wear preternaturally thick boots, covering even\nthe thighs, as they often have to wade in after the otter, whose teeth are\nso sharp that they can take off a hound\u2019s leg at one bite. These animals\ndive dexterously under the banks, and generally lead the hunt a pretty\nchase; but, never having seen this sport ourselves, it is difficult to\ndescribe it graphically. The dialect of this part of the country is almost\nas much a language as Proven\u00e7al; the people have their own literature, and\none of their poets (a humorous one) has been styled, _par excellence_, the\n\u201cLancashire Poet.\u201d Lancashire people are desperately clannish, quite\ndespise the southern English, and obstinately adhere to their own customs,\nas something immeasurably more dignified than the finical fashions of the\nSouthron. The gentlemen all talk the dialect when speaking with their\nfarmers, game\u2010keepers, or servants, and speak it with genuine gusto too. A\nLancashire kitchen is a heart\u2010warming sight; it is emphatically _the_ room\nof a farm, an inn, or any middle\u2010class dwelling. The fire blazes in the\ndepths of a cavernous chimney, with settles on each side, on which two men\ncan sit abreast, while from the low roof hang endless strings of fine\nonions and dozens of hams and flitches of bacon. At another part of the\nceiling is fixed an immense rack, over which hangs the oatmeal cake in\nlarge sheets, of which any one is at liberty to break off a piece for his\nsupper unrebuked and without question of repayment. Hospitality is a\ncardinal virtue here, but it is not that voluble, fussy hospitality which\nworries its recipient and makes him feel the obligation; you are welcome\nto go in and sit down, eat and drink, warm and dry yourself at the hearth,\nand go out again, without being assailed by impertinent questions or bored\nby long domestic revelations. A Lancashire host respects your mind while\nhe refreshes your body, and silently makes you at home. Those kitchens of\nthe north are the very type of comfort, with their vast corner\u2010cupboards,\ntheir cleanliness\u2014you might literally eat off the brick floors; they are\nalways paved with brick\u2014their long oat\u2010cake racks and tempting meat, all\nhome\u2010cured, hung from the ceiling. The temptation may be too great for you\nsome night, if you happen to return to your lodgings, very hungry, at the\nlate hour of twelve\u2014that is dissipation in Lancashire\u2014for you may wander\nin, and see no harm in hunting in the cupboard for eggs and flour, and in\nslicing off whatever will conveniently detach itself from a hanging\nflitch, in order to flavor some appetizing sauce of which you possess the\nsecret. Perhaps the midnight raid ends fatally, and you stumble over the\npots and pans, or find the embers hardly hot enough to cook the sauce, or\ngive it up at last in despair, with a ridiculous foreboding of what the\nlandlady will say to\u2010morrow morning when she contemplates the ragged\nappearance of the best flitch! Let us hope that you will honestly own your\ndelinquencies, and not affirm that \u201cit must have been the mice, ma\u2019am!\u201d It\nwill be the easier as you happen to know the house well, and its inmates\nlong ago agreed to overlook your little eccentricities with regard to\nsauces!\n\nAmong the principal country festivities which draw large parties to the\nneighboring houses in many parts of England, are the local cattle\u2010shows.\nThe breeding of cattle is a topic of almost as universal interest in\nEngland as fox\u2010hunting, especially among country gentlemen. The secret of\nthis apparent interest lies rather in the intense pride with which they\nnaturally regard everything connected with their homes, than in downright\npersonal liking for fat oxen and prize pigs. Not even the farmers who\nexhibit the cattle can outmatch the ladies of the neighborhood in their\nsolicitude for the honor of the county, and, besides this, the gentlemen\nthemselves sometimes enter the lists, and exhibit some choice specimen,\nthus giving their households special reasons for pride and anxiety. Most\nof the houses fill with guests for the occasion, and, despite the lateness\nof the season (the shows are generally late in the autumn, the one to\nwhich we refer taking place in November), the weather is usually\npropitious. Let us take a peep in at the window of yonder large Tudor\nhouse, with its cedars, sentinel\u2010like, guarding the approaches to the\nhall\u2010door, and an old gabled, ivied ruin overlooking the gay mosaic of the\n_parterre_. There is plenty of water here\u2014ponds where huge old beeches\ndroop over the banks and moor\u2010fowl _swish_ through the rushes on the\nmargin, and ponds fringed with late roses, and lifting up in their midst\nislands with rustic arbors and a wilderness of creeping plants. Within the\nhouse is the usual amount of family portraits and antique carved\nfurniture, with a more than ordinary display of hot\u2010house flowers. A\nlittle earlier in the season you would find in the drawing\u2010room two\nimmense marble vases, in each of which blossoms a queenly azalea, snowy or\nruddy, as the case may be. On the tables lie islands of moss, relieving\nand framing three or four star\u2010shaped, blood\u2010red cactus\u2010blooms. Round the\nhigh chimney\u2010piece, where a wood\u2010fire burns merrily (a luxury in England),\nis assembled a family party, neither stiff nor yet free, and picturesque,\nif nothing else; for the girls are dressed in the square\u2010cut bodices and\npale\u2010hued, brocaded overskirts of a more picturesque age. Perhaps they are\ndiscussing art matters or weaving personal romances.... No, for here, as\nelsewhere, you cannot take the bit in your mouth; it is the only penalty\nof decorous country life in old England. They are talking of to\u2010morrow\u2019s\nagricultural fair, the annual cattle show, which takes place in the\ncountry town. There is a large party in the house for it; it is the event\nof the week. Most country ladies pretend to be, and some are, poultry\nfanciers; so there is an additional department allotted to the prize\npoultry. The carriages draw up in a wide field near the tents and sheds,\nwhere a view of the race\u2010course can be had. The men circulate among the\ncattle; the \u201cjudges\u201d sit in a tribune provided for them. It is difficult\nto get up any enthusiasm about this kind of thing, but the adjuncts are\nquite as enjoyable as are most outdoor pleasures that you cannot enjoy\nalone. The last day of the fair closes with a dinner, when the prize\nbeasts and their owners are commented upon and the general political\nsituation discussed. One of the farmers is a born orator; at least he\ndelights in the sound of his own flowery periods. He quotes Shakespeare\nand Tennyson, and feels sure he has made a hit. As all professions are\nrepresented, there is room for all kinds of toasts, and under the veil of\nsociability the opportunities for speaking home\u2010truths are not neglected.\nAround the hall are galleries that serve for spectators, both male and\nfemale, and from this point many a ludicrous incident is revealed to you\nthat escapes the \u201cgrave and reverend seigniors\u201d below. This is what a\nspectator once saw: The dinner takes place once a year, and it is\nimpossible to have nothing but trained waiters. Many of the gentlemen on\nthis occasion brought their own servants with them; but even this was not\nsufficient, and the supplementary waiters were \u201clegion.\u201d The dinner was\nnot as orderly as it might be. There was a great deal of hurrying and\nskurrying, orders angrily given and awkwardly executed, wine liberally\nspilt before reaching its destination, etc. Suddenly some one gave an\norder from the far end of the hall, and an unlucky bumpkin, eager to show\nhis agility, made a dart forward, but came to an abrupt stand\u2010still in the\nmiddle of a lake of soup that spread warm and moist about his feet. In his\nhaste he had stepped into the soup\u2010tureen, which another waiter, in clumsy\nhurry, had momentarily deposited in this conspicuous place. The braying of\nthe band, whose conductor was naturally not a little exhilarated by the\ncopious \u201crefreshment\u201d distributed during the day, drowned these \u201casides\u201d;\nbut we cannot help thinking that the position of a spectator, alive to\nthese incidents behind the scenes, was preferable to that of the unhappy\nactors and speakers, nailed for four or five hours to the table, and\ncondemned to drink the execrable wine usually furnished on such occasions.\n\nWith this we will close this somewhat lengthy sketch of some of the\nincidents of rural life in the old mother\u2010country\u2014a subject so dear to\nWashington Irving, so attractive to Longfellow, and so heart\u2010stirring to\nmany who, on this side of the Atlantic, have not yet lost in the turmoil\nof business or the hurry of politics the fond, poetic remembrance of the\nland of their forefathers. It is a restful picture; the soul grows young\nagain in the contemplation of that healthy, even placid home\u2010life,\ndiversified by so many local interests, and disturbed by so few dangerous\nexcitements. In such an atmosphere it is no wonder if scholars, poets, and\ngentlemen develop quietly, as the fruit ripens on the sunny garden wall;\nnor is it strange to find these men, so accomplished and so learned,\nfilling the unobtrusive and secluded walks of life, as well as the\ncouncils of the nation, the cabinet, the bar, and the Parliament. Happy is\nthe nation that attains to a green old age; happy the country that keeps\nall that is poetic in the past, without relinquishing the practical and\nthe useful in the present. It is a good thing to be able to look back\nproudly on a long line of doughty forefathers, but better still to be able\nto look forward as proudly to a goodly line of worthy descendants.\n\n\n\n\nThe Future Of The Russian Church.\n\n\nBy The Rev. C\u00e6sarius Tondini, Barnabite.\n\n\n\nI.\n\n\n\u201cHow much happier is Russia than are many Catholic countries!\u201d\n\nIt is thus that a German author, of the Baltic provinces, a Protestant,\nand a subject of the czar, broke in upon the concert of complaints on the\ncondition of the Russians to which we had for a long period been\nhabituated. It is true that Augustus Wilhelm Hupel wrote towards the close\nof the last century; but the state of things which drew from him this cry\nof admiration continues even at this present time. Let us add that a\nconsiderable number of writers, especially Protestants, share the\nsentiments of Hupel; in fact, a certain government not long ago ranged\nitself on the side of this author\u2019s opinions, and undertook to procure for\nits subjects, whether they would or not, the same happiness as that which\nthe Russian people enjoy. This fact is a more than sufficient inducement\nfor us conscientiously to study the cause of this happiness\u2014a study to\nwhich the following pages will be devoted.\n\nHappily, the writer of the Baltic provinces expresses himself with\nremarkable precision. \u201cThe monarch,\u201d says Hupel, in speaking of the synod\nwhich governs the Russian Church\u2014\u201cthe monarch himself selects the members\nof this ecclesiastical tribunal, and can also summarily dismiss those who\ndo not please him. It follows, therefore, that the members of the synod\nentirely depend upon the will of the czar. Not only can they do nothing of\nwhich he does not approve, but, by virtue of this arrangement, _it is the\nczar himself who is the real head of the church of his empire_. Of what\nlofty wisdom, then, is not this institution a proof! How much happier is\nRussia than are many Catholic countries!\u201d(123) It is evident, therefore,\nthat the object of admiration and envy is the concentration of civil and\nreligious power in the sovereign\u2019s hands; the synod of St. Petersburg\nbeing the institution which secures and perpetuates the concentration of\nthis double power.\n\nThe czar to whom Russia is indebted for the synod is Peter I., surnamed\nthe Great (1689\u20101725), than whom few sovereigns have been the object of\nmore enthusiastic admiration. The things which he undertook and in which\nhe succeeded, for promoting the civilization of Russia, are truly\nsurprising, his laws being, in our opinion, the most splendid monument he\nhas created in his own memory. Frequently, in glancing through the\n_Complete Collection of the Laws of the Russian Empire_,(124) while taking\ninto account the number, the variety, and extent of the subjects embraced\nby the genius of Peter, the circumstances under which he had to work, and\nthe thankless elements which he contrived to manage, we have experienced\nsincere admiration; but, side by side with his great qualities, in what\nignoble and monstrous vices did he not indulge! If we were to quote\ncertain judgments passed by his contemporaries, it would be easy to\nunderstand the disgust with which the _History of Peter the Great_, by\nVoltaire, fills every sincere and virtuous man. Great qualities do not\nexcuse great vices, especially in the case of Peter, who on many occasions\nproved by his conduct that he was capable of self\u2010restraint, had he only\nchosen to exercise it. This czar, whose leading characteristics were a\nspirit of determination and an energetic will, can neither be excused for\nhis debauches nor his cruelties. The reforms originated by him naturally\nbear the impress of the despotic character of their author. In the present\nday it is openly said, even in Russia, that Peter acted, \u201cas if there were\nno possible limits to his power, setting himself determinedly to gain his\nend, without in the least troubling himself about the nature of the\nmeans.\u201d(125) We may add that the religious convictions of the czar were,\nto say the least, an enigma. And this is the man who gave to the Russian\nChurch the organization which she retains to this day.\n\nUnhappily for the people, when a man rises from among them and\naccomplishes unheard\u2010of undertakings, the prestige of his name eclipses\nthe light in which justice would regard his actions. If flattery erects to\nhim its altars, and if religious or political passions find it to their\ninterest to exalt him, this man, though in his grave, continues no less to\nexercise a powerful influence; and all his qualities, even his bad ones,\nreceive a species of consecration. A century and a half have elapsed since\nthe death of Peter the Great, and yet it may be said with truth that he\nstill rules Russia. It is no common thing to find a series of sovereigns,\nall of whom draw their inspiration from the same idea; and yet all the\nczars, with the single exception of Peter II., who only reigned three\nyears (1727\u20101730), perpetuated, with regard to the Russian Church, the\nidea of the originator of the synod.\n\nThat the czars, however, should have made it their rule to walk in the\nfootsteps of Peter, and that in their ukases they should recall his memory\nwith enthusiastic eulogies, it is easy to conceive; and also that\nProtestants, especially those of Germany, should never weary in their\npraises of his religious reforms; these praises being, in the first place,\nthe payment of a debt of gratitude to the czar, and, in the second, an\nhomage rendered to the Protestant side of the reforms themselves. But the\nmost painful part of the matter is that Peter and his successors should\nhave found, in that very church which they were oppressing, not only\ndocile instruments of their will, but also the warmest encouragements to\nprosecute their work. Theophanes Prokopovitch, Bishop of Pskoff, of whom\nwe will speak further, wrote treatises to prove that \u201cthe czars have\nreceived from on high the power to govern the church; only it is not\npermitted that they should officiate in it.\u201d(126) Plato Levchin,\nMetropolitan of Moscow, while he was still tutor to the Czarowitz Paul,\nafterwards Paul I., prepared for his use a catechism which has been held\nin great esteem by Protestants. In the epistle dedicatory he thus\naddresses his pupil: \u201cI bear in mind a saying of your highness\u2014saying\nworthy of eternal remembrance. We were one day reading this passage in the\nGospel: _Take heed that you say not among yourselves: We have Abraham for\nour father_ (S. Matt. iii. 9); when, upon my remarking that the Jews\nvainly gloried in having Abraham for their father, whose faith and works\nthey failed to imitate, your highness deigned to reply: \u2018And I also should\nglory in vain that I descend from the great Peter, did I not intend to\nimitate his works.\u2019 That these and other similarly excellent dispositions\nof your highness may increase with your years, behold this is what the\nchurch of God, prostrate before the altar, supplicates, and will never\ncease to supplicate, of the divine mercy, from the profoundest depths of\nher heart.\u201d(127)\n\nThere is nothing surprising in the fact that lessons such as these,\nexplained and developed in the body of the catechism, should have borne\ntheir fruit. The pupil of Plato, having become czar, was the first who\nintroduced into official edicts the title of Head of the Church(128) for\nhimself and his successors, and more emphatically than perhaps any one of\nthe others he established as a principle the supremacy of the czar over\nthe church.(129)\n\nWe forbear to quote other examples. If it be true that nations never stop\nshort at a theory, the same thing is true also of sovereigns; and, when\nNicholas I. acted as every one knows he did act, he was but carrying out\nthe doctrine accepted and _taught_ in the Russian Church. As for the\npeople, it would have been indeed surprising had they not shared in the\ndoctrine of the church, and still more so had they attempted any\nopposition to it. In fact, as might be supposed, there was no lack of\nwriters who set themselves to make the people appreciate the advantages of\nevery description which they enjoyed under the religious autocracy of the\nczars.\n\nThis state of things could not, however, last indefinitely; and it was the\nEmperor Nicholas himself who, by some of his measures, contributed to\nhasten its end. At the commencement of his reign it was desired to exclude\nthe foreign element from teaching, and to substitute for it the national\nonly. Professors were lacking; and, to form these, the government thought\nit well to send out young men at its own expense to learn in the _German_\nuniversities that which they would subsequently have to teach the\nRussians. Besides, for many years past Russia has entered into active and\nfrequent relations with the rest of Europe; the regulations which bound\nRussians, if not to the glebe, at least to the soil of their country, have\nbeen relaxed; travelling has been facilitated; travellers have been able\nwith less difficulty to penetrate into the country, and its own\ninhabitants to go abroad and observe what is passing in the rest of the\nworld.\n\nAnd what has resulted from all this? Many things; and, first of all, the\nfollowing: \u201cThe future propagators of learning and civilization,\u201d says the\nP\u00e8re Gagarin, in a remarkable pamphlet,(130) \u201cwere sent to Berlin, where\nthey lost no time in becoming fervent disciples of the Hegelian ideas. It\nwas in vain that serious warnings reached St. Petersburg of the fatal\ndirection these young men were pursuing. For reasons which perhaps some\nfuture day may explain the warnings were wholly unheeded; and in a short\ntime the chairs of the principal universities were filled by these\ndangerous enthusiasts, whose newly\u2010imported ideas made rapid progress.\nSchool\u2010masters, professors, journalists, the writers who had been formed\nin the universities, successively became the apostles of the doctrines\nwhich they had adopted. Neither censures, nor the watchfulness of the\ncustom\u2010house, nor the active surveillance of an ubiquitous and anxious\npolice, availed to put a stop to the propagation of revolutionary notions,\nprotected as they were by eccentric formulas, unintelligible to all who\nwere not in the secret of the sect. It was not until 1848 that the eyes of\nthe government began to be opened; but it had no efficacious remedy at\nhand. It multiplied regulations, of which the object was to hinder the\ndiffusion of modern science and ideas; but was destitute of salutary\nprinciples to offer as a substitute for the unhealthy teaching of which it\nnow recognized the dangers. The system of national education, which had so\nmiserably failed, had been based upon \u2018orthodoxy,\u2019 autocracy, and\nnationality, and was now resulting in the triumph of German ideas, in the\natheism of Feuerbach, and in radicalism and communism of the most\nunbridled description.\u201d\n\nThat we may not unjustly charge the Emperor Nicholas with being _solely_\nresponsible for these results, it must also be said that other Russians,\nwho had at any rate travelled at their own expense, and foreigners who had\ncome to settle in Russia, assisted in propagating the same doctrines. If\nbooks are not printed without some reasonable hope that they will be read,\nand if the number of publications in which certain ideas are particularly\ndeveloped proves the favor with which they are received, it would be only\ntoo easy to make a statistical statement of alarming significance, showing\nthe favor with which the most revolutionary doctrines are received by the\nRussians. Books printed in the Russian language are evidently addressed to\nRussians only, this language not having hitherto acquired a place in that\npart of education which is called the study of modern languages; and we\ncan prove the existence of numerous publications in the Russian language,\nappearing some in London, some in Berlin, some at Leipsic, some at Geneva,\nand elsewhere also, in which the most communistic doctrines find their\napology. Amongst others we may notice the publication at Zurich of a\nperiodical review entitled _V\u2019pered!_ (Forward!), which wars against all\nbelief in the supernatural and against every kind of authority. It matters\nlittle that the writings of which we speak themselves penetrate with\ndifficulty into Russia; it is not to be supposed that the fact of having,\nwhen abroad, read this review or anything similar closes to Russians the\nreturn to their country. The book remains outside; but its teaching enters\nwith them.\n\nLet us now return to the consideration of the Russian Church. The radical\nideas of which we have been speaking are plainly incompatible with the\nreligious autocracy of the czars; and nevertheless Russia offers us the\nspectacle of men imbued with these ideas, and even manifesting them openly\nwithout, who suddenly recover their orthodoxy as soon as they recross the\nfrontier of their country.\n\nUnder pain of deserving the reproach of cowardly hypocrisy, these Russians\ncannot support the existing state of things, liberty of conscience being\ntoo intimately allied with their principles. The reader will judge whether\nit is not wholly immoral that men who have ceased to believe in anything\nshould, in order to escape legal consequences, present themselves in the\n\u201corthodox\u201d churches for confession and communion!... Now, as far as we are\naware, none of the pains and penalties against those who, being born of\n\u201corthodox\u201d parents, fail to practise the state religion, or to fulfil\ntheir duty of annual confession and communion, have hitherto been\nabolished; still less are the penalties abolished to which all are liable\nwho propagate doctrines contrary to those of the official church.\n\nBut the Russian atheists and rationalists of every shade of opinion are\nnot the only persons who have a supreme interest in requiring, together\nwith liberty of conscience, the abolition of the penalties to which they\nwould be liable if the same rigor were observed towards them as towards\nthose Russians who have become Catholics. For the czars, not satisfied\nwith calling themselves and with being the head of the \u201corthodox\u201d church,\nhave also arrogated to themselves the right of direction with regard to\nall the religious sects of the empire.\n\nWhen Paul I. declared that \u201cthe supreme authority, confided to the\nautocrat by God, extends also over the ecclesiastical state, and that the\nclergy are bound to obey the czar _as the head chosen by God himself_ in\nall things, _religious_ as well as civil,\u201d(131) he was not addressing\nhimself to the \u201corthodox\u201d but to the Catholic subjects of the empire. It\nis in employing similar language, and by virtue of the same general\nprinciple, that the czars have defined the position of Protestants,\nArmenians, Jews, and Mahometans. However accommodating one may suppose the\nRussian subjects belonging to these different religions to be, we cannot\nunderstand why, at least in heart, they do not protest against the strange\npretension that in religious matters they are bound to obey the \u201corthodox\u201d\nczars. Neither can we suppose that, if they hold their errors in good\nfaith, and believe themselves in possession of \u201creligious truth,\u201d they do\nnot experience some desire to communicate their treasure to others, and do\nnot suffer in obeying the articles of the penal code which forbid their so\ndoing.(132) What can be, upon this subject, the sentiments of the ten\nmillions of Russians belonging to the various sects formed in the bosom of\nthe Russian Church itself, their name itself indicates; they are called\ncollectively _Raskolniks_\u2014that is to say, _schismatics_. Thus we need not\nsay what must be the thoughts and desires of the Catholic subjects of the\nczar. There remain only the \u201corthodox\u201d; but it is they who form the\nmajority of the Russian subjects. It would be too much to expect to find\nin them the partisans of a more extended liberty of conscience than that\nwhich is permitted by the Code. \u201cThe dominant religion of the empire,\u201d\nsays the Code, \u201cis the orthodox. Liberty of worship is awarded not only to\nthe members of other Christian confessions, but also to Jews, Mahometans,\nand pagans.... _The dominant church alone has the right to make\nproselytes._\u201d(133) We will not stop to consider the motives which induce\nthe \u201corthodox\u201d Russians to oppose themselves to a more extended liberty of\nconscience,(134) but will rather proceed to examine whether, apart from\nwhat we have here said, it be not urgent, even in the interests of\northodoxy itself, that some changes should be introduced into the present\norganization of the Russian Church. We may be able to show that, by a\nsingular disposition of Providence, the interests of the orthodox _faith_\nare intimately allied to those of the Catholic Church in Russia.\n\n\n\nII.\n\n\nIf we are to believe Russian theologians, the Russian Church, with its\nczar, realizes in a certain measure the ideal of a church sustained by a\npowerful sovereign, which to many persons is the most desirable state of\nthings possible. We may call to mind the saying of the Count de Maistre on\nthe Holy Roman Empire, which was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire;\nin fact, the testimony of history leaves us in doubt as to whether this\ninstitution has served more to protect or to afflict the Catholic Church.\nProsperity or reverses, it is true, alike turn to the advantage of those\ndear to God; but scarcely will any one take upon himself to maintain that,\nbecause reverses are useful to the church, they must be purposely procured\nfor her. And therefore, whatever may be, for a longer or shorter time, the\nprobable advantages of this institution, it is best, if we mistake not, to\nleave its revival to the providence of God. But if such is the teaching of\nhistory with regard to an emperor, guardian of the faith and protector of\nthe Catholic Church, history condemns with a far more powerful eloquence\nthe strange protection with which the czars have overshadowed their\ncommunion. In the _Spiritual Regulation_ may be seen the passage in which\nPeter the Great is designated the \u201cguardian of orthodoxy and of all things\nrelating to good order in the holy church.\u201d(135) The successors of Peter\ncontinued to declare themselves invested with the same mission, and this\npassage of the _Spiritual Regulation_ was also inserted in the Russian\nCode.(136)\n\nTo be the guardian of orthodoxy, and of all which concerns good order in\nthe holy church, is in fact the _first duty_ of a Christian monarch. We\nwill examine briefly the manner in which the czars have acquitted\nthemselves of this duty.\n\nAny reader who, without being repelled by the subject and form of the\n_Spiritual Regulation_, would impose upon himself the trouble of perusing\nthem, text and notes, to the end, would have no difficulty in\nunderstanding with what good reason Protestants can and must look upon\nPeter as one of themselves. The Protestant tendencies of the _Spiritual\nRegulation_ are evident. The reader will also observe the precautions, all\nin favor of the Protestants, there taken for the preaching of the divine\nWord. The priests, the monks, and the bishops of the Orthodox Church,\ntreated as they were by Peter, were made to appear simply contemptible. In\nthe same way, the favor publicly shown by him to the Protestants of\nGermany, the importance he accorded to them, and the boundless confidence\nhe placed in their co\u2010operation with him for the civilization of Russia,\nand finally the ridicule he cast upon holy things in his infamous\norgies\u2014all this can hardly be reconciled with the idea of the fulfilment\nof his first duty as a Christian prince.\n\nIn the notes to the _Spiritual Regulation_ we may also perceive, in more\nplaces than one, the manner in which Catherine II. understood and\nexercised her mission as _Head of the Greek Church_; for thus she entitled\nherself in writing to Voltaire. No sincerely orthodox Russian could read\nthe correspondence of Catherine with Voltaire without blushing. If\nProtestants may fairly claim Peter I. as their own, unbelievers have a\nfull right to do the same with regard to Catherine, and glory in it, as in\nfact they do. In various passages of these letters (which we have perused)\nshe ridicules not only the ceremonies but also the _sacraments_ of her\nchurch. If to this we add the favor shown by her to the infidel\nphilosophers of the _Encyclop\u00e9die_, the free access which their\nproductions found at St. Petersburg, the atmosphere of impiety with which\nshe surrounded herself, and the state of her own morals, so plainly\nindicative of an unbelieving soul, our estimate will not appear\nexaggerated. It would in truth have been miraculous if, under such\ntutelage, orthodoxy could have retained its hold upon the minds of those\nwho knew how to read, write, and think; and thus the unbelief that\nprevails among the higher classes in Russia is the heritage of Catherine\nII. If, on the other hand, she showed herself zealous for the maintenance\nof faith among the lower orders, it was because she predicted the same\nresults from their unbelief as she did from any desire they might evince\nfor knowledge. \u201cIt is not for Russians,\u201d she wrote to the Governor of\nMoscow, \u201cthat I am founding schools; it is for Europe, where we must not\nlose ground in public opinion. From the day that our peasants shall have a\ndesire for instruction, neither you nor I will remain in our places.\u201d\n\nUnder the successors of Catherine II. Russian orthodoxy underwent various\nphases, according to the degree of orthodoxy professed by the czars and\nthe vicissitudes of their interior and exterior policy. Paul I. was so\nconvinced that he was the real head of the church that he one day proposed\nto say Mass.(137) On the other hand, it is certain that he contemplated\nthe reunion of the Russian with the Catholic Church.(138) This monarch,\nhowever, was incapable of commanding respect, or of helping a return to\nthe faith, either by his intelligence or his moral qualities; and thus\nincredulity continued its ravages in Russia.\n\nIn the life of Alexander I. a period is distinguishable in which the czar\nhad an evident leaning towards Protestantism; and his historians do not\nfail to remark the influence obtained over him by the Protestant, Mme. de\nKrudener. If we are not mistaken, those who so actively busied themselves\nin founding a Bible society in Russia had no intention of favoring\northodoxy.\n\nIt was also under the reign of the same czar that appeared the first\nedition (1823) of the catechism of Mgr. Philaret, destined to take the\nplace of that by Mgr. Plato, then used for religious instruction in the\nschools. Now, in 1823 Mgr. Philaret was far from being so orthodox in his\nwritings as he subsequently became; and the first edition of his catechism\ndiffers materially from the later ones. \u201cThe Emperor Alexander,\u201d writes an\nauthor well deserving of confidence, \u201cwas an orthodox Christian, _not in\nthe sense of his church_, but in that of the rigorous conformity of his\nbelief to the fundamental doctrine of all Christian churches; which is the\nredemption of mankind by the death of Jesus Christ, by means of\nfaith.\u201d(139) What a stone to cast at a czar, the guardian of orthodoxy!\nNotwithstanding all this, Alexander, towards the close of his life, must\nhave had continuous relations with Pope Pius VII.; some affirm even that\nhe died a Catholic.(140)\n\nAs we have seen, it was at the commencement of the reign of the Emperor\nNicholas that, at the expense of the government, the Russian youth were\nsent for education to the University of Berlin. Then came the formidable\nrevulsion of orthodoxy, which, announced by the revision of the catechism\nof Mgr. Philaret, manifested itself by the sanguinary \u201cconversions\u201d in\nLithuania, in 1839. The tidings were received in Europe by a general cry\nof indignation; and the remembrance has not yet faded away.(141) By a\nstrange coincidence Nicholas, to whom is due the glory of having completed\nthe gigantic undertaking vainly attempted by all his predecessors, of the\ncodification of all the Russian laws, had desired that in the Code the\nfollowing article should be inserted: \u201cThe dominant church alone possesses\nthe right of leading those who do not belong to her to embrace her faith.\nThis faith, however, is produced by divine grace in the soul, by\ninstruction, by gentleness, and especially by good examples. Therefore is\nit that the dominant church does not allow herself to make use of any\ncoercive means, how small soever, to convert to orthodoxy those who follow\nother confessions and other beliefs, and, after the example and the\npreaching of the apostles, she in no wise threatens those who will not be\nconverted from their belief to hers.\u201d All this is to be found in the\nRussian Code of 1832, of 1842, and of 1857, and continues to have the\nforce of law _at this present time_!(142) We will say nothing here of the\nreign of the present emperor, but will merely observe that the powerful\nreaction which took place almost immediately after the death of Nicholas,\nand which compelled the government to enter upon the way of reforms, was\nthe inevitable consequence of that emperor\u2019s conduct. It is only just that\nthe historians of Alexander II., in passing judgment upon his hesitations\nand self\u2010contradictions in religious affairs, should bear in mind the\ndifficulty of the part bequeathed to him by Nicholas.\n\nBut neither the ten millions of _Raskolniks_ which Russia can count at\nthis day, nor yet the numerous unbelievers and rationalists of every shade\nwhich she contains, protest as eloquently against the protection afforded\nby the czars to orthodoxy and the church as the impotence to which the\nczars have reduced that church itself for exercising any influence over\nthe enlightened classes. All who have written upon Russia agree in\nacknowledging and deploring the degradation of the orthodox clergy.(143)\n\nLest we should trust ourselves, with regard to a point so delicate for us,\nto any exaggerated or inexact accounts, we have been careful to be guided\nin our statements by writers offering every security, not only for\ncompetence and impartiality, but also for their sympathy with the orthodox\nclergy. The author of _La Tol\u00e9rance et le schisme Religieux en Russie_,\nknown under the name of Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti, appears to us to unite all these\nqualities in a high degree. \u201cHaving,\u201d he writes, \u201cin the capacity of an\nold engineering officer, traversed Russia in all directions, taking, on\nfoot and with the circumferentor in my hand, journeys of four and five\nhundred kilometres; and travelling in this way for the space of six months\nat a time, stopping at every village which I happened to find on my way, I\nhabitually addressed myself to the priest for any information I desired to\nobtain, and, early taking into consideration the moral and political\nimportance of these men, I set myself to study them with particular\nattention.... I do not exaggerate in saying that I have made the\nacquaintance of many more than two hundred Russian priests. I may say that\nI met with specimens of all the varieties, from the young priest but\nyesterday arrived in the parish to the old man bowed down beneath a load\nof moral and physical sufferings; from the priest of the regiment to the\nascetic fanatic; from the ex\u2010professor of the seminary, nominated to the\ncure of some rich church in the capital, where he parades his rhetoric and\ncomplacently displays his erudition, to the humble village priest scarcely\nable to decipher his Breviary.\u201d(144)\n\nThis is enough, as to the competence of M. Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti; and with regard\nto his impartiality on the point we are considering, it appears in every\npage, as will be proved by our quotations. For the rest, the author is a\nProtestant, and argues warmly in favor of religious liberty for every\nworship and for every sect.\n\nWith regard to his sympathy for the orthodox clergy, it would be difficult\nto find a more devoted advocate. \u201cIt is,\u201d he writes, \u201cwith satisfaction\nthat I can say that I always found better than I had expected, better than\nI had any right to expect, considering the situation and the social\nposition in which he found himself, the man whom I had set myself to\nstudy.\u201d(145)\n\nLet us add, moreover, that M. Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti is by no means tender towards\nthe Catholic clergy, over whom, according to him, the orthodox Russian\nclergy have the advantage in not being \u201ctainted with hypocrisy.\u201d(146) This\nis an additional reason for our choice of this author.\n\nWe will now see what he says respecting the social influence of the\nRussian \u201cpopes,\u201d quoting only a few lines: \u201cOppressed and disregarded by\nhis superiors, the pope loses three\u2010fourths of his means of action, for he\nsees himself cast off by the upper class, tolerated by the middle class,\nand turned into ridicule by the common people.... Judging from\nappearances, and noticing that everywhere, even in the receptions given by\ndignitaries of the church, the pope occupies the _lowest_ place, the\nmasses have contracted the habit of never assigning him any other.\u201d(147)\n\nSuch are the Russian clergy who are in contact with the people\u2014the clergy\nwhose office it is to instruct the Russians in orthodoxy, and to maintain\nthem in it. Now, this was not by any means the social position of the\nclergy when Peter I. instituted the synod. On the contrary, the _Spiritual\nRegulation_ shows us this czar, alarmed at the excessive influence which\nthe clergy at that time possessed, painting in sombre colors the dangers\nresulting therefrom to the country, and finding therein his best pretext\nfor establishing the synod. It is the institutions of the czars which have\ncreated for the clergy the melancholy situation in which they find\nthemselves at the present day, which have deprived them of all moral\ninfluence, and have reduced them to be \u201ccast off by the higher orders,\nscarcely tolerated by the middle classes, and turned into ridicule by the\ncommon people.\u201d That which retains these classes, notwithstanding the\ncontempt in which they hold their popes, in an outward profession of\northodoxy, is the _Penal Code_. Can it be believed that, without the\ninjunctions enforced by this Code, the people would confess to priests\nwhom they so utterly despise?\n\nTo resume: There are historical facts still living in the memory of the\nRussian people which show them their czars making small account,\npersonally, of orthodoxy, at the very time when, by laws of great\nseverity, they compel its observance by the people. They see the higher\nranks sceptical or unbelieving, revolutionary ideas in favor with a great\nnumber of their fellow\u2010countrymen; the _Raskolniks_, who in the time of\nPeter the Great were scarcely sufficient to form themselves into sects,\nnow so powerful by their numbers and their political importance that they\nhave already forced the government and the synod into making some\nconsiderable concessions; they see the clergy reduced, thanks to the\ninstitutions of Peter, which have been continued and completed by his\nsuccessors, to mere agents of the police, tools in the hands of power, and\nforming a caste so despised that rarely is a pope admitted further than\nthe antechamber of any house belonging to a member of the upper classes,\nand powerless to exercise any influence whatever, even upon the lower\norders; this is a true portrait of the Russian Church of to\u2010day\u2014the\nRussian Church such as the czars have made it.(148)\n\nAnd to\u2010morrow?\n\nThis to\u2010morrow, now drawing near, will still more clearly reveal what the\nczars have made of orthodoxy and of the church of which they call\nthemselves the guardians. The day must soon come when, by the intrinsic\nforce of things, the regulations of which we have been speaking will\ndisappear from the Russian Code, and when nothing will force the Russians\nany longer to keep up any relations with a clergy whom they scorn, nor to\npractise the religion of which they are the teachers and representatives.\nThat will be the day to which Catherine II. looked forward with so much\ndread\u2014the day when the Russian people will \u201cknow how to read and write,\nand will feel a desire for instruction.\u201d What will happen then in Russia\nhas been shown to us, on a small scale, in what has taken place before our\neyes in more than one Catholic country, where the clergy, strong in the\nsupport of the laws, lived without anxiety about the future, until\npolitical revolutions, coming suddenly to change the relations between\nchurch and state, placed them without any preparation face to face with\nunbelief. We say, however, _on a small scale_, for if the Catholic clergy\ncould not foresee the first outbreak of unbelief, they required but a\nlittle space of time in which to moderate or check its progress. Neither\nin Spain nor Italy can unbelief boast of having greatly diminished the\nnumber of Catholics; one might say rather that the new legislation has but\nserved to open an easy way out to those who were such only in name, and\nhas thus delivered the church from them. Information obtained from\nundoubtedly authentic sources proves that the churches are no less filled\nby the faithful, and the sacraments no less frequented, than before. This\nis a state of things, which it will be difficult to find in Russia; and we\nwill mention the reason why.\n\nAnd in the first place, if it is just to acknowledge that, in some\nprovinces of the countries we have just named, abuses may have crept in\namong the clergy, still they were neither so serious nor so general as\npeople have been pleased to represent them. Their principal source was to\nbe found in the too great number of ecclesiastics, of whom some had\nentered holy orders without a true vocation. But, precisely by reason of\nthe large number of priests, there are very many good ones to be found,\nand enough of these to suffice amply for the needs of the faithful. Their\nvirtues, which contrast with the manner of life habitual to the apostles\nof irreligion, thus formed a first entrenchment against unbelief.\n\nWill it be the same in Russia?\n\nWe are far from wishing to disparage the Russian clergy. Their defects\nneither destroy nor excuse any which may be met with among Catholic\npriests; we will even admit that the great majority of the Russian popes\nlead exemplary lives. But is it known what is the gain to unbelief, in\nRussia, from even a very small minority of bad popes? In Russia each\nparish has only just so many priests as are absolutely necessary to carry\non the worship; and with scarcely any exceptions, especially in the\ncountry, no parish has more than one priest. If, then, this priest lose\nthe faith, unbelief will have free course in his parish. The reader would\nhere perhaps remind us of the monks, who are still numerous in Russia, and\nask whether these could not come to the assistance of the secular clergy.\nAny Russian would smile, were such a question put to him; but we will\nconfine ourselves to remarking, in the first place, that the monks who\nhave received holy orders (_hiero\u2010moines_) are very rare, and, secondly,\nthat never would any Russian parish desire the intervention of a monk.\nStations, retreats, spiritual exercises, general communions, all these\nexpressions do not, so far as we know, possess even any equivalents in the\nRussian language to this day, unless, indeed, in the Catholic books in\nthat tongue which the government of St. Petersburg has recently caused to\nbe printed, in order, it might seem, that more prayers might ascend to\nheaven in the Russian language, and fewer in Polish. In any case, the\ninterference of monks in the management of parishes would be a far bolder\ninnovation even than the \u201ccorrection\u201d of the liturgical books, which\ngained for Russia the ten millions of sectaries she can reckon at the\npresent day. And this comparison reminds us that on the self\u2010same day\nwhereon orthodoxy shall lose the support of the Penal Code, the Russian\npopes will not only have to defend it against unbelief, but also against\nthe various Russian sects, some of which surpass in their diabolical\nsuperstitions and abominable mysteries all that has been related of the\nGnostics and Manicheans. And, moreover, it must not be forgotten that the\nRussian popes, however exemplary they may be, and however full of zeal for\northodoxy, are married priests. Thus one quality is wanting to them, of\nwhich the prestige is far from being superfluous.\n\nWe will not ask how it happens that the Russian clergy, if truly virtuous,\nare \u201ccast off by the higher classes, barely tolerated by the middle class,\nand turned into ridicule by the lower orders of the people,\u201d when goodness\nand virtue rarely, if ever, fail to give their possessor an ascendency,\nespecially over the masses, which is independent of either rank or\nlearning. At the same time, we do not intend to place any reliance on the\nstatements we find in Russian writings on this subject; the falsehoods and\nexaggerations which are so frequent, even in Catholic countries, with\nregard to priests, make it a duty to receive with mistrust the accusations\nof the Russians against their clergy. But, we repeat, the Russian clergy\nwho are in contact with the people are married, and this fact deprives\nthem of a quality which is far from being unnecessary.\n\nHere we may perhaps be reminded of the Protestant ministers, especially\nthe Anglican, \u201cso respectable,\u201d we are assured, \u201cso surrounded with\nconfidence and esteem, and at the same time a married clergy.\u201d\n\nWe have made it our rule to avoid all recrimination, and therefore accept\non trust all that we are told of the excellence of the Protestant\nministers; but we ask, in our turn, how is it possible to establish a\nparallel between their mission and that of the \u201corthodox\u201d clergy?\nProtestantism, of whatever form, recognizes no other judge than individual\nreason, on many questions touching upon morals, while, on the other hand,\nthe \u201corthodox\u201d church possesses an authority which decides upon them in\nthe sense least favorable to natural inclinations. It is only some few\nforms of Protestantism that impose any particular mode of worship; whereas\nthe orthodox communion does not on this point allow freedom of choice to\nits members. Protestantism has banished expiatory works; the orthodox\nchurch requires prolonged fasts and abstinences. Protestantism sends us to\nGod for the humble confession of our sins, but the orthodox church\ncommands that they should be confessed to a priest, in order to obtain, by\nthis painful act of humiliation, the pardon of God. If Protestantism\npoints to Jesus Christ as our model, it nevertheless circumscribes the\nsphere in which we are allowed to imitate him; while the orthodox church\nfixes no limit to the imitation of our divine Example. Virginity, poverty,\nand obedience are for Protestantism that which the cross was to the\nGentiles\u2014\u201cfoolishness\u201d; but the orthodox church recognizes in them the\ncounsels of perfection bequeathed by Christ himself to those who desire\nmost closely to resemble him.\n\nWe will not pursue the parallel further.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nThe Leap For Life.\n\n\nAN EPISODE IN THE CAREER OF PRES. MACMAHON.\n\nI.\n\n In Algeria, with Bugeaud,\n Harassed by a crafty foe,\nWere the French, in eighteen hundred thirty\u2010one;\n Swarthy Arabs prowled about\n Camp and outpost and redoubt\n Crouching here and crawling there,\n Lurking, gliding everywhere,\nTiger\u2010hearted, under stars and under sun,\n Seeking by some stealthy chance\n Vengeance on the troops of France\u2014\n Vengeance fierce and fell, to sate\n Savage rage and savage hate\n For the deeds of desolation harshly done.\n\nII.\n\n On a rugged plateau,\nForty miles from headquarters of Marshal Bugeaud,\nLay an outpost, besieged by the merciless foe.\nDay by day close and closer the Arab lines drew\n Round the hard\u2010beset French.\n\n To dash out and flash through,\nLike a wind\u2010driven flame, they would dare, though a host\nHot from Hades stood there. But abandon the post?\nNay, they dare not do that; they were soldiers of France,\nAnd dishonor should stain neither sabre nor lance;\nThey could bravely meet death, though like Hydra it came\nHorror\u2010headed and dire, but no shadow of shame\nFor a trust left to perish when danger drew nigh\nShould e\u2019er dim the flag waving free to the sky.\nBut soon came a terror more dread to the soul\nThan war\u2019s wild thunder\u2010crash when its battle\u2010clouds roll,\nAnd the heavens are shrouded from light, while a glare,\nAs of hell, breaks in hot, lurid streams on the air!\n It was Famine, grim\u2010visaged and gaunt,\n To the camp most appalling of foes\u2014\n Slow to strike, slow to kill, but full sure\n As the swift headsman\u2019s deadliest blows.\n O\u2019er the ramparts it sullenly strode,\n Glided darkly by tent and by wall,\n Spreading awe wheresoever it went,\n And the gloom of dismay over all;\nBlighting valor that ne\u2019er in war\u2019s red front had quailed,\nBlanching cheeks that no tempest of strife e\u2019er had paled.\n\nIII.\n\nThen a council was held, and the commandant said\nDirest peril was near; they must summon swift aid\nFrom the Marshal, or all would be lost ere the sun\nOf to\u2010morrow went down in the west. Was there one\nWho, to save the command and the honor of France,\nWould ride forth with despatches? He ceased, and a glance\nAt the bronzed faces near showed that spirits to dare\nAny desperate deed under heaven were there.\nBut the first to arise and respond was a youth\nWhose brow bore nature\u2019s signet of courage and truth,\nIn whose eye valor shone calm and clear as a star\nWhen the winds are at rest and the clouds fade afar.\nWho was he that stood forth with such resolute air?\nYoung Lieutenant MacMahon, bold, free, _d\u00e9bonnaire_,\nNever knight looked more gallant with shield and with spear,\nNever war\u2010nurtured chieftain less conscious of fear.\nIn his mien was the heroic flash of the Gaul,\nWith the fire of the Celt giving grandeur to all;\nAnd he said, head erect, face with ardor aglow,\n\u201cI will ride with despatches to Marshal Bugeaud!\u201d\n\nIV.\n\n It is night, and a stillness profound\n Folds the camp; Arabs stealthily creep\n Here and there in the moonlight beyond,\n With ears eagerly bent for a sound\n From the garrison, watchful and weak;\n O\u2019er the tents welcome night\u2010breezes sweep,\n Bringing balm unto brow and to cheek\n Of men scorched by a pitiless sun\n To a hue almost swarthy and deep\n As the hue of the foe they would shun.\n\nV.\n\n Stretching dimly afar,\nBetween slopes that are rugged and bare,\nHalf obscure under moonbeam and star,\nHalf revealed in the soft, misty air,\nRuns a rude, broken way that will lead\nGallant rider and sure\u2010footed steed\nWestward forth to the camp of Bugeaud,\nForty miles over high land and low;\nBut the steed must be trusty and fleet,\nAnd the bridle hand steady and keen\nThat shall guide him by rock and ravine,\nWhere each stride of the galloping feet\nMust span dangers that slumber unseen;\nAnd beyond, scarce a league to the west,\nYawns a treacherous chasm, dark and deep,\nWhere death lurks like a serpent asleep,\nAnd the rider must ride at his best,\nAnd his steed take the terrible leap\nLike a winged creature cleaving the air,\nElse a grim, ghastly corpse shall be there,\nWith perchance a steed stark on its breast,\nAnd the moon shall look down with a stare\nWhere they lie in perpetual rest.\n\nVI.\n\nNow the silence is broken by neigh and by champ\nAnd the clatter of hoofs, and away from the camp\nRides MacMahon, as gallant, as light, and as free\nAs the bridegroom who goes to his marriage may be.\nWith prance and with gallop and gay caracole\nHis swift steed bounds along, as if spurning control;\nBut the bridle\u2010hand guides him unerring and true,\nAnd each stroke of the hoofs is thew answering thew.\nThrough the moonlight they go, fading slowly from sight,\nTill both rider and steed sink away in the night.\nBut they go not unheard, and they speed not unseen;\nDark eyes furtively watch, flashing fiercely and keen\nFrom dim ambush around; then like spectres arise\nWhite\u2010robed figures that follow; the rider descries\nThem on slope and in hollow, and knows they pursue.\nBut he fears not their craft or the deeds they may do,\nFor his brave steed is eager and strong, and the pace\nGrowing faster and faster each stride of the chase.\nNow the slopes right and left seem alive with the foe\nGliding ghost\u2010like along, but still stealthy and low,\nAs wild creatures that crouch in a jungle; they think\nTo entrap him when back from the terrible brink\nOf the chasm he returns, for his steed cannot leap\nThe dread gulf, and the rider will halt when its steep\nRagged walls ope before him, with death lying deep\nIn the darkness below; they will seize him, and take\nFrom his heart, by fell torture of fagot and stake,\nEvery secret it holds; then his life\u2010blood may flow,\nBut he never shall ride to the camp of Bugeaud.\n\nVII.\n\nStill unflinching and free through the moonlight he goes,\nAnd each pulse with the hot flush of eagerness glows.\nNow a glance at the path where his gallant steed flies,\nNow a gleam at the weird, spectral forms that arise\nOn the dim, rugged slopes, then still onward and on,\nTill he nears the abyss, and its gaping jaws yawn\nOn his sight; but the rider well knows it is there,\nAnd his speed is soon cautiously checked to prepare\nFor the desperate leap; he must now put to proof\nThe true mettle beneath, for the slip of a hoof\nOr a swerve on the brink will dash both into doom,\nWhere the sad stars shall watch o\u2019er a cavernous tomb.\nGirth and bridle and stirrup are felt, to be sure\nThat no flaw shall bring peril\u2014and all is secure;\nThen with eyes fixed before, and brow bent to the wind,\nAnd one thought of the foe and his comrades behind,\nAnd a low, earnest prayer that all heaven must heed,\nHe slacks bridle, plies spur, and gives head to his steed.\nWith a bound it responds, ears set back, nostrils wide,\nAnd the rush of a thunder\u2010bred storm in its stride!\nNow the brink! now the leap! they are over! Hurrah!\nHorse and rider are safe, and dash wildly away;\nNot a slip, not a flinch, swift and sure as the flight\nOf an eagle in mid\u2010air they sweep through the night,\nWhile the baffled foe glare in bewildered amaze\nAt the fast\u2010flying prey speeding far from their gaze;\nAnd the soft stars grow dim in the dawn\u2019s early glow\nWhen MacMahon rides into the camp of Bugeaud.\n\n\n\n\nThe Year Of Our Lord 1874.\n\n\nA general glance at the movements of the past year will scarcely prove\nencouraging, even to the most devout believer in the glory and the destiny\nof the golden century drawing so rapidly to its close. Our own nation,\nwhich\u2014with steam, electricity, railroads, the newspaper as it stands to\u2010\nday in all its power and pride (_vide_ the current number of the New York\n_Herald_), and other great material developments of the age\u2014may consider\nitself at will as either the mightiest product or the _enfant g\u00e2t\u00e9_ of the\ncentury, has not too great matter for self\u2010congratulation. Our national\nyear, that dawned on disaster, has struggled through a painful life only\nto close in gloom, with perhaps a faint though uncertain glimmer afar off\nof better times to come. The \u201cChristian\u201d statesmen who have had the\ncountry and its management all to themselves these many years past have\nleft behind them a bitter legacy. The great scandals\u2014for even scandals in\nthese days have a greatness of their own\u2014which at length broke up the\nranks of the \u201cChristian\u201d statesmen were sufficiently touched upon last\nyear, and are only called to mind here as tending in great measure to\nexplain the year of national distress we have just passed through.\n\nAll through the winter months the poverty and misery of the masses in New\nYork and other of our chief cities were unexampled in our history; nor was\nthe revival of business during the spring, summer, and fall seasons of\nsuch a nature as to warrant the hope of being able to stave off a similar\ncalamity in the early months of the coming year. The real cause of the\ndistress is known to all\u2014the general stagnation of business in 1873,\nresulting chiefly from the panic of the previous year, which in turn\nresulted from the corruption in high places of the national, State, and\nmunicipal guardians of the public trusts. Public confidence was shattered;\nbusiness was at a standstill, the masses consequently idle, while a\ngeneral reduction in the rate of wages begot strikes among such as were\nnot idle. In this connection it may be well to call to mind what was\ngenerally observed at the time: the significant absence of the Irish and\nCatholic body from the seditious meetings; yet on that body fell the\nburden of the distress. What the disciples of the \u201cChristian\u201d school of\nstatesmen, who gave cause for the sedition by their corruption and\ndishonesty, would be pleased to term their \u201cforeign\u201d faith, \u201cforeign\u201d\neducation, obedience to the trained body\u2010guard, the priesthood, of a\n\u201cforeign\u201d potentate, the Pope, alone prevented their falling in with the\nranks of sedition. Yet the preaching and practice of the \u201cforeign\u201d faith,\nwe are constantly assured, is the greatest danger to the republic.\n\nThe trials of the severe season, however, brought out into startling\nprominence one great fact: the willingness and resources of the public to\nencounter an unexpected demand of this kind. New York, for instance, was\noverrun with public charities and associations for the relief of the poor,\nthe unfortunate, the maimed, the halt, the blind, the fatherless children,\nhelpless women, and so forth. In short, there was scarcely a department of\nhuman misery which had not its corresponding asylum, aided in most\ninstances by the State, erected often and paid solely by the State, as\nwell as a variety of others set on foot and kept a\u2010going by private\nphilanthropy or charity. Money from public and private resources had been\npouring into these asylums for long years past, without any startling\ndemand being made upon them in return. Now was the time to prove the\nutility of those institutions, of which we were so justly proud. What was\ntheir actual condition? They were for the greater part found practically\nwith exchequers already exhausted, without anything like adequate results\nbeing shown. An inquiry as to where all the money had gone succeeded in\ntracing considerable sums as far as the pockets of the directors, their\nwives, families, and friends, generally, after which all traces\nmysteriously disappeared. The good old maxim that \u201ccharity begins at home\u201d\nwould seem to have impressed itself as a necessary truth on the minds of\nthe dispensers of our public charities, and it seems to have been carried\nout severely to the letter. One consolation was afforded the public,\nhowever. For some time past its conscience had been offended by the\ngranting of certain sums\u2014small enough indeed, in comparison with the\nnecessities of the cases\u2014out of the public funds to those social offences\nknown as \u201csectarian\u201d charities\u2014sectarian charities!\u2014and these sums, such\nas they were, had within the year been very judiciously and properly\nwithdrawn, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution, as expounded\nby the men from whose ranks sprang the Christians of the _Cr\u00e9dit Mobilier_\nschool. It was no small satisfaction to see, in the time of trial, that\nthe public was justified in withdrawing from such institutions the State\nappropriations, on the ground that they were not distributed as in purely\nState asylums. How the \u201csectarian\u201d charities contrasted with the others in\nthe administration and distribution of their funds may be left to the\nrecords of the year to tell, as unfolded in the columns of the daily\npress. Whether a general remodelling of our public institutions, in view\nof the flagrant mismanagement exhibited last year, be not desirable, is\nleft to the consideration of those most concerned in the matter\u2014the public\nthemselves. As they stand they are an eyesore to honest men, a standing\nbreach of public confidence, and a gross violation of the public contract,\nto say nothing of what they may be in the eye of a heaven that seems to be\ngetting farther and farther remote from the earth, whereon God once was\npleased to walk with the father of mankind.\n\nOur class of statesmen found an easy solution of what Mr. Disraeli\nesteemed the most difficult problem of politics\u2014the feeding of a people by\nthe government\u2014by an increase of money; and an increase of money is the\nsimplest thing in the world, when money is only so much paper stamped by\nthe government with promise to pay at no very precise date. All that the\ngovernment had to do in order to ease matters was to draw an unlimited\nnumber of I O U\u2019s on itself\u2014itself being practically bankrupt for the time\nbeing, but relying on the prospect of something eventually \u201cturning up\u201d to\nits advantage.\n\nThe sad conflicts in Arkansas and Louisiana, the hostility between black\nand white, come in the same order. In this case, in Louisiana at least,\nthe President and his advisers did not show themselves as well as in the\nquashing of the bill for inflation of the currency. While the party that\nhad recourse to an absolute revolution in the State and in the face of the\nnation cannot but be condemned, inasmuch as the approaching elections\nmight have peacefully served their purposes to the same end, much more is\nthe government to be condemned which in the first instance gave its\nsanction and support to a great and standing wrong. Fortunately, but\nlittle blood was spilt; yet one drop in such cases is an indication of the\nneighborhood of a deluge. All hope for the dispersion of this impending\ndeluge rests now chiefly with the party which was returned to power at the\nNovember elections.\n\nIf the year leaves us with so much to lament, so many vexed problems to\nsolve, so many rocks ahead in our national course, and with only a half\u2010\nconfidence in the crew who are in charge of the ship of state to guide it\nover the unrevealed dangers of unknown seas, what shall be said of Europe,\nwith its divided nationalities, ambitions, and policies, and only danger\nas a unit?\n\nThe general arming of the nations that began almost half a century ago,\nbut was hurried into feverish activity since the Franco\u2010German war, may\nnow be said to be completed. Russia within half a dozen years will, if\npeace so far favors her, have three millions of soldiers in the field;\nFrance almost as many; Germany, by the enrolment of the Landsturm, has\nmade itself a nation of soldiers; Austria, Italy, and the rest all follow\nin due order. All Europe is at this moment armed to the teeth, solely to\npreserve peace. One is irresistibly reminded of an old verse about a\nstrong man armed keeping his house.\n\nA set of fanatics assembled in London to sympathize with the Prussian\ngovernment in its \u201cstruggle\u201d with its Catholic subjects\u2014that is to say,\nwith the wholesale imprisonment of the Catholic bishops and clergy, the\nsuppression of Catholic religious societies, the fining of Catholic ladies\nfor presenting addresses of condolence to the imprisoned ecclesiastics.\nThe meeting of sympathy called forth a very remarkable letter of gratitude\nfrom the German emperor, and occasioned a general jubilee on the part of\nthe German official press. So far, so good. In the meanwhile a French\nbishop, thinking, probably, that it is hard for a man whose sole crime\nconsists in the fact of his being a Catholic bishop to be imprisoned for\nthat offence, ventures to deliver a mild opinion on the matter in a\npastoral to his flock. Straightway comes out a Prussian official paper\nwith an editorial that for solemnity and massiveness might have been\nwritten by the Emperor himself, warning, not the French bishop, but all\nFrance, that if it cannot restrain itself from that shocking habit it has\nacquired of using intemperate language against a neighboring and unusually\nfriendly power, Germany, painful as the task may be to its feelings of\nhumanity, will positively be compelled to take its own measures for its\nown defence. France immediately takes the hint, eats the leek with all\nbecoming meekness, and a circular couched in the language of the Academy\nis despatched to the bishops generally, the plain English of which would\nbe to hold their tongues on all German matters, unless, of course, they\nhave something pleasant to say. That may be a very easy task for the\nbishops, but there still remain those _b\u00eates\u2010noirs_ of offending\ngovernments, the gentlemen of the press; and gentlemen of the press, in\nFrance as everywhere else, are unhappily distinguished not so much,\nperhaps, for having opinions of their own, as for giving vent to those\nopinions, and setting them down in indelible ink. M. Veuillot, the editor\nof _L\u2019Univers_, is just one of these unfortunate beings. M. Veuillot has a\nrather strong way of putting things when it pleases him, and M. Veuillot\nis hardly the man to take a diplomatic hint. The sad duty becomes\nincumbent on his government, therefore, to give M. Veuillot and his paper\na vacation of a couple of months. The vacation was called suspension. It\nwas duly explained that the German government had had nothing whatever to\ndo with the matter, though, strange to say, the French government had\nnever thought of suspending M. Veuillot for hammering away at itself.\n\nBelgium and Italy were threatened in like manner for allowing their\nsubjects freedom of opinion in so important a matter. Even England was\nwarned, but the warning had small effect.\n\nIt was whispered, though the correspondence never came to light, that at\none period during the past year some sharply\u2010worded notes passed between\nthe German government and our own. What the cause of the sharply\u2010worded\nnotes may have been remains a diplomatic secret. The only thing\nsignificant about the matter is that the whisper took shape about a month\nafter the arrest and imprisonment of Archbishop Ledochowski, who had the\nimmortal honor of being the first of the German bishops to surrender the\nliberty of his person for his faith in this strife. That imprisonment\ncalled forth an unanimous condemnation from the American press\u2014not the\nsectarian press of any creed\u2014that did it honor, and led one to hope that\nsuch a thing as principle still existed on the earth, and that genuine\nhomespun American love of liberty was not a meaningless thing.\n\nTo the charge of necessary disloyalty to the ecclesiastical laws of\nPrussia, Catholics will perforce plead guilty\u2014the same Catholics who\nbefore the passing of those laws never dreamed of or were accused of\ndisloyalty to the state. Those laws are an insult to the age and to all\ntime. There is not a line of them that does not betray the steel of the\nexecutioner, red almost with the blood of his victim. The spirit of\nBrennus is abroad. The scales of justice show a sadly uneven balance; but\nthe sword of the barbarian tossed in ends all disputes and argument.\n\nOur modern Brennus has struck his blows so rapidly and truly that the\nworld still stares at him in dazed wonder. Success has waited on his\nfootsteps, and men who worship success are not yet sufficiently masters of\nthemselves to measure that success aright. They are afraid to question the\nactions of a man who seems to strike with the inerrancy of fate. Prince\nBismarck had certainly the world on his side; and if the world begins now\nto fall away from him and recoil, to recover its senses a little, and to\nquestion the right and wrong of his actions, he has none but himself to\nblame.\n\nThe signs of the past year tell us that the recoil is beginning to set in.\nThe elections early in the year went against the government. The Catholics\ngained a large majority on their former number even in Prussia itself.\nAlsace\u2010Lorraine returned its members simply to protest against annexation,\nwhile the socialists were strengthened also. The government still holds a\nstrong majority, it is true; but the falling away from its standard within\nfour years of its mightiest triumphs was so significant of what was likely\nto ensue should the government persevere in its policy, that the first\nthing taken into consideration immediately after the elections was the\nrestricting of the franchise to such voters as it was felt would return a\nsafe and sure majority for the government. Next to this came measures for\nthe restriction of the liberty of the press, which by the efforts of the\nCatholic party were defeated.\n\nThe obvious question will force itself on the mind: Why should a\ngovernment so strong and mighty, so beloved of the people, as we are\nalways assured, tremble at the popular voice and at the criticism of a\nnewspaper? The answer is easy. The army bill followed. The government\nrequired a peace\u2010effective voted once for all of four hundred and one\nthousand men. That army was to stand, and, once the bill was passed,\nparliament was to have no further voice in the matter, whether in regard\nto payment of the bills or in regulating the number of men. That was to\npass completely out of its hands.\n\nFor once even the \u201cblustering majority\u201d did not save the government. The\nterrible danger of the scheme was obvious. The mere presence of so\ntremendous a standing army was a standing menace not only to the country\nand its liberties, but to its neighbors. It did not breathe the spirit of\npeace and rest in the government, and of proper regard for a country\nalready worn and disturbed by three harassing wars occurring in quick\nsuccession; while the taking out of the hands of the Houses the control\nover so large an item of the public funds as was embraced in the bill, was\na blow at their privileges to which not even faith in absolutism could\nblind them. A storm was at once raised. The government staked its\nexistence on the measure. Marshal Moltke rose up in the House, and made a\nspeech in defence of it that will be remembered. He spoke of the alarm\ncaused by Germany to its neighbors. He told them that what they had gained\nin a few months it would take them fifty years to keep and secure. It was\nnecessary that, though they might not draw the sword, their hand should be\nfor ever on the hilt. He assured them that, after all, wars undertaken and\ncarried through by regular armies were the swiftest and therefore the\ncheapest. An important consideration that last. As a final argument the\nveteran told them that \u201ca standing army was a necessity of the times, and\nhe could not but ask the House to devote the figure of four hundred and\none thousand rank\u2010and\u2010file as a peace\u2010footing once for all.\u201d A peace\u2010\nfooting! But even the marshal\u2019s seductive eloquence could not move them.\n\nPrince Bismarck fell sick and retired to Varzin. The Emperor\u2019s birthday\ncame round, and the generals of his empire came to congratulate him. He\nassured them that he would dissolve parliament rather than alter the bill.\nBut his imperial majesty forgot that there were more kingdoms than Prussia\nconcerned in his measures now, and that the dissolution that once before\nserved the King of Prussia sufficiently well might, in the disturbed state\nof affairs, prove a dangerous experiment to the Emperor of Germany.\nFinally, as is known, somewhat better counsels prevailed, and a compromise\nwas effected, which limited the figure to three hundred and eighty\u2010five\nthousand men for seven years. This was a severe check to the government,\nwhile it was a lesson to the people to distrust rulers who, in the light\nof their own schemes, considered the empire as a mere instrument,\nforgetting wholly that they were for the empire, not the empire for them.\n\nThere are many matters in the internal history of Germany during the past\nyear that deserve to be dwelt upon particularly and at length, but a few\nof which only can be glanced at here. The desire to expand and strengthen\nitself abroad is natural, and it is strange that the government organs\nshould be so anxious to disavow so praiseworthy an object, provided the\nmotives that urge it are good. It is strange, at the same time, to see how\nit continues its repressive emigration laws; how anxious so mighty an\nempire is to keep all its children at home, where they may be serviceable\nin the Landsturm; and how anxious those children are to get away and come\nout to us here, leaving behind them and surrendering forever all the glory\nand the promise of the newly\u2010founded empire. It is strange, also, to note\nto what little tricks so great a government can descend in its self\u2010\nimposed conflict with its Catholic subjects; as, for instance, the forged\nPapal decree respecting the future election of the Sovereign Pontiff that\nfound its way into the columns of the Cologne _Gazette_ at so opportune a\nmoment as the eve of the German elections. Simultaneously with its\nappearance we were reminded of the significant declaration of Prince\nBismarck in the German parliament, June 9, 1873: \u201cIf the message is\nbrought to us that a new Pope has been elected, we shall certainly be\nentitled to investigate whether he has been duly, properly, and\nlegitimately elected\u201d; that is to say, whether the veto of the head of the\nHoly Roman Empire\u2014who of course is the Emperor William\u2014and of the other\npowers possessing a veto whom the German government might influence, has\nbeen exercised. \u201cOnly if we are satisfied on these heads will he be able\nto claim in Germany the rights belonging to a Roman Pope.\u201d\n\nOut of consideration for Prince Bismarck we pass over those fierce\nparliamentary storms where his keen opponents, Von Windthorst and Von\nMallinkrodt, twitted the Chancellor himself with having been actually\nguilty of the disloyalty to Prussia and the German soil which he falsely\nattributed to the Catholics. The prince, amid thunders of applause,\ncharged them with malicious lying; but the charge, though momentarily\neffective, was not a happy one, as the disclosures of Gen. Della Marmora\nsubsequently showed. Italy was threatened in consequence of Della\nMarmora\u2019s indiscretion, but the threat proved ineffectual. The general\nsaid his say, and the lie was stamped on its author. Prince Bismarck\u2019s\npopularity was on the wane, if not in Germany itself, certainly in a very\nlarge circle outside of Germany where he had hitherto been worshipped as\none who with some justice described himself as \u201cthe best\u2010hated man in\nEurope.\u201d Then, fortunately for himself, as fortunately as a scene in a\ndrama, came the _Deus ex machin\u00e2_ in the pistol of Kullmann to relieve him\nfrom his momentary misfortunes. Prince Bismarck was not the man to miss so\nfine an opportunity of turning to account the insane attempt of the son of\na madman on his life, and we were flooded with the time\u2010honored taunts of\nmeans to ends because a man of notoriously bad and violent character, who\nhappened to have been present at some Catholic meetings, committed the\nwicked and utterly unjustifiable act of firing a pistol at the Chancellor.\nThere are some two hundred million Catholics in the world; there are in\nGermany fourteen or fifteen, in Prussia alone eight millions, of the same\ncreed. Of all these millions one man, of wicked antecedents and insane\ndescent, is found to commit an act abhorrent to the Catholic conscience\nall the world over, and at once the universal conscience of that mighty\nmultitude is with a benignant generosity centred in the person of this\nwretch, who, whether, as many believed, a dupe of the government tools or\na dupe of his own disordered intellect, was equally a wretch. Why not turn\nthe argument the other way? Why not wonder at the sublime patience of the\npeople who see the sacred persons of their bishops and priests dragged\nfrom the altar\u2010steps, stripped of their goods, and buried in fortresses,\nfor the crime of violating laws that were made to be violated, without\nmoving a hand to prevent such constant outrages, because the teachings of\nthose disloyal priests and bishops, of that arch\u2010foe to German\nnationality, the Pope, never cease to forbid armed resistance to the most\noppressive laws that were ever framed? Two or three officials have been\nsent alone among a vast multitude of Catholics to drag before their very\neyes the priest whose Mass they have just attended, from the altar of\nChrist to a prison\u2014for what possible purpose but to provoke bloodshed and\ninsurrection? Happily, the people were still by the efforts of the clergy\nrestrained from putting themselves at the mercy of a government that knows\nno mercy; but who shall say how long that patience will endure? And this\nis the government whose sole aim is the unity and consolidation of Germany\nand the happiness of every section of its people!\n\nAs the Von Arnim case is still pending, it is useless to conjecture what\nthe documents may contain whose possession prompted Prince Bismarck to\narrest and confine in a common prison the man who next after himself stood\nthe foremost in the German nation. The arrest to the world at large showed\nmore forcibly than anything that has yet taken place to what lengths the\nchief of the Prussian government can go; how easily he can trample under\nfoot every tradition of civilization and every feeling of humanity to\ncrush a foe or sweep from his path a possible danger to himself. It is\nprobable that the documents turn chiefly on his foreign policy, and would\nstamp in indelible characters that policy, which it needs no writing to\ntell us threatens not only the church, but the peace of Europe, and,\nthrough Europe, of the world, perhaps for centuries to come. Such\ndisclosures would in the eyes of outraged Germany and Europe necessitate\nhis deprivation of a power he has so fatally abused.\n\nFrance struggles on still without a government; that is to say, without a\ngovernment of which six weeks of existence could be safely predicated. The\nchanges in the ministry have been changes of men rather than of measures.\nThe various parties are still at daggers\u2010drawn and rather on the increase\nthan otherwise. The Count of Chambord seems for the present to have\nretired from the contest\u2014a wise and patriotic example, which if all could\nfollow, the country might be allowed breathing time and some fair chance\nof arriving at a sound judgment as to what was the exact government it\nwanted\u2014a problem which the French nation has seemed incapable of solving\nsince the first Revolution. The Bonapartists have profited by the\nwithdrawal of the Count, and displayed an earnestness, boldness, and\nactivity which have been crowned with some success, but marked by the\ndisregard of the nation and its submergence in the family name and fame\nthat seem the chief characteristics of \u201cthe Napoleonic idea.\u201d The coming\nof age of the son of the late emperor was marked by a theatrical display\nand oracular speeches worthy of the Second Empire at its zenith. There\nhave been the usual \u201cscenes\u201d in the French Assembly. The \u201cintervals of ten\nminutes\u201d and \u201cintervals of a quarter of an hour\u201d have been alarmingly\nfrequent, and after some sittings the air bristled with challenges from\nwarlike deputies, which afforded excellent material for the illustrated\njournals; but, on the whole, few more dangerous weapons than the peaceful\npocket\u2010handkerchief were drawn, and the pocket\u2010handkerchief, as all public\norators know, is a vast relief in trying moments. M. Thiers has preferred\nthe Apennines to the tribune, and has happily spoken more in Italy than in\nthe Chambers. M. Gambetta, for a man of his calibre, has been singularly\nwell behaved on the whole, and we have not had so many of those journeys\nto the disaffected districts of which at one time he threatened to be so\nfond. Sad to say, it is the soldier\u2010president who has thus far kept the\ndisorderly parties from flying at each other\u2019s throats by the sheer force\nof the army, on which he silently leans all the while. France is\npractically in the hands of a military dictator. She is happy in her\ndictator\u2014that is all. Marshal MacMahon, on succeeding M. Thiers, promised\nto answer for order, and he has kept his word. More than that, he has,\nwisely for France, however sad it may be to say so, made the Assembly keep\nits word and abide by the _septennate_ which it conferred on him. He has\nused his vast power with a singular discretion, a patriotism unexampled\nalmost in the face of opportunities that would turn the head of many a\ngreater man, and an honest single\u2010mindedness that has clearly nothing else\nthan the good of the whole country in view. The last symbol of a now\nineffectual protection, and indeed for a long time an insincere one, of\nthe Holy Father, has been withdrawn in the _Or\u00e9noque_. It is better so. It\nis better, perhaps, since matters have been pushed so far, that the Holy\nFather stand absolutely alone, powerless and defenceless, in the eyes of\nearth and heaven. The power of God alone can now restore to him what is\nhis by right. To\u2010day among all the European governments there is none so\npoor as to do him reverence. England has recently withdrawn even its\nshadow of a diplomatic representative, which possibly marks the beginning\nof the \u201clittle more energy in foreign policy and little less in domestic\nlegislation\u201d that Mr. Disraeli advised while still in opposition.\n\nIn all other respects except politics France has every reason to be\ncongratulated. The earnest turning of the people\u2019s heart to God, the\ndesertion of whom called down such terrible punishments, seems in no\ndegree to diminish. The seasons have been propitious, and the vintage of\n1874 has been of unexampled excellence and productiveness. The exports of\nthe year were marvellously increased, and God\u2019s blessings would seem to be\nraining down again on this sorely\u2010tried land and people. All that is\nneeded is a good and firm government, of which, however, as yet, there\nseems no immediate prospect. France is as open as ever to surprises; and\nit is absolutely impossible to forecast its political future.\n\nEngland has experienced a peaceful revolution similar to our own, and one\nalmost as astonishing in its suddenness, though, as in our case, there\nwere not wanting indications of the change in parties which has taken\nplace, as will be found duly noted by those who care to look at THE\nCATHOLIC WORLD\u2019S review for 1873. On January 22 Mr. Gladstone issued his\nmemorable \u201cprolix narrative,\u201d announcing, to the surprise of all men, the\nimmediate dissolution of Parliament. The sudden and, under the\ncircumstances, unexampled action of the premier looked remarkably like a\ndesire to take time by the forelock, and by the suddenness of the attack\nshatter and utterly discomfit the slowly\u2010gathering forces of the\nopposition. If such were the real intention, it was miserably\nmiscalculated and singularly ill\u2010advised. The country was as much outraged\nas shocked, and showed its appreciation of Mr. Gladstone\u2019s skill at a\n_coup_ by returning a very handsome Conservative majority, so that Mr.\nDisraeli, happy man! found himself, to his own surprise, no less than Mr.\nGladstone\u2019s, within three weeks of the dissolution, at the head of a\nstrong government and party, with his old rival deep in the shade. The\nresult of the English elections may prove a lesson to popular leaders for\nthe future not to presume too much on their popularity, not to jeopardize\na powerful party, and throw an empire into sudden confusion by what looks\ntoo much like a freak that it is hoped may win by \u201ca fluke.\u201d\n\nThe most significant lesson of the elections, perhaps, was the\ninstantaneous triumph of the Home Rule party in Ireland, while as yet it\nwas to all appearance in its infancy, and almost beneath the rational\nnotice of the English press. It had only provoked derision and calumny. We\nwere constantly told that it had no hold on the heart of the people, that\nit claimed no men of note, that the nobility and gentry held aloof from\nit, and so forth.\n\nThe \u201cwild adherents\u201d of the \u201cwild folly\u201d have taught even the London\n_Times_ to respect them; and much reason had they to be pledged to their\nwild folly, if the words of a man whose opinion is certainly of some value\non the subject have any weight: \u201cIreland at this moment is governed by\nlaws of coercion and stringent severity that do not exist in any other\nquarter of the globe.\u201d Those words were spoken on the 4th of February,\n1874. The speaker was Mr. Disraeli, the present Prime Minister of England.\nThe laws that provoked the observation of so eminent an English statesman\nstill prevail in Ireland. The appeal for amnesty for the unfortunate\nremnant of the Irish political prisoners has, since those words were\nspoken, been refused by Mr. Disraeli. And yet the Irish calendars for this\nyear, as for many a year past, were the cleanest in the world and the\nfreest from crime of all kinds. Such is the nation governed at this moment\nby laws such as Mr. Disraeli has described. The result of such government\ncan scarcely recommend its dispensers to the nation governed, and yet\ntheir appeal for control of their own affairs, which the English\nParliament confessedly does not understand, and, if it did understand,\nhas, as it acknowledges, too much business on its hands properly to attend\nto, is a wild folly!\n\nThe chief piece of English legislation during the year has been what was\nembodied in \u201cthe bill to put down ritualism\u201d\u2014that is to say, the\nregulation of divine worship as understood in the church established by\nact of Parliament. Ritualism, or the \u201cRomanizing tendency,\u201d as it is\nstrangely termed, in the Anglican Church, has been put down, as far as an\nact of Parliament can put it down. Our ritualists on this side were put\ndown also, for their bishops followed that authority in their church known\nas the British Parliament, composed respectively of Anglicans, Dissenters,\nJews, Quakers, and other sects, with, worst of all, a strong contingent of\nRoman Catholics. That hydra\u2010head of the Anglican Church regulated for it\nto a nicety, pronounced upon its devotions, practices, sacraments,\nvestments, ornaments, postures of the body, bendings of the knee,\nelevations of the hands, prostrations, crossings, and so forth, as calmly\nand in as business\u2010like a fashion as though it were sitting on an income\ntax; and the church that we are so solemnly assured by learned men like\nBishop Coxe, if it dates not exactly from the Ist, certainly dates from\nsomewhere in the neighborhood of the IVth, century, with a subsequent\nlamentable gap up to the XVIth, when the Apostle Henry and others of that\nilk came to renovate and restore it to its pristine purity, bowed meekly\nto the infallible decision of the business\u2010like assembly of Jews,\ninfidels, Quakers, Dissenters, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics. What would\nS. Peter and S. Paul think of it all?\n\nSomething far more serious than this, and of far deeper import to the\nnation, was the long and persistent strike of the agricultural laborers,\nwhich was carried on on a most extensive scale, and with a union that was\nnot thought to exist in the successor of the Saxon hind. Once the ball of\ndisaffection is set rolling, it is very hard to say where it will stop. It\nis clear that the unions have at last permeated the entire body of the\nEnglish laboring\u2010classes. The trades\u2010unions are too often cousins\u2010german\nto the secret societies. The mass of the English agricultural classes, in\ncommon with the vast majority of the English laboring\u2010classes and\nartisans, have no religion at all. The disaffection with the present order\nof things in England, though less pronounced than in most modern European\nnations, has been long gathering, is rapidly spreading, and is beyond all\ndoubt of a nature to excite considerable alarm. Loss of religion, it is\nneedless to say, leaves the minds and hearts of men open to all evil, and\nit would be beyond stupidity to shut one\u2019s eyes to the very plain fact\nthat the spirit of evil and of general disaffection is particularly active\nall the world over just at present. Banish religion, banish the guiding\nhand of God from your objective laws and from the heart and sight of your\npeople, and the people will look on the powers that be, of whatsoever\nnature, as oppressors, on the rich as despoilers of the poor, on the\nemployers as their tyrants.\n\nA most important movement, and one that we welcome with all our hearts, is\nthe bold step taken at last by the English hierarchy in founding a\nCatholic university in England. The want has long been felt in that\ncountry of a centre of Catholic intellect, culture, and thought, to vie\nwith those seats of learning which the piety of their Catholic forefathers\nhad left as priceless heirlooms to their Catholic children, but which,\nwith all holy places and all holy things, had by the national apostasy\nbecome perverted from the purpose of their pious founders, and fallen by a\ntoo easy lapse from centres of false faith to centres of no faith at all.\nIn England and Ireland, as with us, the means of providing higher\neducation for students desirous of attaining it have been hitherto\nnecessarily and lamentably deficient. The Catholic University in Ireland\nand this later one in England give promise that, with proper encouragement\nfrom the wealthy and intelligent laity, this long\u2010felt want will be at\nlength adequately supplied. These are days when the Catholic laity, to\nwhom now all positions, or at least very important ones, are fairly open,\nare in duty bound to take their stand as becomes loyal children of a\nmother universally assailed. The laity can penetrate where the clergy have\nno voice. They are, as S. Peter called them, and as they have so signally\nproved themselves in Germany, \u201ca kingly priesthood.\u201d But to take a stand\nsimilar to that taken by the noble German phalanx, that \u201cthundering\nlegion\u201d in the service of the pagan empire, they must be equal to their\nadversaries in culture, refinement, and address, all which come more by\neducation than from nature. Many a great mind has retired within a narrow\ncircle for which it was certainly not born, and its efforts rendered half\nnugatory by lack of that early association and training which a great\nuniversity, an intellectual focus of the brightest minds in the galaxy of\nletters, is intended to and does supply. We look, then, with as much hope\nas expectancy to this step on the part of the English hierarchy, who have\nsaved their children from the allurements of a Satanic culture by\nsupplying them with men of recognized intellectual standing and\nacknowledged faith in Christ and in his church. Our only hope is that in\nour own country we soon may rival them.\n\nSome mention will probably be looked for here of the controversy, as it is\ncalled, which has sprung up in consequence of a recent pamphlet written by\nMr. Gladstone; but there is little need of such mention, inasmuch as Mr.\nGladstone seems to have been sufficiently answered by the very men whom\nhis pamphlet was intended chiefly to affect\u2014the Protestants of England.\nWhether so intended or not, it was beyond all doubt an attempt altogether\nunworthy the high character of the distinguished author to rouse the\nrancor of the English Protestants against their Catholic fellow\u2010subjects.\nCould we altogether rid ourselves of the respect with which Mr. Gladstone,\ntake him all in all, has hitherto inspired us, as a man whose heart was as\nlarge and loyal as his intellect, and that intellect inspired with\nreverence for God and holy things, his latest exploit could only be\ndescribed as a vulgar \u201cNo Popery\u201d appeal to the worst classes and most\ndegraded passions of English society, delivered in bad taste and worse\nfaith, and, to crown the list of offences, as a political mistake, which\nhas already failed in its object of establishing him, as Earl Russell once\nwas, and as men of the Newdegate and Whalley type would be, as the English\n\u201cNo Popery\u201d champion and leader, while it effectually alienates from him\nonce for all a large and influential body of supporters on whom he has\noften counted, and on whom there was no reason to believe that a genuine\nchange of front on his part might not have led him to count again. That\nhis pamphlet is all this is true; that Mr. Gladstone intended it to be all\nthis there is too much reason to believe, but of that he himself alone can\ntell. If the leader of the English Liberal party is pleased to be patted\non the back by the men in Germany who patted on the back the orators of\nExeter Hall who met to sympathize with the German persecution of Germans\nwhose only crime was their Catholic faith, and whose only stain was and is\ntheir readiness to sacrifice life, lands, and liberty in defence of that\nfaith, he is welcome to his ill\u2010earned applause and doubtful honor.\n\nThe space already given to the important topics touched upon leaves little\nroom for comment on others. And indeed the story, as far as the Catholic\nChurch and general politics are concerned, is much the same all the world\nover. Austria has followed in the wake of Prussia, though its\necclesiastical laws do not seem to have been carried out with the brutal\nthoroughness of its neighbor. Italy continues in its downward course. The\nstate of its finances is appalling, and yet it plies whip and spur with\nreckless speed into chaos. Brigandage, in the south chiefly, grows worse\nand worse. Civil marriage there, as in Prussia, is the law established. A\nnew phase of the secret societies crops out from time to time. It has\ntried the scheme of popular election of the _cur\u00e9s_ as did Switzerland and\nGermany, with a like result in all cases\u2014an absurd _fiasco_. It has made\ngreat strides in the way of popular education, with the result pictured by\nthe special correspondent of the London _Times_: \u201cThe property that is\ntaken from some of the Capuchin convents in Tuscany, and sold at auction,\nis bought back at the auction by \u2018pious benefactors,\u2019 who recall the\nscattered fraternity to their deserted and desecrated homes, and restore\nmonachism on conditions more favorable than those on which it stood before\nits suppression. The central government and the municipalities in Italy\nstrain every nerve to supply the people with a free and good education,\nbut their schools have to strive hard to withstand the competition which\nis raised against them by the Scolopii in Florence, the Barnabites in\nMilan, and the Ignorantins in Turin.... There are now Waldensian,\nMethodist, and other evangelical churches and schools in Rome, as in other\nItalian cities, but their success is not very encouraging, even in the\nopinion of their candid promoters.\u201d And we may add, for the benefit of the\nardent but foolish supporters of the Van Meter and such like schemes, a\nfurther extract from the same correspondent: \u201cAttempts to allow the people\nto elect their parish priests without the permission of, and even in\ndirect opposition to, the bishop of the diocese have been made in some\nMantuan rural districts and elsewhere, but hitherto with no extensive or\ndecisive results; and the Gavazzi, Passaglia, Andrea, and others, who\nwould have ventured on a reforming movement within the church itself, have\nmet with no support whatever, either on the part of the government\nauthorities or of public opinion.\u201d\n\nThe celebration of the twenty\u2010eighth anniversary of the elevation of our\nHoly Father, Pope Pius IX., to the chair of Peter, was general throughout\nChristendom, but desecrated in Rome by the infamous action of the usurping\ngovernment in clearing the streets of the crowds who were peacefully\nreturning from the _Te Deum_ in S. Peter\u2019s. Violent arrests were made on\nno pretext whatever, some of the persons arrested being English and\nAmerican Protestant ladies. On the evening following, and with the\nconnivance of the present Roman authorities, a hideous crowd assembled at\nmidnight to howl cries of hate and blasphemy under the windows of the\nSovereign Pontiff. Not religion alone, but common humanity, seems to have\nbeen banished from Rome by the entrance of Victor Emanuel. Our constant\nprayer should be that the great Pontiff, whose conspicuous virtues, and\nsufferings so patiently borne for Christ\u2019s sake, may be preserved to his\nchildren long to witness with his own eyes the end of the blasphemy,\nviolence, and imposture which now beset him on all sides.\n\nSwitzerland has almost out Prussiaed Prussia in its assault on the\nCatholic Church. So much for the freedom of the typical republic! It has\nchanged its constitution into despotism, driving away the Catholic voters\nfrom the polls by intimidation and violence. Even Loyson has felt himself\ncompelled to cry out against its excesses, and resigned his curacy at\nGeneva. The constitution which it has now adopted, it rejected only two\nyears since. It completely subjects religion to the state, and renders it\nimpossible for a Catholic priest to remain in his native country and\npractise the duties of his office. Civil marriage here again is the order\nof the day. Marriages, it used to be said, were made in heaven. Their\nbirthplace has been transferred to the office and celestial presence of\nhis eminence the town\u2010clerk.\n\nIn Spain the struggle has assumed a fiercer and more determined character\nthan ever. Castelar, who is already and very deservedly forgotten, was\npresident at the opening of the year. His success in that _r\u00f4le_ was what\nmight have been expected, and what has fully justified the opinion held of\nhim throughout in these pages. He was defeated on reading his message to\nthe Cortes in January\u2014a message of despair. General Pavia cleared the\nCortes and took possession with his troops. The movement was so well\nplanned that no rising took place. Indeed, it was hard to say for what or\nfor whom a rising should have been made. There was no government; almost\nall the prominent men had been tried in turn and failed, and the last was\nthe least capable of all. Serrano came to the front again; the whole\nmovement was probably his. Cartagena, which had so long held out against a\nbombardment by sea and land, was taken soon after, and there remained no\nfoe in the field but Don Carlos, who had profited by the diversion at\nCartagena. Bilbao was seriously threatened by the Carlist forces, and\nwould have proved, if taken, an important prize to them. Serrano hastened\nto its relief with all the available forces of the country, and, aided by\nMarshal Concha, succeeded in raising the siege without inflicting any\nmaterial loss on the enemy. Marshal Concha he left to prosecute the\ncampaign, and for the first time since their last rising the Carlists\nfound themselves sore beset. A bullet at Estella, however, ended the\ncheckered career of the most dangerous opponent they had yet encountered,\nand victory after victory of more or less importance has, with an\noccasional reverse, continued to crown their arms. More than once have we\nbeen assured of their annihilation, only to see them appear with renewed\nstrength, and add another victory to their crown. Through the influence of\nGermany the European powers with the exception of Russia, have recognized\na republic which does not exist, and does not promise to exist, in Spain.\nAt one time Prussia threatened to interfere immediately, and may at any\ntime renew the attempt. The reason for this interference is obvious. A\nPrussianized Spain would serve as a double\u2010barrelled gun, covering at once\nRome and France. Whereas the success of Don Carlos is the success of a\nCatholic sovereign and a Bourbon; consequently a friend to France,\nwhatever may be the government in that country. Russia\u2019s refusal to join\nin its schemes was, however, a little too significant to ignore, and love,\nwhich was never at fever\u2010point between what are now the rival powers in\nEurope, was not increased by this rebuff. In the meanwhile Spain is\nsuffering terribly in blood, in commerce, in everything that makes the\nlife of a nation, by this prolonged struggle, which it was our hope to see\nconcluded ere this by the victory of the only man who can promise the\nSpaniards a safe and vigorous government, and who has proved himself\npossessed of all the qualities of king, general, and, as far as we are\nable to judge, truly Christian leader\u2014Don Carlos.\n\nIn Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, and other of the South American states, the\nstruggle between church and state in Europe has been repeated, even to the\nseizure of property, the expulsion of priests and nuns, the imprisonment\nof bishops and priests. One little republic alone, that of Equador, has\nset a noble example to the world of loyalty to the Catholic faith and to\nthe Apostolic See by devoting a large sum out of the public funds to the\naid of the Holy Father. The secret societies have seemingly as strong a\nhold in South America as in Italy, and the boldness with which they act is\nmanifested by the severity of the sentences passed on the Bishops of\nOlinda and Para, the Archbishops of Caracas and Venezuela, and the aged\nBishop of Merida. Those are still Catholic states, and it is to be hoped\nthat all true Catholics there will exert themselves and use the lawful\npower that is in their hands to put a stop to the scenes of outrage and\nbrutal violence that are constantly on the increase.\n\nIt is time that civilized governments, or those that claim the title,\nshould unite to put a stop to the horrible periodical massacres of\nChristians in China, of which the details reach us from time to time,\nparticularly during the past year. It is a shame upon all nations that\npeaceful women should be outraged and brutally cut to pieces, as are the\nCatholic nuns in that country. The European powers and our own could, if\nthey chose, put a stop to this infamous practice\u2014for practice it is. And\nour own government might well take the initiative in the matter. We\nwelcome the Chinese into this country. They come in swarms; they find home\nand labor, and reward for their labor. They live among us, and leave us,\nunmolested to the last. Their very idolatry is allowed; and yet at almost\nstated intervals their countrymen rise up and horribly mutilate and murder\nour dearest and best.\n\nOf actual wars during the year there have been happily few. The defeat of\nthe Ashantees, and the burning of their capital city by the British\nforces, adds, it is to be presumed, a new lustre to the glories of\nEngland. The Dutch retaliated for their defeat of the year previous in\nAcheen by in turn defeating the Achinese. Russia is securing its footsteps\nas it advances into Asia. An invasion of Formosa by the Japanese, who are\nbecoming more and more amenable to European customs, ended strangely by a\npayment of indemnity on the part of China and the departure safe home of\nthe Japanese. The usual chronic revolutions might be recorded of one or\nmore of the South American states, but beyond this there is nothing very\nsanguinary to record.\n\nAn event that will long be memorable, and which excited very general\ninterest outside, was the departure for the first time of a body of\npilgrims from this country to Lourdes and Rome, under the guidance of the\nRt. Rev. Bishop of Fort Wayne and the Rev. P. F. Dealy, S. J. They were\nreceived with special marks of affection by the Holy Father, who declared\nthat in this country he was more Pope than in any other.\n\nAn event that excited extraordinary commotion and a general display of a\nstrange splenetic hate on the part of the English press was the quiet\nconversion to the Catholic faith of the Marquis of Ripon, who, in addition\nto his hereditary title and established character as an English statesman,\nadded that of Grand Master of the Freemasons in England. Among other\nconversions was that of the Queen Dowager of Bavaria.\n\nWe are not in the position to compare the statistics of the past year\u2019s\ncapital crimes or suicides with those of former years; but whether they be\ngreater or less, they are alarmingly great. Suicide and murder were\nstartlingly frequent during the year; and as far as passing glances at the\nreports in the newspapers would justify an opinion, they seem in most\ncases to have resulted from wicked and immoral lives. For a time masked\nburglary threatened to become the fashionable crime of the year. A\nspeedier sentence and a more honest dispensing of the law than often\nprevails would more materially, perhaps, than any other means tend to\ndiminish the long annual list of offences against life and property.\nEducation, to be sure, is a great thing, and there will be an opportunity\nin the coming year of seeing how the new law of compulsory education for\nall children will work in the State of New York. The question is too large\na one to enter into here. As has been shown over and over again,\ncompulsory education with us means practically a compulsory Protestant\neducation; for Protestantism, if not actually taught, is done so at least\nnegatively, for many of the class\u2010books teem with Protestantism from cover\nto cover. That, however, is a matter within the power of remedy to a great\nextent. The compulsory education of Prussia that is so much extolled\nallowed the Catholic priest and the Protestant minister to teach their\nrespective religions at stated hours, in opposite corners of the schools,\neven though they had Sunday\u2010schools as well. But our only safeguard is our\nown schools for our own children, and it is gratifying to note the zeal\nwith which both clergy and laity have combined during the past year to\nestablish Catholic schools all over the country. That is the first thing\nto be done. Let us first have our own schools, and then we may fairly see\nabout the management of our own moneys.\n\nOnly a few of the distinguished dead who have gone out with the year can\nbe mentioned. The church in the United States has lost five venerable\nservants and pioneers of faith, in Bishops Melcher of Green Bay, O\u2019Gorman,\nof Omaha, Whelan of Wheeling, McFarland of Hartford, and Bacon of\nPortland. The College of Cardinals has lost three of its members: Cardinal\nBarnabo, the great Prefect of the Propaganda, to whom the church in this\ncountry is greatly indebted; Cardinals Falcinelli and Tarquini. The\nChristian Brothers lost their venerable superior, Brother Philippe, whose\nfuneral was attended by the chief notabilities of Paris, together with a\nvast crowd of people of all ranks and conditions in life, so much so that\nas the white flag was the suspicious color just then, and as that flag has\nthe misfortune under its present holder of being connected with religion,\nthe keen\u2010scented gentry of the press discovered in this last tribute to a\nman who had spent his life in doing good a Chambordist demonstration. The\ndeath of Mgr. de Merode was a great loss to the Holy Father, as well as to\na multitude of friends. An interesting comparison might be made between\nthe purposes to which he devoted his vast wealth and those of a man still\nmore wealthy who died within the year\u2014the Baron Mayer de Rothschild. His\nadmiring chronicler in the leading English journal informs us that the\nbaron, who, in addition to his other admirable qualities, was a silent\nmember in the English Parliament, spared no expense to erect in his own\npalace a museum \u201cadorned with all that is beautiful.\u201d \u201cHe applied himself\nsystematically to breeding race\u2010horses,\u201d in compensation for which\nexceptional virtue the same glowing chronicler assures us that \u201cwhen he\nwon, a year ago, the Dudley, the Oaks, and the St. Leger, all the world\nfelt that a piece of good and useful work had been performed.\u201d Well, well!\nDid not our own Sumner leave life this very year amid general regret,\nsighing only that his book was not completed? Had that been finished, he\nwould not have cared. And, thinking thus, went out one who is a part of\nour history, and whose name, though it did not fulfil all its earlier\npromise, was great among us. Ex\u2010President Fillmore died almost unnoticed.\nCertain news of the death of Dr. Livingstone in 1873 arrived during the\nyear. Art has lost Kaulbach, who devoted his undoubted genius to attacking\nthe church, and Foley. One of the men of a century died in Guizot.\nMerivale and Michelet are lost to history, Shirley Brooks to light\nliterature. Strauss, the infidel, perhaps, has learnt at last the truth of\nan awkward verse in S. James. Not only Germany, but the Catholic cause all\nthe world over, has sustained a sad and in a sense irreparable loss in the\ngreat and chivalrous leader of the Catholic centre in the German\nparliament, Herr von Mallinkrodt, whom divine Providence was pleased to\ncall away in the height of a career of great usefulness to the church and\nto society. He was a foe whom Prince Bismarck dreaded and had reason to\ndread\u2014one of those men whom no weak point escapes, no side issue can\ndivert, no opponent cow. Adam Black and the monstrosity known as the\nSiamese Twins died during the year.\n\nAnd now the glance at the outline of the general year and some of its\nchief incidents is completed. With every succeeding year we look forward\nwith more anxiety than confidence into the future. There are terrible\nforces, long concealed, nearer the social surface than they ever were\nbefore, and they come up now, as a consequence probably, just when the\ngeneral bond that ought to hold the human family together is at the\nloosest; when men are ready to burst all bounds and call everything in\nquestion; and when the lights of the age can only tell man that he is\nnothing more than a fortuitous cohesion of irresponsible atoms, begotten\nof void only to fall back into it. The only bond that can bind the human\nfamily together is \u201cthe one law, one faith, one baptism,\u201d preached\nnineteen centuries ago in Jud\u00e6a by the lips of the Son of God. And it is\njust that faith that is now being as fiercely assailed as it ever has been\nwithin the Christian era. There is not merely an arming of material forces\ngoing on silently. There is a clash of faith, of intellect, of moral\nprinciples, of all that guides and constitutes the inner and the greater\nlife of man; and of the double collision, the material and the spiritual,\nthat seems to hang over us and make heavy with foreboding the air of all\nthe world. Though supernatural faith may not doubt as to the issue, human\nweakness cannot but tremble and grow faint at the prospect.\n\n\n\n\nNew Publications.\n\n\n ORIENTAL AND LINGUISTIC STUDIES. Second Series. By W. D. Whitney,\n Professor of Sanscrit and Comparative Philology in Yale College.\n New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1874.\n\n\nYale College well deserves the name of university in common with its great\nrival, Harvard. The advance it has made within the last twenty\u2010five years\nis something really remarkable, and, to the great honor of its governing\nbody, this advance has kept pace in linguistic studies with the\nimprovement in the departments of mathematics and physics. One of the\nfunctions of a university is the production of really learned and solid\nbooks for the instruction of readers generally, as well as students in\nparticular branches. The volume before us is a specimen of this class.\nWhatever we may think of some of Prof. Whitney\u2019s theories and opinions, we\nmust acknowledge the evidence of study, labor, and great care to present\nthe results of learning and thought on important and interesting subjects,\nwhich his works exhibit.\n\nThe contents of the present volume are somewhat varied and miscellaneous.\nOne of the topics treated of, which deserves special attention, is the\nspelling and pronunciation of the English language. The variations of\nspelling are not so numerous and important as are those of pronunciation,\nbut in this latter respect our language is certainly in a state which is\nmost unsatisfactory and vexatious, and becoming every day worse. We are\nnot an advocate of any revolutionary project in regard to phonetic\nspelling, but we do most earnestly desire a fixed and uniform standard,\nand still more a rule of uniformity in pronunciation. Mr. Whitney\u2019s\nresearches into this subject are extremely curious, valuable, and often\namusing, and he shows a very peculiar and ingenious facility of describing\nand expressing the various oddities and extravagances of individual or\nprovincial usage. The question at once suggests itself whether there are\nany practicable means of fixing a standard of spelling and pronunciation.\nIf it were question of a language spoken by one nation only, we can see\nvery easily that an academy might be established which should settle all\nthese matters by authority. An Englishman might assert the right of\nEngland to determine all usages in respect to the English language, and\nthe corresponding obligation of all English\u2010speaking peoples to conform to\nan authoritative standard furnished by an academy in England. Americans\nmight not be satisfied with this. The further question arises, therefore,\nwhether it be possible that English and American scholars should do\nsomething concurrently in this direction.\n\nMr. Whitney has given in some other papers, with a condensed but clear\nexposition, historical and philosophical views of India and China which\nwill probably have more interest to the great body of readers than any\nother portions of his volume. In respect to one very important aspect of\nthese topics, the missionary aspect, he shows impartiality and manifest\neffort to conform his statements and judgments to historical facts and a\nreal rather than a fanciful standard. There is no attempt to claim for\nProtestant missions greater success than they have had, and a very fair\ntribute of praise is given to the celebrated Catholic missionaries who\nhave labored in that arduous field. Yet, like other Protestants, Mr.\nWhitney shows himself not well informed about the practical results at\nwhich Catholic missionaries aim, and which, in so far as that is possible,\nthey accomplish, in making their converts solidly pious and virtuous\nChristians.\n\nAmong the other topics treated of in this volume, the most important are\nM\u00fcller\u2019s _Chips from a German Workshop_, Cox\u2019s _Aryan Mythology_, and the\n\u201cLunar Zodiac of India, Arabia, and China.\u201d We have not examined these and\nprevious essays of the learned author, in which the formation of languages\nand mythologies is treated of, with sufficient attention to be enabled to\nunderstand clearly his fundamental theory of the origin and history of\nreligion. We therefore abstain from any attempt at a critical judgment;\nand, in regard to Mr. Whitney\u2019s own special department of _Sanscrit_, very\nfew critics can safely venture on that ground. Thorough and solid studies\nin these recondite branches of knowledge must lead to results advantageous\nto religion as well as to merely human science. We rejoice, therefore, in\nthe noble and in many respects successful efforts of Mr. Whitney and his\nassociates to promote the cause of high education in this country. We\ntrust that their example may be emulated by those who have the principal\ncharge of the higher education of our Catholic youth. The English bishops\nhave already inaugurated the University College of Kensington with a\nfaculty worthy of Oxford or Cambridge. When will the first steps be taken\nfor a similar institution among ourselves?\n\n\n THE KING\u2019S HIGHWAY; OR, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH THE WAY OF SALVATION,\n AS REVEALED IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. By the Rev. Augustine F.\n Hewit, of the Congregation of S. Paul. New York: The Catholic\n Publication Society. 1874.\n\n\nThis work of Rev. Father Hewit supplies a want we have often felt in\ninstructing converts to the church. There are many sincere persons looking\nfor light, and dissatisfied with the religious sect in which they were\nborn, who have no idea of the church, nor the office it holds in the plan\nof redemption. The denomination to which they belong has never been of any\nuse to them, and has, in fact, disclaimed all power to guide or help them.\nIt requires often some time to overcome their prejudice against any kind\nof instrumentality between their souls and God. They believe in the Sacred\nScriptures, which they have never deeply studied, but which they hold to\nbe the oracles of divine truth. In their opposition to the Catholic faith\nthey have been fighting against the only thing which can fill up the\ndesire of their hearts, and bring into blessed harmony all they know of\nGod and all they seek from his hands. To such this book will be as a\nmessenger from heaven. It will remove their doubts, and from the inspired\nwritings will prove to them the error of Protestant theories, and show how\nChrist our Redeemer is only to be found in his church, \u201cwhich is his\nbody,\u201d which \u201che filleth all in all.\u201d Written in the clear, graceful, and\nforcible style which distinguishes all the works of the author, it brings\nforth an argument which no honest mind can resist. It points out \u201cthe\nKing\u2019s highway,\u201d so plainly that \u201cthe wayfaring man, though a fool, cannot\nfail to find it.\u201d The first chapters are devoted to a refutation of the\nfalse theories of Calvinism and Lutheranism. By the plain language of the\nBible they are shown to be opposed to the divine Word, contradictory of\neach other, and hostile to the very nature and attributes of God. The true\ndoctrine of redemption is then set forth from the Scriptures, with the\noffice of faith and the prerequisites of justification. The whole system\nof salvation, as the mercy of Jesus Christ has revealed it, arises in its\nbeauty and fulness before the eyes of the sincere, and the Catholic Church\nopens its door to the weary and heavy\u2010laden, that they may enter in to\npraise God and find rest to their souls. We have nowhere seen a more clear\nand effective demonstration of our divine religion from the Scriptures. We\nhave only to pray that it may have a large circulation among the honest\ninquirers after truth in this day of darkness and infidelity. Protestants\nof the old class profess a great reverence for the Bible, which is to them\na kind of rule of faith. The diligent reading of this work will convince\nthem that they cannot follow the Scriptures and remain where they are;\nthat Catholics alone can understand and obey the written Word of God.\nNeither can they abide in the creed of their fathers amid the errors and\ndisorganizing influences of this day. They must go forward and keep the\ntruth they have already received by embracing all to which it leads, or\nlose what they have in the misery of doubt and unbelief. The day of grace\nfor dogmatic Protestants is well\u2010nigh gone.\n\nWe have only to add the earnest wish that Catholics generally would read\nthis book and profit by the instruction it contains. There are very many\namong us who might lead others to the truth, if they were better informed\nas to the grounds of their faith, and the points of controversy which\nseparate the conflicting Christian sects from the church. Idleness and\nignorance will be a fearful burden to bear before the Judge of all. The\ntalent hidden in the ground will be demanded with interest, and the\nunprofitable servant will have to answer for light unimproved and grace\nunfruitful. The souls we could have saved will rise up against us in the\nday of our greatest need. \u201cUnto whomsoever much is given, of him much\nshall be required.\u201d\n\nT. S. P.\n\n\n THREE ESSAYS ON RELIGION. By John Stuart Mill. New York: Henry\n Holt & Co. 1874.\n\n\nWhat John Stuart Mill was, and what his life was, our readers have been\nalready informed in a review of his _Autobiography_. The prince of modern\nEnglish sophists and sceptics, he was as miserable and hopeless in life\nand death as the victim of an atheistical education might be expected to\nbe; as miserable as a man outwardly prosperous, enjoying the resources of\na cultivated mind, and exempted by the moral force of his character from\nthe consequences of gross crimes, could well become. These three _Essays_\nare essays of the unhappy sceptic to reduce his readers to the same\nmiserable condition. Their scope is to overturn, not revealed religion\nalone, but all theism; to destroy the belief in God; and to substitute the\nmost dreary atheism, fatalism, and nihilism for the glorious, elevating,\nconsoling faith of the Christian, and the imperfect but yet, in itself,\nennobling philosophy of the higher class of rationalists. It is a very bad\nsign for our age, and a worse omen for the future, that men can profess\natheism without incurring public odium and disgrace, and that respectable\npublishers find it for their interest to flood the market with the deadly\nliterature which is worse than that of France during the age of Bayle and\nVoltaire. A large class of book\u2010sellers may always be found, not\nscrupulous or over\u2010sensitive in their consciences about right and wrong in\nmorals, when money is to be made. We suppose, however, that those of them\nwho expect to make fortunes and transmit them to their children would like\nto have the good order of society continue. What can such gentlemen be\nthinking of when they help to lay the train under the foundations of order\nand social morality? We know of a man who helped to run his own bank, in\nwhich he had many thousands of dollars invested, by demanding specie for a\nhundred\u2010dollar bill during a panic. Old John Bunyan tells of a certain\nperson living in the town of Mansoul whose name was Mr. Penny wise\u2010pound\u2010\nfoolish. Every one who helps on the spread of atheism, materialism,\nimpiety in any shape, even if he makes money or fame by it, is helping to\nrun his own bank. Moreover, he is helping to train the generation of those\nwho will cut the throats of the whole class he belongs to. We are just now\nvery wisely, though somewhat tardily, bringing the odious Mormon criminals\nto justice, by a kind of blind Christian instinct which still survives in\nour public opinion. What is the consistency or use of this, if we are\ngoing to look on apathetically and see the next generation all over our\ncountry turned into atheists? Practical atheism is worse than the most\nhideous and revolting form of Mormonism. Why mend a broken spar when\nmutineers are scuttling the ship from stem to stern? Would it not be well\nfor those conductors of the press who have some principles and some belief\nin them, for the clergy, and for all who have access in some form to the\near of a portion of the public, to be a little more alive to the danger\nfrom the spread of atheism, and a little more active in counteracting it?\n\nPardon, gentlemen, for disturbing your nap. You are very drowsy, but is it\nnot time for you to wake up?\n\n\n EAGLE AND DOVE. From the French of Mademoiselle Fleuriot, by Emily\n Bowles. New York: P. O. Shea. 1874.\n\n\nThis is a story of Breton life and of the events of the siege and the\nCommune of Paris. It is superior to the common run of stories in artistic\nmerit, its characters and scenes have a peculiar and romantic interest,\nand its religious and moral tone is up to the highest mark.\n\n\n THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE, Etc. Vol. XI. Tractates on the\n Gospel of S. John, Vol. II.; Vol. XII. Anti\u2010Pelagian works, Vol.\n II. Edinburgh: J. & J. Clark. 1874. (New York: Sold by The\n Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n\nTwo more volumes of the splendid edition of S. Augustine\u2019s works are here\npresented, and deserve a warm welcome. It is difficult to see how they\nwill serve the cause of the Church of England, but that is the affair of\nthe editors, not ours. Of course they are mighty weapons for High\u2010\nChurchmen against their Low and Broad Church antagonists. But they tell\nequally against these same High\u2010Churchmen in favor of the Catholic Church.\nThe treatise against Vincentius Victor, in Vol. XII., is crowded with\ndenunciations of the Donatists, who are the prototypes of Anglicans,\nexcept in one respect, viz., that the former had valid orders.\n\n\n RHYMES AND JINGLES. (Illustrated.) By Mary Mapes Dodge, author of\n _Hans Brinker_, etc. New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1875.\n\n\nThis is a very pretty book for a Christmas present. The rhymes are nice,\nand such as will please, amuse, sometimes instruct folk of the nursery.\nThe illustrations are numerous and well executed, some are funny, some\nremarkably beautiful. Any little boy or girl who has not already been\nsurfeited with toys and books may be made happy by such a gift. Merry\nlittle people, a merry Christmas to you!\n\n\n LIBRARY OF THE SACRED HEART. Baltimore: J. Murphy & Co. 1874.\n\n\nThis is something towards supplying a great need among Catholic\npublications. There are numerous and beautiful series of books issued by\nthe sectarian press, but comparatively few by Catholic publishers. Any one\nwho has had to procure Catholic libraries knows this want. Such series are\ngreat aids in supplying Sunday\u2010school or household libraries. We welcome\nthe above, and trust it will be followed by others of the same kind. Much\ncredit is due to the publishers for their selection and the neat\nappearance of the volumes. The selection comprises six small and choice\nspiritual works. _God our Father_ and the _Happiness of Heaven_, by the\nsame author, have been noticed with high praise in our columns. The others\nalso are standard works. We recommend this \u201cLibrary of the Sacred Heart,\u201d\nand hope it will be appreciated. It is contained in a neat and tasteful\nbox, appropriately ornamented with pious emblems of the Sacred Heart.\n\n\n BRIC\u2010A\u2010BRAC SERIES\u2014NO. IV.: PERSONAL REMINISCENCES BY BARHAM,\n HARNESS, AND HODDER. New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1874.\n\n\nThis is quite up to the mark of the foregoing volumes, and full of very\nagreeable anecdotes, criticisms, and literary chit\u2010chat.\n\nANNOUNCEMENT.\u2014We shall begin, next month the publication of a new serial\nstory, entitled _Are you my Wife?_ by the author of _Paris before the War,\nNumber Thirteen, A Daughter of S. Dominic, Pius VI._, etc., etc.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CATHOLIC WORLD. VOL. XX., NO. 119.\u2014FEBRUARY, 1875.\n\n\n\n\nChurch Authority And Personal Responsibility:\n\n\nA Letter Prom Aubrey De Vere To Sara Coleridge On The Catholic Philosophy\nOf The \u201cRule Of Faith,\u201d Considered Especially With Reference To The\nTranscendental System Of S. T. Coleridge.(149)\n\nA letter to me, printed in the _Memoir of Sara Coleridge_, and dated\nOctober 19, 1851, contains the following passage: \u201cViewing the Romish\nsystem as you do, my dear friend, I cannot regret that you think, as you\ndo, of the compatibility of my father\u2019s scheme of philosophy therewith,\nassured, as I feel, that he had done that Papal system too much justice to\nbelieve in it as a divine institution\u201d (vol. ii. p. 401). From my youth I\nhad been an ardent student of Coleridge\u2019s philosophy, to the illustration\nof which his daughter, indifferent to her own literary fame, so faithfully\ndevoted her great powers. That philosophy had largely inspired F. D.\nMaurice\u2019s remarkable work, _The Kingdom of Christ_; and I believed firmly\nthat it was, at least as compared with the empirical philosophy of the\nlast century, in harmony with Catholic teaching, rightly understood; and\nthat the objections made against that teaching were such as a\ntranscendentalist must regard as proceeding, not from any intuitions or\nideas of the \u201creason,\u201d but from the cavils of that notional understanding\ncalled by Coleridge \u201cthe faculty judging according to sense.\u201d I have\nlately found a letter written by me to my lamented friend less than a\nfortnight after her letter quoted above, and about a fortnight before I\nmade my submission to the Catholic Church. It may interest some of those\nwho have read Sara Coleridge\u2019s letters, and who are enquirers as to the\nmethod proper for reaching solid conclusions in the domain of truth not\nscientific and discovered by man, but religious, and revealed to him.\n\nIt was my object to show that the Catholic \u201crule of faith\u201d does not\noppose, but alone adequately vindicates, some great principles with which\nit has been contrasted, _e.g._, personal action, the dependence of\nindividual souls on divine grace, religious freedom, zeal for truth, the\ninterior character of genuine piety, and the value of \u201cinternal\nevidences.\u201d That \u201crule\u201d has been stigmatized as a bondage. This is the\nillusion of those who, regarding the church from without, and under the\ninfluence of modern and national traditions, see but a part of her system,\nand have not compared it with other parts. The Catholic law of belief I\nendeavored to set forth as the only one consistent with a sound philosophy\nwhen treating of things supernatural, and as such beyond the method of\ninduction and experiment, while it is also both primitive and Scriptural.\nI wished to show that it is the only means by which we can possess the\nrevealed truth with certainty and at once in its fulness and its purity;\nand to illustrate it as not alone our gate of access to truth \u201cspiritually\ndiscerned,\u201d but the nurse and the protectress of our whole spiritual life,\nwith all its redeemed affections; as opposed, not to personal action and\nresponsibility, or to a will free and strong, because loyal, but to an\nunintelligent pride and to a feeble self\u2010will, the slave of individual\ncaprice; as the antagonist, not of what is transcendent and supernatural\nin religion, but of a religious philosophy in which the philosophy exalts\nitself against the religion, \u201crunning after\u201d revelation to \u201c_take somewhat\nof it_,\u201d but not inheriting its blessing.\n\nTwenty\u2010three years have passed since my letter was written; and year after\nyear has deepened in me the convictions which it expresses, or rather\nwhich it indicates in a fragmentary way, and possibly not with a technical\naccuracy. In the church I have found an ever\u2010deepening peace, a freedom\never widening, a genuine and a fruitful method for theological thought,\nand a truth which brightens more and more into the perfect day. External\nto her fold, it is but too probable that I should long since have drifted\ninto unbelief, though a reluctant and perhaps unconscious unbelief.\n\nAfter some preliminary matter, referring to our earlier discussions, the\nletter continues as follows:\n\nDivine faith is a theological virtue, the gift of God, which raises the\nspirit to believe and confess, with a knowledge absolutely _certain_,\nthough obscure in kind, the _whole truth which God has revealed to man_.\nSuch is the _description_ which Roman Catholic writers give of a grace\nwhich cannot be _defined_. The knowledge of faith is as certain as that of\nmathematics, but wholly different in kind, including a moral and spiritual\npower, affecting (if it be _living_ faith) the mind and will at once, as\nlight and heat are united in the sunbeam, and containing, like the\nsunbeam, many other secret properties also. It far transcends the\ncertainty of any one of our senses, each of which may deceive us. It is\nalso essentially different from that intellectual vision which belongs to\nthe kingdom of glory, not of grace or of nature. Its nearest analogon is\nhuman faith, through which we believe that we are the children of our\nreputed parents, and on which, and not on demonstration, the basis of\nhuman life is laid. But it differs essentially also from human faith. It\nis supernatural, not natural. It is certain, not uncertain. In its\napplication to supernatural objects it is wholly independent of\nimagination or enthusiasm; and it brings us into _real_ intercourse with\nobjective truth. False religions rest on that which simulates divine\nfaith, and _may_, even among Christians, so fill its place that the\ndifference is not discernible to human eyes\u2014a mixture of human faith with\naspiration, imagination, and the other natural faculties. True religion\ncarries with it the special faculty by which it is capable of being\nrealized, and thus makes a revelation which they but seemed to make. But\nthis faculty is not a natural one awakened, but a supernatural one\nbestowed, its ordinary antecedents being the corresponding moral virtues\nof humility and purity; and the exercise of _human_ faith and other devout\naffections, themselves stimulated by a different and inferior kind of\ngrace, bestowed on the whole family even of unregenerate man. Besides the\nantecedent conditions for receiving, other conditions are necessary for\nthe realization and right application of the divine and illuminating\ngrace. These conditions are not arbitrary, but spring from the necessities\nof our whole nature, both individual and corporate. They are ordinarily\nthe individual co\u2010operation of will, mind, and heart, and an attitude of\nwilling submission to God, or the prophet _through_ whom the objects of\nfaith are propounded to us by him. This prophet was the Messiah himself\nwhile he walked on earth, and was the Apostolic College from the day of\nPentecost. He continues to address us, in a manner equally distinct,\nthrough that church in whom, as catholic and yet one, the unity of the\nApostolic College (one in union with Peter) still abides. That church is\nthe body of Christ; and we are introduced at once into it and him through\nbaptism. The visible rite corresponds with the invisible grace bestowed\nthrough it, just as the church itself is at once the spiritual kingdom of\npeace, and the visible \u201cmountain of the Lord\u2019s house\u201d elevated to the\nsummit of the mountains, and as man himself, consists of soul and body.\n\nThat church, inheriting a belief which it never invented or discovered,\nconfesses Christ, and confesses also that she is Christ\u2019s representative\non earth. She challenges individual faith, and proposes to it the one\nobject of dogmatic belief. That one object is the _whole_ Christian faith,\nas it has hitherto been, or ever may be, authentically _defined_. Whether\nit be believed _implicitly_, as by the peasant, or _explicitly_, as by the\ndoctor, makes no difference whatever, relatively to _faith_, though it may\naffect edification, which needs a due proportion between our intellectual\nand moral gifts. In each case alike (1) the _whole_ faith is held; (2) is\nheld _bon\u00e2 fide_, as _revealed by God_; (3) is held wholly by supernatural\n_faith_; (4) affords thus a basis for the supernatural life of hope and\ncharity. \u201cFundamentals,\u201d as distinguished from \u201cnon\u2010essentials,\u201d there are\nnone, _i.e._, objectively. All Christian truths are in each other by\nimplication, as Adam\u2019s race was in the first parent. They are yet more\ntranscendently in each other, for each contains all. To receive one by\ndivine faith is to receive all. To deny one, when competently proposed to\nus by the authority which speaks in God\u2019s name, is to deny all, unless\ncircumstances beyond our will have deceived our mind respecting that\nauthority or its message. The whole objective faith will probably never be\nrecognized, till in the kingdom of glory it flashes upon us in its unity.\nIn the kingdom of grace (_in via_, not _in patria_) it is defined in\nproportion to the moral and intellectual needs of the church. It is\ndefined, not as a science, but from necessity, and to meet the gainsaying\nof heresy. The endeavor of the church is to _preserve_ the treasure\nconfided to her. _It_ cannot increase, but the _knowledge_ of it must.\nSubjectively, the knowledge is progressive as man is progressive; but\nobjectively it is unchanging as God is eternal. The whole, defined and\nundefined, is essential and one. The whole is needed for the race, that\nthe race may retain Christ, its head. The knowledge of the whole is needed\nby each according to his circumstances. The entire belief of the entire\ntruth, _implicitly_, is necessary for each individual. Ordinarily, and\nexcept in the case of involuntary error, that entire belief of the whole\nis realized through a submission (_absolute_ but _free_, filial, and\nnecessitated by all our Christian sympathies and spiritual affections, as\nwell as by obedience) to her who is God\u2019s representative, visible, on\nearth.\n\nThe existence of that visible church is wholly irrespective of our needing\nan expositor of dogmatic faith. Its character is determined (1) by the\ncharacter of God, whom it images alike in his unity and his plurality; (2)\nby the character of Christianity, which is communicated to the _race_, and\nto the individual _in and with_ the body, so that _nothing_ that he holds\ncan be held _singly_, except what is perishable; and (3) by the character\nof man, who graduates in a certain order, and who, as a mixed being, is\ntaught after a fashion that ever exalts the meek and raises the moral\nfaculties above the intellectual in endless elevation, however high the\nlatter may ascend. But among its other functions, the visible church has\nthat of presenting to the infused habit of faith what otherwise it would\nseek for in vain, _i.e._, a dogmatic _authority_ which, in act, it can\nrise to, cleave to, and live by. If Christ reigned visibly on earth, he\nwould need no such representative. If Christ, as the Eternal Reason,\n_inspired_ each man, as well as enlightening him, he need never have\nassumed flesh. If the Holy Ghost _inspired_ each man as he did the\nprophets and apostles (instead of communicating to him the grace of faith,\nplanting him in the church, feeding him with the Lord\u2019s body, quickening\nhis devout affections, etc.), then there would be no need for the church,\nas a dogmatic authority, nor for the _Holy Scriptures_. If the Bible were\na plain book; if the nature of truth were such that it could be divided\ninto fundamental and non\u2010essential; if one doctrine could be believed,\nwhile another, involved in it, is denied, then, perhaps, private judgment\nmight extract from the Bible as much as an individual requires. Again, if\nsupernatural faith were not requisite, but human faith, founded on\n_evidence_, and generating _opinion_, sufficed, then private judgment,\navailing itself of all _human_ helps suggested by prudence, could build up\non the Bible, on philosophy, on ecclesiastical traditions, and on the\npublic opinion of the day, a certain scheme of thought on sacred subjects,\nround which the affections would cluster, to which devout associations\nwould cling, which the understanding might formalize, imagination\nbrighten, enthusiasm exult in, prudence recommend. But these are all\nsuppositions, not realities. Private \u201cinspiration\u201d is known to be a\nfallacy. \u201cReason\u201d cannot make reasonable men agree; and every one who has\nany portion in reason knows that what is disputed for ages is disputable,\nand that what is not truth to all cannot be truth absolute and certain, on\nthe ground of reason, to any one. Uncertain opinion cannot be supernatural\nfaith. Spiritual discernment cannot lead us to the finer appreciation of\ndoctrine while we remain ignorant as to whether it be a particular\ndoctrine or the opposite doctrine that challenges our faith.\n\nBut, on the other hand, if an authority speaks in God\u2019s name, it _may_ be\nreally commissioned by him. If so commissioned, it _may_ be believed by\nus. If believed, all parts of its message are equally certain. This\nhypothesis obviously _admits_ of an objective faith certain throughout,\nand only for that reason certain at all. If a revelation were to be\n_founded on faith, this would afford faith a sphere_. I speak of it now as\nbut an hypothesis. I claim for it that it is _reasonable_.\n\nIt is objected that _such_ belief could be but an amiable and useful\ncredulity at best, since it would not be founded on insight and spiritual\ndiscernment. It is thus that Hindoos and Mahometans believe; and their\nbelief would be worthless, but that by God\u2019s mercy some fragments of truth\nand some gleams of reason are mixed up with their systems. The objection\nwholly overlooks the fact that _ex hypothesi_ the prophet and her message\nare believed, not with a _human_ faith, but with a _divine_ faith. Faith\nis inclusively the gift of spiritual discernment, though it is also much\nmore. What faith receives _must_ be spiritually discerned. It can discern\nin no other way.\n\nBut, it is objected, the plain fact is that multitudes do _not_\nspiritually discern or appreciate what they thus receive. No doubt.\nNothing is more possible than that they should receive with only a human\nfaith what yet is divinely addressed to a divine faith. They have, then,\nopportunities which they have not yet used. Multitudes of Roman Catholics\nhave doubtless, like multitudes of Protestants, opinion only, not\ncertainty, while the sensation of certainty is in both cases illusory, and\nproceeds from positiveness of temper or sluggishness of mind.(150) To\npossess the means of realizing and maintaining faith _compels_ no man to\nhave faith; otherwise, like intuitions irrespective of the will, it would\nmerit nothing and include no probation. Faith and the guide of faith are\nboth offered to the Catholic; but he must co\u2010operate with grace, as with\nProvidence, to profit by either.\n\nBut how, it is asked, can we by such a process have a spiritual\ndiscernment of the doctrine by which we are challenged? Are we not in the\nposition, after all, of Hindoos? I answer, Christianity resembles many\nfalse religions in this respect: that it comes to us on what claims to be\nauthority, and challenges our submission; but it differs from them in this\nall\u2010important respect: that others are false, and it is true. It being\ntrue, the human mind, which, so far as it retains the divine image, is in\nsympathy with truth, has a _moral_ appreciation of its truth, and, when\nilluminated by faith, has a _spiritual_ discernment of it. No one who,\nafter years of wandering in erroneous paths, comes at last to contemplate\nthe doctrine of the Trinity from a new point of view, and accepts it on\nwhat he trusts is a spiritual discernment of it, can doubt that he could\nequally have discerned its truth years before had he been led by the\nchurch to the same point of view, and gifted from above with that light\nwhich removes the sensuous film. He could not indeed, on the authority of\nthe church, spiritually receive or hold, with genuine faith, something in\nitself false and absurd. But then _part of the hypothesis_ is that the\nchurch can propound no doctrinal error. Neither could the definition\n_give_ faith. But then it does not profess to do so; it but _shapes_ and\n_directs_ faith. As little could the authority of the church give faith.\nIt makes no such profession; it but _challenges_ faith. It is the\n_inseparable condition_ of faith: God is its _source_. The human mind, co\u2010\noperating with grace, receives faith, and at the same time is confronted\nwith a distinct, palpable object of faith. So touched, it becomes the\nmirror of truth; and its belief is exclusively a _personal_ and _internal_\nact, though performed with the instrumentality, not only of an outward\nagency, but of a _specific_ external agency, _i.e._, the church. The same\nDivine Spirit acts at once externally and internally\u2014externally in the\nchurch, which it commissions, instructs, and keeps one; internally in the\nindividual mind, which it kindles, illuminates, attracts, and (dissolving\nthe tyranny of self\u2010love) lifts up into freedom and power. The Holy\nSpirit, then, is at once the root of faith in the individual, and of unity\nin the church. This doctrine may be objected to as _ideal_; but surely not\nas _carnal_. Assuredly it is Scriptural.\n\nBut, it is rejoined, \u201csupposing that the divine message may be spiritually\ndiscerned _when_ it is devoutly accepted, and thus accepted _as a whole_,\nwhen it would otherwise be accepted but in part (and then, perhaps, with\nbut a partial faith), still how are we to know that the authority is\ndivine? If no belief, however sound, is faith, unless it (1st) believes,\nand (2d) _truly believes_, that it rests on _divine testimony_ and listens\nto God himself, how is this prophet to be recognized? The world abounds in\nclaimants to infallibility, though the Christian world has but one. The\napostles indeed claimed it; but then they wrought miracles, and the\nmiracles proved the authority.\u201d I answer that miracles _proved_ nothing by\nway of _scientific demonstration_; but that they _witnessed_ to the\nsupernatural character of the teacher and the doctrine. If the divine\nmessage could be _proved_ to the reason, it would rest on science, not on\nfaith, and the whole Christian scheme would be reversed, belief becoming a\nnecessary and _natural_ act. Miracles _challenged_ faith, but could only\nbe received by faith, since they might always be referred to imposture or\nevil spirits, both classes of agency abounding in the time of Simon Magus\nas now. It is begging the question to assume that miracles do not take\nplace now; but, even conceding thus much, the church has still at least as\nhigh credentials as the apostles had. Their miracles constituted but\nevidence; and evidence which creates opinion can but _challenge_ faith,\nnot extort it. In place of that evidence we have now the \u201cnotes of the\nchurch\u201d: its apostolicity, its catholicity, its unity, its sanctity, its\nheroic history, its wonderful promulgation, its martyrs, its doctors, its\nschoolmen; communities moulded by it; races united by it; sciences and\narts first nourished by it; civilization and freedom produced by it, and,\namid all the changes of the world, the same great doctrines and sacraments\nretained by it. We can hardly doubt that the one stupendous _fact_ of the\nchurch is as strong an _appeal_ to the faith of a man (and our Lord\nhimself did but _appeal_ to faith) as that made by an apostle at Athens,\nwhen, rising up in a mixed multitude of disputatious Greeks, Eastern\nsorcerers, Roman conjurers, and Jewish refugees, he assured them that he\nhad been sent by the unknown God to preach what to the Greeks was\nfoolishness: that One who was crucified had also worked miracles and risen\nfrom the dead, . . . that his kingdom, and not the Roman, was to crown the\nworld; and that all this was the fulfilment of Jewish prophecy, though the\nJewish nation disowned that kingdom, and had slain its Head. He spoke of\nglories to come: the church speaks of triumphs that have been. He\nsuggested an experiment: the church has tried and proved it. He was\naccused of blasphemy, superstition, atheism, insubordination; so is she.\nHe must have confessed that inspiration was not given to him alone, but to\nthe Apostolic College; and he could have brought no immediate and\nscientific proof that he and his scattered brethren agreed in the same\ndoctrine, even as to \u201cessentials.\u201d The church\u2019s practical unity of\ndoctrine is a matter of notoriety, and is accounted for by the imputation\nof tyranny, formalism, etc. It is an understatement to affirm that, _on\nthe Roman Catholic hypothesis_, that church _challenges_ faith with the\naid of as strong evidential witness as an apostle possessed. But the\n_quantum_ of evidence is not the question. The greatest amount of it\ncannot _give_ faith, the least may _elicit_ it; and at what periods the\nworld requires most evidence we know not. The important fact is that the\nchurch which claims for its centre the _apostolic_ see, does challenge\nfaith just as an apostle did, or as the whole apostolic college did; that\nshe is apostolic, not merely by having the succession, but by using the\nauthority, and by acting just as she _must_ act if, as she affirms, the\nwhole college, in union with Peter, _lived on_ in her. She too claims all\nand gives all. She too says, \u201cThrough me you may exercise divine faith\nwhen you receive, \u2018by _hearing_,\u2019 the message of God; for I am his\napostle. What I saw and heard, what I handled and tasted, that, as a sure\nwitness, I report. It was I who cast my nets on the Galilean shore when I\nwas called. I heard that question, \u2018But whom say _ye_ that _I_ am?\u2019 I\nknelt on the Mount of Transfiguration when the suppressed glory broke\nforth and the law and the prophets were irradiated. I joined in that Last\nSupper. I stood beside his cross, and received his mother as my mother. I\nreached forth my hand, and put my fingers into the print of the nails. I\nreceived the charge, saw the ascension, felt the Pentecostal tongues,\ndelivered my message, sealed it with my blood, and still stand up,\ndelivering it for ever, and sealing it with my blood and with his.\u201d This\nis the claim the church makes, and the same was made by the apostle. Both\nalike are subject to the rejoinder, \u201cHigh claims do not prove themselves;\nand the competitors for infallibility are many.\u201d Both alike answer: \u201cIf my\nmessage be false, you could not _really_ and vitally believe in me, even\nthough you would. If my message be true, you _may_ believe in me, but I\ncannot compel you to do so.\u201d It is not more wonderful that there should be\nrival priesthoods than rival creeds. There are many false _because_ there\nis one true. Authority has commonly been claimed even by spurious\nreligions, because the instinct of the human race, which is reason,\nperceived that if God vouchsafed a revelation to man, it would be both\ngiven and sustained through man, and not merely through a book.\n\nFrom the above statements thus much at least is clear: (1) that the\nProtestant controversy with Rome does _not_ respect the _ultimate source\nof belief_, which, by the admission of both sides, is to be referred to\nthe Holy Spirit alone; but does respect this question, viz., whether,\nsince an external agency is admitted to be in every case _instrumentally_\nbut _absolutely_ necessary for faith, that aid be not given to us by God,\nand given in the form of one, specific instrument, not any one that comes\nto hand\u2014something easily known by outward marks which plainly solicit\nattention, not a proteus that changes almost as the individual mind\nchanges. The question is whether the something external confessedly\nessential be the church of God and temple of the Spirit, speaking\nintelligibly and with authority, in the majesty of its visible unity; or\nbe whatever sect or teacher may represent to plastic minds the public\nopinion of the place and time.\n\nAnd (2) it is equally plain that Rome, in denouncing the principle of\nprivate judgment (except so far as, in _abnormal_ circumstances, we are\nreduced to it, or something like it, while testing the claims of\nauthority), is in no degree disparaging _individual intuition_, but simply\n_stating the conditions, external_ as well as internal, under which it can\nbe effectually and permanently realized. To see with another\u2019s eyes, not\none\u2019s own, is an absurd aspiration which could not have made itself good\nfor the greater part of the Christian era, over the greater part of the\nChristian world. But a man may use his own eyes, though together with them\nhe uses a telescope, and his own ears, though he listens to the voice of a\nprophet instead of his own voice, or his domineering neighbor\u2019s.\n\nThe Roman Catholic doctrine of authority does not assume that we cannot,\neven without that authority, have _some_ insight into divine things. We\ncan see the moon without a telescope, though not the stars of a nebula.\nBut in theology _partial_ gleams of intelligence are not sufficient for\neven their own permanence. Implicitly or explicitly, we must hold the\nwhole to hold a part. Truth is a vast globe which we may touch with a\nfinger, but cannot clasp in both hands. It eludes us, and we possess it\nbut by being possessed by it. We must be drawn into the gravitation of its\nsphere and made one with it. We are thus united with it if in union with\nthe church, to which it is given. We then _see_ it all around us, as we\nsee the world we live in\u2014not by glimpses and through mists, as we see a\nremote star. This is the Catholic\u2019s faith. Everything confirms everything\nin his world. \u201cOne day telleth another, and one night certifieth another.\u201d\n\u201cSea calleth unto sea.\u201d The firmament above his head \u201cdeclares\u201d the glory\nof God, and the chambers of the deep his statutes. A Catholic indeed has\nhis varying moods, and his \u201cdry moods,\u201d and his eager questionings on\npoints not revealed; but his _faith_ does not rise and fall with his\ntemperament. The _foundation_, at least, of his spiritual being, is a\nrock.\n\nNeither does the Roman Catholic doctrine deny that a man _might_\nconceivably, though not practically, without the aid of authority, grasp\nthe _whole_ of theology as far as it has been yet defined. But it declares\nthat such knowledge, if thus acquired, would not be the knowledge\npossessed by faith, but by opinion; that it would rest partly on science,\npartly on mere human faith, partly on enthusiasm (so far as the\n_sensitive_ appreciation of it went); and that, not being divine faith, it\ncould not perform the genuine functions of faith. The intellectual region\nmight feast with Dives, while the spiritual starved with Lazarus. This is,\nin a greater or lesser degree, the case with many, both among those who\nprofess the principle of private judgment and those who profess to obey\nauthority. In the very region of faith opinion may simulate faith, just as\npresumption may simulate hope and benevolence simulate charity. The most\nmysterious part of our probation is this: that under all circumstances and\nin all things nature may mimic grace, and pretence ape virtue. We may seem\nto ourselves angels, and be nothing; even as Christ himself, and his\nchurch no less, _seem_, to the eye of sense, the opposite of what they\nare, when insight is lacking or the point of view is determined by\nprejudice or a false tradition.\n\nThe Roman Catholic theory does not deny the force of internal evidence. It\nbut says that such evidence, being a matter of moral _feeling_, is to be\ninwardly appreciated rather than logically set forth, and that it is often\nmost felt when most unconsciously. A parent\u2019s authority is not the less\nattested by the moral sense of the child and by his affections, though he\ndoes not consciously reflect on that part of its evidence; while yet he\ncannot be ignorant that all the _neighbors_ believe that those who claim\nto be his parents are such in reality. Catholic teaching does not concede\nthat, as argument, any evidence is _necessary_ for those brought up in the\ntrue fold and gifted from childhood with faith, which is itself the\nevidence of things not seen. It does not believe that any gifts confined\nto a few can give a higher faith than is open to all \u201cmen of good\u2010will.\u201d\nBut it does believe that for simple and learned alike one external\ncondition is necessary, viz., that the doctrine to be believed should be\ndistinctly _proposed_ by an authority believed (on supernatural faith) to\nspeak in God\u2019s name; so that from first to last faith should be, not a\ncredulity founded on fancy, on fear, or on self\u2010love, but a \u201c_theological_\nvirtue\u201d _believing in God, in all that he reveals, __ as revealed by him_,\nand in nothing else. Evidences are not anything that can compel faith or\nbe a substitute for it; but they have commonly a very important place,\nnotwithstanding, in the divine economy. Their place is _among_ the\n_motives_ of faith. These _intellectual_ motives are the character of\nChrist and of the faith; the character of the church and its\npropagation\u2014in other words, internal and external evidence. The _moral_\nmotives are such as the spiritual safety of Christian obedience, the peace\nand joy of believing, the dignity Christianity confers on human nature,\netc.\n\nOne circumstance which the Protestant theory forgets is that _all_\nknowledge of divine things is not necessarily _faith_. Angelic knowledge\nand that of the triumphant church is vision, not faith, and differs from\nfaith either in essence or in inseparable accidents. The knowledge we have\nof God through natural theology, however true, is not, therefore,\nidentical with divine faith. Irrespectively of Christianity, a belief in\nGod _precedes_ speculations, and comes to children chiefly by faith in\nwhat they hear from their parents. They _could_ not, indeed, believe their\nparents equally if their own minds were not in _harmony_ with such a\nbelief; but in their case, too, authority is commonly a _condition_ of\nbelieving. By faith, says S. Paul, \u201cwe know that the worlds were made.\u201d\nThat knowledge comes to us both _through_ testimony and _by_ intuitions.\nThe \u201cheavens declare the glory of God\u201d; but they declare it, not prove it\nscientifically; and the Psalmist had the patriarchal tradition and Mosaic\nrevelation, as well as his intuitions, and as their interpreter. Natural\ntheology we accept by _human_ faith concurring with natural lights and\nthat lower degree of grace which compasses the whole world. Divine faith,\nS. Paul tells us, requires an outward organ, too, not for its promulgation\nonly, but for its _certainty_. \u201cHe gave some apostles, some pastors,\netc.,\u201d \u201cthat we be not driven about with every _wind of doctrine_.\u201d Could\n_this_ effect have been realized if apostle had preached against apostle,\nand each prophet had said to his neighbor \u201cI, too, am a prophet,\u201d and bear\nan opposite message? S. Paul says that the hierarchy is ordained not only\nfor edification, but to make faith _certain_. It can only do that in its\nunity. Had certainty been unnecessary, or had reason been its organ, no\nhierarchy would have been elevated to constitute the _church\nrepresentative_.\n\nThe Protestant theory (it may be so spoken of with reference to the great\nmain points included in most forms of Protestantism) assumes that the one\ngreat characteristic of faith is its being a power of \u201cspiritual\ndiscernment\u201d or an intuition of spiritual truth. This is to put a part of\nthe truth in place of the whole. This attribute of faith is asserted by\nthe church also; but her conception of faith is founded on a _larger_\nappreciation of the Holy Scriptures and of man\u2019s compound nature.\n\nFaith indeed _becomes_ a spiritual _seeing_; but it _comes_ \u201cby hearing.\u201d\nConsidered even exclusively as intuition, the \u201cspiritual discernment\u201d is\nwholly different in kind from moral or mathematical intuitions, as those\ntwo classes of intuition differ from each other. A spiritual intuition,\nanalogous to that of reason (though more exalted), would be utterly\nunsuited to our needs while still laboring in our probation and toiling in\nthe \u201cbody of this death.\u201d The intuition really vouchsafed to us by\nsupernatural grace ever retains peculiar characteristics originally\nproduced by the mode in which we receive it. Humility, submission, self\u2010\nabnegation, constitute that mode; and these qualities are and remain as\nessential characteristics of true faith as spiritual discernment is. No\notherwise than \u201cas little children\u201d is it possible for us to enter into\nthe kingdom of heaven. We must enter the sheep\u2010fold by the _door_; we\ncannot otherwise profit by it; for could we climb its walls, it would\ncease to be the sheep\u2010fold to us, since we should not bear in our breasts\nthe heart of the Lamb. _Opinion asserts; faith confesses._ Assertion\nincludes self\u2010assertion; confession confesses _another_. God only can\nrightly assert himself. Created beings are relative beings, and the\ncondition of their true greatness is that they forget themselves in God.\nThe very essence of pride, the sin of the fallen angels, whom but a single\n_voluntary evil thought_ subverted, is self\u2010assertion on the part of a\nrelative being. In taking self as a practical _ground_ of knowledge, it,\nin a certain sense, creates its Creator, and involves the principle that\nGod himself may be but an idea. Pride is not only our strongest spiritual\ntemptation, but is almost the natural _instinct_ of reason, working _by\nitself_, on supernatural themes, and it remains _undetected by reason,\njust as water cannot be weighed in water_. The higher we soar, the more we\nneed to be reminded of our infirmity; therefore the glorious intuitions of\nfaith are, for our safety, given to us by the way of humility, and\ncontinued to us on condition of obedience. Not only faith, as a habit, is\nhumble, but the peculiar species of knowledge which it conveys is such as\nto preserve that character; for that knowledge is _obscure_, although\n_certain_. We see, \u201cas through a glass, darkly\u201d; but we see steadily.\nImaginative reason gets bright flashes by rubbing its own eyes, but they\nare transient. Faith, requiring docility as a habit in us, and involving\nobscurity as a condition of its knowledge, is a _perpetual_ discipline of\nself\u2010sacrifice. Christianity is the doctrine of a sacrifice; and through a\nspiritual act and habit of self\u2010sacrifice alone can that doctrine be\n\u201cspiritually discerned.\u201d Christian _knowledge_ is thus the opposite of the\nrationalistic and of the Gnostic.\n\nThis estimate of faith is surely as Scriptural as it is philosophic. Thus\nonly can we reconcile the statements of our Lord and of S. Paul. The most\nhumble and child\u2010like docility is constantly referred to by our Lord as an\nessential part of that faith which, on _condition of so beginning_ and of\n_continuing such_, imparts to us as much spiritual discernment as is an\nearnest of the Blessed Vision. Such _docility must look like credulity_.\nAlmost all the instances of it which met his highest praise did look like\ncredulity, and would have been credulity had not grace inspired them,\nProvidence directed them, and Truth itself rewarded them. What then? Which\npart of Christianity is not thus double\u2010visaged? What part of it is not a\nscandal to them that \u201cjudge by appearances\u201d and do not \u201cjudge righteous\njudgment\u201d? If to all without faith the Master must _seem_ an impostor, why\nshould not the disciples _seem_ enthusiasts? Were they who wished that the\nshadow of the apostles should fall on them, was she who touched the hem of\nChrist\u2019s garment, fanatics, because erring nature too can prompt her\nchildren to similar acts under an erring religion? Before such a\nphilosophy (if philosophy can rest on such an _assumption_) the Gospel, as\nwell as the church of the _orbis terrarum_, and the whole ancient church,\nmust give way, and pure religion must be a discovery, not of the XVIth,\nbut of the XIXth century. Credulity itself is but a subordinate and ill\u2010\ngrounded form of _human_ faith, and is far from suppressing, though it\nmisdirects, the nobler faculties of the _natural_ man. Plato and Bacon had\nmore of it than Epicurus and Hobbes. Docility (its analogon in the\nspiritual world) is the humbler element in faith. It is absolutely\nnecessary, and is sometimes undistinguishable, in mere _outward_ seeming,\nfrom its natural counterpart. Milk is as necessary for babes as meat for\nthe mature. The mature never cease, in the kingdom of heaven, to be,\n_inclusively_, children; it is their very excellence that they unite the\nbest characteristics of different ages, sexes, and conditions. Yet the\nchildren of the kingdom are not fed on mortal, but on immortal, milk; and\nthat milk is meat in a less compact preparation. As an incredulous habit\nis not a mark of true wisdom, so an indocile habit is incompatible with an\nauthentic faith, which cannot act except in obedience to an authentic\nauthority. To the rationalist the indocile habit, far from being a fault,\nis a necessity; for his knowledge comes from within _only_, not from above\nand from within.\n\nNow let us turn to history and fact. Had they no spiritual discernment of\nChrist who died for him? Yet did not the martyrs and the age of martyrs\nabound in what to Protestantism seem credulities? The church of the\napostles, of the fathers, of the doctors, of the schoolmen, the church\nthat built up Christendom, invariably recognized the principle of\necclesiastical obedience, docility, submission, as a part of faith, not as\ninconsistent with the intuition of faith\u2014its moral element, as the other\nis its intellectual. It was the cement that kept the whole fabric\ntogether, though not the amphionic power that raised the living stones.\nThose who branded obedience as superstition were Arius, and A\u00ebrius, and\nVigilantius, and the Albigensian heretics, not the fathers, the doctors,\nor the martyrs of the faith. The latter knew that the faith of him who\nlays hold of Christ, and of her who but touches \u201cthe hem of his garment,\u201d\nare in kind the same. They knew also, that, when _truth confronts us_ and\ngrace is offered, the spirit which is \u201coffended\u201d at little things is not\nedified by great. And how has it been ever since; how is it now with the\nmass of the world? How does faith come to _children and to the poor_, and\nto the busy and to the dull? _What makes the Bible divine to them?_ What\nsuggests the truths which they are to look for in the Bible? Authority,\neverywhere acting through such representatives of authority as remain in\nlands which decry it! If docility, obedience, a desire to believe,\nsubmission previous to insight, be not, under _Christian conditions_,\ncharacteristics of faith, merely because, under pagan conditions, they\nmight be opposed to spiritual knowledge, then have most believers believed\nin vain; for error cannot be the foundation of truth. Discernment belongs,\nby universal confession, to faith, and baptism is the \u201csacrament of\nillumination\u201d; but no proposition can be more _unreasonable_ than that\nfaith should begin with, or be identical with, an insight which, in a high\ndegree of conscious development, obviously belongs to the few, and to them\nunder very special circumstances.\n\nLet us return to the philosophy of the \u201crule of faith.\u201d\n\nNo one would deny that the will, even more than the mind, is the seat of\nfaith; but the Protestant theory does not efficiently and practically\nrecognize this truth. Submission is in the will; discernment in the mind.\nThe latter belongs to the man chiefly; the former to the child equally,\nand the _child living on in the Christian man_. The whole Catholic system\nis based on this fact. From it, for instance, follows, by inevitable\nconsequence, the _true theory_ of charity in reference to dogmatic\nerror\u2014that, namely, of \u201cinvincible ignorance.\u201d Protestants, and\nProtestants who repeat the Athanasian Creed, think this expression but an\nevasion. But \u201cinvincible ignorance\u201d means _involuntary_ ignorance _of the\ntruth_, and is based on the known principle that heresy must be a sin of\nthe will, because faith is a virtue, primarily belonging to the will, when\nit submits to grace. Now, granting that the internal agency of the Divine\nSpirit is that which clears the faculty of spiritual discernment and\ndevelops faith in the mind, still, assuredly, obedience is trained and\nfaith is rooted in the will by the same Spirit addressing us through its\noutward organ, the church. \u201c_Obedience_ to the faith\u201d is not a principle\nonly, but a habit. Habits are impressed on us, not by precept only, but by\nprovidential circumstance and divine institutions, such as the civil\npower, parental rule, the weakness of infancy, the hindrances of\nknowledge, those necessities for social co\u2010operation which train the\nsympathies.\n\nImplicit faith in the Bible only might, for such as entertained it with\nabsolute and childlike confidence, give rise to no small degree of moral\ndeference, and does so with many Protestants, though not without a\nconsiderable alloy of error and of superstition. But a book, though\ndivine, is a book still. It cannot speak, except with the inquirer for an\ninterpreter. It cannot correct misinterpretations. It will often reveal\nwhat is sought, and hide what is not desired, but is needed. It will\n\u201cfind\u201d those who find in it what they _brought_ to it. It is plastic in\nhot and heedless hands. It may train the mental faculties, but it will not\npractically exercise a habit of submission. If a country, in place of\npossessing laws, with magistrates to enforce and judges to expound them,\npossessed nothing but statutes on parchment, and a vast legal literature\nfor their exposition, statutes and comments being alike commended to the\nprivate judgment of individuals, would it be possible that subjects could\nbe trained up with the habit or spirit of political obedience? Every man\nmight be educated till he resembled a village attorney; but loyalty would\nbe extinct. The statute\u2010book would still assert the principle of\nobedience, as does the Bible in spiritual things; but the habit could not\nthus be formed. To bow exclusively to that which addresses us in abstract\nterms, and to bow when and how our judgment dictates\u2014this alone is not in\nreality, though it may be in words, a discipline of humility. To obey God,\n_as represented by man_, is that at which pride revolts. The authority of\nthe church in the household and kingdom of Christ is like that of the\nfather in the family and the monarch in his realm. An authority thus\nobjectively embodied has also a special power of working through the\naffections; and to train them to be the handmaids of faith is one of the\nspecial functions of the church. \u201cMy little children of whom I travail\nagain,\u201d says S. Paul to his flock. What living church can be imagined as\nthus addressing her children? Surely none save that one which claims\napostolic authority, and does not shrink from proclaiming that faith\nincludes obedience as well as insight. This is not an idle theory. What\nmen in the Roman Catholic Church have entertained the most filial and\naffectionate reverence for their mother? Her saints\u2014those who had the most\nardent love for their Lord, the deepest insight into his Gospel, and the\nkeenest appreciation of its spiritual freedom\u2014the S. Bernards, Thomas \u00e0\nKempises, Francis de Saleses. To retain obedience as a principle, and yet\ncheat it of its object, an authentic and _real_ authority, was the \u201cArch\nMock\u201d of the \u201cReformation.\u201d\n\nA faith thus confirmed and steadied by authentic authority can alone\npermanently sustain the ardent and enthusiastic devotion of strong minds.\nFaith, or what seems faith, if resting exclusively on internal feeling and\nindividual opinion, will vehemently, if but transiently, excite the light\nand the impulsive; but the graver mind will distrust it, even when visited\nby the more sanguine mood, from a painful sense that it has no power of\ndiscriminating between faith and illusion. It will be sure of its own\nperceptions and sensations; but it cannot contrive wholly to ignore those\nof its neighbor when they are opposite. It will remember that there are\ntwo causes of uncertainty, the first arising when our own premises admit\nof alternative conclusions, the second when, the conclusions being\nobvious, the premises are disputed and cannot be proved. It will remember\nthat mathematical and moral intuitions, \u201cthough independent of evidence,\nare yet backed by a practically universal consent (the result of their\nbeing, in a large measure, intuitions independent of the will); and it may\nbe disposed to say that if it happened that most people denied that the\nthree angles of a triangle equalled two right angles, I could not indeed\nbelieve that they made three, but I might come to believe that I had\nwandered into a region in which impressions must always _seem_ certain,\nbut yet in which nothing could be authentically known.\u201d Men cannot\nexchange their _tastes_; but then they know that tastes are subjective;\nwhereas revealed truth must be objective. Some such misgiving will chill\nfaith commonly in large and steady minds, and thus the whole religious\nlife is struck dead. Enthusiasm will commonly, under such circumstances,\nbelong only to those minds which boil over before they have taken in much\nheat. A church which makes its censers of paper, not metal, cannot burn\nincense. A religion which, _in any form_, includes a \u201cperadventure,\u201d has\nadmitted the formula of nature and lost the \u201camen\u201d of supernatural truth.\nIt is reduced and transposed. Its raptures are but poetry, its dogma but\nscience, its antiquity but pedantry, its forms but formality, its freedom\nbut license, its authority but convention, its zeal but faction, its\nsobriety but sloth. It cannot admit of enthusiasm, as it cannot generate\nit in its nobler and more permanent forms, because it can neither balance\nnor direct it. Such a faith _must_ install reason in the higher place. A\nchurch founded on nothing higher _must_ serve, not rule. It will end by\nworshipping its bondage.\n\nAs in theology there is no possibility of separating dogma from dogma, so\nthere is no possibility of separating the religious affections from a\nreverence for dogmas, if the mind be an inquiring one. What has been\ncalled \u201cloyalty to our Lord,\u201d and contrasted with the \u201cdogmatic spirit,\u201d\nis a sentiment which depends wholly on what we _believe_ concerning him.\nBut to believe him to be God and man involves an immense mass of profound\ndoctrine which may be held _implicitly_ by the many, but which the student\nmust hold _explicitly_, or be in a condition of doubt. These subtle\nquestions involve metaphysical speculations; and had we to settle them for\nourselves, we must all of us have mastered philosophy before we had\nlearned the lore of Christian love. But how many points are there of a\ndifferent sort which yet must be certain, if our faith is to be\ncertain\u2014points which no man could settle for himself, and as to which no\nauthority save one secure from error could give us rest! Such are the\nquestions as to the mode of administering sacraments; what form of baptism\nis _valid_, and what is _invalid_; the canonicity of the Scriptures,\nwhich, if it depend on our individual estimate of historic evidence only,\ncan rise no higher than the level of opinion, and therefore can never\nafford a basis for divine faith. No reasonable man can suppose that either\ndirectly or indirectly he can reach to intuitions on _these_ points. He\nmay say that they are not essential to him personally; but he cannot but\nsuspect that they are essential to the integrity of that whole scheme of\ntheology which, _as a whole_, is essential to him. A leak in the ship is\nnot less dangerous because low down and out of sight; and the strength of\na chain is the strength of its weakest link. When the principle of\nauthority ceased to be held, as a revealed doctrine (the _complement_ of\nthat of personal spiritual discernment), the complete circle of faith was\nbroken, and an element of doubt entered in. The process was unperceived\nbecause gradual, the _inherited_ faith concealing long the ravages of\ninnovating opinion. Human faith succeeded also to divine, and simulated\nit. Science, imagination, enthusiasm in its ever\u2010varying forms,\ncontributed their aid. Protestant churches can hardly now even conceive of\nan _authority_ acting simply and humbly under divine _faith_. They can\nonly imagine anathemas as proceeding from passion. But S. Paul and the\nearly church, as well as the Roman Catholic, thought differently.\n\nAnother principle lost sight of practically on the Protestant theory of\nreligious knowledge is that it is necessary to hold the Christian faith,\nnot only (1st) _in its fulness_, and (2d) _with certainty_, but also (3d)\n_in its purity_. Now, whatever truths individual intuitions and studies\nmay bring home to us (legitimately or accidentally), it is certain from\nexperience that they will not exclude many errors, which apparently have\nthe same sanction, and are entertained with the same confidence\u2014nay, are\nso cherished that if but one be spoken against, the whole system of\nthought is felt to be endangered. But this confusion of truth and error\nintroduces Babel into the heart of Jerusalem, and erects altars to false\ngods in the temple of the True. The soul espoused to Christ must exclude\nhis rivals, and preserve ever the unrelaxed girdle of purity in spiritual\nthings. Faith is not only the mother, but the _virgin_ mother, of all\nperfect belief, devotion, and practice. Error, _in the region of faith_,\nis not only hostile but fatal to truth in its spiritual unity. We are\nassured that \u201cthe letter _kills_,\u201d not merely that it is void; and we know\nthat a little poison may corrupt much food, while a little needful\nmedicine may taste as bitter as poison. Now, that the Bible, by reason of\nits very excellency, abounds in passages obvious to individual\nmisinterpretation, no candid reader of it or of history will deny. We\nneed, therefore, something which will preserve us from such dangers, as\nwell as from evils of deficiency. Animals are protected from many dangers\nby the constant presence of overpowering instincts. The soul requires\nequally the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit. Experience disproves the\nnovel and enthusiastic notion that the Spirit is _thus_ given\u2014viz., as\ninspiration\u2014to the individual in his isolation. He requires, therefore,\nthe aid of the Spirit, both acting in his soul as vital heat, and also\nshedding light on him from the church, round whose head the Pentecostal\nflame ever plays. Within that church which teaches \u201cwith authority, and\nnot as the scribes,\u201d a firmament is drawn between matters to be believed\n_de fide_ and matters of opinion. Errors in theological opinion,\nrecognized as opinion only, are not necessarily more hurtful than errors\nin science or politics. Let us now glance at the most ordinary form of\nobjection.\n\nSo inveterate are traditional habits of thought that we recur to them\nafter their fallaciousness has been ever so clearly pointed out. A wheel\nof thought moves round in our head, and the old notions recur. What\nconvert, for instance, has not been plagued, while approaching to Catholic\nconvictions, by the reiteration of that thought constantly recurring to\nhis mind, \u201cIs it likely that all England should have been in error for\nthree hundred years?\u201d Though he cannot but feel the weight of the answer,\n\u201cIt is at least more likely than that all Christendom should have been far\nmore deeply steeped in worse errors and corruptions, by their nature\naffecting individuals as well as the body corporate, for at least twelve\nhundred years.\u201d It is thus that in the question of the \u201crule of faith\u201d we\nrecur to the question, \u201cIs it not obvious that the individual mind must\nlose all freedom and spontaneity, if obliged to measure its movements by\nan outward authority? Is not such obedience servile, not filial; carnal,\nnot spiritual? Who could move freely, if _obliged_ to walk always with\nanother, though that other were his dearest friend?\u201d Now, far from all\nthis being obvious, it is obviously founded on a misconception of the\nhypothesis objected to. Why does the soul partake of a higher _freedom_ as\nit advances in _submission_ to God? How is it that, in the glorified\nstate, perfect freedom exists without the possibility of falling? Because\nthe Spirit that works in the redeemed and regenerate is the Spirit of God\nhimself. Why is it no bondage that our two eyes must, if in a healthy\ncondition, move together? Because the same law acts freely in both. Why is\nit that a hand that has ceased to obey the brain is called a _powerless_\nhand? Because its power proceeds from sympathy with the brain. Now, on the\nhypothesis of the \u201cvisible church,\u201d just such a sympathy, such a law, and\nsuch a Spirit _work equally and simultaneously in the individual and in\nthe body_. To the church the Spirit is given indefectibly, to lead her\ninto \u201call truth,\u201d even to the \u201cend of the world.\u201d The individual may or\nmay not co\u2010operate with the Spirit; but if he does, he must needs, _ex\nhypothesi_, co\u2010operate with the church, and he cannot feel as a bondage\nwhat is the law of his life, though the _less spiritual_ part of him may\noften feel it as a salutary restraint. Rightly to serve is, in things\ndivine, the only possible spiritual, as distinguished from merely natural,\nfreedom. The real question, then, respects, not either the stringency of\nthe law or its character as external law, but its being or not being\ndivine\u2014a rightful authority, not a usurpation.\n\nThe place of faith is not determined by controversial or even intellectual\nneeds only. Its functions are innumerable. It is the bond between the race\nand God. It must affect the whole soul and be the health of every part. It\nis God\u2019s adamant diffused through every region of our being, as the rock\non which the church is built extends, in its solidity, throughout and\nunder the whole fabric. Our individual faith may be weak; but it is the\nnature of faith itself to be infinitely strong; and our faith must so come\nto us, and so stand towards us, as to _admit of_ its own infinite\nincrease, as well as of its permanence. It must enlighten the mind, erect\nthe will, warm and chasten the heart, live in every affection, kneel in\nour humility, endure in our patience. It is an armor that covers us\nwholly, leaving _no spot_ exposed to the flying shafts of an enemy, to\nwhom one spot is as the whole body. Its shield is a mirror in which\nhumanity beholds the whole of its being, individual and social, imaged\nafter the stature of the renewed man. That image is no idol with brazen\nbreast and feet of earth, but the likeness, everywhere glorious, of Him\nwho took our whole nature, and in it was obedient to \u201chis parents\u201d and his\ncountry\u2019s law, as well as to his Father\u2019s will. Faith, in the Protestant\nacceptation of the word, is unable to discharge for us all these high\noffices. No Protestant community (and many have been tried) can point to\nits heroic triumphs, and say, \u201cBehold its fruits.\u201d They have neither\nconverted heathen nations nor retained as much of the faith as they\nstarted with on their new career.\n\nThe theory of the \u201cBible _interpreted_ by private judgment\u201d seems, then,\nto me to have been novel, rash, crude, not sincerely thought out when\npromulgated\u2014the only position that could affect to justify the revolt from\nunity, but one not itself justified by the event. _My reason_, to which\nrationalism ever appeals, would not have antecedently assured me that a\nbook would have formed even part of a revelation. _My reason_ tells me\nthat if the facts of Christianity be divine, its dogmatic truths divine,\nand the book which records the facts and announces the truths be divine,\nit is not _unreasonable_ that the interpreter of that book should be\ndivine. Such is the theory which Rome maintains, but which no one will say\nthat Rome did more than _retain_, walking thus in the footsteps of the\nprimitive church, and of the general councils. The patriarchal church had\nno Bible; the Hebrew church but an incomplete canon, added to from time to\ntime. The Christian canon was not compiled for two centuries after Christ;\nProvidence did not allow of its diffusion by printing for fourteen. The\nChristian world is still, for the most past, unable to read. _Most_\nProtestants have therefore ever been compelled to be guided by an\nauthority which, without pretending to confer the spiritual gifts which\nRome confers, is exposed to many of the same objections. All religious\ncommunities say practically, \u201cHear me.\u201d One only says, with the apostle,\n\u201cHear the church.\u201d One only delivers a distinct and consistent message.\nOne only unites parental authority with maternal solicitude, fear with\nlove, enthusiasm with steadfastness, permanence of faith with progress of\ndefined knowledge, the doctrines with the ethical habits of the early\nchurch, the lore of the Fathers with the propagandism of the early\nmissionaries and the courage of the martyrs. It is the church of Him who\nwas singled from his brethren as were Judah, Shem, Seth, and made to be\nunity, that in his unity all might be one, in one Lord, one _faith_, and\none baptism.\n\nA. DE VERE.\n\nNOVEMBER 2, 1851.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nOur readers will certainly be thankful to us for giving them the pleasure\nof perusing the foregoing letter, which is a document of great interest\nand value for several reasons. It is the work of an author whose prose is\nonly inferior to his poetry. It is a record of the process of reasoning by\nwhich one of the many illustrious English converts was aided to make the\ntransition from Anglicanism to the Catholic Church, given in his own\nlanguage at a time when his thoughts and sentiments about the momentous\nchange were fresh in his memory, and remarkably different from any similar\nproduction. The value of such a document, considered in the respect just\nmentioned, depends on its being given precisely as it was written at the\ntime; and we have been, therefore, scrupulously careful not to change or\nmodify a single sentence, or even a word, in the author\u2019s manuscript.\n\nThis letter is not, however, merely a psychological and literary\ncuriosity. Though it is the argument, not of a Catholic theologian, but of\na man of letters just recently converted to the faith, it is a remarkable\npresentation of some parts of Catholic doctrine, more particularly of the\nsupernatural certainty of divine faith, and the essential difference of\nfaith from human science or opinion, even when the object of the latter is\nnatural or revealed theology. We think it important, however, to add a\nshort explanation of our own as a safeguard of purely natural certitude.\nSound Catholic philosophy establishes the certitude of knowledge received\nthrough the senses, the understanding, and the discursive or reasoning\noperation of the mind upon the concepts apprehended by both those\nfaculties. Physical, metaphysical, and moral demonstration produce,\ntherefore, true science, not mere opinion. The rational proof of the\nCatholic religion rests on these three, and is sufficient to produce a\ncertain conviction. This is not, however, identical with divine faith. The\nact of faith is distinct from the merely rational assent of the mind. Yet\nthese two acts may terminate on the same object. One may be convinced, for\ninstance, of the spirituality of the soul, by a metaphysical\ndemonstration, without believing in the divine revelation. If he afterward\nbelieves in the revelation, he will have also a divine faith in the\nspirituality of the soul. One may believe by divine faith that Christ made\nS. Peter the head of the church, and afterwards acquire an historical\ncertainty of the same truth. We cannot be too careful to maintain the\nsupernatural quality of faith and the superiority of its divine light to\nthe natural light of reason; at the same time, we must be also careful not\nto weaken or diminish the certainty and the scope of natural\nknowledge.\u2014ED. C. W.\n\n\n\n\nThe Church In F\u2014\u2014.\n\n\nBuild up the church! Let its turrets rise,\nWith cross\u2010crowned summits, to kiss the skies;\nHollow its centre, in nave and aisle,\nFrom its walls let heaven\u2010rapt faces smile.\n\nMake its fair altars to glow with light,\nWhere priest and ministering acolyte\nMay kneel, with incense and book and bell,\nThe praises of God and his saints to swell.\n\nLet the deep tones of the organ roll\nWith thunderous music, to stir the soul,\nWhile spirits soar, as on wings of fire,\n\u2019Mid the holy chants of the surpliced choir.\n\nBut when the crowd has passed away,\nAnd the lights burn low and the church is gray,\nAnd in their solitude aisle and nave\nAre still and stern as a martyr\u2019s grave,\n\nAll is not over of praise and prayer:\nThe mourner, shrinking from crowd and glare,\nMay kneel in the shadow, and veil her eyes\nBefore the Lord of the sacrifice.\n\nThe sacred Presence that throws its spell\u2014\nAn ever\u2010abiding miracle\u2014\nO\u2019er the empty fane and the silent shrine,\nIs there at all seasons\u2014_the Host divine._\n\n\n\n\nAre You My Wife? Chapter I.\n\n\nBy The Author Of \u201cA Salon In Paris Before The War,\u201d \u201cNumber Thirteen,\u201d\n\u201cPius VI.,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n\nChapter I. A Few Pages From Clide De Winton\u2019s Note\u2010Book.\n\n\nIt was not the reception I ought to have had; but that was my own fault.\nThe old house was not in the habit of giving such a cold welcome to the\neldest son who brought home his young bride. On the contrary, fireworks\nand bonfires, and bells ringing, and flags flying, and universal rejoicing\nboth inside and outside the house, had been the traditionary mode of\nproceeding, on such occasions, since the Conquest, when it first owned a\nmaster of the name of De Winton. My earliest recollections of a distinct\nkind are of my father bringing home my step\u2010mother to the old place, and\nof my peeping out from my nursery\u2010window, and vaguely connecting the\nstrange lady, who came in the midst of us heralded by such noise and\nsplendor, with the story of the Queen of Sheba that my nurse read to me\nvery often on Sundays out of a pictured story\u2010book. This infantine\ndelusion had long vanished before I quite lost the sense of childish\nbewilderment that accompanied the occasion. I was an odd child, I suppose;\nold\u2010fashioned, but not at all precocious; and the dreamy impressions of\nchildhood held their grasp on me longer than usual, probably from my\nhaving no children to play with and keep me from dwelling so long and so\nexclusively on the fancies of my own hazy little mind. I can recall\nvividly even now how I hated all the noise and fuss that followed the\nwedding; how I shrank from being dressed in my scarlet cashmere frock, and\nbeing sent for to the drawing\u2010room, and introduced to strangers, by my\nstiff, stately step\u2010mother, as \u201cmy son, Master Clide de Winton.\u201d There\nseemed no end to the strangers that came trooping in to shake hands with\nmy father and to be introduced to his wife. And then the dinners that were\ngiven, and the noise of music afterwards, that used to wake me up in the\nnursery, and make me dream such noisy, confused dreams when I fell asleep\nagain! How I detested it all! And when I expressed something of this to my\nnurse, and wondered why the house, that used to be so quiet when we had it\nto ourselves, had become so full of noise and strange people from the\nmoment my new mamma came home, she found no better comfort than to tell me\nthat that was always the way after a wedding, and that when I was grown up\nand married myself I should make just as much fuss, and a great deal more,\nbecause I should be younger, and my wife too. It may sound absurd, like so\nmany other reminiscences of childhood that were once bitterly real to all\nof us; but this horoscopic view of life poisoned many an hour of those\nnursery\u2010days to me. The fact that the dreaded ordeal was yet distant gave\nme no consolation. I leaped over the gulf that separated six years old\nfrom five\u2010and\u2010twenty, and saw myself miserable in the midst of a\npandemonium of noise, and strange people, and dinners, and pianoforte\u2010\nplaying. I was no doubt a morbid little boy, and no doubt my nurse\ndiscovered this, and with the unconscious cruelty of her race took\npleasure in playing upon my idle terrors. I know she used to terrify me by\ngraphic descriptions of the wedding ceremonial from first to last; and the\nmore I showed that I was terrified, the more eloquent and inventive\u2014as I\nafterwards discovered\u2014she grew. She had been three times through the\nperformance herself, and thus was peculiarly qualified to speak of it. I\nremember once when she told me I would have to stand up before all the\ncompany at a long table and make a speech. I could bear it no longer, and\nI began to cry. This did not soften her; she only laughed at me for a\nsilly little goose, and assured me that, when the time came, I would enjoy\nit all as much as I now enjoyed flying my kite and other juvenile\namusements. I ran out of the nursery and away up to a garret where I\nsometimes hid myself when I expected to be sent for to the drawing\u2010room.\nand flung myself on the floor, and literally bellowed with misery. I\nsuppose I cried myself to sleep, for when 1 awoke I was still in the same\nplace, tired and cold. I considered quietly what I might possibly do to\navert the catastrophe that so appalled me in the distance. I could think\nonly of one thing: that was to run away before the wedding\u2010day arrived. I\nhad heard stories about boys running away from school when they were very\nnaughty or very unhappy; why should they not run away from home, if driven\nto extremities? This resolution soothed me. I crept down from my solitude\na happier child than I had entered it.\n\nIf this account of myself sounds unnatural, I can only answer that it is\ntrue. If my step\u2010mother had been a loving, motherly woman, she would\nprobably have found out something of these sufferings, and have sought to\nmodify them by moulding my character; but she was not a woman to win a\nchild\u2019s confidence, even if she had tried; and she did not try to win\nmine. She found me shy, reserved, ungracious, and she left me so. She did\nher duty by me as far as she knew how. I was conveyed every day regularly\nfrom the nursery to the dining\u2010room after dinner. I grew resigned to the\ndaily punishment after a time, and in reply to the usual questions, \u201cHad I\nbeen a good boy?\u201d and \u201cWould I like an apple?\u201d I learned to answer boldly\nthat I had and that I would, and to stand straight on both legs and\nwithout wriggling. My step\u2010mother patted me on the cheek, and observed to\nmy father that I was improving in my manners. She seldom went further than\nthis in motherly caresses for the first two years after her marriage. Then\nmy father died, and I can remember that she kissed me often, and was\naltogether more gentle in her manner towards me, and that I felt it, and\nliked the change, though I could in no way account for it. I was still\nmiserably shy, and I retained the same intense dread of notoriety and fuss\nof every description. Perhaps it was this that partly decided her on\nsending me to Eton when I was barely old enough to be in the school\u2010room.\nOther motives may have added weight to this one, but I shall say nothing\nof that now. If her object was to cure me of the painful timidity which\nstill beset me, it was perhaps a justification for sending the fatherless\nand motherless boy away from the solitude and isolation of a gloomy home\ninto the stir and life of a public school, where shyness, like so many\nother foolish weaknesses, is quickly rubbed off by contact with those\nintolerant pedagogues\u2014companions of one\u2019s own age and rank. I was happy\nenough at Eton, in spite of the dreaded future that still loomed in the\ndistance. I had forgotten the spectre of a possible wedding\u2010breakfast and\nits accompanying horrors. I knew now that it was in my own hands to suffer\nor to avoid them. Meantime, my natural timidity still asserted itself in a\nway that was much deplored by my step\u2010mother. I was an intelligent boy,\nand might have distinguished myself over my fellows, had I chosen; but the\nsame morbid folly that had embittered my childhood now paralyzed my\nambition, and prevented me trying for prizes in any department of study.\nPublic speaking comes into play very much with candidates for honors at\nschool, and the finest gold medal that was ever awarded for a Greek and\nLatin essay would not have tempted me, if I foresaw the necessity of\nreading the essay aloud before that redoubtable array of critics, my\nassembled masters and companions. I passed for an oddity, and so I was. My\nstep\u2010mother sighed over it in her calm, correct way; regretted I had not\nthe honorable ambition to make a name for myself and conquer a position\namongst my fellow\u2010men, and so on. To this I modestly replied that I was\nsatisfied with the name my fathers had transmitted to me, and which I\nhoped to carry honorably at least through life, if not proudly. Pride of\nbirth was one of the earliest lessons she had endeavored to instil into my\nmind, and in this respect I did not prove as stubborn as in others. I\nremember saying, in reply to some remarks of hers as to the advisability\nof my distinguishing myself in some public career, \u201cWhen a man has the\ngood luck to be born a De Winton he is distinguished enough\u201d; and I\nremember the smile of approval that accompanied her demure shake of the\nhead.\n\nI left Eton in course of time, and went to the university. The change from\nthe now familiar world of school was accomplished with immense reluctance,\nand perhaps would never have been accomplished at all without the combined\ninfluence of my step\u2010mother, my uncle, Admiral de Winton, and Sir Simon\nHarness, who was one of my guardians and my father\u2019s oldest friend. I soon\ngrew to like my new life, and to make friends with a few of my new\ncompanions. I was still too shy to form friendships easily, or to be what\nis called popular. Everything however, went smoothly with me till I was a\nlittle over twenty, and then a circumstance occurred which woke up the old\nterrors, and showed too plainly that much of the puerile folly of\nchildhood clung to me still. I am almost ashamed to write it at this lapse\nof time; but I shall have more grievous follies to confess by\u2010and\u2010by, so\nthere is no use passing over this one. It arose out of a proposal to give\na farewell dinner to a fellow who was one of our set and extremely\npopular. I chimed in heartily with the scheme the moment it was broached,\nbut when one of my chums, out of pure mischief as I afterwards found out,\nsuggested that we should one of us make a farewell speech, expressing the\nregret and so forth of the rest, and that I should be the speaker, I got\nsavage, and was for not appearing at all at the dinner, unless they gave\nme a solemn promise that I should not be asked to open my lips, even to\npropose a toast. We were near quarrelling over it; the others were so\namused at my anger and fright that they kept up the joke, and bullied me\nuntil I was in a downright passion. When it was over, and I had joined in\nthe laugh against myself, my tormentor said, quite hap\u2010hazard, and not\nwith the least idea of rousing me again:\n\n\u201cI say, old boy, how will it be when you come of age? You\u2019ll be giving a\ngrand blow\u2010out at the Moat, of course, and we\u2019ll all drink to your health\nwith three times three; but you will have to return thanks, you know, and\naddress the tenantry, and that sort of thing. It will be awful fun to see\nyou stammering and haw\u2010hawing, and assuring us that the affecting occasion\nis really\u2014aw\u2014too much for you\u2014aw\u2014and so forth. When is it to be? About\nthis time twelve\u2010month, eh?\u201d\n\nI don\u2019t know what I said to him. I think I felt he was too great a brute\nto be spoken to, except in a language which it would not do for a De\nWinton to use. But could this be true? Was I making a fool\u2019s paradise to\nmyself, while every day hurried me on to this dismal catastrophe?\n\nI feigned a sudden call home on family business that required my presence,\nand started by the six A.M. train next morning for the Moat.\n\nMy step\u2010mother was surprised to meet me on coming down to\nbreakfast\u2014surprised, not startled. She was not a woman to be startled.\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d I said, after greeting her ceremoniously, according to my step\u2010\nfilial habit, \u201chave you any plan in view respecting the event of my\nmajority?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou speak in enigmas, my dear Clide. Pray explain yourself,\u201d replied Mrs.\nde Winton; and went on washing her hands in that deliberate way of hers\nthat always exasperated me. Perhaps it was this trick of perpetually\nwashing her hands that made me think her so uncommonly like the picture of\nLady Macbeth hanging over the library mantel\u2010piece.\n\n\u201cTo be explicit, then,\u201d I replied, \u201cdo you intend making a Coming of Age\nof it? Do you purpose setting the tenantry into fits making a fuss over\nme? In a word do you purpose calling up the seven devils commonly catted\nrejoicings and loyal demonstrations? Do you mean to do these things,\nmadam?\u201d\n\nWhether she thought I had gone suddenly mad, or that, notwithstanding the\nearly hour, I had been indulging too freely in convivial libations, I\ncould not tell; but she decidedly thought I was laboring under some sort\nof cerebral inflammation. Suspending abruptly the ablutionary movement,\nshe joined her hands coldly, and looking at me with a severe countenance,\nnot devoid altogether of pity, \u201cClide, you surprise me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\nhoped that you had sufficient respect for yourself and for your ancestors\nto understand....\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d I broke in, trembling with excitement, \u201cI respect you and I\nrespect my ancestors; but as to making a fool of myself for the\ngratification of their ante\u2010diluvian crotchets, I won\u2019t do it. No; if\nevery De Winton from the Flood down were to stalk out of his coffin and\nbully me, I won\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t what?\u201d demanded my step\u2010mother, looking now rather alarmed.\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t have those seven devils let loose over the place,\u201d I said\ndefiantly; \u201cand unless you pledge me your word of honor that there will\nnot be anything of the sort, as sure as I\u2019m a living De Winton I\u2019ll bolt\nfrom the country, and never set foot in it again!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou misapprehend our relative positions altogether, Clide,\u201d resumed Mrs.\nde Winton. \u201cWhen the time of your majority has arrived, you will, by the\nvery fact of its advent, be master to deal with it as you choose, quite\nindependent of my wishes. I should hope, however, that by that time you\nwill have conceived a better notion of your duty to society in your own\nperson, and to the traditions of the illustrious race from whom it is your\nprivilege to descend, than you seem to possess at present. It has been\nfrom time immemorial the custom in the family to celebrate with pomp and\nfestive gatherings the majority of the heir. I am at a loss to understand\nwhy this venerable custom should inspire you with such irrational fury;\nwhy you should anticipate the welcome that awaits every De Winton on his\ncoming of age otherwise than with a sense of grateful and honorable\npride.\u201d\n\nI had calmed down when I discovered that I was my own master in the\nmatter. Otherwise I should not have listened so patiently to the end of\nher tirade. When it was over, I began to feel rather ashamed of myself. I\nhad been making a storm in a butter\u2010boat.\n\n\u201cIf I have forgotten in the least degree the deference I owe you, madam,\u201d\nI observed, twisting my wide\u2010awake to give myself what the French call a\ncountenance, \u201cI apologize for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI trust you will learn to control yourself, in future, for your own\nsake,\u201d observed Mrs. de Winton, washing her hands again. \u201cBe assured of\none thing: I shall take no steps towards the celebration of the event,\nwhich is looked forward to by the tenantry with very different feelings\nfrom yours, without having your consent. I would not expose them or you to\nsuch an exhibition as that I have just witnessed. But you have twelve\nmonths to wait, and to improve, I hope, before your coming of age makes it\nnecessary to remind you what that circumstance involves.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it involves a fuss, madam,\u201d I said emphatically, and waxing wroth\nagain, \u201conce more, I won\u2019t have it. I\u2019d rather never come of age!\u201d And\nhaving delivered myself of this decided opinion, I wished her good\u2010\nmorning.\n\nI came of age in due time, and fearing that, in spite of my commands to\nthe contrary, the tenantry might get up some insane rejoicings and\ncaterwaulings, I feigned illness and waited in London till the anniversary\nwas a week old.\n\nThat Rubicon was no sooner safely passed than the other, the fearful one\nthat had been the nightmare of my childhood, threatened to overtake me. I\nhad so constantly announced at school my determination never to marry that\nmy views on that subject were known to all who knew me, and the reputation\nof a woman\u2010hater preceded me amongst my own people. Still, the Moat being\na fine old place, with a clear rent\u2010roll of fifteen thousand pounds a\nyear, and I being an only son and in all other respects what dowagers call\nan \u201celigible young man,\u201d the female mind of \u2014\u2014shire resented such a\nresolve on my part as premature and absurd, and set to work diligently to\nbring me to a better way of thinking. I pass over the history of that\nmerciless campaign of match\u2010making mothers and enterprising daughters. The\nvery thought of it now is painful to me. Enough that I came out of it\nunscathed. After two years of comparative quiet\u2014for I persistently refused\nto be lured to the sirens\u2019 caves in the neighborhood, and forced them to\nbeard the lion in his den, which gave me no inconsiderable vantage\u2010ground\nover the enemy\u2014the fire slackened, and I was left in peace.\n\nMy step\u2010mother did not attempt to coerce me; on the contrary, she\ncommiserated my position, and more than once expressed her disapproval of\nthe way in which, as she said, I was hunted down by all the marriageable\nwomanhood of the county. She insisted on giving one ball when I came home,\nto introduce me to her own and my father\u2019s friends and such members of the\nfamily as I only knew by name or very slightly; but after that she\nsubsided, and my life was as free from fuss as any life in this fussy\nworld could be.\n\n\u201cClide,\u201d observed Mrs. de Winton one morning, as we sipped our tea over\nthe breakfast\u2010table, \u201cdo you think it quite impossible you should ever\nmarry?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d I said reflectively, \u201cas far as a man can answer for himself, I\nshould say quite impossible.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how far is that?\u201d observed my step\u2010mother with a sceptical smile.\n\u201cYou have not yet been put to the test. You have not yet come across the\nwoman who could persuade you that marriage is the Elysium of man here\nbelow. Supposing\u2014I merely put it in the light of a remote supposition\u2014that\nyou should come across her some day...?\u201d\n\n\u201cI should probably accept my fate as many a wiser man has done before me,\nand capitulate on reasonable terms\u2014namely, that we should be executed at\nsix o\u2019clock in the morning, no wedding\u2010dress, no bridemaids, no\nspeechifying\u2014no fuss, in fact, and nobody present but a beggar\u2010woman and a\npoliceman. Then, when we come home, no entertaining, giving and taking\ndinners, and that sort of fuss that comes like the farce after the\ntragedy. If I ever meet with a pretty girl willing to take me and the Moat\non these conditions, then I will not answer for the consequences.\u201d\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nOne year after this conversation with my step\u2010mother I met that pretty\ngirl; the result was what I tacitly foretold it would be. I married her.\nIt happened in this way: I was seized with a desire to travel, and,\ninstead of beginning with the stereotyped grand tour, I determined to go\nfirst to America. I had a hunger for grand, wild scenery. The vast\nprimeval forests of the far West, the awful grandeur of Niagara, drew me\npowerfully; so off I set, accompanied by a confidential servant named\nStanton. Shyness went for something in the choice. I felt attracted\ntowards the new young continent as by a sense of homelikeness and kindred.\nI was not disappointed. Everything I saw there was at once novel and\nfamiliar. I could converse with the people in my own language, and was\nthus spared the mortification of stuttering out my inquiries in dubious\nFrench or German, or trumpeting them through an interpreter, as must have\nbeen the case on the grand tour.\n\nNiagara appalled and fascinated me. Day after day I stood contemplating\nthe torrents of foam that surged up to meet the great sheet of water that\nflung itself in a majestic arch of hard green crystal down into the\nboiling, creamy gulf. I gazed and gazed till sight was dim and sense was\nlost in a torpor of exquisite delight\u2014neither trance nor vision, but a\nstate that hovered between both. The thunder of the rushing waters, the\nsparkling of the prism that danced and flashed and faded with the changing\nlights, reflecting every tint in the sunset, until the cataract blazed\nbefore my dazzled eyes like a thousand rainbows melted into one, then\nfainted and died, leaving a uniform sheen of emerald in its place\u2014all this\nwas like some magnificent apotheosis that kept me spell\u2010bound, fascinated,\nentranced. I had come intending to remain three days; but a week slipped\naway and found me still at Niagara. At last I determined to break the\nspell. I must tear myself from the spectacle before it overmastered my\nreason; for there were moments when, after standing for hours looking down\ninto the seething abyss of foam, I felt as if an invisible chord were\ndrawing me on and on, nearer and nearer, luring me in a dreamy way towards\nthe water. Then I would rouse myself and rush away; but it would not do to\ngo on playing with a danger that was sweet and potent as a magician\u2019s\nspell. I came out one morning to take my last look. It was just after\nsunrise. The falls had never looked so beautiful, the booming of the water\nhad never sounded so solemn, the light had never evolved such a fairy\ntracery of jewelled glory on the silvery vapor and the green crystal. The\neffect was overpowering. For one moment it seemed to me that I heard the\nvoice of Jehovah speaking in the roar of many waters; that I stood within\nthe sanctuary, separated by an impenetrable and mysterious wall of thunder\nfrom the outer, visible world. A spontaneous and almost unconscious\nimpulse made me uncover myself and stand bareheaded, as in the presence of\nthe Unseen and Omnipresent. How long I stood thus I cannot say; I know\nthat I was roused from my revery by a sound that struck in upon my dreamy\ndeafness with strange and thrilling effect. It was the singing of a human\nvoice; the words were inarticulate, but I knew the music well. It was a\nwild, weird Highland melody; the rhythm was barely distinguishable, as the\nnotes rose and fell through the roar and boom of the waterfall, sounding\nnevertheless preternaturally clear and sweet, like the wail of a spirit or\nsome sweet sea\u2010bird\u2019s cry. What was it? Some Undine risen from the spray,\nand pouring out her lament to the wave? I dared not look round, so fearful\nwas I to banish the songster. When the voice ceased, I turned my head and\nlooked. Was I dreaming, or was it indeed a spirit that I beheld? I doubted\nat first. But as I kept my eyes steadily fixed on the figure, it moved\ntowards me, and I knew that it was neither sprite nor shadow, but a woman,\na young girl rather\u2014for she seemed barely emerged from childhood to\nmaidenhood\u2014more beautiful than any picture I had ever seen or that my\nimagination had ever painted. She was small, below the middle height. Her\nhair fell in profuse ringlets or coils\u2014it seemed an accidental\narrangement\u2014down her back; it was black and glossy as jet. Her eyes were\nlustrous and dark as a gazelle\u2019s; her complexion almost colorless. She was\ndressed in dark green, a loose, unconventional sort of garment that draped\nher something after the fashion of a Roman stola; her straw hat had either\nfallen off or she had taken it off, and held it dangling from her arm; her\nhands were clasped, and her eyes fixed on the fall, as it plunged from the\nrocky ledge down, down into the eternity of waters.\n\nShe had come within a few yards of me before she seemed conscious of my\npresence\u2014of anything but the majestic spectacle that was riveting her\nwhole soul through her eyes. She walked on like a somnambulist. A sudden\ndread seized me. Was she asleep, or was she experiencing in its uttermost\ndegree the terrible attraction that I had felt more than once, and walking\non unconsciously to death? I advanced a few steps, so as to stand in her\npath as she drew near. The effect was instantaneous. She started as if\nsome one had struck her. I thought she would have fallen, and rushed to\nprevent it by stretching out my arm. The movement apparently recalled her\nto the sense of where she was. With a slight acknowledgment of my\ncourtesy, she turned quickly away, and hurried on out of sight. I followed\nher, and it was with an unreasonable thrill of delight that I saw her\nenter the hotel where I was staying. Who was this siren, or how did one so\nyoung and so beautiful come to be alone in this lonely place? Before the\nday was over I met her again. Chance brought us together once more in the\nsame spot. This time she was not alone. An elderly man, whom she addressed\nas uncle, accompanied her. He was not prepossessing in his appearance, and\nI doubt whether I should have overcome my natural shyness so far as to\naddress him, if he had not himself broken the ice by asking me if I had\nventured to walk under the fall, and whether the experience was worth the\nrisk. I assured him that it amply compensated for any imaginary danger\nthat might exist, and volunteered to accompany him if he decided on trying\nit. This brought us into communication, if not into sympathy. I did not\nlike him, consequently he did not like me. We both felt this\ninstinctively, no doubt; there was an opposing element of some sort\nbetween us that made friendship impossible, though it did not prevent that\nkind of superficial intimacy which is almost inevitable amongst people of\nthe same country who find themselves thrown close together under the same\nroof in a foreign land. He was Scotch, as I knew at once by his name,\nPrendergast, and by his accent. He was a thin, medium\u2010sized man, and could\nnot have been more than forty, though his silver hair gave him a\nprematurely old look, which was perhaps increased by a settled expression\nof ill\u2010temper about the mouth, arising, so his niece affectionately\nalleged, from chronic tooth\u2010ache. He seemed indeed a martyr to that trying\ncomplaint, and wore his head tied up in a woollen comforter, which must\nhave been miserably uncomfortable; for the days were hot and the nights as\nbalmy as June. I fancied that his beautiful niece disliked him, or at\nleast feared him considerably more than she loved him. I noticed how the\nmerry, bright little creature started at the sound of his voice when he\ncalled to her sharply, and how she quailed when his cold, hard eye lighted\non her in the midst of one of her childish peals of laughter, checking it\nas by a cold bath. It struck me even more than once that she cast a glance\ntowards me, as if claiming my protection\u2014against whom or what I could not\nimagine; but I was resolved to ascertain, and, if my assistance or\nsympathy could avail her, to let her have them at any cost. We happened to\nbe alone on the third day after our first meeting. Isabel\u2014so I heard Mr.\nPrendergast call her\u2014was apparently as pleased at the opportunity as I\nwas. She talked to me with the frank, artless _abandon_ of a child; and,\nwithout in the least intending it, she told me enough of her antecedents\nand position to satisfy me that I was right in supposing her not very\nhappy with her uncle. She told me he was her guardian, and had brought her\nup since she was quite a child, her parents having died when she was five\nyears old. Her mother was his sister; her father\u2019s name was Cameron. He\nheld a large tract of land in Canada, and had a great deal of money\u2014\u201cheaps\nof money,\u201d was her childish estimate of it\u2014in banks and things in England;\nand she, being the only child, was heiress to all this wealth. Mr.\nPrendergast had had the management of it up to the present, and continued\nto treat her as an infant, though she was now of age, she said. He had by\nnature a tyrannical temper, and it was increased and rendered irritable\nand fierce by years of tooth\u2010ache. He had been away in hot climates to\nseek relief for his exasperated nerves, and it was only on her account\nthat he had returned to England of late. He had come out to America to\nlook after her property, and also for the benefit of her health, which had\nrequired change and a long sea\u2010voyage. I felt grateful to him for this at\nleast, as the sacrifice had evidently been crowned with success. Miss\nCameron looked the very picture of health, and she said the voyage had\nmade her stronger than she had ever been in her life. It had, however,\nproved very disastrous to Mr. Prendergast, whose teeth had not given him a\nday\u2019s rest since they left England; \u201cand of course this makes him very\ncross,\u201d his niece observed deprecatingly, with a little sigh.\n\nAfter this conversation we became perfectly at ease with each other, and\ntacitly watched for opportunities of renewing it. I need not say that I\nrelinquished my plan of leaving the falls, which day after day grew more\nbeautiful, more irresistibly attractive, to me. A week passed in a dreamy\nstate of blissfulness, and then a crisis came. Mr. Prendergast, who had\nbeen howling all night in the room next to me with the tooth\u2010ache, set off\nafter breakfast, in spite of his swelled face, with a party that were\nbeing taken to walk under the arch of the fall. He wound a quarter of a\nmile of Shetland shawls round his head, and, thus fortified, donned the\nleathern costume of the occasion, and down he went. Everything went well\nenough until he was emerging from the tremendous roar that had covered him\nin like a curtain, and was setting his foot on dry land above, when he was\nseized with a rush of blood to the head, and fell insensible to the\nground. He was carried to his room, and lay there dangerously ill for\nseveral days. Isabel was not allowed to see him. The doctor enjoined\nabsolute quiet as of the first necessity; no one entered the sick\u2010room but\nthe medical man and a nurse whom he sent for to the nearest town. This\ncatastrophe naturally threw Miss Cameron and me a good deal together. We\nwandered out to admire the falls by sunrise; we were to be seen there\nagain at sunset, when the clouds rolled in golden cascades over the\nwestern sky, and made a spectacle of rival glory above and beyond the\neverlasting glory of Niagara. What could come of all this but what came of\nit? We loved each other, and we confessed it. It was a wild act on my\npart. I knew nothing of Isabel\u2019s family and antecedents but what she had\naccidentally told me; but to a man in love, first love, what more was\nwanted? She bore a name that was ancient as my own. As to her fortune, I\ncared nothing for that. She told me it was already legally in her own\npower; that she was twenty\u2010one. I believed this, since she said it, but it\nrequired a strong effort of faith to credit that beaming young face with\nmore than seventeen years in this cold world. Those were blissful days\nwhile we walked arm\u2010in\u2010arm through the yellowing forest, and alongside the\nriver beyond the falls, cooing our young loves to one another, as foolish\nand as tender as any two Babes in the Wood. But Mr. Prendergast was\ngetting well now, and called Isabel constantly to his side, and sternly\ncatechised her as to what she did when she left him. He was to be down\u2010\nstairs to\u2010morrow, and they were to leave Niagara in a few days, and sail\nfor England by the next boat that left Quebec. She whispered this to me\nwith white lips one morning, and then rushed up\u2010stairs to answer the call\nof the dragon, who was shouting to her from his open window. I waited till\nshe came down again, and then drew her out into a favorite spot of ours at\na little distance from the house.\n\n\u201cIsabel,\u201d I said, \u201cdoes your uncle know that we love each other?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! no, no; he would kill me if he knew it,\u201d she replied, speaking in a\nwhisper, and looking up at me with an expression of terror and trust that\nnerved me to anything.\n\n\u201cWhat, then, are we to do? Shall I speak to him at once?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cThere is no use speaking to him; he will never let me marry you, Clide.\nForgive me for making you unhappy,\u201d she said, clasping her hands on my\narm, while the big tears ran down her face. \u201cI never ought to have let you\ncare for me. I never ought to have let myself love you, but I could not\nhelp it; I could not help it.\u201d\n\nHer head fell on my shoulder, and the sobs shook the frail little figure\nthat leaned against me with the artless confidence of a child.\n\n\u201cYou _shall_ marry me, darling,\u201d I cried; \u201cno uncle that ever lived shall\nseparate us. I swear it! We shall be married before we leave this. Trust\nto me to do everything; we will arrange it all before that old Turk knows\nor suspects anything. Promise only to trust to me entirely and to do as I\nask you. Promise me, Isabel.\u201d\n\nShe promised, placing her hand confidingly in mine.\n\nNext morning, soon after sunrise, while Mr. Prendergast was still asleep,\nwe two stole out to the little church where a few stray worshippers sang\ntheir hymns to the music of the waterfall, and were married by the old\nclergyman of the place. My man, Stanton, and the sexton were the only\nwitnesses. It was indeed a wedding after my own heart, all done as quietly\nas if marrying a wife were as much an every\u2010day accident in life as taking\na walk before breakfast. Isabel was, if possible, more delighted with the\nmode of proceeding than I was. I forget how she came to make the avowal,\nbut I know it was quite spontaneous, that she hated the fuss and\nparaphernalia of a wedding in England as she hated a thunder\u2010storm; and\nthat if she had been given her choice, she would infinitely have preferred\nthis quiet little marriage of ours to the most magnificent display that\ncould have been got up for her in Scotland. We were as happy as two\nchildren as we walked home together. But then came the business of telling\nMr. Prendergast. Isabel declared she would rather die than enter his\npresence now alone; he would read her rebellious act on her face, and he\nwould kill her. He was capable of anything when he was roused. I was not\ngoing to risk my treasure within his reach. I sat down and wrote a\nrespectful letter, informing him that I had become the husband of his\nniece, and requesting his forgiveness for what might seem a violation of\ngood faith, but which his own conscience would, I felt sure, find an\nexcuse for in my behalf. I stated my fortune and position more accurately\nthan I had been able to do to Isabel, who put her hand to my mouth when I\nattempted to speak of settlements and so forth, saying she wanted to hear\nnothing about my money. I now begged of Mr. Prendergast to let me know\nwhat his wishes were concerning his niece\u2019s fortune, and pledged myself\nbeforehand to conform to them, and prove by my conduct in this respect\nthat money was the last consideration that had actuated me in marrying an\nheiress. In answer to this I received a curt line informing me that I had\nbehaved like a scoundrel, and that, as a gentleman, Mr. Prendergast\ndeclined to meet me, and that I had better take myself off with my wife\nbefore chance threw me in his way again. Isabel was overjoyed at this\nunexpected issue. I was stung by the man\u2019s insolence and his unjust\naccusations, but, on the whole, it was the easiest way of getting rid of\nhim and securing myself and Isabel from his brutal temper and ungovernable\nviolence.\n\nWe left Niagara that day. I wrote to my step\u2010mother, acquainting her that\nI was a married man, and announcing the day she might expect to see us at\nthe Moat. I wrote for places in the next steamer, and we were fortunate\nenough to find two vacant ones at nearly the last moment in a splendid\nvessel that sailed from New York. It had occurred to me that before\nleaving America it would have been prudent and rational to make some\ninquiries concerning the landed property which my wife held in Canada; but\nas she did not propose this, I feared it might strike her unfavorably if I\ndid, and suggest that her uncle\u2019s insulting insinuations were not as\nunfounded as I wished her to believe. I therefore abandoned the idea, and\nwe left the United States without my asking a single question on the\nsubject.\n\nThe voyage homeward was delightful. Isabel formed plans for the future\nthat sounded like songs from Arcadia, and drew a picture of our life at\nthe Moat that looked like a vision of the Elysian fields. We stopped a\nweek in London to extemporize a trousseau and purchase some trinkets, and\nthen I took my wife to her Welsh home. My step\u2010mother gave her a gracious,\nif not a hearty, welcome. It was a very quiet home\u2010coming; nothing,\nindeed, could have been tamer. There were no tenantry to meet us, no\nrejoicings either in the village or at the house. I thought this strange,\nthough it was strictly in accordance with the desires I had always\nexpressed on the subject to my step\u2010mother. Isabel, however, was entirely\nsatisfied, and confessed to me that she had been in a nervous flutter all\nthe way home, fearing to find some horror in the shape of a deputation\nfrom the tenants or something awaiting us at our journey\u2019s end.\n\nA few days after our arrival, when I came down to breakfast alone, my\nstep\u2010mother said to me, \u201cClide, it is time that you thought a little of\nbusiness now. I think you told me that your wife\u2019s fortune is in her own\nright; this is very desirable to begin with, but of course it cannot\nremain so. Your rights as a husband must be properly protected.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy wife\u2019s affection and my confidence in her are the only security I\nrequire on that, madam,\u201d I replied stiffly.\n\n\u201cThe sentiment does honor to you both,\u201d observed Mrs. de Winton, with an\nundertone of sarcasm that did not escape me; \u201cbut you do not expect\nAdmiral de Winton or Sir Simon Harness to be satisfied with such a\nsentimental guarantee.\u201d\n\n\u201cI understand you, and I respect your motives,\u201d was my cold rejoinder;\n\u201cbut as I am not responsible to any one but myself for the good or bad\nmanagement of myself and my property, I do not recognize any one\u2019s right,\ntrustee or relation, to interfere with me, and still less to interfere\nwith my wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho talks of interfering with your wife? You tell me she is an heiress\nwith forty thousand pounds in the Funds and an estate in Canada. Your\nfather\u2019s widow and your late guardian and trustee have certainly a right\nto ask the whereabouts of the money and the land. Admitting that your wife\nbe as devoted and as disinterested as you believe, is she entirely her own\nmistress? This tyrannical old uncle who has kept her in such bondage\u2014how\nfar did he or does he hold control over her fortune? For her sake as much\nas for your own you should put yourself in possession of these facts.\u201d\n\nThis view of the case had not occurred to me. I saw the justice of it, and\nfrankly said so.\n\n\u201cIsabel will put no obstacle in the way of a just and prudent arrangement;\nI am quite sure of that,\u201d I said emphatically. \u201cMy only fear is that she\nshould see in this horrid investigation a desire on my part to count my\nprize, and perhaps suspect me of having had a base, ulterior motive in\nmarrying her; and rather than wrong myself or wound her by such a\nsuspicion, I would sooner never see a penny of her money or an acre of her\nland.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd does your wife share these sentiments? Is she quite as indifferent\nabout the matter as you are?\u201d inquired my step\u2010mother.\n\n\u201cEvery bit!\u201d I answered vehemently.\n\n\u201cDid she tell you so?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you suppose I would ask her?\u201d\n\n\u201cRidiculous boy!\u201d sneered my step\u2010mother. \u201cBut taking for granted that\njust at present she does share your juvenile folly and poetical want of\ncommon sense, how long will it last, do you think? A bride in her\nhoneymoon is a very different being from a wife of a few years\u2019 standing.\nShe knows nothing of the value of money now; but when she finds herself\nthe mother of a family, with daughters growing up to be married and\nportioned, she will awake to the value of it in a way that will astonish\nyou. And when a few years hence she asks you for an account of her own\nsplendid fortune, what answer will you make to her? You were too delicate\nto hurt her feelings by any inquiries about so insignificant a matter, so\nyou left it to her uncle to see to it!\u201d\n\n\u201cI said I was prepared to do what was necessary to protect her interests,\u201d\nI replied. \u201cI will speak to her on the subject this afternoon. What am I\nto do next?\u201d\n\n\u201cWrite to Sir Simon Harness, and beg him to fix a day to come down here;\nand when he has done so, you will write to the family lawyer, and request\nhim to be here to meet him. Of course you will write to Admiral de Winton,\nas your father\u2019s executor and your nearest relative now.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a confounded fuss it will be!\u201d I exclaimed impatiently, and, kicking\nover a footstool, I started up and began to walk up and down the room. \u201cI\nwish I had married a milkmaid!\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t talk like a fool, Clide!\u201d said my step\u2010mother. \u201cI do believe your\npretended delicacy and fear of hurting Isabel\u2019s feelings are nothing but a\ncloak to cover your dread of a fuss!\u201d\n\nI was going to protest, but the door opened, and Isabel walked in.\n\nShe looked so beautiful in her pink cashmere drapery, breaking into the\nbrown old wainscoted room like a sunbeam, that even my step\u2010mother was\nsurprised into an involuntary tribute of admiration; and when my wife,\ncoming up to her in that pretty, kitten\u2010like way that was so bewitching,\nstooped down to be kissed, my step\u2010mother responded quite warmly, and\nactually put up her hand to caress the sunny face after she had kissed it.\n\nI felt so proud of my lovely Isabel, and so grateful to my step\u2010mother for\nthis unfeigned recognition of her loveliness, that I was seized with a\nstrong impulse to embrace them both on the spot. I restrained it, however,\nand we sat down to breakfast; my wife, as mistress of the house, presiding\nover the cups and saucers.\n\n\u201cClide,\u201d began my step\u2010mother (she prefaced every remark by my Christian\nname), as soon as Isabel had provided us respectively with tea and coffee,\n\u201cwhat are we going to do to make Mrs. de Winton welcome amongst us? Now,\ndon\u2019t answer me with your usual lazy outcry about fuss. My dear,\u201d she\nsaid, turning to Isabel, \u201cyou will have a great deal to do in the way of\nreforming him; and if you succeed, it will be little short of a miracle.\u201d\n\n\u201cIsabel will find out my vices soon enough, without your enlightening her\nbeforehand,\u201d I protested. \u201cIt\u2019s not fair to take away a man\u2019s character\nwithout giving him a chance of redeeming it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen begin and redeem it in time,\u201d said my step\u2010mother. \u201cHere is a good\nopportunity. Have some people down from London to put the house in order,\nand then give a series of proper entertainments to introduce your wife to\nher new family and friends.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! please ...\u201d cried Isabel, pursing up her rosebud of a mouth, and\njoining her hands with a delicious little pantomime of fright.\n\n\u201cWhat! are you as silly as himself? Or has he spoilt you already?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was ready spoilt for him, dear Mrs. de Winton. I hate being introduced;\nand as to refurnishing anything, I wouldn\u2019t have it for the world. I adore\nold furniture!\u201d declared Isabel.\n\n\u201cOld furniture is one thing, and shabby furniture is another,\u201d observed my\nstep\u2010mother, resuming the chronic rigidity of manner which Isabel\u2019s beauty\nand sweetness had thawed for a moment. \u201cIf Clide had done me the honor of\nconfiding his intentions to me in time, I certainly would have taken upon\nmyself to make the house decently clean to receive you. I had for some\ntime past urged on him the necessity of getting new carpets and curtains;\nit was not surprising he shrank from the annoyance of a few days\u2019\nhammering merely to make it habitable for _me_, but I fancied for his wife\nhe might have undergone as much.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall be delighted to hear the hammers going for a month, if Isabel\nlikes it,\u201d I replied evasively.\n\n\u201cBut I don\u2019t like it; I hate it, Clide!\u201d exclaimed my wife passionately.\n\n\u201cWell, then, you sha\u2019n\u2019t have it, my darling,\u201d I said. My step\u2010mother sat\nback in her chair and washed her hands. She said nothing, but this was\nsufficiently suggestive.\n\n\u201cHave you announced your marriage to Sir Simon Harness?\u201d she resumed after\na pause.\n\n\u201cNot yet. I mean to write to him to\u2010day.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is Sir Simon Harness?\u201d inquired Isabel.\n\n\u201cHe was my father\u2019s particular friend and the trustee during my minority,\u201d\nI explained.\n\n\u201cYou had better ask him to come down here for a few days to make your\nwife\u2019s acquaintance,\u201d suggested Mrs. de Winton.\n\n\u201cNo, he sha\u2019n\u2019t!\u201d broke in the angel in pink. \u201cI don\u2019t want to make his\nacquaintance. He\u2019s a mean, disagreeable old man. Trustees always are. I\nhate them!\u201d\n\nI thought this charmingly innocent and childlike, though, it must be\nconfessed, she put more vehemence into her manner than the case warranted;\nbut remembering the type of trustee on which she had built her opinion of\nthe class, I could not resent her prejudice against my old friends. My\nstep\u2010mother took a less indulgent view of the _sortie_. Seeing me cast a\nsmile of tender indulgence on the culprit, she looked at me very sternly.\n\n\u201cDo you mean to requite years of faithful kindness and interest in your\nconcerns by such a gross breach of respect and common courtesy as not to\ninvite Sir Simon Harness to your house on such an occasion as this?\u201d she\ndemanded.\n\n\u201cIsabel is mistress of her own house. I cannot insist upon her receiving\nany one against her will,\u201d I replied; \u201cbut when I have explained to her\nwhat kind of man Sir Simon is, I think she will consent to make his\nacquaintance.\u201d\n\nIsabel peeped at me from behind the urn, and made a face indicative of\nanything but consent.\n\nLuckily, my step\u2010mother did not see the little by\u2010play, and, taking her\nsilence for acquiescence, she said, addressing me:\n\n\u201cAnd Admiral de Winton\u2014of course you mean to ask him down?\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that another trustee?\u201d asked Isabel.\n\n\u201cNot exactly, though he often acted with Sir Simon in my affairs, being\nnext of kin,\u201d I said. \u201cHe was my father\u2019s executor.\u201d\n\n\u201cExecutor! Why, that\u2019s worse than a trustee! I won\u2019t have him come here,\nClide! You\u2019re going to fill the house with horrid old men who will worry\nme to death. I know they will. But I won\u2019t submit to it!\u201d\n\nShe pushed away her cup with a sudden gesture that made the china rattle,\nand, flushing up scarlet, walked away from the table, and flung herself\ninto a chair near the fire. If she had flung the tea\u2010pot at my head, I\ncould not have been more taken aback. It was impossible to deny that the\nburst of temper was very becoming to her complexion, but ... I was\nconscious of a very distinct sense of disappointment. Yes, disappointment;\nthere was no other word for it. As to my step\u2010mother, she looked from me\nto my wife, and from my wife to me. Isabel, meantime, sat trembling and\nexcited, her eyes sparkling, her face glowing like an angry rose.\n\n\u201cDearest....\u201d I began, \u201creally....\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! don\u2019t,\u201d she shrieked, and burst into a torrent of tears.\n\nMrs. de Winton, prompted either by delicacy or by disgust, got up and left\nthe room, leaving me to conjure as best I could the storm that had\nsuddenly broken out in my conjugal paradise. I was utterly at a loss to\nunderstand Isabel. She said she was inconsolable at having vexed me, but\nto all my entreaties and arguments would answer nothing except that she\nwas frightened at strangers, and above all at horrid old men; and that if\nI loved her, I was not to introduce her to anybody, but to let us live all\nour lives alone in the dear old Moat. She wanted no society but mine, and\nsurely, if I loved her, I ought not to want any but hers! This was\nirresistible logic to my heart; but my reason, being less infatuated,\nperversely refused to abide by it. There was no use at this crisis in\nbroaching prudential arrangements as an excuse for inviting down my two\nfriends. Such an insinuation would only have added fuel to the fire. Yet\nthe new aspect in which my heiress\u2010wife was revealing herself made it\nclear that some such measures as my step\u2010mother had suggested were\nabsolutely necessary to protect Isabel against her own folly and\ndeplorable ignorance of life.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nThe storm of sobs and tears subsided by degrees. Isabel declared she was\nready to make any sacrifice of her own feelings to mine; that if I liked\nto invite all the trustees in Lincoln\u2019s Inn and Chancery Lane down to the\nMoat, she would do her best to receive them properly, so that I should not\nbe ashamed of my wife; but of course there was an end to her happiness.\nArcadia was gone. All her dreams of romantic bliss had vanished into thin\nair. She was after all to be nothing more than a humdrum wife with a house\nto look after and guests to entertain.\n\n\u201cO Clide, Clide! is this what you promised me?\u201d she cried, her voice still\nbroken with sobs. \u201cIs this my dream? or was it only a dream, nothing but\nthe baseless fabric of a vision?\u201d\n\nShe clasped her hands, and, throwing back her head, fixed her eyes on the\nceiling, as if the vision were disappearing in that direction, and she\nwere straining for a last glimpse of it.\n\nI was so spell\u2010bound by the extraordinary beauty that borrowed a new charm\nfrom her emotions and from the despairing tenderness of her voice and\nmanner that I entirely lost sight of every other point in the picture. In\nfact, I lost my head. I was after all no more than a man, and the wisest\nof us is but a fool in the hands of a woman. What could I do but what I\ndid do? Fall upon my knees and swear that she should have Arcadia back\nagain, adjure her to build up a new vision, and, if she loved me, never to\ntalk about baseless fabrics and such like again; and as to her sinking\ndown into a humdrum wife, it was preposterous nonsense. She could never be\nanything but an archangel to me, and that.... But why do I bear witness in\nthis wanton way to my own folly? We made up our quarrel, as all such\nquarrels are intended to be made up. Isabel went to her room, and I went\nround to the stables. I had no fancy for meeting my step\u2010mother just now,\nand I had a vague sense of something having gone wrong with me which a\ngallop over the downs would set right.\n\nIt was a cold February morning\u2014bitterly cold, but bright and bracing, just\nthe sort of day to enjoy a ride across country; so as soon as I was out of\nthe park I set spurs to my horse and galloped away, taking flying leaps\nover everything, hurdle, and ditch, and brook, as if the hounds were\nahead, and my life staked on being in at the death. After five miles of\nthis going\u2010in\u2010for\u2010the\u2010Derby pace I drew rein at the foot of a hill, and\nwalked my horse to the top. The hard riding had made him so hot that his\nflanks smoked like a steam\u2010engine, and sent up clouds of vapor that\nenveloped me in a tepid bath; but I did not feel that the violent exercise\nhad produced any effect on myself. I was not clear as to the nature of the\neffect I had expected, and still less could I analyze the cause that\ndemanded it. Something was wrong somewhere. I looked about me vacantly,\npersistently, as men do when they feel they ought to look within\nthemselves for the object of their search, and dare not.\n\nI cast my eyes to the sky. It was as blue as liquid sapphire, and as\ncloudless. But it said nothing to me. The river winding round the foot of\nthe wooded hill was ice\u2010bound and silent as death. The trees stood up\nnaked and grim against the blue, like skeleton giants, and whispered\nnothing. There was no rustle of leafy tongues. They were dead and gone\ndown into the dumb sod. There was no ripple of tiny cascades; no buzzing\nof insects holding council in the grass that grew high and free on the\nhill\u2010side; no song amongst the birds. Nothing spoke to me. Everything was\ndumb. Everything was cold. Everything was a disappointment. I began to\nwhistle. The sound of my own voice echoed merrily through the wood, but it\nwoke no responsive note from linnet or blackbird or robin. Silence\neverywhere.\n\n\u201cWhat can it mean?\u201d I said aloud, the apostrophe not being addressed to\nthe birds that could sing, and would not sing, but to my own perplexity\nconcerning the scene at the breakfast\u2010table. There was something out of\nall reason in the passionate energy Isabel had displayed. Excuse it as my\nheart and my vanity would on the ground of a jealous love that shrank from\nany intrusion on our solitude capable of distracting my thoughts from her,\nwhich she chiefly urged as her motive of dislike to my two friends\u2019 visit,\nI could not see it in a satisfactory light. Again, it was simply\npreposterous that a girl of one\u2010and\u2010twenty, who had seen even as little of\nthe world as Isabel had, could be so morbidly shy as to cry herself into\nhysterics at the mere idea of being introduced to two old gentlemen in her\nown house. There was some motive in the background which it behooved me\nfor my own peace of mind to discover.\n\nRemoved from the magnetic influence of her beauty, and her distress, and\nher pretty, endearing ways, I was able to look back dispassionately at the\nmorning\u2019s entertainment; and the more I looked at it, the less I liked it.\nThe undisciplined outburst of temper which revealed to me the painful fact\nthat Socrates was henceforth to be my model, and patience under an\ninevitable evil the sustained effort of my life, was in itself no small\nmatter for regret. But this, though the most tangible of my cares, was not\nthe one that chiefly possessed me. No; I could have signed away every\npenny of my wife\u2019s fortune on the spot to feel sure that it had been a\ngenuine outbreak of mere temper; but it was borne in on me, not by\ncircumstantial, but by strong internal evidence that she was actuated by\n_fear_. Fear of whom? Of what? What could her young life have done, or\nsuffered, or known, that she should be afraid? Her uncle had been very\ntyrannical, and was now very much incensed with her on account of her\nmarriage. But she had nothing to fear from him now. He might storm and\nfume, but she was out of his reach; he could not hurt her. Besides, she\nhad not hinted at any fear of malice or vengeance on his part as a reason\nfor shunning the society or acquaintance of other men. Who or what was she\nafraid of? \u201cShe hated fuss, and I promised her this and that and the\nother.\u201d\n\nNonsense! Two old friends of my father\u2019s sleeping a night or two in the\nhouse did not constitute a fuss. \u201cShe hated trustees; they were\nalways....\u201d Stop! No; I\u2019m a fool and a brute to wrong the child by such a\nthought. Besides, I never hinted, even indirectly, at anything like\ninquiries and settlements. I avoided the subject scrupulously. No; there\ncould be nothing in that.\n\nThe fact is, the dear child is in love with me, and wants to play at Romeo\nand Juliet for the rest of her life; and here am I, like a born idiot,\nmaking a mountain out of a mole\u2010hill, instead of blessing my stars for my\nluck. This, by a natural train of thought, led me to picture her standing\non the balcony by moonlight, and myself in the garden below looking up and\nworshipping.\n\n\u201cWhat a distracting Juliet she would have made!\u201d I exclaimed aloud,\ncarried away by my imagination. Then\u2014I can\u2019t for the life of me tell\nwhy\u2014but I remembered how she had looked a while ago with her hands clasped\nand her head thrown back, and how she had suddenly checked her passionate\ncomplaint to assume the rapt attitude, the _pose_ of picturesque despair,\nand how very melodramatic the effect had been. If it had not been the\npurest nature, it would have been the most finished piece of acting that\never drew down the house to a Siddons or a Kemble. But it _was_ pure\nnature. Then why do I start, and why does my heart begin to thump against\nmy coat in this inexplicable way? Pshaw! Because I am a fool. I set spurs\nto my horse, and galloped home, whistling defiantly all the way.\n\nMy wife was watching for me, Juliet fashion, from the window of her turret\nchamber, and, as soon as she caught sight of my horse entering the park,\nflew down to meet me in the hall.\n\n\u201cWhy did you stay away so long, Clide? Mrs. de Winton \u2018sent me her\ncompliments to know if I wouldn\u2019t like to go and see the dairy\u2019; but I\ndidn\u2019t like. I was afraid it was just an excuse to get me all to herself\nand scold me. I knew I was naughty this morning, and you may scold me as\nmuch as you like; but I won\u2019t be scolded by anybody else.\u201d And nestling up\nto me in her childlike way, Isabel laid her cheek on my shoulder, and\nlooked up at me with two eyes that would have melted a judge and won from\nany twelve men in England an unhesitating verdict of\u2014innocent as a babe\nunborn. Linking her arm in mine, and whispering all the way as if we were\na pair of lovers stealing a clandestine interview, she carried me off to\nher boudoir. Then, when we were safe in the room, she turned the key in\nthe door, and began to skip and dance about like an emancipated kitten,\ngiving me chase round the room, clapping hands and laughing and singing in\nfrantic merriment. We kept up this impromptu game of puss\u2010in\u2010the\u2010corner\ntill she was fairly tired out and allowed herself to be taken prisoner and\nheld in durance vile on my knee, while she panted for breath, and shook\nback her hair, that had slipped from its imprisoning pins, and fell in\nlong, black ripples down her shoulders. Thinking the moment opportune,\n\u201cNow, my darling,\u201d I said, \u201clet us have a quiet little talk together. How\nare we to make it straight with the dowager? It won\u2019t do to have her\nsuspect my dear little dove of not being as good and as sweet\u2010tempered as\nI know her to be, and I\u2019m afraid that silly pout at breakfast has put you\nin a false light with her.\u201d\n\nIsabel said nothing for a moment, but went on shaking her curls.\n\n\u201cDo you wish me to go and beg her pardon?\u201d she said at last. \u201cI will, if\nyou like, Clide.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy angel! no. I doubt the wisdom of that,\u201d I replied, laughing at the\n_na\u00efvet\u00e9_ of the proposal. \u201cIt would be better if we took some more\npractical means of pacifying her. Suppose we give in about asking down\nthese two old friends of mine?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well. I will do anything you like, Clide,\u201d she answered\nindifferently, rolling a curl on her two fingers, and not looking up at\nme.\n\n\u201cThe admiral is the jolliest old tar in the world,\u201d I continued, \u201cand will\nnever talk a word of politics or business, or anything you don\u2019t care\nabout; and as to Sir Simon, my only fear is that you will fall in love\nwith him, and some fine morning elope after him, or with him if he stays\nlong enough. He\u2019s the most unmerciful lady\u2010killer in the three kingdoms.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs he?\u201d\n\nThis was said in a sort of absent way, as if she had been only listening\nwith one ear to what I was saying; all her thoughts were intent on the\ncurling operation, that was again recommenced and completed for the tenth\ntime.\n\n\u201cThen shall I tell Mrs. de Winton that we will ask them both for\nWednesday\u2014till Saturday, say? If you like them, it s very easy to renew\nthe invitation.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course,\u201d assented Isabel, and began a fresh curl.\n\n\u201cHow proud I shall be introducing my wife!\u201d I said, pushing back the heavy\nveil of hair that partly hid her face from me.\n\nShe shook it down again, not roughly, but there was a touch of impatience\nin the movement that surprised me. I thought it best, however, not to seem\nto notice it. Suddenly she started from my knee, flew to the piano\u2014I had\nordered a Cottage Pleyel for her private use\u2014and broke out into a gush of\nsong that made the air literally thrill with melody. Passionate, tender,\nangry, and entreating by turns, her voice poured out the florid Italian\nmusic with the full\u2010throated carol of a thrush. Singing was as natural to\nher as speaking. In fact, she appeared to find it an easier medium of\nemotion, whether of pain or pleasure, than speech; and when she was\nexcited, her first impulse was to break out in thrills and cadences just\nas a bird might do. Once started, she could go on for ever. I sat a full\nhour this morning listening to her running through a _repertoire_ of\nvaried power and beauty. Schubert, Rossini, Beethoven, Verdi\u2014she was at\nhome in every school, and her rich soprano voice adapted itself to each as\nif that one had been her sole and special study. But while I sat there\ndrinking in the intense delight, my mind divided between it and the beauty\nof her face, some sudden expression of the latter every now and then\nstartled me. The wonderful mobility of her features reflected every\nchanging emotion of the music with a responsive fidelity which it is\nimpossible to describe. I suppose it was the absence of the artistic\ninstinct in me, combined with a total ignorance of the emotional law of\nmusic, that made this appear to me unnatural, and filled me with a sudden\nand painful misgiving as to the genuine truthfulness of Isabel\u2019s nature.\nWas it possible to feign so perfectly, and to be at the same time\nthoroughly truthful?\n\nBut I was cut short in my perplexing reflections by the luncheon\u2010bell,\nthat sounded a vigorous carillon at the foot of the stairs leading up to\nmy wife\u2019s boudoir. She shut the piano quickly, and, passing her arm\nthrough mine, marshalled me down to the dining\u2010room, humming the \u201cValse de\nVenzano\u201d all the way.\n\nI observed casually during lunch that we had fixed on Wednesday to have\nSir Simon and the admiral down to the Moat. Mrs. de Winton slowly elevated\nher eyebrows, but gave no articulate indication of surprise.\n\nI did not look at Isabel while I made this announcement, but when, a\nmoment after, I stole a glance at her, she was as pale as the table\u2010cloth.\nInstantaneously I grew a shade paler. I felt I did. My heart stood still.\nWhat in the name of wonder was behind this dislike of hers to see these\ntwo men? There was a mystery somewhere. She was afraid of somebody or\nsomething. At any and every cost I must find it out.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nReligion And State In Our Republic.\n\n\nThe great questions which concern the relation of the state to the church\nhave already been partially treated of in this magazine. The vast\nimportance of the subject, however, demands that we should return to it\nonce more, and will serve as a sufficient excuse if we even repeat many\nthings which have already been said in previous articles. The relation\nwhich the state ought to have to the church according to sound principles\nof philosophy, the relation which it is intended to have according to the\nprinciples of the Constitution of this republic, the relation which it\nought to have according to the principles of the canon law and theology of\nthe Catholic Church, and the bearing of these various questions severally\ntoward each other, both in their theoretical and practical import, make up\ntogether a complex topic which is under a perpetual and ardent discussion,\nand which is felt by all parties to involve momentous issues. We have no\nunwillingness to express fully and unreservedly all our convictions and\nopinions upon any of the several parts of this question. It is undoubtedly\nmuch desired by many who are hostile to the Catholic religion or\nsuspicious of it, on account of its bearing upon the science of politics,\nthat competent persons should make such full explanations of the real and\ngenuine principles by which all sound and thoroughly\u2010instructed Catholics\nof the present time in our own country, as well as elsewhere, are and will\nbe guided. We see no reason why their desire should not be gratified, but,\non the contrary, every motive and reason worthy of having any weight with\na sincere and courageous advocate of the Catholic cause, why the\ndiscussion should be brought as speedily and directly as possible upon the\nmerits of the case fully exposed.\n\nThe leaders of the Catholic body, and, in due measure, the great body\nitself, are credited by many persons with certain views and intentions\nconcerning the institutions, laws, and political destinies of this\nrepublic which necessarily cause them to regard the increase of our\nnumbers and the extension of our influence in the nation with alarm. Such\npersons would like to know what we would really undertake to do with this\nrepublic, if we had the power to do what we pleased. We are willing to let\nthem know precisely what our opinion about the matter is, and to use our\nbest endeavors to explain what those principles of the Catholic Church are\nwhich must form the conviction of every one of her devoted and instructed\nmembers upon the right and just method of applying the divine law to the\nvarious conditions in which a state may exist; from that in which the\nchurch is at her lowest point of depression, to that in which she is at\nthe summit of her influence. In our own case, as citizens of the United\nStates, the manner in which Catholic principles require us to act, as\nvoters, judges, legislators, with that degree of influence we now have,\nand in which the same principles would require us to act if we were equal\nor superior in number and influence to non\u2010Catholics, if we were in the\nmajority, or if we were practically the whole people, is a topic upon\nwhich we think it desirable that all should be enlightened, as well those\nwho are members of the church as those who are aliens from her fold.\nStated in an abstract form, the question is, What is the ideal Christian\nstate when actualized in its perfection, and what is the difference\nbetween that state and the one which is the best practically in our real\ncircumstances?\n\nIn discussing this theme we must beg the indulgence of our readers if we\nbegin at a considerable apparent distance from the practical point we\nintend to come at eventually. We have to lay down some general principles\nabout government, and to make some explanations about the American\nConstitution, before we can grapple with the main difficulty. In our\nopinion, many maxims usually taken for granted by speakers, writers, and\nby their blind followers, in treating of political constitutions, and\nspecially of our own, are sheer assumptions which will not bear\nexamination. Such are, that in general, the spiritual and temporal orders\nare in their nature and ought to be kept separate from each other, and are\nreally separated in our own political constitution. Those sophistical\nmaxims have been combated by Dr. Brownson so frequently and victoriously\nthat we can scarcely hope to produce any new arguments or more lucid\nexpositions to convince those whom he has not been able to satisfy.\nSometimes, however, a sound from an unexpected quarter startles the\nattention which has remained sluggishly insensible to a louder and more\ncontinuous booming to which it has been accustomed for a long time. We\ntrust, therefore, that the authority of a great foreign writer, who is a\nProtestant withal, and one of the most celebrated historians of the age,\nwill claim some little deference from those who may refuse it to any one\nof ourselves. And we accordingly resort to Prof. Leo, of Halle, rather\nthan to any Catholic author, for an exposition of the general relation of\nthe state to the church, and of the particular form of that relationship\nin the United States.\n\nIn the introduction to his great work, _Lehrbuch der Universalgeschichte_,\nLeo develops with masterly force of reasoning the fundamental principle\nupon which his entire work is constructed, and which is, in truth, the\narchitectonic law of the history of the human race. The history of mankind\nis the evolution in successive and progressive stages of the grand plan of\nGod to conduct the human race to its prefixed supernatural end of\nbeatitude in God through the incarnation of the Word. The organization of\nthe various portions of the human race in distinct nations, with their\nlaws, political institutions, and governments, is subordinated to this\nend, and therefore subordinated to that higher and more universal\norganization in which all are included, and which dominates over all\u2014the\nchurch. The nations which have been broken off from the church which God\nestablished from the foundation of the world for all mankind, have been\nbroken off through sin, revolt against God, defection from the movement of\nthe human race on the line marked out by the Creator towards its end and\ndestiny. Yet, even in this defection, they derive all their constitutive\nand organic principles and forces from their previous union with the\ndivine society or church, and are formed by religious ideas which are\nmerely perverted, corrupted, travestied imitations of the revealed dogmas\nwhich their forefathers had received. All true reform, restoration,\nrenovation, and improvement must be effected by a return to unity, a\nreincorporation into the church, and a reflux of organic life from the\ncentre into the chilled and deadened members.\n\n\n \u201cNo religion can unfold itself among men, extend itself, or\n maintain its existence, without social relations existing between\n men themselves. Every religion presupposes a state originating\n together with itself or already previously formed; but it is\n equally true that no state is conceivable without a religion, for\n every state includes a system of moral conceptions, and is itself\n a system and manifestation of moral conceptions; and a system of\n moral conceptions without a religious force underlying it is\n something unthinkable.\u201d\n\n\nHere we have the statement of the universal principle that the religious\nand political orders, the spiritual and the temporal, or, otherwise,\nchurch and state, are, like soul and body, though distinct, inseparable in\nliving, organized humanity. The author then goes on to prove the truth of\nhis assertion by the example of our own republic, apparently the most\nnotable exception to his rule, and an instance sufficient to disprove to\nmost men of modern habits of thought the universality of the rule as an\norganic principle of society.\n\n\n \u201cIn appearance, some particular religion may leave the state free\n to shift for itself or make itself free from it, and some\n particular state act in the same way toward religion; but this is\n only in appearance, for when, for example, the North American\n state proclaims that the religious confession is a matter of\n indifference in respect to its existence, it proceeds on the\n assumption that there could not be any religious confession,\n except such an one as should _include in itself that which\n constitutes its own proper religious force_. Just suppose that a\n religion like that of the Assassins or Robber sects of the East\n should make its appearance in North America, and you would\n speedily see how the entire body politic would be violently\n agitated by efforts to cast out this foreign religious force, and\n to annihilate it within its own precinct. You would see then at\n once that the North American state, in spite of all its contrary\n assurances, has its own religion, and a state religion at that, as\n the collision of some of the North American states with the\n Mormons has already amply proved. This North American religion of\n state only avoids assuming the name and aspect of a religion or an\n ecclesiastical organization, and manifests itself rather\n altogether in the ethical institutions of the state as they are\n for the time being, and consequently permits a most extraordinary\n variety of religious doctrines and churches to exist alongside of\n the state, yet only under the tacit condition that they all\n acknowledge that which is the religious force of the state as\n their own. If, therefore, the North American state proclaims that\n religion is an indifferent matter, it proceeds from an absurd\n imagination that there cannot be any religion which does not\n include in itself that particular religious force which its own\n moral subsistence has need of. In point of fact, religion and the\n state form _one_ ethical whole, precisely as in individual men the\n soul remains an inseparable whole, although we separately consider\n particular faces of its exterior surface as special\n faculties\u2014understanding, will, etc. Religion and state are one\n single ethical whole, which, although divided into distinct\n members, and apparently separated in these, must always be united\n in one germinating point and a common vital root.\u201d(151)\n\n\nA singular corroboration of the doctrine of Leo in its application to the\nUnited States is furnished by the following extract from the _New York\nHerald_. If it seem to any one singular that we cite the _Herald_ on such\na question, it will cease to appear so when we explain our reason for\ndoing it. This well\u2010known paper is remarkable for a certain tact and\nsagacity in divining and expressing the instinctive dictates of American\ncommon\u2010sense upon questions which concern practical, temporal interests.\nWe cite it, therefore, in this instance, as a proof of the fact that the\npublic sensibility is stirred by any practical collision of a foreign and\nhostile religious force with the latent religious force underlying our own\nlegislation, just as Leo says it must be. Theories and phrases are\ndisregarded; and the mouth\u2010piece of popular opinion strikes at once,\npromptly and surely, upon the very head of the nail, and drives it home.\nIt is very singular to see, in the extract we are about to cite, how the\ninstinct of self\u2010interest and self\u2010preservation evolves by a short process\nthe same conclusion which the philosopher establishes as the result of\nlong study and thought. Here is the extract in full, with some passages\nmarked in italics by our own hand, to which we wish to call special\nattention, as containing the nucleus of the whole matter, and agreeing\nalmost verbally with the language we have quoted from Dr. Leo:\n\n\n \u201cBrigham Young And Polygamy\u2014Will The Prophet Take Sensible Advice?\n\n \u201cJudge Trumbull, United States senator from Illinois, has just had\n a conversation with Brigham Young in Salt Lake City, which, as\n reported, is of more than ordinary significance and importance. It\n seems that as the judge was taking leave of Young, the latter\n remarked that on returning to Congress he (the judge) might hear\n of some persons\u2014obnoxious federal officials\u2014being put out of the\n Territory, and, if done, he might be sure it would be for just and\n good reasons. Judge Trumbull replied by requesting Young, before\n he took any step of that kind, to make known his grievances to\n President Grant, remarking that the President was a just man,\n intending to do justice to all, but that he would not permit a\n violation of law to go unpunished, and adding that it would \u2018not\n be safe to molest public officers in the discharge of their\n duties.\u2019 The judge then asked Young if he promised obedience to\n the Constitution and the laws of the Union. The latter replied\n that he would adhere to the Union, but that there was \u2018one\n enactment of Congress which the Mormons would not obey,\u2019 namely,\n the one forbidding polygamy.\n\n \u201cHere, then, is the whole Mormon question in a nutshell\u2014the\n positive declaration on the part of the Mormon leader that federal\n officers, sent to Utah, unless acceptable to himself, should be\n banished the Territory, and that there was at least one law of\n Congress he positively refuses to acknowledge or obey. Now, what\n is the plain duty of the national government in the face of these\n revolutionary averments? It is to see that the enactments of\n Congress are enforced _without respect to persons or religions_,\n and that the representatives of the federal government legally\n appointed for that purpose shall be upheld and protected, if it be\n necessary to employ the whole power of the nation. This Mormon\n matter demands decisive action on the part of the administration.\n President Grant has already declared his purpose of enforcing the\n laws impartially, even the most obnoxious, and there is no good\n reason why the Mormons should be exempted from the operations of\n this policy. The fact is, Brigham Young and his satellites have\n been treated with too much leniency and good\u2010nature by the United\n States government ever since they settled upon the national\n domain, and whatever they have done for the improvement of the\n wilderness in which they settled they have done for their own\n benefit, and have reaped the rewards of their industry and\n frugality. Among the many other settlements that have sprung up in\n the great West and grown into populous cities and States since the\n Mormon hegira from Nauvoo, where can one be shown to have defied\n the United States government, and to have treated its laws and its\n public officials with the contempt and insolence the Mormons have?\n On the contrary, among the most loyal States in the Union, and\n among those which sent into the field the greatest armies during\n the struggle for our national existence, are States in which the\n earlier pioneers had to undergo as many perils, hardships, and\n privations in organizing their communities, in subduing the\n forests and the savage, and in implanting the seeds of civil and\n religious liberty and constitutional law, as ever the Mormons did\n in erecting their Salt Lake empire, and in establishing in the\n heart of the nation\u2019s public domain _a religious organization the\n corner\u2010stone of which is a dogma abhorrent to modern civilisation\n and in violation of all the received rules of decent social and\n domestic life and society_. Therefore the claims of these\n impertinent and rebellious Mormon squatters for immunity from the\n operations of the general laws of the country, on account of the\n service they have rendered in improving a barren waste, but more\n properly in making fortunes for themselves out of the Gentiles and\n the government, are idle and ridiculous. Greater hardships and\n more personal sacrifices, we repeat, have been undergone by\n settlers in other tracts of territory, now become great and\n prosperous States, respecting the laws and fighting for the\n national flag, than ever these Mormon adventurers encountered from\n the time when old Joe Smith went into the tablet business, after\n the manner of Moses, and founded the Mormon sect, up to the moment\n of the conversation Brigham Young held with Senator Trumbull, as\n related above. They have no claims for political sympathy, for\n immunity from legal responsibilities, nor for hardly the\n consideration paid to other religious communities; for the odor of\n their sanctity is foul, and _their moral practices are unlike\n those of all modern Christians_. We say, therefore, to Brigham\n Young and his deluded followers, that they had better accept the\n sensible advice of Judge Trumbull, consult with President Grant\n before they proceed to extremities, _accept the laws of Congress\n in regard to polygamy, as well as in regard to everything else\n they are required to, and either haul in their rebellious horns or\n prepare to pack up their baggage for a tramp to some distant\n country outside the boundaries of the United States_. _You must\n obey the law, Prophet Brigham, or you must march. Uncle Sam has\n stood your nonsense long enough. He will tolerate it no longer._\u201d\n\n\nWhat is it which is thus asserted by a paper always considered as\nadvocating the most extreme modern notions respecting religious liberty?\nIt is that there is something in our civilization, our received rules of\nmorality, our lawful principles and acts of administration, intolerant of\ncertain religious dogmas and tending to exclude them. This latent\nsomething is what Leo calls our state religion, the religious basis of our\ninstitutions and laws, of our whole political and social fabric.\n\nThe first point we wish to come at, in our evolution of the whole question\nunder discussion, is, what is this religious basis or fundamental\nreligious law, essentially and precisely? According to Leo and excellent\nauthors of our own, it is the moral law, so far as that law governs\npolitical and social relations. Whatever is _contra bonos mores_ is\nprohibited and excluded by it, and nothing more. But this is too general.\nWe are obliged to ask what moral law, what standard or criterion of good\nor bad morals, is tacitly understood? To this we reply that, in our\nopinion, it is the Christian law, as embodied in the common and statute\nlaws under which we have been living since the origin of our nation. If we\nask, further, what fixes and determines this Christian law\u2014that is, what\ncriterion determines that which is really prescribed or forbidden by this\nlaw\u2014we can assign nothing more definite and precise than the common and\ngeneral conscience of the sovereign people, as this exercises its\ncontrolling power through legislative and judicial enactments and\ndecisions. It is therefore not an unchangeable quantity, but variable and\nvarying in the different laws of the distinct States, and in the different\nlaws of separate epochs which are the result of the change for better or\nworse which takes place in the moral sense of the community. We cannot\nenumerate a definite number of moral canons forming our state religion in\nevery part of the country during every period of its history. But we can,\nat any one time, designate a certain number of things required, permitted,\nor forbidden by our state code of morals, without respect to the doctrines\nof any particular religious body. Whatever religious doctrine professed by\nany set of men contradicts any part of this code, although it may be\nmaintained and advocated theoretically with impunity so long as this can\nbe allowed without immediate danger of inciting to an open violation of\nthe laws, cannot be reduced to practice without bringing the offending\nparties within the coercive jurisdiction of the courts of justice. A\nMahometan or a Mormon will be allowed to advocate in speech or writing the\nclaims of Mahomet or Joe Smith as the great prophet of God, and to defend\npolygamy as a divine institution; but if he attempts to keep a harem, the\nlaw will condemn the act, and will punish it, at least to a certain\nextent, by inflicting legal disabilities on every one of his wives and\nchildren who is not regarded as legitimate by the statutes of the State\nwhere he lives. Any enthusiast may give himself out as an inspired\nprophet; but if he is directed by his fancied revelations to kill some\none, to set up a kingdom for himself, or to undertake anything else\nagainst the laws, the laws will avenge themselves without regard to his\nliberty of conscience or his interior conviction that he is executing the\ncommands of God. A very piquant and characteristic expression of this\nprinciple was once given by General Jackson. After the capture of the\nIndian chief Black Hawk and his adviser, the Prophet, an interview took\nplace between the warlike president and these dusky potentates of the\nforest. The president demanded of the chief an account of the reasons and\nmotives which had led him to make war on the United States. The\ncrestfallen warrior laid all the blame on the Prophet, who was in turn\nsubjected to the stern glance and imperious demand of the formidable old\ngeneral. Quailing and abject beneath the superior moral force of the great\nwhite chief, the trembling Prophet excused himself by saying that he had\nbeen deceived by what he thought was the voice of the Great Spirit, but\nwhich was only the whispering of his own mind. Upon this the old general,\ngathering up all the dignity and force of his character into his brow and\nattitude, and raising his voice to a tone of thunder, turned upon the poor\nProphet, and anathematized him with this terrible dogmatic decree: \u201cIf you\never again mistake the hallucinations of your disordered imagination for\nthe inspirations of the Divine Spirit, by the Eternal! I will send you\nwhere it will be for ever impossible for you to repeat the mistake!\u201d Our\nchief magistrate spoke according to the written and unwritten law of our\nconstitutions and our traditions. There is a certain point beyond which\nthe practical carrying out of opinions or beliefs, whatever claim they may\nmake to be derived from a superhuman source, will be resisted by the\nentire coercive and penal force of the law. There are and must be certain\ninherent principles in our laws, whether these are vague or definite,\nvariable or fixed, which determine this point of physical resistance to\nliberty of conscience or liberty of religion. These constitute our state\nreligion, which claims for itself a legal infallibility, as exacting and\nunyielding as that of the Holy See, so far as outward submission and\nobedience are concerned.\n\nWe come now at our immediate question, namely, the attitude of the\nCatholic religion towards this state religion; and if we are able to\ndesignate and define this accurately, we are able by logical consequence\nto conclude precisely what degree of agreement or opposition is contained\nin the essence of Catholic and of American principles respectively to each\nother. We intend to meet this question fairly and squarely, without trying\nto twist either the one or the other set of principles, or to invent a\nmedium of compromise between them. We take the Catholic principles as they\nare authoritatively promulgated by the supreme authority in the church,\nthe Roman Pontiff, particularly as contained in the encyclical _Quanta\nCura_, with its appended Syllabus, and as they are taught and explained by\nthe most approved authors in canon law. These definitions and expositions\nalone have authority in the church, and these alone have any weight or\nsignificance in the minds of thinking men who are not members of the\nchurch, but are more or less positively hostile to her extension in our\ncountry. Private versions or modifications of Catholicity count for\nnothing, for they are merely the theories of individuals, and will have no\ninfluence over the real development of the church, in so far as they\ndisagree by excess or defect with her authoritative teaching. For\nourselves, we are purely and simply Catholic, and profess an unreserved\nallegiance to the church which takes precedence of, and gives the rule to,\nour allegiance to the state. If allegiance to the church demanded of us\nopposition to political principles adopted by our civil government, or\ndisobedience to any laws which were impious and immoral, we should not\nhesitate to obey the church and God. We should either keep silence and\navoid all discussion of the subject, or else speak out frankly in\ncondemnation of our laws and institutions, if we believed them to be anti\u2010\nChristian or, which is the same thing, anti\u2010Catholic in their principles.\n\nWe do not try and judge Catholic principles and laws by the criterion of\nthe American idea, as it is called, nor do we justify and vindicate these\nprinciples on the ground that they are in harmony with, or reconcilable\nto, the maxims and ideas upon which our political fabric is based. We aim\nat making an exposition of the case as it really is; and if we take a view\nof it favorable to our American political order, it is for the sake of\njustifying that order, and proving both to our own adherents and to our\nopponents that our duty to God does not require us to make war on it, so\nthat all the arguments and motives for creating a conflict on the\npolitical arena may fall to the ground, and the battle\u2010field be restricted\nto the fair, open ground of theological polemics.\n\nWhat is it, then, which furnishes to a certain set of violent enemies of\nthe Catholic Church in this country a pretext for making the issue between\nCatholic and Protestant principles a political one, and inclines a great\nnumber of the mass of the people to believe or suspect that this pretext\nis valid? The newspapers, publications, and speeches which have been\ngiving utterance to the sentiments of those who dread and oppose the\nspread of our religion, ever since it began to show signs of vitality and\ngrowth in this country, furnish the answer. The pretext is that all\nCatholics who thoroughly understand and are loyal to the principles of\ntheir religion wish to change or overthrow the republic, and substitute\nfor it a political order fundamentally different; and that, if they ever\nbecome strong enough, they will do what they can to carry out their\ndesign. Is there any truth in this pretext? We will express our own\nconvictions on the matter as fully and clearly as possible, and leave them\nto exert what influence they may upon those really sincere and intelligent\npersons who may honor us with their attention.\n\nIn the first place, as to the republican form and constitution of our\ngovernment. There is no doubt a difference of opinion among our clergy and\nintelligent laymen in regard to the abstract question what form of\ngovernment is the most excellent and perfect. In regard to this subject,\nit is a part of our American liberty that we should be free to form and\nexpress our own opinions, and there is undoubtedly a diversity of opinions\nregarding it among non\u2010Catholics, as well as among ourselves. It is\ncertain that many of our bishops, clergy, and educated laymen have a very\ndecided preference for the republican form of government, where it can be\nestablished under conditions favorable to order, stability, and success.\nAnd as to the mass of our people, they have suffered so much from tyranny\nand oppression that they are inclined to go to the extreme left rather\nthan the extreme right in all questions of political authority and\nliberty. If we look at the question closely, we shall see that the\ndifference of opinion which may exist in regard to the form of government\namong those who hold to the divine institution of the state, and the\ndivine sanction to political authority and law, is really not concerning\nessentials. S. Thomas teaches that the best form of government is one\nwhich combines the monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic elements in\njust proportions. Bellarmine maintains that absolute monarchy is ideally\nthe most perfect form of government, but that, considering the actual\nstate of men, the mixed form is the best in practice. It is our opinion\nthat very few men among the leading classes in the Catholic Church could\nbe found, either in this country or in Europe, who would not agree with\nthe second member of Cardinal Bellarmine\u2019s proposition. This is quite\nenough for the justification of the governmental order established by our\nconstitutions and laws in our United States. We have the monarchical\nprinciple in our president, and governors, and the mayors of cities. We\nhave the aristocratic in the legislators, judges, and magistrates. The\nexistence of the democratic element need not be proved. The difference\nbetween our monarchy and aristocracy and those which are hereditary is\nonly that ours is elective, and the difference between them and certain\nothers which are elective is that our election is only for a certain term\nand by a popular vote. The Pope is an elective monarch. The governing\naristocracy of Belgium is elective. The essential principle of the mixed\ngovernment is simply a stable and legitimate order, under which the\nmonarchy, aristocracy and democracy are created and sustained in the\nregular exercise of certain functions of government. Catholics are\ntherefore bound by their own principles to recognize the political order\nin the country as lawful, and to give it their allegiance. Moreover,\nwithout any question, apart from singular and individual opinions which\nCatholics as well as Protestants may entertain, the Catholics of this\ncountry are agreed in the conviction that the republican institutions of\nthe United States are the best and the only possible ones for our own\ncountry. They have no desire to subvert them, and there has never been any\nconspiracy against them, except in the malicious or deluded brains of\nfanatical anti\u2010Catholic writers and speakers and of the crowd which they\nhave duped. Genuine Catholics will never conspire against our government\nand laws, but will always be true and loyal American citizens. If the\nmajority of the people or the whole people were to become Catholics, they\nwould not use their power to subvert our American institutions, or\nsubstitute for them those of any European nation. On the contrary, nothing\ncould happen which would secure the perpetuity of the republic and promote\nits political prosperity and glory with anything like the influence which\nthe Catholic religion would exercise in producing such desirable results.\nThe dangers we have to apprehend come from the sectarian divisions which\nwaste and neutralize the religious sentiment and force of the country,\nfrom infidelity and radicalism, from vice and immorality, from secret\nsocieties, from public and private corruption and profligacy, from\nswindling and maladministration in high quarters, from principles akin to\nthose of the conspirators of Europe, from detestable books like _Lothair_,\natheistical magazines and unprincipled newspapers\u2014evils for which the\nCatholic Church alone can furnish a remedy.\n\nAnother part of the subject is worthy of much more serious consideration,\nand requires far more elucidation in order to be presented in its true\nlight. This relates, not to the outward form of the government, but to its\ninward spirit; to the scope and quality of the legislation, and not to the\nmanner of designating the legislators or judges. All forms of government\nare lawful before the church, whether absolute monarchies or republics. It\nis evident that a republic may be governed in perfect accordance with\nCatholic principles, and that an empire may be governed in complete\ndiscordance with the same. A sensible man would not, therefore, be likely\nto consider the form of our government as the object which demands his\nparticular solicitude in view of the progress of the Catholic religion. He\nwould consider, rather, that the gist of the matter lay in the relation of\nCatholic principles to that which we have called, after Leo, the state\nreligion. If we are correct in our preliminary statements, the Catholic\nreligion always tends to infuse itself into the state in which it exists,\nand succeeds as soon as it has become the governing moral force which\nconstitutes the soul of the body politic. Now, what is the relation of the\nCatholic religion to the actual state religion in our country, and, when\nthey come strongly in contact, what degree of struggle will ensue between\nthem, and what amount of change would be produced by the predominance of\nthe Catholic force?\n\nIn the first place, let us consider the case in reference to those things\nwhich the Catholic conscience positively enjoins or positively prohibits.\nIn every case of this kind a Catholic must obey his conscience; and if he\nis subject to a civil law which requires him to violate it, he must die\nrather than submit. Formerly we have had to make this passive resistance\nto laws existing in the American colonies; and in some cases\u2014as, for\ninstance, in regard to certain oppressive laws passed in the State of\nMissouri, it has been necessary to resist some state laws. On the whole,\nhowever, we may say that our laws do not put the Catholic citizen into the\nalternative of incurring a penalty from either the human or the divine\nlaw. This part of the case can be therefore dismissed as not practical.\n\nIn the second place, we have to consider those things which are the rights\nand privileges of the Catholic conscience, but which do not concern its\nindispensable obligations. In regard to these things, a Catholic must obey\nthe law, and he must refrain from all violent and seditious conduct. He\nmust submit to the abridgment of his rights and liberties so long as he\ncannot obtain their free possession and use by lawful means. But, under\nour free institutions, it is the right of the Catholic citizen, by\nargument, influence, and voting, to secure as much as possible of his just\nreligious liberty without prejudice to the natural or civil rights of\nothers. Therefore, as a matter of course, whenever Catholics obtain\nsufficient power to command a majority of votes, they will, if they act on\nCatholic principles, demand and obtain all their rights and full equality\nbefore the law with other citizens. For instance, in regard to schools,\nprisons, hospitals, ships of war, fortresses, etc., they will secure the\ncomplete right of Catholics in these places to practise their religion and\nto be free from the interference of non\u2010Catholic religious teachers\nappointed by the state.\n\nBut what would be the action of Catholics, if they should ever become the\nmajority, in regard to requiring or prohibiting by law those things in\nwhich the Catholic conscience differs from the Protestant and non\u2010Catholic\nstandard of right and wrong? It is always necessary in such a case for all\nparties to exercise the greatest forbearance, moderation, and fairness\ntoward one another, in order that these questions should have a peaceable\nsolution. Therefore those violent and fanatical or selfish demagogues,\nboth clerical and lay, who seek to exasperate the non\u2010Catholic citizens of\nthis country against their Catholic fellow\u2010citizens, are the most\ndangerous enemies of the public peace. We appeal to all candid, impartial,\nintelligent American citizens to say who are they who seek to fan the\nembers of strife into a flame; are they Catholic leaders, or are they the\nchiefs and orators of a violent, sectarian, anti\u2010Catholic party? Our\nCatholic citizens, if fairly treated, will always respect the rights of\ntheir fellow\u2010citizens. They will never take part in despoiling churches,\nsocieties, colleges, or other institutions of their property or chartered\nprivileges, as radicals and infidels most assuredly will, so far as they\nhave any power. Catholics will not do anything of this sort, even in case\nthey should in certain States become an overwhelming majority. They will\nnever seek to tyrannize over their fellow\u2010citizens, to establish their\nreligion by force, or to compel any one to do those things which are\nrequired only by the Catholic conscience. The difficulty lies chiefly in\nrespect to those laws which forbid certain things as contrary to the\ndivine law. The civil code consists chiefly of laws prohibiting crimes\nagainst the moral law, and annexing penalties to the commission of them.\nThe law must therefore have some ethical standard of right and wrong, and\nmust be based on some interpretation of the divine law, or, in a Christian\nstate, of the Christian law. Now, if the interpretation of the Christian\nlaw of morals held by one large portion of the community differs from that\nof another large portion, what is to be done? This is the precise question\nwhich we are seeking to answer in reference to the Catholic and non\u2010\nCatholic portions of the community in any State where the former should be\nin the preponderance. The case of divorce and marriage is one precisely in\npoint, and the most important and practical of all others which could be\nmentioned. Let us suppose, then, that the reformation of the marriage code\nwere to come up before a legislature in which the majority were Catholics,\nunder the leadership of sound jurists who were also strictly conscientious\nin fulfilling their duty of obedience to the church. Would they make the\ncanon law also civil law _in globo_, without regard to the opinions or\nwishes of the minority? We think not. In our view of the case, the right\nand the wise thing to do would be to bring the law back to the condition\nin which it was during the earlier and better period of our existence as a\npeople, in so far as the assent of the whole people could be secured with\na moral unanimity. As for the rest, it would be altogether in accordance\nwith Catholic precedents and Catholic principles not to legislate at all,\nbut to leave the church and the other religious bodies to exert their\nmoral influence over their own members.(152)\n\nIf we suppose the entire people of the United States to become a Catholic\npeople, we must suppose, as a matter of course, that the entire law of the\nCatholic Church, in so far as it is an ethical code, becomes _per se_ the\nsovereign law of the collective people. This follows by a rigorous\ndeduction from the principles we have laid down respecting the religion of\nthe state. The religion of the state, as we have seen, is its body of\nethical principles. This body of principles came by tradition from the\nChristian teaching which created European civilization. It is, in a vague\nand general sense, the Christian law. It is good so far as it goes, and in\nharmony with Catholic principles. But it is imperfect and liable to\nchange, for the want of a competent tribunal to pronounce upon its true,\ngenuine sense in disputed cases. This is seen in the instance of marriage,\nthere being in courts and legislatures no right or power to decide from\nthe New Testament or any other source what the divine or Christian law\nreally prescribes. Let the collective conscience of the country become\nCatholic, and it at once, without changing the fundamental principle of\nour organic law, obtains an infallible and supreme interpretation of that\nlaw which raises it to the standard of ideal perfection. It becomes a\nperfect Christian republic, passing under the control of a higher law in\nall that is comprised within the sphere of ethical obligation, but\nretaining political, civil, and individual liberty in all other respects,\nguarded by more powerful sanctions than it ever before possessed.\n\nDo our fellow\u2010citizens who are not Catholics think it possible that this\nwill ever take place? We suppose not. Nor have Catholics any certain\ngrounds for expecting it, whatever they may hope from the power and grace\nof Almighty God. There is no reason, therefore, for making a controversy\nabout what the Catholic Church would do in the United States if the whole\npeople were her docile children. The question of real importance relates\nto the action which Catholics ought to take, and probably will take, as\none factor of greater or less power in the political community. Our aim in\ndiscussing topics of this kind is, first, to animate Catholics to a manly\nand honorable determination to secure their own equal rights, and to obey\nstrictly their conscience in all their political and civil relations. It\nis, in the next place, to persuade our fellow\u2010citizens that conscience and\nobedience to the teaching of the Catholic Church do not require or permit\nCatholics to make an aggressive party, to disturb the peace of the\ncommonwealth, to subvert our laws or liberties, or to invade the rights of\nour fellow\u2010citizens, and seek the opportunity of establishing the\nsupremacy of the Catholic religion by violent and forcible means. We have\nno expectation of convincing, conciliating, or silencing the greater\nportion of our active opponents. We have not the slightest hope of seeing\nthem desist from their utterly unfair and fallacious method of conducting\nthe controversy between us. Their only chance of success lies in\nsophistry, artifice, appeals to prejudice, ignorance, and passion, and the\nevasion of all serious argument. We have, however, great hopes of gaining\nmore and more the hearing, the attention, and the confidence of that vast\nbody of thinking and reading Americans who, if not convinced of the divine\norigin of the Catholic religion, are certainly devoid of all respect for\nevery form of fanatical sectarianism. They know well that these violent\nparties, however loud in the assertion of liberal sentiments, are\ninvariably tyrannical when they have power; and we hope to convince them\nthat the Catholic Church, while condemning a false liberalism, is ever the\nguardian angel of true right and liberty.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nAll the foregoing portion of this article was written four years ago, and\nhas been waiting until the present moment for a suitable occasion of\npublication. The controversy aroused by Mr. Gladstone\u2019s pamphlet in\nNovember of the last year has furnished a better occasion than we could\nhave hoped for, and we have therefore offered this contribution to the\ndiscussion now going on. The statements we have made in regard to the\nessential relation between religion and the state with reference to our\nown republic are equally applicable to the European nations. They cover\nthe whole ground of allegiance due from Catholics to an infallible\nauthority, in respect to the domain of political ethics. This infallible\nauthority is the proximate rule of faith in regard to what must be done or\nomitted in order to obey the law of God. It is the higher law, the\nobjective rule, directing the subjective conscience, or practical judgment\nrespecting right or wrong, in the individual. It is of course, supreme;\nfor it is an unerring promulgation of the divine law. The definition of\nthe infallibility of the Pope has not made the slightest practical change\nin respect to his authority of defining and proclaiming this infallible\nCatholic rule of conscience. All Catholics, bishops included, even when\nassembled in general council, were always required to assent to and obey\nhis judgments in matters of faith and morals, as final and without right\nof appeal. The assent of the church could never be wanting, since it was\nobligatory on every bishop, priest, and layman to give it at once, under\npain of excommunication. If some were illogical enough to maintain that\nthe infallibility of his judgments depended on this assent, the erroneous\nopinion which they held did not subject them to excommunication as formal\nheretics before the solemn definition of the Vatican Council had condemned\nand anathematized their error as a heresy. Yet the Roman Pontiff always\nexercised his infallible prerogative without hesitation, and was always\nobeyed, except by heretics and rebels. In respect to the promulgation of\nthe divine law to the consciences of all men, the Pope has always been, by\ndivine right, just what he now is\u2014the supreme teacher and judge of the\nwhole earth, as the Vicar of Christ. His power is spiritual, and its\nexecutive is the conscience of each individual. Infallibility is obeyed\nonly by interior assent, which is a free act of volition not subject to\nany coercive force. It is utterly silly, therefore, to say that this\nsubmission is a surrender of freedom, or that obedience to a rule of\nconscience subsisting in an infallible tribunal interferes with allegiance\nto civil authority one whit more than obedience to any kind of rule\nwhatever. In fact, what Prince Bismarck denounces and wishes to crush is\nthe resistance of _subjective_ conscience to the absolute mandates of the\nstate, for which we have his own plain and express words. His doctrine is\nthe very quintessence of the basest and most degrading slavishness\u2014the\nslavishness of intelligence and conscience crouching abjectly before pure\nphysical force\u2014_la force prime le droit_.\n\nLegislative and governing authority in the church is something quite\ndistinct from infallibility. It proceeds from the power delegated by Jesus\nChrist to his Vicar to exercise spiritual jurisdiction over all bishops\nand all the members of their flocks, and in general over all the faithful.\nNo direct temporal jurisdiction is joined with it by divine right. The\ndirect temporal jurisdiction of the Pope in his kingdom is from human\nright, and his ancient jurisdiction as suzerain over sovereign princes was\nalso a mere human right. The indirect jurisdiction which springs from the\ndivine right is only an application of spiritual jurisdiction, varying in\nits exercise as the civil laws are more or less conformed to the divine\nlaw, and depending on the concurrence of the civil power. Suppose, for\ninstance, that a bishop revolts against the Holy See. The Pope judges and\ndeposes him. This act deprives him of spiritual rights and privileges. If\nhe is to be violently expelled from his cathedral, his palace, and the\npossession of his revenues, the civil magistrate must do this in virtue of\na civil law. If he were one of the prince\u2010bishops of a former age, and\nwere deprived of his principality, the civil law would deprive him. If he\nmarried, and incurred temporal penalties thereby, it would be through the\ncivil law. The judgment which pronounces him guilty, deposed,\nexcommunicated, invalidly married, and therefore liable to all the\ntemporal penalties incurred under the civil code, is an act of spiritual\njurisdiction. The temporal effect of this judgment is indirect, varies\nwith the variation in civil jurisprudence, and depends on an executive\nclothed with a direct temporal and civil authority.\n\nNothing is more certain than that the church has always recognized the\nimmediate derivation of the civil power in the state from God, its\ndistinction from the spiritual power, and its sovereign independence in\nits own sphere of any direct temporal jurisdiction of the Pope. The\nstatements made above show how the immutable rights of the Pope as\nChrist\u2019s Vicar in respect to indirect jurisdiction in temporal matters\nhave a variable application in practice, according to the variation of\ntimes, laws, and circumstances. It is futile, therefore, to attribute to\nthe Holy See or to Catholics in general, on account of the doctrine of\nPapal infallibility and supremacy, the intention of striving after a\nrestoration of all that actual exercise of ecclesiastical power in\npolitical affairs which was formerly wielded by popes and bishops. Much\nmore futile is it to suppose that a claim to revive ancient political\nrights derived purely from human laws and voluntary concessions is always\nkept in abeyance, and to be ever dreaded and guarded against by states.\n\nCatholics ought to beware, nevertheless, of regarding the ancient\nconstitution of Western Christendom under the headship of the Pope as\nsomething needing an apology, or as a state less perfect than the one\nwhich has supplanted it. We do not share in or sympathize with this view\nor with the political doctrines of those who hold it, however estimable\nthey may be, in the slightest degree. Although convinced that the medi\u00e6val\nsystem has passed away for ever, and that the present and coming age needs\na r\u00e9gime suited to its real condition, and not to one which is ideal only,\nwe glory in the past which partly realized that Christian ideal.\n\nFrance was _par excellence_ the Christian nation, as even Duruy, advocate\nthough he be of the principles of \u201989, proclaims with a Frenchman\u2019s just\npride in the _Gesta Dei per Francos_. Her golden age was the period\nbetween Louis le Gros and Philippe le Bel. Her decadence and disasters\nbegan with the contest of the latter sovereign and the infamous Nogaret,\nprecursor of the Cavours and Bismarcks, against Boniface VIII. Crecy,\nPoitiers, and Agincourt, the dismemberment of France, the conquests of\nEdward III. and Henry V., the apparition of Etienne Marcel, the father of\nParisian revolutionists and communists, were in logical sequence from\nPhilippe\u2019s rebellion, and the logical antecedents of the modern French\nRevolution and the disasters of 1870. In that olden time France was\nrescued only by the miraculous mission of Joan of Arc, a kind of living\npersonification of the Catholic Church, in her three characters as virgin,\nwarrior, and victim. So, at a later period, S. Pius V., that pontiff whom\nLord Acton has so vilely calumniated, saved Europe from the Turkish\ninvasion to which the recreant sovereigns had exposed it by basely\nabandoning the Crusades to despoil each other. It needs but small\nknowledge of history to see through the sophisms of second\u2010class writers\nlike Buckle and Draper, who seek to despoil the Catholic Church of her\nglory as the sole author and preserver of civilization in Western\nChristendom. The history of Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire to\nthis moment is only the record of an effort of the popes to lead the\nnations in the path of true glory and happiness, and of the ever\u2010recurring\nstruggle of the civil power, of sophists, and of revolutionists to drag\nthem aside into the path of degradation and misery, for their own base and\nselfish purposes. Faithless priests, unworthy heirs of noble names, men\nwho have perverted the highest gifts of nature and grace, have, during\nthis long, eventful course of time, been mixed up with the arrogant\ntyrants, cunning politicians, bold blasphemers, shameless sensualists, and\ntheir common herd of followers, in the war against the vicegerent of God\nand the spouse of Christ. What is now, has been in the time past, and will\nbe until the curtain drops after the finished drama. There are similar\nactors on both sides now, and a similar struggle, to those recorded in the\nhistory of the past. We may expect a similar result. La Pucelle was\nfalsely accused, unjustly condemned, suffered death by fire, and\ntriumphed. The Catholic religion is La Pucelle. Abandoned, falsely\naccused, doomed to the flames, by an ungrateful world, recreant or\ncowardly adherents, and open enemies, it will be hailed in the age to come\nby all mankind as the saviour of the world.\n\n\n\n\nRelease.\n\n\nI sometimes wish that hour were come\n When, lying patient on my bed,\nMy soul should view her future home\n With eager, trembling wings outspread\nAnd earnest faith; that age and pain\n Should pass at death\u2019s divine behest,\nAs the freed captive leaves his chain\n When he has ceased to be the guest\nOf prisons\u2014on the dungeon floor\nA burden dropped for evermore.\n\nEternal joy, eternal youth,\n Await beyond that portal gray\u2014\nWhich all must pass that hope for truth\u2014\n The lonely spirit freed from clay;\nBut suffering only bids us yearn\n For that mysterious, strange release\nWhich through the grave, the funeral urn,\n Brings such infinitude of peace.\nOh! in that dread, ecstatic hour\nUphold me, Saviour, with thy power.\n\n\n\n\nThe Veil Withdrawn.\n\n\nTranslated, By Permission, From The French Of Mme. Craven, Author Of \u201cA\nSister\u2019s Story,\u201d \u201cFleurange,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n\nXXXIV.\n\n\nI pretended to be very much surprised the next morning when Lando informed\nme Gilbert was obliged to take his departure the following day in order to\njoin an English friend of his who was to accompany him to Egypt and had\nsent a despatch he should be at Malta by the end of the week.\n\nI recollect nothing more concerning that morning except my depression,\nwhich only increased as the day advanced. Towards night this sadness\nassumed a new character, and became still deeper in consequence of a\nletter from Lorenzo, announcing his return the following day.\n\nHe had left Milan, and was now at Bologna. He was really there this time,\nand not pretending to be, as when he went to Sorrento to see Donna\nFaustina! Oh! what bitter thoughts, what feelings of indignation, were\nawakened by the perusal of this letter, at once devoid of affection and\nsincerity! He doubtless supposed a scandal published in so many\nnewspapers, though only the initials of the persons concerned were given,\nhad come to my knowledge, but he was in that sort of humor in which the\nwrongs one has to endure produce an irritation against those who have the\nmost to suffer in consequence. It was evident he felt some regret for the\npast, but there was not a symptom of repentance; and though he did not say\nso directly, his letter seemed intended to warn me, as he had once done,\nwith regard to questions, advice, and promises, that he was not disposed\nto endure the slightest reproach. Not a word that appealed to my\ngenerosity, not one that could touch my heart! I could see nothing to\ncheer and console me in that direction. All was dark and cold. Such was my\nconviction on reading this letter. But I did not appear the less cheerful\nwhen evening came to remind me that my interior struggle would be over in\na few hours, and the next day I should feel at liberty to yield without\nrestraint to thoughts I should no longer be afraid to betray.\n\nThe large drawing\u2010room on the ground floor which opened into the small\ngarden after the fashion of Pompeii, with its pillared portico, had been\narranged for the occasion by Lando, who had constructed a platform,\nornamented with lights and flowers, where the concert he had improvised\nwas to take place, varied by speeches.\n\nGilbert was to explain its object at the commencement, and at the end,\nAngiolina, for whom Lando had begged this exceptionally long evening, was\nto go around with a basket to collect the money intended for the poor\npeople whose lives had been saved by her mother.\n\nLando excelled in such arrangements, and, to tell the truth, he had left\nnothing here to be desired. I must also add that all of our little\ncoterie, except Gilbert, Stella, and myself, eagerly participated in the\nwork.\n\nMy aunt, in particular, looked with a favorable eye on this mixture of\ncharity and amusement, which at once satisfied her kind heart and\ngratified her dominant passion. It seemed to her a more delightful\ninvention had never been brought from beyond the Alps. Besides, she had\nthat very day made a discovery which put an end to her maternal indecision\nwith regard to her daughter\u2019s fate. This indecision, in consequence of\nLando\u2019s intentions, which became more and more evident, was caused neither\nby the frivolity for which he might have been reproached, nor by the\nextravagance with which he had squandered his modest patrimony, nor by any\nother motive dictated by prudence, but solely by a difficulty which\nvanished in the twinkling of an eye as soon as my aunt discovered a fact\nshe was before ignorant of, to wit, that Lando Landini, like a great many\nyounger sons of good family in Italy, had a right to assume, on marrying,\na title he had not heretofore borne. Oh! from that instant nothing more\nwas wanting. She had always found Don Landolfo nearly faultless, but now\nhe could offer her daughter the charming title of the Countess _del\nFiore_, he was perfection itself. After such a revelation, her consent was\nnot deferred for an instant. Lando, in the midst of the preparations he\nwas making, had taken time to come in haste to communicate the news. This\nexplained the air of triumph, as well as joy, with which my aunt made her\nappearance in the evening, and the unusual brilliancy of Teresina\u2019s black\neyes, greatly set off by the white dress and coral ornaments she wore. Her\nsister had also something in her manner that evening that differed a\nlittle from the unmeaning placidity which usually characterized her. She\nwas not as pretty as Teresina, but she had a more agreeable expression,\nand a better right to the epithet of _simpatica_ which was sometimes given\nher. Their faces were both flushed with the excitement produced in advance\nby the pleasure of singing in company when it could be done without fear\nand without any doubt of success. And my cousins had voices of superior\nquality, such as are often met with in Italy, and harmonized wonderfully\ntogether. They were, moreover, very good musicians, and though their style\nwas not perfect, every one listened to them with pleasure, more especially\nthe young amateur of music who had been appointed to accompany them that\nevening. For some time, the Baron von Brunnenberg had regarded Mariuccia\nin a most sentimental manner; but hitherto the handsome young Englishman,\nHarry Leslie, seemed to please her more than the baron, and consequently\nshe had always treated the latter with more or less coldness. It was\nevident, however, that Leslie, since the evening on Mt. Vesuvius, had not\na thought or look, or scarcely a word, for any body but Stella. I often\nwondered if this had any effect on her, as I observed her occasionally\npensive air so unlike her usual self. However the case might be, Mariuccia\nhad drawn therefrom a practical conclusion for her own personal benefit:\nLeslie did not care for her; she must therefore resign herself and turn to\nsome one else. This resignation led her to favor the baron with such\nsmiles as he had never obtained before, so that he also was radiant, and\nthe group around the piano presented an appearance of the utmost\nsatisfaction. I felt a sensation of surprise as I looked at their smiling\nfaces and heard their merry voices. I seemed to be separated from them by\nan impassable grate that permitted me to see and hear them, but absolutely\nprevented me from approaching to participate in their liveliness and joy.\n\u201cHappiness ... gaiety ... hope ... all these are at an end for me!\u201d said I\nto myself. Nevertheless, I fulfilled all it was incumbent on me to do, and\nsucceeded in appearing nearly the same as usual.\n\nAt length, all the company arrived, and when they had taken their places\nand every eye was turned towards the platform, I took Angiolina, and,\ngoing to the embrasure of a window, I sat down where I was half concealed,\nand took the child on my knee. The company of this angelic little creature\nwas not only always delightful and soothing, but she had a singularly\nprecocious instinct of the beautiful which excited my wonder and made me\nkeep my eyes on her while she was listening to music, and even to poetry\nwhose rhythm delighted her ear even when the words were beyond her\ncomprehension, especially when it was her mother who was repeating it. At\nsuch times nothing was more touching than to behold the animated\nexpression of her sparkling blue eyes and the tremulous movement of her\nchildish mouth!... I now clasped her in my arms, and it seemed as if the\nagitation of my heart subsided as I embraced her!\n\nThe baron first played, by way of overture, a piece of Mendelssohn\u2019s which\ndisposed the audience to be attentive: then, after a moment\u2019s silence,\nGilbert made his appearance. He was extremely pale, and seemed to be\nmaking a great effort to rise above some great moral or physical\nsuffering. This was so evident that he might have claimed the indulgence\nof the audience and excused himself on the plea of a real or pretended\nindisposition. But presently his voice grew stronger, the orator was\nroused, and his manner, usually so unpretending, became what it always was\nwhen he spoke in public\u2014imposing, brilliant, and impressive. What he said\nat first I cannot tell. Too many recollections crowded on my mind at once\nas he made his appearance, reminding me of the day when I first heard him\nat the H\u00f4tel de Kergy. I remembered what I was then, what my feelings,\nwhat my hopes were. I thought of all the changes that had since taken\nplace, and what a singular coincidence it was that he should appear before\nme on the day of our separation in the same way as when we met for the\nfirst time! My attention was soon drawn to the words of the speaker by the\nmurmur of approbation, that soon increased to enthusiastic applause, with\nwhich they were received. To speak of Vesuvius at Naples, and to\nNeapolitans, in a way to excite their interest, requires a _tour de\nforce_, and this feat he was able to accomplish. With the ready\nappreciation of ability which characterized his audience, the difficulty\nhe had to surmount was felt, and lively spontaneous applause interrupted\nhim at every instant, as he mingled poetry, art, and history with an\noriginality and grace that did not permit the least appearance of pedantry\nto diminish the charm of his profound, unstudied erudition. But when he\nfinally came to the account he was appointed to give of our recent\nexcursion, and began by describing the spot where we had witnessed the\neruption together, I could not repress a thrill of emotion. I fancied, his\neyes had detected me in the corner where I was concealed, and when he\nadded _that he felt in the presence of that spectacle a profound emotion\nthe remembrance of which could never be effaced, however long the duration\nof his life_! I leaned my forehead against Angiolina\u2019s fair head as if\neverybody could understand the double meaning of his words, and for some\nminutes I heard nothing but the rapid beating of my heart....\n\nAll at once the child looked eagerly up, and touching my cheek with her\nlittle hand to attract my attention, she said in a joyful tone:\n\n\u201cListen, listen to what he is saying about mamma!\u201d\n\nThen everything else was forgotten for an instant but the pleasure of\nhearing Stella\u2019s courageous deed related in the noble, incomparable\nlanguage peculiar to Gilbert. There was a burst of applause on all sides,\nand I was about to add mine when my attention was suddenly attracted and\nconcentrated in an unexpected direction, as if dazzled by one of those\nrepeated flashes of lightning that set the heavens aflame, and which is\ndistinguished from the others by a more terrible brilliancy.\n\nIt had occurred to Lando to ornament the platform with shrubs and flowers,\nin order to conceal from the spectators those who were to take part in the\nperformance till it was their turn to appear. Stella was in this way\nconcealed from everybody but me. From the place to which I had betaken\nmyself I could see her distinctly, and follow every movement she made,\nwithout her being aware of it. I was soon surprised and struck with the\neffect of the address she was listening to. It was not merely attention;\nit was not interest; it was a breathless emotion which contracted her\nfeatures, and to such a degree that I thought she was going to faint. I\nhad already risen to go to her assistance, when I was struck with a sudden\nidea which nailed me to the spot\u2014an idea that no sooner crossed my mind\nthan it became a certainty, and caused me such terrible anguish that I was\nfrightened. I looked at her steadily, trying to imagine and read her\nthoughts, and while penetrating to the depths of her heart, I felt mine\nsink within me. Alas! Why should the discovery I thought I had made thus\ncause me to tremble and shudder? Why did it seem as if I had been struck\nby an arrow that pierced me to the heart?\n\nI endeavored to overcome the repugnance I was so weak as to feel in my\nsoul. Yes, I tried to regard Stella in the new light that had just dawned\non me, and to consider him in this same light\u2014him!... I tried to say to\nmyself without shrinking that before me was the very one of whom I had\nspoken the evening before; who was at once beautiful, good, noble\u2010hearted,\nand worthy of him\u2014and one whom he could love without fear, without\nscruple, without remorse. I tried to do all this, and like every effort to\nrise above self, this did me good, perhaps, and rendered me stronger; but\nI did not gain the victory.\n\nAs soon as Gilbert finished speaking, I watched him, in spite of myself,\nwhile Stella\u2019s name was mingled with his in the enthusiastic acclamations\nof the audience, and\u2014shall I avow it?\u2014I noticed with pleasure that he left\nthe platform without the least thought of approaching her. He slipped away\nas quickly as he could through a little door that opened on the portico,\nand from the shadowy recess where I was sitting, I could see him in the\nmoonlight leaning against a pillar in the attitude of one who is reposing\nafter some great effort or long constraint.\n\nI was for some time incapable of giving the least attention to what was\ngoing on around me. I vaguely listened to _A te sacrai Regina_, to which\nMariuccia\u2019s fine contralto voice gave wonderful expression; and after this\nduet from _Semiramis_, various other pieces were played by the baron. One\nof these gave me a thrill, and brought me back to a sense not only of the\npresent but of the past. It was the air of Chopin\u2019s which Diana de Kergy\nplayed at Paris on that other farewell occasion! Everything to\u2010night\nseemed combined to overwhelm me with recollections and emotion! I could\nhardly bear to listen to this music, it so overpowered me with its\nheartrending, passionate character. My eyes, in spite of my efforts, were\nalready filled with tears when the young amateur abruptly stopped and\nstruck up a waltz from Strauss, with so much spirit and _brio_ that\nAngiolina jumped down, as if drawn by some irresistible impulse, and began\nto whirl around, holding her little dress up with both hands. All those in\nthe assembly who were still in their teens seemed strongly tempted to\nfollow her example; but the waltz soon ended, silence was restored, and\nAngiolina returned to my side as Stella, in her turn, made her appearance.\n\nThe object of the _soir\u00e9e_ sufficiently accounted for the acclamations\nwith which she was received\u2014a marked homage to the noble deed that had\njust been eulogized in such eloquent terms. When these subsided, the\nsilence became profound.\n\nStella remained motionless while all these demonstrations were going on\naround her in her honor, and did not seem to be aware of them. I can see\nher still in her white dress, the flowing sleeves of which displayed her\nhands and arms. Her only ornament was a circlet of gold, which confined\nthe waving masses of her thick, brown hair. She did not look paler than\nusual, for her complexion, of dazzling whiteness, rarely had any color;\nher eyelashes and eyebrows were as dark as her hair, and her eyes, when\nnothing animated her, were of a rather dull gray; but at the least emotion\nthe pupils seemed to dilate, and deepen in hue, and then nothing could\nsurpass their brilliancy! This change was especially remarkable when she\nexercised the natural talent for declamation which she possessed without\nhaving ever cultivated it. Her sense of the poetic was profound and\naccurate, and her voice, full and sonorous, was precisely adapted to\nexpress what she felt at the moment in her heart. To this were added\nsimple, natural gestures, which the mere movement of her beautiful hands\nand arms always rendered noble and graceful. There was no affectation\nabout her, and yet her face, usually animated by extreme gaiety, possessed\na strange tragical power. Such was Stella\u2019s talent\u2014a sufficiently faithful\nreflection of the character of her soul.\n\nDuring the noisy manifestations that greeted her appearance, she was\napparently very calm, as I have just described her; but her hands were\nclasped nervously together, and an almost imperceptible movement of her\nlips indicated more agitation than she manifested outwardly. But this\nrepressed emotion added to the very charm of her voice when she began with\nincomparable grace a sonnet from Zappi; and when, striking another chord,\nshe repeated a scene from one of Manzoni\u2019s finest tragedies, there was a\ngenuine thrill of admiration in the audience. I noticed poor Harry Leslie,\nin particular, who was touched, excited, amazed. I looked around for\nGilbert\u2014and (pardon me, O my God!\u2014forgive me, Stella!) I was glad to see\nhe was not present. The very power which each of them possessed in a\ndifferent way of moving an audience seemed to establish a relationship\nbetween them, the bare thought of which made me suffer, and this suffering\nwas as harrowing as remorse!\n\nFinally, Stella began the canto at the end of the _Divina Commedia_, which\ncommences with this prayer\u2014certainly the most beautiful ever inspired by\ngenius and piety: \u201c_O Vergin Madre! figlia del tuo Figlio!_\u201d(153) At that\nmoment Gilbert reappeared. He did not enter the room, but remained leaning\nagainst the door. Nevertheless, I saw a slight flush pass over Stella\u2019s\nbrow; I heard her voice tremble; and I knew she was aware of his presence\nand had lost some of her self\u2010control. As for him, I saw he was surprised\nand astonished. He added his applause to that of the whole assembly. But\nwhen they all rose at the end to crowd around Stella, his eyes turned in a\ndifferent direction, and it was evident he thought of her no longer.\n\nAt that instant, little Angiolina, who was leaning against my shoulder,\nmutely contemplating her mother, and only saying from time to time in a\nlow voice, \u201cHow beautiful! Isn\u2019t it beautiful?\u201d as if she were listening\nto some musical strain, was borne away by Harry Leslie, who, as was\nappropriate, had been appointed to accompany the little _qu\u00eateuse_. There\nwas now a bustle and general confusion, as is often the case after\nprolonged silence and attention, and everybody seemed wild with gaiety. To\nthis merriment was added the noise of a deafening march which the baron\nplayed, as he said, by way of accompaniment to the triumphant progress of\nthe child borne around the room on Leslie\u2019s shoulder to receive the\ncontributions that were to end the _soir\u00e9e_.\n\nThe contrast between the state of my mind and all this tumult, animation,\nand gaiety, only served to heighten the agitation of my soul to the\nutmost. All the doors and windows of the room were open, and I\nmechanically went out and leaned for a moment against the same pillar\nwhere I had seen Gilbert only a short time before. While standing there, I\nsuddenly heard his voice beside me:\n\n\u201cAdieu! madame,\u201d said he in a low, trembling tone.\n\n\u201cAdieu, Gilbert! May heaven protect you!\u201d I replied, extending my hand. He\ntook it, pressed it to his lips, gave it a slight pressure, and that was\nall.... He was gone! I followed him with my eyes, by the bright moonlight,\ntill he disappeared under the trees of the avenue.\n\nI remained motionless in the place where I was, looking alternately at the\ngarden around me bathed in the light of the moon, and at the brilliantly\nilluminated _salon_ within. And while my eyes wandered from one to the\nother, it seemed as if everything before me disappeared never to return,\nthat these bright lights were about to be extinguished never to be\nrelighted again, this numerous assembly dispersed never to be reunited,\nand it was the last time I was to mingle in the gay world surrounded by\nall the display that wealth could afford. The impression was singular; but\nwhat is certain, I felt at that very moment all my happiness was over,\nthat which was dangerous as well as that which was legitimate, pleasure as\nwell as repose, joy as well as peace, memory as well as hope! It was a\nmoment of agony, but the sufferings of such agony, however terrible they\nmay be, are they not, like a mother\u2019s throes, the signs and prelude of\nlife?\n\n\n\nXXXV.\n\n\nWhen I returned to the drawing\u2010room, I found scarcely any one left. Leslie\ncame to tell me Stella had gone away without bidding me good night,\nbecause she was in a hurry to take Angiolina home as soon as the\ncollection was ended. Presently nobody remained. Silence once more\nreigned, and I found myself alone, face to face with myself!\n\nBut I by no means experienced the happiness that so often results from the\naccomplishment of a duty, or the consummation of a sacrifice. On the\ncontrary, I felt a desolation which was the prelude of a state of mind\nwhich was to render the following days gloomy beyond any I ever spent in\nmy life\u2014gloomy! yes, as the profound darkness of night just before the\ndawn!\n\nWhile Gilbert remained, I did not allow myself to analyze my feelings for\nfear of shaking my resolution. I was able to maintain it to the end; but\nas soon as he was gone, I gave free course to every thought that could\naggravate my sufferings. I now experienced that isolation which, from\nchildhood, I had dreaded more than death! Lorenzo no longer cared for me,\nI should never behold Gilbert again, and the friendship of Stella, the\nonly one who comprehended and pitied me, I was not sure of preserving!\n\nI now began to recall, and study, so to speak, all that had taken place\nduring the evening just at an end, but this only seemed to increase the\nconviction that had taken such strong possession of my mind. I felt\ndetermined, however, to ascertain the truth. I would satisfy my mind. I\nwould question her till she told me exactly all that was passing in her\nheart.\n\nBut Stella, with all her gaiety, was not a person who could readily be\ninduced to make a confidential disclosure of her most secret thoughts.\nWithout the least dissimulation, she was impenetrable. She knew how to\nenter fully into the feelings of others\u2014their joys and, above all, their\nsufferings. But if, on the other hand, any one sought to participate in\nhers, a smile, the opening of her large eyes, or a slight movement of her\nlips and shoulders, seemed to forbid looking beneath the serene expression\nof her smiling face. The truth was, she thought very little about herself.\nThere was no duplicity in the habit she had acquired of never lifting the\nveil that concealed the inner workings of her heart, for she did not try\nto raise it herself, and was by no means curious to fathom all that was\npassing there.\n\nWhen I saw her again, I found her, therefore, nearly the same as usual\u2014a\nlittle graver, perhaps, and somewhat more quiet, but that was all. As to\nquestioning her, I did not dare to, and the query soon rose in my mind:\nHave I read her heart aright? And to this immediately succeeded another:\nHas she read mine? I dwelt on these questions a long time without being\nable to answer them to my satisfaction.\n\nWhat inclined me to decide in the affirmative was the care we both took to\navoid mentioning Gilbert\u2019s name, the tacit agreement we made not to\nprolong our interview, and the facility with which, under some trifling\npretext, she excused herself from driving out with me, though she\nconsented to let me take her little Angiolina.\n\nI set off, therefore, with the child, and drove beyond Posilippo where the\nroad descends to the water\u2019s edge. There I left the carriage, and taking\nthe child, I went down to the shore and seated myself so near the sea that\nthe waves died softly away at my feet. I had a particular fancy for this\nspot. Seated there in full view of Nisita, with Ischia, Procida, Capo\nMiseno, and Baja in the distance, Pozzuoli at the right, and the heights\nof Posilippo and Camaldoli at the left and behind, I seemed to be a\nthousand leagues from the inhabited world, in a spot where it was easier\nthan anywhere else to forget all the rest of the universe.\n\nWhile I sat there silently gazing around me, Angiolina was running about\ngathering sea\u2010shells to fill the little basket she had brought for the\npurpose. Occasionally she stopped and clapped her hands with delight as\nshe looked around. More than ever did I at that moment envy Stella the\nhappiness that prevented her from feeling the isolation and intolerable\nvoid in which I was plunged! I envied her, and forgot to pity her! I\nforgot, moreover, to tremble for her! One would have thought the saying:\n\u201c_Aux l\u00e9gers plaisirs les souffrances l\u00e9g\u00e8res; aux grands bonheurs les\nmaux inouis_,\u201d or, at least, the evident truth they contain, had never\nstruck my mind!\n\nAt that time I only dreamed of human happiness under every conceivable\nform\u2014a happiness that seemed to be accorded and permitted to others, but\nof which I was for ever deprived. And while Angiolina continued to ramble\nabout, not far off, I ceased admiring the spectacle before me, and\nsuddenly burying my face in my hands, I burst into tears. At the same\ninstant I felt Angiolina\u2019s little arms around my neck.\n\n\u201cZia Gina!\u201d she exclaimed (she had heard her mother call me Gina, as well\nas sister, and composed therefrom the name she always gave me). \u201cZia Gina,\nwhat makes you cry?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am sad, Lina,\u201d said I, my tears falling on her beautiful fair curls.\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot tell you.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you tell the good God?\u201d\n\nWhat a singular question!... She made me blush, and, after a moment\u2019s\nreflection, I replied somewhat evasively:\n\n\u201cOne can tell him everything, Lina, for he is our Father.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know he is our Father; I call him so every day.\u201d\n\nHer attention was diverted an instant by a butterfly she saw floating by.\nShe watched it till it flew away, and then resumed:\n\n\u201cThen, my dear Zia Gina, you must pray God to console you.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray for me, _carina_.\u201d\n\nAfter some reflection, she said: \u201cI only know two prayers\u2014the Our Father\nand Ave Maria: which shall I say for you?\u201d\n\n\u201cSay both of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, certainly: Our Father first; I like it so much.\u201d\n\nAnd there on the shore she folded her hands, raised her eyes, as blue as\nthe heavens to which she raised them, and with her clear, silvery voice\nsoftly repeated the divine words. If ever there were lips on earth worthy\nof being the echo of that voice which once uttered this prayer that we\nmight learn it, they were certainly the innocent lips now repeating it\nbeside me! I too clasped my hands and joined in her prayer.\n\nWhen it was ended, she stopped a moment with a thoughtful air, and then\nrepeated: \u201cDeliver us from all evil.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, as I am praying for you, ought not I to say to Our Father: Deliver\nZia Gina from all evil?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my darling,\u201d exclaimed I, embracing her: \u201cyes, pray always in this\nway for me, and may God hear and bless you!\u201d\n\nHer angelic face, her piety and innocence, completely diverted my mind\nfrom my sorrows. I only felt an infinite joy at not having rendered myself\nunworthy to hear the words she had just uttered. I had suffered; I still\nsuffered, of course; but I had prayed, and still prayed, to be delivered\nfrom temptation and sin, and it seemed to me a ray from heaven had fallen\non me in answer to this angel\u2019s prayer!\n\nBut this impression, though lively and consoling, was only momentary, I\nhad to return to the reality of life, and this reality was painful. It\nbecame much more so the following day when Lorenzo at last returned.\n\nHe did not, of course, appear like a man who returns to the fireside he\nloves and respects. Nor could he be expected to present himself in the\nattitude of a penitent. I was far from being prepared, however, for the\nstand he took and the complete change I found in him, but Lorenzo had been\nendowed by Divine Providence with such rare gifts that, in giving himself\nup to evil instead of good impulses, he had to suffer from the law which\ncondemns those to stray further away and fall lower who would perhaps have\nbecome guides to others had they not erred from the right way. The serious\nerrors into which he had fallen, less excusable than they would have been\nat any other epoch of his life, were this time accompanied by a\nshamelessness and indifference to scandal that at once wounded and\ndisgusted me. The consciousness of faults he would not acknowledge caused\nhim insupportable uneasiness, and this produced a complete change in the\nexpression of his face, his language, and even in his manners, formerly so\ndignified and courteous, but now haughty and not unfrequently rude. But\nwhat was specially evident was, the fatal fascination he did not cease to\nfeel. The fact was, he had not been driven from her by disgust: repentance\nand duty had not led him to return to me. She who had forsaken him still\nreigned in his heart, and the influence I had over him so short a time\nbefore, was now utterly destroyed!\n\nAll this was clearly perceptible from the first day of his return. I saw\nhe was even rather irritated than pleased at having no reproach to make\nme. In fact, he did not propose peace, but imposed it, on the condition of\nabsolute silence on my part. The slightest reproach from me, I felt, would\nhave been the cause of a violent scene and perhaps of open rupture!\n\nSuch was the aspect my life assumed at Lorenzo\u2019s return. Will any one be\nastonished at the revolt I felt in my heart in spite of my apparent\nsubmission, which was only a mixture of pride and disdain? Will any one\nwonder at the harrowing regrets, dangerous recollections, and profound\ndiscouragement which threw me into the deepest melancholy, and sometimes\ninto utter despair? I began my life over again in imagination with\nGilbert, and dwelt on what it might have been, that I might suffer the\nmore for what it was!\n\nThis remembrance seemed to be my only resource: these vain desires and\nregrets my only solace. I gave myself up to them with my whole heart, and\nthus, while I considered myself irreproachable, I was as much separated\nfrom Lorenzo as he was from me, and I allowed myself to live interiorly in\na world over which I had no scruple in allowing another to reign almost\nabsolutely!\n\nThe following Saturday I was at the grate of the convent parlor a long\ntime before my usual hour. The anguish of my soul was at its height, and\nfor the first time, without regard to the place where I was, and perhaps I\nought to say, to her who listened to me, I made known all my troubles to\nLivia, not only Lorenzo\u2019s new offences, but also my other trials, my\ninclinations, my regrets, and what at the same time I called my\n\u201ccourageous sacrifice.\u201d\n\nShe turned pale as she listened to me, and an expression of grief, such as\nI had never seen her wear, came over her face, which remained anxious,\neven when I told her that she unawares had given me the strength to\naccomplish it.\n\n\u201cSo much the better,\u201d said she; adding, with a grave smile, \u201cIf that is\nthe case, I certainly did not this time play the part of a\n_jettatrice_!... But, Ginevra, you escaped a less fearful peril the day I\nsaw you borne by that furious horse towards the abyss. You were saved when\nI saw you again, whereas to\u2010day....\u201d\n\n\u201cTo\u2010day?... Are you not satisfied? Have I not obeyed what I felt were your\nwishes?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my poor Gina, you have made an effort, a courageous effort; and yet\nyou deceive yourself like a child. Lorenzo certainly ought to conduct\nhimself very differently; but even if he did, you would still be deprived\nof the happiness you dream of. As to that other mirage,\u201d continued she\nwith a shudder. \u201cO merciful heavens! do you not see whence comes the light\nthat has caused it? Ginevra, I can only say one thing to you\u2014what I have\nsaid before: pray!\u201d\n\n\u201cI pray every day.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith fervor?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Livia, with all my heart, I assure you, I pray as well as I know\nhow. I tell you the truth.\u201d\n\nAs I uttered these words, a celestial smile came over her face for the\nfirst time since the beginning of our conversation, and she exclaimed:\n\n\u201cO dearest sister!\u201d...and then stopped.\n\nRather vexed than consoled by the manner in which she received my\ncommunications, I remained with my forehead leaning against the _grille_,\nfeeling for the first time how truly it separated us, that my sister felt\nno pity for me, did not render me justice as she ought, and that she knew\nneither the world, nor its difficulties, nor its temptations, nor its\npains. My tears fell like rain as I made these reflections, but it seemed\nas if Livia, usually so compassionate, beheld me weep with indifference.\n\nAll at once she asked:\n\n\u201cGinevra, is it long since you went to confession?\u201d\n\nI abruptly, raised my head, my tears ceased to flow, and I wiped my eyes\nwith a gesture of impatience. It was certain Livia could find nothing to\nsay that did me any good. I made no reply.\n\n\u201cYou will not tell me. Why not, _carina_?\u201d\n\nWas I really out of humor with her\u2014with Livia? And on the point of showing\nit? . . . Oh! no; I at once felt it was impossible. Besides, the touch of\nseverity that chilled me had disappeared. She now spoke in a tone I never\nhad refused to listen to. I therefore replied without any further\nentreaty:\n\n\u201cYes, Livia, longer than usual.\u201d\n\nNo sooner had I uttered these words, than a lively color suffused my whole\nface. It at once occurred to me that the time corresponded exactly with\nthe length of Gilbert\u2019s visit at Naples. Livia did not observe my\nconfusion, and calmly resumed:\n\n\u201cListen, Gina. You believe, as well as I, that the Sacrament of Penance is\na remedy, do you not? It has been called, I think, \u2018the divine\nprescription for the maladies of the soul,\u2019 and you are conscious, I\ntrust, that your soul is really ill.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! yes, my soul, my heart, my mind, my body, my whole being! O Livia! I\nsuffer every way!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, if you were physically ill, you would certainly consult the best\nphysician in the city, and, who knows? if there were a better one still at\nthe other end of Europe, you would perhaps, like many others, undertake a\nlong journey to consult him as to the remedy.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps so! What then?\u201d\n\n\u201cListen, dear Gina. I have just thought of a piece of advice to give you,\nand as it has occurred to me in a moment of pity for you, when my whole\nheart is filled with affection and sympathy, perhaps it is a good\ninspiration you would do well to follow.\u201d\n\n\u201cO Livia!\u201d I exclaimed, greatly affected, for I recognized the accent of\naffection I had been so doubtful about\u2014an affection more than human,\nbecause it was an emanation of divine charity: \u201cYes, tell me, dear sister,\nwhat it is. Say anything you please. Command me, and I will obey you.\u201d\n\nShe proceeded to inform me that a saintly monk had recently arrived at\nNaples who was universally known and respected on account of his extensive\nknowledge, and was remarkable for the unpretending simplicity of his\nmanners. His words went to the heart, led sinners to return to God, and\nmade those who were pious better than they were before.\n\n\u201cGo to him humbly, I beseech you, and open your heart to him before\nGod\u2014your whole heart. I feel a conviction he will be able to give you the\nremedy you need, and if you have the courage to apply this remedy,\nwhatever it be, I feel the assurance, Ginevra, you will be healed.\u201d\n\n\n\nXXXVI.\n\n\nLet those who do not wish to enter the region into which I am about to\nlead my readers, now lay aside this book. I assure them, however, there is\nnothing in the previous portion of this narrative more strictly true than\nwhat I am going to relate. I affirm, moreover, that it refers to a point\nthat interests every Christian soul; I might say, every human soul, but I\nknow beforehand that they alone will comprehend me who have faith in these\nwords: \u201cI believe in God the Father Almighty,\u201d that is to say, they who\nwith the Catholic Church firmly believe His Omnipotence is present, living\nand acting in our midst, and there is not a single instant in which the\nmaterial and spiritual world, the world of nature and the inner world of\nthe human soul, cannot feel its supernatural and _miraculous_ effects. At\nthe mere sight of this word, I suppose every sceptical, incredulous, or\nscornful reader has taken the alarm and made his escape, and I shall\nhenceforth address only those who speak, or at least comprehend, the\nlanguage I am about to employ.\n\nI left the convent without deciding on the hour for following Livia\u2019s\nadvice, and was already on my way home when I took the sudden resolution\nto proceed without any delay to the church she had indicated. This church\nwas one of the finest in Naples, the only one, perhaps, in which the eye\nis not offended by any of the incongruities so often found in Italy\nbetween the beautiful proportions, the marbles, the frescos that adorn the\nwalls, and certain objects of devotion whose choice or execution indicates\nmore piety than taste. Here everything harmonized, and this harmony was\nfavorable to devotion. I took a chair and knelt against it on the marble\npavement; then, according to the Neapolitan custom at confession, I took\noff my hat and threw over my head a scarf of black lace I wore over my\nsilk dress, and patiently waited for others to enter the deserted church.\nIt was nearly three o\u2019clock.\n\nI did not have to wait long. As soon as the clock struck, I saw quite a\nnumber of men and women of every rank and age, as well as young ladies and\neven children, come in and gather around the confessional, near which by\nchance I had stationed myself. I turned towards a lady who knelt beside\nme, and asked the name of the confessor she was awaiting. She looked up\nwith an air of surprise.\n\n\u201cFather Egidio di San Mauro, of course,\u201d said she. \u201cDo you not know his\nconfessional?\u201d\n\nFather Egidio was the name of the priest to whom my sister had directed\nme. Chance had led me to the spot I wished to find. I was obliged to wait\na long time; but this delay, and the profound silence around, aided me in\nconcentrating my mind on the act I was going to perform, and enabled me, I\nthink, to make a good preparation. Besides, I had already gained a victory\nover myself by the very act of coming here, for I had been obliged to\nsurmount a mixture of timidity and embarrassment one always feels about\ngoing to a strange confessor.\n\nAt length the priest we were waiting for made his appearance. He came\nslowly out of the sacristy and proceeded directly to the high altar, where\nhe knelt for some time in prayer. He then rose, and, crossing the church,\npassed before me on his way to the confessional. He was of lofty stature,\nbut bowed down by years and still more by that sanctity which does not\nspare the body. His white hair and bald forehead gave his mild, delicate\nfeatures a grave, imposing aspect, which at once inspired respect, though\nit was impossible to feel any fear.\n\nI ought to have been the first to approach, as I arrived before the\nothers; but as soon as Father Egidio seated himself in the confessional,\nwhich, according to the Italian style, was only closed by a low door, he\nperceived the children awaiting him, and, leaving the door open, he made\nthem a sign to approach. One by one they presented themselves before him.\nHe bent down his head as he addressed them, and the innocent faces raised\ntowards him were marked by a pious attention that was touching. He smiled\noccasionally as he listened to them, and the hand they kissed when they\nwere done, he afterwards placed on their heads in benediction.\n\nWhen the children had finished I was obliged to wait still longer, for a\nyoung man brushed hastily by me and fell on his knees in the place they\nleft vacant, and this time the confession was long. Father Egidio, resting\nboth hands on the shoulders of his new penitent, bent his head to listen\nwithout interrupting him, and when the young man ceased speaking, the\nadvice he gave in return must have touched his penitent\u2019s heart, for, as\nhe listened, he bent his head lower and lower towards the old priest\u2019s\nknees, and when he rose his eyes were inundated with tears.\n\nAt last my turn came, and I knelt in the place usually taken at\nconfession. My voice trembled as I began, but grew stronger by degrees,\nand I continued with clearness and the wish to be sincere. My troubles,\nalas! were closely connected with my faults, and I not only opened my\nheart and soul, but laid before him my entire life, feeling, as I did so,\nthe relief there is in the avowal of one\u2019s weaknesses in confession that\ncan be compared to no human confidence, however great the wisdom or\nsympathy that wins it. He murmured two or three times as he listened,\n\u201cPoor child!\u201d but did not otherwise interrupt me till I had finished.\n\nThe words he addressed me then were the mildest and yet most powerful that\never roused the human heart to a sense of duty. But when he finally told\nme that though I had banished him whose presence was so dangerous to my\nsoul, I must likewise banish his memory with equal resolution; that the\nrecollections in which I still indulged without scruple ought to be\nresisted, overcome, rooted out, and rejected, I felt an insurmountable\nrepugnance, and replied:\n\n\u201cNo, father, I cannot do it.\u201d\n\nHe again repeated, \u201cPoor child!\u201d and then said in a tone of mingled\ncompassion and kindness:\n\n\u201cYou are not willing, then, to give God the place he has a right to in\nyour heart?\u201d\n\nI did not understand his meaning, and replied:\n\n\u201cFather, I cannot help what I think and feel, or what I suffer.\u201d\n\nWithout losing anything of his mildness, but with an authority that\nsubdued my rebellious spirit, he said:\n\n\u201cI know, my child, what is in your power, and what does not depend on your\nwill; but in the name of Him who now speaks to you through me, I ask you\nto repeat with a sincere heart these words, which comprise all I have just\nsaid:\n\n\u201cO my God! root out of my heart everything that separates it from Thee.\u201d\n\nThese words, the accent with which they were uttered, and the prayer that\nI have no doubt rose from the depths of the holy soul from which they\nsprang, inspired me with the wish and strength to obey.\n\nO my God! enable me now to make others understand what then took place in\nmy soul.\n\nI leaned my head against my clasped hands, and after a moment\u2019s silence,\nduring which I summoned all the strength of my will, I slowly repeated\nwith the utmost sincerity the words he dictated:\n\n\u201cO my God! root out of my heart everything that separates it from\nThee.\u201d...\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nO merciful, divine Goodness! how shall I speak of Thee? how tell of thy\nmarvellous grace and love? While uttering these words, before they were\neven ended, I felt touched by some strange, mysterious, supernatural\ninfluence. My heart and soul seemed filled with light. My whole being was\ntransformed. I was inundated with a joy that could not be expressed in\nhuman language, and the source of this joy, the sensible cause, which I\nstill feel, and shall never cease to feel, was the conviction made audible\nin some miraculous manner that _God loves me_!\n\nGod loves me. Yes, I heard these words. I comprehended their entire\nsignification. _The Veil was forever withdrawn._ The mysterious enigma of\nmy heart was solved as clearly and obviously as my eyes beheld the light\nof day.\n\nI loved, not as we try, but in vain, to love our fellow\u2010creatures; I loved\nwith _all_ the strength of my heart! and with so much strength that I\ncould not have loved more without dying!...\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nAll human language is inadequate, I know, to speak of supernatural grace.\nI can only stammer as I attempt it, and will no longer dwell on the\nineffable moment which wrought an entire transformation in my life. I no\nlonger recollect what words I then uttered, or what was said to me: I only\nremember the holy absolution I received with bowed head, and these words,\nafterwards uttered in a tone of emotion: \u201cBe calm, my child, and go in\npeace.\u201d\n\nI had knelt down overwhelmed with sadness. I rose up so happy that I\nsuffered from the great intensity of a joy my heart was too weak to\nendure!\n\n\n\nXXXVII.\n\n\nLong years have passed by since that day, and perhaps long years still\nawait me; but whatever be the duration of my life nothing will ever efface\nthe remembrance\u2014not of the moment I have just described, for that moment\nis always present, it can never become a memory of the past\u2014but of the\neffect which the sight of the earth, the sky, and the sea had on me when I\nissued from the church where I had received so great a blessing.\nEverything seemed to have assumed a new aspect, a new meaning, a more\nglorious signification; for the torrent of happiness in my soul seemed\ndiffused over all nature! I no longer wished for anything. I had found\nall. I was freed from all anxiety. Hope had become certitude\u2014a certitude\nmore complete than can be derived from the surest of earthly things; for\ngreat indeed is the certitude of that assurance which _nothing_ can\ndeprive us of, except _through our own will_!...\n\n_Nothing_ could quench the source from which sprang my joy, or deprive me\nof its benefits: _nothing_, for my will was henceforth absorbed, and, so\nto speak, _lost_ in the most ardent love!\n\nTo love with strength, disinterestedness, and passion the worthiest object\non earth, and learn all at once we could not be deprived of it without the\nconsent of our own heart, would not this induce us to utter the word\n_never_ with an absolute meaning that the things of this world do not\nadmit of? It was thus God gave me the grace to love, to feel sure of\nloving always, sure of the impossibility of ever being deprived of the\nobject of my love!\n\nThe beauty of the natural world around me now seemed a mere ray of this\njoy. Never had I found it so lovely. And yet (those whom I _alone_ address\nnow will understand this, however contradictory it may appear) I felt an\nalmost equal disgust for all created things, an ardent desire to renounce\neverything, a profound contempt for all that had hitherto seemed worthy of\nso much esteem. Wealth, honor, dress, display, luxury, even the beauty, so\nuncertain, which I prized so much\u2014they all lost their importance and\nbecame worthless in my eyes, not through satiety, or a feeling of\nmelancholy, but through the disgust one naturally feels for the mediocre\nafter seeing the beautiful, and for the beautiful after seeing the\nperfect!\n\nOn the other hand, in spite of this fountain of inexhaustible joy, I by no\nmeans imagined I was released from suffering; and what was also strange,\nperhaps, I did not desire to be. I already felt there was a lively,\npoignant, and sometimes terrible suffering inherent in the divine love I\nhad just begun to experience. He who has described this love better than\nany other human being, doubtless because he felt it in a greater degree;\nhe who more than six centuries ago wrote the following words: \u201cNothing is\nstronger than love, nothing more generous, nothing more pleasant, nothing\nfuller or better in heaven or earth.... When weary it is not tired, when\nstraitened is not constrained, when frightened is not disturbed, but like\na lively flame and a torch all on fire, it mounts upward and securely\npasses through all opposition;\u201d(154) he who uttered these and so many\nother burning words, likewise said these: \u201cThere is no living in love\nwithout some pain or sorrow.\u201d I knew it, and my heart was as ready to\nembrace the one as the other. As to the ordinary trials of life, it seemed\nto me I had sufficient courage to encounter them all, and that henceforth\nI should have nothing in the world to fear, nothing to complain of....\n\nTo the reader who comprehends me, and knows all this is perfectly true, I\nneed not say that the state I have just described, though a blessed and\nrare one, has in all ages, as well as ours, been one to which a great\nnumber of souls have arrived by slow but natural progression. When,\ntherefore, I speak of this as _miraculous_ and supernatural, I merely\napply the word to the sudden wonderful grace which shortened the way for\nme, making me pass in an instant from a totally different frame of mind to\na plenitude of faith and happiness!\n\nAnd now ... how did they who were much more closely interwoven with my\nlife than the natural world around me, appear in this new light? How did I\nnow regard them in my heart?\u2014Lorenzo! Livia! Stella! Gilbert! What were\nthe feelings of my heart and soul towards them now that I was so suddenly\nbrought to see and feel what was clear and right?...\n\nIn order to express my sentiments with regard to them, I will employ an\nillustration that may seem obscure, and yet I know no better way of making\nmyself understood. It seemed to me that all the pure, tender, legitimate,\nand noble feelings of my heart found in this luminous flame a new and\npowerful aliment, while all others were consumed by this flame as quickly\nas pernicious weeds cast into a fiery furnace!\n\nNothing, therefore, was changed in my feelings towards Livia and Stella,\nunless I loved them more tenderly than before, one seeming more than ever\nan angel, and the other the dearest of friends!\n\nAs to Lorenzo, the change was great, sudden, and profound!... My affection\nfor him, which he had mortally wounded and extinguished, was now rekindled\nat the divine source of all true love, and became equal to that I had felt\nat the time of my brightest hopes. The wish I once so ardently felt seemed\nnow to be the only one worthy of occupying my mind. What did a little more\nor less of human love matter to me now? As Livia had predicted, my heart\nwas satiated; I was rich, even if I did not possess the affection of a\nsingle heart on earth. It was, therefore, no longer through a selfish\nthirst for happiness I now wished to set his soul at liberty, but from a\ndesire a thousand times more ardent\u2014so ardent that it seemed to become my\nonly passion!\n\nAnd now, Gilbert! ... how shall I speak of him? How, in the light of this\ndivine flame, did the dangerous attachment, the enervating, subtle\naffection that had so absorbed my mind, appear to me now? And those vague,\nfalse hopes\u2014those impossible dreams\u2014those harrowing regrets? And my\nfoolish and culpable longing for his return?\n\nAll this was consumed like the pernicious weeds I have just spoken of, and\nI distinctly saw the abyss on the edge of which I had been walking. I\nturned away from the danger I had escaped with terror. I felt with\nprofound gratitude that I was saved! ... and like one who has escaped from\nthe perils of the sea, I looked back with horror on the waves that had so\nrecently threatened to engulf me.\n\nThis impression was so strong that it began to render the memory odious\nthat I so recently thought the only joy of my life\u2014the joy I could not\nmake up my mind to deny myself. The miraculous effect of the divine mercy\nhad been in answer to the very essence of my prayer; the obstacle that\nseparated me from God had been completely rooted out of my heart. In this\nrespect, more than any other, I felt changed and transformed. But this\npowerful impression was modified by degrees, and I was soon able to see\nGilbert in so clear and true a light as to think of him henceforth without\nthe least disturbance of mind. I now thought of his danger, and the\nthought filled me with regret. I perceived my secret participation, the\nprimary, and often the only, cause of others\u2019 faults, from which it is so\nrare to be wholly exempt in such cases, and I prayed God to pardon me and\nheal the wounds of his soul as perfectly as he had healed mine!\n\nPerhaps I have dwelt too long on this event\u2014the greatest, the only great\nevent of my life\u2014and the effect it had on me in so many ways. But it was\nnecessary to describe the transfigured state of my soul in order to\nexplain what I still have to relate\u2014this day having, thank heaven! set its\nineffaceable seal on every succeeding day of my life.\n\n\n\nXXXVIII.\n\n\nFor several days I had some difficulty in concealing the irrepressible joy\nI betrayed in my face in spite of my efforts, and which there was\napparently nothing to justify.\n\nLorenzo\u2019s attitude, in fact, remained the same. He continued, as he had\ndone since his return, to appear only at the hour of his repasts. A part\nof the morning he remained shut up in his studio, which he now rarely\nallowed me to enter, and he spent all his evenings abroad. Mario had\nreturned to Sicily; Stella had not yet wholly resumed her usual ease with\nme, and Lando, absorbed in his own affairs, was less interested than usual\nin mine.\n\nOur customary reunions continued, however, and the same visitors assembled\nevery evening, as before. I frequently heard my aunt loudly lament the\ndeparture of _quel Francese simpatico_, and declare how much il Kergy was\nmissed by everybody. In fact, Gilbert\u2019s name was continually repeated, and\nI sometimes thought Stella was astonished at my calmness, which was\nincomprehensible to her, whereas, on the contrary, I was not in the least\nsurprised at her silence, which I understood perfectly. But we continued\nour tacit agreement never to speak of him to each other. Several days\npassed in this way, during which Livia was the only person from whom I\nconcealed nothing. How great her joy was when, on seeing me again, she\nread with a single look the recovered peace of my soul, it is useless to\nsay here. From that time we seemed to be united by a stronger tie than\nthat of blood, and to have become more than sisters. But when, in the\ntransport of my new joy, I declared that the luxuries of my beautiful home\nnow seemed a burden and a fetter, and that I preferred the austere\nsimplicity which surrounded her, she at once checked me.\n\n\u201cOur tastes should correspond with our vocation, Gina. Yours is not to\nleave the world, or even to lay aside its superfluities. Endeavor to\nplease Lorenzo, to win him back. That is your mission, which is as high as\nany other; and when you feel your former affection for him revive in your\nheart, believe me, _carina_, it will meet with no opposition from the love\nGod has revealed to your soul! You have dreamed of great things for\nLorenzo. Come, Gina, courage! now is the time to realize them!\u201d\n\nIt was thus she led me back to a great but evident truth. I comprehended\nit in spite of the different feelings I had experienced, and trusted time\nwould give me an opportunity of winning back my husband\u2019s heart, which was\neven sorer than mine had ever been. My eyes were often filled with tears,\nin spite of myself, as I saw the alteration in his face, his anxious look,\nhis brow furrowed before the time, and all the sad indications by which a\nsoul that is tarnished betrays the reaction which has such an injurious\neffect on physical beauty itself. But the time was gone by when it seemed\npossible to form some project, and achieve it in a day. I had learned the\nvalue of the words _patience_ and _silence_.\n\nI rose now every morning as soon as it was light, and went with Ottavia to\nthe church of a neighboring convent to seek strength for the day and, so\nto speak, draw fresh joy from the inexhaustible fountain. I afterwards\ncarried myself the alms which, in my pride and indolence, I had hitherto\nbeen contented to distribute by her hands. This was the only outward\nchange in my way of life, and it was one that nobody perceived. But it was\nnot quite the same with the change that had unconsciously taken place in\nmy language, manners, and even in the expression of my face, and though\nLorenzo seldom had an opportunity of noticing me, I soon fancied he had\nrecovered a certain ease of manner towards me. Until now, he had been, not\nonly wounded in his pride and passion, but especially humiliated in my\npresence; and it must be acknowledged that the coldness and disdain that\nconstituted the mute form of my reproach were not calculated to conciliate\nhim. The freezing haughtiness of his air in return, which seemed to add\noutrage to perjury, increased my exasperation to the utmost, and irritated\nme more than his actual offences did at the time I gave myself up with\ndesperation to the thought of Gilbert, as a kind of intoxication which\nmade me at once forget my grief and my anger. Now I no longer sought to\nescape from the one, and the other was wholly extinguished. This new state\nof my soul produced an outward calmness and serenity I had never possessed\nbefore.\n\nLorenzo\u2019s quick, penetrating eye soon detected the change without being\nable to imagine the cause. One day, after looking attentively at me for a\nmoment, a sad, thoughtful expression came over his face, and I thought\nthere was something like affection and respect in his look.\n\nThis did not prevent him, however, from spending the evening away from\nhome, and I anxiously followed him in spirit as usual, not daring to utter\na word to detain him, and still less venture to question him. A whole week\npassed in this way, in the vague hope of finding some means of influencing\nhim, but nothing of the kind happened. All at once, one morning, by some\nextraordinary accident we happened to be alone a moment together, and\nafter causing me some anxiety by the gloomy expression on his face, he\ngave me a great but pleasant surprise by saying:\n\n\u201cWhat would you say, Ginevra, if I proposed your taking a journey to\nSicily with me?\u201d\n\nI uttered an exclamation of joy.\n\n\u201cWhat a question, Lorenzo! You know well nothing could give me more\npleasure than to see my father again, and Messina, the dear old palace,\nand....\u201d\n\nHere I stopped, too much affected to continue, and fearing to awaken\nremembrances that might seem like a reproach. He perceived it and was\ngrateful.\n\n\u201cWell, my lawsuit is about to be tried. Don Fabrizio desires my presence,\nand I would not for anything in the world renounce the pleasure of hearing\nhim plead. We will start next week, then, if you are willing.\u201d\n\nThis proposition caused me the liveliest and most unexpected pleasure. To\nleave Naples! To go with him! and to a place where, more easily than\nanywhere else, it seemed to me I could overcome the fatal remembrance in\nhis heart I had to struggle against! And from there\u2014who could tell?\u2014induce\nhim perhaps to go to some distant land; persuade him to let me follow him,\ngo with him to the ends of the earth, if necessary, in search of the pure\nair he needed to restore him to health! All this crossed my mind in the\ntwinkling of an eye, and for the first time for a long while I saw a ray\nof hope before me.\n\nWhen I announced the projected journey to Stella with a satisfaction I\nmade no attempt to conceal, she looked at me with an air of surprise.\n\n\u201cYou have entirely forgiven Lorenzo, then?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cYes.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I conclude he has at last acknowledged his offences and begged your\npardon.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo?... In that case, Ginevra, you have greatly changed.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, a blessed change has come over me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have noticed it for some days, and if I ask what has produced it, will\nyou answer me sincerely?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, without hesitation. I will tell you the plain truth.\u201d\n\nAnd without turning my eyes away from hers, which were fastened\nattentively on me, I calmly continued:\n\n\u201cBetween my violent indignation against Lorenzo, and my strong fancy for\nGilbert, I went very far astray from God, Stella. A single instant of\nextraordinary grace enabled me to see this. Everything is clear to me now.\nI no longer seek happiness: I possess it.\u201d\n\nThe moment Stella heard me pronounce Gilbert\u2019s name, which we had\ninvariably avoided of late, the pupils of her eyes dilated, and, as I went\non, took that intensity of color and expression which all emotion imparted\nto them. But she merely replied:\n\n\u201cI do not wholly understand you, Ginevra, I confess, but I see you are\nhappy and courageous: that is sufficient.\u201d\n\nAfter a moment\u2019s silence, I resumed:\n\n\u201cAnd will you allow me to ask you a question in my turn, Stella?\u201d\n\nShe blushed without making any reply. I hastened to say that my question\nonly concerned Harry Leslie. At his name, she resumed her usual\nexpression, and a double smile beamed from her eyes and lips.\n\n\u201cCertainly, ask anything you please.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, he came yesterday with a gloomy air to announce his departure. Am I\nwrong in thinking you have something to do with it?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied she, smiling, \u201cnot if it is true he cannot remain in Naples\nwithout marrying me, for I have not otherwise ordered him to go away.\u201d\n\nDesirous of drawing her out on this point, I continued:\n\n\u201cBut, after all, Mr. Leslie is kind, handsome, excellent, very wealthy\nthey say, and of a good family. You are very difficult, Stella.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, perhaps so,\u201d replied she with agitation and a kind of impatience.\nThen she continued in a melancholy tone of anguish:\n\n\u201cGinevra, never speak to me again, I beg, either of happiness or the\nfuture. I do not know as I shall ever be any happier than I am now, but I\nknow I can be less so.... Oh! may what I now possess never be taken away\nfrom me. I ask nothing more.\u201d\n\nShe shuddered and stopped speaking, as if she could not give utterance to\nher fears. It was not the first time I had seen her seized with a kind of\nterror when the words future and happiness were mentioned before her. One\nwould have said she thought there was no happiness in reserve for her,\nunless at the price of that she already possessed, and this thought came\nover her like a vision of terror.\n\nPoor Stella! Alas! how insecure the joys of earth! To be deprived of them,\nor tremble lest we may be\u2014that is to say, to possess these joys with a\npoignant fear that empoisons every instant of their duration, and\nincreases more and more in proportion to their prolongation!...\n\nIs it, then, really necessary for a supernatural light to open our eyes to\nforce us to acknowledge that this world is only a place of promise, of\nwhich the realization is in another?\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nThe Brooklet.\n\n\nFrom The German Of Goethe.\n\nO brooklet silver bright and gay!\nFor ever rushing on thy way,\nI, lingering, ever ask thee whence\nThou comest here, where goest thou hence?\n\n\u201cFrom the dark rock\u2019s deep breast I come,\nO\u2019er flow\u2019rs and moss I toss and roam;\nWhile on my bosom smiles and lies\nThe hovering vision of the skies.\n\n\u201cAsk not of me, a laughing child,\nWhither or whence my foot steps wild;\nHim do I trust to guide me on\nWho called me from the senseless stone.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Colonization Of New South Wales By Great Britain.(155)\n\n\nSome few years ago it became known that the government of Great Britain\nwere thinking of renewing the experiment of transporting convicts to\nAustralia with the object of affording them a chance of reformation. This\ntime, however, it was its western shore which was to be tried, and that,\ntoo, on a scale not inferior in magnitude to that on which the attempt had\nbeen so unsuccessfully made in New South Wales and Van Diemen\u2019s Land. The\nbare suggestion of such a proposal sufficed to kindle a flame of\nindignation throughout the whole Australian continent\u2014for such must an\nisland be called which is as large as Europe. To judge from a letter which\nwe shall have occasion to quote further on, the system as pursued in\nEastern Australia, although upon so insignificant a scale, is fraught with\nevils similar to those which so signally characterized its more important\nprecursor in the west. Yet were the eastern colonists, or an influential\nand active portion of them, ready to risk the reproduction of the baneful\ncurse which for nearly half a century blighted the prosperity and checked\nthe growth of their western rivals, and from the consequences of which the\nlatter are suffering to this day. So bitter, however, was the remembrance\nof this system amongst the western colonists, so keen their sense of the\ndire mischiefs still resulting from its action, that they went the length\nof avowing their fixed determination to separate from the mother\u2010country,\nif the experiment were attempted, although some thousands of miles\nintervened between them and the spot where the experiment was proposed to\nbe renewed.\n\nWhat were the causes of a failure so disastrous? The objects proposed in\nthe original undertaking were of the noblest. To colonize a newly\u2010\ndiscovered country of great extent and promise, to develop its resources,\nand to bring it under the sway of a benign and noble civilization, was a\nworthy object of ambition. To unite with this a scheme for the reformation\nof criminals, in a land where they would be entirely removed from old\nassociations, where they might enter upon a new career without being ever\ndogged by the spectre of the past, was a great and beneficent design. How\nwas it that the proposed reformatory became a horrible curse alike to the\nconvicts and the colony, and that no prospect of progress in any form\ncould be reasonably entertained until the original scheme was utterly\nswept away, and the local administration taken altogether out of the hands\nof the home government, and placed upon its present independent footing?\n\nThe question of the reformation of criminals is not only of pressing\nimportance, but one that appeals to our higher feelings; and it has of\nlate become a subject of special investigation to the somewhat interested\nphilanthropy and eminently shallow psychology of the day. It is impossible\nto say that any solution of the question was seriously attempted in the\noriginal transportation project to Botany Bay. It was the one object,\nnevertheless, which assumed a prominent place in the experiment; and to\nthe history of its failure we propose to devote our chief attention. The\ncolonization of the country was distinctly announced as forming part of\nthe scheme; nor, indeed, is it easy to see how it could very well have\nbeen dissociated from it. On this subject, therefore, we will offer a few\nremarks by way of introduction.\n\nThe recolonization of Southern Europe by the Northern tribes in the Vth\nand VIth centuries of the present era offers a striking contrast to the\ncolonization of Australia by a nation calling itself Christian. Anything\nbut prepossessing is the description given us by the historians of those\nNorthern invaders, whose deeds but too faithfully bear out the\ndescription. Over depopulated provinces, cities in ashes, and the ruins of\nthe noblest monuments of religion and art, they swarmed into their new\nsettlements. Vandals, Franks, Goths, and Huns, all alike were\ndistinguished for an unpitying cruelty, although the Huns surpassed the\nrest in licentious profligacy and crime. Yet amidst the ruin they had\nmade, and the prodigious havoc with which they had desolated the fairest\ncountries of Europe, the winning accents of Christian civilization stole\ninto their ears and subdued their untutored souls. In one respect they had\nthe advantage of the first English settlers in Australia. They had not\nbeen flung out of their own country like garbage. They came under no ban\nof law. They bore not with them the consciences of convicted criminals.\nThey marched to the spoil under the (to them) legitimate banners of\nambition, or to satisfy their greed of gain. The untutored instincts of\nhumanity, grand even in their lawlessness and ferocity, urged them on.\nDeformed, as might have been expected, with many of the gross vices of the\nsavage, they were not wanting in some of the more attractive features of\nthe nobility of nature. Their ears had never listened to the loving voice\nof the Virgin Daughter of Sion. Their hearts had never been disciplined\nnor their minds formed by the revelation from heaven committed to her\nkeeping. Theirs was not the guilt, as it has been of some of the nations\nof this XIXth century, to have _apostatized_ to the barbarous maxim that\n\u201cmight makes right.\u201d They knew no better. No sooner, however, did the\nmajestic vision of the Spouse of Christ\u2014the Catholic Church\u2014meet their\ngaze, than, far from treating her with insult and outrage, they threw\nthemselves with loving veneration at her feet, bowed their necks with the\ntruthful docility of children to her discipline, and arose to prove\nthemselves her most faithful defenders.\n\nBut whilst the men\u2010eating aborigines of Australia had no civilization to\ncommunicate, the first invaders of its shores from Great Britain were,\nsome of them, of the worst class of barbarians\u2014the barbarians of\ncivilization. They were of those whose untamable souls law, civilization,\nand religion had failed to subdue. They were the offscouring of the\ncriminal class of the three kingdoms. The society they had outraged had\ncast them out from itself upon the coasts of Australia. They stepped on\nshore convicted as felons. They had forfeited the citizenship of their own\ncountry; and, although still undergoing their respective sentences, it was\nunderstood that they were to have the opportunity of making a fresh start\nin their new country, should their conduct correspond with the clemency of\nthe executive. On a career that, more than any other, requires a spirit of\nenterprise, light\u2010heartedness, and courage, they had set out under the ban\nof expatriation, the burden of shame, and all the depressing influences of\ndetected guilt. Of such were the first settlers of Australia.\n\nOn the evening of the 26th of January, 1788, the English dominion over\nwhat has been called the fifth division of the globe was inaugurated by\nthe solemnity of pledging the king\u2019s health round a flag\u2010pole. His\nmajesty\u2019s subjects in New Holland, at the period of this imposing\nfunction, numbered one thousand and thirty souls. Of these seven hundred\nand seventy\u2010eight were convicts. The remaining two hundred and fifty\nconsisted of the soldiers who formed the garrison of the new settlement,\nand their officers, together with a few civil functionaries. In this rude\ngerm of future commonwealths the elements neither of agriculture nor of\ncommerce as yet existed. An encampment of huts was its first abiding\u2010\nplace. For food it depended on the stores brought with it from the mother\u2010\ncountry; amongst which was neither seed nor other provision for future\ncrops. At the moment at which we write, after a lapse of eighty\u2010six years,\nthe flocks and herds of a wealthy agricultural population range over an\narea as large as that of Europe; five splendid provinces, each with its\nown court and parliament, can boast of cities equal in size to many\nEuropean capitals, and constituting commercial marts second to none on the\nface of the globe.\n\nOf the prodigious strides they have made in material prosperity, Mr.\nTherry, in his interesting _Reminiscences_, gives the following striking\nillustration:\n\n\n \u201cIt has been ascertained that our South Pacific colonies take from\n us in imports for every man, woman, and child of their respective\n populations, on the average, from \u00a38 to \u00a310 per head per annum,\n while the United States were only customers to us in 1859 (before\n the war began), at the rate of 17s. per head. The amount of\n imports received by Canada, which comes nearest to Australia, is\n \u00a35 per head; that of New South Wales alone is \u00a321 3s. 4d. per\n head; of Victoria, \u00a325\u201d (p. 9).\n\n\nThe commerce of these colonies with all parts of the world is nearly three\ntimes larger in money value than was the whole export commerce of England\nless than a century ago; and they receive from the United Kingdom upwards\nof twenty times the value of exports which the North American colonies\nwere receiving at the time of their separation from the mother\u2010country. To\ncrown the social edifice, a contented people live and prosper under the\nshadow of the freest institutions, in many respects surpassing, in this\nparticular, the much\u2010vaunted model on which they have been framed.\n\nIt is certain that the prevailing motive of the English government in\ndespatching a penal colony to Botany Bay was to supply the place of her\nlost American colonies. No doubt the idea of colonizing the country was\npresent to their minds. But it never went beyond words. Not a single\nprovision was made for colonial development. On the contrary, the whole\nconstitution of the exiled community was fatal to such an object. For\nnearly half a century the inherent vices of the system struggled against\nand forcibly restrained any efforts to profit by the advantages of a\ncountry of such wonderful promise; nor was it before the original\ngovernment scheme had been quite abandoned that the colony rose from its\ninaction, like an unfettered giant, and, as it were, almost at a stride,\narrived at a pitch of prosperity unexampled, in so short a period of time,\nin the annals of the world, with the single exception of the American\ncolonies after they had disembarrassed themselves of the yoke of the\nmother country.\n\nThe defection of those colonies had stopped an important outlet for the\ncriminal population of the three kingdoms. We are told by Bancroft, in his\n_History of the United States_, that\n\n\n \u201cThe prisoners condemned [in England] to transportation were a\n salable commodity. Such was the demand for labor in America that\n convicts and laborers were regularly purchased and shipped to the\n colonies, where they were sold as indented servants.\u201d\n\n\nThe Irish malcontents, moreover\u2014of whom, owing to the long misgovernment\nof the kingdom, Ireland was full, and whose disaffection had been\nstimulated by the revolt of the North American colonies\u2014threatened to\nincrease the convict population by a large and particularly unmanageable\nelement. It was only a year or two before that a country happened to be\nexplored and taken possession of in the name of England so happily fitted\nfor colonization, and of which such admirable use has since been made. The\ndiscovery was the result of sheer accident, so far as the British\ngovernment was concerned. The expedition to which it owes it was sent out\nby the Royal Society for scientific purposes; the object being to make\naccurate observations of the transit of Venus from the island of Otaheite.\nThe islands of New Zealand and the east coast of New Holland were explored\non the way home. The astronomical expedition returned to England in the\nmidsummer of 1771.\n\nIn 1786, the government decided on establishing permanent settlements on\nthe coast lately explored by Captain Cook, accompanied by Messrs. Green\nand Banks and Dr. Solander. The colony consisted exclusively of the\nconvicts and the military in charge; of prisoners and their jailers. Any\nclass out of which a free civil community might be formed could only arise\nout of chance settlers, or of those among the convicts whose position was\nthe result rather of untoward circumstances than of any irreclaimable\ncriminality of disposition, and who were prepared to re\u2010commence in those\ndistant lands a career from which their misfortune or their fault had shut\nthem out at home.\n\nThe constitution of the expedition was as follows: A governor, lieutenant\u2010\ngovernor, judge\u2010advocate, commissary, and chaplain; a surgeon and two\nassistant surgeons; an agent for the transports; two hundred and twelve\nsoldiers and mariners, including officers; their wives, numbering forty,\nand their children; five hundred and forty\u2010eight male convicts, and two\nhundred and thirty female.\n\nThe neighborhood of Botany Bay having been judged unsuitable for the new\nsettlement, the expedition landed at a spot situated at the head of one of\nthe coves of Port Jackson Harbor, which had been judiciously selected by\nthe governor as the site of the future capital. The 26th of January, 1788,\nwas the day of disembarkation, and it was on the evening of that day that\nthe inaugural rite, to which we have before alluded, was solemnized. After\na lapse of eleven days, consumed in putting up the public and private\nstructures needful for the new colony, the ceremony of inauguration was\nsupplemented by one of a yet more imposing character. On the seventh of\nFebruary was held a formal assembly of all the members of the new\ncommonwealth. An occasion of greater interest could not be imagined. Upon\nno band of colonists was ever lavished a greater wealth of hope and\nfortune. No guilt of diplomatic fraud or commercial overreaching marred\ntheir title to the new territory. Through no bloodshed, no violence, but\nquite unopposed, they had entered on its peaceable possession. No foreign\npower, to whom the new state might be calculated to give umbrage,\nthreatened its future welfare. A magnificent harbor sheltered its ships\nand transports; and it was only one of many such with which a coast of\nvast extent was indented. A whole continent of virgin soil stretched out\nbefore them, which, under the influence of the finest climate under\nheaven, waited only the bidding of man to quicken within itself an\nexhaustless luxuriance of vegetable life. A mighty Empire of the South\noffered itself to any hands that were willing and able to grasp it. It was\nonly reasonable to expect that England, having just lost her supremacy in\nthe New World, would have devoted her utmost resources of civilization and\nstatesmanship to laying deep and wide the foundations of her new dominion.\nIf none of the members of an aristocracy enjoying more advantages and more\npower than were ever possessed by the most privileged class of any the\nmost privileged nation, were willing to leave the home of their ancestral\ntraditions, the softness of hereditary ease, and an absolute independence\nof fortune\u2019s caprice, in order to join in the struggling life of a young\ncommunity, we should at least have expected that the mother\u2010country would\ndespatch a contribution from each of the other classes of her citizens to\nassist in the formation of the new settlement. Her system of\njurisprudence, admirable in spite of the inextricable jumble of statutes\nand precedents amidst which it has been reared, would be represented, one\nwould have thought, by a sufficient number of lawyers of character; her\nmerchant princes would be encouraged to carry their spirit of enterprise\nto so rich and promising a field; still more, that which forms the only\ntrue and solid basis of material prosperity\u2014agriculture\u2014would be\nabundantly cared for in the shape of a due supply of competent masters and\nsturdy laborers; last, though not least, some provision would be made, not\nonly for the moral and religious training of the people, but for such\nmental cultivation as was compatible with the condition of an infant\ncommunity. What no one in his senses could have anticipated was that the\ngovernment of a great and ancient nation should have sent out as the\nfounders of a new colonial empire a contingent of malefactors, guarded by\na few marines. Upon the occasion of the formal inauguration ceremony the\nwhole colony were assembled around the governor. Nearest to himself were\nthe lieutenant\u2010governor, the judge\u2010advocate, provost\u2010marshal, commissary,\nadjutant, doctor, and chaplain. The two hundred and twelve marines,\nincluding no less than fifteen commissioned officers, were drawn up in\nbattle array. Apart from the rest, as under the ban of crime, stood the\nbulk of the community\u2014namely, the convicts. To this assemblage the judge\u2010\nadvocate read the royal commission and the act of Parliament which\nconstituted the court of judicature. After the reading of which documents\nthe one hundred and ninety\u2010seven marines shouldered old \u201cBrown Bess,\u201d made\nready, presented, and fired three times.\n\nThe ceremony was not imposing, but it was on a par with the rest of the\nproceedings. The governor, Capt. Phillip, wound it up with a speech in\nwhich, in spite of grammatical errors which may be pardoned in a sailor,\nhe displayed considerable ability and eloquence, but a marvellous absence\nof common sense. In the course of a somewhat inflated panegyric on England\nand her fortunes, his excellency went on to portray his native country as\nthe peculiar favorite of heaven, and to ascribe her successful\ncolonization of New Holland\u2014a matter considered by anticipation as already\naccomplished, and that, too, in the teeth of the recent defection of her\nmost splendid colonies on the plea of tyrannical misgovernment\u2014to a\nprolonged special intervention of Divine Providence.\n\n\n \u201cNor did our good genius desert us,\u201d continued the governor, \u201cwhen\n we reached our destination. On the contrary, it was then that\n her(?) crowning favor was bestowed. Witness the magnificent harbor\n which before us extends its hundred beautiful bays. Witness the\n beautiful landscape, the islands, capes, and headlands, covered\n with waving foliage, rich and varied beyond compare. Witness every\n surrounding object which, as regards a situation for our future\n homes, our necessities could demand or our tastes desire. Happy\n the nation whose enterprises are thus favored by the elements and\n by fortune! Happy the men engaged in an enterprise so favored!\n Happy the state to whose founding such propitious omens are\n granted!\u201d\n\n\nIt is clear from the following passage, incredible as it may appear, that\nthe government of the day did really contemplate founding a new state\nbeyond the seas out of the criminal population, the moral refuse of\nsociety. Gov. Phillip even challenges for the scheme the praise of\nmagnanimity.\n\n\u201cThe American colonies,\u201d he said in his inaugural address, \u201csmarting under\nwhat they considered a sense of injustice, had recourse to the sword, and\nthe ancient state and the young dependency met in deadly conflict. The\nvictory belonged to the American people, and Britain, resigning the North\nAmerica continent (?) to the dominion of her full\u2010grown offspring,\nmagnanimously seeks in other parts of the earth a region where she may lay\nthe foundations of another colonial empire, which one day will rival in\nstrength, but we hope not in disobedience, that which she has so recently\nlost\u201d (_Flanagan_, vol. i. p. 30).\n\nIt is, however, remarkable that Mr. Flanagan grounds his own attribution\nof magnanimity on the absence of those very features of the new territory\non whose conspicuous presence the governor, standing on the spot,\ncongratulates his fellow\u2010colonists, as one of the signs of a special\ninterposition of Providence in their favor.\n\n\n \u201cTo incur vast expense,\u201d writes the author of the _History of New\n South Wales_, \u201cencounter great dangers, and overcome great\n difficulties, in order to possess and colonize a country more\n remote than any hitherto brought under subjection by Europeans\u2014a\n country presenting _no pre\u2010eminent attractions in soil, destitute,\n so far as was then known, of the precious metals_, and inhabited\n by a people in the greatest degree barbarous and devoid of all\n riches\u2014while countries possessing all those attractions which New\n Holland wanted were within her reach, is the best evidence which\n can possibly be afforded of national magnanimity\u201d (_Flanagan_,\n vol. i. p. 2).\n\n \u201cHow grand is the prospect which lies before the youthful nation!\u201d\n exclaimed the enthusiastic governor to the new colony in his\n inaugurative speech. \u201cEnough of honor for any state would it be to\n occupy the first position, both in regard to time and influence,\n in a country so vast, so beautiful, _so fertile_, so blessed in\n climate, so rich in all those bounties which nature can confer;\n ... _its fertile plains tempting only the slightest labor of the\n husbandman to produce in abundance the fairest and the richest\n fruits_; its interminable pastures, the future home of flocks and\n herds innumerable; _its mineral wealth, already known to be so\n great as to promise that it may yet rival those treasures which\n fiction loves to describe_\u2014enough for any nation, I say, would it\n be to enjoy those honors and those advantages; but others not less\n advantageous, but perhaps more honorable, await the people of the\n state of which we are the founders.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cTo these,\u201d continued the governor, addressing that engaging instalment of\nBritish civilization which the imperial government had sent forth from the\nshores of their country to take possession, in its name, of this new land,\nand develop its abundant resources, \u201cwill belong the surpassing honor of\nhaving introduced permanently the Christian religion and European\ncivilization into the southern hemisphere. At no distant date it will be\ntheirs to plant the standard of the cross and the ensign of their country\nin the centre of numerous populous nations to whom both these have\nhitherto been but little known. Such are the objects which will arouse the\nenterprise and stimulate the energies of the people of this young\ncountry\u2014enterprise and energy, directed not toward conquest or rapine,\nchiefly because Australia, rich beyond measure in her own possessions,\ncannot desire those of others, but towards the extension of commerce, the\nspread of the English language, the promotion of the arts and sciences,\nand the extension of the true faith. Such are the circumstances and\nconditions which lead to the conviction that this state, of which to\u2010day\nwe lay the foundation, will, ere many generations have passed away, become\nthe centre of the southern hemisphere\u2014the brightest gem of the Southern\nOcean\u201d (_Flanagan_, vol. i. pp. 32, 33).\n\nWere these, then, whom Capt. Phillip addressed the men to introduce the\nChristian religion and European civilization in a newly\u2010discovered\ncontinent? Were a detachment of jail\u2010birds and their keepers to \u201cdevelop\ncommerce, spread the English language, promote the arts and sciences, and\nextend the true faith?\u201d Were such as these the missionaries to plant the\nstandard of the cross, or even that of their own country, amidst\npopulations alien to both alike? Did the English government seriously\npropose to make a missionary college out of a reformatory, if such it\ncould be called? Were the Barabbases of England to be the pioneers of\ncivilization, the Artful Dodgers of the metropolis the heralds of the\nChristian faith?\n\nThe truth is that the only object directly provided for by the government\nto which England was indebted for this \u201cmagnanimous\u201d deed of colonization\nwas the establishment of a secure and distant depot for the worst\ncriminals of the country.\n\nThe noble object to which the exhaustless resources of the continent they\nhad just taken possession of were to be devoted was left to the chapter of\naccidents. A picture of the future greatness of the equivocal colony was,\nit is true, dashed off, in glowing colors, by Commodore Phillip, but no\nprovision of any kind was made for its realization.\n\nThere was nothing whatever to hinder the attainment of both these objects,\nor at least an attempt to attain them. On the contrary, never was a fairer\nopportunity for an experiment of the kind offered to a people. Before them\nlay the wide, almost limitless landscape in all its exuberant beauty and\nunexhausted fertility. There it lay, as a kind of treasure\u2010trove, at their\nfeet, with no one to dispute its possession. Their first object ought\nassuredly to have been to bring a large portion of the soil under\ncultivation; agriculture being that on which more than on anything else\nthe prosperity of a country, and especially of a young country, depends.\nNot one shilling did these original and eccentric colonists invest in the\nsoil of that vast island continent, every acre of which was theirs, with\nall its latent wealth, whether that wealth consisted in its as yet untried\nproductive powers, or in the hoard of precious metals which might be\nlocked up in its secret depths.\n\nThe home government thus had it in their power to offer to a superior\nclass of yeomen inducements of the most persuasive kind to try their\nfortunes in the new colony. Sufficient area being left for the development\nof a splendid capital, they should have been planted in middling\u2010sized\nfarms as closely around the reserved area as seemed desirable, and\nstretching out into the continent in gradually\u2010encroaching circles. A\nsmall contingent of married men, of good reputation amongst their\nneighbors, and of superior capacity and attainments, should have been\nencouraged to throw their fortunes into the colony. To these a greater\nextent of land should have been granted. These settlers would have formed\nthe nucleus of a class from which could have been selected men fitted for\nholding the most responsible positions. The young colony could very well\ndispense with hereditary titles of honor. But it could not so well\ndispense with a class such as we refer to, if it was to become a country\nto which men of character and position would not hesitate to resort. A\nclass was wanted other than the emancipists\u2014the very worst that could have\nbeen chosen\u2014to supply persons of standing, acquirements, and, above all,\nof reputable experience for the magistracy, and for other national, so to\nspeak, as well as local, offices of trust and administration. Such a class\nof yeomen having been thus provided, the staff of government officials,\nthe military and naval forces, and the continually increasing influx of\nconvict laborers, added to the population of those classes themselves,\nwould have supplied a considerable population, ready to hand, of customers\nand consumers. The mercantile and professional classes would soon have\nsent their contributions from the overstocked mother\u2010country, not in\narrear, at all events, of the ordinary course of supply and demand. A\nmanufacturing class would have developed of itself quite as soon as the\ninterests of the colony required it. And, lastly and most imperatively of\nall, had the mother\u2010country been Catholic, the interests of religion would\nhave been the very first consideration. Priests and a nucleus of one or\nmore religious orders would have been despatched with the expedition.\nChurches would have been the first structures raised. Land would have been\nset apart for their support, and for the appropriate splendor of Christian\nworship. And hospitals, attended by religious of both sexes, would have\nbeen erected, and endowed with sufficient land for their perpetual\nsupport.\n\nNothing of the sort was so much as attempted. Thirty years after the\nmemorable inauguration day, a period of time embracing nearly one\u2010half of\nthe entire age of the colony, the then governor, Macquarie, we are told by\nMr. Therry, \u201c_considered the colony was selected as a depot for convicts;\nthat the land properly belonged to them, as they emerged from their\ncondition of servitude; and that emigrants were intruders on the soil._\u201d\nTen years afterwards, little more than seventy years ago, the state of\n\u201cthe brightest gem of the Southern Ocean,\u201d in spite of the encouragement\ngiven to emigration by Macquarie\u2019s successor, Sir Thomas Brisbane, during\nthe three years of his administration, is thus described by the very\ncompetent authority just quoted: \u201c_The majority of the community he_ (Sir\nThomas Brisbane) _ruled over were of the convict class, who were not\nrespectable nor right\u2010minded. It consisted of very inflammable materials,\ncomposing two\u2010thirds of the whole community, which it required the\nexercise of a stern authority to repress._\u201d\n\nNatural advantages have triumphed over the obstacles offered by human\nfolly. The present condition of the Australian colonies more than realizes\nthe glowing expectations of the head\u2010jailer of the first convict gang that\nlanded on their shores. Indeed, if those utterances of Commander Phillip\nwere to be judged by the results, we might be tempted to ascribe them to\nthe inspiration of even prophetical sagacity. One merit, at all events,\nmay be accorded to the enthusiastic sailor. He did not overestimate the\nboundless resources and advantageous position of the noble country of\nwhich he and his prisoners were assuming the proprietorship \u201con behalf of\nthe British people,\u201d utterly incapable as they were of taking advantage of\nthem.\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nA Summer In Rome.\n\n\nBy The Author Of \u201cThe House Of Yorke.\u201d\n\nOf course all our friends exclaimed, when we intimated the possibility of\nour remaining in Rome for the summer:\n\nWe would suffocate with heat.\n\nWe would be poisoned with malaria.\n\nWe would have chills, and consequently fevers.\n\nThe fruit would make us sick, the wine would turn sour while we were\npouring it out, and we would be kept awake all night by people in the\nstreet.\n\nWe would have no one to speak to, for everybody would be gone out of town.\n\nBesides, and above all, it was not the proper thing to do.\n\nI do not believe that either of us was serious in first making the\nproposal, unless Bianca cherished such a wish under her pensive silence;\nbut so much opposition led us to look at the project, and we did not find\nit so bad as might have been expected. Besides, no one with a particle of\nspirit likes to be scouted and talked down; and all of us had spirit\nenough to feel a little vexed at the storm of opposition we had brought\nabout our ears\u2014all except Mr. Varney. He was too indolent to resent\nanything.\n\n\u201cI do not believe that there is the least necessity for having a fever in\nRome,\u201d said Isabel. (It was nearly always Isabel who spoke.) \u201cOne has but\nto select a cool apartment and use a little prudence. If we were to do as\nI have seen people do here\u2014go from the oven to the refrigerator\u2014we should\nknow what to expect. To walk in a sunny street till you are in a\nperspiration, then sit on a shady stone to cool off, is not only inviting\na fever, but sending a _gendarme_ to fetch it. As for heat, New York is\nten times hotter; and I once passed a whole summer in New York, and was\nquite comfortable; wasn\u2019t I, papa? Then, how any one can say that we shall\nhave no one to speak to I cannot imagine. Here are four of us; and I take\nperfect delight in talking to myself. The most interesting conversations I\never had in my life were with Miss Isabel Varney.\u201d\n\n\u201cBesides,\u201d said a clear voice from the window, \u201cwhat we came to Rome to\nsee doesn\u2019t go away in the summer.\u201d\n\nWe all looked at Bianca, who had turned her head toward us to speak, and\nwas gazing out the window again, the lace curtain wrapped about her like a\nbridal veil, and the _persienne_ half closed to shield her from the many\neyes in the piazza.\n\n\u201cMay I ask what you came to see?\u201d inquired a visitor, who always tried to\nmake this silent one talk.\n\nShe only half turned to answer.\n\n\u201cThe Holy Father; the shrines and homes of the saints; all the holy, and\nall the beautiful, and all the famous places here; and the skies that are\nabove them. And, again, the Holy Father. He is the Christian Prometheus,\nbound to the Vatican as to a rock, and we are a little chorus of American\nOceanides who are come to bewail him, and who have no mind to go away for\npleasure.\u201d\n\n\u201cBrava!\u201d said papa.\n\n\u201cAnd as for the \u2018proper thing,\u2019 \u201d said another member of the family, \u201cwe\nhave bored ourselves to death all winter trying to do that.\u201d\n\n\u201cBesides,\u201d struck in Isabel, with a bright thought, \u201cwe want to learn the\nlanguage; and that we never could do going about from place to place. Here\nwe can sit down quietly, and study the four or five hundred irregular\nverbs at our leisure, and settle the genders of things, and learn to\npronounce properly all their undulating and circuitous strings of vowels\nand the little curly tails to their ridiculous words.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t include me in your class, if you please,\u201d Mr. Varney said. \u201cI would\nas soon shave off my hair and wear a wig as drop my own language and speak\nanother. I shall speak English when I say anything; and if people do not\nunderstand me, it will not be my fault. We can always find interpreters;\nand I do not approve of\u2014of\u2014er\u2014of deserting your own tongue for another,\u201d\nhe concluded rather weakly, not having measured his strength before\ncommencing this speech.\n\nThe truth was that he never did approve of anything which cost him the\nleast effort; but we listened as gravely as if we believed him to be\nactuated by the most heroic patriotism.\n\n\u201cYou are quite right, papa,\u201d Isabel said emphatically. \u201cStill, since\ninterpreters may not always be honest, you know, it is better that some of\nus should understand and be able to protect the family.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will not find the verbs so difficult as you may imagine,\u201d remarked an\nItalian. \u201cThe irregularities are chiefly in the preterite. Preterites are\nalways ragged. They are never a part of the original language, I think,\nbut were interpolated when it was discovered that a nicer expression of\nthought was needed; and then the grammarians had to accommodate themselves\nto circumstances, and use what was left. You will take pleasure in\nlearning so musical a language, Miss Isabel.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I think English quite as musical as Italian,\u201d replied the young woman\nwith composure.\n\n\u201cWhen you speak it, _signorina_,\u201d said the Italian, after a momentary\npause of astonishment.\n\n\u201cI find the phrases and words I learned in music very useful,\u201d she\ncontinued. \u201cThe other day I said \u2018_allegro, ma non troppo_,\u2019 to the\ncoachman, and he drove perfectly. That is on millions of pieces of music,\nyou know, papa. It quite pleased me to talk to a coachman as if he were a\nfugue. And when I said \u2018_andante_,\u2019 he actually put down the brake.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you know we were going down\u2010hill then, Bella,\u201d remarked her sister.\n\n\u201cI can make the servants understand perfectly well,\u201d continued Isabel.\n\u201cBut in churches and galleries, and catacombs, and such places, the people\nare very stupid.\u201d\n\nThis is the way in which Miss Isabel Varney made the servants understand\nperfectly:\n\n\u201cAngelina,\u201d she would say to the _donna_, in English, \u201cI want you to black\nmy thick walking\u2010boots. The dust has made them look dingy. But first bring\nme another pitcher of water. It is strange that in a city that would be a\nlake if all its aqueducts were to burst at once one cannot get more than a\nquart of water at a time. Make haste, now, for I wish to go out\nimmediately.\u201d\n\nAngelina stood immovable, a picture of distressful doubt. The time had\ngone past when she would have ventured to remind her mistress that English\nhad not been included in her education.\n\n\u201cOh! to be sure,\u201d says Isabel. \u201cWhat a bother it is when one is in a\nhurry! What is the Italian for water, Bianca? _Acqua?_ Well, Angelina,\nbring me some _acqua_.\u201d\n\nThe _donna_ began to lift her apron toward her eyes.\n\n\u201c_Apportez moi_ some _acqua!_\u201d said her mistress distinctly and\nauthoritatively.\n\nThe _donna_ shrank back. \u201cSignorina mia,\u201d she began pitifully.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t talk!\u201d cried the young lady. \u201cWhat is the use of your talking to me\nwhen I cannot understand a word you say? It is too absurd. Besides, it is\nthe servant\u2019s place to obey without speaking. Bianca, do look in the\ndictionary for the Italian for wish or will, the strongest word you can\nget; then in the grammar for the first person, singular, indicative of\nit\u2014or, no, the imperative. And be quick, or I never shall get out.\n_Voglio?_ Angelina, I _voglio_ a pitcher of _acqua_\u2014what is the word for\nquickly? _Vitement?_ No. That isn\u2019t Italian. It must be _vita_. That is an\nItalian word, I know, and it sounds as if it meant quickly. Angelina, I\n_voglio acqua vita_.\u201d\n\n\u201c_Si, si, signorina!_\u201d exclaimed the poor little _donna_, and ran off,\nglad to get out of the room.\n\n\u201cAnd, after all, she hasn\u2019t taken the pitcher,\u201d said Isabel. \u201cBut may be\nshe will bring a pailful. She knew quite well that I was finding fault\nbecause we have so little. They understand what we say, I\u2019m sure they do.\nTheir ignorance is all a pretence.\u201d\n\nFive minutes passed, and ten minutes; and when the young lady had\nexhausted herself in impatient exclamations, Angelina entered the chamber,\nall out of breath, but smiling in confident triumph, and placed in her\nhand a bottle on which was an apothecary\u2019s label with _acquavite_ neatly\ninscribed on it.\n\nThere was a _bersagliere_ passing the house at that moment; and I have\nalways thought I would like to know if he ever suspected that the hand of\na _papalina_ flung that bottle which alighted safely on the great tuft of\nflying feathers in his hat. I am sure that if the bottle had contained\nanything but _acquavite_, the military would have been called out.\n\nThis feat accomplished, Miss Isabel seized the empty water\u2010pitcher, and\nthrust it into the hands of the frightened girl with one word, \u201c_Acqua!_\u201d\nuttered in a tone which proved her to have tragical abilities.\n\nAngelina returned in a trice with the water, and found her mistress\nstanding in the middle of the room, with a stern countenance, and a\ndictionary in her hand.\n\n\u201cNow, _nero_ my _guadagno_.\u201d\n\nThe girl lifted her eyes to the ceiling.\n\n\u201c_Profitto_, I mean,\u201d was the hasty correction.\n\nTears rolled down Angelina\u2019s cheeks.\n\n\u201cIt couldn\u2019t be that boot is _stivale!_\u201d said the young woman in a low\ntone to a third person in the room. \u201cThat sounds as if it meant something\nthree\u2010cornered.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou might try,\u201d was the suggestion.\n\n\u201c_Stivale?_\u201d demanded the young woman of the _donna_.\n\n\u201c_Si, signorina_,\u201d said the girl eagerly, glancing at the articles in\nquestion.\n\n\u201cWell, _nero_ my _stivale_,\u201d ordered the mistress haughtily.\n\n\u201c_O Dio mio!_\u201d sobbed Angelina.\n\nIsabel lost all patience and dignity. She flew at the boots and caught\nthem in one hand, flew at the toilet\u2010table and snatched her tooth\u2010brush in\nthe other, then, rushing at the terrified _donna_, performed before her\nface a furious pantomime of polishing her boots with the tooth\u2010brush.\n\n\u201c_Capisco!_\u201d cried Angelina joyfully.\n\n\u201cIt is worse than Robinson Crusoe with his man Friday,\u201d sighed Isabel,\nsinking, exhausted, into a chair. \u201cThese scenes are positively ruining my\ndisposition. You know, Bianca, I used to have a very good temper, and the\nservants at home were always fond of me. But here I am becoming a scold\nand a fury. We must get settled in another apartment, and have a teacher\nright away.\u201d\n\nA cool summer apartment was found near the Esquiline, a teacher engaged,\nand our parting friends went their several ways, taking doleful leave of\nus.\n\nAnd here it may not be amiss to make the reader better acquainted with the\nfamily who desire the pleasure of his acquaintance and company for a time.\n\nMr. Varney, the son of a Boston merchant, had, when he was young and\nventuresome, made a voyage to Spain in one of his father\u2019s ships. The ship\ncame back without him; but, after six months\u2019 absence, he returned,\nbringing with him a young Spanish wife, whom he had wooed and won during\nthat brief visit. She lived only ten years, pining ever for the sunny land\nof her birth, and dropped away finally before they had begun to fear that\nshe was dying, leaving two daughters, Bianca and Isabel.\n\nHer death quite uprooted her husband from his accustomed life, and gave\nhim a shock from which he never recovered. He had always promised, and had\nmeant, to take her back to Spain; but, between the calls of business and a\nhabit of procrastination, had put off the visit from year to year till it\nwas too late. Then the New England which had killed her became distasteful\nto him, and, after lingering a few years to settle up his business, he\nwent abroad for an indefinite time, taking his daughters with him. He\nseemed to fancy that by this tardy journey he was proving to his wife his\nregret and the sincerity of his promises.\n\nThey avoided Spain, however, unwilling to hasten at once to that land\nwhich she had longed in vain to see. There was even an idea of self\u2010exile\nand punishment in going so near without touching its beautiful shores.\nThey visited England and France, then came directly to Rome.\n\n\u201cI do not believe that we shall ever go away from Italy for any length of\ntime,\u201d Bianca said. \u201cIt is the true land of the lotos, and we have eaten\nof the charmed plant.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould you like to live here always?\u201d her father asked, looking earnestly\nat her.\n\nThere was a certain pensive melancholy in her face and attitude which\nconstantly drew his anxious regards.\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d she answered slowly.\n\n\u201cI think Bianca is changed from what she used to be,\u201d he said afterward to\none of the family. \u201cIt seems to me that I remember her gay and bright,\nlike Isabel; but she has grown quiet and gentle, little by little, and so\ngradually that I do not know when the change began.\u201d\n\nThe person whom he addressed tried to give him the comfort and reassurance\nwhich his anxiety evidently pleaded for. She pointed out that one had but\nto look at the two girls to see at once the difference in their\ntemperaments; that Isabel\u2019s shorter and more compact form proved a\nstronger and more aggressive vitality than her sister\u2019s willowy\nslenderness was capable of; that the very shape of their faces\u2014a delicate\noval in the one and a full oval in the other\u2014was another proof of\ndifference; and that, moreover, Bianca, being the elder, had been of an\nage to be impressed by her mother\u2019s death, while Isabel was still too\nyoung.\n\n\u201cAnd I find yet another reason,\u201d the comforter continued, turning mentor.\n\u201cYour frequently\u2010expressed regret for your wife, and the habit you have of\nreferring to her love for Spain and her home\u2010sickness, cannot fail to\nsadden so sensitive a heart as Bianca\u2019s, while Isabel thinks that it is\nmerely a \u2018way you have got into,\u2019 as she would express it.\u201d\n\nIt was, perhaps, rather a severe speech; but when a person contracts a\nhabit of making a mournful luxury of his troubles, and of perpetually\nsetting up his mourning standard beside the red, white, and blue of those\nwho at least try to be cheerful, it does no harm to let him know that the\neffect is not enlivening.\n\nWell, we were settled in our summer quarters, and had just finished our\nfirst dinner there, when the historian of the party made a prudent\nsuggestion.\n\n\u201cSince we are beginning a new life with new people, I think that we should\nhave a clear understanding about everything, so as to save trouble at the\nend,\u201d she said.\n\nHer ears were still ringing with the din of battle which had accompanied\ntheir exit from their former home\u2014the loud voice of the _padrona_\ndemanding payment for broken chairs and tables that had dropped in pieces\nthe first time they were touched; the vociferous porter, who insisted on\nhaving money because he had snatched Isabel\u2019s reticule from her hand, in\nspite of her, and carried it a dozen steps; the small but very shrill boy,\nwhom they had no recollection of ever having seen before, and who wanted\nto be paid for they knew not what; the hysterical _donna_, who expected\nthat her heart, lacerated because her services had not been re\u2010engaged,\nwould be soothed by the gift of a few extra _lire_; and a half\u2010dozen\nbeggars crying for \u201c_qualche cosa_.\u201d\n\nAnd so \u201cit might be as well to have everything arranged at the beginning,\u201d\nremarked this prudent person.\n\n\u201cI settled about the furniture before you came in to dinner,\u201d Isabel said.\n\u201cI had the whole family up, and before their eyes, with papa as witness, I\nshook and leaned on every table and cabinet, and sat down in every chair\nas hard as I could. Two chairs dropped, and are taken out for repair,\nwhich will cost us nothing. And I have ordered out all the paper bouquets\nwith tall glass cases over them, and all the ornamental cups and saucers.\nBut I think we may as well tell them that if they send begging people up\nto us, we will deduct what we give from the rent. Papa says he has made a\ncareful reckoning, and finds that if we give a _soldo_ to each ragged\nbeggar in the street, and half a _lira_ to each well\u2010dressed beggar who\ncomes up, we shall be ourselves reduced to beggary in six months.\u201d\n\nBianca turned round on the piano\u2010stool, her face full of expostulation.\n\u201cOh! but those dear Capuchins!\u201d she exclaimed.\n\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t likely that I meant to refuse a Capuchin,\u201d answered Isabel\nindignantly. \u201cThey are an exception; and so are all religious. No one can\nsay that religion costs them much in Italy. I am ashamed to give so little\nand receive so much.\u201d\n\n\u201cHaving an understanding at the beginning will make no sort of difference\nat the end,\u201d Mr. Varney said. \u201cEvery stranger here expects to have a fight\nwith the family he is leaving. It is a part of the play which cannot be\nleft out by particular request, like the Prince of Denmark out of\n_Hamlet_. Let us put off explanations till they are forced on us. I would\nlike, though, to say a word or two to Giuseppe about the table.\u201d\n\nGiuseppe was a new servant, whom we considered ourselves very fortunate in\nengaging, as he not only spoke English, but had lived in England several\nmonths, and might therefore be supposed to know something of Anglo\u2010Saxon\nways. He came in immediately.\n\n\u201cThere are two or three directions which I wish to give once for all,\nGiuseppe,\u201d Mr. Varney said in his slow, languid way. \u201cI hope you will\nremember them, for I do not like to repeat orders.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, sir!\u201d said Giuseppe, with a stiffness of bow and attitude oddly in\ncontrast with his sparkling Italian face.\n\n\u201cIn the first place,\u201d resumed his master, \u201cwhen I say that I want\nbreakfast, or dinner, or the carriage at a certain hour, I mean that time\nprecisely, and not an hour or a half\u2010hour later, nor even five minutes\nlater.\u201d\n\nA second bow and \u201cYes, sir!\u201d worthy of May Fair.\n\nMr. Varney went on argumentatively, bringing his fingers into play:\n\u201cSecondly, I want my wine brought in with the seals unbroken. If I find a\nsingle bottle of the wine I have put up opened, I will\u201d\u2014he paused for a\nsuitable threat.\n\n\u201cBreak the bottle over your head,\u201d struck in Isabel. \u201cRemember, papa, all\nthe watered wine we have paid for, and don\u2019t be too mild. Remember the\nhorrible stuff for which we paid three times the market price all last\nwinter. Don\u2019t be too mild. You may depend upon it, Giuseppe, we shall not\npermit of any tampering with wine, or fruit, or candles, or anything. We\nhave had too much of that.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, miss!\u201d says Giuseppe.\n\n\u201cI hate to be called \u2018miss,\u2019 \u201d remarked the young lady. \u201cCall me\n_signorina_. Of all titles I think miss the most disagreeable. And Mrs.\nand Mr. are not much better. The Italian language has that one advantage,\nI will own.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe careful about the fruit you give us,\u201d Mr. Varney went on. \u201cWe want\nripe fruit. The figs to\u2010day were not quite perfect. Figs,\u201d said Mr. Varney\nwith solemn deliberation\u2014\u201cfigs should be just right, or they are good for\nnothing. When they are just right, there is nothing better, and you can\ngive them to us three times a day. They must be ripe, but not too ripe;\nfine\u2010grained, but not salvy; cool, crisp, intensely sweet, and on the\npoint of bursting open, but not quite broken.\u201d\n\nGiuseppe forgot his English training long enough to inquire, \u201cHadn\u2019t you\nbetter speak to the trees about it, sir?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will do,\u201d Mr. Varney concluded with dignity. \u201cI have no more to say\nnow. You can go.\u201d\n\nThe setting sun, shining on the new walls opposite, was reflected into our\ndrawing\u2010room, lighting it beautifully, touching Mr. Varney\u2019s gray hair and\npleasant face, as he sat in a huge, yellow arm\u2010chair by the window and\ndiving into Isabel\u2019s bright eyes, as she leaned on his shoulder, and\nlooked over with him the _Diario Romano_, trying to make out the holy\u2010\ndays.\n\n\u201cHere is the anniversary of the coronation of Pius IX.,\u201d she said. \u201cI\nwonder if we shall be arrested if we wear yellow roses in our hats,\nBianca?\u201d\n\nMr. Varney pored awhile over the book in his hand, and presently asked,\nwith a general inquiring glance about the room, \u201cDoes anybody know what\ntime of day or night twenty\u2010three o\u2019clock is? Here is a function announced\nto begin at twenty\u2010three o\u2019clock. Do people go to church at that hour? I\nshould think it would be very late at night.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt might be some time the next day,\u201d suggested a member of the family.\n\nThe gentleman arranged his glasses, and looked puzzled. \u201cThen, when a\nfunction is announced for twenty\u2010three o\u2019clock on Wednesday, it takes\nplace at some hour on Thursday,\u201d he said.\n\nNo one ventured either to acquiesce or to dissent, and it was concluded to\nput this difficulty on the list of questions we were making out for our\nItalian teacher to answer the next morning.\n\n\u201cHe will be such a convenience to us!\u201d Isabel said. \u201cPeople assure me that\nhe knows everything, and is never at loss for an answer.\u201d\n\nMr. Varney took a pinch of snuff. He had always shown an inclination\ntoward that indulgence, but had not dared to yield to it in America. Now,\nhowever, with such eminent examples constantly before his eyes, he could\ncarry his snuff\u2010box, not only with impunity, but with a kind of pride.\n\n\u201cHave you reflected, my daughter,\u201d he asked, \u201cthat your Italian teacher\nknows not a word of English, and that, since you cannot very well fly at\nhim, as you could at Angelina, and extract his meaning at the sword\u2019s\npoint, his explanations, however excellent they may be, are not likely to\nprofit you much for some time to come?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! we will make out some way,\u201d she replied carelessly. \u201cOne can always\nunderstand a clever person. Besides, if worse comes to worse, I don\u2019t know\nwhy I shouldn\u2019t fly at him, if necessary. He will be paid for his time;\nand one can always scold a person whom one pays.\u201d\n\nThe last sun\u2010ray faded away, and the golden globe of the new moon shone\nout over Santa Maria Maggiore, shining so low and full in the transparent\nsky that one almost feared it might strike the tower or domes of that\ndearest of churches in passing, and break itself like a bubble.\n\nWe were silent a little while, then Mr. Varney said, \u201cSing us that song\nyou are humming, my darling.\u201d\n\nWhen he said \u201cmy darling,\u201d he always meant Bianca.\n\nShe made a motion to put away the music\u2010sheet before her, and take\nanother, but replaced it; and presently we heard her low voice, which half\nsang, half spoke, the words:\n\n\n \u201cFriend, the way is steep and lonely,\n Thickly grows the rue;\n All around are shadows only:\n May I walk with you?\n\n \u201cNot too near; for, oh! your going\n Is upon the heights,\n Where the airs of heaven are blowing\n Through the morning lights.\n\n \u201cDare I brush the dews that glisten\n All about your feet?\n Can I listen where you listen?\n Meet the sights you meet?\n\n \u201cNot too far\u2014I faint at missing\n You from out my way.\n Vain is then the glory kissing\n All the peaks of day;\n\n \u201cVain are all the laughing showers\n Leading in the spring;\n All the summer green and flowers,\n All the birds that sing.\n\n \u201cAt your side my way is clearest:\n Tell me I may stay!\n Not too near\u2014and yet, my dearest,\n Not too far away!\u201d\n\n\n\u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d asked Mr. Varney. \u201cIt seems to me very obscure.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! a song isn\u2019t expected to mean anything but melody,\u201d somebody answered\nrather hastily. \u201cAll that is required of the lines is that they should be\nof the proper length. Sing the other, Bianca\u2014the one I looked over to\u2010\nday.\u201d\n\nThe speaker knew that nothing suited Mr. Varney so well as a genuine love\u2010\nsong.\n\nBianca sang\n\n\n \u201cO roses dewy, roses red and sweet!\n Tinting with your hues the summer air,\n Give my cheeks your blushes, give my mouth your breathing,\n Add such rounded beauty as is meet,\n Wrap me in the graces all your tendrils wreathing;\n For he loves me, and I would be fair.\n\n \u201cO sunshine, playing with the swinging vine,\n Sift your gold through all my dusky hair,\n Gild each braid and ringlet with a softened glimmer,\n Hint the crown his love has rendered mine.\n Than the brightest eyes, oh! let not mine be dimmer;\n For he loves me, and I would be fair.\n\n \u201cO lilies! in a drift of scented snow,\n Willing all your sweetness to immure\n In a leafy cloister, waves alone caressing,\n Give my soul your whiteness ere ye go,\n That its stainless beauty be to him a blessing;\n For he loves me, and I would be pure.\n\n \u201cO faithful stars! I pray ye, touch me so\n With the virtue given unto you\n That I fail him never, living, nor yet dying,\n Howsoe\u2019er the days may come and go,\n With a steadfast tenderness his life supplying;\n For he loves me, and I would be true.\u201d\n\n\nThe first stroke of the _Ave Maria_ broke off the last chord of the song,\nand there was silence in the room till the bells had sung their evening\nchorus.\n\n\n\n\nMatter. VI.\n\n\n_Constitution of bodies._\u2014We have hitherto explained and vindicated those\nfacts and principles which experience and reason point out to us as the\ntrue foundations of a sound philosophical theory of matter. We are now\nprepared to examine the much\u2010vexed question of the constitution of bodies;\nnor are we deterred from our undertaking by the very common belief that\nthe essence of matter is, and will ever be, an impenetrable mystery; for\nalthough the different schools of philosophy have long disputed about the\nsubject without being able to agree in their conclusions, we are confident\nthat these very conclusions, every one of which contains a portion of\ntruth, will afford us the means of reaching the true and complete solution\nof the question.\n\nThe opinions at present entertained by philosophers about the constitution\nof matter may be reduced to the three following:\n\nSome affirm that the first constituents of natural bodies are the _first\nmatter_ and the _substantial form_, as explained by Aristotle and by his\nfollowers. This view, which reigned supreme for centuries, we shall call\nthe _scholastic_ solution of the question.\n\nOthers affirm, on the contrary, that the first constituents of bodies are\n_simple elements_, or points of matter, acting on each other from a\ncertain distance, and thus forming dynamical systems of different natures\naccording to their number, powers, and geometrical arrangement. This\nsecond view, which, after Boscovich, found a great number of advocates, we\nshall call the _dynamic_ solution of the question.\n\nFinally, others affirm that the first constituents of bodies are\n_molecules_, or _chemical atoms_. This view, based entirely on chemical\nconsiderations, originated with Dalton, of Manchester, early in the\npresent century, and it was very favorably received by all men of science\nas the true interpretation of chemical facts. This third view we shall\ncall the _atomic_ solution of the question.\n\nThe investigation of the grounds on which these three solutions are\nsupported will soon convince us that none of them can be entirely\nrejected, as each of them has some foundation in truth. To begin with the\nscholastic solution, all true philosophers know that God alone is a _pure\nact_; whence it follows that all creatures essentially consist of _act_\nand _potency_. This act and this potency, when there is question of\nmaterial things, are called _the substantial form_ and _the matter_. It is\ntherefore an evident truth that material substance is essentially\nconstituted of matter and substantial form. Against this doctrine nothing\ncan be objected by the advocates of the dynamic or of the atomic solution.\n\nOn the other hand, the doctrine which teaches that bodies are made up of\nchemical atoms, or molecules, which have a definite nature and combine in\ndefinite numbers, is very satisfactorily established by experimental\nscience; and nothing can be objected against it by speculative\nphilosophers. But, to prevent misconceptions, we must observe that this\ntheory does not consider the chemical atoms as absolutely indivisible, or\nas absolutely primitive, or as so many pieces of continuous matter. The\nword \u201catom\u201d in chemistry signifies the least possible quantity of any\nnatural substance known to us. Atoms are chemical equivalents. Their\nchemical indivisibility, on account of which they are called \u201catoms,\u201d is a\nfact of experience; but they are absolutely divisible, owing to their\nphysical composition; for we know by the balance that atoms of different\nsubstances contain different quantities of matter; and their vibrations,\nchange of size, and variations of chemical activity with the variation of\ncircumstances, unmistakably show that their mass is a sum of units\nsubstantially independent of one another, though naturally connected\ntogether by mutual actions in one dynamical system. Their matter is\ntherefore discrete, not continuous.\n\nAs to the doctrine of simple and unextended elements, we have no need of\nsaying anything in particular in this place, as such a doctrine is a\nsimple corollary of the thesis concerning the impossibility of continuous\nmatter, which we have fully developed in our last article.\n\nFrom these remarks it will be seen that to the question, _What are the\nprimitive constituents of bodies?_ three answers may be given, and each of\nthem true, if properly interpreted, as we shall presently explain. Thus it\nis true, in a strictly metaphysical sense, that the primitive constituents\nof bodies are the matter and the substantial form; it is true again, in a\ncertain other sense, that the primitive constituents of bodies are\nchemical atoms; and it is true also, in a still different sense, that the\nprimitive constituents of bodies are simple and unextended elements. Hence\nthe scholastic solution does not necessarily clash with the atomic, nor\ndoes this latter exclude the dynamic, but all three may stand together in\nperfect harmony, or rather they are required by the very nature of the\nquestion, in the same manner as three solutions are required by the nature\nof a problem whose conditions give rise to an equation of the third\ndegree. The duty, therefore, of a philosopher, when he has to handle this\nsubject, is not to resort to one of the three solutions in order to attack\nthe others, as it is the fashion to do, but to investigate how the three\ncan be reconciled, and how truth in its fulness can be attained to by\ntheir conjunction.\n\nThis may appear difficult to those whose philosophical bias in favor of a\nlong\u2010cherished opinion prevents them from looking at things in more than\none manner; but those whose mind is free from prejudice and exclusiveness\nwill readily acknowledge that whilst the atomists determine the\nconstituents of bodies by _chemical_ analysis, the dynamists, on the\ncontrary, determine those constituents by _mechanical_ analysis, and the\nscholastics by _metaphysical_ analysis. Now, these analyses do not exclude\none another; they rather prepare the way to one another. Hence their\nresults cannot exclude one another, but rather lead to one another, and\ngive by their union a fuller expression of truth.\n\nIf we ask of an atomist, \u201cWhat are the primitive constituents of a mass of\ngold?\u201d he will answer that they are _the atoms_, or the molecules, _of\ngold_, as chemistry teaches him. This answer is very good, as it points\nout the first _specific_ principles of the compound body; for we cannot go\nfurther and resolve the molecule without destroying the specific nature of\ngold. For this reason the atomist, when he has reached the atoms of gold,\nstops there, and declares that the _analysis cannot go further_. He\nevidently refers to the _chemical_ analysis.\n\nIf now we ask a dynamist, \u201cWhat are the primitive constituents of a mass\nof gold?\u201d he will answer that they are _the simple elements_ of which the\nmolecules of gold are made up. This answer, too, is very good, as it\npoints out the first _physical_ principles of the compound body; for we\ncannot go further and resolve the simple element without destroying the\nphysical being. For this reason the dynamist, when he has reached the\nsimple elements, stops there, and declares that _the analysis can go no\nfurther_. Of course he means the _physical_ analysis.\n\nLet us now ask of a schoolman, \u201cWhat are the primitive constituents of a\nmass of gold.\u201d He will answer that they are the _substantial form_ and\n_the matter_, as the last terms obtained by the metaphysical analysis of\nsubstance. This last answer also is very good, as it points out the first\n_metaphysical_ principles of substance. It should, however, be borne in\nmind that this answer does not apply to the mass of the body as such, nor\nto its molecules, but only to each primitive element contained in the mass\nand in the molecules of the body, as we shall fully explain in another\nplace. When he has reached the substantial form and the matter, the\nschoolman stops there, and declares that _the analysis can go no further_.\nHe means the _metaphysical_ analysis, which resolves the physical being\ninto metaphysical realities incapable of further resolution.\n\nIt is manifest that these three answers, however different, do not clash\nwith one another. Accordingly, the atomist, the dynamist, and the\nschoolman may all agree in teaching truth, while they give different\nanswers. The fact is, they do not look at the question from the same point\nof view, and, rigorously speaking, they solve different questions.\n\nThe first answers the question, What are the first _specific_ principles\nof gold or the first golden particles; and he affirms that they are the\n_molecules_ or _atoms_ of gold.\n\nThe second answers the question, What are the first _physical_ principles\nof such golden particles? and he affirms that they are _unextended\nelements_ or _primitive substances_.\n\nThe third answers the question, What are the first _metaphysical_\nprinciples of those primitive substances? and he affirms that they are\n_the matter_ and _the substantial form_.\n\nThis being the case, it may be asked how it came to pass that the atomic,\nthe dynamic, and the scholastic solutions have hitherto been considered as\nirreconcilable. We reply that the three solutions would never have been\nheld irreconcilable, if their advocates had kept within reasonable limits\nin the expression of their views. But as philosophers, like other people,\nare often exclusive, narrow\u2010minded, and ready to oppose whatever comes\nfrom a school which is not their own, it frequently happens that they are\ntoo easily satisfied with a partial possession of truth, and disdain the\nviews of others who regard truth under a different aspect. By such a\ncourse, instead of promoting, they hinder, the advance of philosophical\nknowledge; and while fighting under the banner of a special school, which\nthey mistake for the banner of truth, they allow themselves to be carried\naway by a spirit of contention, the unyielding character of which is the\ngreatest impediment in the way of philosophical progress. The constitution\nof bodies is one of the subjects which, unfortunately, have been and are\nstill handled by different schools with remarkable unfairness to one\nanother. The atomist fights against the dynamist, and both despise the\nfollower of the schoolman; whilst the schoolman from the stronghold of his\nmetaphysical castle looks superciliously on both, confident that he will\neventually drive them out of the field of philosophy. This attitude of one\nschool towards another is not worthy of men who profess to love truth. If\nthe atomistic philosopher cannot go beyond the chemical analysis, we will\nallow him to stop there, on condition, however, that he shall not claim a\nright to prevent others, who may know better, from proceeding to further\ninvestigations beyond the boundaries of chemistry. In like manner, if the\ndynamist cannot rise to the consideration of the metaphysical principles\nof substance, let him be satisfied with the consideration of the primitive\nelements of matter, and dispense with further inquiries; but let him not\ninterfere with the work of the metaphysician, whose method and principles\nhe does not understand. As to the metaphysician himself, we would warn him\nthat, however deeply conversant he may be with the _general truths_\nconcerning the essential constituents of things, he is nevertheless in\ndanger of erring in their application to particular cases, unless he tests\nhis conclusions by the principles of chemical, mechanical, and physical\nscience; for it is from these sciences that we learn the true nature of\nthe facts and laws of the material world; and all metaphysical\ninvestigation about the constitution of bodies must prove a failure, if it\nlacks the foundation of real facts and their correct interpretation.\n\nIt is obvious, after all, that truth cannot fight against truth; and since\nwe have shown that each of the three solutions above given contains a\nportion of truth, we cannot reject any of them absolutely, but we must\ndiscard that only which troubles their harmony, and retain that through\nwhich they complete and confirm one another.\n\nWe therefore admit the substantial points of the three systems on the\nconstitution of bodies, and recognize the general principles on which they\nare established. The analysis of bodies carried on through all its degrees\nleads to the following results:\n\nFirst, by analyzing _the body_ chemically, we find the _atoms_, or\nmolecules, endowed with a determinate mass and with specific powers,\ncorresponding to the specific nature of the body. Such atoms are not\nabsolutely indivisible, though chemistry, as yet, cannot decompose them:\nhence atoms are further analyzable.\n\nSecondly, by analyzing _the atom_, or the molecule, we discover its\ncomponents, or primitive parts, called _primitive elements_, and primitive\nsubstances, which are physically simple and unextended, and concur in\ndefinite numbers to the constitution of definite molecular masses.\n\nFinally, by analyzing _the simple element_ or the primitive substance,\nwhich can no longer be resolved into physical parts, we find that such an\nelement consists of _act_ and _potency_, or, as we more frequently express\nourselves, of _form_ and _matter_, neither of which can exist separately,\nas the first physical being which exists in nature is the substance\narising from their conspiration. Accordingly the form and the matter of\nwhich the simple element consists are not physical, but only metaphysical,\nprinciples, and they constitute a metaphysical, not a physical, compound.\n\nThese three conclusions are scientifically and philosophically certain;\nand while they afford a sound basis to our reasonings on material objects,\nthey reconcile modern physics with the principles of old metaphysics. We\nsay _with the principles_, not _with the conclusions_; for we must own\nthat the old metaphysicians, owing to their insufficient knowledge of the\nlaws of nature, not unfrequently failed in the application of their\nprinciples to the interpretation of natural facts. Thus the chemical, the\ndynamical, and the scholastic views of the constitution of bodies cease to\nbe antagonistic, and each of the three schools is awarded all it can claim\nconsistently with the rights of truth.\n\nAs we intend to speak hereafter more in detail of the constitution of\nbodies, we shall content ourselves at present with these general remarks\non the subject. It is manifest from what precedes that bodies and\nmolecules arise from simple elements, and are substances, not on account\nof their bodily or molecular composition, but merely because their\nprimitive physical components, the elements, are substances. Hence the\nquestion concerning the constitution of material substance, as such, does\nnot necessarily require any further research after the constitution of\nbodies, but may be directly settled by the consideration of the elements\nthemselves.\n\nWe have already seen that the primitive elements of matter are rigorously\nunextended; that each of them is endowed with _activity_, _passivity_, and\n_inertia_, and is thus fitted to produce, receive, and conserve local\nmovement; and that the elementary activity, whether attractive or\nrepulsive, is exercised in a sphere according to a permanent law. And\nsince the essential constitution of things must be gathered from their\nessential properties, it is of the utmost importance for us to ascertain\nwhether the principles of the material element may be fully determined by\nits known properties, or whether the element may possess occult properties\nwhich, if known, would modify our notion of its principles; for it is only\nafter an adequate knowledge of its principle of activity, of its principle\nof passivity, and of the relation of the one to the other, that we can\nsafely pronounce a judgment about the essence of a primitive being.\n\nWe may ask, therefore, in the first place: _Does a simple element possess\nany occult power besides its known power of attracting or repelling?_\n\nThis question must be answered in the negative. Occult powers and occult\nqualities have been admitted by the ancient philosophers, and are admitted\neven now, in _compound_ substances, not because any unknown power resides\nin the first elements of which they are made up, but because the manner of\ntheir composition, and consequently the manner of determining the\nresultant of their elementary actions, transcends our conception and\nbaffles our calculations. Thus the phenomena of chemical affinity,\ncohesion, capillarity, electricity, and magnetism depend on actions which\nscience cannot trace to their _primitive_ causes\u2014viz., to the simple\nelements\u2014but only to their proximate causes, which are complex, and, as\nsuch, follow different laws of causation corresponding to the different\nmodes of their constitution. Before we are able to trace such phenomena to\ntheir simple and primitive causes, it would be necessary to find out the\nintrinsic constitution of every molecule; the number, quality, and\narrangement of its constituent elements; the arrangement and distance of\nthe molecules in the body; and the mathematical formulas by which every\nmovement of each particle could be determined for every instant of time.\nAs this has not been done, and will never be done, the determination of\nthe causality of molecular phenomena remains, and will ever remain, an\ninsoluble problem, and the complex power from which any such phenomenon\nproceeds remains, and will ever remain, unknown so far as it is the result\nof an unknown composition, though we know, at least in general, the nature\nof the primitive powers from which it results. In other terms, there are\nno occult powers in matter, but only unknown resultants of known primitive\npowers.\n\nTo prove this, we observe that an occult power is to be admitted, then,\nonly when a phenomenon occurs which cannot proceed from powers already\nknown. This is evident; for, when phenomena can be accounted for by known\npowers, there is no ground for any inquiry about occult causes. In other\nwords, to look for occult causes without data or indications on which to\nground the induction, is to propose to one\u2019s self a problem without\nconditions; which no man in his senses would do. Now, no phenomenon has\nbeen observed anywhere in material things which cannot proceed from the\nknown powers of attraction and repulsion; nay, it is positively certain\nthat all phenomena proceed from the same powers. For each material point,\nwhen acted on, receives a determination to local movement, and nothing\nelse; and therefore the effect of the action of matter upon matter is\nnothing but local movement, one element approaching to or retiring from\nthe other. Now, this is precisely what attractive and repulsive powers are\ncompetent to do. Hence it is that in all the works of science and natural\nphilosophy the causality of phenomena of every kind is uniformly traced to\nmere attractions and repulsions.\n\nAgain, if any occult power, besides that of attracting or repelling, be\nassumed to reside in a primitive element of matter, such a power will\nremain idle for ever, inasmuch as it will never be applicable to the\nproduction of natural phenomena. On the other hand, it is obvious that a\npower destined to remain idle for ever is an absurdity. It is therefore\nabsurd to assume that there is in the elements of matter any occult power\nbesides that of attracting or repelling. In this argument the minor\nproposition is evident, because all active power is naturally destined to\nact; whilst the major proposition is evidently inferred from the fact that\nmatter has no passivity, except with regard to local motion, as is\nacknowledged by all philosophers, and as we shall presently show from\nintrinsic reasons. Whence it follows that, if there were in matter any\nhidden power not destined, as the attractive and the repulsive are, to\nproduce local movement, such a power would be absolutely useless, as\nabsolutely inapplicable to any other matter, and would remain in this\nabsurd condition for ever. We need not, therefore, trouble ourselves with\nthe absurd hypothesis of occult powers; and we conclude, accordingly, that\nthe principle of activity of a primitive element is merely attractive or\nrepulsive, as explained in one of our past articles.\n\nIt may be asked, in the second place: _Is the centre of a simple element\nto be identified with the principle of passivity of the element?_\n\nThis question must be answered in the affirmative. For the principle of\npassivity is that to which the action is terminated; but the action of any\none element of matter is terminated to the centre of any other element;\ntherefore the centre of any element is its principle of passivity. The\nminor proposition of this syllogism might be proved by metaphysical\nconsiderations(156); but we may prove it more clearly in the following\nmanner: Locomotive action implies direction, and no direction can be\nreally taken in space except from a real point to another real point. Now,\nthat by which any two elements, _A_ and _B_, mark out two distinct points\nin space, is the centre of their sphere of action. The direction of the\naction is therefore from the centre of _A_ to the centre of _B_, and _vice\nversa_\u2014that is, the action of the one is terminated to the centre of the\nother. And thus it is evident that each single element receives the action\nof every other element in its central point, which is, accordingly, the\npassive principle of the element. This conclusion may be expressed in this\nother manner: In a material element the matter (passive principle) is a\npoint from which the action of the element is directed towards other\npoints in space, and to which the actions of other material points in\nspace are directed.\n\nWe may remark, also, that material elements, whilst they are always ready\nto receive movement from extrinsic agents, cannot apply their own power to\nthemselves, because they are inert. This being the case, it obviously\nfollows that the action of an extrinsic agent on an element is terminated\nthere where the action of the element itself cannot be terminated. Now, a\nlittle reflection will show that the centre of the element is just the\npoint where the action of the element itself cannot be terminated. For as\nlocomotive action implies direction, and as no direction can be had from\nthe centre of activity to itself, but only from a point to a distinct\npoint, the action of the element upon its own centre is a metaphysical\nimpossibility. Whence we conclude that the principle of passivity, or that\nin which the primitive element is liable to receive a determination to\nlocal movement, is nothing else than the intrinsic term of its essence,\nthe centre from which it directs its action in a sphere, or, in other\nterms, the matter itself as contradistinguished from the substantial form.\n\nIn the third place, it may be asked: _Can it be proved that a material\nelement is susceptible of nothing but local movement?_\n\nWe answer: Yes. For we have shown that the passivity of the material\nelement resides in a mere mathematical point, which, having no bulk,\ncannot be liable to _intrinsic_ changes, and therefore is susceptible of\nsuch determinations only as will bring about a change of _extrinsic_\nrelations. It is hardly necessary to explain that such a change of\nextrinsic relations is always brought about by local movement; for such\nrelations either are distances or depend on distances; and distances\ncannot be modified except by local movement. It is thus manifest that\nmaterial elements are susceptible of nothing but local movement. Hence the\npassivity of matter is confined to the reception of local movement alone.\n\nFrom this well\u2010known truth we may again confirm our preceding solution of\nthe question concerning occult powers. For the activity and the passivity\nof a simple element essentially respond to one another in the same manner\nand with as strict a necessity as _giving_ and _receiving_, and since they\nspring from the principles of one and the same primitive essence, they\nmust belong to one and the same kind. If, then, there were in the material\nelements any occult power besides that which produces local movement,\nthere would be also a correspondent passivity not destined to receive\nlocal movement; for without this new passivity the occult power could not\nbe exercised. And since the passivity of matter is limited to the sole\nreception of local movement, none but locomotive power can be admitted to\nreside in matter.\n\n_Essence of material substance._\u2014We are now ready to answer with all\ndesirable precision and clearness the question, \u201cWhat is the essence of\nmaterial substance?\u201d\u2014a question not at all formidable, when the active and\nthe passive principle of matter have been properly defined and elucidated.\nOur answer is as follows:\n\nThe essence, or quiddity, of a thing is really nothing else than its\nnature; hence if we know the principles which constitute the nature of the\nmaterial element, we know in fact the essence of material substance. Now,\nthe principles which constitute any given created nature are _an act of a\ncertain kind_\u2014that is, a certain principle of activity; and _a\ncorresponding potency_\u2014that is, a corresponding principle of passivity.\nWhence we conclude that the principles of a material nature are _the act\nby which such a nature is determined to act in a sphere and to cause local\nmovement_, and _the potency on account of which the same nature is liable\nto receive local movement_. And since the said act is called \u201cthe\nsubstantial form,\u201d and the said potency \u201cthe matter,\u201d we conclude that the\nessence of material substance _consists of matter and substantial form_.\n\nThis conclusion is by no means new; it expresses, on the contrary, the\nuniversal doctrine of the ancient philosophers on the essence of material\nsubstance. But it must be observed that we limit this doctrine to the\nessence of primitive elements, which alone can be rigorously styled \u201cfirst\nsubstances,\u201d whilst the ancients, owing to their imperfect notions of\nnatural things, applied the same doctrine to compound substances, which\nthey believed to arise by substantial generation instead of material\ncomposition. Thus our conclusion is more guarded and less comprehensive\nthan that of the old metaphysicians. Moreover, the ancient philosophers,\nwho did not know the primitive elements, but assumed the continuity of\nmatter, could not picture to themselves the intellectual notions of matter\nand substantial form in a sensible manner, and certainly were unable to\nfind any _true_ sensible image of them; and for this reason their\nspeculations about the essence of material substance remained imperfect\nand their explanations obscure and unsatisfactory. We, on the contrary,\nthanks to the investigations and discoveries made in the last centuries,\nhave the advantage of knowing that all matter is subject to gravitation,\nand acts in a sphere according to a constant and very simple law, which\npresides over the molecular and chemical no less than the astronomical\nphenomena; and we are thus enabled to form a true and genuine conception\nof the matter and form of the primitive element, founded on ascertained\nfacts, and free from false or incongruous imaginations. Hence the words\n\u201cmatter\u201d and \u201cform,\u201d as employed by us, have such a clear and precise\nsense that no room is left for their misinterpretation.\n\nWe therefore know, and _clearly_ too, the essence of primitive material\nsubstance, whatever may be said to the contrary by some admirers of the\nold philosophy, who spurn the discoveries of modern physics, or by some\nmodern thinkers, who revile all metaphysical analysis as mere rubbish.\n\nThe essential definition of material substance, as such, is therefore the\nfollowing: _Material substance is a being fit to cause and receive merely\nlocal motion._ This definition is fuller than the one adopted by the\nancients, who defined matter to be \u201ca movable being\u201d\u2014_Ens mobile._ Of\ncourse, when they spoke of a \u201cmovable\u201d being, the ancients referred to\n\u201clocal\u201d movement; but, as there are movements of some other kinds, none of\nwhich can be produced or received by matter, we prefer to keep the epithet\n\u201clocal\u201d as prominent as possible in our definition, and we add the adverb\n\u201cmerely\u201d as a further limitation required by the nature of the subject.\nThe old definition mentions nothing but the mobility of matter. This is\nowing to the fact that the ancients had no notion of universal attraction,\nand considered the activity of material substance as dependent on\nmovement, according to their axiom: _Nihil movet nisi motum._ But as we\nknow, on the one hand, that the specific differences of things must be\nderived from their formal rather than from their material constitution,\nand, on the other, as the constituent form of the material element is an\nefficient principle of local motion, we include in the definition of\nmatter its aptitude both to produce and to receive local motion \u201cas the\n_complete_ specific difference\u201d which distinguishes material substance\nfrom any other being whatever.\n\nIt seems to us that our definition of matter wants neither clearness nor\nprecision. Indeed, we would be unable to make it clearer or more accurate;\nand as for its soundness, let our readers, who have hitherto followed our\nreasonings, judge for themselves.\n\nIn the opinion of most modern philosophers, the essence of matter consists\nof _extension_ and _resistance_. From what has preceded it is evident that\nthis opinion is utterly false. Extension is not a property of matter as\nsuch, but only of physical compounds containing a multitude of distinct\nmaterial points; and, even in this case, it is not the matter, but the\nvolume, or the place circumscribed by the extreme terms of the body, that\ncan be styled \u201cextended,\u201d as we have shown in our last article. As to\nresistance, it suffices to remark that no accidental act belongs to the\nessence of substance; hence resistance, which is an accidental act, cannot\nenter into the definition of matter. Some will say that, if not\nresistance, at least _the power of resisting_, belongs to the essence of\nmatter. But not even this is true. The material element has the power of\nattracting or of repelling; but such a power cannot be considered as\nformally _resisting_. Resistance is a particular case of repulsion, when\nthe agent by its repulsive exertion gradually lessens and exhausts the\nvelocity of an approaching mass of matter; but resistance may also be a\nparticular case of attraction, inasmuch as the agent by its attractive\nexertion gradually lessens and exhausts the velocity of a mass of matter\nreceding from it. Hence all material substance has a motive power, either\nattractive or repulsive; but neither of them can be described as a\nresisting power; for attractivity does not resist the movement of an\napproaching body, nor does repulsivity resist the movement of a receding\nbody. It is scarcely necessary to add that the notion of a resisting power\nessential to matter is a remnant of the old prejudice consisting in the\nbelief that, when two bodies come in contact, the matter of the one\nprecludes, by its materiality, bulk, and inertia, the further advance of\nthe other. Nothing is more common, with the followers of the ancient\ntheories, than the assumption that the matter of bodies _by its quantity\nand by its occupation of space_ resists the passage of any other matter.\nWe have shown elsewhere that resistance is action, and therefore is not\nowing to the inert matter standing in the way of the approaching body, but\nto the active power of which the inert matter is the centre.\n\nTo complete our elucidation of the essential definition of matter,\nsomething remains to be said about the inertia of material substance. We\nshall see that inertia is not a constituent, but only a result of the\nconstitution, of matter; whence it follows that no mention of inertia is\nneeded in the essential definition of material substance. In fact, the\nnotion of this substance includes nothing but the essential act and the\nessential term, that is, the principle of activity and the principle of\npassivity, both concerned with local motion only. To have a principle of\nactivity and a principle of passivity is in the nature of all created\nsubstances, and constitutes their _generic_ entity; hence the mention of\nthese two principles in our definition serves to point out the _genus_ of\nmaterial substance; whilst the intrinsic ordination of the same principles\nto _local_ motion serves to point out the essential _difference_ which\nseparates matter from any other substance.\n\n_Inertia._\u2014Many confound the inertia of matter with its passivity, and\nconsider inertia as one of the essential constituents of matter. It is not\ndifficult, however, to show that inertia and passivity are two distinct\nproperties. Those who reduce the principles of real being to an _act_ and\na _term_, without taking notice of its essential _complement_,(157) reduce\nin fact the intrinsic properties of real being to activity and passivity,\nthe one proceeding from the act, and the other from the potential term;\nand thus the inertia of matter, for which they cannot account by any\ndistinct principle, is considered by them as an attribute of matter\nidentical with, or at least involved in, its real passivity. The truth is\nthat, as the act and the potency, which constitute the essence of a\nmaterial being, are the formal source of its actuality, so also the\nactivity connatural to that act, and the passivity connatural to that\npotency, are the formal source of the inertia by which the same being is\ncharacterized. This will be easily understood by a glance at the nature of\ninertia.\n\nThat inertia is not passivity is clear enough; for passivity is the\npotentiality of receiving an impression from without, whereas inertia is\nthe incapability of receiving an impression from within; passivity is that\non account of which matter receives the determination to move, whereas\ninertia is that on account of which matter cannot change that\ndetermination, but is obliged to obey it, by moving with the received\nvelocity in the given direction. The determination to move is received\nonly while the agent acts, that is, as long as the passivity is being\nactuated, and no longer; whereas the movement itself, which follows such a\ndetermination, continues, owing to inertia, without need of continuing the\naction, so that, if all further action were to cease, the moving matter,\nowing to its inertia, would persevere in its movement for ever.\n\nMoreover, whence does the passivity and whence does the inertia of matter\nproceed? Matter is passive, because its substantial term, whose reality\nentirely depends on actuation, is still actuable or potential with regard\nto accidental acts. Passivity is therefore nothing but the further\nactuability of the substantial term; whilst, on the contrary, matter is\ninert, because its substantial act and its substantial term are so related\nto one another that the motive power possessed by the former can never\nterminate its action to the latter; for this is the only reason why a\nmaterial element cannot modify the determinations which it receives from\nwithout. Hence inertia is nothing but the result of the special relation\nintervening between the principle of activity and the principle of\npassivity in the constitution of material substance; or, in other terms,\ninertia is a corollary of the essential correlation of form and matter,\nand, therefore, is to be traced, not, as passivity, to the essential term\nof the substance, but to its essential complement. This shows that, in the\nphrase _matter is inert_, the word \u201cmatter\u201d stands for the material\nsubstance itself, and not for _the_ matter, or potential term, which is\nunder the substantial form, and whose character is passivity.\n\nThe question we have here discussed may seem of very little importance;\nyet we had to give its solution, not only because the confusion of\ndistinct notions is a source of difficulties and sophisms, but also\nbecause the given solution confirms the necessity of admitting the\nessential complement as the third principle of real being, and because in\nspiritual substances there is passivity, though not inertia; which shows\nhow indispensable is our duty of distinguishing between the two.\n\nFrom the preceding remarks we infer also that inertia belongs to the\nessence of material substance, not, however, as a constituent principle,\nbut only as something implied in the nature of its constituent principles.\nAs it is impossible to alter the nature of such principles without\ndestroying the essence of matter, so also it is impossible for matter to\ncease to be inert so long as its essence remains unchanged. In a word,\n_non\u2010inert matter_ is a metaphysical impossibility.\n\nLastly, we may add that inertia does not admit of degrees; and therefore\nall material elements are equally inert. In fact, when we say that matter\nis inert, we mean, as has been explained, that material substance is\nentirely and absolutely incapable of imparting motion to itself. Now,\nabsolute incapacity is perfect incapacity, and does not admit of degrees.\nHence we may find in different bodies more or less of inert matter, but\nnot more or less of inertia. This is true also of the passivity of matter;\nthat is, we may find in different bodies more or less of passive matter,\nbut not more or less of passivity; for passivity, as consisting in an\nabsolute liability to accidental actuation, cannot admit of degrees.\n\n_A few conclusions._\u2014It may be useful, and may prove satisfactory to our\nreaders, to cast a glance over the ground we have trodden and the results\nso far reached. The sum and substance of the doctrine which we have\nendeavored to establish is contained in the following propositions:\n\nI. Matter is not continuous, nor divisible _in infinitum_, nor has it any\nintrinsic quantity connected in any manner with its essential\nconstitution.\n\nII. All bodies are ultimately made up of primitive elements, physically\nsimple and unextended, which being reached, the physical division of\nbodies cannot go further.\n\nIII. The primordial molecules, or so\u2010called \u201catoms,\u201d of all substances are\nso many systems of simple elements dynamically bound with one another by\nmutual action.\n\nIV. The continuous extension, or geometric quantity, usually predicated of\nbodies, is the extension of the place comprised within the extreme limits\nof each body. It is, in other terms, the extension of the volume, not of\nthe matter. Nevertheless, such an extension may be called \u201cmaterial,\u201d not\nonly because the terms of its dimensions are material, but also because in\nmost bodies the elements and the molecules are so close that their action\non our senses produces the appearance of material continuity.\n\nV. The extension of bodies is real, though their material continuity is\nmerely apparent; hence only the volumes of bodies, and not their masses,\ncan be properly styled _extended_.\n\nVI. The true _absolute_ mass of a body is the number of primitive elements\nit contains.\n\nVII. The primitive elements are of two kinds, some of them always and\neverywhere attractive, others always and everywhere repulsive. The matter,\nhowever, is the same in both kinds, and bears the same relation to its\nform, whether this be of an attractive or of a repulsive nature.\n\nVIII. There are no other powers in the primitive elements than that of\nattracting and that of repelling.\n\nIX. All primitive elements have a sphere of activity, throughout which\nthey constantly act according to the Newtonian law\u2014that is, in the inverse\nratio of the squared distances, even when the distance is molecular; and\nno distance, however great, can be designated where the action of an\nelement will not have a finite intensity.\n\nX. The active power of primitive elements cannot be exerted in the\nimmediate contact of matter with matter, distance being an essential\ncondition of all locomotive actions.\n\nXI. The elementary power acts immediately on all distant matter throughout\nits sphere, independently of any material medium of transmission or\ncommunication. Movement, however, cannot be propagated without a material\nmedium.\n\nXII. The term _from which_ the action of any given element is directed,\nand the term _in which_ the same element receives the motion caused by\nother elements, is one and the same, viz., the real centre of its sphere\nof activity; and it is called _the matter_. The act from which such a\ncentre receives its first existence is called _the substantial form_; and\nit has a spherical character, inasmuch as it constitutes a virtual\nindefinite sphere.\n\nXIII. The essence of a primitive element of matter is by no means a\nmystery. The essential definition of such an element is \u201ca substance fit\nto cause and to receive mere local motion.\u201d\n\nXIV. Inertia is an essential property of material substance, no less than\nactivity and passivity. Inertia admits of no degrees.\n\nXV. The so\u2010called \u201cforce of inertia\u201d is neither the inertia itself nor any\nspecial motive power; but it merely expresses a certain exercise of the\nelementary powers dependent on the inertia of the matter acted on; for\nbodies, on account of their inertia, cannot leave their place before they\nhave received in all their parts a suitable velocity. Hence while such a\nvelocity is being communicated to a body, the body which is acted on\ncannot yield its place to the impinging body; and consequently, during the\nstruggle of two bodies, the one which impinges loses a quantity of\nmovement equal to that which it imparts to the mass impinged upon. The\nloss of movement in the impinging body is therefore caused, not by the\ninertia of the body impinged upon, but by its elementary powers as\nexercised by it during the reception of the momentum.\n\nThe foregoing conclusions, as every attentive reader must have noticed,\nhave been drawn from nothing but known facts and received principles; we\nmay therefore consider them as fully established. The more so as we have\ntaken care to examine both sides of each question, and have given not only\nsuch direct proofs of each conclusion as would suffice to convince all\nunprejudiced minds, but also every objection that we have been able to\nfind against our own views, and have thus found the opportunity of\nconfirming, by our answers to the same, the truth of the doctrine\npropounded. There may be other objections which did not occur to our mind;\nyet it is likely that their solution will need no new considerations\nbesides those already developed in the preceding pages. Should any other\ndifficulty occur to the reader which cannot be answered by those\nconsiderations, we would earnestly entreat him to propound it to us, that\nwe may try its strength. We are always glad to hear a new objection\nagainst what we hold to be true. For objections either can or cannot be\nsolved. If they can, their solution will throw a new light on the doctrine\nwe defend; and if they cannot, their insolubility will show us some weak\npoint, or at least some impropriety of our language, and will thus cause\nus to correct our expressions or modify our opinions. Whatever helps us to\nregard things under some new point of view is calculated to enlarge our\nconceptions, to make our language clearer and more precise, and to\nstrengthen our philosophical convictions. Those alone need to be afraid of\nobjections who draw their conclusions from arbitrary hypotheses, instead\nof established truths.\n\nWe conclude the present article with a short answer to a question, which\nhas often been raised by timorous people, concerning what may be styled\nthe cardinal point of our doctrine on matter\u2010viz., the _simplicity_ of\nmaterial elements. The question is the following: If we admit that the\nelements of matter are physically simple, is there not a serious danger of\nsetting at naught the essential difference between the spiritual and the\nmaterial substance, and are we not drifting thus into materialism?\n\nWe reply that no such danger needs to be apprehended. For it is not true\nthat physical simplicity constitutes the essential difference between\nspirit and matter. Every primitive being is physically simple; and yet it\ndoes not follow that all primitive beings belong to the same species. On\nthe other hand, spirit and matter, notwithstanding their physical\nsimplicity, evidently belong to different species. The element of matter\nis inert\u2014that is, though acting all around itself, it cannot exercise its\nactivity within itself; whereas the spiritual substance exercises its\nactivity within as well as without itself, and continually modifies its\nown interior state by its vital operations. Again, the element of matter\nis ubicated in space, and marks a local point, from which it directs its\naction in a sphere; whereas the spiritual substance neither marks a local\npoint in space nor acts in a sphere, but determines both the direction and\nthe intensity of its action as it pleases. Moreover, the element of matter\nhas nothing but locomotive power; whereas the spiritual substance\npossesses not only the locomotive, but also, and principally, the thinking\nand the willing powers, by which it vastly transcends all material being.\nThis suffices to show that spirit and matter, though physically simple,\nhave an entirely different metaphysical constitution\u2014that is, a different\nsubstantial act, a different substantial term, and a different substantial\ncomplement. Hence the simplicity of the material element does not set at\nnaught the essential difference between matter and spirit.\n\nThose whose metaphysical notions about material substance still hang upon\nthe physics of the ancients will be loath to admit that our unextended\nelement can be physically simple; for they have been taught to believe\nthat wherever there is matter and form, there is _physical_ composition.\nBut such a notion is evidently wrong; for where in the element are the\n_physical_ components, without which physical composition is impossible?\nCan we say that the matter and the substantial form are _physical_\ncomponents? Certainly not; for the form without the matter cannot exist,\nnor can the matter exist without the form. Both are absolutely required\nfor the constitution of the _primitive_ physical being. How, then, can\nthey be conceived as physical beings, if no physical being can be\nconceived before their meeting in one essence and in a common existence? A\nphysical compound is a compound whose components have a distinct and\nindependent existence in nature; for physical beings alone can be physical\ncomponents, and nothing which has not a distinct and independent existence\nin nature can be called a physical being, except by an abuse of terms. The\nphysical being is a complete being\u2014that is, an act materially completed by\nits intrinsic term, and formally completed by its individual actuality.\nAll beings that are incomplete, and whose existence depends on other\ncognate beings, are no more than _metaphysical_ realities. Hence the\nsubstantial form of the element, which has no separate existence, is not a\nphysical, but only a metaphysical, being; and in the same manner, the\nmatter to which that form gives the first existence is not a physical, but\nonly a metaphysical, reality. Whence it follows that the composition of\nmatter and substantial form is not a physical, but only a metaphysical,\ncomposition; and, further, that the primitive element is indeed a\nmetaphysical, but not a physical, compound.\n\nOn this subject we shall have more to say when explaining the peripatetic\ntheory of substantial generations, which assumes that the substantial form\ncan be changed without changing the matter. It is on this assumption that\nthe physical distinction between matter and form has been maintained. We\nshall prove in the most irrefragable manner that the assumption is based\non an equivocation about the meaning of the epithet \u201csubstantial\u201d as\napplied to natural forms, and that no form which is truly and strictly\nsubstantial\u2014that is, which gives the first being to its matter\u2014can leave\nits matter and be subrogated by another substantial form.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nRobespierre. Concluded.\n\n\nWe know how the son of S. Louis passed his last hours on earth; let us see\nhow the men who sentenced him\u2014against their consciences\u2014prepared for that\nsolemn passage. One, named Valaz\u00e9, on hearing the sentence, stabbed\nhimself, and fell dead in the court; he was dragged back with the others\nto prison. The remaining twenty\u2010one passed their death\u2010vigil in riotous\nsinging and drinking and making merry; in improvising a comedy where\nRobespierre and the devil conversed in hell; the dead Valaz\u00e9 meanwhile\nlying in his blood in the same room. Vergniaud, who so hesitated to vote\n\u201cdeath\u201d for the king, is now bent on escaping the block by poisoning\nhimself; but he has only poison enough for one, so he throws away the\ndose, too generous to desert his companions in their last journey. They\nwill all go together; so, after a night of bacchanalian shouting and\ncarousing, they all set forth in the fatal tumbrel; even dead Valaz\u00e9 is\nflung in to have his head cut off, that the guillotine may not be done out\nof its prey. They jolt on, singing the _Marseillaise_ and crying Vive la\nR\u00e9publique. One by one the heads fall, the chorus grows weaker, and at\nlast ceases to be heard. The Girondists are gone. Robespierre is King of\nthe Revolution now, and reigns supreme over its destinies. Now let him\nprove what truth there is in the plea put forth by his apologists that he\nwas only cruel from necessity, from the pressure put upon him by his\nfellow\u2010demagogues. His accession to undivided responsibility was, on the\ncontrary, the signal for greater slaughter, and we see the number of\nvictims swelling in proportion to the growth of his individual power. Look\nat the lists of the _Moniteur_. In July, 1793, there were thirteen persons\ncondemned by the revolutionary tribunal of Paris, and in July of the\nfollowing year the number sent by it to the guillotine was eight hundred\nand thirty\u2010five!\n\nBut this system of legal assassination was beginning to recoil on the head\nof its inventor. The murder of the Girondists was an impolitic act that\nRobespierre soon repented of. He had made a precedent in attacking the\nrepresentatives of the nation, hitherto inviolate; and now that the\nlonging for vengeance was satisfied, he was clear\u2010sighted enough to\nperceive what the cost was likely to be. He had sacrificed his rivals, but\nhe had imperilled his own head. From this day forward he seemed haunted by\nthe shadow of coming retribution. He had poured out the blood of those who\nstood beside him, and now he was slipping in it; his footing was no longer\nsecure; the words \u201cassassination,\u201d \u201cvictim of the poignard of revenge,\u201d\netc., etc., were continually on his lips, and there is evidence that his\nlife was poisoned by the constant dread of being murdered by some of the\nfriends of his victims. Those who had hitherto aided and abetted his\natrocities now began to look with suspicion and terror on him; even Danton\ntried to back out of the partnership, and to talk of \u201cthe joys of private\nlife\u201d in a way that suggested he had had enough of the glories of public\nlife. He had just married a young and beautiful woman, whose influence was\nsaid to have already exercised a humanizing effect on his ferocious\nnature. She had brought him independence, too, so there was every\ninducement to him to quit the shambles, and leave Robespierre there alone\nin his glory. He withdrew from the Public Safety Committee, and ceased\nalmost altogether to attend the meetings of the Convention. Robespierre\nunderstood this significant change. He saw his accomplices were deserting\nhim, and he trembled. The Revolution, Saturn\u2010like, was devouring her own\nchildren; why should not the hunters be devoured by their own dogs? Every\none was falling away from the tyrant. Camille Desmoulins and H\u00e9bert,\nlately his devoted friends, were gathering up a rival faction dubbed\nUltra\u2010Revolutionists, and, aided by H\u00e9bert\u2019s abominable newspaper, _P\u00e8re\nDuch\u00easne_, they and their followers set to work to hunt down the popular\nidol. Robespierre was known to harbor a sneaking prejudice in favor of\nsome sort of religion, and once even openly declared his opinion that some\nsuch institution was necessary for governing with effect. The Ultras used\nthis admission as a means of insulting him, and at the same time weakening\nhis prestige. They got hold of an unfortunate, half\u2010witted man named\nGobel, an apostate priest, dressed him up as an archbishop, and,\nsurrounded by a crowd of mock priests and prelates, they led him, riding\non an ass, to the Convention; here he made a burlesque and blasphemous\nabjuration of his former state and belief, and solemnly pronounced the\n_Credo_ of atheism, and the worship of the goddess Reason. The law\u2010givers,\nthereupon, amidst the frantic enthusiasm of the crowd, decreed that \u201cGod\nand all superstition were abolished,\u201d and the worship of Reason\nsubstituted in their place. A monstrous ceremony was at once organized to\ncelebrate the new religion: an actress was carried to the cathedral of\nNotre Dame, dressed\u2014or undressed\u2014as the goddess of this adoption,\nenthroned on the consecrated altar of the living God, while the populace\npassed before her in adoration. The walls of the sacred temple re\u2010echoed\nto the hymn of liberty, the _Marseillaise_, and were profaned with horrors\nthat no Christian pen may retrace. Similar scenes were enacted in the\nother churches. Venerable old S. Eustache was turned into a fair; tables\nwere spread with sausages, pork\u2010puddings, herrings, and bottles; children\nwere forced to sing songs and give toasts, and to drink to the half\u2010naked\ngoddess; and when the little ones\u2014the precious little ones of Jesus\u2014got\ndrunk, there was huge merriment amongst the spectators.\n\nThe shrine of S. Genevi\u00e8ve was torn down and desecrated. The tombs of the\nkings of France at S. Denis were broken open, and the ashes scattered\nabroad with every species of insult. The _Moniteur_ thus describes the\nspectacle the streets of Paris presented during the Festival of Reason:\n\u201cMost of the people were drunk with the brandy they had swallowed out of\nChalices\u2014eating mackerel on the Patens!... They stopped at the doors of\ndramshops, held out Ciboriums, and the landlord, stoop in hand, had to\nfill them thrice.\u201d Other things are recorded of this demoniacal saturnalia\nwhich had best be left unsaid\u2014if happily they be yet unknown to Catholic\nhearts.\n\nThe provinces followed suit. Lyons sacked her churches, and drove a mitred\nass through her streets, trailing the sacred volumes at his tail. The\nLoire was polluted with drowned bodies of priests. At Nantes ninety\npriests are embarked at dead of night under hatches; in the middle of the\nstream the boat is scuttled, and goes down with her human cargo. These are\nthe _noyades_. Then follow others of more than a hundred at a time. Oh!\nthese priests, these men of the Gospel of Christ, at any cost they must be\ngot rid of! The guillotine is too slow; let us have fire and water to the\nrescue! So there are the fusillades; men, women, priests, and nuns fall\nunder the showers of grapeshot as fast as they can be gathered and ranged\nin line\u2014mothers with infants at their breasts, children clinging to one\nanother\u2014five hundred at a batch they go. The mother Revolution herself is\nturning sick of it. Robespierre alone shows no signs of squeamishness;\nbut, whether from sagacity or some latent moral\u2014perhaps even\nreligious\u2014instinct, he repudiated the sacrilegious excesses which\ninaugurated and followed the installation of the new goddess. He saw, too,\nthat it was an arrow pointed at himself. He denounced H\u00e9bert at the\nJacobin Club, ridiculed his new\u2010fangled divinity, and declared that if\n\u201cGod did not exist, a wise law\u2010giver would have invented him.\u201d H\u00e9bert\nwinced; Camille Desmoulins started the _Vieux Cordelier_, and began to\nbroach the doctrine of clemency and the savage stupidity of useless blood\u2010\nshedding. Never since the Revolution began had such theories been hinted\nat. The country was growing nauseated with wholesale butcheries; the\ndaring words of the _Vieux Cordelier_ were heard with wonder and welcomed\nwith deep though silent applause. Robespierre might have tolerated the\nhumane doctrines of the newspaper, if it had abstained from personal\naggression; but Desmoulins used his weapon of sarcasm unsparingly against\nthe tyrant, on one occasion twitting him, half facetiously, with his\naristocratic origin, as proved by the discarded _de_ formerly prefixed to\nhis name. Robespierre grew pale\u2014paler than his usual sea\u2010green hue\u2014on\nreading this, and Desmoulins\u2019 doom was sealed. H\u00e9bert went first; he, with\nnineteen of the faction, perished in one hour on the scaffold, in March,\n1794. Ten days later Camille and Danton fell. It is yet a mystery why\nDanton was thus quickly sacrificed; he was apparently on good terms with\nRobespierre, and had pointed no witticisms at him like the editor of the\n_Vieux Cordelier_. The tyrant himself gives no explanation in his long\u2010\nwinded speeches on the hard necessity which compelled him \u201cto sacrifice\nprivate friendship to the good of the country,\u201d and so on. But whatever\nthe motive may have been, the act drew upon its perpetrator the aversion\nand contempt of those who till then had been his staunchest followers and\nsupporters. Every one was terrified for his own head. Danton\u2019s fall seemed\nto bring the axe to every man\u2019s door. Robespierre was now alone, more\nterribly alone than the lost traveller in the desert. His fellows shunned\nhim, or shuddered when he passed. He lived in perpetual fear of being\nassassinated, though it is doubtful whether any attempt was ever made on\nhis life. Several were trumped up with a view to uplifting his tottering\npopularity; but though the accused persons were guillotined with great\npomp and _\u00e9clat_, the proofs of their intended crime were extremely\ndoubtful. A last expedient yet remained.\n\nRobespierre would re\u2010establish the existence of God, and thus be a prophet\nas well as a king. He decreed, accordingly, a great meeting which should\natone for H\u00e9bert\u2019s Feast of Reason and annihilate its brief triumph. It\nwas to take place in the Tuileries gardens. Robespierre, while working the\naxe so assiduously, never bespattered himself with the blood of his\ninstrument. In a time when _sans\u2010culottism_ made dirt and Bohemian gear\nthe fashion, he remained a dandy, powdered and frizzled in the midst of\nlegislators who prided themselves on dirty hands and begrimed linen. For\nthis gala\u2010day of his new religion he ordered a fine sky\u2010blue silk coat,\nwhite\u2010silk waistcoat embroidered with silver, white stockings, and gold\nshoe\u2010buckles. Thus equipped, the Prophet of the Mountain sallied forth to\npatronize the Omnipotent and decree the existence of a Supreme Being. He\nascended the rostrum with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, made a fulsome\ndiscourse in a vein of sentimental deism, and then proceeded to unveil the\neffigy of atheism, a hideous caricature, made of paste\u2010board, besmeared\nwith turpentine and other inflammable stuffs, to which he applied a\nlighted torch. The flame leaped up, and Atheism, amidst shouts and\ncracklings, burned itself to dust; then from the ashes rose up another\neffigy, the statue of Wisdom, supposed to symbolize the new religion, but\nsorrily smutted and begrimed by the subsiding smoke of Atheism. No wonder\nBillaud should exclaim, \u201cGet thee gone! Thou art a bore, thyself and thy\n_Etre Supr\u00eame_.\u201d\n\nO merciful God! may heaven and earth praise thee, and all the creatures\ntherein, for thou art verily a God of love, long suffering and patient!\n\nAnd now that Robespierre has duly installed his _Etre Supr\u00eame_, and\ndecreed, moreover, \u201cthat consoling principle, the immortality of the\nsoul,\u201d and obliterated from the graves of murdered citizens the hitherto\nobligatory inscription, \u201cDeath is an eternal sleep,\u201d what is there left\nfor him to do? Nothing, apparently, but to go on killing. The\nrevolutionary tribunal must be made to work with greater speed, and so it\nis split into four fractions, each with its president, and empowered to\ntry and condemn as fast as it can. Even the Mountain quaked when this\nproposition was uttered at its base; but the law was carried, and\nhenceforth the guillotine quadruples its business. Fouquier\u2010Tinville sets\nup one of \u201cimproved velocity,\u201d and boasts of being able to make room for a\nbatch of one hundred and fifty at one time. He wants to establish one in\nthe Tuileries itself, but Collot protests that this would \u201cdemoralize the\ninstrument.\u201d It did not matter, apparently, how much the instrument\ndemoralized the people. These sit at their windows watching for the\ntumbrels to pass, criticising the occupants, joking and enjoying\nthemselves. Women fight for seats near the scaffold, where day after day\nthey sit knitting, counting off the heads, as they fall, by the prick of a\npin in a bit of card\u2010board. These are the \u201cfuries of the guillotine.\u201d\n\nBut to make the new law, called _22me Prairial_, more fully available, it\nwas necessary to provide extra work for the executioners. Fouquier\u2010\nTinville was equal to the occasion. He got up an accusation against the\noccupants of the prisons for \u201cconspiring against the Convention.\u201d Let us\ncast a glance into these prisons, where, at this crisis, twelve thousand\nhuman beings lie literally _rotting_ to death. The memoirs of the time\nagree in describing the twelve houses of arrest (the original prisons had\nlong since been increased to that number) as dens of noisome horror never\nequalled in any other clime or period. Noble dames, maidens of tender\nyears, were huddled pell\u2010mell with the worst and most wretched of their\nsex; nobles and shoe\u2010blacks, priests and ruffians, nuns and actresses,\ncrowded by day and night into the condemned cells, where every night the\nturnkey came and read his list for the morrow\u2019s \u201cbatch.\u201d Then followed\nscenes such as no pen or painter\u2019s brush could adequately describe. \u201cMen\nrush towards the grate; listen if their name be in it; ... one deep\u2010drawn\nbreath when it is not. We live still one day! And yet some score or scores\nof names were in. Quick these; they clasp their loved ones to their heart\none last time. With brief adieu, wet\u2010eyed or dry\u2010eyed, they mount and are\naway. This night to the _Conciergerie_; through the palace, misnamed of\nJustice, to the guillotine to\u2010morrow.\u201d These were the persons whom\nTinville\u2019s ready wit accused of getting up a plot to overthrow the\nConvention! But what did it signify whether the story was an impossibility\nas well as a lie? The four tribunals must have work, the guillotine must\nhave food. In three days\u2014the 7th, 9th, and 10th of July\u2014one hundred and\nseventy\u2010one prisoners were executed on the charge of conspiring from the\ndepth of their squalid dungeons to overturn the state. So much did the\nnewly\u2010discovered _Etre Supr\u00eame_ do towards softening the rule of\nRobespierre.\n\nBut, oh! are we not sick of the ghastly tale? It is now hurrying to a\nclose.\n\nBar\u00e8re, one of the fiercest of the revolutionary gang who had so far\nescaped the guillotine, gave a bachelor\u2019s dinner at a suburban villa on a\nwarm day in July, Robespierre being among the guests. The weather was\nintensely hot, and the company, unshackled by stiff conventionalities,\nthrew off their coats, and sauntered out to sip their coffee under the\ntrees in easy _d\u00e9shabill\u00e9_. Carnot wanted his pocket\u2010handkerchief, and\nwent indoors to fetch it. While looking for his own coat he espied\nRobespierre\u2019s fantastic sky\u2010blue garment, and, prompted by a sudden\nthought, put his hand into the pockets, wondering if any secret might be\nlurking there. What were his feelings on discovering a list of forty names\ntold off for the guillotine, his own amongst the number! He carried off\nthe paper, showed it discreetly to his friends, and they agreed that\nRobespierre must be made away with. Two days later he appears at the\nConvention, and is met by dark faces that scowl when he ascends the\ntribune, and show no docile acquiescence when he speaks. Terror for their\nown lives has at last stirred these dull, brutalized accomplices to raise\ntheir voice and protest against the tyrant. He is impeached by common\nacclamation. He defends himself in a passionate harangue, accusing Mr.\nPitt and King George of having bribed the Convention to arrest him, after\nsowing calumnies against him in the minds of the people. The charges\nagainst him were numerous and heavy; he answered them all with vehemence\nand a certain wild, disjointed eloquence, and wound up by the following\ndenunciation: \u201cNo, _death is not an eternal sleep_! The nation will not\nsubmit to a desperate and desolating doctrine that covers nature itself\nwith a funereal shroud; that deprives virtue of hope, and misfortune of\nconsolation, and insults even death itself. No; we will efface from our\ntombs your sacrilegious epitaph, and replace it with the consoling truth,\n\u2018Death is the beginning of immortality!\u2019 \u201d The speech produced an effect\non the Assembly, but it did not secure a real success. The next day Saint\u2010\nJust mounted the tribune to defend Robespierre; but he had hardly begun\nhis discourse when cries of \u201cDown with the tyrant!\u201d forced him to give it\nup. Robespierre stood at his place, utterly abandoned by the members of\nthe Assembly, where twenty\u2010four hours ago he ruled with despotic and\nunrivalled sway. Not a voice was raised in his behalf. He strove to obtain\na hearing, but his words were drowned in shouts of \u201cAway with him! down\nwith him!\u201d He stood dumb and petrified at the sound of those words, bowed\nhis head, and slowly descended the steps of the tribune; suddenly he\nlooked up and cried, \u201cLet me die, then, at once!\u201d The younger Robespierre\nadvances and takes his brother\u2019s arm, asking to share the same fate with\nhim. This generous movement excites the Convention to still greater rage;\nit yells and bellows, gesticulating like so many madmen. The president\nputs on his hat, and calls for order; a temporary lull ensues. Robespierre\nagain tries to make himself heard, but his voice is again drowned in\nshouts and hisses; he rushes up and down the steps and about the hall,\nclenching his fist and breathing menaces that now fall powerless and are\nmet with taunts of triumphant hate. At last, over\u2010mastered by his own\nemotions, he drops into a chair. The arrest of the two brothers is voted\nunanimously. The elder one endeavors to resist, but is seized and carried\nforcibly down to the bar. In the midst of this stormy ebullition, one of\nthe deputies, seeing Robespierre unable to speak from the violence of his\nrage and terror, cried out: \u201cIt is Danton\u2019s blood that is choking him!\u201d\nStung by the taunt, Robespierre found breath and courage to retort,\n\u201cDanton! Is it Danton that you regret? Cowards! why did you not defend\nhim!\u201d These spirited words were the last he ever uttered in public. He and\nhis brother were now removed in custody to a hall close by the Convention,\nand with them Saint\u2010Just, Couthon, and Lebas. It had been an arduous day\u2019s\nwork for the Convention, and it is not surprising that the deputies\n\u201cclamored for an adjournment, that they might repose themselves and dine\u201d;\nfor whether men live or die, legislators must dine. They were thoughtful\nenough to remember that the five in custody would also like to dine, even\nfor the last time; so the guilty deputies had a good dinner provided for\nthem, and immediately after were transferred to separate prisons:\nRobespierre to the Luxembourg, his brother to St. Lazare, Couthon to Port\nRoyal (dubbed Port _Libre_ since it had been turned into a prison!), Lebas\nto Le Force, and Saint\u2010Just _aux Ecossais_. Henriot, who commanded the\ntroops devoted to Robespierre, was seized in the act of attempting an\nattack on the Convention, bound, and locked up in one of the courts. Two\nbold friends of his rallied the soldiers, stormed the Convention, released\nhim, and placed him again at the head of his men. Meantime, the jailer of\nthe Luxembourg had refused to admit Robespierre, and the bailiffs had to\ntake him to the _Mairie_, where he was received with acclamations of\nrespect as the \u201cfather of the people.\u201d Henriot and his band by midnight\nhad set him and the other four deputies free, and they were installed at\nthe H\u00f4tel de Ville, with a large body of soldiers drawn round the edifice\nto protect them. But the Convention, on its side, had not been idle.\nBarras was placed in command of all the troops that could be mustered, and\nin company with twelve energetic leaders, at the head of the _gendarmerie_\nand the artillery, marched on the H\u00f4tel de Ville, dispersed Henriot\u2019s\ntroops, and penetrated into the building, where they found the five\ndeputies and captured them. The younger Robespierre flung himself out of a\nwindow in a frantic effort to escape the more tragic death that was now a\ncertainty; he was picked up horribly mutilated, but with life enough yet\nto realize the horrors of his position. Lebas, on hearing the _gendarmes_\nbattering on the door of the room, blew his brains out with a pistol.\nSaint\u2010Just was seized with a knife in his hand, which he was going to\nplunge into his heart; he gave it up without a word, and allowed himself\nto be bound. Couthon, who was nearly blind and half\u2010paralyzed, being\npowerless to offer the slightest resistance, was flung into a wheelbarrow\nthat chanced to be in the court\u2010yard. Robespierre himself, the centre of\nthis group of suicides and murderers, attempted to cheat the guillotine as\nLebas had done; but either his cowardly hand trembled and betrayed his\nwill or was seized as he pulled the trigger, for the bullet went through\nthe cheek instead of through the forehead. The jaw was frightfully\nfractured, and hung loose from the face, held on only by the flesh. Some\nspectator had the humanity to help the unfortunate man to tie it up with a\nhandkerchief, and in this miserable plight he and his companions were\nconveyed at about two o\u2019clock in the morning to the Committee of Public\nSafety. The official report of the day gives the following graphic\ndescription of what then occurred: \u201cRobespierre was brought in on a plank\n... by several artillery\u2010men and armed citizens. He was placed on the\ntable of the ante\u2010chamber which adjoins that where the Committee holds its\nsittings. A deal box, which contained some samples of the ammunition\u2010bread\nsent to the army _du Nord_, was put under his head by way of pillow. He\nwas for nearly an hour in a state of insensibility which made us think\nthat he was no more; but after an hour he opened his eyes. Blood was\nrunning in abundance from the wound he had in the left lower jaw; the jaw\nwas broken, and a ball had gone through the cheek. His shirt was bloody.\nHe was without hat or neckcloth. He had on a sky\u2010blue coat,(158) nankeen\nbreeches, white stockings hanging down at his heels.... At six in the\nmorning a surgeon who happened to be in the court\u2010yard of the Tuileries\nwas called in to dress the wound. By way of precaution he first put a key\nin Robespierre\u2019s mouth. He found the left jaw broken. He pulled out two or\nthree teeth, bandaged up the wound, and got a basin of water, which he\nplaced at his side.\u201d All this time no word was spoken by the wounded man;\nnot even a sigh escaped him when the teeth were being extracted, yet the\nagony he endured must have been terrific. There he lay, a spectacle to\ngods and men, in his sky\u2010blue coat, a tiger caught in his own lair, barked\nat and cursed and triumphed over by a band of wolves. Who could pity\nhim\u2014he who had never known pity for man or woman? For more than twenty\nhours he lay there in this mental and bodily torture. Once he made a sign\nwhich was understood to express thirst. The burning fever of his wound had\nparched him till he gasped for breath: but no one was so merciful as to\nget him a glass of water. Vinegar and gall they gave him in abundance.\nMany cursed him as the murderer of their kith and kin, and bade him drink\nhis own blood, if he was thirsty.\n\nAll this while the tocsin is ringing out the glad news to Paris. Crowds\nrush out on the house\u2010tops, and wave signals to the prisoners in the\n_Conciergerie_ that the hour of deliverance is at hand. The prisoners\ncannot understand; they think the tocsin is the signal for a new September\nmassacre. The word flies from cell to cell, and all fall on their knees\nand prepare for instant death.\n\nOthers, too, are making ready for death, but not thus. The tumbrels jolt\nup to the Convention, and collect for the last time their \u201cbatch\u201d; this\ntime there are but twenty\u2010three victims. Amongst them, by an exquisite\ntouch of retributive justice, is Simon the Cordwainer, going to die with\nRobespierre! And now they are ready, and the tumbrels move on. The corpse\nof Lebas is flung in with Robespierre, as that of Valaz\u00e9 was with Brissot;\nthe other three were so disfigured with blood and the traces of the death\u2010\nscuffle in the town\u2010hall that they are hardly to be recognized. The entire\ncity is out, shouting itself hoarse with joy. The roofs of the houses are\nalive with human eyes, all watching for the figure of Robespierre. When it\nappears, the soldiers point to it with their swords\u2014show the tyrant, bound\nand gagged, to the people. The sight causes a frantic thrill of exultation\nthat finds utterance in a yell of something too unholy for joy, too fierce\nfor laughter. A woman breaks through the crowd, dashes aside the bayonets\nof the escort, and leaps to the side of the tumbrel. \u201cAh! thou demon,\u201d she\ncries, waving her hand above her head, \u201cthe death of thee is better than\nwine to my heart Wretch, get thee down to hell with the curses of all\nwives and mothers!\u201d\n\nSurely this is hell already begun. The wretched man opens his eyes, glued\ntogether with blood; a shade of deadlier hue passes over his livid, sea\u2010\ngreen face; he shudders, but utters no sound. The tumbrel reaches the\nPlace de la Revolution. The furies of the guillotine rush round it, and\nexecute a dance of fiendish joy, the crowd making room for them and\napplauding. Now the cart stops, and the condemned alight. In the first are\nthe two Robespierres, Couthon, Henriot, and Lebas. Maximilien Robespierre\nis the only one who has strength left in him to ascend the scaffold\nwithout help. He stood on the fatal step whither a few days ago his nod\nsufficed to send the noblest heads in France; within a few yards of the\nspot where only six weeks ago he had decreed the existence of the\nOmnipotent, at whose judgment\u2010bar he was now going to appear. Seldom\nindeed does that silent, inscrutable Judge allow us to behold the\njudgments of his justice accomplished here below, and amidst circumstances\nso palpably impressive, and to our human eyes so fearfully appropriate, as\nwas this death\u2010scene of Robespierre\u2019s. He showed no sign of terror or\nremorse, but, dumb and self\u2010contained to the last, yielded himself to\nSamson\u2019s hands. Only when the bandage was wrenched brutally from the\nbroken jaw, letting it drop from the face, he uttered a piercing cry that\nrang above the yells of the multitude. It was the last sound his voice\nemitted in this world. Samson did his work, and Robespierre was no more.\n\nOne long, loud shout of gladness went up to heaven, and carried the\ntidings to the ends of France on wings quicker than words. It penetrated\nthe iron doors of the prisons, like the sweet beams of the golden dawn,\nand bade men hope and rejoice, for the Reign of Terror was at an end and\nthe gates of their dungeons unlocked.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nThe guillotine has been so prominent a figure in the foregoing sketch, as\nindeed throughout the whole span of the Reign of Terror, that a word on\nits origin may not be uninteresting. It is popularly supposed to have been\ninvented by Dr. Guillotin, but this is a mistake. The first idea of it\nemanated from him, and he had the unenviable glory of giving it his name;\nbut these are his only claims to its invention. The guillotine would seem\nto be almost a creature born spontaneously of the Revolution, a cruel\noffspring of the self\u2010devouring monster. It is strange that, until the\n\u201c_Sainte Guillotine_\u201d was enthroned as the agent of that murder\u2010mad reign,\nno mention is ever made in the reports of the time of the exact kind of\nmachine used in capital punishment. We read of persons being \u201ccondemned\u201d\nand \u201cexecuted,\u201d but there is no more definite account of the manner of\nexecution. The _lanterne_ was the mode of capital punishment up to the\nReign of Terror, and the mob could always do summary justice on its\nvictims by making a gallows of the nearest lamp\u2010post; but when speed\nbecame the primary object, this was found too tedious, besides being\ntroublesome. Towards the close of the year 1789 Dr. Guillotin was elected\nto the States\u2010General. He was such a mediocre, insignificant person in\nevery way that his appearance in the Assembly caused general surprise and\nlaughter. In the _Portraits of Celebrated Persons_, a contemporaneous\nwork, we find him thus treated: \u201cBy what accident has a man without either\nability or reputation obtained for himself a frightful immortality? He\n_fathered_ a work written by a lawyer\u2014Hardouin\u2014who had too much character\nto produce it in his own name; and his work having been censured by the\nparliament, Guillotin, who assumed the responsibility of it, became the\nman of the day, and owed to it that gleam of reputation which ensured his\nelection to the States\u2010General. He was, in truth, a _nobody_ who made\nhimself a _busy\u2010body_, and by meddling with everything was at once\nmischievous and ridiculous.\u201d This meddling personage made himself\nextremely ridiculous on the one occasion to which may be traced his ill\u2010\nstarred celebrity. He proposed in the Assembly that some machine, more\nhumane and expeditious than the process of hanging, should be invented for\ncapital punishment, and, after describing the idea that was in his mind,\nhe proceeded to illustrate it by a pantomime with his fingers,\nstraightening out the left index, and bringing down that of the right hand\nover the thumb with a snap. \u201cThere, now, I put your head here; this falls,\nand it is cut off; you feel nothing; it is the affair of a moment!\u201d Roars\nof laughter followed this lucid and cheerful explanation, and the next day\nthe ballad\u2010mongers diverted Paris with a song, the burden of which was \u201ca\nmachine that will kill us right off, and be christened _la guillotine_!\u201d\nThe doctor said no more about his idea, but, jocosely presented as it was,\nit nevertheless made an impression on the Assembly, who adopted it three\nyears later. Meantime, they were beset by complaints from the _Tiers\nEtat_, who could not reconcile it to their dignity that the _bourgeoisie_\nshould be hanged while the _noblesse_ were beheaded. Let it be hanging all\nround, they said, and they would be satisfied; but why should nobles have\ntheir head cut off, while plebeians \u201cswung at the lantern?\u201d The grievance\nmet with cold sympathy, however, until the times were ripe for reform, and\nit became urgent to find some more expeditious means of despatching both\nnobles and plebeians into the other world. Dr. Guillotin\u2019s proposal was\nreconsidered; an officer of the Criminal Court, named Laquiante, designed\nan instrument, which was approved of by the authorities and confided for\nexecution to a piano\u2010maker\u2014a native of Strasbourg, we believe\u2014named\nSchmidt. There was a good deal of haggling over the cost. Schmidt, in the\nfirst instance, wanted nine hundred and sixty francs, which was found\nexorbitant and refused. In consideration, however, of his having suggested\nsome improvements in the original design, they consented to let him take\nout a patent, and to give him an order for eighty\u2010three machines, one for\nevery department in France, at five hundred francs each, and to be made as\nquickly as possible. They were three months quarrelling over the bargain,\nand all this time an unfortunate criminal, of the name of Pelletier, was\nlying in prison, waiting to be executed; when at last the price was\nsettled and the first machine ready, he had the miserable distinction of\ninaugurating it on the 25th of April, 1792. The prejudice had been very\nstrong against the new mode of decapitation, the clergy especially arguing\nthat \u201cthe sight of blood would prove highly demoralizing to the people.\u201d\nSamson, the executioner, was one of the staunchest opposers of the\ninnovation on the same grounds, and also because of the shock the\nspectacle would give to many spectators. His letter to the Assembly\nembodying his opinions and experience on the subject is a curious bit of\nliterature, highly creditable to the hangman, as indeed all that has come\ndown to us concerning him seems to be. The humane desire to abridge the\nsufferings of the criminal overcame, however, every objection, and hanging\nwas formally abolished and replaced by decapitation. The new\ninstrument\u2014most unjustly, as we see\u2014was called the guillotine, in spite of\na semi\u2010official mention of it as _Louison_, and some efforts to make that\nname adhere. The worthy doctor was doomed to notoriety on account of his\nhaving first mooted the affair and made Paris laugh over it. Nothing\nsecures immortality with the Parisians like a joke.\n\nApropos of the guillotine, we may mention that the Samsons were a\nrespectable family of Abbeville, and held the office of \u201cExecutioner of\nthe High Acts of Justice,\u201d by descent, from the year 1722. Charles Henri\nSamson, who beheaded Louis XVI., came into office in 1778, and retired on\na pension in 1795. He was succeeded by his son in his formidable\nfunctions, the latter having resigned the grade of captain in the\nartillery to undertake them.\n\n\n\n\nRobert Cavelier De La Salle.\n\n\nThe pious hymns of the good and noble Marquette and his companions had not\nceased to reverberate over the waters of the Great River, awakening the\nechoes of its banks and overhanging forests, when a bold and devoted\nspirit, fired by the fame of previous explorations, was meditating on the\nshores of Lake Ontario the prosecution of the grand work begun by the\nillustrious missionary. The world was startled with the news that the\nwaters over whose bosom the missionaries and traders of Canada drove their\ncanoes at the north, after meandering through the vast plains and forests\nof the continent, poured themselves into the Gulf of Mexico. This great\nphysical problem was settled by Father Marquette and the Sieur Joliet,\nwho, after having explored the course of the Mississippi for eleven\nhundred miles, returned to electrify the world by the reports of their\nbrilliant success. But as yet comparatively little was known of this\ngigantic stream. The imagination of the most sanguine and the hearts of\nthe boldest were appalled at the task; but it was a destined step in the\nonward march of religion and civilization. A Catholic missionary had\ngloriously led the way; a Catholic nobleman no less gloriously advanced to\ncomplete the work. This was Robert Cavelier de La Salle.\n\nHe was born at Rouen, in Normandy, of a good family, but the date of his\nbirth has not been transmitted to us. He spent ten or twelve years of his\nearly life in one of the Jesuit seminaries of France, where he received a\ngood education, and he was well acquainted with mathematics and the\nnatural sciences. His renunciation of his patrimony and his long sojourn\namong the Fathers of the Society of Jesus justify the belief that he was\nintended for the priesthood. Providence, however, destined him for a\nsomewhat different sphere of labor and usefulness, but one in close co\u2010\noperation with the great work of the church among mankind. He carried with\nhim from the seminary of the Jesuits the highest testimonials of his\nsuperiors for purity of character, unblemished life, and exhaustless\nenergy. By his own high qualities and noble achievements he has won a\ndiploma for himself, inscribed on the brightest pages of our history, and\nmore honorable than man can confer.\n\nEmerging from the seminary full of youth, intelligence, and daring spirit,\nhe joined one of the numerous bands of emigrants from France who came to\nseek adventures and fortunes in the New World. He came to Canada about the\nyear 1667, and embarked with great energy in the fur trade, then the\nprevailing means of obtaining an exchange of European wealth and\nmerchandise. His enterprising spirit soon carried him to the frontiers,\nand in his frail canoe he traversed the vast rivers and broad lakes of the\ncontinent, mingling with the aborigines, and acquiring information and\nexperience of their modes of life, character, and languages. He explored\nLake Ontario, and ascended Lake Erie. The activity of his mind and the\nrestlessness of his genius could not be satisfied even with the vast and\nadventurous field of trade presented to him; for he shared largely in the\nprevailing ambition of discovering a northwest passage across the\ncontinent to China and Japan, an evidence of which he left behind him in\nthe name of Lachine, which he bestowed upon one of his trading posts on\nthe island of Montreal. He saw in that extended chain of lakes the link\nthat united America with Asia, and indulged in the fond and proud dream\nthat, as the discoverer of the long\u2010sought passage, his name would be\ninscribed beside that of Columbus on the scroll of immortality.\n\nSeeing the advantages of the position selected by the Comte de Frontenac,\nthe Governor of Canada, in fortifying the outlet of Lake Ontario, La Salle\nerected one of his trading posts under the protection of Fort Fontenac. He\nacquired the favor and friendship of the governor, and soon rejoiced in\nthe esteem and confidence of the public. Up to this time his efforts were\napparently chiefly expended in bold and energetic efforts to build up his\nfortunes. But his resources were inferior to the grand enterprises which\nhe contemplated. He accordingly repaired to France in 1675, where, aided\nby the influence of Frontenac and the recommendations of the minister\nColbert, he obtained from his sovereign, Louis XIV., letters\u2010patent,\ngranting him Fort Frontenac and the seigniory of a large tract of land\nabout the same, upon condition that he would rebuild the fort of stone,\ngarrison it at his own expense, and clear up certain lands. This grant\nsecured to him a large domain and the exclusive traffic with the Five\nNations. The king also raised him and his family to the rank of nobility\nas a reward for his services and noble actions. His patent of nobility\nbears date the 13th of May, 1675.\n\nReturning to America, the Cavalier de La Salle took possession of his\nseigniory, and soon proved how well he merited the confidence and favors\nhe enjoyed. He fulfilled all his stipulations with the king. In two years\nFort Frontenac reared its massive walls and bastions of stone which cast\ntheir shadows on the waters of Ontario. A number of French families\nclustered around the fort; the Recollect missionaries induced their Indian\nneophytes and catechumens to pitch their tents and offer up their newly\u2010\nlearned devotions under its shadow; the rugged wilds were supplanted by\ncultivated fields, gardens, and pastures, and the new lord of Cataraqui\nwas at once the pioneer of civilization and the friend of religion. Such\nwas the origin of the present city of Kingston.\n\nAt the same time La Salle prosecuted his commercial enterprises with\nrenewed vigor, and these, in return, seemed at first to promise to repay\nhis perseverance and energy. Now for the first time the rapids of the St.\nLawrence were stemmed, and the waters of Ontario ploughed by the keels of\nthree small barks with decks erected on them. Had all depended on energy\nand zeal, success and prosperity would have followed, and the young\nnobleman would have achieved a fortune, fame, and power that would not\nhave been long in winning for him a position among the proudest and most\npowerful nobility of France. But his fame was destined rather to be\nassociated with the foundation of a great republic than with the more\nlimited work of founding a noble family, to whom to transmit a princely\nfortune, and with building up the power of a brilliant despotism. His\nenterprises failed, wealth eluded his grasp, and he found himself\noppressed with vast debts, incurred in the great undertakings in which he\nhad embarked. Turning from this field of disaster, his vigorous mind again\nbecame filled with visions of the northwest passage and with his darling\nprojects of discovery. He studied the accounts of the Spanish and other\nadventurers and discoverers on the continent. Joliet, in 1674, passing\ndown from the upper lakes, had visited Fort Frontenac, of which La Salle\nwas then commander under Gov. Frontenac, and thus La Salle was one of the\nfirst to learn of the brilliant achievements and discoveries of the\nillustrious Marquette and Joliet, and was probably one of the first to see\nthe maps and journal which the latter lost between the fort and the next\nFrench post. These did not seem, at the time, to have deeply impressed the\nmind of La Salle, who was then engaged in other plans; for it was after\nthis that he embarked in the project of founding the seigniory of\nCataraqui on the shores of Ontario, and in the vast trading operations\nabove referred to. On the failure of these he began to plan new adventures\nand discoveries. His study of the reports of Spanish and French explorers\nled him before all others to identify the great river of Marquette and\nJoliet with that of De Soto. Blending the taste for commerce with the\nthirst for fame, he saw in the vast herds of bison, described as roaming\nover the prairies that extended from the banks of the Missouri and\nIllinois rivers, the means of shipping cargoes of buffalo\u2010skins and wool\nto France from the banks of those rivers _via_ the Mississippi and the\nGulf of Mexico. Nor did he yet relinquish his trading projects at the\nnorth; for these he expected to connect with his contemplated trading\nposts on the Mississippi, Fort Frontenac still remaining his principal\npost. Nor did he yet abandon the hope of discovering from the head\u2010waters\nof the Mississippi a passage to the China Sea.\n\nFilled with these grand and noble views, he returned to France in 1677,\nand still enjoying the recommendation of Frontenac and the favor of the\ngreat Colbert and of his son and successor in the ministry, the Marquis de\nSeignelay, he succeeded in obtaining from the king, on the 12th of May,\n1678, new letters\u2010patent, confirming his rights to the fort and the\nseigniory of Cataraqui, and authorizing him to advance as far westward as\nhe desired, to build forts wherever he might choose, and prosecute his\ncommercial enterprises as before, with the single exception that he should\nnot trade with the Hurons and other Indians who brought their furs to\nMontreal, in order that there might be no interference with other traders.\nAt the recommendation of his friend, the Prince de Conti, La Salle took\ninto his service as his lieutenant the veteran Chevalier de Tonty, an\nItalian by birth, who proved a great acquisition to the work, and was the\never\u2010faithful friend and companion of the great captain.\n\nIn two months La Salle completed his work in France, and in the autumn of\n1678, sailed from Rochelle, accompanied by Tonty, the Sieur de la Motte, a\npilot, mariners, ship\u2010carpenters, and other workmen. He was well provided\nwith anchors, sails, cordage, and everything necessary for rigging\nvessels, with stores of merchandise for trading with the Indians, and\nwhatever might be useful for his projected expedition. Arriving at Quebec\nin September, he immediately pushed forward to Fort Frontenac\u2014but not\nwithout having to surmount great difficulties and labors in getting his\nheavy canoes and freight over the perilous rapids of the St.\nLawrence\u2014where he arrived exhausted and emaciated by his fatigues, but\nfull of courage and hope.\n\nAs the winter approached La Salle pressed forward the preparations for his\ngrand enterprise, which he resolved to enter upon in the spring. On the\n18th of November, 1678, he despatched the hardy and faithful Tonty,\naccompanied by Father Louis Hennepin, to the Niagara River in one of his\nbrigantines of ten tons, with workmen, provisions, implements, and\nmaterials, to undertake the construction and equipment of a vessel to bear\nhis party over the upper lakes\u2014a work which was to be accomplished with a\nhandful of men, in the midst of winter, at a distance of hundreds of miles\nfrom any civilized settlement, and surrounded by savage tribes, whose\nenmity had been enkindled by the malice of La Salle\u2019s enemies, who,\nactuated by the rivalry of trade, had induced the Indians to believe that\nhe intended to monopolize their trade upon terms dictated by himself at\nthe cannon\u2019s mouth. Tonty set to work with a cheerful heart. He\nencountered perils and hardships, which overcame the endurance of La\nMotte, who abandoned the enterprise, and retired to Quebec to seek ease\nand rest from such labors. Tonty persevered until the 20th of January,\nwhen La Salle by his presence inspired him and his companions with new\nardor and courage. About this time the brigantine was cast away on the\nsouthern shore of Lake Ontario, in consequence of dissensions among the\npilots; and several bark canoes, with their valuable freight of goods and\nprovisions, were wrecked and lost. His difficulties with the Senecas also\ncompelled La Salle to relinquish the fort which he had begun to build at\nthe falls of Niagara as a protection to his ship\u2010builders, and to content\nhimself with a mere shed or store\u2010house. A spirit less brave and firm than\nLa Salle\u2019s would have quailed under the misfortunes which, through the\ninclemency of the season and the malice of men, surrounded his steps. But\nthese only nerved him to greater exertion. In six days after his arrival\nthe keel of his vessel was laid, the cavalier driving the first bolt with\nhis own hand. \u201cWhen he saw the snow began to melt,\u201d he sent out fifteen\nmen in advance of his exploring expedition, with instructions to pass over\nthe lakes to Mackinac, provide provisions for the expedition, and await\nthe arrival of the main party.\n\nLeaving Tonty now to conduct the building of the vessel, La Salle made a\njourney of over three hundred miles of frozen country to Fort Frontenac,\nto arrange his financial business before setting out in the spring. His\nonly food was a bag of corn; his baggage was drawn over the snow and ice\nby two men and a dog. At the fort he had to exert all his ability and\nenergy to counteract the malicious efforts and practices of his enemies\nfor his ruin. His creditors at Quebec became alarmed by the reports and\ncalumnies of his foes. His effects at that town were seized and\nsacrificed, while the property which he was compelled to leave at Fort\nFrontenac was in value double all his debts. But the delay of his\nexpedition would be to him a greater evil than the loss of property, so\nthat he could not stop to remedy or resist these proceedings. In the midst\nof such harassing cares he bore in mind the necessity of providing for the\nreligious wants of his companions and of the benighted heathen nations\nwhich he intended to visit. He secured the services of three Recollect\nmissionaries, Fathers Gabriel de la Ribourde, Louis Hennepin, and Zenobe\nMembr\u00e9. He had already, while commanding at Fort Frontenac, built for\nthese good missionaries a house and chapel; he now bestowed upon their\norder eighteen acres of land near the fort, and one hundred acres of\nforest\u2010land.\n\nTonty having faithfully completed his task, the ship was launched,\nreceiving the name of _Griffin_, as a compliment to the Comte de\nFrontenac, whose armorial bearings were adorned with two griffins. Tonty\nwas next sent in search of the fifteen men who had previously set out. The\n_Griffin_, with La Salle, the missionaries, and the remainder of the party\non board, sailed on the 7th of August, 1679, on the bosom of Lake Erie.\nThe artillery saluted the vessel, as she dashed through the waves, and the\nmissionary and crew chanted a grateful _Te Deum_ in honor of Him who had\nspeeded their work. The Senecas gazed with wonder at a bark of sixty tons\nriding the lake with greater ease and grace than their own canoes.\nReaching in safety the straits connecting Lakes Erie and Huron, he\nconsidered the expediency of planting a colony on the majestic Detroit, as\nhe glided between its islands; and on the 12th, S. Clare\u2019s Day, as he\ntraversed its shallow waters, he bestowed upon the little river the name\nof that saint. While the ship was passing over Lake Huron, she was\novertaken by a terrible storm, which caused even the bold captain to fear\nfor the safety of all on board. Uniting with the missionaries in petitions\nfor the intercession of S. Anthony of Padua, he made a promise to dedicate\nthe first chapel built in the countries he was going to discover in honor\nof that patron saint, in case he should escape. The province from which\nthe missionaries of the expedition had come was that of S. Anthony of\nPadua, in Artois; hence the selection of this saint as their protector on\nthis occasion, as well as for the reason that he is frequently invoked as\nthe patron of mariners. The storm abated, and on the 27th of August, the\n_Griffin_, aided by friendly winds, entered a safe harbor in the island of\nMackinac.\n\nHere again the \u201cgreat wooden canoe\u201d was an object of admiration and dread\nto the natives, heightened by the roar of the cannon on board. La Salle,\nclad in a cloak of scarlet and gold, visited the nearest village, and the\npious priests offered up the Holy Sacrifice for the benefit of those\nbenighted savages. The opposite bank had been the scene of the missionary\nlabors of the illustrious Marquette. The captain visited this spot,\nendeavoring there and in the neighboring country to propitiate the\nfriendship of the natives as he advanced. His enemies had here too been at\nwork, poisoning the minds of the Indians against him far and near, and\ntampering with the advanced corps of fifteen men whom he had sent out, and\nwho, under such influences, became faithless to their leader: some of them\ndeserted, and others squandered the provisions which he had entrusted to\nthem. Again setting sail, the _Griffin_ bore them to Green Bay, where La\nSalle had the satisfaction of meeting some of his advanced party who had\ncontinued faithful to him and their duty, and who now returned with a\ngoodly quantity of furs, the result of successful traffic with the\nIndians. After two weeks he loaded the _Griffin_ with the rich furs\nbrought in by his men, and sent her with the pilot and five mariners back\nto the Niagara, amidst the murmurs of his men, who dreaded the work of\nproceeding in light canoes. It has been remarked(159) that had he adopted\nthe Ohio as his conduit to the Mississippi, one vessel would have answered\nhis purpose, and much suffering and delay been saved, for this river had\nbeen known to the missionaries; by his present plan, he had to build two\nvessels, one above the falls of Niagara, and one on the Illinois River. He\nnow set out to descend Lake Michigan in four bark canoes, September the\n19th, the party consisting of La Salle, the fathers, and seventeen men;\nand they continued their perilous voyage along the west side of the lake.\nThey were overtaken before nightfall by a violent storm, and for several\ndays they struggled through wind, rain, sleet, and waves, until they\nlanded with great danger near the river Milwaukee. Seeing their perilous\nsituation, La Salle leaped into the water, and with his own hands helped\nto drag his canoe ashore. Those in the other boats followed his example,\nand soon the landing was effected and the canoes secured.\n\nLa Salle was accompanied in his expedition by a faithful Indian, who\nproved a useful member of the party; for his unerring gun frequently\nrelieved the hunger of the travellers with game from the surrounding\nforests. They also procured corn from the natives, always paying its full\nvalue; and even when they had to take it from villages temporarily\nabandoned, where there was no one to receive payment, its value in goods\nwas left in its place. At this bleak landing near the Milwaukee the\nIndians, moved with sympathy for their exhausted and weather\u2010beaten\ncondition, brought deer and corn for their relief, smoked with them the\ncalumet of friendship, and entertained them with war dances and songs.\nCheered on their way by the kindly offices and generous sympathy of the\nnatives, in which they felt that\n\n\n \u201cKindness by secret sympathy is tied,\n For noble souls in nature are allied,\u201d\n\n\nthey pushed on with renewed courage to encounter again the perils of the\nelements. The voyage from this point to the end of the lake was one\ncontinued series of hardships and dangers. They found it frequently a\nrelief from the fury of the waves to drag their canoes over the rugged\nrocks; and as they pulled them ashore the heaving surf dashed the spray\nover their heads. They encountered a wandering party of Outagamies, or Fox\nIndians, near a green and refreshing spot, where they stopped to rest and\nrefresh themselves, and it was only the address, deliberation, and iron\ncourage of La Salle that prevented a bloody conflict with these\ntreacherous savages. On the first of November the entire party came safely\ninto the mouth of the Miami River, now S. Joseph\u2019s, previously appointed\nas the rendezvous, at which the several companies were to meet.\n\nHere La Salle was sorely disappointed at not finding the Chevalier Tonty.\nSuffering from want of food and the increasing severity of the winter, the\nmen began to murmur; but La Salle\u2019s bold spirit of command kept them in\nsubjection, especially when they saw him sharing every hardship,\nprivation, and danger with them. He kept them busy in building a fort for\ntheir protection from the savages, and in exploring the country and\nneighboring rivers. The missionaries caused a bark chapel to be erected,\nin which the divine service was attended by both Europeans and Indians.\nBut La Salle\u2019s apprehensions for the fate of the _Griffin_ began to\nincrease. At length Tonty arrived, and, while he relieved his captain and\nmen with provisions and reinforcements, he confirmed their alarm for the\nvessel. The _Griffin_ had not reached Mackinac, no tidings could be\nobtained from the Indians of her safety or fate, and it became, alas! too\ncertain that she, the first to ride triumphantly, with her proud sails\nspread and her streamers unfurled, across these great lakes, had been the\nfirst to fall a victim, with her hardy crew, to the avenging waves of Lake\nMichigan.\n\nThe cavalier now prepared to go down the Kankakee River to the Illinois.\nThe distance to the portage was seventy miles, and much time and labor\nwere spent in endeavoring to find the proper portage. La Salle started out\nhimself to explore the country, and to discover, if possible, the eastern\nbranch of the Illinois. Detained till evening in making the circuit of a\nlarge marsh, his gun, fired as a signal, was not answered, and he resolved\nto spend the night alone in that fearful wilderness. He fortunately\ndescried a fire, and on approaching saw near by a bed of leaves, from\nwhich some nomadic son of the forest, startled at the report of the gun,\nhad just fled. La Salle scattered leaves and branches around, in order\nthat he might not be surprised in the night, and then took possession of\nthe Indian\u2019s rustic bed, in which he slept peacefully till morning. To the\ngreat joy of his friends, he returned in the following afternoon, with two\nopossums hanging from his belt. At length the Indian hunter of the\nexpedition found the portage. Leaving four men in the fort, the expedition\nset out on the 3d of December; the canoes and all the baggage were carried\nover five or six miles to the head\u2010waters of the Kankakee, and about the\n5th of December the company, consisting of thirty\u2010three persons, commenced\ntheir passage down the dreary and marshy stream, rendered yet more gloomy\nby the rigors of mid\u2010winter. At length, after enduring hunger and cold,\nthey came to a more genial and smiling country, and soon their canoes\nglided into the river Illinois. On the banks of the river they discovered\nand visited the largest of the Illinois villages, composed of four or five\nhundred cabins, in each of which resided five or six families, not far\nbelow the present town of Ottawa, in La Salle County, Illinois. But the\nplace was deserted; the inhabitants had all gone to the hunting\u2010grounds\nfor wild cattle and beaver, leaving their corn stored away in their\ngranaries. Yielding to the necessities of his condition, and trusting to\nfortune for an opportunity to make ample compensation, La Salle\nappropriated fifty bushels of corn from the immense quantities stored away\nin the capacious granaries of the village. Re\u2010embarking on the 27th of\nDecember, the party proceeded down the current. On the 1st of January,\n1680, the feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord was solemnly and\nappropriately celebrated, the salutations of the New Year were exchanged,\nand we may well imagine with what hearty and earnest good\u2010wishes those\nbrave voyagers blessed each other. On the same day, after passing through\nLake Pimiteony, now Lake Peoria, our voyagers came suddenly upon an Indian\nencampment on both sides of the river. Having heard that the Illinois were\nhostile, La Salle arranged his flotilla for the emergency; the men were\narmed, and the canoes were placed in battle array across the entire river,\nLa Salle and Tonty occupying the two canoes nearest the shore. Observing\nthat the Indians were somewhat alarmed and disposed to parley, La Salle\nboldly landed in the midst of the innumerable bands of dusky warriors,\nprepared for either war or peace, and by his skill and invincible courage\nsoon succeeded in making them his friends. After smoking with them the\ncalumet of peace, he explained the circumstance of his having taken their\ncorn, and then paid them liberally for it, to their great satisfaction. He\nalso told them that he came amongst them in order to give them a knowledge\nof the one true God, and to better their condition. An alliance of\nfriendship was entered into, and all retired apparently to rest.\n\nBut during the night emissaries from La Salle\u2019s enemies arrived. A grand\ncouncil was held, as that is the favorite time with the Indians for\ntransacting their most important business. The poison was infused into the\nminds of La Salle\u2019s recent allies; and on the following morning his keen\neye soon saw that the intrigues of his enemies had not failed to follow\nhim to that distant region, and it was only his brave, frank, and\ndetermined bearing that enabled him to surmount the countless obstacles\nthat were thus thrown in his way. The effect of this intrigue, however,\nwas not wholly lost on his own men. Six of them deserted him at this\ntrying juncture. Severe as was this loss, his proud spirit bore up\nmanfully under it; but the loss of his vessel was a severer trial to him,\nbut one that failed to dampen the ardor of his enthusiasm or the\ndetermination of his will. He selected a spot for a fort half a league\nfrom the Indian camp and near the present city of Peoria; and while he\nbestowed upon his fort the name of Cr\u00e8vec\u0153ur\u2014Broken Heart\u2014under the sad\ninfluence of the loss of the _Griffin_ and the machinations of his\nenemies, the vigor with which he raised its walls and arranged its\narmament is ample proof that he still possessed a heart full of courage\nand hope.\n\nIn the middle of January the entire company took up their residence within\nthe fort. Father Membr\u00e9 remained with the Indians, was adopted into the\nfamily of a noted chief, and devoted himself to the task of winning the\nIllinois to the Christian faith. Father de La Ribourde exercised his\nministry at the fort, where he erected a chapel; and Father Hennepin is\nsaid to have \u201crambled as his fancies moved him.\u201d\n\nLa Salle engaged a portion of his men in building a brigantine forty\u2010two\nfeet long and twelve feet broad, in which to descend the Mississippi. On\nthe 29th of February, 1680, he sent an expedition under the direction of\nFather Hennepin, accompanied by Picard Du Gay and Michel Ako, to explore\nfor the first time the Mississippi above the mouth of the Wisconsin, the\npoint from which Father Marquette\u2019s voyage down the great river commenced.\nIn six weeks the hull of the brigantine was nearly ready to receive the\nmasts and rigging, but the necessary materials were wanting to complete\nthe equipment. An abundance of such materials had been placed on board the\n_Griffin_, but these had been buried beneath the waters of the lake with\nthe ill\u2010fated vessel. Gloomy indeed was the prospect before our brave\ncavalier; but bold resolves are rapidly conceived and speedily executed by\ndaring spirits. He placed Tonty in command of the fort, and, in order to\nprocure what was necessary for the new vessel, he determined to return on\nfoot to Fort Frontenac, distant at least twelve hundred miles. His journey\nlay along the southern shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario, through vast\nforests; innumerable rivers intervened, which he had to ford or cross on\nrafts, and this, too, at a season of the year when the drifting snow and\nfloating ice threw extraordinary dangers and fatigues in the path of the\ntraveller. For food he must rely entirely upon the hazards of the chase.\nThe history of our race contains the record of few such undertakings as\nthis; yet the spirit of La Salle faltered not. On the 2d of March the bold\ncavalier shouldered his musket and knapsack, and, with three Frenchmen and\nhis Indian hunter, started upon his perilous journey:\n\n\n \u201cMy heart is firm;\n There\u2019s naught within the compass of humanity\n But I would dare and do.\u201d\n\n\nAfter La Salle\u2019s departure the brave and faithful Tonty began to\nexperience in turn the frowns of fortune. While superintending the\nerection of a new fort at a spot selected by La Salle, Tonty received the\nnews of an insurrection at Fort Cr\u00e8vec\u0153ur. This, too, was instigated by La\nSalle\u2019s enemies. Deserted by more than half his party, Tonty took up his\nquarters at the great Indian village, where he was treated with\nhospitality. After a residence there of six months a war\u2010party of Iroquois\nand Miamis approached the village, and for a long time Tonty and Father\nMembr\u00e9, at great peril and with much ill treatment at the hands of the\ninvading savages, endeavored to negotiate a peace. Failing in every\neffort, and finding that dangers and perils were gathering thick and fast\naround him, Tonty resolved to make his escape with his remaining five\ncompanions, which he succeeded in accomplishing, in an old and leaky\ncanoe, on the 18th of September. On the following day, about twenty\u2010five\nmiles from the village, they drew the canoe to the shore for repairs.\nWhile thus engaged they had the misfortune of losing for ever the great\nand good Father Gabriel de La Ribourde, who, with a mind fond of the\nbeautiful in nature, as well as with a soul that loved all men, had\nwandered too far up the banks of the river, drawn on by the picturesque\nscenery that lay before him, was met by three young Kickapoo warriors, and\nfell a victim to the unsparing tomahawk. After passing, with heavy hearts,\nover ice and snow, rambling for some time almost at random in the woods,\nand enduring hunger and delays, they fortunately reached a village of the\nPotawatamies, where they were received with hospitality. Tonty was\ndetained at the village by a severe and dangerous illness. Father Membr\u00e9\nadvanced to the missionary station at Green Bay; here they all met in the\nspring, and then proceeded to Mackinac to await the return of La Salle.\n\nIn the meantime La Salle, after stopping twenty\u2010four hours at the Indian\nvillage which he had previously visited, and finding that the two men whom\nhe had despatched from the Miami River to Mackinac had obtained no tidings\nof the _Griffin_, now abandoned every lingering hope for her safety. He\npressed forward on his great journey, only to hear of new disasters and\nlosses at Fort Frontenac. The fact that he accomplished such a journey\nunder such circumstances is sufficient to illustrate the endurance and\nunbending resolution of this great explorer. Of this chapter in the\nhistory of La Salle Bancroft thus writes:\n\n\n \u201cYet here the immense power of his will appeared. Dependent on\n himself, fifteen hundred miles from the nearest French settlement,\n impoverished, pursued by enemies at Quebec, and in the wilderness\n surrounded by uncertain nations, he inspired his men with\n resolution to saw trees into plank and prepare a bark; he\n despatched Louis Hennepin to explore the Upper Mississippi; he\n questioned the Illinois and their southern captives on the course\n of the Mississippi; he formed conjectures concerning the Tennessee\n River; and then, as new recruits were needed, and sails and\n cordage for the bark, in the month of March, with a musket and a\n pouch of powder and shot, with a blanket for his protection, and\n skins of which to make moccasins, he, with three companions, set\n off on foot for Fort Frontenac, to trudge through thickets and\n forests, to wade through marshes and melting snows, having for his\n pathway the ridge of highlands which divide the basin of the Ohio\n from that of the lakes\u2014without drink, except water from the\n brooks; without food, except supplies from his gun. Of his\n thoughts on that long journey no record exists.\u201d\n\n\nHe arrived safely at Fort Frontenac, but his affairs had all gone wrong in\nhis absence. In the destruction of his vessel and cargo he had sustained a\nloss of a large portion of his means; besides this, his agents had\nplundered him in the fur trade on Lake Ontario; a vessel freighted with\nmerchandise for him had been lost in the Bay of St. Lawrence; his heavily\u2010\nladen canoes had been dashed to pieces by the rapids above Montreal; some\nof his men, corrupted by his enemies, had deserted, carrying his property\namong the Dutch in New York, and his creditors, availing themselves of a\nreport, gotten up by his enemies, that he and his companions had been\nlost, had seized on his remaining effects, and sacrificed them in the\nmarket. But one friend remained to him in all Canada\u2014the Comte de\nFrontenac. The undaunted La Salle still pushed forward his work; having\narranged his affairs as well as he could, he secured the services of La\nForest as an officer, and engaged more men. On the 23d of July, 1680, he\nset out on his return. Detained more than a month on Lake Ontario by head\u2010\nwinds, he reached Mackinac in the middle of September, and the Miami\ntowards the end of November. Proceeding to the spot where he had left\nTonty, he found his forts abandoned, the Illinois village abandoned, and\ncould hear nothing of the companions whom he had left behind him. He now\nheard of the Iroquois war, and spent some time and effort in endeavoring\nto effect an alliance of all the neighboring tribes against the Illinois.\nFinding it impossible to accomplish his purpose for want of a larger\nforce, he returned to the Miami River late in May, 1681, and about the\nmiddle of June he had the happiness of saluting Tonty and his companions\nin the harbor of Mackinac. The two cavaliers sat down together, and\nrelated to each other their respective misfortunes and hardships. Thus\nanother year\u2019s delay was occasioned; but in the meantime the trade with\nthe Indians was prosecuted with vigor. Some idea may be formed of the\nmaterial of which these two men were made when it is related that even\nnow, when all their plans had failed and all seemed lost to them, the\nardor with which they first commenced this wonderful task remained\nunbroken and undiminished. In order to renew their preparations for the\nexploration of the Mississippi, they all set out in a few days for Fort\nFrontenac, from which La Salle had already twice departed with the bold\nand lofty purpose of exploring and laying open to the world the interior\ngeography of the continent. An eyewitness to these interesting conferences\nbetween La Salle and Tonty relates that the former maintained \u201chis\nordinary coolness and self\u2010possession. Any one but him would have\nrenounced and abandoned the enterprise; but, far from that, by a firmness\nof mind and an almost unequalled constancy, I saw him more resolute than\never to continue his work and to carry out his discovery.\u201d(160)\n\nAs already mentioned, Father Hennepin had been commissioned by the captain\nto explore, with his selected companions, the Upper Mississippi, probably\nthe last aspiration of La Salle after the discovery of the northwest\npassage to the China Sea. Proceeding down the Illinois to its mouth,\nFather Hennepin directed his canoe up the unexplored stream, and on the\neleventh day he and his companions were near the Wisconsin River. Turning\nup this river, they proceeded nineteen days, when the grand cataract burst\nfor the first time upon the view of Europeans.\n\n\n \u201cIt hath a thousand tongues of mirth,\n Of grandeur, or delight,\n And every heart is gladder made\n When water greets the sight.\u201d\n\n\nIt was called \u201cThe Falls of St. Anthony\u201d in honor of the holy founder of\nthe order of the Recollects. Falling in with the Sieur Du Luth, the two\nparties, nine in number, rambled and messed together till the end of\nSeptember, 1680, when they all set out for Canada. Father Hennepin sailed\nfrom Quebec to France, where he published, in 1684, an account of his\ntravels and discoveries. Thirteen years after this, and ten after the\ndeath of La Salle, he published his _New Discovery of a Vast Country in\nAmerica, between New Mexico and the Frozen Ocean_, in which the love of\nthe marvellous is regarded by historians as having far transcended the\nlimits of authentic and trustworthy narrative, and as conflicting with the\nrecognized and just pretensions of La Salle.\n\nUpon his return to Fort Frontenac La Salle lost no time in preparing for\nanother effort. He arranged his affairs with his creditors, pledged Fort\nFrontenac and the adjacent lands and trading privileges for his future\nexpenses, and enlisted forces for his expedition. On the 28th of August,\n1681, the company set out in canoes from the head of the Niagara River,\nand on the third of November they had arrived at the Miami. The constant\nand ever\u2010faithful Tonty and the good Father Membr\u00e9 accompanied the\nexpedition, which consisted of fifty\u2010four persons, of whom twenty\u2010three\nwere Frenchmen, eighteen Abnakis or Loup Indians, ten Indian women whom\nthe Indians insisted should go along in order to do their cooking, and\nthree children. Six weeks were consumed at the Miami in making the\nnecessary arrangements. The Sieur Tonty and Father Membr\u00e9 proceeded with\nnearly the entire company along the southern border of Lake Michigan to\nthe mouth of the Chicago River, dragging their canoes, baggage, and\nprovisions for about eighty leagues over the frozen waters of the Illinois\non sledges prepared by the indefatigable Tonty. La Salle travelled on foot\nfrom the Miami River, and joined the company on the 4th of January, 1682.\nThey continued their journey in the same way up the Chicago to Lake\nPeoria, where the canoes were carried upon the waters, and on the 6th of\nFebruary the great river, then called the \u201cColbert,\u201d received its\nexplorers safely upon its waves. They were detained by the floating ice\ntill about the 19th, when the flotilla commenced its eventful voyage. On\nthe same day, six leagues lower down, they passed the mouth of the\nMissouri, then called the Osage. They stopped at a deserted village of the\nTamaroas Indians, whose people were absent on the chase, and then slowly\npassed on for forty leagues till they reached the Ohio, stopping\nfrequently on the route to replenish their stock of provisions by hunting\nand fishing. Leaving the Ohio, they passed through one hundred and twenty\nmiles of low, marshy river, full of thick foam, rushes, and walnut\u2010trees,\ntill, on the 26th of February, they came to Chickasaw Bluffs, where they\nrested. Here a fort was built and called Fort Prudhomme, in memory of\nPeter Prudhomme, one of their companions, who was lost while hunting in\nthe woods, supposed to have been killed or carried off by a party of\nIndians, whose trail was discovered near by. Afterwards, by the untiring\nand determined efforts of La Salle, and after nine days scouring the\ncountry, Prudhomme was found and restored to his companions; but the fort\nlong retained his name. Proceeding about a hundred miles, they heard the\nsound of drums and the echo of war\u2010cries, and soon they came abreast of\nthe villages of the Arkansas Indians, whose inhabitants were informed at\none and the same time that the strangers were prepared for war\u2014as was\nevidenced by the erection of a redoubt upon the shore; or for peace\u2014as was\nmanifested by their extending the calumet of peace. They found the Indians\npeaceable and friendly, and here our voyagers stopped to rest. Two weeks\nwere spent amongst these gay, open\u2010hearted, and gentle natives in smoking\nthe calumet, partaking of feasts, and obtaining Indian corn, beans, flour,\nand various kinds of fruits, for which they repaid their entertainers with\npresents which, however trifling, pleased their fancy much. Father Membr\u00e9\nerected a cross, around which the natives assembled; and though he could\nnot speak their language, he succeeded in acquainting them with the\nexistence of the true God and some of the mysteries of the true faith. The\nIndians seemed to appreciate all he said, for they raised their eyes to\nheaven and fell upon their knees in adoration; they rubbed their hands\nupon the cross, and then all over their own bodies, as if to communicate\nits holiness to themselves; and, on the return voyage, the missionary\nfound that they had protected the cross by a palisade. La Salle also took\npossession of the country with great ceremony in behalf of France, and\nerected the arms of the king, at which the Indians expressed great\npleasure.\n\nOn the 17th they proceeded on their route, and were received and\nentertained most hospitably at another village of the same Akansas nation.\nOn the 20th they arrived at a small lake formed by the waters of the\nMississippi, on the opposite side of which they found a gentle tribe of\nIndians, far more civilized than any they had yet met, whose sovereign\nruled over his people with regal ceremony, whose houses were built with\nwalls and cane roofs, were adorned with native paintings, and furnished\nwith wooden beds and other domestic comforts. Their temples were\nornamented, and served as sepulchres for their departed chiefs. La Salle\nbeing too fatigued to visit this interesting people, he sent the Sieur\nTonty and Father Membr\u00e9 on an embassy to the king, to whom they carried\npresents, and who received them with great ceremony. The king next\nreturned the compliment by a visit to the commander, sending his master of\nceremonies and heralds before him, and coming two hours afterwards\nhimself, preceded by two men carrying fans of white feathers, himself\ndressed in a white robe beautifully woven of the bark of trees, with a\ncanopy over his head, and attended by a royal retinue. The king\u2019s demeanor\nduring the interview was grave but frank and friendly. Resuming their\nroute on the 26th of March, thirty or forty miles below this they came\namong the Natchez Indians, whose village La Salle, with some of his\ncompanions, visited by invitation, sleeping there that night and receiving\nhospitality. A cross was erected here, too, to which were attached the\narms of France, signifying that thereby they took possession of the\ncountry in the name of their sovereign. The Holy Mass was also offered,\nand the company received the Blessed Sacrament. They next visited the\nvillage of Koroa, and then, advancing over a hundred miles, on the 2d of\nApril they came to the country of the Quinipissas, a belligerent tribe,\nwho answered a proposal to smoke the calumet of peace by a shower of\narrows. But having no object to attain by difficulties with the natives,\nLa Salle passed on to the village of the Tangiboas, three of whose\ndeserted cabins he saw full of the bodies of Indians who, fifteen or\nsixteen days before, had fallen victims in an engagement in which the\nvillage was sacked and pillaged. Speaking of La Salle while thus\ndescending the great river, Bancroft writes: \u201cHis sagacious eye discerned\nthe magnificent resources of the country. As he floated down its flood; as\nhe framed a cabin on the first Chickasaw bluff; as he raised the cross by\nthe Arkansas; as he planted the arms of France near the Gulf of Mexico, he\nanticipated the future affluence of the emigrants, and heard in the\ndistance the footsteps of the advancing multitude that were coming to take\npossession of the valley.\u201d\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nBirth\u2010Days.\n\n\n\u201cWHO ARE JUST BORN, BEING DEAD.\u201d\n\nWho weeps when love, a cradled babe, is born?\n Rather we bring frankincense, myrrh, and gold,\n While softest welcomes from our lips are rolled\nTo meet the dawning fragrance of a morn\nOf checkered being. Even while the thorn\n Keeps pace with rosy graces that unfold,\n Do we with rapture cry, \u201cBehold, behold,\nA heaven\u2010dropped flower our garden to adorn!\u201d\nAnd yet when from our darling fall the years\n As from the rose the shrivelled petals rain,\n And into newer life the soul again\nSprings thornless to the air of purer spheres,\n So blinded are we by our bitter pain\nWe greet the sweeter birth with selfish tears.\n\n\n\n\nThe Future Of The Russian Church.\n\n\nBy The Rev. C\u00e6sarius Tondini, Barnabite.\n\n\n\nII.\u2014Continued.\n\n\nLet it only be borne in mind _what_ are those things which are required of\nher members by the faith and discipline of the Orthodox Church, and it\nwill be granted us, at least face to face with unbelief, that her priests\nneed something more than the ordinary respectability of a worthy man, an\nobedient subject of his sovereign, a good father of a family, faithful to\nhis wife and devoted to his children.(161)\n\nThis _something more_ is possessed by the Catholic Church. The Russian\nChurch has lost it. Whatever may be thought of the ecclesiastical law on\nthe celibacy of the priesthood, we think it cannot be denied that a\npriest, living as an angel upon earth, exercises an influence which is\nalways lacking to a married priest. This \u201cmagnetism of purity,\u201d as it has\nbeen called, has inspired one of the noblest odes of the great English\npoet, Tennyson;(162) and they who in good faith argue against sacerdotal\ncelibacy do so because, in their opinion, the purity required by the\nCatholic Church is a virtue too celestial to be met with here below; thus\nreasoning as did that Jew who, after reading a treatise on the Holy\nEucharist by the Abb\u00e9 Martinet,(163) said to us, \u201cThis cannot be true,\nbecause it would be too beautiful!\u201d Those who reason as did this Jew\nconclude too easily from difficulty\u2014what virtue is not difficult?\u2014to\nimpossibility? We do not undertake to convince those who have not faith,\nand who refuse to allow the efficacy of supernatural means; for the task\nwould be a hopeless one. But if they have faith, we will submit to them\nthe following consideration, which will not be without some weight.\n\nAnd this is that the Catholic Church earnestly invites all her priests to\ncelebrate _daily_ the holy Mass, and makes it their strict duty to recite\nevery day, with attention and piety, the divine Office. In undertaking the\ndefence of the Russian clergy M. Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti says: \u201cHypocrisy is a vice\nunknown among them, their piety being of a genuine stamp, and only giving\noutward expression to the sentiment which is really felt\u2014namely, a belief\nin the sanctifying virtues of the ceremonies which they are called to\nperform.\u201d(164) Let it, then, be permitted to us also to express here our\nfirm belief in the sanctifying virtue of the Mass and the divine Office.\nThe Holy Eucharist is called in Scripture _frumentum electorum et vinum __\ngerminans virgins_\u2014\u201cthe wheat of the elect and the wine which makes\nvirgins spring forth\u201d (Zach. ix. 17). With regard to the divine Office, it\nis the prayer _par excellence_ of the church. As the Lord\u2019s Prayer, taught\nand recommended by Jesus Christ himself, has a power which is special to\nit, and a particular efficacy, so also is a sanctifying virtue attached to\na prayer chosen and placed daily on our lips by the church. The Mass and\nthe divine Office, in a manner, force the priest to have always about him\nsome thoughts of heaven. If vanity or worldly seductions acquire over him\na momentary ascendency, the Mass and the divine Office recall him to those\nsalutary truths which never change.\n\nWe will not dwell longer on this point; the reader will be well able to\nmake its practical application. We will only now add that, if to have been\ncapable of an act of great generosity is a title to indulgence for many\ndefects; if the remembrance of an heroic action in favor of one\u2019s country\nor of humanity surrounds with an aureola of glory the whole existence of\nhim who has performed it; and if, in short, people hesitate to pronounce\nsentence against him, even when he has deserved blame, let it also be\nremembered that every Catholic priest, whoever he may be, has\naccomplished, at least once in his life, an act of the greatest\ngenerosity. He has sworn, on being admitted into Holy Orders, to renounce\nevery affection which, by dividing his heart, could hinder him from\ndevoting himself solely and without reserve for the good of souls; and\nsolely with that intent has he voluntarily chosen the path of self\u2010denial\nand of conflicts which are the consequences of his generosity. This being\nconsidered, there is nothing surprising in the fact that a certain\ninfluence is invariably exercised by the Catholic priest who is faithful\nto his duties, even if his learning and education be defective.\n\nNow, this influence, doubly necessary in Russia, on account of the social\ninferiority of the orthodox clergy, is entirely wanting to all that\nportion of the clergy which is in contact with the people;(165) and the\nfatal consequences of this want will make themselves especially felt in\nthat day when nothing shall be unimportant that can help to keep alive\nfaith in the Russian people.\n\nAnd this is not all. In the poem alluded to above Tennyson puts these\nwords into the mouth of his hero, the virgin\u2010knight:\n\n\n \u201cMy good blade carves the casques of men,\n My tough lance thrusteth sure,\n My strength is as the strength of ten,\n Because my heart is pure.\u201d(166)\n\n\nHe who thus reveals to us the intimate relation existing between purity\nand strength is not a Catholic. If we had expressed the same thought as\noriginating from ourselves, we might have been charged with mysticism;\nthis is why we have quoted the great poet. He would not fear being called\nupon to justify his thought; let him therefore be the one attacked.\n\nBut whatever may be the weight which experience gives to this thought of\nTennyson\u2019s, there is no need to wait for the time when the Russian clergy\nshall be waging war against unbelief, to judge of the strength they are\nlikely to have for the combat. In a chapter devoted to revelations of the\nstate of the \u201corthodox\u201d clergy, M. Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti takes praiseworthy pains\nto exhibit their good qualities. \u201cI have found,\u201d he writes, \u201cwith some\nregrettable exceptions, that the Russian priest possessed two valuable and\ntruly Christian qualities, the frequency of which constitutes in some sort\na characteristic feature of the class. The Russian priest is pious without\nany ostentation, and he is gifted with a wonderful faculty for supporting\nmisfortune, under whatever form it may overtake him.\u201d(167) We have already\nmade some observations on the first of these two qualities, and will now\ndo the same for the second.\n\nTo be endowed with a marvellous power of supporting misfortune\u2014what better\npreparation, apparently, could there be for supporting the struggle of the\nfuture? It is to patience that our Lord Jesus Christ promises the\npossession of our souls for a happy eternity when he says: _In patientia\nvestra possidebitis animas vestras_\u2014\u201cIn your patience you shall possess\nyour souls\u201d (S. Luke xxi. 19). These divine words, alas! cannot in any way\nfind their application in the patience of the Russian clergy. The patience\nwhereof our Lord speaks is that which fills and sustains the soul, and\nwhich places in our mouths words whose wisdom puts our adversaries to\nsilence.\n\nThis explanation is not our own; it is that of Jesus Christ himself. \u201cThey\nwill lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the\nsynagogues and into prisons, dragging you before kings and governors, for\nmy name\u2019s sake: and it shall happen to you for a testimony. Lay it up,\ntherefore, in your hearts, not to meditate before, how you shall answer.\nFor I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall\nnot be able to resist and gainsay. And you shall be betrayed by your\nparents and brethren, and kinsmen and friends: and some of you they will\nput to death. And you shall be hated of all men for my name\u2019s sake: but a\nhair of your head shall not perish. In your patience you shall possess\nyour souls\u201d (S. Luke xxi. 12\u201019). The patience here described corresponds\nexactly with the patience of which the Catholic bishops and priests of\nSwitzerland, Germany, and elsewhere are offering us at this very time so\nedifying and admirable an example.\n\nThe patience taught by our Lord, then, is not wanting to the Catholic\nclergy; can we hope to find it in the Russian clergy in the day when\northodoxy shall be threatened? Let us well consider the words of our Lord\nwhich we have just quoted, bearing in mind the energetic spirit which they\nsuppose, and let us then compare them with the following words of the most\ndevoted advocate of the orthodox clergy in Russia: \u201cThis readiness to\nbear, without murmuring, the sudden reverses of fortune,\u201d says Sch\u00e9do\u2010\nFerroti, \u201cthis spontaneous submission to the decrees of Providence, is too\nChristian a virtue to allow us to refuse it the admiration which it\ndeserves; but it seems to us that the combination of circumstances which\nhas contributed to develop in the Russian clergy this _mute resignation_\nhas also exercised a depressing influence upon their moral strength, in\nparalyzing the powers of their will by rendering its free exercise utterly\nand invariably impossible. It is the natural consequence of excessive\nsuffering, whether physical or moral, to end in the enervation of the\npatient, by depriving him of the faculty of action, by destroying all his\nenergy, and leaving him destitute even of any belief in his own strength;\nallowing him to remain in possession of but one single conviction, that of\nhis powerlessness to struggle against fate\u2014a conviction that finds its\nexpression in this mute and absolute resignation which we find in the\nlower Russian clergy.\u201d(168)\n\nPoor Russian clergy! They are all that they can be expected to be,\nconsidering what the czars have made them. The sufferings of the Russian\npriest are not forgotten by God, neither does he forget his resignation.\nFar from desiring to cast a stone at him, we gladly point out all that we\ncan find in his favor. Reduced to such a degree of indigence that he is\ncompelled to maintain himself by laboriously toiling in the fields, the\npressing needs of life bow down not only his brow, but his soul also,\ntowards the earth. What right have we to expect that he can devote to the\ninterests of souls the time and thought imperiously demanded by the daily\nnecessities of his own existence? And even could he forget himself, and in\nself\u2010devotion taste the sublime joy of sacrifice, he is not alone; and\nwill his wife and children also become so many victims of his zeal for\nsouls?\n\nThis feebleness, this helplessness, these bonds\u2014these are the very things\nwhich many would desire to see also in the militant ranks of the Catholic\nChurch. \u201cBut wherefore, then, is it,\u201d asks the church, in pointing out the\narmies of this world, \u201cthat the secular governments will that the soldiers\ncalled to defend their country should be alone and free?\u201d(169)\n\nBut if to be single and free is an element of strength lacking to the\nRussian priest, already by long habituation to suffering and slavery\nreduced to the state of which so striking a picture is drawn by Sch\u00e9do\u2010\nFerroti, another support is also wanting to him, the power of which is\nevident in the Catholic clergy. In our day, and under our very eyes, every\ncircumstance concurs to encourage apostasy among the latter. Priests who\nfail in their duty gain the favor of governments, a considerable portion\nof the press, the secure perspective of honors and offices; they are\nproclaimed the only honest, the only true ministers of Jesus Christ, who\nalone comprehend his interests or succeed in causing him to be loved by\nsouls. In all this there is something seductive, not only for the\nambitious and such as would free themselves from the severe discipline of\nthe church, but for those also who, in presence of the ravages which\nunbelief is making, persuade themselves\u2014not with much humility\u2014that if the\nchurch would act according to their ideas, the interests of God would be\nbetter secured. In spite of all these things, the number of apostates is a\nmere nothing when we take into consideration the number of Catholic\npriests. Did those who have undertaken to make war against Catholicity\nexpect this check?\u2014which, we remark in passing, witnesses plainly against\nthe alleged prevalence of abuses. Have they well calculated the forces of\nthe enemy which they flattered themselves they were about to annihilate?\nUnless we are mistaken, they think that its strength is the same in the\npresent day as it was in the time of Luther, and that, if whole nations\nwere then withdrawn from the church, there is no reason why they should\nnot be so now. But the Protestantism of those days allowed a true faith in\nGod, in Providence, in Jesus Christ, and retained a baptism in every\nrespect valid. It is allowable to believe that if God has permitted that\nwhole nations should be snatched from the _immediate_ care of the church,\nhis providence will keep them from ever falling back into the state in\nwhich they were before the redemption; though this is the logical result\nof modern Protestantism. Besides, the social and political situation of\nEurope, the habits of the various nations, and especially the difficulty\nof communication, then permitted sovereigns to raise, as it were, so many\nwalls of China round the confines of their states. They could at that time\nisolate their subjects, and only allow them just so much\nintercommunication with the rest of the world as _they_ might choose to\nconsider suitable to the interests of the state. If thought itself could\nnot be chained, its manifestations at least could be circumscribed or\nstifled. This is no longer possible in the present day; a pamphlet, a\njournal, a speech in parliament, even to a simple word of a bishop, can\nnow, from the other end of the world, trouble the repose and disturb the\nplans of a powerful conqueror. For thought there are no longer any\nbarriers possible, nor yet police; and thought makes revolutions.\n\nNow, amongst the thoughts which escape the vigilance of all police, and\nwhich pass through every barrier, there is also that of the constancy\nwhich, in no matter what period of the existence of the Catholic Church,\nis shown by men living under different climates, ruled by various\ninstitutions, but _brothers in the faith_. If to bear the same name, to be\nborn on the same soil, and to speak the same tongue, creates bonds so\npowerful and so devoted a defence of common interests, fraternity in the\nCatholic faith yields the palm in nothing to any other fraternity\nwhatsoever for the powerfulness of its effects. The humble _cur\u00e9_ of a\npoor parish hidden among the gorges of the mountains learns that a priest\nin a distant land has been imprisoned for refusing to betray his\nconscience. He is moved by the tidings, and takes a lively interest in the\nfate of the priest, following anxiously in his journal the narrative of\nthe struggles of this confessor of the faith. During this time, without\nhis being aware of it, a salutary work has been going on in his mind. Soon\nafterwards he finds himself in the same case\u2014namely, of being called upon\nto suffer for the performance of those duties which his quality of priest\nimposes upon him. His adversaries, judging him by the gentleness of his\nlanguage and his life, expect to intimidate him by a word; but, to their\namazement, they find in him the firmness of an apostle. From whence did he\ngain this courage? They know not, neither does he; that which impressed\nhis soul and prepared it for the conflict was nothing else than the story\nof the sufferings of his brother in the faith and in the priesthood, in a\ndistant and foreign land.\n\nWell, then, this sustaining thought which supports the Catholic priest by\nmaking him feel himself a member of that family which is as vast as the\nworld and a brother in the faith with martyrs\u2014this support will be wanting\nto the Russian clergy when upon it alone will depend the fate of\northodoxy. The Russian priest, who, not being alone, will have need of a\ncourage so much the greater as there are beings dear to him whose\nexistence is bound up with his own, will seek examples to encourage him;\nbut will he find them? The same causes which have produced the _mute\nresignation_ spoken of by Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti authorize us to think that the\nRussian clergy will not have its martyrs, or, if there should be some,\nthat their number will be too small to counterbalance the example of the\ngeneral feebleness. And yet here again we will undertake the defence of\nthe Russian clergy; for who, in fact, could require an act of heroism of a\nman \u201cenervated by excess of moral and physical sufferings, deprived of the\nfaculty of action, and not only possessing no longer any energy, but\nhaving also lost all belief in his own powers\u201d? Now, this is, word for\nword, the condition of the Russian priest, as depicted by his most zealous\ndefender.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d it may be said, \u201cthe Orthodox Church is not confined to Russia; the\northodox priest will find brethren in Austria, in Roumania, in Turkey, and\nin Greece.\u201d This is true; but it is not enough to find brothers only. The\nRussian priest will need brother\u2010martyrs; and where will he find them?\n\nBesides, strange to say, the various branches of the Orthodox Church live\nalmost strangers to each other, unless some political interest awaken the\nsentiment of fraternity in their common faith. Without entering into\ndetails on this point, we will only make one remark. It is easy to find\nseveral histories of the different branches, taken separately; but is it\nso easy to find an universal history of the Orthodox Church?(170) In\nCatholic countries the reverse of this is always the case; it is,\ncomparatively, difficult to meet with particular histories of the Catholic\nChurch in France, in Italy, in Germany, etc.; but everywhere is found and\ntaught the universal history of the Catholic Church\u2014a history in which\nthat of a nation, however great or powerful, figures, if not as an\nepisode, certainly as but a simple portion, a contingent part, of a\nnecessary whole.\n\nWe one day read in an English journal that has a wide circulation the\nfollowing remark: \u201cA church which counts among its members men like\nArchbishop Manning and Dr. Newman is a church which is not to be\ndespised.\u201d English common sense thus did justice to the \u201ccoal\u2010heavers\u2019\nfaith,\u201d as people are pleased to call the adhesion of Catholics to the\ndoctrines proposed to them by their church. In fact\u2014to speak only of the\nlast named of these two personages\u2014the author of the _Grammar of Assent_\ndoes not yield in intellectual power to any of his Anglican adversaries;\nfrom whence we may infer, by a series of logical deductions, that neither\ndoes he yield in this to any of the adversaries of the Catholic Church. To\nspeak plainly, we have never perceived that these adversaries have shown\nany alarming degree of intelligence, at least with regard to the\napplication of the rules of logic. In any case, as, since Porphyry and\nCelsus, men have never been wanting who have represented the faith\npropounded by the Catholic Church as an abdication of reason, so also,\nsince Justin and the first Christian philosophers, the church has never\nlacked doctors who, in defending her, have at the same time been the\ndefenders of reason. The apostolate of learning is not less fruitful,\nperhaps, than that of virtue and of martyrdom. Without pronouncing upon\nthe relative necessity and advantages of these three apostolates, nor\nexamining whether it is possible to exercise a _true_ apostolate by\nlearning unaided by self\u2010denial and virtue, nor even doing more than call\nto mind how God in the Old Law, and the church in the New, have always\nmade learning a part of the duty of a priest, we will confine ourselves to\nremarking that many souls are led to embrace the faith, and others,\ntempted to doubt, are quieted and confirmed, by a simple reflection\nanalogous to that of the English journal just quoted. \u201cA faith,\u201d they say,\n\u201cprofessed by minds so much above the ordinary class as such and such a\nwriter ought not to be lightly rejected.\u201d It is a preliminary argument of\nwhich the effects are salutary, and grace does the rest.\n\nIf we now take into account all that eighteen centuries and innumerable\nwriters of all lands have accumulated in the way of proofs and testimonies\nin favor of the Catholic faith; and if we at the same time consider the\nimmense variety and the infinitely\u2010multiplied forms of error, each in its\nturn combated by the church, we shall comprehend that it is scarcely\npossible to imagine any error of which the refutation has not already\nsomewhere appeared. In the same way the struggle still goes on in all\nparts of the globe, and among peoples who have advanced, some more, some\nless, in learning and civilization; in all parts of the globe the defence\nalso continues, and by men brought up among the same surroundings as their\nadversaries. In short, Catholic productions are not the exclusive appanage\nof any single diocese, any single country, any single nation; they are the\nfamily treasures, belonging to the whole Catholic Church. Facility of\ncommunication brings us, together with their names, the works of those who\nare waging war against various errors in various lands. To take time, to\nenquire, to make some researches\u2014this is the worst that could happen to a\nCatholic priest who might find himself, for the moment, unable to solve an\nobjection. But the objection is already solved, even if it be drawn from\nsome scientific discovery of yesterday, if indeed (as it often happens) it\ncannot be solved at once by the simple use of common sense, and especially\nof logic, the most necessary of sciences, and the least studied of all.\n\nThus we see what happens in the Catholic Church, and we see, therefore,\nwhy it is that in those countries where formerly the clergy may have been\nat times taken by surprise, and not well prepared to meet a sudden\nadversary, they now struggle bravely; and also we see why earnest\nCatholics have been able without difficulty to distinguish between true\nand false progress, and between true science and false.\n\nWill it be the same in Russia?\n\nWe do not wish to exaggerate anything, and will even admit that the\ncomplaints which are so general of the ignorance of the Russian clergy may\nbe much overstated. Nevertheless, in looking through the bibliography of\nthat country, we find ourselves forced to acknowledge that whenever the\nday shall arrive for unbelief to have free course there, decorated with\nthe seductive appellations of science, of progress, of the emancipation of\nreason, etc., the Russian clergy will either find themselves without arms\nwherewith to defend orthodoxy, or with such only as shall prove\ninsufficient.\n\nIn fact, the reader is perhaps not aware that, from the year 1701, Peter\nthe Great had been _obliged_ (according to Voltaire) to forbid the use of\npen and ink to monks. \u201cIt required,\u201d says the apostle of science, \u201can\nexpress permission from the archimandrite, who was responsible for those\nto whom he granted it. Peter willed that this ordinance should\ncontinue.\u201d(171) The successors of Peter likewise willed the same, although\nwe do not venture to affirm that the ordinance is still observed. Let us,\nthen, be just, and refrain from blaming the Russian monks. If, since the\ntime of Peter the Great, they have not extraordinarily enriched the\nliterature of their country, the fault is none of theirs.\n\nNeither have we any right to blame the secular Russian clergy if few\nwriters have appeared among them, nor yet any one of those whose name\nalone exercises an apostolate. All the Russians who have written on the\necclesiastical schools of their country are unwearied in their complaints\nagainst the badness of the method and the insufficiency of instruction\nwhich the young Russian levite takes with him on leaving the\nseminary.(172) We do not in any way accuse the commissions charged with\nthe inspection and reformation of the ecclesiastical schools. We are\nconvinced that these commissions have done their best; if the evil still\ncontinues as before, it is because they have not the power to touch its\nroot. Besides, how can it be expected that a priest, poor, burdened with a\nfamily, and in very many cases necessitated to maintain himself and his\nfamily by the work of his hands, can either have the necessary freedom of\nmind or sufficient leisure to devote himself to study?\n\nIt remains for us to consider the bishops. These are taken from the\nmonastic orders, and if, since Peter I., all of them have not been\narchimandrites, yet to all has, at any rate, been granted by the\narchimandrite, of their convent, at his own risk and peril, the use of pen\nand ink. Of the two hundred and eighty ecclesiastical writers who have\nappeared and died in Russia from the conversion of that country to\nChristianity down to the year 1827, and whose biographies may be found in\nthe _Dictionary_ of Mgr. Eugenius, Metropolitan of Kief,(173) one hundred\nand ten belonged to the episcopate; and ever since 1827 that episcopate\nhas continued to reckon among its members men remarkable for their\nlearning. Everything, however, is relative. These bishops have shone in\nRussia; and there has been a desire to make them shine as far as France by\ntranslating into French the _Orthodox Theology_ of Mgr. Macarius, Bishop\nof Vinnitsa; a collection of _Sermons_, by the late Mgr. Philarete,\nMetropolitan of Moscow; and perhaps some other works. It is also to be\nsupposed that some care must have been shown in selecting from amongst the\nproductions of ecclesiastical literature in Russia, the best there were to\nbe found of what she possessed. Without criticising, we think there is\nreason for saying that hitherto the Russian episcopate has not by its\nwritings furnished orthodoxy with a support proportioned to the dangers\nwith which it is threatened, and we doubt very much whether it will be\nequal to furnishing her with it very quickly. The Russian prelates\nrenowned for their learning are but few in number; besides, so long as the\nfaith and the church are protected by the Penal Code, and judicial\nprosecution would be the consequence of any attack, neither priests nor\nbishops have much chance of finding themselves face to face with any\nadversaries of importance. The latter, in fact, would be exceedingly\ncareful to avoid the men who could denounce them; and the result of this\nis that, for want of exercise, neither the bishops nor priests can state\nwhat is either their strength or their weakness. To this we must add the\nthousand hindrances placed by Russian censorship to the manifestation of\nreligious thought. There is nothing, even to the sermon preached by the\npope in his parish, which must not be submitted to censure.(174) As for\npastoral letters of bishops, we should be very glad if any could be quoted\nto us. The formalities and delays which accompany the revision and\napprobation of every work destined to appear in print are of a nature to\ndiscourage the most intrepid. The examination of _all_ the ecclesiastical\nproductions destined to appear in the immense empire of the czars is\nconfided to the committees of the _four_ ecclesiastical academies of Kief,\nKasan, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. If no exceptions were allowed, at any\nrate in favor of periodical works, the complaint of Jeremias might be\ntruly applied to Russia: _Parvuli petierunt panem, et non erat, qui\nfrangeret eis_\u2014\u201cThe little ones asked for bread, and there was none to\nbreak it for them\u201d (Lament. Jer. iv. 4). Finally, we will not stop to\nconsider the manner in which ecclesiastical censorship is exercised in\nRussia, nor yet its tendencies nor its object; but we say, to single out\none point only, that it is impossible to find in all Russia a single work\nthat is able to throw any light upon the reciprocal relations of the\nchurch and state. More than one reader will join us in acknowledging that\nin Russia a true, apologetic literature has yet to be created.\n\nTo complete the picture of that which will inevitably take place in Russia\non the day when the Orthodox Church shall there lose the support of the\nPenal Code, and will have to struggle alone, and abandoned to her own\nstrength against heresy and unbelief, we ought to observe that, since the\ngeneral confiscation of the goods of the clergy which was effected under\nCatherine II. (1762), the Russian Church has no longer anything to supply\nits needs but that which is allowed it by the state. It is the state which\nprovides for the keeping up of churches and monasteries; the state which\nfurnishes the expenses of the orthodox worship, and which assigns to the\nministers of that worship the piece of land from which they must find a\nmaintenance for themselves and their families, or else which supplies them\nwith a salary proportioned to the functions they are to exercise. It is\nnot, after all, impossible that, in the day of which we speak, the state,\nwhile continuing to retain a budget for the orthodox worship, may\nnevertheless extraordinarily reduce it; and also it is not impossible that\nconditions which cannot be conscientiously accepted will be attached to\nthe payment of the salary, already so moderate, of the ministers of this\nchurch. In either case, more even than to combat heresy and unbelief, it\nwill be necessary for the Russian Church to consider how her priests and\ntheir families are to find bread and shelter. Now, the only classes which\ncan then effectively help them\u2014are they not the same which at this day\nshow so great a contempt for their popes?\n\nAnd this is not yet all. In the day of which we speak who will secure to\nthe bishops the obedience of the secular clergy? This clergy trembles now\nbefore them, because it sees them armed by the law with a despotic\npower;(175) but no one can foresee what will happen in the day when popes\nand bishops shall be equal before the law. The bishops being all drawn\nfrom the monastic state, the result has been that hitherto the secular\nclergy have lived in subjection to the regular; and this fact, united to\nother causes, has created a powerful antagonism between these two orders\nof the clergy, which not unfrequently betrays itself by venomous writings.\nOne portion of the press makes common cause with the secular clergy; and,\nif we may judge by certain tendencies, the admission of the secular clergy\nto the episcopate will probably be one of the consequences of the changes\nthat will take place in the relations between the church and state. But it\nis not possible that this change can be peaceably effected; the disorders\nwhich, at times, arise in the application of the principle of universal\nsuffrage, show, in some degree, how, in this case, various elections of\nbishops would be brought about. And then, in the confusion and wild\ndisorder of conflict, where would be found the authority which could have\npower to settle these differences and claim for itself adhesion and\nrespect? The bishops, moreover, who or a century and a half have all been\nequal before the czar, and only distinguished by the titles and\ndecorations granted or refused according to the good pleasure of the\nmonarch\u2014will these submit themselves to an archbishop, to a metropolitan,\nto a patriarch\u2014in a word, to one from amongst themselves? Will they, for\nthe love of concord, invest him with a superior authority, and obey him?\nAnd were they to reach this point, would not St. Petersburg contest the\nprimacy with Moscow? And would Kief forget her canonical jurisdiction of\nformer times?\n\nYet more, would not Constantinople vindicate any right over Russia? And\nthe other Oriental patriarchs\u2014would they forget that their concurrence was\nformerly sought for the erection of the patriarchate of Moscow, and their\napprobation to sanction the establishment of the Synod?\n\nWe may thus, in its principal features, behold the state to which the\nczars have reduced the faith and the church of which they entitle\nthemselves the guardians. The picture is a gloomy one; nevertheless, we do\nnot believe that we have exaggerated anything. Before proceeding further\nwe would even say a word of excuse for the czars.\n\nIf the Catholic Church were not built upon a rock, proof against all\ntempests, many a Catholic sovereign designated by appellations indicative\nof the highest degree of attachment to the church would long ago have\nreduced her to the same condition as the church of the czars.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nThe Bells Of Prayer.\n\n\n During the prevalence of the great plague at Milan, \u201cat the break\n of day, at noon, and at night a bell of the cathedral gave the\n signal for reciting certain prayers which had been ordered by the\n archbishop, and this was followed by the bells of the other\n churches. Then persons were seen at the windows, and a confused\n blending of voices and groans was heard which inspired sorrow,\n not, however, unmixed with consolation.\u201d\n\n\nStern Death, the tyrant, had swept along\nWith trailing robes through the dusty mart.\nAnd laid his hand, that is white and chill,\n On the city\u2019s heart.\n\nThe Lombard City of olden ways\nOver its sorrow and wild despair\nA cry sent up to the unseen Throne\n In an earnest prayer.\n\nA lord that is dead as a peasant is,\nAnd a peasant dead is as a lord;\nThe angel stood at the city\u2019s gate\n With his lifted sword!\n\nThe tongues of bells in the steeple\u2010tops\nSent on the breath of the baleful air\nA call for the people far and near\n To evening prayer.\n\nAt the sound of bells the weeping ceased,\nThe heart of the thousand stilled its moan,\nThe name of God was uttered aloud\n With the bells\u2019 sad tone.\n\nAnd the gleaming crosses pointing up,\nLike the gold of crowns that princes wear,\nSeemed in the gray of the changeless sky\n As signs of prayer.\n\nAnd the women\u2019s eyes were wet with tears,\nTheir desolate souls were wrung with pain,\nFor the dead asleep in their silent graves\n Through the sun and rain.\n\nIn the dawn and noon and dusk it rose,\nThreading its way up the narrow stair\u2014\nThe Catholic cry\u2014when the bells were rung\n For the people\u2019s prayer.\n\n\n\n\nNew Publications.\n\n\n THE PRISONERS OF THE TEMPLE; OR DISCROWNED AND CROWNED. by M. C.\n O\u2019Connor Morris. (Eleventh volume of Father Coleridge\u2019s _Quarterly\n Series_.) London: Burns & Oates. 1874. (New York: Sold by The\n Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n\nThis is a republication with additions of papers from that excellent\nmagazine, _The Month_, which is especially valuable for its historical\narticles. It gives an account of the imprisonment of Louis XVI. and his\nfamily in the old tower of the Templars, together with sketches of other\nparts of the history of that noble and unfortunate group of victims to\natheistic and revolutionary fury. The chief interest centres in the\nhistory of Louis XVII., commonly called the Dauphin. The tragic tale of\nhis horrible sufferings and death is minutely told. At the end of the\nvolume we have a report of the judgment in the famous case of the\nNaundorffs, who pretended to be the heirs of the Dauphin. This is one of\nthe many tales of an escape of the Dauphin from the Temple and the\nsubstitution of another child in his place. The utter falsity of all these\nstories is amply proved, pretenders and prophets to the contrary\nnotwithstanding. Whoever looks to the branch of the Capets for the\ndeliverance of France must find him in the Count de Chambord. We cannot\ntoo warmly recommend this charming and pathetic narrative to all our\nreaders.\n\n\n MEDITATIONS ON THE LIFE AND DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST. By Nicholas\n Avancinus, S.J. Translated from the German Edition of the Rev. J.\n E. Zollner, by F. E. Bazalgette. With a Preface on Meditation, by\n George Potter, S.J. 2 vols. London: Burns & Oates. 1874. (New\n York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n\nThe _Meditations_ of Avancinus were specially adapted to the use of\nreligious. The German editor modified them for the use of all persons\nindiscriminately. They are prepared for every day in the year, are short,\nsimple, and well fitted for use, both in community and in private.\n\n\n THE NOBLEMAN OF \u201989. By M. A. Quinton. Translated by Prof. Ernest\n Lagarde, of Mt. St. Mary\u2019s College. Baltimore: Kelly & Piet. 1874.\n\n\nSome of our readers have doubtless read the _Quatre\u2010Vingt\u2010Treize_ of that\ngreat magician of language and fiery genius of revolution, Victor Hugo. It\nis an apology for the French Revolution; yet, to any person whose mind and\nheart are not already corrupted by bad principles and passions, it must\nseem like an apology which makes the crime worse and less excusable. The\nromances of Erckmann\u2010Chatrian are more subtle and plausible. One or two of\nthem are, if taken singly, quite inoffensive, and a translation of them\nwas some time ago given in our own pages on account of their vivid\nillustration of most interesting historical epochs. A contributor, quite\nunsuspectingly, even proposed to translate them all, and the necessity of\nreading the whole set before accepting the proposition, first opened our\neyes to the scope and object which their authors have always had in view,\nand which is exposed in some very plainly; as, for instance, in\n_Waterloo_, the sequel to _The Conscript_. The end of these writers is to\nextend and popularize hatred of the church, the clergy, and the classes\nenjoying wealth or power in the state; to foster the spirit of liberalism\neither in its extreme or moderate form, and thus to help on the\nrevolution. The influence of such books teaches us a valuable lesson\nconcerning the polemic strategy to be employed on the opposite side.\nHistorical romances have an extraordinary charm for a multitude of\nreaders, and they can be made the vehicle of conveying historical\nknowledge together with the valuable lessons which history teaches. In\norder that they may perfectly fulfil their highest purpose, they should\npresent true, authentic history, using fiction merely as an accessory. M.\nQuinton has done this, and has given a correct and vivid historical sketch\nof one period in the French Revolution, which is included in the plot of a\nnovel of genuine dramatic power and descriptive ability. Its size is very\nconsiderable, making a volume of eight hundred pages, closely printed in\nquite small type. Fearful as the scenes are through which we are hurried\nin following the adventures of the persons figuring in the story, we are\nnot left without some compensation and alleviation in the episodes of\nquiet life which relieve its tragic gloom. Some charming characters are\nportrayed, the best of which are three individuals of low station but high\nheroism\u2014Louisette, Drake, and Cameo.\n\nThe characters of Marat, Danton, Robespierre, Philippe Egalit\u00e9, and other\nleaders of the Revolution, are well portrayed. The author\u2019s special\nsuccess, however, is in describing the low ruffians who led the mob in the\nwork of assassination. Maillefer, Lepitre, Boulloche, and Ratfoot are like\nDante\u2019s demons. We have never read anything more infernally horrible than\nthe description of Aunt Magloire and the band of women who were trained to\nyell at the royal family. We recommend the perusal of this description\nmost especially to the strong\u2010minded young ladies who are inclined to\ndabble in infidelity. In Mme. Roland they may see themselves as they are\nnow; in Aunt Magloire and her frenzied band they may see where womanhood\nis brought by the abandonment of faith, when the lowest stage of\ndegradation is reached.\n\nThe translator has done a great service to the public by putting this\nadmirable historical novel into English. We take the liberty of\nrecommending to him another one\u2014M. Barthelemy\u2019s _Pierre le Peillarot_. The\nmultiplication of such books will go far to counteract the evil influence\nof those which falsify history and instil bad principles. We have vainly\nendeavored to persuade some of our publishers to undertake the translation\nof Conrad von Bolanden\u2019s historical novels, which are far superior to the\nheavy productions of M\u00fchlbach. If these latter, in spite of their dulness,\nobtained so extensive a circulation, why not the admirable works of\nBolanden which depict the thrilling scenes of the Thirty Years\u2019 War? A\nseries of small, popular histories of certain important epochs is also\nvery much wanted.\n\n\n PURGATORY SURVEYED, ETC. Edited by W. H. Anderdon, S.J. Reprinted\n from the edition of 1663. London: Burns & Oates. 1874. (New York:\n Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n\nThe original of this treatise was written in French by Father Binet, S.J.\nAs it now stands it is the work of Father Thimelby, S.J., who used the\nwork of Father Binet as a basis for his own. It is quaint, rich, and in\none respect more directly practical as a spiritual book than some other\nexcellent treatises on the same subject, inasmuch as it shows the pious\nreader how to avoid purgatory.\n\n\n LESSONS IN BIBLE HISTORY FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. By a Teacher. New\n York: P. O\u2019Shea. 1875.\n\n\nExperienced teachers usually prepare the best school\u2010books. The compiler\nof these Bible lessons is a lady of remarkable talent, who has spent many\nyears of most successful labor as a teacher in an academy for young ladies\nwhich deservedly enjoys the highest reputation. Her book is one which has\nbeen prepared during this long course of teaching, and thus practically\ntested, as well as continually improved. It is now published with the\ndirect sanction of his Grace the Archbishop of New York, after a careful\nrevision made under his authority. The author has not attempted to go into\nquestions of difficult critical erudition in respect to chronology and\nsimilar matters, but has simply followed the commonly\u2010received\ninterpretation of the text of Scripture history, where there is one,\navoiding the difficulties and doubtful topics which beset the study of all\nancient history, sacred as well as profane. In this respect she has shown\nuncommon tact and judgment, and has always kept in view her true object,\nwhich is to prepare a text\u2010book suitable for young pupils of from ten to\nfifteen years old. The style and method are admirable for brevity,\nclearness, and a graphic, picturesque grouping of events and characters.\nThe delicacy with which every narrative, where immoral and criminal acts\nare involved, shuns the danger of shocking the innocent mind of children\nby contact with evil of which it is ignorant, is exquisite. The questions\nabout morals which necessarily suggest themselves to the quick,\ninquisitive minds of children, and which the author has often had to\nanswer in class, are solved prudently and correctly. The interval between\nthe sacred history of the Old Testament and that of the New has been\nfilled up from profane authors, particularly Josephus, which is a great\naddition to the value of the book, and throws light on the narrative of\nthe Gospels that makes it much more intelligible. In the history of the\nlife of Christ the words of the evangelists are for the most part\nemployed, without other changes or additions than such as are necessary to\nmake the narrative continuous. The parables are arranged by themselves in\na series. A summary of the Acts of the Apostles concludes the work, which\nis of very moderate size and copiously illustrated by woodcuts. As a\nschool\u2010book this is the best of its kind, in our opinion, and we expect to\nsee it generally adopted in Catholic schools. We cannot too cordially\nrecommend it to teachers and parents for their young pupils and for family\nreading. Many adults, also, will find it the best and most suitable\ncompendium of Bible history for their own reading; and even if they are in\nthe habit of reading the sacred books themselves in their complete text,\nthis manual will aid them to gain a better understanding of their\nhistorical parts than they can otherwise obtain. We trust the good example\nset by the pious and accomplished author will be followed by many of her\nassociates in the holy work of religious education, to the great advantage\nof both teachers and pupils. Thousands of lovely children whom she will\nnever see this side of heaven will bless the hand that has prepared for\nthem so much delightful instruction, even if their curiosity is never\ngratified by knowing her name.\n\n\n EXCERPTA EX RITUALI ROMANO. NOVA ET AUCTIOR EDITIO. Baltimore:\n Kelly, Piet, et Soc. 1874.\n\n\nThis is a lovely little ritual, a very pretty present for any one to make\nto a priest, especially to one just sent out from the seminary to a poor\nand arduous country mission.\n\n\n LETTERS OF MR. GLADSTONE AND OTHERS. New York: _Tribune_ Office.\n 1874.\n\n\nThe London _Tablet_ epigrammatically remarks that Mr. Gladstone kindled a\nfire on a Saturday which was put out on the following Monday. Mgr. Capel\nhas very satisfactorily answered him. Every person not an ignoramus in\ntheology and jurisprudence, knows that the Catholic Church teaches the\nderivation of the state from a divine institution _immediately_, and _not_\nmediately through the church; moreover, that she teaches what follows by\nlogical sequence, the duty of allegiance to the state. No Christian, no\nmoral philosopher, and no person holding the principles on which the\nAmerican fabric of law is based, can hold that this allegiance is\nunlimited.\n\nThe New York _Herald_, remarkable both for extraordinary blunders and for\nextraordinarily just and sensible statements, has well said that there is\na \u201chigher law\u201d recognized by every one who believes in the supremacy of\nconscience and duty to God. It is a very base and inconsistent thing for\nan American to profess a doctrine of blind, slavish obedience to civil\nmagistrates and laws, however wicked these may be. The Catholic Church has\nalways claimed to be the infallible judge in morals as well as in faith.\nThe Pope has always exercised the supreme power of pronouncing the\ninfallible judgments of the church, and the Vatican decrees have added\nnothing to that power. They have embodied the perpetual doctrine of the\nchurch in a solemn judgment with annexed penalties, as an article of\nCatholic faith; and, in consequence, whoever refuses obedience and assent\nto that judgment is _ipso facto_ a heretic and excommunicated. It is\ntherefore idle for Lord Acton and Lord Camoys, who have stained their\nnobility and their Catholic lineage by an act of treason and apostasy, to\npretend to be Catholics. They are no more Catholics than is Mr. Gladstone,\nand the English Catholics have repudiated them and their doctrine with\nindignation. It is futile to pretend that the Pope claims any _jure\ndivino_ temporal power directly over states or citizens in their political\ncapacity, or pretends to retain any _jure humano_ sovereignty beyond his\nown kingdom. The reader will find the general subject of this notice\ndiscussed at greater length elsewhere in this number.\n\n\n OUTLINES OF ASTRONOMY. By Arthur Searle, A.M., Assistant at\n Harvard College Observatory. 16mo, 415 pp. Boston: Ginn Brothers.\n 1874.\n\n\nA new interest has within the past few years been given to the science of\nastronomy by the recent discoveries which have been made in it,\nprincipally by the use of the spectroscope and by the new field which has\nbeen opened and which is still opening before astronomers, of physical\nresearch into the construction of the celestial bodies. A short time ago\nthe science seemed nearly as complete as it was ever likely to become;\nnow, while retaining its old ground intact, it is rapidly developing new\nresources, and, besides being itself perfected, it is contributing no\nsmall share to the solution of the great problem of the day in purely\nphysical science\u2014the constitution of matter.\n\nMany new and excellent works have, accordingly, as might be expected,\nlately appeared on the subject, called forth by the reawakened interest in\nit, both in the world at large and among scientific men. The book forming\nthe subject of this notice is certainly one of the best of these.\n\nIt is not a mere condensed summary of what is known and has been\ndiscovered. Such summaries, of course, are of great utility, both for\nreference and as text\u2010books, and serve excellently in the latter way, if\nthe object of the learner be to memorize for a time a large number of\nfacts, or, in other words, to cram for an examination. They may serve, for\nstudents of good memories, even a permanent purpose; but they require\nclose application, and labor under the difficulty\u2014too often a fatal one\u2014of\nnot being interesting, unless helped out by startling representations of\nnebul\u00e6, comets, clusters of stars, and other beautiful objects at which\nmany people seem to suppose astronomers to spend their lives in idly\ngazing.\n\nFine writing, on the other hand, about the grandeur and magnificence of\nthe celestial orbs, etc., is indeed often interesting; but, though\nedifying and useful in its way, it fails to instruct. One really knows\nlittle more after it than before.\n\nThis book has to a great extent, and perhaps as far as possible, avoided\nboth of these difficulties, which usually stand in the way of people who\nwish to know something of astronomy, but not to become practical\nastronomers. It is more on the plan of Herschel\u2019s treatise than of any\nother which we remember, but is, though this is saying a good deal,\nsuperior to it in two respects. One is, as is obvious, that it is brought\nup to the present state of the science; and the other, that in the first\npart the geometrical diagrams usually considered necessary are dispensed\nwith, and supplied by ingenious popular illustrations borrowed from facts\nof daily life, and familiar to all, which attract, instead of terrifying,\nthe reader. It is true that the fear which most people have of mathematics\nis to a great extent unreasonable; but allowance must be made, even for\nill founded prejudices. Illustrations and explanations of this kind, for\nwhich the author has a remarkable talent, are a feature of the book\nthroughout.\n\nThe last half of it is intended for those who have a real desire to\nunderstand the work which astronomers do, and how they have done it; the\nnature of the problems which they have to solve, and the means employed.\nIt does not presuppose any really mathematical education; what geometry is\nneeded is explained as it is required, and with a great deal of\noriginality, as we may observe by the way. But to this branch of the\nsubject there is no admission, except by Newton\u2019s key of \u201cpatient\nthought.\u201d Those who do not care to use it must dispense with the knowledge\nto which it opens the door. The chapter on the \u201cHistory of Astronomy\u201d is,\nhowever, easy reading, and much the best short sketch of the progress of\nthe science of which we are aware.\n\nThe illustrations are excellent, not being copies on a traditional type,\nbut taken from photographs or careful original drawings. A copious index,\nappended to the book, facilitates reference.\n\nThe work is mainly intended for the general reader; but there is no reason\nwhy it should not be a text\u2010book, especially for academies and colleges,\nas Sir John Herschel\u2019s, already alluded to, has proved to be. We have no\nhesitation in recommending it for this purpose, and as being worthy to\ntake the place of any now in use.\n\nWe regret that the words on page 384, expressing a mere hope in the\nexistence, or at any rate in the providence, of God as the author of\nnature, should have been inserted. We have not noticed anything else in\nthe book to which Catholics can object, unless it be the use of the word\ninfinity in the sense common to Protestant authors, which is, in fact, the\none ordinarily given to it by mathematicians.\n\n\n THE TESTIMONY OF THE EVANGELISTS EXAMINED BY THE RULES OF EVIDENCE\n ADMINISTERED IN COURTS OF JUSTICE. By Simon Greenleaf, LL.D., late\n Dane Professor of Law in Harvard University, author of \u201cTreatise\n on the Law of Evidence,\u201d etc. New York: James Cockcroft & Co.\n 1874.\n\n\nProf. Greenleaf\u2019s reputation as a writer on jurisprudence is too well\nknown to need any comment from us. In bringing his judicial calmness and\nlegal acumen to bear on the Christian evidences, he has conferred an\nobligation which all Christians must acknowledge. He writes as a Christian\nscholar should write, with learned gravity, yet with reverent simplicity;\nand as he believes the divinity of Our Lord, and raises no disputed point\nof doctrine, his work may be accepted as orthodox. It is in reading the\nproductions of such minds as his that the really ephemeral character of\nworks like Renan\u2019s _Life of Jesus_ is best appreciated. Renan holds a\nbrief, and his arguments in support of it are only flowery and superficial\nrhetoric. Renan\u2019s _scenes_ are very dramatic\u2014the apparition of our Lord to\nMagdalen, for instance, is worked up with great elaborateness of effect;\nbut when he comes to face solid evidence, he fails most deplorably. Thus,\nin treating of Our Lord\u2019s appearance to the apostles after his\nresurrection, and the conviction of the doubting Thomas, he merely says\nthat at the first interview S. Thomas was not present, adding in a\ncareless way: \u201cIt is said (_on dit_) that eight days afterward he was\nsatisfied.\u201d A cavalier way this of disposing of a most circumstantial\npiece of history!\n\nThis ample and elegant volume is a new edition of a work published, we\nbelieve, some thirty years ago, and now out of print. One of the best\nparts of the book is the Appendix, containing, among other things, M.\nDupin\u2019s \u201cRefutation of Salvador\u2019s Chapter on the Trial of Jesus.\u201d\n\n\n SINS OF THE TONGUE; OR, JEALOUSY IN WOMAN\u2019S LIFE; followed by\n discourses on rash judgments, patience, and grace. Boston: Patrick\n Donahoe. 1874.\n\n THE VALIANT WOMAN: A series of discourses intended for the use of\n women living in the world. Boston: Patrick Donahoe. 1874.\n\n\nTwo very practical books written by Mgr. Landriot, late Archbishop of\nRheims, and translated from the French by Helena Lyons. After having\npassed through four editions in England, Mr. Donahoe presents them to us\nin an American dress for circulation and perusal in this country. The\nprint is clear, the translation good, and the binding in keeping.\n\nBoth of these books will be found very useful to clergymen who have the\nspiritual direction of women living in the world, and will assist them in\npreparing sermons to decry those most mischievous of sins: envy, jealousy,\nrash judgments, and sloth.\n\nAlthough these books were written for females, yet they will be very\nbeneficial to many of the opposite sex, who are not unfrequently in great\nneed of cultivating reserve and charity. The first one, particularly, may\nbe read with advantage by some writers for the press, who seem to forget\nthat calumny, detraction, and vituperation are mortal sins, which are even\nmore aggravated when published to the world than when only privately\nindulged in, and that, moreover, they exact reparation.\n\n\n ORDO DIVINI OFFICII RECITANDI MISS\u00c6QUE CELEBRAND\u00c6, JUXTA RUBRICAS\n BREVIARII AC MISSALIS ROMANI, ANNO 1875. Baltimore: apud Fratres\n Lucas, Bibliopolas, via vulgo dicta Market, No. 170.\n\n\nWe beg pardon for having misquoted the title of this work. The title\u2010page\ncontains the word \u201cRectandi,\u201d which we have supposed to stand for\n\u201cRecitandi,\u201d and \u201cCelebrande,\u201d for which we have substituted \u201cCelebrand\u00e6.\u201d\n\nIt would be well if the mistakes in this important publication were all on\nthe title\u2010page, and if they were all merely misprints. We will, however,\nbegin with these. The proofs do not seem to have been read at all.\n\nThe following, then, are some of the misprints. Feb. 4, \u201cS. Andr\u00e6\nCorsini.\u201d Feb. 10, \u201c_Dom. Possion_.\u201d Mar. 10, \u201c_A cunctus_.\u201d Mar. 20,\n\u201c_fucit heri_\u201d and \u201c_pr\u00e6sente Candav_.\u201d Mar. 28, \u201cDOM. RESURECT.\u201d This\nlast is, if we remember rightly, an old acquaintance. Apr. 13, \u201cS.\nHemenegildi.\u201d May 2, \u201cS. Anthanasii.\u201d May 5, \u201c_pr\u00e6sente caduv_.\u201d May 19,\n\u201cS. Prudentian\u00e6.\u201d May 23, \u201cFestum SS. Trinitatatis.\u201d The superfluous \u201cat\u201d\nhere has perhaps come out of \u201c_Matut._,\u201d on June 8, which reads \u201c_Mut._\u201d\nJune 13, \u201cVesp.\u201d\n\nThese will suffice as specimens of mere typographical errors. The\nfollowing cannot be considered as such:\n\nOn January 16 we find the feast of S. Marcellinus. The Breviary has\nMarcellus. Similarly, on July 13, we have S. Anicetus for S. Anacletus.\n\nThe feast of S. John Nepomucen has disappeared altogether. Unless it has\nbeen suppressed, it should have the day to which that of S. Francis\nCaracciolo has been transferred. This requires the following changes:\n\nJune 15. For S. Francis Caracciolo read S. John Nepomucen.\n\nJune 17. For S. Ubaldus read S. Francis Caracciolo.\n\nJune 18. For S. Bernardine read S. Ubaldus.\n\nJune 22. For S. M. M. of Pazzi read S. Bernardine.\n\nJune 23. For the Vigil of S. John read S. M. M. of Pazzi.\n\nThe assigned feast of S. Leo comes, it would seem, this year, on July 3.\nUntil now it has been on July 7. Moreover, we do not find it in the\nBreviary on the 27th of June, as stated this year, but rather on the 28th,\nas previously.\n\nWe must do the _Ordo_ the justice to say that it has itself corrected one\nof its mistakes. It put in the feast of S. Justin on the 14th of April,\nand has inserted a slip saying that this is only for the Roman clergy.\n\nCannot we have a better _Ordo_ next year? It has been getting worse and\nworse for some time. And if we have a change for the better, would it not\nbe a good idea at the same time to separate the part peculiar to the\nDiocese of Baltimore entirely from the rest, for the convenience of the\nclergy? Since writing the above, our attention has been called to the\nomission of the anniversaries of consecration of some of our bishops.\n\nThere may be some other errors; it is not probable that we have noticed\nall.\n\n\n REGLEMENT ECCLESIASTIQUE DE PIERRE LE GRAND. Par le R. P. C.\n Tondini, Barnabite. Paris: Libr. de la Soc. Bibliogr., 75 Rue du\n Bac. 1874.\n\n\nF. Tondini has sent us two copies of this curious and valuable document,\nfor which he will please accept our thanks. It contains the text of the\n_Regulation_ in Russian, Latin, and French, with other pieces and notes,\nand is prefaced by an introduction. There is a great deal of political\ntalent and skill exhibited in this code of the Russian Peter, which is the\nfoundation upon which the modern schismatical Church of Russia is founded.\nThere are also many things in it most whimsical and amusing. The Emperor\nPaul wanted to celebrate a Pontifical Mass in vestments of sky\u2010blue\nvelvet. Peter did not care about performing any such childish escapade as\nthis, but he was resolved to exercise the governing power of a supreme\npontiff, and he carried his resolve into execution. The one salient\nfeature of his regulation is the systematic effort to degrade the\nhierarchy and clergy of the Russian Church, to make them impotent and\ncontemptible. The able despot, aided by his unscrupulous instruments,\nsucceeded but too well. The ultimate result has been that Russia is worm\u2010\neaten and undermined by infidelity and its necessary concomitant, the\nrevolutionary principle. There is no salvation for it, even politically,\nexcept in a return to obedience to the See of Peter, the Prince of the\nApostles. Our Episcopalian admirers of the Russian Church will find some\nwholesome reading in this interesting and learned work of F. Tondini.\n\n\n SADLIERS\u2019 CATHOLIC DIRECTORY, ALMANAC, AND ORDO FOR THE YEAR OF\n OUR LORD 1875. New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Co. 1875.\n\n\nIn the cursory glance we have been able to give this publication, we are\nglad to notice an evident effort to improve on the issues of previous\nyears. We do not look for perfection in such difficult compilations, and\nanything approaching it is to be commended.\n\n\n IERNE OF ARMORICA. By J. C. Bateman. New York: D. & J. Sadlier &\n Co. 1874.\n\n\nThis work, reprinted from Father Coleridge\u2019s admirable _Quarterly Series_,\nwas noticed, at the time of its original publication, in THE CATHOLIC\nWORLD for June, 1873. We have also received from the same house: Moore\u2019s\n_Irish Melodies_, with memoir and notes by John Savage; Carleton\u2019s\n_Redmond Count O\u2019Hanlon_, _The Evil Eye_, and _The Black Baronet_; the\nlatter reprints, we believe, of works heretofore published by Mr. Donahoe\nof Boston.\n\n\n THE MILWAUKEE CATHOLIC MAGAZINE, January, 1875.\n\n\nWe welcome to our table this new contemporary, an octavo monthly of\nthirty\u2010two pages, just come to hand. The editor having beautified the\nchurches and dwellings of his locality with the productions of his pencil\nand crayon, now takes up the pen professional; though he has heretofore\nmade occasional contributions to the press, which have recently been put\ninto book\u2010form. He brings to his task a refined, poetic taste, a genuine\nappreciation of the beautiful in art and nature, and a sturdy good sense,\nwhich will doubtless serve him well in his new relations. We wish him all\nsuccess.\n\nANNOUNCEMENT.\u2014The Catholic Publication Society has in press, and will soon\npublish from advance sheets, two very important works in answer to Mr.\nGladstone\u2019s late pamphlet; one by the Very Rev. John Henry Newman, D.D.,\nand the other by His Grace Archbishop Manning. The former is entitled _A\nLetter to the Duke of Norfolk, on the occasion of Mr. Gladstone\u2019s recent\nExpostulation_, and the latter, _The Vatican Decrees and their Bearings on\nCivil Allegiance_.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CATHOLIC WORLD. VOL. XX., NO. 120.\u2014MARCH, 1875.\n\n\n\n\nItalian Documents Of Freemasonry.\n\n\nWhen Elias Ashmole and his literary friends amused their learned leisure\nat Brazenose in the construction of abstruse symbols and mystic jargon,\nthat passed through their cavalier associates to the first Masonic lodges,\nthey could never have foreseen the result of their invention. In less than\ntwo centuries the association that sprang from the union of a few Royalist\nofficers in England, and accompanied the exile of King James\u2019 followers to\nFrance, has spread itself over the two hemispheres, a mystery where it is\nnot a terror. Its history has been written by many pens and in many\ncolors. Some have ascribed to it an origin lost in fabulous antiquity, or\ntraced its genealogy back a thousand years before the Christian era. To\nsome it is an absurd system of innocent mystification, without any\ncapacity for the good it promises, and powerless for the evil with which\nits intentions are credited. But others discern under its mantle of\nhypocrisy nothing less than a subtle organization for the destruction of\nall established order, and a diabolical conspiracy for the overthrow of\nreligion. Between the two descriptions our choice is easily made. The\nvoice of the Roman pontiffs, our guardians and our teachers, has been\nneither slow nor uncertain. Clement XII. and Benedict XIV., Pius VII. and\nLeo XII., Gregory XVI. and Pius IX., have unequivocally condemned Masonic\nsocieties as hot\u2010beds of impiety and sedition. This judgment was not\nlightly pronounced. It proceeded from an examination of the manuals,\nstatutes, and catechisms of the order, from undoubted evidence of its\npractical action as well as its speculative principles. Since the close of\nthe last century many writers, both Catholic and Protestant, have\ncontributed by their researches to justify the sentence of the popes, and\nnothing has more powerfully aided these efforts than the publication from\ntime to time of the authentic documents of this secret society.\n\nA signal service has just been rendered to the same cause by the\npublication in Rome of the General Statutes of Freemasonry, and of two\nrituals for initiation into the first and thirtieth grades of the\ncraft.(176) It would be a mistake to suppose that the organization of\nFreemasonry is everywhere identical, or that it has been always\nharmoniously developed to the same extent in the different countries where\nit has taken root. It has been torn by schisms from the beginning,\nalthough its divisions, which concerned rather matters of form and detail\nthan general principles, have never prevented its combining for common\npurposes of destruction. The two great factions which divide the brethren\ntake their name from the _rite_ which they profess. The orthodox Masons,\nwho are the great majority, give their allegiance to the Scottish rite,\nwhich at one time, they say, had its principal seat in Edinburgh. Now, as\nDomenico Angher\u00e0, Grand\u2010Master of the Neapolitan Orient, tells us in a\nreserved circular of the 22d of May last, which has found its way to the\npublic papers, the acknowledged centre is established in Maryland under\nthe specious designation of Mother\u2010Council of the World. In the Scottish\nrite the grades are thirty\u2010three: eighteen symbolic, twelve philosophic,\nand three administrative. The Reform of Orl\u00e9ans, which distinguishes the\nfollowers of the French rite, abolishes all the philosophic and higher\ngrades, and reduces the symbolic to seven. The reformers are reproached\nwith clipping the wings of the eagle of liberty, forbidding the\nintroduction of political and religious questions into the lodges, and\ncancelling at a stroke two\u2010thirds of the Masonic programme, Equality and\nLiberty, making Fraternity sole motto of the order.\n\nThe documents published are those of the orthodox Masons of the Scottish\nrite, which is almost exclusively followed in Italy. Of their authenticity\nthere is no doubt. The statutes are printed from the latest edition,\nclandestinely prepared for Masonic use at Naples (Tipografia dell\u2019\nIndustria, 1874). They are distributed into five hundred and eighty\narticles, and in the Roman reprint are followed by thirty\u2010seven\nsupplementary statutes for Italy agreed to in the Masonic convention held\nat Rome in May. The rituals, equally authentic, are also copied from the\nmost recent editions. Without the rituals, the statutes cannot be\nunderstood. The latter are put into the hands of all Freemasons, and the\nlanguage, when not positively misleading, is studiously ambiguous, only to\nbe explained as the initiated proceeds in his graduation. It is necessary\nto give their substance at greater length than the platitudes and general\nprofessions of philanthropy they contain would warrant, in order that the\ncommentary afforded by the other manuals may bring the hypocrisy and\nimposture of the system into full relief. As far as possible these\ndocuments shall be allowed to speak for themselves. They are their own\nindictment.\n\nThe General Constitutions of the Society of Freemasons of the Ancient and\nAccepted Scottish Rite in their first paragraph declare that the scope of\nthe order is the perfection of mankind. Embracing in its scheme the whole\nhuman race, the grand aim of the institution requires its members to\ndevote all their material means and mental faculties to its furtherance.\nThe brethren, whatever be their nationality, to whatever rite of Masonry\nthey owe allegiance, are members of a great family, one as is the species\nto which they belong, as the globe they inhabit, as nature which they\ncontemplate. For this reason Freemasons of every country are to take among\nthemselves the designation of brothers, and both in and out of their\nlodges show, in their deportment to each other, true fraternal affection.\nThe _venerable_ president of the lodge is required to see observed that\nstrict equality which ought to exist among brothers. He is never to forget\nthat the simple quality of man in the eyes of a Freemason commands the\nhighest respect, and is to show deference only to such as deserve it by\ntheir virtue and superior Masonic acquirements. He must never permit a\nbrother to assume any superiority over another on account of rank or\ndistinctions he may enjoy in the profane world. He himself, on his\nadmission to office, is reminded that he is but _primus inter pares_, that\nhis authority lasts only for a time. He must never make his superiority be\nfelt by the others. He ought to reflect that he is chosen to lead because\nhe is considered possessed of the necessary prudence, and that only gentle\nand kind demeanor can secure the harmony that should reign among\nFreemasons.\n\nEvery member at his initiation, besides his entry\u2010money paid to the\ntreasurer, must deposit a sum for the benevolent fund. At every meeting of\nthe lodge a collection is made for the poor. This is so essential that any\nmeeting where this duty has been omitted is declared not Masonic,\nirregular and null. All fines imposed on delinquents or absentees go to\nthe same fund. The grand almoner is charged with the distribution of the\nofferings among the more indigent of the fraternity, and even the profane\nare sometimes admitted to share in the Masonic alms. Every application for\nassistance must be made through a member, and is discussed in the lodge.\nPreference is to be given to those cases where distress has not been\nproduced by idleness or vice. Certain circumstances justify the president\nin authorizing an alms without consulting the lodge, but an explanation is\nto be given at the first meeting. He has also power to exempt the poorer\nbrethren from the payment of the regular subscription, but this he is\nenjoined to do with such precautions as may conceal the exemption from the\nother members of the lodge. Were he to manifest the favor, he would be\nexpelled the order.\n\nIn every lodge there is an official styled hospitaller, whose duty it is\nto visit the brethren in sickness daily, and supply them with medicines\nand whatever else they may happen to need. All the members of the lodge\nare obliged to visit the sick brother, one each day by turns, and also\nduring his convalescence. A remarkable provision is added, obliging the\nsick Mason to receive the visits of his brethren. If the illness is\ndangerous, the sick man must hand over all his Masonic papers to those who\nare deputed to take charge of them. The funeral expenses of a deceased\nmember are defrayed by the lodge, when circumstances require it, and he is\naccompanied to the grave by all his brethren of the same or lower grade in\nFreemasonry. The lodge orator, where practicable, pronounces a discourse\nover the tomb, enumerating the virtues and praises of the deceased; within\nthe lodge the oration must never be omitted.\n\nIn keeping with the professedly humanitarian scope of the order are those\narticles of the statutes which regulate the admission of new members: \u201cIf\nthe end of the institution is the perfection of mankind, it is\nindispensable that the Freemason should practise true morality, which\nsupposes the knowledge and practice of the duties and rights of man. He\nought, accordingly, to be upright, humane, sincere, beneficent to every\nsort of persons, and, above all, a good father, a good son, a good\nbrother, a good husband, and a good citizen. A Freemason must be a citizen\nin full enjoyment of his civil rights, of acknowledged probity, and of at\nleast ordinary intelligence. No one is admitted who has not the age\nrequired by the statutes. No one may be admitted or may remain in the\norder who has once been employed or engages in servile, mean, and\ndishonorable trades or professions, or who has been condemned to suffer\npunishment for crime. The expiation of any such sentence gives no claim\nfor readmittance.\u201d\n\nThe retiring warden, handing over the keys of the Masonic temple to the\nwarden\u2010elect, admonishes the latter to exclude from its precincts all who\nhave not laid aside every profane distinction, and who do not seek to\nenter solely by the path of virtue. Every precaution is taken to prevent\nthe admission of unworthy subjects. The age for reception is fixed at\ntwenty\u2010one, but the son of a Freemason may be initiated at eighteen, or\neven at fifteen if his father is of the upper grades of the order. The\ncandidate must be proposed in the lodge by a member. Three commissioners\nare secretly appointed to separately inquire into the antecedents of the\npostulant, each inquisitor concealing his mandate from his fellow\u2010\ncommissioners.\n\n\u201cThe investigation,\u201d it is prescribed, \u201cshould chiefly turn on the\nconstant integrity of the _profane_ in his habitual conduct, on the exact\ndischarge of the duties of his position, on the rectitude and safeness of\nhis principles, on the firmness of his character, on his activity and\nability to penetrate, develop, and fully understand the profound sciences\nwhich the mystic Masonic institute offers to the consideration of its\nfollowers.\u201d\n\nThe three reports of the inquisitors must agree in recommending the\ncandidate; otherwise the subject drops. But even when the commissioners\nunanimously approve of the proposal, the question is put to the secret\nvotes of the lodge in three several meetings. Two negative votes in the\nfirst ballot are sufficient to delay the next trial for three months,\nwhile after three negatives it is put off for nine; and if at the end of\nthat time three black balls are again found in the urn, the candidate is\ndefinitively rejected, and communication is made of the result to the\nGrand Orient, which informs all the dependent lodges of the exclusion, to\nprevent the admission of the rejected candidate among the brethren of its\njurisdiction.\n\nHaving secured by these stringent regulations the purity of selection, and\nput the mystic temple beyond the risk of contamination by unworthy\nneophytes, it is not surprising that the statutes should tell us\n(paragraph 444) \u201cthat the character of Freemason does not admit the\nsupposition that he can commit a fault.\u201d Nevertheless, considering the\nweakness of human nature and the force of old habits imperfectly subdued,\ncertain violations of decorum are contemplated in the statutes which\nconstitute Masonic faults, and are enumerated with the penalties attached\nto each. Among these peccadilloes are mentioned perjury and treason\nagainst the order, the revelation of its mysteries, embezzlement of its\nfunds, insubordination and rebellion against its authority, duelling\n_among brethren_, and breaches of hospitality.\n\nOut of the lodges the conduct of the brethren is to be closely watched. It\nis the duty of the president to admonish any one whose conduct is\nreprehensible. This he must do in secret, and with due fraternal\ntenderness endeavor to bring back the wanderer to the path of virtue.\nEvery corporation has to see that its individual members do nothing to\nforfeit the good opinion and confidence of the world at large. When,\ntherefore, a brother is subjected to a criminal prosecution and proved\nguilty, the lodge is to take immediate steps for his expulsion.\n\nPromotion from the lower to the higher grades of Masonry is regulated on\nthe same principles of meritorious selection that govern the first\nadmission of members. Irreprehensible conduct, both in his civil and\nMasonic capacity, are requisite in the aspirant; and he must have acquired\na thorough knowledge of the grade which he possesses before he can be\nadvanced to _greater light_. Certain intervals must pass between each\nsuccessive step, that the spirit and devotedness of the brother may be\nfully ascertained and his promotion justified.\n\nMinute rules are laid down in the statutes to regulate the proceedings in\nlodge. The arrangement of the seats, the order of business, the method of\ndiscussion, all is provided for in a way to promote harmony and social\nfeeling. Unbecoming behavior and offensive language are severely punished.\n\u201cAmong Freemasons everything must breathe wisdom, kindness, and joy.\u201d Any\nbrother may signify his dissent from a proposal while it is under\ndiscussion; but when it has received the approbation of the majority, he\nmust applaud the decision with the rest, \u201cand not be so foolishly vain as\nto think his own opinion better than that of the greater number.\u201d When the\nritual practices have been observed, and necessary business despatched,\nthe presiding dignitary may invite the brethren to suspend their labors\nand engage without formality in conversation or amusement. After this\nrelaxation the ceremonial is resumed for the remainder of the meeting, and\nthe lodge is closed in the usual manner.\n\nProminent among the observances instituted for the cultivation of Masonic\nfeeling are the _Agap\u00e6_ of Masonic banquets. Some are _de rigeur_, as\nthose on the Feasts of S. John the Baptist and S. John the Evangelist, and\non the anniversary of the foundation of the various lodges. Others may be\ngiven according to circumstances. In the regulation banquets the lodge\norator makes an appropriate address. Toasts and songs enliven the\nentertainment, and dancing is not prohibited. Between the toasts a poet,\nif there be one, may offer some of his productions. \u201cMirth, harmony, and\nsobriety are the characteristics of a Masonic feast.\u201d Officials are\ncharged to maintain order and decorum in these reunions. They are\ninstructed to observe a \u201cmoderate, fraternal austerity\u201d in their\nsuperintendence. Venial slips may be corrected on the spot, and a trifling\npenance imposed, which must be accepted with the best grace. A brother who\nmore gravely offends against any of the social decencies is to be\nrigorously chastised at the first subsequent meeting.\n\nAfter the claim of Freemasonry to represent a universal brotherhood, and\nits professed purpose to effect a general diffusion of its principles and\ninfluence, we are not surprised to find the statutes enjoin the most\nabsolute respect for all political opinions and all religious beliefs. The\n325th article says: \u201cIt is never permitted to discuss matters of religion\nor affairs of state in the lodges.\u201d(177) We are not, however, to interpret\ntoleration into a denial of the foundation of religious truth, or into a\nwicked connivance at subversive agencies in the body politic. Every\nMasonic temple is consecrated to the \u201cGreat Architect of the Universe.\u201d In\nthe name of him, \u201cthe purest fountain of all perfection,\u201d the election of\nthe office\u2010bearers is proclaimed on S. John\u2019s day. By him they swear when,\nwith their hands on S. John\u2019s Gospel, they promise fidelity to the order.\nAll their solemn deeds are inscribed \u201cto the glory of the Great Architect\nof the Universe\u201d in the name of S. John of Scotland (S. John the Baptist),\nor of S. John of Jerusalem (S. John the Evangelist), according to the\nrite. The Bible is always reverently placed on the warden\u2019s table when the\nlodges meet, and the proceedings are always opened with an invocation of\nthe Deity. If the craft admits among its adepts men of all persuasions, it\nprofesses to do so because it does not search consciences. Its toleration,\nit declares, does not proceed from atheism, but from enlightened\nliberality. Nor has the state anything to apprehend from the brethren, if\nwe believe the admonition addressed to a novice at his initiation. \u201cMasons\nare forbidden to mix themselves up in conspiracies.\u201d The first toast in\nall Masonic banquets is to the head of the nation. It would be strange\nindeed if, notwithstanding the enlightened scope of the institution and\nthe jealous care with which it professes to exclude all those who are\ntroublesome to society or have given cause of complaint in their civil\nconduct, any government should find that the Masonic body was not one of\nthe firmest stays of order. Virtue, philanthropy, benevolence,\nbrotherhood\u2014these are the watchwords of Masonry, and its statutes\nappropriately terminate in the following paragraph:\n\n\n \u201cThe Freemason is the faithful friend of his country and of all\n men. He must not forget that by the oath he took at his initiation\n he stripped himself of every profane decoration and of all that is\n vulgar in man, to assume no other distinction but the sweet name\n of brother. Let his conduct correspond to the title, and the scope\n of Masonry is attained.\u201d\n\n\nWe have hitherto drawn on the General Constitutions, which are binding on\n\u201call Masonic lodges, and on all Freemasons, of whatever grade, throughout\nthe two hemispheres.\u201d As these statutes, though carefully guarded from the\neyes of the profane, are put into the hands of the apprentices or youngest\nadepts, whose prudence and capacity for _greater light_ have still to be\ntested, it would be dangerous to make in them more open professions of\nfaith than are covered by elastic and general expressions; yet there is\nsufficient internal evidence in them to show that the maxims they contain\nare mere exoteric doctrine compared to the deeper revelation of the inner\nsanctuary, where only the tried craftsman may dare to penetrate.\n\u201cSecrecy,\u201d say the Constitutions, \u201cis the first characteristic of the\norder.\u201d\n\nAnd this secrecy is to be observed not merely towards the uninitiated, but\nis equally enforced between the different grades of the brotherhood. The\npresence of a member of a lower grade regulates the quality of the\nbusiness to be transacted in the lodge, even if all the others are master\u2010\nmasons. And not only the business but the very ceremonial must be\naccommodated to the imperfection of those present. Each of the thirty\u2010\nthree grades has its own ritual, the publication of which is high treason\nto the order, and which cannot be read without profanation by a member of\ninferior degree. The books in the lodge library are by no means\npromiscuous reading, but are permitted according to gradation. Hence the\nmultiplicity of officials with fantastic names who watch over the privacy\nof the proceedings, verify the certificates of strangers, look out for\nspies or illegitimate intruders; hence the precautions taken with their\ndocuments, and the intricate system of checks and counterchecks on the\nvery office\u2010bearers through whose hands the correspondence and written\ndocuments of an intimate nature have to pass. Why all this secrecy, and\nwhy those terrible oaths, which we have still to see, if the end of\nMasonry is faithfully exhibited in these Constitutions? As they stand,\nthey might almost suit a pious confraternity. Doubtless there are\nsuspicious articles. Their exclusiveness is not a Christian trait.\n\n\n \u201cOdi profanum vulgus et arceo\u201d\n\n\nis not the spirit of religion. The visits to the sick, and the obligation\nnot to decline them, receive a dubious commentary in the death\u2010bed scenes\nnow so distressingly frequent in Italy: when the minister of religion is\ndriven away by the visitors even when sent for by the dying man or his\nrelatives. The solemn decree, \u201cThe hand of a Mason shall not be raised\nagainst a brother,\u201d throws light on the inexplicable verdicts of juries,\njudicial sentences, and remarkable escapes of condemned prisoners with\nwhich the newspapers have made us familiar. But from the statutes we can\nlearn no more. We cannot discover whether the anti\u2010Christian and anti\u2010\nsocial maxims which are unquestionably ascribed to Masonry are the real\noutcome of its teaching, or an element quite extraneous to its genuine\nprinciples. This is to be gathered from other sources, and, fortunately,\nthese are at hand in equally authentic documents, the rituals of the\nseveral degrees, and many of the secret instructions that from time to\ntime are issued by the directing lodges. An examination of these leaves no\nroom to doubt the genuine scope of the association. The process may be\ntedious, but it is conclusive. It brings out the hideous impiety of the\nsect and its satanic hypocrisy.\n\nLet us follow, Ritual in hand, a neophyte in his first initiation to the\ngrade of apprentice.\n\nA lodge is properly composed of four chambers\u2014a vestibule, the Chamber of\nReflection, the middle chamber, and the lodge proper, or temple. In the\nlast the ordinary assemblies of the Masons are held, but for the\ninitiation of a member all the apartments are put in requisition. The\ncandidate is conducted, if possible, in a carriage, blindfolded, to the\nplace of meeting; at all events, he must be blindfolded before entering\nthe Masonic precincts. He is led first into the vestibule, where he is\nhanded over to the Expert. This functionary, who is clothed in a long,\nblack robe, with a hood concealing his features, takes the candidate by\nthe hand, then bids him put his confidence in God, and, after making him\ntake several turns in the outer chamber, introduces him to the Chamber of\nReflection. This is described in the Ritual as\n\n\n \u201cA dark place impenetrable to the rays of the sun, lit by a single\n sepulchral lamp. The walls are painted black with death\u2019s heads\n and similar funereal emblems to assist the recipient in his\n meditations. He has to pass through the four elements of the\n ancients, and here he is supposed to find himself in the bowels of\n the earth, reminded of his last abode and of the vanity of earthly\n things by the spectacle of a skeleton stretched on a bier. In the\n absence of a skeleton a skull must be placed on a small table in\n the centre of the room. On the table are pen, ink, and paper, a\n dish of water, and a piece of bread. A chair completes the\n furniture.\u201d\n\n\nInscriptions are distributed over the walls; as, \u201cIf curiosity has brought\nyou here, depart,\u201d \u201cIf you are capable of dissimulation, tremble,\u201d and\nothers, as the lodge may think proper. The Ritual adds: \u201cIf it can be\nconveniently arranged, appropriate voices may be made to proceed from the\nceiling.\u201d The candidate is made to sit with his back to the door, and the\nbandage is taken from his eyes. The Expert addresses him: \u201cI leave you to\nyour reflections. You will not be alone. God sees every one.\u201d Then he\nquits him abruptly, and, closing the door, locks it behind him.\n\nThe length of time to be employed in self\u2010examination is not prescribed in\nthe Ritual, but is left to the caprice of the Masons, who are now engaged\nin the temple. When the brethren are bent on a joke at the expense of the\nrecipient, it has been known to extend over four hours. The state of the\npatient during this time may be imagined. He came with his head full of\nmysterious fancies about Masonry, and the first surroundings are\ncalculated to crowd perplexing thoughts on an already agitated mind. Some\nnever get past this first essay. They have had enough of the mystic rite\nat the threshold, and are accompanied to the door with the gibes and\nlaughter of the brotherhood, who then close the evening over a repast\nprepared at the expense of the candidate with his forfeited entrance\nmoney.\n\nIn most cases, however, the time for reflection is just so much as is\nnecessary to allow the completion of the opening ceremonies in the temple\npreparatory to the reception of the neophyte. When these are finished, the\npresident sends the Expert to require of the candidate written replies to\nthree questions: \u201cWhat does man owe to God? What does he owe to himself?\nWhat to his fellow\u2010men?\u201d The candidate is also to be told that as the\ntrials through which he has to pass are full of danger, it behooves him to\nmake his will. When the Expert returns, the will is laid by to be returned\nto the candidate at the end of the function; but the answers to the three\nquestions are discussed in public, and the disquisitions in theology,\nphilosophy, and ethics may be fancied. If among the auditors there are\njunior Masons whose ears are not yet accustomed to unequivocal negations\nof God and the human soul, the president strives to moderate the language\nof the disputants, and always sums up with a vague and general declaration\nof respect for all opinions, and of Masonic toleration.\n\nThe recipient is now prepared for further tests. The preparation consists\nfirst in having his eyes once more bandaged in the Chamber of Reflection,\nthen in being stripped of his clothes, \u201cleft only in his shirt and\ndrawers, with his left breast and arm and his right leg bare, his feet in\nslippers, and a cord twined three times round his neck.\u201d He is led by this\ncord to the door of the lodge. Here he is to be subjected to a lengthy\ninterrogatory as to his name, birthplace, age, profession, and other\nqualifications. \u201cAs Masonry receives into its bosom members of all\nopinions and all religions, the president must not propose political or\nreligious questions to offend the sentiments or belief of the recipient or\nof the auditory.\u201d\n\nIn due time the neophyte may learn that the creed of Masons is to have\nnone, and that its politics are the subversion of all authority; but\nprejudices must be respected at the outset, and the apprentices are not to\nbe shocked unprepared. When the examination is over, the farce begins. The\ndoors of the lodge are thrown open with a great noise, and as soon as the\ncandidate has been led into the room, the Tiler holding the point of a\nsword against his naked breast, they are violently shut. \u201cWhat do you\nperceive?\u201d the president asks. \u201cI see nothing,\u201d the recipient must answer;\n\u201cbut I feel the point of a sword on my breast.\u201d \u201cThat point,\u201d says the\npresident, \u201cis symbolic of the remorse that would gnaw your heart, should\nyou ever betray the society you seek to enter. Think what you are about to\ndo. Awful tests await you. _Terrible_ brother, take this profane one out\nof the lodge, and lead him through those places which all must pass over\nwho would know our secrets.\u201d The candidate is then led out and made to\ntake so many turns that he completely loses every idea of where he is; and\nwhen he has quite lost his bearings, he is again in the lodge, although he\ndoes not know it; and the brethren, in breathless silence, await the\nprogress of the comedy.\n\nA large, wooden frame, filled in with paper, has been prepared in his\nabsence, and set up in the lodge before the entrance. \u201cWhat is to be done\nto this profane one?\u201d asks Brother Terrible. \u201cThrow him into the cavern,\u201d\nreplies the president. Two Masons then seize the candidate and cast him\nagainst the frame. The paper, of course, breaks, and the candidate is\ncaught in the arms of some of the brethren who are in waiting. The doors\nof the lodge are then closed with noise, an iron ring, passing over a\ndentate bar of iron, is made to imitate the bolting of the door, and the\ncandidate, blindfolded, out of breath, stunned, and frightened, really may\nfancy himself at the bottom of a cavern.\n\nThe candidate is now seated on a stool, with a jagged bottom and unequal\nlegs which never find a plane, that with its constant and uneven motion\nkeeps the occupant in perpetual terror of falling. From this uneasy seat\nhe must answer all the fanciful questions that the whim of the president\nor his own condition suggests. Metaphysics, astronomy, natural sciences,\nmay all enter into the examination; and as the questions are asked without\nprevious notice, the replies are not always satisfactory. Although the\nRitual prescribes the greatest decorum and gravity to be observed during\nthe ceremony, that the neophyte may be properly impressed, and prohibits\nall rough usage and buffoonery, this is to be understood by the gloss of\nanother Ritual, which says that \u201cthis test of the stool of reflection is\ninstituted for the purpose of discovering how far the physical torture\nwhich the candidate is made to suffer in his uneasy seat influences the\nclearness of his ideas.\u201d\n\nIf after this examination the patient still perseveres in his resolution\nto enter the Masonic fraternity, he is admonished to prepare for other\ntrials. First, he must swear to keep absolute silence on all Masonic\nsecrets. This oath is to be taken over a cup of water. \u201cIf your intention\nis pure, you may drink with safety. If in your heart you are a traitor,\ntremble at the instant and terrible effects of the potion.\u201d The fatal cup\nis then presented to him. This is a chalice\u2010shaped vessel, having the cup\nmovable on a pivot in the base, and separated vertically into two\ndivisions. In one there is fresh water, and this side is presented to the\ncandidate. In the other there is a bitter mixture. When the candidate,\nstill blindfolded, has taken hold of the cup, the president invites him to\ndrink, and at the same time to swear after himself in the following terms:\n\u201cI promise the faithful observance of all Masonic obligations, and if I\nprove false to my oath\u201d\u2014here he is made to taste the fresh water, and then\nthe cup is turned so that the next draught must be taken from the side\ncontaining the bitter mixture, and the president continues with the\nremainder of the oath to be repeated by the recipient\u2014\u201cI consent to have\nthe sweetness of this water turned into gall, and its salutary effect\nchanged to poison.\u201d Here the countenance of the candidate undergoes the\nexpected change, and at the sight of the fatal grimace the president,\nstriking a terrible blow on the table with his mallet, cries out, \u201cHa!\nwhat do I see? What means that distortion of your face? Away with the\nprofane!\u201d The poor candidate is removed back some paces, and then the\npresident addresses him: \u201cIf your purpose is to deceive us, retire at\nonce. Soon it will be too late. We would know your perfidy, and then it\nwere better for you never to have seen the light of day. Think well on it.\nBrother Terrible, seat him on the stool of reflection. Let him there\nconsider what he must do.\u201d When the candidate has been on his uneasy seat\nfor some time, the president asks him if he means to persevere. If he\npersists, the Terrible brother is told to accompany him on his _first\njourney_ and protect him in its dangers. The Ritual proceeds:\n\n\n \u201cThe Expert shall conduct the candidate through this first\n journey, making it as difficult as possible, with thrusts,\n ascents, descents, wind, thunder; in such a way that he can have\n no idea of the ground he goes over, and all in a manner calculated\n to leave a deep impression on the aspirant.\u201d\n\n\nWe really cannot go on without apologizing to the reader for detaining him\nover this contemptible mummery. It is humiliating to human nature that men\nwho make the loftiest professions of respect for its dignity should debase\nthemselves to such a depth of absurdity. And this, too, when they\nmatriculate in their school of perfection. Out of a mad\u2010house and a\nMasonic lodge folly like this is inconceivable.\n\nTo return to our journey. It is a farce to an onlooker, but it is a\nserious matter to the patient. He still supposes himself in the cavern,\nand is forced to make several rounds of the lodge, passing over boards\nthat move under him on wheels, to boards adjusted to take a see\u2010saw\nmotion, and from these to others that suddenly yield under his weight in\ntrap\u2010door fashion. He is perpetually getting directions to stoop, to raise\nhis right foot, to raise his left, to leap; and corresponding obstructions\nare put in his way at every movement. He is made to mount an interminable\nladder, like a squirrel in a cage, and, when he must think himself as high\nas a church\u2010steeple, is told to fling himself down, and falls a couple of\nfeet. Perspiring and out of breath, confused, terrified, and fatigued, his\nears are filled with the most horrible noises. Shrieks and cries of pain,\nwailing of children, roaring of wild beasts, are heard on every side. All\nthe theatrical appliances to produce thunder, rain, hail, wind, and\ntempest are employed in well\u2010appointed lodges; and in the others the\ningenuity of the merry brethren supplies the want of machinery. The first\njourney is finished when the brethren are tired of the amusement, and then\nthe candidate makes a second journey without the obstacles, and during\nthis he only hears the clashing of swords. A third journey is made in\npeace, and at last the candidate passes thrice over an ignited preparation\nof sulphur, and his purification by earth, water, air, and fire is\ncomplete.\n\nNow comes a Masonic instruction which we shall quote from the Ritual:\n\n\n \u201c \u2018Do you believe,\u2019 asks the Venerable, \u2018in a Supreme Being?\u2019 The\n answer of the candidate is usually in the affirmative. And then\n the president may reply: \u2018This answer does you honor. If we admit\n persons of all persuasions, it is because we do not pry into the\n conscience. We believe that the incense of virtue is acceptable to\n the Deity, in whatever form it is offered. Our toleration proceeds\n not from atheism, but from liberality and philosophy.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\nBut mark what follows:\n\n\n \u201cIf the candidate in his reply says he does not believe in God,\n the president is to say: \u2018Atheism is incomprehensible. The only\n division possible among candid men is on the question whether the\n First Cause is spirit or matter. But a materialist is no\n atheist.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\nThis is a specimen of Masonic theology, expressed in guarded terms, to\nrespect the weaker susceptibilities of an assembly of _apprentices_; for\nwe must remember that we are assisting at an initiation to the first\ngrade, which is conducted in presence of the youngest Masons. Still, no\nveil can conceal the boldness of the declaration, and the apology of\nmaterialism will surely not protect the dullest adept who remembers the\nfirst lessons of his catechism from taking scandal at its effrontery. But\nif he is to graduate in the higher honors, he must sooner or later get an\ninkling of what is in reserve, and it is as well that from the very first\ngrade he should be able without much help to proceed to the development of\nthe Masonic idea of God\u2014nature and that universe of which he himself is a\npart\u2014to pantheism pure and simple. Indeed, the _Rivista della Massoneria_\nof the 1st of August, 1874, ventures a little further: \u201cAll are aware that\nthis formula (Great Architect of the Universe) by common consent has no\nexclusive meaning, much less a religious one. It is a formula that adapts\nitself to every taste, even an atheist\u2019s.\u201d(178)\n\nAfter this it is scarcely necessary to read on in the Ritual:\n\n\n \u201c \u2018What is deism?\u2019 asks the president. Having heard the answer, he\n is to subjoin: \u2018Deism is belief in God without revelation or\n worship. It is the religion of the future, destined to supersede\n all other systems in the world.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\nThe catechising proceeds in a similar strain through a multiplicity of\nquestions, which are all treated with a studied ambiguity of language,\naffirming and denying, saying and unsaying in a breath, leaving nothing\nunimplied, to satisfy advanced impiety, and softening down the bolder\nexpressions that would grate on the ears of a novice.\n\nWhen the examination is over, the marking of the new brother is to be\nproceeded with. He is told to prepare to receive the impression of a hot\niron on his person, and is requested to mention on what part he would\nprefer to be branded. The Masons then go through the preparations of\nlighting a fire, blowing with a bellows, turning the iron with tongs,\ndiscussing the redness of the heated instrument, all in the hearing of the\npatient, who, still blind\u2010folded, stands pale and trembling, in spite of\nhis resolution to go through the operation. The diversion this torture\naffords the lodge may well be imagined. Of course there is no branding,\nbut the rituals suggest different methods of producing the sensation. One\nrecommends violent friction of the part indicated for branding, and then\nthe sudden application of a piece of ice. Another directs the hot wick of\na candle just blown out to be pressed against the skin. Sometimes the\npresident declares himself satisfied with the resignation of the neophyte,\nand dispenses with the operation. Generally the ceremonies of the Ritual\nare considerably curtailed in practice; not even Masons can endure their\ntedious trifling.\n\nAfter this the oath is to be administered. The candidate is warned of the\nsacred, inviolable, perpetual nature of the obligation he is about to\nassume; and when he has signified his willingness to be bound by it, he is\ntold that as the time is approaching when he will be admitted to the\nsecrets of the order, the order requires of him a guarantee\u2014to consist in\nthe manifestation of some secret confided to him, that he is not at\nliberty to reveal. If the candidate agrees, he is to be sharply\nreprimanded; if he does not consent, the president praises his discretion.\nThe latter then proceeds to inform the candidate that the oath he is about\nto take requires him to give all his blood for the society. When the\ncandidate assents, his word is at once put to the test, and he is asked if\nhe is really to allow a vein to be immediately opened. This proposal\nusually draws out a remonstrance, and the victim\u2019s ordinary objection is\nthe weakness of his health, or the probable derangement of his digestion\nby such an operation following so soon after dinner. In the lodge,\nhowever, this is provided for. The surgeon gravely advances, feels the\npatient\u2019s pulse, and infallibly declares that he lies, that the blood\u2010\nletting can do him no harm, and positively assures him he will be the\nbetter for it. The bleeding is performed in this manner: The surgeon binds\nthe arm, and pricks the vein with a tooth\u2010pick or such like. An assistant\ndrops on it a small stream of tepid water, which trickles over the arm of\nthe patient into a vessel held below. The counterfeit is perfect. The arm\nis bandaged, arranged in a sling, and the poor man, blindfolded, half\u2010\nnaked, terrified, wearied, branded, and bled, is at length conducted to\nthe _altar_, or table of the presiding master, to seal his initiation with\nthe final oath. There, on his knees, holding in his left hand the points\nof an open compass against his breast, with his right on the sword of the\npresident (or, according to another ritual, on a Bible, a compass, and a\nsquare), he takes the oath, which we give in its naked impiety, as found\nin the Ritual secretly printed at Naples in 1869:\n\n\n \u201cI, N. N., do swear and promise of my own free\u2010will, before the\n Great Architect of the Universe, and on my honor, to keep\n inviolable silence on all the secrets of Freemasonry that may be\n communicated to me, as also on whatever I may see done or hear\n said in it, under pain of having my throat cut, my tongue torn\n out, my body cut into pieces, burned, and its ashes scattered to\n the wind, that my name may go down in execrated memory and eternal\n infamy. I promise and swear to give help and assistance to all\n brother Masons, and swear never to belong to any society, under\n whatever name, form, or title, opposed to Masonry; subjecting\n myself, if I break my word, to all the penalties established for\n perjury. Finally, I swear obedience and submission to the general\n statutes of the order, to the particular regulations of this\n lodge, and to the Supreme Grand Orient of Italy.\u201d\n\n\nWhen the profane has finished the oath, the president asks, \u201cWhat do you\nseek?\u201d and the other is to answer, \u201cI seek light.\u201d The most merciless\ntrick of all follows. The bandage is quickly removed from his eyes.\nUnaccustomed for hours to the faintest light, they are suddenly exposed to\nthe dazzling glare of a great artificial flame started before his face. He\nis blinded once more by the change, and closes his eyes against the pain\ncaused by the brilliancy; and when at last he opens them to look about\nhim, it is to see the fierce attitudes of the Masons, each pointing his\nsword at his face. Few pass this ordeal without exhibiting signs of\nterror; some attempt to escape, some beg their lives, and some protest\nthey have done with Freemasonry. But no one who has reached this point is\npermitted to depart without being received, and the novice is comforted\nwith the assurance that all is over. The president, addressing the new\napprentice, says:\n\n\n \u201cFear not those swords that surround you: they threaten only the\n perjurer. If you are faithful to Masonry, they will protect you.\n If you betray it, no corner of the earth will protect you against\n these avenging blades. Masonry requires in every Mason belief in a\n Supreme Being, and allows him out of the lodge to worship as he\n pleases, provided he leaves the same liberty to others. Masons are\n bound to assist each other by every means when occasion offers.\n Freemasons are forbidden to mix themselves up in conspiracies. But\n were you to hear of a Mason who had engaged in any such\n enterprise, and fallen a victim to his imprudence, you should have\n compassion on his misfortune, and the Masonic bond would make it\n your duty to use all your influence and the influence of your\n friends to have the rigor of punishment lessened on his behalf.\u201d\n\n\nOur candidate by this lime has somewhat recovered from his confusion. He\nis now led up to the president, who, striking him thrice on the head with\nhis mallet, then with the compass, and lastly with the sword, declares him\nApprentice Mason and active member of the lodge. He is invested with the\ninsignia, and put in possession of the Masonic signs and passwords. The\ndescription of these would be tedious, and we shall only notice the\n_guttural sign_. This is made by bringing to the throat the right hand,\nwith thumb extended and the other fingers closed together to represent a\nsquare; the whole intended to recall the imprecation in the oath. To this\nallusion is made in one of the drinking songs of the Masons, translated\nfrom the French for the brethren in Italy, although the verse has been\nleft out in the Italian edition:\n\n\n Dedans la barque\n Du Nautonnier Charon\n Si je m\u2019embarque\n Je lui dirai: Patron\n A cette marque\n Reconnais un Ma\u00e7on.\n\n\nOf the sacred word _Jachin_ there will be occasion to speak again.\n\nWhen the function is over, the lodge is cleared, tables are spread, and\nthe brethren sit down to a refreshment which one, at least, has fairly\nearned.\n\nAdmission to the first three grades of Masonry is easily obtained. Among\nthe Apprentices, Fellowcraft, and Master\u2010Masons the official language\nalways speaks of charity, toleration, and philanthropy. We have seen\nsufficient reason to question the sincerity of these expressions in the\nmouths of the Masons, and the explanations we have heard from themselves\nare far from reassuring. As the society contemplates the gradual formation\nof the requisite character in its members, and as most of these at their\nfirst entry have not altogether lost every natural sense of duty, as\nunderstood by the profane, their advance to _perfection_ is generally\nslow, and the great bulk never get beyond the symbolic grades. If they are\npromoted, it is _pro forma_ in the succeeding grades termed _capitular_,\nwhich are the perfection of symbolism, and are completed in the\nRosicrucian Knight at the eighteenth grade. From this point promotion is\ndifficult. The degrees that follow up to the thirtieth are called\n_philosophic_, and in them the adept is taught plainly, without symbol or\nartifice, the practice of true Masonic virtue. Vengeance and death are the\npasswords, the poniard the symbol of action. After this the other degrees\nare purely administrative, and the Mason of the thirty\u2010first, thirty\u2010\nsecond, or thirty\u2010third grade learns nothing that was not revealed when he\nwas admitted Knight Kadosh in the thirtieth.\n\nIn the nineteenth, or first of the philosophic grades, the Ritual says:\n\n\n \u201cIt is not difficult to comprehend that the society of Freemasons,\n speaking plainly, is just a permanent conspiracy against political\n despotism and religious fanaticism. The princes who unfortunately\n were admitted into Masonry, were not slow in reducing it to a\n society of beneficence and charity, and maintained that religion\n and politics were foreign to its purpose. They even succeeded in\n having inserted among the statutes that no discussion was to be\n tolerated in the lodges on these subjects.\u201d\n\n\nIn the Ritual of the twenty\u2010ninth degree:\n\n\n \u201cHow would not the Masonic mysteries have degenerated, if,\n according to the programme of the common herd of Masons, the adept\n was never to occupy himself with politics or religion!\u201d\n\n\nAnd the actual Grand\u2010Master of the Neapolitan Masons, Domenico Angher\u00e0, in\na secret history of the society in that Orient, clandestinely printed in\n1864, relates with satisfaction that the work of the Carbonari and Buoni\nCugini in 1820\u201021 was conceived and directed by the Masonic lodges, and\ncarried out by their own adepts under the other designations, and\ntriumphantly boasts that in those days \u201cthe mallets of the Masons beat\nharmonious time to the axes of the Carbonari.\u201d In 1869 the Grand\u2010Master\nFrapolli, Deputy in the Chambers, in the opening discourse at the Masonic\ngathering held that year in Genoa, acknowledged that \u201cduring the previous\nfifty years of tyranny Freemasonry in Italy was replaced by the\nCarbonari.\u201d He said that on the first reconstruction of the order at\nTurin, in 1861, the motto was adopted of \u201cA personal God and a\nconstitutional monarchy,\u201d but that this was found to be a stifling\nlimitation, by which the Italian lodges would not submit to be fettered;\nand in 1864 a new Grand Orient was established which better corresponded\nto the scope. Up to the occupation of Rome in 1870 the aim of the\nbrotherhood was to \u201celevate the conscience.\u201d Now they may safely advance a\nstep. Mauro Macchi, another Deputy, and member of the Supreme Council of\nFreemasons, in the _Masonic Review_ of the 16th of February, 1874, thus\nexpresses his idea of the present practical scope of the society:\n\n\n \u201cThe keystone of the whole system opposed to Masonry was and is\n that ascetic and transcendental sentiment which carries men beyond\n the present life, and makes them look on themselves as mere\n travellers on earth, leading them to sacrifice everything for a\n happiness to begin in the cemetery. As long as this system is not\n destroyed by the mallet of Masonry, we shall have society composed\n of poor, deluded creatures who will sacrifice all to attain\n felicity in a future existence.\u201d\n\n\nA Catholic, he says, who mortifies his passions, is consistent and\nlogical, for to him life is a pilgrimage and an exile, and his career is\nbut a preparation for a future state; but this the grand\u2010master refuses to\naccept as the type of human perfection.\n\nLet us pass to an inspection of the Ritual of the thirtieth grade of the\nScottish Rite, called Chevalier Kadosh, or Knight of the White and Black\nEagle, printed at Naples, without indication of printer\u2019s name, in 1869.\nHere the real ends of Masonry, and the horrible means it directs to their\nattainment, are exposed without veil or mystery. As Angher\u00e0 in his preface\nsays:\n\n\n \u201cHere the great drama of Masonry reaches its _d\u00e9no\u00fbement_. Only\n Masons of strong capacity and devoted attachment penetrate thus\n far. The other grades are but a sanctuary of approach; this, the\n thirtieth, is the inmost sanctuary, for which the rest is only a\n preparation.\u201d\n\n\nThe infamous nature of the conspiracy which it discloses would justify our\ntreating it at greater length, if the limits of an article did not oblige\nus to hasten to a close. We cannot afford to wade through the tiresome\nseries of mystifying ceremonies without which nothing Masonic can be\nlegally performed. Mithric rites, the Temple of Memphis, Zoroaster,\nPythagoras, Numa, the Templars, Manicheans, Rabbinic phrases, and lore\nfrom the Talmud, Arabic, and Hebrew, are jumbled together to give an air\nof antiquity to this most modern of widespread impostures. Our business is\nto cull out of the mass of profanities a few samples of the perfection\nrequired of the \u201choly,\u201d \u201cconsecrated,\u201d \u201cpurified\u201d knight; for such is the\nforce of the Hebrew Kadosh. Angher\u00e0 has not proceeded far, when in a note\nhe takes care to inform us that the two sacred passwords, Jachin and Booz,\nwhich Masons of the first two grades are taught to repeat and understand\nas _stability_ and _force_, and whose initial letters, J and B, are\ninscribed on the Masonic _columns_, read as they ought to be, backwards,\nare two obscene words in the corrupt language of the Maltese Arabs.\n\nThe initiation, whenever it is symbolic, recalls the execution of James de\nMolai, Grand\u2010Master of the Templars, and holds up to execration Clement V.\nand Philip the Fair, with Noffodei, the false brother. To emancipate\nsociety from the double despotism of priest and king is the duty of the\naspirant. The passwords for him are now _Nekam_, vengeance, _Makah_,\ndeath, and the answer _Bealim_, to traitors. He is told that his duty is\nto mark all the murders of friends of liberty, political and religious,\ncommitted by the satellites of despotism, and to avenge the victims of\ntyranny; to bind himself, in common action with the other knights, to\nannihilate, once for all, the despots of the human race\u2014in a word to\nestablish political and religious liberty where it does not exist, and\ndefend it where it is established, with arms if need be. When the theory\nof these doctrines has been sufficiently impressed upon him, he is\nconducted by the grand\u2010master before a skull crowned with laurel, and\nrepeats as he is told: \u201cHonor and glory to persecuted innocence; honor and\nglory to virtue sacrificed to vice and ambition.\u201d Next he is shown a skull\ncrowned with a tiara, a dagger is placed in his hand, and he is made to\nexclaim, \u201cHatred and death to religious despotism!\u201d In the same way,\nbefore a skull on which is placed a kingly diadem, he pronounces \u201cHatred\nand death to political despotism!\u201d Twice must the aspirant repeat this\nceremony, and on the last occasion casts crown and tiara on the\nground.(179) Four times he binds himself by oath to combat political and\nreligious oppression, to put down religious fanaticism, to overturn\npolitical tyranny, to propagate the principles of Masonry, to disseminate\nliberal ideas, to maintain the rights of man and the sovereignty of the\npeople. Each time the holy name of God is called to witness, but we know\nnow the value of the invocation\u2014the universe is the Mason\u2019s God.\n\n\n \u201c \u2018Do you believe in another world?\u2019 asks the grand\u2010master, who\n himself resumes, \u2018There are not two worlds. We are a compound of\n matter and spirit. These two substances return to their origin:\n this transformation does not remove them out of the universal\n world, of which we form part. What is the future life? The future\n life is the life of our descendants, who are to profit by our\n discoveries.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\nSuch, then, is the \u201creligion of the future,\u201d by which it is the appointed\ntask of Masonry to supersede Christianity; such the \u201cprogress,\u201d\n\u201ccivilization,\u201d \u201cperfectibility,\u201d which humanity is to achieve under\nMasonic guidance. We have not painted the association in colors of our\nown; we have merely produced its official documents, and in the hated\nlight they leave their own photograph. When society falls under the\ninfluence of such an organization, its demoralization is rapid and\ncomplete. Its circulars regulate the popular elections and control the\nvotes of parliaments. \u201cPublic opinion\u201d is at its beck, the press is its\nactive instrument. We could quote its instructions to the Italian Deputies\non the Roman question, and a communication of the Grand\u2010Master of Italy,\nsent to all the foreign Grand Lodges, advising a united attack, through\nthe public mind, on the Carlist movement in Spain. Its theories of\nassassination and open rebellion are seldom carried out on its own direct\nresponsibility. Out of the Masonic lodges arise a multitude of minor\nsects, ostensibly independent, but really directed by the brethren. To\nthese the practical work is committed. As Carbonari, Socialists,\nCommunists, Internationalists, Mazzinians, they execute orders received\nfrom their common centre. If successful, the result is claimed for the\nparent association; if unfortunate, they are disavowed. It is usual to say\nthat Freemasonry in firmly\u2010established constitutional states is\ncomparatively harmless. We are not prepared to affirm that in countries\nlike the United States or Great Britain the wicked principles of\nContinental European Masonry are developed to the same extent\nindiscriminately in all the lodges. Where the initiation is supposed never\nto advance beyond the three symbolic degrees, the anti\u2010Catholic principle\nof religious indifference is perhaps its most dangerous characteristic.\nBut this alone is sufficiently repulsive; and the fraternization which\nbinds together every branch of the association can excuse no individual\nmember from moral complicity in its worst deeds, wherever perpetrated.\n\nWith that keen forecast of danger to the Christian family which has ever\nbeen the characteristic attribute of the Holy See, the popes, from the\nfirst origin of Masonry, saw through its flimsy disguise of benevolent\nprofessions, and over and over again, and chiefly on the eve of those\nterrible anti\u2010social outbursts that have so frequently convulsed Europe\nsince the formation of the society, raised their prophetic voices,\nforetelling the impending storm, denouncing its source, and condemning in\nthe strongest terms and under the severest penalties all connection with\nthese secret associations. Princes and peoples disregarded the warning,\nand both have suffered for their neglect. Would that at least they had\nprofited by the lesson! But these eternal enemies of order, emboldened by\ntheir success, are only preparing for a new strife. The state is already\nalmost everywhere at their control; the church of God everywhere resists.\nAgainst her they now concentrate their warfare. False professions serve no\npurpose with the civil government in their own hands, and they have\nlearned that their hypocrisy does not avail with the church. They drop the\nmask. No longer careful to conceal their aim, they make it a public boast.\n\u201cProtestantism,\u201d writes B. Konrad from Germany in the _Bauh\u00fctte_, a\nMasonic paper, \u201cwithout discipline, faith, or spiritual or moral life,\nbroken up into hundreds of sects, offers only the spectacle of a corpse in\ndissolution. It is not an enemy to oppose us. Our adversary is the Roman\u2010\nCatholic\u2010Papal\u2010Infallible Church, with its compact and universal\norganization. This is our hereditary, implacable foe. If we are to be true\nand honest Freemasons, and wish to promote our society, we must absolutely\ncry out with Strauss: We are no longer Christians; we are Freemasons and\nnothing else. Amateur Freemasons are no advantage to humanity, and no\ncredit to our society. Christians or Freemasons, make your choice.\u201d\n\nThe church of God fears them not. Her pastors may mourn over the\ncorruption of morals, the perversion of youth, the irreparable loss of\nmany souls; but amid the dissolution and universal ruin which infidelity\nand revolution are preparing for society, she will stand erect, unshaken,\nnot shorn of her strength; and when the inevitable revulsion brings\nrepentant nations to her feet, she will be ready as ever to pour the balm\nof religious consolation on their wounds, to bind up their shattered\nmembers, to set humanity once more on the path of true perfectibility, not\nto be attained through the impious philosophy of midnight conventicles,\nbut in the light of the Sun of Justice, preached on the housetops, to the\nformation of true Christian brotherhood.\n\n\n\n\nCrown Jewels.\n\n\nLet\u2019s crown our King with what will show\n His royal power and treasure\u2014\nSharp thorns! \u2019Tis done! His blood doth flow,\n Of both the might and measure.\n\n\n\n\nAre You My Wife? Chapter II.\n\n\nBy The Author Of \u201cA Salon In Paris Before The War,\u201d \u201cNumber Thirteen,\u201d\n\u201cPius VI.,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n\nChapter II. I Introduce My Wife\u2014She Disappears!\n\n\n\u201cA nice young gentleman you are, Master Clide, to play off such a trick as\nthis on your family!\u201d said Admiral de Winton, shaking my hand so\nvigorously that I feared he was bent in his indignation on shaking it off.\n\u201cCome, sir, what excuse have you to offer for yourself?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear uncle, I sha\u2019n\u2019t attempt any excuse, for the best reason in the\nworld, that I have not a decent one. But here is my wife,\u201d I said,\ncatching sight of her coming up the terrace; \u201clet her plead for me. I\nleave my case in her hands.\u201d\n\nIsabel stepped in through the open window, and, going straight up to the\nold gentleman, held out her hands, blushing and smiling with the prettiest\nlittle pretence of being ashamed of herself and dreadfully frightened.\n\n\u201cNo excuse!\u201d growled the admiral, hollowing out his hands to hold the\nsoft, pink cheeks, then saluting them with a kiss that resounded through\nthe room like the double report of a pistol\u2010shot. \u201cNo excuse indeed! You\nbarefaced hypocrite! How dare you tell me such a crammer? You unmitigated\nyoung rascal, what do you mean by it?\u201d\n\nThis series of polite inquiries my uncle fired off, holding Isabel all the\ntime at arm\u2019s length, with a hand on each shoulder, and looking straight\ninto her face. She was not the least disconcerted by this singular mode of\napostrophe.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t scold him! Don\u2019t be angry with him! Please don\u2019t! It was all my\nfault,\u201d she said, and looked up at him as if she particularly wanted to\nkiss him.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll horsewhip him! I\u2019ll tie him to the mainmast and flog him!\u201d roared my\nuncle.\n\nAnd then came a second volley of pistol\u2010shots.\n\n\u201cNo, you sha\u2019n\u2019t! If you do, I\u2019ll horsewhip you!\u201d declared Isabel, twining\nher arms round the old sailor\u2019s neck, and stamping her tiny foot at him.\n\nMy step\u2010mother made her appearance at this crisis with Sir Simon Harness.\nShe had driven to meet our guests, but, instead of driving back with them,\nshe and Sir Simon walked up together from the station, and sent on the\nadmiral alone in the carriage.\n\nAfter bidding him a cordial welcome, I presented Isabel to Sir Simon. She\nheld out her hand. He raised it to his lips, bending his venerable white\nhead before my young wife with that courtly grace that gave a touch of\nold\u2010fashioned stiffness to his manner towards women, but which was in\nreality the genuine expression of chivalrous respect.\n\nIsabel, not apparently satisfied with the stately homage, drew nearer,\nand, putting up her face, \u201cMay I, Clide?\u201d she said.\n\nSir Simon naturally did not \u201cpause for a reply,\u201d but taking the blushing\nface in his hands, he imprinted a fatherly kiss on her forehead. To say\nthat I was proud of my wife and delighted with the way she had behaved\ntowards my two friends would be to convey a very inadequate idea of the\nstate of my feelings. I was simply inebriated. It is hardly a figure of\nspeech to say that I did not know whether I was on my head or my heels. I\nhad looked forward to this meeting with an apprehension which, from being\nundefined, was none the less painful, and the relief I experienced at the\nsuccessful issue was in proportion great. My step\u2010mother was evidently\nquite as surprised, if in a less degree gratified than myself. The\nafternoon passed delightfully, chatting and walking about the park; my two\nold friends usurping Isabel completely, making love to her under my eyes\nin the most unscrupulous manner, quarrelling as to who should have her arm\nwhen out walking, and sit next to her when they came in. Isabel flirted\nwith both, utterly regardless of my feelings, and even hinted to me at\nlunch that my prophecy with regard to Sir Simon ran a fair chance of\ncoming true. She came down to dinner arrayed like a fairy, in a dress that\nseemed to have been made out of a sunset and trimmed with a rainbow. She\nhad put on all her jewels\u2014those I had chosen for her, and the diamonds\nthat came to me from my mother. She wore pearls round her neck, and a row\nof diamond stars in her hair; while her arms almost disappeared under the\nvariety of bracelets of every form and date with which she had loaded\nthem. It may have been in questionable taste and not very sensible, but\nthere was an innocent womanly vanity in thus seizing the first available\nopportunity of showing herself in her finery that I thought perfectly\ndelightful. I could see, too, that the admiral and Sir Simon were pleased\nat the infantine coquetry, and not a little flattered by it. My step\u2010\nmother alone looked coldly on the proceeding; and while Isabel, sitting\nbetween the two old gentlemen, pointed out for their special admiration\n\u201cthis bracelet, with the diamond true\u2010lover\u2019s knot, that Clide gave me the\nday after we were engaged, and this blue enamel with the Greek word in\npearls that he bought me the day before we came home,\u201d Mrs. de Winton\ndissected her walnuts, and, setting her face like a flint, kept outside\nthe conversation till the subject changed.\n\nWhen we assembled in the drawing\u2010room, Isabel opened a new battery of\nfascination that was perhaps the most formidable of all. She began to\nsing. The excitement of the jewels, and the sympathetic audience, and the\nconscious triumph of the hour, all added, no doubt, to the power and\nbrilliancy of her voice, which sounded richer, fuller, more entrancing\nthan I had ever heard it before. She sang all sorts of songs. The admiral\nasked for a sea\u2010song. Isabel knew plenty, comic and dramatic, from \u201cRule\nBritannia\u201d down to \u201cA Life on the Ocean Wave,\u201d which she rang out with a\nrollicking zest and spirit that fairly intoxicated the old sailor.\n\nSir Simon enjoyed an English ballad and an Irish melody. The siren gave\nhim every one he asked for, old and new. In fact, she surpassed herself in\nwitchery and skill, and one was at a loss which to admire most, the\nartless grace of the woman or the gifts and accomplishments of the artist.\nThe evening passed rapidly away, and it was past midnight before any one\nthought of stirring.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\u201cClide,\u201d said my step\u2010mother next morning, as she was leaving the\nbreakfast\u2010room where Isabel and her guests were loitering over their tea\u2010\ncups, while I read the _Times_ in the window, \u201cI wish to speak to you.\nCome to me in the library.\u201d\n\nAnd without waiting for an answer, she walked out. There was no reason why\nthis commonplace invitation should have brought a sensation of cold down\nmy back, and of my heart dropping down into my boots; but unaccountably\nthis double phenomenon was effected in my person. I made a pretence of\ngoing through the leaders before I rose, and then, yawning to give myself\nan air of perfect satiety and _ennui_, I sauntered out of the breakfast\u2010\nroom, and bent my steps towards the audience\u2010chamber.\n\n\u201cClide,\u201d began Mrs. de Winton, when I had closed the door and established\nmyself on the hearth\u2010rug, with my back to the fire, \u201cwhere did your wife\nlearn singing?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, in London, I suppose. Where else should she learn it?\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you ask her?\u201d inquired my inquisitor.\n\n\u201cIt never occurred to me. Why should it?\u201d\n\nMrs. de Winton looked at me curiously\u2014not scornfully, as she was\naccustomed to do when I committed myself to any ultra\u2010foolish remark.\nIndeed, I thought her face wore an expression gentler and kinder than I\nremembered to have seen there since when a child I had seen her look at my\nfather. She said nothing for a minute. Then fixing her eyes on me with a\nglance that sent my heart right out through my heels:\n\n\u201cI have telegraphed to Simpson to come down by the early train to\u2010day,\u201d\nshe said.\n\n\u201cThe deuce you have!\u201d I exclaimed, and, starting from my impassive\nattitude, I dropped my coat\u2010tails, and stepped off the rug as if it had\nsuddenly turned into a hot plate.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d continued Mrs. de Winton, quite unmoved by my complimentary\nejaculation, \u201cit is my duty, since you are too indifferent to your own\ninterest to take the....\u201d\n\n\u201cClide, Clide! Where are you?\u201d cried a sweet voice from the terrace, and,\nrunning up the slopes, Isabel flattened her nose against the window,\npeering into the room in search of me. I was so placed that she could not\nsee me, but she saw my step\u2010mother. Glad to escape from what threatened to\nbe a stormy interview, I flew to the window, opened it, and rejoined my\nwife.\n\n\u201cWas she scolding you?\u201d asked Isabel, casting a puzzled glance towards the\nroom where I had so unceremoniously \u201cplanted\u201d my step\u2010mother.\n\n\u201cNo, darling,\u201d I answered, laughing.\n\n\u201cWhat was she saying?\u201d inquired Isabel.\n\n\u201cWhat an inquisitive little puss it is!\u201d I said, partly amused and partly\nat a nonplus for a satisfactory answer.\n\n\u201cTell me. I\u2019ll go, if you don\u2019t!\u201d And she prepared to carry out the threat\nby unlocking her hands and letting go my arm.\n\nBut I seized the refractory hands, and held them tight.\n\n\u201cGo!\u201d I said, laughing at her in a most tantalizing way, while she\nstruggled in vain to set herself free.\n\n\u201cTell me what you were talking about. I insist on knowing, Clide!\u201d\nrepeated Isabel, stamping her foot like a naughty child.\n\nI began to dread a repetition of the other morning. Such an exhibition\nwithin hearing of my uncle and Sir Simon would have been so mortifying to\nmy pride that I was ready to sign away my lawful authority for the rest of\nmy married life rather than undergo it; so pretending not to notice the\ngathering thunder\u2010clouds:\n\n\u201cMy lovely tyrant!\u201d I said, caressing her with the sweetest of smiles, as\nwe walked past the drawing\u2010room window, \u201cyou don\u2019t suspect me of having a\nsecret my wife should not share? I was only chaffing you just now for fun,\nyou looked so mystified. But the fact is, I was put out by the old lady\u2019s\ntelling me she expected Simpson down here to\u2010day.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd who is Simpson?\u201d inquired Isabel.\n\n\u201cThe family lawyer.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! Did you tell her to send for him?\u201d\n\n\u201cI tell her! Why, child, if I had, I shouldn\u2019t have been put out to hear\nhe was coming.\u201d\n\nThe question was unpleasantly suggestive. It implied a suspicion in her\nmind, which something in my tone resented, probably, for she added\nquickly:\n\n\u201cOh! of course not. I didn\u2019t mean that.\u201d\n\nThen we went on a few steps without speaking.\n\n\u201cSimpson\u2019s a capital fellow,\u201d I resumed, breaking the pause that was\nrather awkward. \u201cI\u2019m very fond of him, and shouldn\u2019t the least object to\nhis coming down here at any other time; only just now it\u2019s a bore. We\nwanted to have my uncle and Sir Simon all to ourselves. However, I dare\nsay you\u2019ll like Simpson too when you see him, though he is of the race of\nPhilistines. If he\u2019s a shrewd lawyer, he\u2019s a trusty friend and as honest\nas the sun. No fear of my \u2018doing\u2019 my heiress wife in the settlements,\u201d I\ncontinued laughingly, \u201cor cheating her out of any of her lawful rights,\nwhile old Dominie Simpson has the whip\u2010hand over me!\u201d\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s to be here to\u2010day, you said?\u201d she remarked interrogatively, as we\nentered the house.\n\n\u201cYes. If he comes by the early train, he may be in time for dinner,\u201d I\nreplied.\n\nMr. Simpson did come by the early train, and he was in time for dinner. He\nwas even an hour and a half beforehand with it, and spent most of the\nintervening time closeted with my step\u2010mother in her private apartment.\n\nMy wife appeared in a second edition of sunset and rainbow, and flashed\nand sparkled with jewels as on the previous evening.\n\nShe received our old friend very graciously, drawing just the right line\nof demarcation between her friendly graciousness to him and the daughter\u2010\nlike familiarity of her manner towards Sir Simon and her uncle. Dinner\npassed off very merrily; but when we rejoined the ladies in the drawing\u2010\nroom, I was surprised to find Isabel fast asleep in the depths of a\nmonumental arm\u2010chair. She jumped up at the sound of my voice, and, rubbing\nher eyes, said she was ashamed to be caught napping, but she was so tired!\n\n\u201cHollo, Simpson, this is a sorry lookout for you!\u201d exclaimed the admiral.\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been telling him to get ready his legal soul to be charmed and\ndevoured by the siren.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I am so sorry,\u201d said Isabel, looking at the old lawyer as if nothing\nin this world could give her half so much pleasure as to charm away his\nsoul on the spot; \u201cbut these naughty gentlemen kept me up so late last\nnight, and made me sing so much, that I have not a note in my voice to\u2010\nnight, and I\u2019m just dead with sleep.\u201d\n\nSimpson looked wofully disappointed.\n\n\u201cMy pretty pet,\u201d said the admiral, drawing her to him and stroking her\nhead as if she had been a kitten, \u201cthen you sha\u2019n\u2019t sing!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you should lie down for half an hour, dearest,\u201d I said, \u201cdo you think\nthat would rest you, and you might be able to give us just one song?\u201d\n\nI was anxious that Simpson should hear her. He sang a very good song\nhimself, and his heart seemed set on it.\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d she said, brightening up. \u201cI\u2019ll try, at any rate.\u201d\n\nI gave her my arm, and we went up\u2010stairs together to her room.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t come in, or else we\u2019ll begin to talk, and that will wake me up,\u201d\nshe said, seeing me about to enter; \u201cand I\u2019m so dead with sleep I\u2019m sure I\nshall be off in five minutes, if you leave me.\u201d\n\nI did as she wished, and returned to the drawing\u2010room, where I found my\nstep\u2010mother in conclave with the three men on more practical matters than\nsongs and sirens.\n\nSimpson had been summoned for the sole purpose of discussing and settling\nwhat ought in the proper course of things to have been discussed and\nsettled before my marriage, and Sir Simon Harness was just as anxious as\nMrs. de Winton that everything should be made straight and clear with\nregard to Isabel\u2019s fortune and my due control over it. The admiral alone\nwas indifferent about it, and exhibited a sailor\u2010like contempt for the\nwhole affair\u2014in fact, intimated that it was out of all sense and reason\nand morality that I should have got a penny of fortune with such a wife.\n\n\u201cI call it immoral, sir,\u201d he declared, scowling at me from under his bushy\neyebrows; \u201cyou ought to be ashamed of yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd so I am, my dear uncle,\u201d I replied hastily. \u201cAnd that\u2019s just why I\nhate having the subject attacked in this precipitate way, as if I wanted\nto grab up her money the moment I could lay my hands upon it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you can lay your hands upon it?\u201d observed Simpson quietly.\n\n\u201cIf I choose,\u201d I said; \u201cmy wife is of age, and....\u201d\n\n\u201cOf age!\u201d echoed the admiral, throwing up his hands in amaze. \u201cWhy, I\nshould have given the child fifteen at most!\u201d\n\n\u201cShe looks young,\u201d I remarked coolly, while interiorly I was bursting with\nconceit; \u201cbut she is of age, so there is no reason in the world why I\nshould bother myself or her about this confounded fortune; besides, I\ndon\u2019t care a rap if I never see a penny of it!\u201d\n\n\u201cBravo, Clide! That\u2019s right, my boy!\u201d cried my uncle, clapping me soundly\non the back. \u201cYou\u2019re a chip of the old block, and it does my heart good to\nhear you. Why, when I was a youngster, ...\u201d\n\n\u201cDe Winton,\u201d interrupted Sir Simon, \u201cdon\u2019t you think you had better retire\nto the piano? Simpson has not come down all the way from London to be\nentertained with the follies of your youth. It\u2019s most important that we\nshould have his opinion about these matters; and if you can\u2019t hold your\ntongue or talk sense, you had better make yourself scarce.\u201d\n\n\u201cTalk on,\u201d said the admiral; \u201cI won\u2019t hinder you.\u201d And so they did. I sat\nthere, feeling as if I were on my trial for some sort of misdemeanor, the\nnature of which was unknown to me, but the consequences of which would be\nprobably appalling if the misdemeanor could be brought home to me. Sir\nSimon and my step\u2010mother were judge and jury, Simpson was counsel for some\nmythical antagonist, and the admiral stood by in the capacity of a neutral\nbut benevolent spectator. Both counsel and judge had been made acquainted\nby Mrs. de Winton with all she had to tell. How much or how little that\nmight be, in Mrs. de Winton\u2019s opinion, I could not say. But clearly on\nsome shallow inductive evidence she had made out a case vaguely\nunfavorable for my wife. No one accused her of anything. Not a word was\nsaid that my irritable pride could take hold of and resent. They spoke of\nher as a child whose innocence and ignorance made it doubly incumbent on\nthem to legislate for and protect, since I was unfit for the duty, while\nmy morbid delicacy they ignored as beneath contempt.\n\n\u201cWe must keep him out of it altogether, I see,\u201d observed Sir Simon when\nthe conversation had lasted about half an hour. \u201cLeave me to deal with the\nchild. She won\u2019t suspect me of having married her for her money.\u201d\n\nThere was no gainsaying this. Still, I was entering a protest against the\nway in which my wishes were being set at naught, when tea was brought in\nand cut me short.\n\n\u201cGo and see if Isabel be awake, Clide,\u201d said my uncle, glad to put an end\nto the subject; \u201cbut don\u2019t disturb her if she\u2019s asleep. She\u2019s not to be\nworried for old fogies like us, mind.\u201d\n\nI ran up the stairs lightly, and opened the door as stealthily as a thief.\nThe light was out. \u201cIsabel!\u201d I said in a low voice. No answer.\n\nI closed the door as noiselessly as I had opened it, and returned to the\ndrawing\u2010room.\n\n\u201cShe\u2019s as fast asleep as a baby, uncle,\u201d I said. \u201cSo I followed your\nadvice, and left her to sleep it out.\u201d\n\n\u201cPoor little pet! We kept her at it too long last night. You must not do\nthis sort of thing again, Clide,\u201d observed Sir Simon. \u201cIt\u2019s a delicate\nflower that you\u2019ve got there, and you must take care of it.\u201d\n\nI expressed my hearty concurrence in this opinion and advice.\n\nIsabel\u2019s absence made a great blank in the evening; but as my three\nfriends had not met for a considerable time, and I had not seen them for\nmore than a year, we had a great deal to say to each other, and there was\nno lack of conversation. Mrs. de Winton remained with us till eleven, when\nshe withdrew, leaving us to discuss punch and politics by ourselves. It\nwas past midnight when we separated. I went into my dressing\u2010room. The\ncandles were lighted, but, contrary to his custom, Stanton, my man, was\nnot there. I rang the bell; but while my hand was still on the rope, the\nsound of his voice reached me through the door\u2014not the outer door, but the\ndoor leading into my wife\u2019s room. He was speaking in a loud, argumentative\ntone, and was stuttering violently, which he always did when excited. I\nflung open the door, and beheld him standing in the middle of the room\nwith Susette, my wife\u2019s maid, and Mrs. de Winton, who was wrapped in a\ndressing\u2010gown and her feet bare, as if she had been called suddenly out of\nbed, and had rushed in in terrified haste.\n\n\u201cClide!\u201d\n\n\u201cMonsieur!\u201d\n\n\u201cSir ...\u201d exclaimed the three in one voice when they saw me.\n\n\u201cGood God! what is the matter? Isabel!\u201d\n\nI flew to the bed and drew back the curtains.\n\nThe bed was empty.\n\n_My wife was gone!_\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nHere Clide\u2019s journal breaks off. A long gap ensues, and we must fill it up\nfrom the recollections of others. The scene that followed the discovery of\nhis young wife\u2019s flight was not to be described. First, it was incredulity\nthat filled the old Moat. \u201cGone! Fled! Nonsense!\u201d protested Admiral de\nWinton, walking up and down the corridor, where he had rushed out in semi\u2010\nnocturnal attire when Stanton had burst into his room with the dreadful\nintelligence. The old sailor was scarcely to be recognized in the\n_d\u00e9shabill\u00e9_ of his coatless and wigless person, as he blustered loudly,\nhis hands in his pockets, zigzagging to and fro as if he were pacing the\nquarter\u2010deck and expostulating angrily with a surly crew.\n\nSir Simon Harness was calmer. He did not contradict his friend\u2019s vehement\nassertion that it was all a trick of Isabel\u2019s to terrify us; he even made\na show of pooh\u2010poohing the notion of a flight as absurd, ridiculous, not\nto be entertained for a moment. But there was not that heartiness in his\nvoice or manner that carries conviction to others. Mrs. de Winton also\nmade a semblance of chiming in with the admiral\u2019s view, but it was a\npalpable failure. Mr. Simpson was the only one who did not try to act his\npart in the kindly comedy. He was fully convinced that it was no comedy,\nbut a most miserable drama that was beginning for the son of his old\nfriend and client. He had mistrusted Isabel from the first moment he fixed\nhis keen, legal vision on her. Mrs. de Winton had, it is true, inoculated\nhim beforehand with a good share of her own mistrust, and he came to the\nscrutiny with a jaundiced eye; prejudiced, and predetermined not to be\nfascinated or beguiled out of his severest judgment. He regarded hers as a\ncase of which he was to take a strictly legal view, and which was to be\ninvestigated, sifted, and proved before he would endorse it. It was a very\nodd case on the face of it; but Benjamin Simpson had had many odd cases to\ndeal with in the course of his experience, and he flattered himself he was\nnot to be baffled by a child scarcely out of her teens. She might be very\nclever, and succeed in hoodwinking a rich young gentleman into marrying\nher, on the strength of a fictitious story of misery and a still more\nfictitious one of heiresship; but she was not likely to stand Simpson\u2019s\ncross\u2010examination long without breaking down. Such ungallant reflections\nas these had been passing through the lawyer\u2019s brain while he sipped his\nclaret and watched the fair face that sat opposite to him at the dinner\u2010\ntable, glancing at him with eyes that flashed more brightly than her\njewels. He had made up his mind, as he looked at her, that she was a\ndelusion; she would disappear sooner or later. The news of her flight was\ntherefore only a surprise by its suddenness. Clide was rushing all over\nthe basement story, calling out Isabel\u2019s name into every room, while Mrs.\nde Winton and her own and Isabel\u2019s maid were pursuing a similar search in\nthe upper part of the house. The rambling old mansion was echoing from end\nto end with opening and shutting of doors and cries of the fugitive\u2019s\nname; but no answer was heard except the echoes of the voices and the\ndoors.\n\n\u201cMy dear boy,\u201d said the admiral, pausing on his imaginary quarterdeck, as\nClide came up the stairs, \u201cI\u2019ll stake my head on it, the sly little puss\nis playing a game of hide\u2010and\u2010seek with us, and laughing fit to kill\nherself in some cupboard or other, while we are kicking up this row; take\nmy word for it, the best thing we can do is to go quietly to our own beds,\nand before long she\u2019ll come out of her hiding\u2010place.\u201d\n\nClide muttered an impatient \u201cstuff and nonsense!\u201d Was she likely to perish\nherself such a night as this playing hide\u2010and\u2010seek for their amusement\u2014she\nthat could not bear a breath of cold? Even crossing through a fireless\nroom she would shiver like an aspen. The admiral grunted something about\n\u201cdeserving to be whipped,\u201d and turned to his zigzag promenade again.\n\nStanton and some of the other men\u2010servants had gone out to scour the park\nand the gardens; they had been absent now long enough to have discovered\nsomething, if there was anything to discover, but the stars made no answer\nto their calling. \u201cMadame! Mistress!\u201d they shouted, till at last they gave\nit up, and retraced their steps to the house. Clide had been going to the\nwindow in a restless way, looking out into the night, and listening as if\nhe expected to hear the silence send him back some sign. It was impossible\nto say whether he believed the least bit in the hide\u2010and\u2010seek theory,\nwhether he had a lingering hope of hearing Isabel call out to him or\nappear from some corner, or whether he was just in that condition of mind\nthat precludes alike sitting still or doing something. He might be excited\nby hope, or he might be stupefied by despair. He was as white as ashes,\nand came and went with the quick, unsteady gait of a man who has lost his\nself\u2010command, and is swayed only by the force of some terrible emotion.\nClide\u2019s face was a fine, manly one; it would have been noble but for the\nweakness of the chin and a certain tremulous movement of the lower\nlip\u2014perhaps of both; for the upper one was shaded by a light\u2010brown\nmoustache that prevented you seeing whether it had the firmness that would\nhave redeemed the lower one. The eyes were expressive, rather sleepy when\nthe face was in repose; but they woke up with flashes of lightning when he\nwas excited, and transfigured the whole countenance into one of energy and\npower. There was no need to be a physiognomist to judge of the character\nof such a face. The most unskilled observer could read it like a book.\nThere were all the elements of a stormy life there\u2014passive strength, and\npassions that needed only a spark to kindle them into a flame; a man who,\nas he was taken, would be as easily led as a lamb or as intractable as a\nyoung hyena. He had started in life with the fixed purpose of steering\nclear of storms, of saving himself trouble and avoiding fuss. Poor Clide!\nLife, he fancied, had a lake of oil at the entrance of the wide sea where\nstorms blew and waves roared angrily, and he had made up his mind to\nanchor in the lake, and never venture beyond its peaceful margin.\n\nThe servants had come back\u2014those that had been scouring the park\u2014and the\nothers, who had been slamming doors all through the house, were\ncongregating in twos and threes upon the stairs leading to the broad\nlanding off which their young mistress\u2019 room stood, its door wide open,\nwith a dismal, vacant air about it already.\n\n\u201cI see her! There she is!\u201d exclaimed Clide. He had been staring for some\nminutes out of the window, and suddenly bounded down the great oak stairs,\nand out in the path, making for a clump of laurel\u2010trees far down near the\nwater. The admiral, Sir Simon, Simpson, and Mrs. de Winton pressed into\nthe embrasure of the window, the servants peeping over their heads to\ncatch a sight of the figure he was pursuing; but they saw nothing except\nthe winter trees, that stood like silver against the sky, while their\nstraggling shadows lay black upon the lawn. Still Clide bounded on,\ncalling out Isabel! Isabel! as he ran, and still no sound answered him;\nthe thud of his footfall on the frosty grass came sharply distinct in the\nsilence.\n\n\u201cThe boy is dazed!\u201d muttered his uncle; \u201cit was a shadow he saw. But, no!\nBy Jove, there she is!\u201d Clide was now close upon the laurels, that looked\nlike a black mound in the moonlight. The group in the window saw a white,\ncrouching figure rise slowly at his approach; he stopped, uttered a cry of\ndisappointment, and turned drearily back towards the house.\n\n\u201cWhat is it? Who is it?\u201d shouted several voices; but before Clide answered\na moonbeam lighted up the figure of a deer, as it glided lightly over the\nsward, and disappeared into the distant copse.\n\nInstead of entering the house at once, Clide wandered round towards the\nstables. It occurred to him that something in that region might suggest a\nclew to the mode of his wife\u2019s escape. He was quickly undeceived. Every\ndoor was locked. There was no sign of any horse having disturbed the\nslumbers of its companions.\n\n\u201cThere is no use in your passing the night out of doors,\u201d said Sir Simon,\nwho came to see where Clide had gone. \u201cCome in, and let us put our heads\ntogether to see what is to be done. I\u2019m inclined to believe with De Winton\nthat it is a trick, and that the foolish child is amusing herself at\nseeing us all out of doors searching for her.\u201d\n\nWhether this was honest or not, Clide felt it was meant in kindness. He\nlet his old friend draw his arm within his and lead him back into the\nhouse. It was lighted up as for an impromptu illumination; every servant,\nmale and female, was afoot, and they had busied themselves in and out of\nall the up\u2010stair rooms that for years had been untenanted; and as it was\nnecessary to do something, they lighted candles.\n\n\u201cSuppose it is not a trick!\u201d said Clide, looking into Sir Simon\u2019s face\nwith a terrible question in his eyes.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what we have got to find out,\u201d replied the baronet evasively.\n\u201cMeantime, come up and let us hear what the others have to say.\u201d\n\nThey had nothing to say. Presently Mrs. de Winton remarked:\n\n\u201cI wonder what dress she had on? If she kept on her jewels, and that light\ngauze one, with the low body and short sleeves, she wore at dinner, she\ncan\u2019t have gone far.\u201d\n\nThey, went into the empty room to investigate. The jewels were gone, every\none she had worn; there were the empty cases. But the light gauze dress\nwas there hanging in the wardrobe, as if her maid had carefully put it\naway. What she had put on to replace it was the next point which Mr.\nSimpson insisted on clearing up. All the elegant dresses of the young\nbride\u2019s trousseau were tossed out of drawers and wardrobes by\nSusette\u2014Susette had been engaged for her by Clide himself after their\nmarriage\u2014and counted over, till one was found missing in the roll: the\nclaret\u2010colored silk in which she had travelled down from London, and had\nnever worn since. It was the most appropriate dress of all she had for a\nmidnight flight, and, being dark, would escape observation. Mr. Simpson\nseized immediately on this, \u201cmaking a point\u201d of it in his legal way, that\nso exasperated Clide he could have flown at the lawyer\u2019s throat and\nstrangled him on the spot. He resisted the impulse, and turned away,\ninviting Mrs. de Winton by a sign to go with him. He walked into his own\ndressing\u2010room, and, when his step\u2010mother had followed him, he closed the\ndoor, and took a turn in the room with a quick, passionate step.\n\n\u201cWhat in the name of heaven can it be?\u201d he said, stopping abruptly and\ncoming close up to her, as she stood by the mantel\u2010piece.\n\n\u201cShe is gone,\u201d answered his step\u2010mother. \u201cI hardly doubted it for an\ninstant. I have been expecting some such catastrophe for several days\npast. If you ask me why, I cannot tell you. I somehow never trusted.... My\ndear Clide,\u201d she continued in an earnest tone of kindness, quite unlike\nher usual cold manner to him, \u201cI wish with all my heart I could do\nsomething or say something to comfort you or help you. Can you throw no\nlight at all on it from your own knowledge of things? Is there nothing in\nwhat you know, or in what you do not know, about her antecedents and\nconnections to help you to form some guess? Where can she have gone to,\nand who has she gone with?\u201d\n\nClide clenched his hand, and moved away with an expression of anguish that\nwas dreadful.\n\n\u201cGone to!\u201d he repeated suddenly. \u201cWhy, what fools we are not to have seen\nto that at once! But it\u2019s not too late....\u201d He pulled out his watch....\n\u201cIt\u2019s just three\u2010quarters of an hour since we missed her. Sir Simon and I\nwill saddle a couple of horses and ride both ways, for Glanivold and\nLanfarl. If she is making for either, we may overtake her.\u201d\n\nHe was going to the door, but Mrs. de Winton laid her hand on his arm.\n\u201cNot three\u2010quarters of an hour since we missed her, but she may be gone\nmore than three hours. It was scarcely eight o\u2019clock when she came up\u2010\nstairs to lie down, and now it\u2019s ten minutes past twelve. Supposing she\u2019s\ngone to the station....\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d broke in Clide; \u201cthe station is three hours\u2019 walk from this.\nShe could no more do it than an infant.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m only _supposing_; one must suppose something,\u201d replied his step\u2010\nmother patiently. \u201cThe train leaves at a quarter to twelve; so if that\nwere her object, it is too late to stop her.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s something too absurd in the idea! It\u2019s simply impossible!\u201d\ndeclared Clide with a vehemence that carried no sense of conviction with\nit\u2014rather the contrary. \u201cIt\u2019s absurd to contemplate it,\u201d he repeated; \u201cbut\nif you would sleep easier for having the thing certified, I\u2019ll jump into\nthe saddle, and ride to the station and inquire.\u201d\n\n\u201cInquire what? Consider what you are going to do, Clide,\u201d said Mrs. de\nWinton, holding him back firmly\u2014\u201craise a hue and cry after your wife as if\nshe were a runaway thief! Suppose it turns out after all to be a trick,\nand that we see her emerge out of some closet or corner before you come\nback; how will you look after sending it over the country that your wife\ndisappeared one night? Do you imagine the world will believe the story of\nthe game of hide\u2010and\u2010seek?\u201d\n\nBefore he could reply Sir Simon and the admiral burst into the room.\n\n\u201cWe found this on her dressing\u2010table,\u201d said the admiral, handing his\nnephew a note. Clide took it. A cold chill ran through his blood. He tore\nopen the letter. It ran thus:\n\n\u201cClide, I am going to leave you. I don\u2019t ask you to forgive me. You can\nnever do that. But God help me! I shall suffer for having so wickedly\ndeceived you. I should not have been worthy of you, even if I had been as\ntrue as I have been false. But I loved you, and I shall never love anybody\nelse. Don\u2019t try to find me. You will never find me. Good\u2010by, Clide. Forget\nme and be happy.\n\n\u201cYour wicked but remorseful and loving\n\nIsabel.\u201d\n\nThe letter dropped from the young man\u2019s hand, and he fell to the ground\nwith a cry.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nWe return to Clide\u2019s journal:\n\nThe sun was shining over the sea\u2014the strong\u2010waved sea that washes the\nnorthern coast of France, the country of legends and cider, and gray ruins\nand chivalry, and all that survives in the France of to\u2010day of the France\nof long ago, the \u201cplaisant pays de France\u201d that poets sang to Marie Stuart\nin her happy days of young queenhood. There to the right, as the steamer\npaddled towards the port, stood the cliff where William of Normandy\nharangued his Norsemen before they embarked with him to snatch from Harold\nby force the crown he had not been able by fraud to prevent his assuming.\nDieppe lay twinkling in the sunlight below, a town of gossip and carved\nivory and many odors. As we entered the harbor, a strain of wild,\nplaintive music came floating towards us from the shore. It was the hymn\nof the fishermen\u2019s wives, pulling the fishing smacks along the pier.\nChildren were toddling by the side of the mothers, and clutching by the\nrope with their small fingers, while their shrill trebles piped in chorus\nwith the elders. A pretty picture, if I had been in a mood to admire it.\nBut the gloom within quenched all the brightness without.\n\nThe boat was steered alongside the quay, where half the town, it seemed to\nme, had assembled to jeer at our pea\u2010green faces, as we emerged from our\nseparate purgatories and staggered up the gangway. I never feel so\nthorough a misanthrope as when I see my fellow\u2010creatures enjoying the\nhumiliation of my steamboat misery, and hear them chuckling over me as I\npass along the plank that leads from deck to dry land. On this particular\noccasion I remember with what a vehemence of hatred I resented their\ninhumanity, and I assumed as defiant an air as was compatible with my\nabject bodily and mental condition, as I marched on with my fellow\u2010\nvictims, and passed between two hedges of eager, staring eyes. My uncle\nwas with me. But he was not abject. He was far removed from such a\nwretched infirmity as sea\u2010sickness, and nothing but his kindheartedness\nprevented him from joining with the chucklers who were making merry at our\nexpense. It was almost an aggravation of my own suffering to see the\nintensity of his sympathy, the way in which he was perpetually mounting\nguard beside me to ward off any random shaft that the chance remarks of\nothers every now and then aimed at me.\n\nI had now spent six weary months prosecuting my search, the most\nextraordinary and unfortunate that ever man was engaged in, and up to the\nday I started for Dieppe I had failed to obtain the smallest clew. I had\nleft nothing untried. I had stimulated the activity of Scotland Yard by\nreckless liberality; I had set the whole detective force in motion, but to\nno purpose.\n\nI had had recourse to the mysterious column in the _Times_ for months\ntogether; but the agony of feeling that my appeals to Isabel to \u201ccome back\nto her husband, or communicate with him by letter,\u201d was making all the\nbreakfast\u2010tables in the kingdom laugh, brought no response from the\nfugitive herself. All this time my uncle seconded me by his exertions and\nsupported me by his kindness. I think I should have gone mad, if it had\nnot been for him. He never tired of my lamentations, my long, sullen fits\nof gloom, the wearisome refrain of my self\u2010reproach, my endless wondering\nat the behavior of Isabel, and my cursing and swearing at the stupidity of\nthe Scotland Yard people. He bore with me as patiently as a mother with a\nsick child. My step\u2010mother had talked him into her belief that Isabel had\nbeen on the stage, and that the most likely place to hear of her would be\namongst managers and play\u2010actors. There was something utterly revolting to\nme in this notion, and I burst out into such uncontrollable anger one day\nwhen my uncle was arguing in favor of it with a degree of sense that was\nquite unanswerable, that he determined never to broach the supposition\nagain to me. This did not prevent him from following up the idea by\nemploying agents in every direction to hunt the theatres both of London\nand the provincial towns. Meanwhile, I was secretly doing the same. I\ncould not look the thing bravely in the face, even with him; but I had in\nmy innermost heart a dread, amounting at times to certainty, that he was\nright, and that if ever I found my wife it would be in the green\u2010room or\non the stage. I discovered afterwards that my dear old uncle knew\nperfectly well the game I was playing, but he left me under the delusion\nthat he believed in my disbelief, and so spared me the shame I morbidly\nshrank from. More than once a false alarm led me to fancy that these were\nrealized, and that she was in the hands of a manager, and then my\nsensation was one of poignant misery, almost of despair. While I knew\nnothing I might yet hope. My feelings resembled that of the French miser\nwho, while looking for the will that if found would rob him of a legacy,\nconfessed naively: \u201cJe cherche en priant Dieu de ne pas trouver.\u201d\n\nI was sitting at breakfast in my lodgings in Piccadilly one morning when\nmy uncle came suddenly in, and said abruptly:\n\n\u201cYou told me once that the sign by which the police could positively\nidentify her was a silver tooth?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I replied, and my heart thumped against my ribs; \u201ca silver tooth in\nthe left jaw, rather far back.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid it never occur to you to make inquiries amongst the dentists?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, that never occurred to me! But now that you mention it, it seems very\nstrange that it should not. I quite remember her speaking to me of a\nclever one who had put in the silver tooth for her; how he had at first\nbeen obstinate and annoyed about it, and then when it was done how pleased\nhe was with it. How stupid of me not to have thought of it before!\u201d I\ncried in vexation; \u201cbut to\u2010morrow I will begin and set inquiries on foot\nin this direction.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou needn\u2019t trouble about it,\u201d said my uncle; \u201cI\u2019ve found the man who did\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have!\u201d I cried. \u201cAnd he has seen her! He has told you something! For\nheaven\u2019s sake, uncle, speak at once. What does the man know?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo great things,\u201d answered my uncle, stepping from the hearth\u2010rug, where\nhe had been standing with his back to the clock, and flinging himself into\nan arm\u2010chair. \u201cIt seems that your step\u2010mother\u2019s fancy was the right one\nafter all; the child _was_ brought up for public singing, and she was here\nten days ago. For aught this dentist can tell, she may be here still; but\nI think not. She came to him to have something done to this identical\nsilver tooth. It was hurting her, and she was in a great state about it,\nbecause she had just got an engagement to sing at a provincial theatre\nthis season; she didn\u2019t say where, but the last time he saw her\u2014she went\nto him for several days running\u2014she was fidgetting about the weather\u2014you\nremember we had some stiffish gales last week\u2014and wondering what sort of\npassage the people would have who were crossing the Channel with the wind\nso high. He could give me no idea what port she had in her mind, or in\nfact anything but just what I tell you. Well, I thought it was as well to\nmake inquiries before I set you on the go again, so I telegraphed to the\npolice at all the French ports, and just a minute ago I got this from\nDieppe.\u201d\n\nHe handed the telegram to me: \u201cBeautiful young woman, answers to\ndescription. Landed on Saturday; sings to\u2010night. H\u00f4tel Royal. Elderly man\nwith her.\u201d There was not a doubt in my mind but that this was Isabel. The\nelderly man must be the villain who passed himself off as her uncle. I\nsaid so; my uncle agreed with me.\n\n\u201cThe dentist fellow described him just as you do,\u201d he continued\u2014\u201ca gruff\nold man, with a brown coat and broad\u2010brimmed hat, and a disagreeable\nsnuffle when he talked. He used to go with her a year ago, when she got\nthe silver tooth made, and he was with her the other day. And now, my boy,\nwhen are we to start for Dieppe? Let\u2019s look at the time\u2010table.\u201d\n\nWe started by the tidal train, and reached Dieppe about five P.M. that\nevening. It was the season, and every hotel was brimful of English and\nFrench fashion, come to bathe itself in the briny wave of that strong salt\nsea. We went straight to the H\u00f4tel Royal, but the landlord had not even a\ngarret where he could put up a bed for us. The lodging\u2010houses in the whole\nlength of the Rue Aguado were overflowing, and we were finally driven to\nexplore the Faubourg de la Barre, where we were thankful to be taken in by\na garrulous old landlady, who showed us two small rooms on the first\nfloor. I was not in a frame of mind to quarrel with the accommodation, but\nI heard the admiral relieving himself in strong vernacular on the\ncorkscrew staircase.\n\nWe deposited our light _impedimenta_ in these lodgings, and then went out\nto see what information was to be gathered concerning the object of our\njourney. The first thing we beheld on entering the Grande Rue was a\nplacard announcing \u201cLa Sonnambula\u201d for that evening; the _prima donna_ was\nto be a \u201cgifted young soprano _d\u00e9butante_, Signorina Graziella.\u201d We went\nto the box\u2010office; every place was taken, and we had only a prospect of\nstanding\u2010room in the space between the first tier and the balcony. The\n_prima donna_ had been heralded by such a flourish of trumpets that the\nwhole population was eager to hear her\u2014so the box\u2010keeper informed us.\n\nBy this time it was six o\u2019clock; but I was fed by something stronger than\nmeat, and it never occurred to me that since my breakfast, which had been\nsuspended before I was half through it, I had tasted no food. My uncle\u2019s\nsympathy, however, being of the healthiest kind, was not proof against the\ndemands of nature, and he suggested that it was time to think of dinner. I\nwas ashamed of having so entirely forgotten his comfort in my own\nabsorbing preoccupation, and proposed that we should go to the _table\u2010\nd\u2019h\u00f4te_ of the H\u00f4tel Royal, which was served at six. I would have eaten\nmerely to keep him company; but the first spoonful of soup seemed to choke\nme. The brave old sailor was near losing temper with me at last, and vowed\nthat he would wash his hands of me if I didn\u2019t eat my dinner. He had\nroughed it on many a heavy sea, and in nine cases out of ten it was his\nhearty appetite that kept him afloat and pulled him through. In any case,\nhe would not admit fasting to be an element in sentiment with rational\nhuman beings. He called for a bottle of Ch\u00e2teau Lafitte, and insisted on\nmy helping him to empty it. I did my best, and the result was that before\ndinner was over the generous wine repaid me for the effort, and enabled me\nto take, if not a more hopeful, at any rate a less utterly disconsolate,\nview of life, and of the particular chapter of it I was now passing\nthrough. It had a still kinder effect on my uncle; his heart soon warmed\nby the juice of the red grape to such an extent that he talked of my\nmiserable position cheerfully, as if it had been the most ordinary\noccurrence, and as if there was no reason why I should despond about it at\nall. He persisted in treating Isabel as a naughty child who had never been\ntaught submission to the rules of life, and broke through them the moment\nshe found they trammelled her. It was no unprecedented event for an\nexcitable young thing to go mad about the stage; there were, on the\ncontrary, plenty of instances of it. He could count them on his\nfingers\u2014young ladies who had gone quite mad about it, and who had calmed\ndown, when the freak was over, into excellent wives and mothers. Why\nshould not this silly little puss do the same? I did not dare remind him\nof those terrible words, written in her own hand: \u201cIf I were as true as I\nhave been false.\u201d\n\nIt was a solace to hear him rambling on in his good\u2010natured, foolish talk.\nOnly when he repeated with stout emphasis for the tenth time that she was\nherself the victim and dupe of the designing old scoundrel who called her\nhis niece, I ventured to remark: \u201cBut Simpson says....\u201d \u201cSimpson is an\nass!\u201d snarled my uncle, and I at once assented, and declared my belief\nthat Simpson was an ass.\n\nThe moment we had finished our Ch\u00e2teau Lafitte we rose and left the\ncrowded room, where new\u2010comers were still pouring in to seize upon every\nseat as it was vacated. I had been casting uneasy glances towards the\ndoor, after first quickly scanning the three hundred heads that were\nbobbing up and down over as many soup\u2010plates when we entered; but my fears\nwere vain. Isabel was not likely to run such a risk, if she wished\u2014as\nevidently she did wish\u2014to remain undiscovered. I overheard some persons\nnear us discussing the appearance of the _prima donna_, who, they\nobserved, never showed herself off the stage. Many curious idlers had\nwasted hours lolling about the hotel door, in hopes of seeing her come out\nto walk or bathe; but since she had been in Dieppe\u2014four days now\u2014no one\nhad caught a glimpse of her. They little dreamed, as they bandied this\ngossip with one another, that they were stabbing a heart with every word.\nThe persistent avoidance of notice was but too significant to me of the\n_prima donna\u2019s_ identity. It wanted yet half an hour of the time for the\ntheatre, and my uncle said we might as well spend it inhaling the fresh\nbreeze that was blowing from the north, borne in by the advancing tide. He\nlinked his arm in mine, and we sauntered down to the beach. The waves were\nbreaking in low thunder\u2010sobs upon the shingles, and all the town that was\nnot dining was out of doors watching them. The Etablissement was crowded,\nand the music of the band that was playing there came floating towards us\nwith every roll of the waves; but the hum of the chattering crowd rose\ndistinctly above the sobbing of the sea and the murmur of the more distant\norchestra. I was too excited, too absorbed in my own thoughts, to realize\ndistinctly anything around me, but I quite well remember how I was\nimpressed in a vague yet vivid way by the contrast between the sad,\nmajestic tide heaving and surging on one side, and the human stream\nrippling to and fro on the other, dressed out in such tawdry gear, and\nsimpering and chattering and subsiding like the frothy foam on the\nbillows. I can remember, too, how I turned, irritated and sick, from the\nsight of it to the prettier, purer one of children playing on the sward\nbeside the beach. The peals of their innocent laughter did not jar upon\nme; there was no discord between it and the dirge\u2010like sound of the water\nwashing the shore. All this passed and repassed before me like something\nin a dream.\n\nBut the time was hurrying on, and now I was impatient to see my doom with\nmy own eyes, or to know that the reprieve was prolonged, and that I might\nyet cling to a plank of hope.\n\n\u201cI think it\u2019s time we were going,\u201d I remarked, pulling out my watch; \u201cthe\ncrowd is thinning, and I suppose it is bound in the same direction.\u201d We\nwere late, as I expected; every spot was filled in the little theatre when\nwe arrived, and the performance had begun. As the box\u2010keeper opened the\ndoor to admit us to our standing\u2010post on the first tier, we were almost\nthrown back by the roar of applause that burst upon our ears; it rose and\nfell like a mighty gust of wind, and seemed literally to make the ground\nshake under our feet and the walls tremble round us. For a moment I was\nstunned. There was a lull, and then we went in. The singer had left the\nstage, but the air was still vibrating with the melody of her voice and of\nthe rapturous echoes it had awakened. A fine barytone was confiding his\ndespair and his hopes to the audience, but it fell idly on their ears\nafter what had gone before. The _Sonnambula_ appeared again; the first\nnotes were greeted by another salvo of bravos, louder, more impassioned\nand prolonged, than the first; again and again the plaudits rose,\nhandkerchiefs fluttered, and hands clapped\u2014the house was electrified. She\ncould bear it no longer; overcome by emotion, she held out her arms to the\nspectators in an entreating gesture that seemed to say: \u201cEnough! Spare me;\nI can bear no more!\u201d It was either an impulse of childlike nature or the\nmost finished piece of art ever seen on the stage. Whatever it was, the\neffect was tremendous. I suppose it could not really have been so, but I\nwould have sworn that the house rocked. It was a sustained roll of human\nthunder from the pit to the gallery, and from the gallery to the pit.\nIsabel\u2014for it was she\u2014made another passionate response with the same\nchildlike, bewitching grace, and rushed off the scene. I was rooted to the\nspot, not daring to look at my uncle; not thinking of him, of anything. I\nwas like a man in a nightmare, held fast in the grasp of a spectre,\nlonging to call for help, but powerless to utter a sound.\n\nThe manager came forward and addressed a few words of expostulation to the\naudience; implored them to control their ecstasies a little for the sake\nof the sensitive and gifted being who had called them forth. He was\nnervous and at the same time triumphant. He was answered by a loud buzz of\nassent. The _Sonnambula_ once more came forth, and this time a deep,\nsuppressed murmur was the only interruption. The dress, the glare, the\ngaslight, the strange way the lustrous coils of her black hair were\narranged\u2014tumbled in a sort of studied tangle all over the forehead\u2014while a\nveil, half on, half off, concealed part of the face, the entire\ntransformation of the _mise\u2010en\u2010sc\u00e8ne_, in fact, might easily have\ndisguised her identity from eyes less preternaturally keen than mine; but\nmy glance had scarcely fallen on the frail, shrouded figure, as it glided\nin from the background, than I knew that I beheld my wife; beheld her\nclasped\u2014gracious heavens! yes, I saw it, and stood there motionless and\ndumb\u2014clasped by the man who was howling out some idiotic lamentations. She\nstepped forward, and began to sing. Her head was first slightly bowed over\nher breast, and her hands clasped and hanging. The first bars were warbled\nout in a kind of bird\u2010like whisper, as if she were in a dream; but little\nby little they grew higher, more sonorous, until, carried away by the\npower of the music and her own magnificent interpretation of it, she flung\nback her head, and let the gossamer cloud fall from it, revealing the\nunshrouded contour of the face, upturned, inspired, all alight with the\ntriumph of the hour, while the bell\u2010like notes rang out with a breadth and\npathos that melted and stirred every heart in that vast crowd like touches\nof fire. It was a vision of beauty that defies all words. I neither spoke\nnor moved while the song lasted; but when the last chord died out, and the\npent\u2010up hearts of the listeners broke forth in new peals that seemed to\nsweep over the songstress in a flood of joy and triumph, I awoke and came\nto my senses.\n\n\u201cCome away!\u201d I gasped, and turned to move out. But the words stuck in my\nthroat. My uncle had caught the delirium, and was cheering and bravoing\nlike a maniac. \u201cGlorious! Grand, by Jove! Encore! Splendid!\u201d He was\nshouting like a madman, whirling his hat and stamping. His brown face was\nyoung again. I never beheld such a transformation in any human\ncountenance.\n\n\u201cAre you mad, sir?\u201d I shrieked into his ear, while I clutched his arm.\n\nI suppose he was mad; I know he kept on the same frantic shouts and\nclappings for several minutes, not paying any more heed to me than to the\nfloor he was so vigorously stamping. I was frightened at last. I thought\nanguish and shame for me had driven him out of his mind; so, taking him\ngently by the arm, I said I wanted to speak to him. He let me push him on\nbefore me, and we got out. He was still much excited, and neither of us\nspoke till we were in the open air.\n\n\u201cMy dear boy,\u201d he said suddenly, with a shamefaced look, \u201cI couldn\u2019t help\nit for the life of me! By Jove, but it was the grandest thing I ever heard\nin my life. The house reeled round you. I would stake my head there wasn\u2019t\na sane man in it but yourself!\u201d\n\nI laughed bitterly. The irony of the words was dreadful. \u201cSane?\u201d I cried.\n\u201cYou think I was sane? I thank heaven I behaved like a sane man; but if I\nhad been within reach of that ruffian\u2019s throat, I\u2019d have dashed his brains\nout as ruthlessly as any escaped maniac from Bedlam. I would do it now, if\nI had him!\u201d\n\nMy uncle stopped and looked at me. He was thoroughly sobered, and I could\nsee that he was terrified. He told me long afterwards that he never could\nhave believed passion could transfigure a face as it did mine; he said I\nhad _murder_ written in my eyes as plainly as ever it was written on a\nprinted page. And I believe him. I felt I could have committed murder at\nthat moment. I would have killed that man, if I had held him, if the\ngallows had been there to hang me the next hour. I have never felt the\nsame towards murderers since that moment. It was an awful revelation to me\nof the hidden springs of crime that may lie deep down in a man\u2019s heart,\nand never be suspected even by himself, until the touch that can wake them\ninto deadly life has come. I can never think of that evening without an\nhumbling sense of my own innate wickedness, of the benign mercy that\noverruled that frightful impulse. Given the immediate opportunity and the\nabsence of the supreme, supervening goodness that stood between me and\nmyself, and I should have been a murderer. The gulf that separates each\none of us from crime is narrower than we imagine. The discovery of this\ntruth is humbling, but perhaps none the less salutary for that.\n\n\u201cCome along, Clide; come along with me,\u201d my uncle said in the soothing\ntone one uses to a fractious child. \u201cIt\u2019s all my fault. I ought to have\nknown better than to let you go there at all; I ought to have gone by\nmyself. I\u2019m no better than a blubbering old idiot to you, my boy.\u201d\n\nI went with him passively; we walked to our lodgings without speaking. I\nshall never forget the kindness of my uncle all through that night. He was\nas patient and as gentle with me as a woman, bearing with me as tenderly\nas a mother could have done. I could not rest, and I would not let him\nrest. I called for _caf\u00e9 noir_, and I kept drinking cup after cup of it\nuntil, added to the stronger stimulant that was setting my blood on fire,\nI almost worked myself into a brain fever, bursting out into paroxysms of\nchildish rebellion, and then lapsing into fits of dumb despair. I had\nfirst insisted on rushing off to the hotel and lying in wait for Isabel,\nand compelling her there and then either to return to me or to part from\nme for ever; but my uncle was inexorable in opposing this, and I knew by\nhis tone that he was not to be trifled with. There was a something about\nhim in certain moods that made resistance to his will as impossible as\nwrestling with an elephant. I gave in, and allowed him to give his reasons\nfor preventing my taking a step which, result how it might, was sure to be\na most humiliating one for me; not only or chiefly as a husband, but as a\nDe Winton. My uncle\u2019s anxiety lest the old name should suffer by the event\nthrew his sympathy for my individual sorrow comparatively into the shade.\nWhile my wife\u2019s flight was known only to my immediate household, my step\u2010\nmother\u2014whose pride and touchiness about the honor of a De Winton was\nalmost as morbid as his own\u2014and the three tried friends of my dear\nfather\u2019s youth, it was just possible that it might remain a secret beyond\nthat small circle, and he clung to this hope as tenaciously as I did to\nthe hope of recovering my wife. The De Wintons were a proud race, and\njustly so. We had nobler things to be proud of than the primary one of\nancient, and I may venture to say illustrious, lineage: we could boast\nwith truth that there was no bar sinister on the old escutcheon; our men\nhad never known cowardice, nor our women shame; no maiden of our house had\ndishonored a father\u2019s white hairs, or wife brought a blot upon her\nhusband\u2019s name. I was the last of our line so far, and the thought that it\nshould die out under a cloud of shame with me was bitter with the\nbitterness of death to the admiral; for he was at heart as proud as a\nPlantagenet, with all his free and easy talk, and his jovial, jolly\u2010tar\nmanner to everybody, especially to his inferiors. _Noblesse oblige_ was\nengraven on the inmost core of his honest heart; and he could not conceive\na De Winton feeling less acutely on the point than he did himself. He had\nnever been married; this partially accounted, perhaps, for his inability\nto merge the De Winton in the husband. It is possible that, if I had never\nbeen married, I should have comprehended his stern abstract view of the\ncase, and have felt with him that the husband\u2019s misery was as nothing\ncompared to the blow dealt at the pride of a De Winton. As it was, I could\nnot feel this. I could have seen the whole clan of the De Wintons and\ntheir escutcheon in the bottom of the Red Sea, if I could have rescued\nmyself from the anguish of renouncing for ever the young wife who had so\ncruelly charmed and blighted my life. I was driven to make this unworthy\navowal on my uncle\u2019s suggesting that, assuming it were still possible for\nme to forgive her, she might lay it down as a condition of our reunion\nthat she was to pursue her career on the stage. He merely threw out the\nidea as a wild notion that crossed his thoughts for a moment; but when I\nhinted at the possibility of yielding to this painful and humiliating\ncondition rather than renounce Isabel for ever, he flew into such a frenzy\nof indignation that to calm him I believe I was cowardly enough to swallow\nmy words, and declare that they had not been spoken in earnest. It was\nsome time, however, before he subsided from the agitation they caused him.\nThe idea of alluding, even in jest, to the possibility of a play\u2010actress\nflaunting our name upon the boards of the theatre was too dreadful to be\ncontemplated without unmitigated horror. If I let her go her mad career\nalone, the chances were that this disgrace would be spared us. Isabel had\nproved clearly enough so far that she desired secrecy to the full as much\nas we did; but if she continued on the stage as my wife, secrecy became\nimpossible. She might play under the assumed name she now bore, but the\ntrue one would soon be blazoned abroad, do what we all might to conceal\nit. The managers who speculated on her voice would be quick to discover\nit, and make capital out of it. The admiral was so strong in his\ndenunciation of the madness of the whole thing that he convinced me he was\nright. This little incident left him more than ever determined to keep me\nas much as possible in the background, and I so far acknowledged the\nwisdom of his views as to consent to let him go by himself to try and see\nIsabel in the morning.\n\nIt proved a fruitless mission. The _concierge_ said that the _signorina_\nhad not left her room yet; but the servant, in answer to my uncle\u2019s ring\nat her door, informed him that she had gone out for an early drive\u2014it was\nnot eight o\u2019clock\u2014and that she would not be in until dinner\u2010hour. Would\nmonsieur take the trouble to call later? Monsieur said he would, and he\ndid; but he was then informed that the _signorina_ had taken a chill in\nher drive, and had gone to bed. My uncle came home in great wrath; he\nbelieved no more in the chill than he had believed in the drive, and he\nwas for writing there and then to Isabel, telling her so, and demanding an\ninterview without more ado, using firm language and hinting at sterner\nmeasures if she refused. I entreated him not to do this. I don\u2019t know\nwhether in the bottom of my heart I believed the servant\u2019s story, but I\npersuaded myself and then him that I did; that it was only natural that a\ntender, delicate\u2010fibred creature like her should have been done up after\nthe excitement of last evening; and that we had better leave her in peace\nfor a day. He pooh\u2010poohed this contemptuously: the excitement was just\nwhat she liked in the business; it was what play\u2010actors, men and women,\nall alike lived on. He humored me, however, and consented to put off the\nletter till the next day. Meantime, something might turn up. I might meet\nher uncle myself, and button\u2010hole the scoundrel on the spot. He must walk\nout some time or other, and I was determined to be on the watch. I paced\nup and down before the hotel for three weary hours, glancing up\ncontinually at the windows. I knew from my uncle what floor Isabel\noccupied. Once I fancied I caught sight of the fellow\u2019s face looking out\nfor a moment, and then hurriedly withdrawn. Was it only fancy, or had he\nreally seen me, and drawn back to escape my seeing him? I lounged into the\ncoffee\u2010room, and adroitly elicited from one of the waiters that the\n_signorina_ was keeping very quiet, so as to avoid any disappointment for\nthe forthcoming representation; she was to sing again in two nights, and\nno one was to be admitted to see her in the interval. Orders to this\neffect had been given to the _concierge_, who was to deny all visitors on\nthe plea of the _signorina\u2019s_ state of nervous debility, which made the\nslightest excitement off the stage fatal to her. When I repeated this to\nthe admiral, he set his brown face in a scowl, and we very nearly\nquarrelled outright before he again yielded to my resistance, and agreed\nto wait two days more, and see whether she kept her engagement for the\nnext performance. On the morning of the second day we both went out\ntogether to the baths. As we were passing through the Etablissement\ngardens, a young man came up to a group of people walking ahead of us, and\ngave some news that provoked sudden surprise, apparently of no pleasant\nnature; for we heard the words, \u201cAbominable sell!\u201d \u201cWhat an extraordinary\naffair!\u201d repeated with angry emphasis. We had not heard a word of what the\nyoung man had said, but the broken comments that reached us seemed, as if\nby some magnetic influence, to inform us of their meaning. The admiral, in\nhis off\u2010hand, sailor way, walked up to the party, and asked if any\naccident had happened on the coast. \u201cOh! no; no accident,\u201d the bearer of\nthe news said, \u201cbut a most disagreeable thing for everybody. Graziella has\nbolted, no one knows when or how; her rooms were found vacant an hour ago,\nand there was not a trace of her or the fellow who was with her. The H\u00f4tel\nRoyal was in a tremendous commotion about it; the landlord had been down\nto the station and to the quay, but there was no trace of them at either\nplace. The landlord believed they had eloped during the night, by some\nhighway or by\u2010way, so as to avoid detection; but why or wherefore was the\nmystery. They had paid their bill. It was a horrible sell, for the little\ncreature was the trump\u2010card of the season\u2014a second Malibran.\u201d\n\nI knew as well as if I had followed my uncle, and heard the intelligence\nwith my own ears, what he had to tell me when he turned back, and came up\nto me, intending to break it gently. It seemed utterly useless after this\nto go to the hotel with the hope of gaining further particulars, but I\nurged at the same time that it was possible the landlord himself might be\na party to the affair, and that, if he had been bought over to hold his\ntongue, he might be bought to loosen it. I could not count on the\nnecessary command over myself to speak or to listen to others speaking of\nthe event at this stage, so I yielded to my uncle\u2019s wish, and went home;\nhe accompanied me to the door, for he judged by my looks that I was not\nfit to be left to go back alone. He then started off to the Rue Aguado. He\nfound the place in an uproar about the flight, but no one could throw a\nparticle of light on the time, the manner, or the motive of it. The\n_concierge_ remembered seeing a lady, small and slight, and with a very\nelastic step, walk rapidly out of the house late on the previous evening,\ndressed in the deepest mourning, with a widow\u2019s crape veil, and holding\nher handkerchief to her eyes, as if crying bitterly; he had remarked her\nat the time, and thought she had been visiting some one in the hotel, and\nthat she was in fresh mourning for her husband, poor thing! Everybody\nagreed that this must have been La Graziella in disguise. But beyond this\nnot the smallest clew was found that could direct the pursuit of the\nfugitives. Their luggage had been carried off as mysteriously as\nthemselves; no one had seen it removed. This induced the suspicion that\nthey must have had an accomplice on the premises. The landlord, however,\nhad a precedent to fall back on\u2014a swindler who had lived at his expense\nfor three weeks, and then decamped one fine morning, bag and baggage,\nhaving carried them all off himself, disguised as a porter, while several\ntravellers were under way in the courtyard with their separate lots of\nluggage, and porters were hurrying in and out with them.\n\nFor two days after this event, which checkmated every movement on our\npart, we did nothing but wander about Dieppe, watching helplessly for some\ninformation that could have directed us what to do. My uncle was\nconstantly down on the quay and at the railway station, questioning the\nsailors and the officials, and always coming back just as void of\ninformation as he went. He was more irascible than ever now about the\nhonor of the De Wintons, and would not allow me to interfere directly or\nindirectly. I resented this tyranny; but the fact of my interference\nhaving already proved so disastrous gave him the whip\u2010hand over me, and I\nfelt it was wiser in my own interest to subside and let him act. He was\nactively seconded in his endeavors to track the fugitives by the manager\nof the theatre, who was resolved\u2014so we heard on all sides\u2014to spare neither\ntrouble nor expense in recapturing his prize. The collapse of such a\n_prima donna_ was a serious loss to him; he had gone to considerable\nexpense in preparing for her _d\u00e9but_, and it had been so brilliant as to\nensure the promise of an overflowing house to the end of the season. On\none side my uncle was gratified at the intelligence and energy displayed\nby the manager; but on the other hand it put him in a ferment of terror.\nWhat if, in his search after Graziella, he should discover who she was and\nwhat name she bore! The bare thought of this almost drove him frantic. The\nmanager\u2019s opinion, it would seem, was that she had escaped in a fishing\u2010\nsmack. This was the most likely mode of flight for any one, indeed, to\nadopt from a seaport town like Dieppe; no preliminaries were required in\nthe way of tickets or passports, and the fugitives might steer themselves\nto any coast they pleased, and land unobserved where it suited them. It\nwas useless, however, for us to leave Dieppe until we heard something.\nWhile the manager was vigorously prosecuting the search on his side, my\nuncle was busy on ours. He suggested that it would be well to make an\nexploring expedition amongst the hamlets on the cliffs\u2010groups of huts\nscattered at short intervals over the long range of the _falaises_\noverhanging the sea, and inhabited by a scanty and miserable population.\n\nWe had felt it necessary to take a few safe agents of the police into our\nconfidence; and before setting to work among the _gens de falaise_, as\nthey are called by the dwellers on the plain, we consulted them as to the\nbest mode of proceeding, and asked some information as to the sort of\npeople we had to deal with. The police advised us to leave the attempt\nalone. They said the \u201cfolk of the cliffs\u201d were so simple that their name\nwas a by\u2010word for stupidity down below. It required little short of a\nsurgical operation to convey a new idea of the simplest kind into their\nbrain. There was a story current in the town of how, not so very long ago,\na gang of robbers prowled about the neighborhood, and made it expedient\nfor the mayor to issue a proclamation, wherein it was notified that nobody\nwould be allowed to enter the gates after night\u2010fall without a lantern.\nThe notice was placarded all over the walls, and this is how it worked\nwith the _gens de falaise_: Ding\u2010dong came a ring at the gate one evening,\nand the sentry called out: \u201cQui vive?\u201d\n\n\u201cGens de falaise!\u201d (Pronounced fa_w_laise.)\n\n\u201cHave you a lantern?\u201d\n\n\u201cEh, oui!\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there a candle in it?\u201d\n\n\u201cEh, non! We were not told to!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, now you\u2019re told to; be off and get one!\u201d\n\nNext evening ding\u2010dong come the travellers again. \u201cQui vive?\u201d\n\n\u201cGens de falaise!\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you a lantern?\u201d\n\n\u201cEh, oui!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd a candle in it?\u201d\n\n\u201cEh, oui?\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it lighted?\u201d\n\n\u201cEh, non! We were not told to.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, now you\u2019re told to; go back and light it.\u201d\n\nAway went the _gens de falaise_ again, and finally returned a third time\nto the charge with a lantern and a candle in it, and lighted.\n\nThis was not very encouraging to persons who wanted to question\nintelligent observers. We tried it, however, but soon found that rumor had\nnot maligned the simple dwellers on the cliffs, and that nothing was to be\ngleaned from their dull, unobservant eyes.\n\nFour days passed, and still we were in the same dense darkness. The\nsuspense and inaction became unendurable to me.\n\n\u201cUncle,\u201d I said, \u201cI can stand this no longer. I will run up to Paris, and\nset the lynx\u2010eyes of the police there on the lookout for us. Perhaps it\nwill be of no use; but anything is better than waiting here doing\nnothing.\u201d\n\nMy uncle fell in with the idea at once. I set off to Paris, and left him\nat Dieppe, where, in truth, it seemed more likely that information of some\nsort must transpire sooner or later.\n\nTo Be Continued.\n\n\n\n\nThe Colonization Of New South Wales By Great Britain. Concluded.\n\n\nIt is obvious, then, that, if the remarkable prosperity which has befallen\nthe English Colonies in Australia is to be ascribed, in any degree, to the\nsagacity of the government that sent out the first expedition, or of those\nwho then and subsequently presided over it, we must look for it in the\nperfection of the reformatory system, with a view to which the original\nconstitution of the colony was exclusively framed. The idea of making the\ncolonization of a newly discovered territory of prodigious resources\nsubservient to the reformation of as many as possible of the criminals of\nan over\u2010populated country is a conception of the noblest philanthropy; as\nthe attempt to use a new and promising colony for the mere purpose of\ngetting rid anyhow of the dangerous classes would be an act of guilty\nfolly, the result of an indolent and heartless selfishness, such as even\nthe most heartless and the most selfish of oligarchies should blush to\nhave perpetrated. For the prosecution of the former object more care and\npains should have been expended than under ordinary circumstances in\nsending out to the new settlement a colony fully equipped with all that\nthe mother\u2010country had to give it. The reformed, as they stepped forth\nfrom their cells and shackles, once more masters of their own actions,\nfree agents, reinvested with reason\u2019s noblest prerogative\u2014the liberty of\nchoosing good and rejecting evil\u2014should have found a sound and healthy\nsociety with which to mingle. They should have found themselves at once\namidst a society based on those principles of religion, law, and justice\nwhich characterize even the feeblest form of Christian civilization. Such\na society they should have found immediately outside their prison\u2010walls,\ninto which they might glide, as it were, unperceived, and from which they\nshould gradually and insensibly take their tone. What man in his sober\nsenses could have anticipated any thorough and permanent reformation of\ncriminals in a society consisting exclusively, after making exception of\nthe officials and the military guard, of the very criminals themselves? In\nreading the inaugural address of the first governor, we naturally conclude\nthat the government which organized the expedition was deeply impressed\nwith the necessity of an opposite course. But the illusion is soon\ndispelled. We discover to our astonishment that the infant colony took out\nwith it no one condition of a civilized society. Of law there was simply\nnone. Even the formalities of martial law, when, soon after the settlement\nof the penal colony, it was thought expedient to have recourse to them,\nwere found to be impracticable, because of some technical difficulty which\nthere had not been the sagacity to foresee and provide against. Whatever\nthere was of justice was wholly dependent on the caprice and dispositions\nof individuals. Incredible as it may appear, it is nevertheless the fact\nthat, after the retirement of the first governor, the administration of\nthe colony was entrusted for three years to the hands of the officers of\nthe 102d Regiment. Unfit for such a responsibility as were the sea\u2010\ncaptains from amongst whom the first four governors were selected,\nofficers of the army were yet more so. The previous habits and training of\nEnglish regimental officers are such as to disqualify them, generally\nspeaking, for judicial functions. But the unfitness of military men in\nEngland for this office was much greater at that period than at the\npresent day, as they were more illiterate. The government of a colony\ntransferred to a regimental mess\u2010room forms indeed a humiliating contrast\nto the glowing periods of Commander Phillip. Mr. Therry tells us (p. 69):\n\n\n \u201cThe first four governors of New South Wales, Phillip, Hunter,\n King, and Bligh, exercised a rule (and this includes the mess\u2010room\n interregnum) which partook much of the character of the government\n of a large jail or penitentiary.\u201d\n\n\nTwo years and a half after the disembarkation of the first batch of\nconvicts fresh instructions arrived from the home government respecting\nthe allotment of land. By these instructions, the advantages already\nenjoyed by the emancipists were extended to the privates and non\u2010\ncommissioned officers of the military guard on the spot, but no provision\nwhatsoever was made for free emigrants from the mother\u2010country. So that,\nwhen the sixth governor, Macquarie, \u201cconsidered that the colony was\nselected as a depot for convicts; that the land properly belonged to them,\nas they emerged from their condition of servitude, and that emigrants were\nintruders on the soil,\u201d we can only conclude that he interpreted the\npolicy of the government at home more correctly than the more enthusiastic\nsailor who first presided over it. In spite of the singular incapacity\ndisplayed in the first organization of the settlement at Sydney, the\nfollowing illustration of the state of law and society therein twenty\nyears after its establishment, would be incredible if we had it on less\ntrustworthy authority than that of Mr. Therry. He tells us (p. 74) that,\nduring the rule of one Capt. Bligh, 1806\u20108, \u201cthe judge\u2010advocate, Atkins,\nwas a person of no professional mark, and was, besides, of a very\ndisreputable character.\u201d The governor reported of him to the Secretary of\nState that \u201che had been known to pronounce sentence of death when\nintoxicated\u201d! With Atkins was associated a convict named Crossley, who had\nbeen transported for forging a will, and for perjury, and who had been\nconvicted of swindling in the colony.\n\nThe result of such a state of things was as unavoidable as it was fatal.\nIf the reformatory system in the penal colony had been as wise and\nefficacious as it was lamentably, nay, wickedly, the reverse, such of the\nconvicts as yielded to the nobler motives of civil life and the claims of\nconscience should have been able to mix unnoticed with the sounder part of\nthe community. Bygones should have been really bygones. The past should\nhave been simply ignored. No allusion to it should have been tolerated.\nThe expiated crime should have been buried out of sight and recollection,\nso long as there was no relapse. There should have been no such class as\nan emancipist class. The reformatory institution should have remained as a\nthing apart, sending from time to time its contingent of convalescents to\nbe incorporated with the healthy body politic.\n\nInstead of this, as the colony increased, the moneyed and influential\nclass, the leading class, in a colony intended to reproduce the glories of\nEngland in the fifth great division of the world, consisted of emancipated\nconvicts. No pains taken to perpetuate the memory of these people\u2019s\ndisgrace could have attained so undesirable an object more effectually.\nThey stood out a distinctly marked order in the state. They became landed\nproprietors, magistrates, high government officials, even legal\nfunctionaries. Instead of a decent veil of oblivion being thrown over\ntheir antecedents, they were, as in a Methodist experience, even\nostentatiously displayed. It almost constituted a boast, and was worn as\nthough it were a decoration of honor. When, subsequently, through the\nencouragement of one or two of the governors and other causes, the tide of\nemigration set in from the mother\u2010country another moneyed and influential\nclass arose of untainted reputation. A bitter rivalry between the two was\nthe immediate consequence. The emancipists excited no sympathy or\ncompassion for the lingering memory of a misfortune which their subsequent\nlives might be supposed to have retrieved, but which, instead of an\nobliterated brand, was ostentatiously retained as the badge of a powerful\nclass, which became thus an object of contempt to the more respectable\nnew\u2010comers. The crimes for which they had been punished, and of which they\nshould, therefore, no longer have borne the burden, reappeared as their\naccusers in the intercourse of social life. Society snatched up the sword\nwhich the law had in mercy laid aside; a remitted punishment was exacted\nin another form; and the benevolent aim of rescuing the worst class of\ncriminals from irremediable ruin by a reformatory process, if it were ever\nseriously entertained, was wholly frustrated. For scarcely had the infant\nsettlement, through the gradual influx of immigrants, begun to assume the\nappearance of a colony, when the original sin of its constitution appeared\nin the form of an evil, fatal not only to the well\u2010being, but even to the\nvery existence of a free community. Instead of any effort being made to\nheal or, at least, to alleviate this evil by some consistent line of\npolicy, it was aggravated by the capricious preference of one or other of\nthe rival classes by successive governors, according to their several\nidiosyncrasies. An evil of this nature could end only with the extinction\nof one or other of the antagonistic classes, or the dissolution of the\ncolony; unless indeed the whole reformatory system were remodelled on an\nentirely different plan. The problem was solved by the adoption of the\nformer alternative. The natural advantages of the country and the\ncommercial energy of the Anglo\u2010Saxon race proved, at last, too strong for\na reformatory system which was not only crude and faulty to the utmost\ndegree, but was literally destructive of its own end and object. After a\nlong struggle against obstacles greater than ever before hindered the\ndevelopment of vast natural resources, the colony prevailed over the\nprison, and the entail of emancipation was finally cut off by the\nabolition of transportation in the year 1840.\n\nTurn we now to the penal portion of this quite unique organization for the\nreformation of criminals. Here, it may be, we shall be able to trace some\nindications, at least, of that humane sympathy, that sorrow for a fellow\u2010\ncreature\u2019s fall and anxiety for his restoration, which appeals to whatever\nof good may be lingering in the heart of the criminal, not to mention the\nhigher and more tender charities which religion inspires. No gentler\ninstrument of cure would appear to have suggested itself to the minds of\nthe members of the English government of 1788 than the lash!\u2014the lash in\nthe hands of sots and ruffians!\n\n\n \u201cI was once present in the police office in Sydney when a convict\n was sentenced to fifty lashes for not taking off his hat to a\n magistrate as he met him on the road.\u201d\n\n\nOf Capt. P. C. King, who administered the government from 1800 to 1806,\nMr. Therry writes:\n\n\n \u201cHe was a man of rough manners, and prone to indulge in offensive\n expressions borrowed from the language then in vogue in the\n navy.... His temper was irascible and wayward. At one time he\n assumed a tone of arrogant and unyielding dictation; at another,\n he indulged in jokes unsuited to the dignity of his position.\u201d\n\n\nOf Capt. Bligh, who succeeded King, Judge Therry tells us that his\n\n\n \u201cdespotic conduct as commander of the _Bounty_ had driven the crew\n to mutiny. Yet he who had proved his incapacity for ruling a small\n ship\u2019s company was made absolute ruler of a colony so critically\n circumstanced as that of New South Wales.... He was the same rude,\n despotic man, whether treading the quarter\u2010deck of the _Bounty_ or\n pacing his reception\u2010room in Government House at Sydney.\u201d\n \u201cThroughout the colony,\u201d continues the judge, \u201cthe uncontrolled\n use of the lash was resorted to, as an incessant and almost sole\n instrument of punishment, and too often those who inflicted this\n degrading punishment regarded themselves as irresponsible agents,\n and kept no record of their darkest deeds.\u201d\n\n\nBut when the backs and the consciences of the unhappy victims of an\nEnglish reformatory process had become alike hardened to this demoralizing\ntorture, a perverse ingenuity had devised in Norfolk Island a place of\npenal torment calculated to destroy in its victims the last vestiges of\nhumanity. To human beings thus circumstanced the scaffold became rather an\nobject of desire than of dread. And we learn from Mr. Therry that during\nthe years 1826, 1827, and 1830 no less than one hundred and fifty\u2010three\npersons were hung out of a population of fifty thousand.\n\nBut we have not yet fathomed the lowest depth of imbecility and of guilty\nindifference to the commonest dictates of prudence and humanity exhibited\nin this nefarious scheme for the reformation, forsooth, of criminals.\n\nIncredible as it may appear, it is nevertheless true, that by the authors\nof the scheme, although their lips were full of the professions we have\nquoted, the influence of religion as an agent of reformation was simply\nignored. It had not been their original intention to send out any minister\nat all of their religion with the expedition they had planned. It was\nowing to the remonstrance of a dignitary of the Established sect that one\nwas, at the last moment, appointed. This appointment, however, does not\nappear to have been made with any view of bringing the influence of\nreligion to bear on the unfortunate criminals. To them the rudest objects\nof self\u2010interest appear to have been the only motives of reformation held\nout. Dr. Porteous\u2014such was his name\u2014would have displayed more than the\nordinary apathy of his class as to any objects of a merely spiritual\ninterest, and a less than ordinary keenness of perception as to its\nmaterial interests, if he had allowed a large colonial expedition to leave\nthe shores of the mother\u2010country without any provision whatsoever being\nmade for the celebration of the worship of the Established religion in the\ndistant land to which it was bound. We are told by Mr. Flanagan that a\npriest of some Spanish ships, which visited the colony in 1793, \u201cobserving\nthat a church had not yet been built, lifted up his eyes with\nastonishment, and declared that, had the place been settled by his nation,\na house would have been erected for God before any house had been built\nfor men\u201d (_Hist. of N. S. W._, vol. 1. p. 95). In 1791 a fresh batch of\nconvicts, two thousand and fifty in number, arrived at Sydney, making the\nsum total of that portion of the population two thousand eight hundred and\ntwenty\u2010eight. Yet, for these, for the large staff of officials, the\nmilitary guard, and the few free settlers, the only minister of religion\nfor six years after the foundation of the colony was this churchless\nchaplain, and the only religious influences accessible to that multitude\nof unfortunates was the form of Sabbatical prayer adopted by his sect. The\none master cause of the inhumanity of the whole scheme was the complete\nand profound disregard of religious influences engendered in the minds of\nits authors by that embodiment of religious indifference and lifeless\nformalism, the established sect in England.\n\nIn few, if in any, exiled convicts have the finer sensibilities of our\ncommon nature been utterly extinguished. In nearly all, charred and\nunsightly as may their whole natures have become, diligent and patient\nlabor will come at last to some unquenched fragment of the precious jewel;\nremote and all but lost, but waiting only for one smallest crevice to be\nopened through the superincumbent mass of gloom and despair, to spring in\nlight, like a resurrection, to the surface, and fling its delivered lustre\nto the sun. In nearly all, he who should tenderly but perseveringly dig\nthrough the filth and refuse which a highly artificial and evilly\nconstituted state of society has heaped upon its outcasts, would assuredly\ncome at last to some faint trickle of the living fountain, which death\nonly wholly dries up, ready to find its level, and even longing to be\nreleased. How many of those sad ship\u2010loads, when the shores of their\nnative country for ever faded from their view, succumbed to the anguish of\nsome, were it only one, rudely riven tie, and, in the nearest feeling to\ndespair possible out of the place of reprobation, thrilled with a heart\u2019s\nagony of which the severest bodily pain is but a feeble symbol! Cruel to\ninhumanity would be the jailer who should refuse to a prisoner in his\ndungeon the consolation of one ray of the light of day. But who, with the\nhearts of men, could have forbidden to those most miserable of their\nfellow\u2010creatures an entrance to the angels of religion? Who would not have\nused every effort to secure their ministrations? The Catholic Church, and\nshe alone, could have brought the light of hope within those darkened\nsouls. She alone could have taken from despair that painful past and that\nghastly present, have awakened within those hardened consciences the\nechoes of a nobler being, have folded around the poor outcasts her\ninfinite charities, and enwreathed them in their embrace. She alone could\nhave recalled them through the tears of compunction to the consciousness\nthat they were still men, and might yet be saints; and, like the memory of\nchildhood gliding round the frightful abyss that separated them from\ninnocence, have beckoned, and encouraged, and helped them up the toilsome\nsteep of penance, to the place where conquerors, who have narrowly escaped\nwith their lives, receive their kingdoms and their crowns.\n\nYet was this mere tribute to the humanity of those forlorn ones wholly\nwithheld from them. The rigors of penal discipline, increasing in severity\nwith the progressive depravity of their unhappy victims, reduced them at\nlength to a condition by comparison of which the lot of the sorriest brute\nthat was ever becudgelled by a ruffian owner was enviable. What a depth of\nmisery, and, worse still, what a bitter consciousness of it, is revealed\nin the keen reproach of one of them: \u201cWhen I came here, I had the heart of\na man in me, but you have plucked it out, and planted the heart of a brute\nin its stead!\u201d To talk to such men of reformation could only have been a\nghastly jest. Not so much as even a moral motive appears to have been\nsuggested to them. Nothing but the unlovely object of worldly self\u2010\nadvantage.\n\nOf such a system there could be but one result. No longer do we experience\nany surprise at finding that the aborigines, who were to have been\ncivilized, and who, at first, evinced the most friendly disposition\ntowards the new settlers, were shot down and even poisoned by the\nsquatters, soldiers, emigrant adventurers, and emancipists, the standard\nof whose morality appears to have been about equally high; that men in the\nhighest judicial stations were notoriously immoral; that amongst the most\nprosperous and respectable of Sydney tradesmen were receivers of stolen\ngoods; that in the time of one governor,\n\n\n \u201cthe marriage ceremony fell into neglect, and dissolute habits\n soon prevailed; rum became the regular and principal article of\n traffic, and was universally drunk to excess\u201d;\n\n\nand that, when he left the colony in 1800, \u201c_it was then in a state of\ndeep demoralization_\u201d (_Therry_, p. 71); that, under the rule of his\nsuccessor, to quote Mr. Therry\u2019s own description:\n\n\n \u201cThe licentiousness that had prevailed in the time of Hunter was\n carried to the highest pitch. Not only was undisguised concubinage\n thought no shame, but the sale of wives was not an unfrequent\n practice. A present owner of broad acres and large herds in New\n South Wales is the offspring of a union strangely brought about by\n the purchase of a wife from her husband for four gallons of rum\u201d\n (p. 72).\n\n\nLamentable as must have been the condition of a reformatory colony wherein\nthe religious sentiment and all concern for a future life were entirely\ndisregarded, its effects were more terrible to the Catholic portion of the\nconvicts than to their Protestant fellow\u2010criminals. The latter, born\nblind, were not sensible of the blessing of which they were deprived. To\nthem religion was a matter of the merest unconcern. The parson was one of\nthe gentlefolk, nothing more. He made no claim of spiritual power. It was\nnot likely that they should invest him with it. They felt no need of him\nin death, any more than they had throughout their lives. Indeed, they had\nall along been taught that it was the special birthright of an Englishman\nto die as independently as he had lived. It must be owned, therefore,\nthat, as far as they were concerned, no privation was experienced nor any\npractical loss occasioned by the circumstance that only one Protestant\nminister was appointed in the colony during six years, and for another six\nyears only two.\n\nHow different the case of the Catholic portion of the convicts! For them\nto be deprived of priestly ministration was a loss all but irreparable.\nThe clear and rigid dogmatism of the church places the three future states\nof existence before her children with a positiveness and reality which the\nmysterious power of evil may enable them to brave, but never to ignore.\nThe intermediate state of temporal punishment forbids the most loaded with\ncrimes to abandon hope, even at the moment of dissolution. But for this\nsalvation the sacraments are ordinarily essential, of which the priests,\nand only the priests, are the dispensers. To deprive, thus, of priestly\nministrations those poor creatures who stood most in need of them, to drag\nthem to despair and final impenitence\u2014the only sin from whose guilt the\nsacraments are powerless to rescue the sinner\u2014was a cruelty which would\nhave been diabolical if it had been intentional.\n\nAbout ten years after the settlement of the colony, the number of Catholic\nconvicts was greatly increased by large deportations from Ireland after\nthe unsuccessful insurrection of 1798. But they were a very different\nclass of men from ordinary convicts. They were superior to the ordinary\npolitical derelicts. If the most brutal and insulting tyranny that ever\ngoaded a people to rebellion can justify an insurrection against\nestablished authorities, that justification they had to the full. Those\nIrish exiles of \u201998 were no more criminal than the ministry that arraigned\nthem or the judges who pronounced their doom. The finer sensibilities of\nthese men had not been blunted nor their domestic affection stifled by low\nassociations and long habits of crime. They were, for the most part, men\nof blameless manners, and of a people remarkable for virtue. To such men\nthe rude snapping asunder of the fondest heart\u2010ties, the being dragged\naway for ever from the old spot of home, endeared by all blissful and\ninnocent memories, from the familiar scenes, the beloved faces, the\ncherished friends, the heart\u2010owned relatives, young and aged, from the\ngraves of their ancestors, and the country of their birth, to be shipped\noff as criminals to the uttermost parts of the earth, with their country\u2019s\ndeadly enemies for their jailers, must have been a fate from which death\nwould have been hailed as a deliverer. To deprive those unfortunate\npatriots of the consolations and benedictions of their religion was indeed\nto make them empty the cup of sorrow to its bitterest dregs. In the year\n1829, about forty years after the commencement of transportation from\nIreland, they numbered nearly ten thousand souls. Yet, we are informed by\nMr. Therry,\n\n\n \u201cup to that time they were dependent solely on such ministrations\n as could be rendered by a single priest, and for a considerable\n portion of that period there was no priest in the colony.\u201d\n\n\nHow different would have been the organization of the expedition, how far\ndifferent its results, if the church had still owned England\u2019s heart, and\nher statesmen had been Catholics! The most worldly and ill\u2010living of such\nwould not have dreamed of equipping a colony without making full provision\nfor the celebration of Christian worship and the ministrations of the\nchurch. It would have been their first care. Had they designed to make the\ncolony subservient to the noble object of reforming those unfortunates\nwhom society had cast out of its pale, nothing would have been advertently\nleft undone to bring all the salutary influences of religion to bear upon\nthem, and to place at their service every one of its supernatural aids.\nWhat is the church, in her actual working in the affairs of men, but a\ndivinely organized reformatory system? Now a fundamental principle of that\nsystem is that forgiven crime is buried out of sight and out of mind. When\nthe minister of the divine pardon has opened the doors of the eternal\nprison, and has stricken off the deadly fetters from the self\u2010condemning\npenitent, he who was just now kneeling at his side in bonds and death,\ntogether with all the crimes he has committed, are alike forgotten by him.\nHe is to him quite a new and other man. And with the Christian benediction\nhe sends him forth reinvested with the royalty of his birth and his\nconsanguinity to God, to mingle, mayhap, if he correspond to the grace\ngiven, with the most virtuous on the earth, as though he had never broken\nits peace or given scandal to his brethren. Men are what their religion\nmakes them. And no Catholic statesman would have sent out a convict colony\nto a distant shore without providing for such as would be reformed a\ndestination where the past might be at once forgotten and repaired. The\nangels of the Gospel, inflamed with the noblest charity that ever dawned\nover the everlasting hills on an ice\u2010bound world, would have been scarcely\never absent from the prison cells, never weary of importuning their\ninmates to save themselves, and to reclaim their place amongst their\nfellows by a reformation which would at the same time restore them to\ntheir hopes as immortal men. Far from permitting to them every license of\nlust, and the indulgence of every criminal passion which did not interfere\nwith jail discipline; by their moral reformation, and by it alone, would\nthey have attempted their reformation as citizens. They would have been\never at hand to aid them with priestly counsels and the supernatural grace\nof the sacraments in those frequent falls and relapses of which nearly\nevery history of reformation consists. And those who were sufficiently\nreformed to be able to conform thenceforth to the easy standard of public\nvirtue would have found, in the new career to which they were committed,\nprecisely the same divine system, with its supernatural aids and\nexhaustless charities ready to carry on in their behalf the work of\nrestoration, through the love of man, to the reward of God.\n\nEven in the case of those pitiable beings, in whose crime\u2010clogged souls\nthe loving accents of religion appeared to awake no echoes, never would\nthe indiscriminating and wholesale torture of the lash have been summoned\nto its unholy and brutalizing work to deepen still more their moral\ndegradation and place their reformation for ever out of hope. Restrained\nas they were from doing further mischief to society, the church, whose\nheart, as of a human mother, yearns with most fondness towards the most\nvicious of her children, would never have abandoned, still less have ill\u2010\ntreated, the poor outcasts. She would have hoped against hope. Nor would\nshe for one moment have ceased her importunities, her ministrations, and\nher prayers, until final impenitence had taken away the unhappy beings for\never from the counsels of mercy, or human obduracy had capitulated, at the\nhour of death, to the exhaustless love of God.\n\n\n\n\nThe Veil Withdrawn.\n\n\nTranslated, By Permission, From The French Of Mme. Craven, Author Of \u201cA\nSister\u2019s Story,\u201d \u201cFleurange,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n\nXXXIX.\n\n\nThe following day Lando, at an unusually early hour, entered the little\nsitting\u2010room next my chamber where I commonly remained in the morning. He\nlooked so much graver than usual that I thought he had come to tell me\nthere was some obstacle in the way of his matrimonial prospects. But it\nwas once more of my affairs, and not of his, he wished to speak.\n\n\u201cDear cousin,\u201d said he without any preamble, \u201cI come at this unusual hour\nbecause I wish to see you alone. I have something important to tell you.\u201d\n\n\u201cSomething that concerns you, Lando?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, it concerns you and Lorenzo.\u201d\n\nMy heart gave a leap. What was he about to tell me? What new hope was to\nbe dashed to the ground?\n\n\u201cGreat goodness!\u201d said I, giving immediate utterance to the only object of\nmy mortal terror, \u201chave you come to tell me Donna Faustina is at Naples,\nand Lorenzo has left me again?\u201d\n\n\u201cDonna Faustina? Oh! no. Would to heaven it were merely a question of her,\nand that you had nothing more serious to apprehend on Lorenzo\u2019s part than\nanother foolish journey, were she to lead him beyond the Black Sea! No, it\nis not a question of your husband\u2019s heart, which preoccupies you more than\nhe deserves, but of his property and yours.\u201d\n\nI breathed once more as I heard these words, and my relief was so visible\nthat Lando was out of patience.\n\n\u201cHow singular and unpractical women are!\u201d exclaimed he. \u201cHere you are\napparently grown calm because I have reassured you on a point less\nimportant in reality than the affair in question.\u201d\n\n\u201cI ought to be the judge of that, ought I not, Lando?\u201d said I gravely.\n\n\u201cOf course. I will not discuss their merits with you. But remember, my\ndear cousin, if I am correctly informed, it is a question of losing all\nyou possess! Lorenzo has been playing to a frightful degree! He made such\ngood resolutions before me, as he was leaving Paris, that he does me the\nhonor of concealing himself as much from me as from you. He had gone quite\nfar enough before he went to Milan; but, since his return\u2014influenced, I\nsuppose, by a mad wish of diverting his mind from other things, and\nperhaps of repairing the breaches that had begun to alarm even him\u2014he has\nadded stock\u2010gambling to the rest. Some one heard him say the other day\nthat he expected to triple his fortune, or lose all he possessed. One of\nthe two was indeed to happen. My dear cousin!... he has not tripled it,\nand the other alternative is seriously to be feared.\u201d\n\nI listened with attention, but likewise with a calmness that was not\nmerely exterior.\n\n\u201cYou do not seem to understand,\u201d said he with more impatience than before,\n\u201cthat you are in danger of losing everything you have? Yes,\n_everything_!... What would you say, for example,\u201d continued he, looking\naround, \u201cif you were to see all the magnificence that now surrounds you,\nand to which you are accustomed, disappear; if this house and all the\nprecious objects it contains were to vanish for ever from your sight?\u201d\n\n\u201cI should say.... But it is of little consequence what I should say or\nthink in such a case. For the moment nothing is lost, and, when our\nlawsuit in Sicily is once gained, all fear of ruin will be chimerical.\nAllow me, therefore, to decline meanwhile participating in your fears.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know you are certain of gaining your cause, as it is in your\nfather\u2019s hands. But if some radical change does not take place in\nLorenzo\u2019s habits, the immense fortune that awaits him will share the fate\nof that he has just squandered.\u201d\n\n\u201cTherefore, Lando, as soon as the lawsuit is decided, I have formed the\nplan of inducing him to undertake one of those long journeys to some\ndistant land, such as he has made so many of, and to take me with him. We\nshall soon come to a region where cards are unknown, and where he will\nnever hear of dice, roulette, or of stocks.\u201d\n\n\u201cNor of Donna Faustina, either, eh, cousin?\u201d said he, laughing. \u201cBut you\nare not in earnest about banishing yourself in this way for an indefinite\nperiod, leaving the civilized world, and sharing the life he leads in\nthese interminable journeys?\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall not hesitate a single instant, I assure you,\u201d replied I warmly.\n\u201cI shall esteem myself the happiest woman in the world if I can induce him\nto accede to my wish.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d replied he with emotion, \u201cyou can really save him; for he now\nneeds a powerful distraction, a complete and radical change, that will\nreally give a new turn to his whole life. Nothing less than this can save\nhim. But you are admirable, Cousin Ginevra, it must be confessed.\u201d\n\n\u201cWherein, Lando, I beg? In the course of a year you will consider my\nconduct very natural, and I hope Teresina will be of the same opinion.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps so. But I assure you I intend to take a very different course\nfrom Lorenzo. I have done many foolish things, heaven knows; but there is\na limit to everything, and I hope never to follow his example.\u201d\n\n\u201cEnough, Lando; you hurt my feelings and distress me.\u201d\n\nHe stopped, and soon after went away, leaving me preoccupied with what he\nhad told me, though I was not troubled. Oh! what life, what repose, I\nfound in the secret love that had been made manifest to me! The excitement\nof my first moment of transport had died away, but I had not become\nindifferent. I clearly saw the gathering clouds. I felt I was surrounded\nby dangers of all kinds; but I had nothing of the vague fear often\nproduced by anxiety with respect to the future. What could happen to me?\nWhat tempests, what dangers, had I to fear with the clear, unmistakable\nassurance of an unfailing support, constant assistance, and a love ever\nfaithful and vigilant, and more tender than any human affection\u2014a love\nthat _is infinite_, which no earthly love can be? We sleep in peace on the\nstormiest sea when we are sure of the hand that guides us. How much more\nwhen we know that hand controls the waves themselves, and can still them\nat its will!\n\nThis conversation with Lando only served to increase my desire to leave\nNaples, and it was with real joy I saw the day of our departure arrive at\nlast. I was joyfully making my preparations at an early hour in my room,\nwhich Lorenzo very seldom entered now, when he suddenly made his\nappearance. Of course I was doubly moved. But as soon as I glanced at his\npale, agitated face, I knew he had come to impart some terrible news. But\nI only thought of what Lando had communicated, and exclaimed:\n\n\u201cSpeak without any fear, Lorenzo. I have courage enough to hear it all.\u201d\n\nBut when he replied, it was my turn to grow pale; I uttered a cry of\nanguish, and fell at his feet, overcome with horror and grief.\n\nMy father was no more! At the very hour when he was arranging the final\ndocuments for his cause, on the very spot where he so long kept me at his\nside, he had fallen dead. No one was with him. At the sound of his fall\nthe old servant, who always remained in the next room, hurried to his\nassistance, but in vain. Nothing could recall him to life!\n\nThis blow was terrible\u2014terrible in itself and in its effect on my hopes.\nIn the first place, it put an immediate stop to all my new plans. Lorenzo\nfelt it more necessary than ever to go to Sicily, but now absolutely\nrefused to take me with him. He did not seem to understand how I could\ndesire to go. In his eyes, the sole motive for such a journey no longer\nexisted. I should now only expose myself to the most harrowing grief,\nwhich it was his duty to spare me. I did not dare insist on going, for\nfear of irritating him at a moment when the very pity I inspired might\nincrease the dawn of returning affection I thought I discovered. Besides,\nI had but little time for reflection. Only a few hours intervened between\nthe arrival of this fatal news and Lorenzo\u2019s departure, which left me\nalone, abandoned to my grief and the bitterness of a disappointment I had\nnot anticipated in the least, mingled with the remembrance of Lorenzo\u2019s\ninexplicable farewell!\n\nIt was evident he attributed my tears solely to filial emotion. I had seen\nhim go away so many times without shedding any, that he had no reason to\nsuppose his departure this time caused them to flow almost as much as the\ncalamity that had befallen me. He even seemed surprised that I should\ninsist on accompanying him to the boat and remaining with him till the\nlast minute.\n\nHe had no idea how I longed to be permitted to forgive him on my knees;\nhow I wished to implore permission to aid him in breaking the fearful\nbonds that fettered his noble faculties; to tear off, so to speak, the\nmask that seemed to change the very expression of his face! Oh! how I\nlonged to save him. How I longed to bring this soul, so closely linked\nwith mine, to itself! The strong desire I once felt, that had been\nextinguished by jealousy, frivolity, and temptation, now sprang up again\nwith a new force that was never to be destroyed. I was ready for any\nsacrifice in order to have it realized\u2014yes, even for that of knowing my\nsacrifice for ever ignored! Not that I did not aspire to win his heart\nonce more! It belonged to me by the same divine right that had given mine\nto him. I wished to claim it, and I felt that this desire, however ardent\nit might be, by no means diminished the divine flame within that now\nkindled all my desires\u2014those of earth as well as those of heaven!\n\nHe did not, alas! have any suspicion of all this. And yet, when I raised\nmy eyes in bidding him farewell, he perhaps saw the look of affection and\nsorrowful regret I was unable to repress; for he looked at me an instant\nwith an expression which made me suddenly thrill with hope! One would have\nalmost said an electric spark enabled our souls to comprehend each other\nwithout the aid of words. But this moment was as fleeting as that\nspark\u2014more transitory than the quickest flash that leaves the night as\ndark as before!\n\nHis face became graver than ever; his brow more gloomy and anxious, as if\nsome terrible thought had been awakened. He continued to gaze at me, as he\nput up the little straw hat I wore, and, pushing back my hair with the\ncaressing air of protection once so familiar, he kissed my forehead and\ncheek, and, pressing me a moment against his heart, he uttered these\nstrange words: \u201cWhatever happens, I wish you to be happy, Ginevra. Promise\nme you will!...\u201d\n\nI had been at home a long time, and seen the last trace of smoke from the\nsteamboat disappear between Capri and the coast beyond Sorrento, without\nhaving resolution enough to leave that side of the terrace which commanded\nthe most distant view of the sea. I remained with my eyes fastened on the\nhorizon, looking at the waves, agitated by the mournful sirocco, whose\ndull, sad moans afar off add so much to the gloom felt at Naples when the\nbright sun and blue sky are obscured. Elsewhere bad weather is nothing\nsurprising, but at Naples it always astonishes and creates anxiety, as if\nit were abnormal, as the sudden gravity of a smiling face affects and\nalarms us more than that of one naturally austere.\n\nI remained, therefore, in my seat, dwelling on my recent hopes, my sudden\ndisappointment and its distressing cause, on Lorenzo\u2019s departure without\nme, his look, his mysterious words, and his affectionate manner as he bade\nme farewell.\n\nOh! why, at whatever cost, had I not gone with him? And then I followed\nhim in thought to the dear place I was never to behold again\u2014to the old\npalace at Messina where I had passed my childhood, happy and idolized,\nunder the eye of her who always seemed to me like some heavenly vision.\nBeside her I saw my father\u2014\u201cmy beloved father.\u201d I uttered these last words\naloud, looking, with eyes full of tears, towards the wild gloomy sea that\nseparated me from him in death as it had in life.\n\nAt that instant I heard Lando\u2019s voice beside me. He had approached without\nmy hearing him. He had a kind heart that redeemed many of his faults, and\nhad come to pity and console me in his way.\n\n\u201cMy poor cousin! I am over\u2010whelmed.... What a frightful, irreparable\nmisfortune! I feel as if it concerned me almost as much as you.\u201d\n\nAfter a moment\u2019s pause he continued:\n\n\u201cAnd what is to be done now? In three days that great trial is to take\nplace and your cause is to be decided! What advocate, good heavens! can be\nfound that can, I will not say equal, but replace, the able and\nillustrious Fabrizio dei Monti?\u201d\n\n\n\nXL.\n\n\nThe first days of mourning, anxiety, and expectation were spent almost\nentirely alone. I only left the house to go to the convent, and saw no one\nat home but Stella and my aunt, who, though she resembled her brother but\nlittle, loved him tenderly, and was inconsolable at his loss.\n\nA week passed by, and I began to be surprised at not having received any\nnews from Lorenzo. The lawsuit must be over. It was time for him to\nreturn, or, at least, for me to receive a letter from him. But none had\ncome, and I remained in this state of suspense a length of time that was\ninexplicable. At last I received two lines written in haste, not from him,\nbut from my brother:\n\n\u201cI shall arrive the day after this note, and will then tell you\neverything. Do not lose courage.\n\n\u201cMARIO.\u201d\n\nLando was present when this note arrived, and I read it aloud.\n\n\u201cO heavens!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cyou have lost your cause! That is evident. He\ntells you so plainly enough!... And I cannot see what he can have worse to\ntell you.\u201d\n\nHe kept on talking for some time, but I did not listen to him. I read the\nnote over and over again. Why had not Lorenzo written? Why was Mario\ncoming, and why did he not say Lorenzo was to accompany him? Why did he\nnot even mention his name?... I did not dare acknowledge to myself the\nterrible fear that passed through my mind; but I recalled his mysterious\nwords, his look, his voice, and his whole manner when he bade me farewell,\nand everything assumed an ominous look. A possibility flashed across my\nmind which I did not dare dwell on for fear of losing my reason, and, with\nit, the blessed remembrance that was the only support of my life! I\nsuffered that night as I had not suffered since the hours of grief and\nremorse that followed the death of my mother!\n\nThe next day, at a late hour, I at last perceived the boat from Sicily\nslowly coming up the bay, struggling against a violent out\u2010wind; for,\nafter a long continuation of fine weather, now came a succession of\ndismal, stormy days, such as often cast a gloom over the end of spring at\nNaples. My first impulse was to go to meet Mario at the landing; but I\nchanged my mind, and concluded to remain at home, that I might be alone\nwhen I should receive the news he was bringing me.\n\nI found it difficult, however, to control my impatience, for I had to wait\nnearly an hour longer. But at last I heard his step on the stairs; then my\ndoor opened, and he made his appearance. What I experienced when I saw he\nwas really alone showed to what an extent I had flattered myself Lorenzo\nwould return with him. I gazed at him without stirring from my seat,\nwithout the strength to ask a single question. He came to me, took me in\nhis arms with more tenderness than he had ever shown in his life, and when\nhe kissed me I saw his eyes were filled with tears.\n\n\u201cLorenzo! Where is Lorenzo?\u201d I exclaimed as soon as I could speak.\n\n\u201cBe calm, sister,\u201d said he\u2014\u201cbe calm, I beg of you.... I will tell you the\nwhole truth without the slightest evasion.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut before anything else, tell me where Lorenzo is, and why he did not\ncome with you.\u201d\n\n\u201cGinevra, I cannot tell you, for I do not know yet. I am quite as ignorant\nas you what has become of him.\u201d\n\nAt this reply the beating of my heart became so violent that I thought I\nshould faint away; but I struggled to overcome the anguish that seized me,\nand said in a hoarse voice:\n\n\u201cAt least, tell me all you know, Mario, without delay or reticence.\u201d\n\nMario drew from his pocket a letter carefully sealed, but still seemed to\nhesitate about giving it to me. But I recognized the writing, and cut\nshort all explanation by snatching it from his hands, and ran to a seat in\nthe most retired corner of the room, where I could read it at my ease, and\nmy brother could not guess its contents by my face till it should suit me\nto communicate them.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\u201cGinevra, you will doubtless have learned, before opening this letter,\nthat I have lost my cause\u2014in other words, that I am ruined, irrevocably\nruined. I had a presentiment of this when the only one who could bring it\nto a favorable issue was taken away by death at the critical moment; and\nwhen I embraced you at my departure, I felt convinced I was bidding you\nadieu for ever.... Whatever I may be, this word will no doubt startle you.\nThough the loss of a very bad husband is by no means irreparable, you will\nshudder, I am sure, at the thought of all so desperate a state of affairs\nmay render me capable of, and the most fearful of extremities has already\ncrossed your mind, I have no doubt. Well, you are not wrong. I confess it\nwas my intention, and you may be glad to know it was _you_ who caused me\nto change it. Yes, Ginevra, the thought of you occurred to my mind, and I\nwas unwilling to add another horrible remembrance to those I had already\nleft you, and render a catastrophe, already sufficiently terrible, still\nmore tragical. It would, however, have restored you to liberty, and\npermitted your young life to resume its course and find a happiness I can\nno longer promise you. This thought furnished an additional reason to all\nthose suggested by despair; but the sweet, suppliant look you gave me, the\ninexplicable, celestial expression you wore when we separated, arrested\nme. The remembrance of that look still haunts me. What did you wish to say\nto me, Ginevra? What had you to ask me? What could be the prayer that\nseemed to hover on your lips! I can repair nothing now. The past is no\nlonger in my power, and the future is blighted. The captivating charm of\nyour beauty has not been powerful enough to enable me to overcome myself.\nIt is now too late, as you see yourself. All is over. My faults have led\nto the most fatal consequences. I have only to endure them, whatever they\nmay be. I resign myself to the struggle, then. The very word stimulates\nme, for to struggle is to labor, and work I love to excess! Why did I not\ngive my whole soul up to it instead of other things! Ah! if the past could\nonly be restored!... But let us return to the present. I will work, then;\nyes, work, Ginevra, _to gain my livelihood_. However great a sybarite I\nhave appeared, and am, I am equal to it. I can and will labor, but far\nfrom you\u2014separated from you. Thanks to your brother\u2019s generosity and the\nmeans still at my disposal, which will be communicated to you, this great\nreverse will entail no privation on you. This is my only hope, my only\ncomfort; for, after having clouded the fairest portion of your life, to\ninvite you to participate in the bitterness of my misfortunes would make\nme despise myself and fill me with despair. Be happy, therefore, if you do\nnot wish me to put an end to my life. And now _adieu_. This word is used\nfor a brief absence, for the separation of a day. What will be the length\nof ours?... A lifelong one, apparently.... May my life be short, that I\nmay not long deprive you of your freedom!\n\n\u201cGinevra, you are young, you are beautiful. You are calculated to love and\nplease, and, however unfaithful and inconstant I have been, I am jealous!\nBut I leave you without fear, under the protection of that something\nmysterious and incomprehensible within you that is a safeguard to your\nyouth and beauty! I have forfeited the right to love and protect you, but\nI know and venerate you as a holy, angelic being. Ginevra, I ought to say,\nI wish I could say, forgive me; but that word is vain when it is a\nquestion of the irreparable. I shall do better, then, to say\u2014forget me!\n\nLORENZO.\u201d\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nWhile I was reading this letter with eager interest, Mario remained in the\nplace where I left him, his face buried in his hands, absorbed in sad\nreflections. I approached him. He instantly looked up.\n\n\u201cWell, sister,\u201d said he anxiously, \u201chave you any idea from this letter\nwhere Lorenzo has gone?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo?... And yet you look calm and relieved. What other good news could\nthere be in the letter?\u201d\n\nWhat good news!... I was really embarrassed to know what reply to make to\nhis question. I was relieved, to be sure. My heart beat with a certain\njoy, but it would not do to say so; nor could I have made Mario comprehend\nthe reason, for nothing, in fact, could be more serious than my position.\n\n\u201cNo good news,\u201d I replied. \u201cHis letter contains nothing cheering,\nassuredly, for it announces the loss of his lawsuit, which your note had\nprepared me for. And Lorenzo seems to bid me an eternal fare\u2010well, as if\nhe imagined I should allow him to separate my life entirely from his! That\nremains to be decided. But in order to know what I ought to do, you must\ntell me everything that has happened, Mario, without any restriction.\u201d\n\nMario had hoped to be able to avoid telling me the whole truth, but at\nthis appeal made no further attempt at concealment, and was grateful to me\nfor the courage which lightened so painful a duty.\n\nLorenzo arrived at Messina, persuaded in advance that my father\u2019s death\nwas the signal of his ruin. But when the cause was decided against him, he\nremained apparently very calm. During the evening he had a long\nconversation with Mario, in which he occupied himself in making\narrangements that would secure my comfort, placing at my disposal all he\nhad left, and accepting the generous offer of my brother, who now refused\nto profit by the renunciation of my right to a portion of my father\u2019s\nproperty which I had made at the time of my marriage. Lorenzo, during this\nconversation, repeatedly expressed the desire this storm might pass over\nmy head without affecting me.\n\nThe following morning Mario received a package containing the substance of\nthis conversation, regularly signed and sealed, and a sealed letter\naddressed to me, without any other explanation. My brother waited till the\nhour appointed by Lorenzo the night before for a meeting, but he did not\nmake his appearance; and when Mario went in search of him, he learned he\nhad taken his departure in the night without leaving any trace of the\ndirection he had taken. Two boats had left Messina during the night, one\nfor the Levant, and the other for America. But, notwithstanding all the\nprecautions taken by Lorenzo to prevent any one from knowing which way he\nhad gone, Mario thought he had embarked on the latter of these two boats.\n\nLorenzo had ordered the steward that had always been in his employ to aid\nmy brother in the execution of his wishes and whatever was to be done in\nconsequence, either in Sicily or Naples. But he had not revealed to him,\nany more than to me or my brother, his personal affairs, or the place to\nwhich he was going.\n\nAfter listening to this account with the utmost attention, I requested\nMario to leave me alone a few hours, that I might reflect on all I had\nheard, and consider at my leisure what course I ought to pursue. I felt\nindeed the need of collecting my thoughts in solitude and silence; but\nabove all ... oh! above all! I longed to be alone, that I might fall on my\nknees and bless God!\n\nYes, bless him with transport! The fear, the horrible, intolerable fear,\nthat had taken hold of my mind, was for ever removed by the contents of\nLorenzo\u2019s letter. Regret, if not repentance, for his faults was betrayed\nin every line he wrote. The manly energy of his character, too, was\nmanifest throughout. As to what related to me, I felt touched, and more\nproud of the tender, confiding, respectful interest he expressed, than of\nall the passionate fervor of his former language. And I blessed heaven for\nnot being unworthy of it. Finally, finally, the words, \u201cI will work to\ngain my livelihood,\u201d made my heart leap with joy; for I saw it put an end\nto the dangerous, indolent, pernicious life of the past, and held out a\nhope of regeneration and salvation\u2014a salvation physical, moral, present,\nfuture, eternal! It really seemed impossible to feel such a hope could be\npaid for too dearly!\n\nI remembered, however, that I should have to discuss my affairs with\nMario, and perhaps with Lando also, whose heart was extremely moved by\nthis catastrophe; and I endeavored, before meeting them again, to moderate\na joy that would have appeared inexplicable, and, at the very time when I\nwas more reasonable than I had ever been in my life, would have rendered\nme in their estimation extravagant in my notions, and without any\npractical sense as to the things of the world.\n\n\n\nXLI.\n\n\nWhen I saw Mario again, therefore, I thanked him affectionately for his\ngenerosity, but declared I would not accept the restoration of the\ninheritance I had renounced at the time of my marriage with the Duca di\nValenzano. Livia had done the same on entering the convent. Mario was, and\nshould remain, my father\u2019s only heir. I was determined not to allow any\nchange in this arrangement. I had great difficulty in overcoming his\nresistance; and when I could not help remarking that the sacrifices which\nawaited me would cost me but little, he stopped me by saying I had not yet\nmade the trial, and insisted I should take no immediate resolution with\nregard to the matter.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said I, \u201cif it is your wish, we will discuss the point at a\nlater day. Let us confine our attention for the moment to what is of much\nmore importance. You know very well we cannot long remain ignorant where\nLorenzo is, and as soon as we know I shall go to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo to him?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you doubt it?\u201d\n\nMario looked at me with surprise, and was silent for an instant. Then he\nsaid:\n\n\u201cSister, Lorenzo\u2019s conduct has been so notorious that, notwithstanding the\nsolicitude I acknowledge he manifested for you at our last interview, no\none would be astonished at your remaining among your friends and availing\nyourself of the means he has used to deliver you from the consequences of\nhis folly.\u201d\n\n\u201cAccept this beautiful villa, which he wishes to except from the sale of\nhis property?... Surround myself with the comforts you have together\nprovided me with, and leave him\u2014him!\u2014alone, poor, struggling against the\ndifficulties of beginning a new life?... Really, Mario, if you believe I\nwould consent to this, it is a proof that, though you are less severe than\nyou once were to your poor little sister, you are not altogether just to\nher.\u201d\n\nMario took my hand, and kissed it with emotion.\n\n\u201cPardon me, Ginevra; I confess I did not think you were so generous or so\ncourageous!\u201d\n\nCourageous!... I was not so much so as he thought. A hope had risen in my\nheart which would have rendered poverty itself easy to endure, and even in\nsuch a case I should not have been an object of pity. But here there was\nno question of poverty. My sight was clearer than that of Mario or Lando,\nand I was, in fact, more sensible than either of my two advisers. It was\nonly a question, at most, of a temporary embarrassment. Lorenzo\u2019s land,\nthe valuable objects accumulated in his different houses, and the sale of\nall my diamonds, would suffice, and more than suffice, to fill the pit dug\nby his extravagance, however deep it might be. Besides, his talents alone,\nas soon as he chose to turn them to account, excluded all fear of actual\npoverty. The mere name of _Lorenzo_ with which he signed all his\nproductions had long been familiar to the art\u2010world, and consequently he\nwould not be obliged to strive for a position.\n\nIt was merely a question, therefore, of the relinquishment of all this\ndisplay, this magnificence, this overwhelming profusion of superfluities,\nand all the luxuries of life that now surrounded me. Ah! I did not dare\ntell them what I thought of such _sacrifices_! I did not dare speak of my\nindifference, which greatly facilitated their task, however, and still\nless did I dare reveal the cause, for fear of being accused of madness,\nand that at a time when they should have considered it a proof of the\nbeneficial effects of supernatural influences on ordinary life. I\ncontented myself, therefore, with merely explaining the reason why my\nsituation seemed to me by no means desperate. They were relieved to see me\ntake things in such a way, and from that moment the necessary changes, so\npainful, in their estimation, were undertaken without any delay, though\nwithout haste, without fear, without concealment, and all the so\u2010called\ngreat sacrifices began to be accomplished.\n\nIt would be difficult to render an account of all I experienced during the\nfollowing days and weeks. All I can say is that I felt as if my shackles\nand barriers one by one were removed, and at every step I breathed a purer\nair!... Does this mean I had become a saint, aspiring to heroic sacrifices\nand utter renunciation? Assuredly not. I repeat it, I could have no\nillusion of this kind. I clearly comprehended that this catastrophe, which\nseemed so terrible to others, which Lorenzo considered beyond my strength\nto bear, and would have thrown him into an excess of despair, only tore\noff the brilliant exterior of my life. But I had often experienced a\nconfused, persistent desire at various times and places to be freed from\nthis outer husk, and I now began to understand a thousand things that\nheretofore had been inexplicable in the bottom of my soul.\n\nThe magnificence that surrounded me belonged, however, to my station, and\nall this display was not without reason or excuse; but I felt it impeded\nmy course, and, as a pious, profound soul(180) has said of happiness\nitself, in striving to attain the true end, it only served to _lengthen\nthe way_!\n\nThere was, then, neither courage nor resignation in this case. I was\nreasonable and satisfied, as every human being is who in an exchange feels\nhe has gained a thousand times more than he has lost! The only anxiety I\nnow felt was to discover the place to which Lorenzo had betaken himself. I\ndid not in the least believe he had gone either to the Levant or America,\nbut every means seemed to have been used by him to defeat our efforts to\ndiscover him. One of the two boats that left Messina the night of his\ndeparture was to touch at Marseilles on the way. Reflection and instinct\nboth assured me he had proceeded no further, but from that place had gone\nwhere he could most easily resume his labors and begin his new life. In\nthis respect Rome or Paris would have equally suited him, but it seemed\nimprobable he had returned to Italy. It was therefore to Paris I directed\nmy search, and I wrote Mme. de Kergy to aid me in finding him.\n\nPerhaps I should have hesitated had Gilbert been at home; but he was\nabsent, absent for a year, and before his return I should have time to\nreflect on the course I ought to pursue, perhaps ask the advice of his\nmother herself, to whom, meanwhile, I made known my present situation, my\nwishes, my projects, and the extreme anxiety to which I hoped with her\nassistance to put an end.\n\nIt was not long before I received a reply, and it was much more favorable\nthan I had ventured to hope. Her large, affectionate heart seemed not only\nto comprehend fully what I had merely given her an outline of, but to have\npenetrated to the bottom of mine, and divined even what I had not\nattempted to say. I felt I had in her a powerful support. Her inquiries\nwere promptly and successfully made, and the result was what I had\nforeseen. Lorenzo was really in Paris, in an obscure corner of the\nFaubourg Saint\u2010Germain. He had narrow quarters adjoining a large studio,\nwhere he had already begun to work. \u201cHis celebrity is too great for him to\nremain long concealed,\u201d wrote Mme. de Kergy; \u201cbesides, the very thing he\nis aiming at would prevent all possibility of his remaining long\nincognito. Several of his friends have already found him out and called to\nsee him, but he has only consented to receive one of them, whose counsels\nand assistance are indispensable. This gentleman is also a friend of ours.\nI have learned through him that as soon as your husband gets under way in\nhis work, he intends to enter into communication with those he has left,\nand probably with you, my dear Ginevra; but he persists in his intention\nof remaining by himself, and not allowing you to share his lot. He thinks\nhe has arranged everything so you can continue to live very nearly the\nsame as before, with the exception of his presence, which, he says, he has\ndone nothing to make you desire. You will have some difficulty in\novercoming his obstinacy in this respect; you will find it hard to induce\none who is so sensible of his wrongs towards you to accept the heavy\nburden of gratitude. All the sacrifices he imposes on himself will cost\nhim far less than to consent to those you are so ready to make for him.\nMen are all so. Be patient, therefore; be prudent, and have sufficient\nthoughtfulness and feeling to manifest your generosity in such a way that\nhe will perceive it as little as possible....\u201d\n\nIt was the easier to follow Mme. de Kergy\u2019s advice that the course she\nwished me to pursue would be strictly sincere. I wrote him, therefore,\nwithout affectation or restraint, what my heart dictated, but I wrote in\nvain; my first and second letters remained unanswered. The third drew\nforth a reply, but it contained a refusal of my wishes which betrayed all\nthe motives indicated by my aged friend. Alas! to make others accept\nforgiveness is often a thousand times more difficult than to obtain it\nourselves!\n\nI was not discouraged, however. I made preparations for my departure, as\nif he had sent for me, and I awaited impatiently the time, without the\nleast doubt as to its arrival, determined to find some means of hastening\nit, should the delay be too much prolonged.\n\n\n\nXLII.\n\n\nWhile so much apparent, as well as real, gloom was gathering around my\npath, there was no diminution in the interior brightness of my soul; which\nwas only manifested, however, by an activity, and at the same time\ntranquillity, that greatly surprised my brother and all my friends,\nespecially my aunt, whose agitation was extreme.\n\nI will not say that Donna Clelia felt in the least that pleasure at the\nmisfortunes of others attributed by a great satirist to all mankind, but\nthe change in our respective situations which now afforded her an\nopportunity of pitying and protecting instead of envying me, was by no\nmeans displeasing to her pride or kindness of heart.\n\nShe offered me the most unlimited hospitality. She wished to establish me\nin her _palazzo_ on the Toledo, and give up the largest of her spacious\ndrawing\u2010rooms to my sole use. She did not comprehend how I could remain in\nmy house when it was being stripped of all the magnificence that had\nplaced me, in her eyes, on the very pinnacle of happiness. But I refused\nto the last to leave my chamber and the terrace, with its incomparable\nview, the privation of which I should have felt more than anything else. I\nremained, therefore, in the corner (a very spacious one, however) of my\nbeautiful home I had reserved for myself, encouraged by Stella, who,\nwithout surprise or wonder, comprehended my motives, and assisted me in\nmaking preparations for my departure. She always brought Angiolina with\nher, which added to our enjoyment; for she continually hovered around,\nenlivening us with her prattle. So, in spite of the sadness of my\nposition, I was able, without much effort, to rise above my dejection and\ngloom.\n\nWeeks passed away, however, and, though I had not renounced the hope of\novercoming Lorenzo\u2019s obstinacy, I began to grow impatient, and was\nthinking of starting without his consent; for it seemed to me, when once\nnear him, he could not refuse to see me. This uncertainty was the most\npainful feature of my present situation, and the rainy season, meanwhile,\nadded its depressing influence to all the rest. But to disturb my peace of\nmind and diminish my courage would have required a trial more severe and\npainful than that.\n\nThe sky once more became clear, and we were at length able to return to\nthe terrace, from which we had so long been banished by the rain. The\nclumps of verdure in the garden, the perfume of the flowers, the blueness\nof the mountains, sea, and sky\u2014in short, all nature seemed to atone by her\nunusual brilliancy for having been so long forced to veil her beautiful\nface. But Stella, instead of being charmed and transported, as usual, with\nthe prospect, looked gravely and silently around for some time, then, with\na sudden explosion of grief, threw herself on my neck.\n\n\u201cGinevra, what will become of Angiolina and me when you are gone?... Ah! I\nought to love nobody in the world but her!\u201d\n\nShe sat down on one of the benches on the terrace, and took up the child,\nwho had not left us an instant during the day, to play, as she usually\ndid. And when Angiolina, with her eyes full of tears, begged her to\nprevent her dear Zia Gina from going away, all Stella\u2019s firmness gave way\nfor an instant, and she burst into tears.\n\nOh! how strongly I then felt, in my turn, the difference there is between\nthe sacrifice of exterior objects and the interior sacrifices that rend\nthe soul! The infinite love that tempers all the sufferings of this world\nexempts no one from these trials. I might even say it increases them, for\nit enlarges the capacity of our affection and pity: it makes us fully\nrealize what suffering is, and gives it its true meaning.\n\nI could not, therefore, look at Stella in her present mood without being\novercome by a sadness I had never felt before at the thought of our\nseparation. Her tears, which she was generally so well able to suppress,\ncontinued to flow, as she rocked her child in silence. She remained thus\nwithout uttering a word, even in reply to my questions, until little\nAngiolina, after quietly weeping a long time, fell into a heavy, profound\nsleep in her mother\u2019s arms.\n\nIt was the first time I had ever known Stella to lose courage. Mine failed\nme at the sight, and this hour\u2014the last we were to pass together on the\nterrace so full of pleasant associations, and so often trod by Angiolina\u2019s\nlittle feet\u2014this hour was sad beyond all expression, and in appearance\nbeyond all reason. The serenity of the soul, like the sky of Italy, is\nthus obscured at times by clouds that trouble and afflict the more because\nthe light they veil is habitually so bright and serene! Neither Stella nor\nI, however, were disposed to believe in presentiments. Besides, our\nsadness was too well founded to be surprising. Nevertheless, something\ndarker hovered over us than we foresaw at the moment: the morrow already\nthrew its gloom over this last evening!\n\nThe sun was going down. Stella suddenly started from her reverie and awoke\nAngiolina. It was time to take her home. But the child\u2019s eyes, generally\nso bright, were now heavy. She hardly opened them when I approached to\nembrace her. Her little mouth made a slight movement to return my kiss,\nand she fell asleep again immediately. Her mother, surprised, and somewhat\nalarmed at her unwonted languor, hastily wrapped a shawl around her to\nprotect her as much as possible from the evening air, and carried her\naway.\n\nThe following day, of sorrowful memory, rose bright and radiant for me;\nfor when I awoke, I found a letter from Lorenzo awaiting me\u2014a letter which\nput an end to all my perplexities, and justified, beyond all my hopes, the\nconfidence with which I had expected it.\n\n\u201cGinevra, you have prevailed. I venture at last to beg your forgiveness,\nfor your letters have inspired the hope of some day meriting it. I no\nlonger fear, therefore, to meet you again. Come! It is my wish. I am\nwaiting for you.\n\n\u201cLORENZO.\u201d\n\nThese last lines contained the surest promise of happiness I had ever\nreceived in my life, and I kissed them with tears. I longed to start that\nvery hour, and it will not seem surprising now that I looked around the\nsumptuous dwelling I was about to leave for ever without regret, and even\nat the enchanting prospect my eyes were never weary of gazing at! It was\nby no means these exterior objects that inspired the deep, unalterable joy\nof my soul. I did not owe to them the vision of happiness I thought I now\ncaught the first ray of. My only regret, therefore, was that I could not\nstart as soon as I wished. All my preparations were made, and I longed to\ntake my departure at once. But I had to wait three days before the first\nboat on which I could embark would leave for Marseilles\u2014a delay that\nseemed so long! Alas! I was far from foreseeing how painful and short I\nshould find them!\n\nStella had passed every day with me for the last few weeks, and I now\nawaited her arrival to communicate my joy. But the usual hour for her to\ncome had gone by. She did not appear. I was surprised at this delay, and,\ninstead of waiting any longer, I proceeded on foot to her house, which was\nonly at a short distance from mine. The previous evening had left me no\nanxiety, and its sadness had been dispersed with the joy of the morning.\n\nWhen I arrived, I found the door open. No servant was there to announce\nme. I went through the gallery, a large drawing\u2010room, and a cabinet,\nwithout meeting a person. At length I came to Stella\u2019s chamber, where\nAngiolina also slept in a little bed beside her mother\u2019s. I entered....\nOh! how shall I describe the sight that met my eyes! How express all my\nfeelings of amazement, pity, affection, and grief!\n\nMy dear, unhappy Stella was seated in the middle of the room with her\nchild extended on her knees, pale, motionless, and apparently without\nlife!\n\nShe did not shed a tear; she did not utter a word. She raised an instant\nher large eyes, which were unusually dilated, and looked at me. What a\nlook! O God! it expressed the grief that mothers alone can feel, and which\nno other on earth can surpass!... I fell on my knees beside her. Angiolina\nstill breathed, but she was dying. She opened her beautiful eyes a\nmoment.... A look of recognition crossed them.... They turned from her\nmother to me, and from me to her mother, and then grew dim. A convulsive\nshudder ran over her, and it was all over. The angel was in heaven. The\nmother was bereft, for this life, of her only child!...\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\nThe longest years cannot efface the memory of such an hour, and time,\nwhich at last subdues all grief, never gave me the courage to dwell on\nthis. Mothers who have been pierced by such a sword cannot speak of it;\nothers dare not. The woman who has no child, in the presence of one who\nhas just lost hers, can only bend in silence and respect before the\nsovereign majesty of grief!\n\nI will merely state, with respect to what preceded, that the drowsiness of\nthe child the night before was a symptom of the violent malady which\nsuddenly attacked her in the middle of the night. After abating towards\nday, it came on again an hour later, and kept increasing without any\nrelaxation to the end.\n\nAs for me, who had given Angiolina the place that had remained vacant in\nmy heart, the excess of my grief enabled me to form an estimate of hers\nwhose heart was filled with far greater anguish at being so suddenly\nrobbed of her all by death. I shuddered at the thought of a sorrow greater\nthan mine, and did not dare dwell on my own troubles in the presence of a\ngrief that cast into the shade all the sufferings I had ever witnessed\nbefore. What a remedy for the imaginary or exaggerated woes of life it is\nto suddenly be brought to witness the reality of the most terrible of\nmisfortunes!\n\nWhat a price was I now to pay for the journey I had so long looked forward\nto\u2014the reunion I had longed for with so many prayers and obtained by so\nmany efforts!\n\nTo leave Stella in her affliction was a trial I had not anticipated, and\none which the most imperious duty alone could have induced me to consent\nto. I had to do it, however, but not till I had succeeded in gratifying\nthe only remaining wish of her broken heart\u2014\u201cto leave the world for a few\nmonths, that she might be alone, free to abandon herself entirely to the\ndear, angelic memory of her lost joy....\u201d\n\nStella uttered no complaint. Her grief was mute. But she had expressed\nthis desire, and it was granted. Livia obtained a place of retreat for her\nin a part of her convent that was not cloistered. It was there I left her,\nin the shadow of that sweet sanctuary, near the tenderest, strongest heart\nshe could have to lean on, in presence of the magnificent prospect before\nher, and beneath the brilliant canopy of that glorious sky, beyond which\nshe could follow in spirit the treasure she had been deprived of, but\nwhich she felt sure of some day finding again!\n\n\n\nXLIII.\n\n\nI was filled with solemn emotion when, having taken leave of my brother\nand all the friends who had accompanied me on board, I at length found\nmyself alone with Ottavia on the deck of the boat, gazing at the receding\nmountains, hills, villas, and the smiling, flowery shores of the Bay of\nNaples as they vanished away. Two years had scarcely flown since the day\nwhen this prospect met my eyes for the first time. But during this short\nperiod so many different feelings had agitated my heart, and so many\nevents had crossed my path, that the time seemed as long as a whole life.\n\nJoys and sorrows, ardent hopes and bitter deceptions, severe trials,\ndangerous temptations, a deadly struggle, grace\u2014to crown all! grace\nluminous and wonderful\u2014had all succeeded each other in my soul. And to all\nthese remembrances was now added the new sorrow which set on these last\ndays a mournful, heartrending seal! The death of a child, it is true,\nwould seem to the indifferent to seriously wound no heart but its\nmother\u2019s. Mine, however, bled profusely, and the sudden death of the\nangelic little creature I had so much loved, as well as the separation\nthat so soon took place, cast an inexpressible gloom over the hour of\ndeparture I had so eagerly longed for, and which I had obtained at the\nprice of sacrifices which till now had not seemed worthy of being counted.\nTruly, the words already quoted do not apply less to earthly affections\nthan to the divine love that overrules them and includes them all: \u201cThere\nis no living in love without some pain or sorrow.\u201d This is indubitable.\nThe more tender the affection, the more exquisite the suffering it\nentails. But by way of recompense, in proportion as these cruel wounds are\nmultiplied, the never\u2010failing supreme love affords a remedy by revealing\nitself more and more fully, and thereby supplying the place of all these\nvanished joys. This love alone assures the promise, the pledge, of their\nrestoration and immortal duration!\n\nTherefore, whatever the sadness of this hour; whatever the desolation of\nheart with which I gazed at the convent on yonder height where I had just\nparted from Stella and my sister with so many tears\u2014in short, whatever the\nemotions of all kinds that seemed combined to overwhelm me, I felt, in\nspite of them, I lived a truer, freer life than when for the first time,\nsurrounded with illusions and deceitful hopes, I crossed this bay in all\nthe intoxication of radiant happiness!\n\nThese thoughts, and many others of a similar nature, passed through my\nmind while the boat was rapidly cleaving the waves, and little by little\nthe last outline of the coast of Italy faded away and finally disappeared\nfrom my eyes for ever.\n\nNight came on, the stars appeared, but I remained in the place where I\nwas, without being able to make up my mind to leave it.\n\nThis solitude of the sea\u2014more profound than any other\u2014speaks to the soul a\nlanguage peculiar to itself. I listened to it with undivided attention,\nblessing God for having inclined me to hear his voice, to give heed to no\nother during the period of inaction and repose which separated the portion\nof my life just closed from that which was about to commence under new and\nunknown circumstances.\n\nI did not stop at Marseilles, for I was impatient to arrive at my\njourney\u2019s end. And yet, in spite of the summons I was now obeying, I was\nnot without anxiety as to the reception I should meet with. I knew the\nmobility of Lorenzo\u2019s feelings, and that the letter I had so recently\nreceived from him was not a sure guarantee of the disposition in which I\nshould find him. In fact, when I met him on my arrival at the station, I\ndid not at first know what to think. He was pale, agitated, and gloomy,\nand could scarcely hide the suffering his face expressed much more clearly\nthan joy at seeing me again. I felt the arm tremble on which I was\nleaning, and I remained silent, confounded, and anxious. He hurried me\nthrough the crowd, placed me in a carriage, made Ottavia take a seat\nbeside me, then closed the door with an air of constraint, saying he\nwished to arrive before me.\n\nAt first I was astonished at finding myself so suddenly separated from\nhim, after barely seeing him for a moment. But I saw, by the embarrassment\nand painful agitation he manifested, what was passing in his mind, and was\nextremely affected. Poor Lorenzo! it was not in this way he had once led\nhis young bride beneath his roof. This was not the future he then took\npleasure in depicting, or what he had promised. The immense change of\nfortune he had undergone was now for the first time to be realized by the\nwife he had outraged, and from whom he did not dare expect an affection\nwhich would overlook all and render every sacrifice light. I felt he\nregretted now that he had consented to my coming.\n\nAfter a long drive we at last came to the end of a street at the extremity\nof the Faubourg Saint\u2010Germain, where we entered a small court, and the\ncarriage stopped before a door of very unpretending appearance.\n\nBut the house to which it gave access, covered on the outside with\nclimbing plants that concealed the reddish tint of the walls, had a\npicturesque appearance seldom found in any house in Paris, large or small.\nLorenzo, with his artistic eye, had discovered it, and understood also how\nit should be arranged interiorly. Consequently, when he ushered me into a\n_salon_ opening into a little parterre filled with flowers, beyond which\nrose the trees of an adjacent garden, which made it seem like some rural\nsolitude; when he took me all over the ground\u2010floor, where everything was\nsimple, but nothing vulgar; when on all sides I found evidences both of\nhis taste and his solicitude for me; above all, when I saw in his cabinet\nand studio all the indications that he had resumed his habits of assiduous\nlabor and serious study, so great a joy filled my heart and beamed from my\neyes that he could no longer feel any doubt, and I saw the cloud that\nveiled his brow totally disappear.\n\n\u201cIs it possible?... Is it true?\u201d said he. \u201cYou are satisfied, Ginevra? And\nI can welcome your presence without remorse?\u201d\n\nI was affected to tears.\n\n\u201cI assure you,\u201d said I, with a sincerity of accent that could not be\nmistaken, \u201cthis so\u2010called great catastrophe has only taken away the things\nI did not care for: it gives me here all I love, and nearly everything I\ndesire.\u201d\n\nI looked at him hesitatingly, not yet knowing how far to go. But his look\ninspired me with courage, and I continued, with emotion:\n\n\u201cTell me, in your turn, that you regret nothing, that my presence\nsuffices, and I pledge you my word, Lorenzo, this hour will be the\nhappiest of my life.\u201d\n\nInstead of replying directly, he knelt down beside the little divan where\nI was sitting, and I saw his eyes beaming with the expression that once\nused to flash from them for an instant, not uncertain and transitory as\nthen, but calm, stable, and profound.\n\n\u201cGinevra,\u201d said he, \u201cin assuring you to\u2010day that my reason has been\nrestored to me, that I have for ever recovered from my detestable\naberration, that I again look upon you as I did when you first effaced\nevery other image, that I love you as much, yes, a thousand times more\nthan ever, this is not saying enough, this is not telling you what you\nwould perhaps listen to far more gladly than all this.\u201d\n\nI opened my eyes and looked steadily towards him. He felt my soul was\ntrying to read his, and he continued in a low, agitated tone:\n\n\u201cYou have made me love in you what is better than yourself. Listen to\nme.... Long years of indifference had effaced the memory of divine things\nI had been taught in my childhood. Did you think they could ever be\nrecalled? I had never felt the slightest desire. It is you, Ginevra, who\ncaused their return. Can you realize it?\u201d\n\nO my God! this hour was too happy for earth! It left me only one wish\nmore. It realized to the fullest extent all the cherished dreams of the\npast, and made me touch at last the summit (alas! always threatening and\nuncertain) of earthly happiness! No cloud has ever obscured the bright,\nblessed remembrance! No suffering, no trial, has ever checked the effusion\nof gratitude I still feel, and which will be eternal!\n\nIt will not be difficult to understand that, in this new state of things,\nour life speedily and sweetly resumed its course. Strange to say, this\ncalm, simple life, exempt from splendor, luxury, and worldly _\u00e9clat_, was\nthe precise realization of the secret desire I had always cherished in my\nsoul, the signification of which had been revealed to me in that great day\nof grace which I may call that of my _true birth_!\n\nIt would, therefore, have been an absurdity to speak of sacrifice in the\nsituation in which I now found myself. But Lorenzo did not yet see things\nin the same light.\n\n\u201cI acknowledge,\u201d said he one day, after some weeks had passed by\u2014\u201cI\nacknowledge we lack nothing essential, that the waifs from our wreck even\nafford us a comfortable support, but I wish more than that for you, my\nGinevra. I must work for the means of restoring all my folly has deprived\nyou of. The public receives my productions with marked favor. They have\nall been sold at a fabulous price, except one which I will never part\nwith. Let me alone, therefore, and I promise you the day shall arrive when\nI will place on your brow a diadem even more brilliant than the one you\nhave lost.\u201d\n\nI made a quick gesture, and was about to express the repugnance such a\nprospect inspired. But I stopped. It was better, no matter in what way, he\nshould be stimulated by some object to be attained by the laborious\nefforts to which he devoted all his faculties. I allowed him, therefore,\nto dream of the jewels he would adorn me with, and enlarge on his plans\nfor the future, while I was sitting beside him in his studio, sometimes\nreading to him, and sometimes becoming his model again. Whenever he spoke\nin this way, I smiled without trying to oppose him.\n\nMme. de Kergy and Diana hastened to see me the day after my arrival. We\ncontinued to meet almost daily, and I found in their delightful society\nthe strongest support, the wisest counsels, and an affection which\ninspired almost unlimited confidence.\n\nAs to Gilbert, he was still absent, and not expected to return till the\nautumn of the following year.\n\nWhen his mother gave me this information, my first feeling was one of\nrelief. It seemed to me my relations with his family were simplified by\nhis absence, and I could defer all thought as to what I should do at his\nreturn. But, when I saw my dear, venerable friend secretly wipe away a\ntear as she spoke of her son; when she added in a trembling voice that\nsuch a separation at her age was a severe trial which afflicted her more\nthan any she had ever known; when Diana afterwards came to tell me with a\nfull heart that Gilbert\u2019s absence was shortening her mother\u2019s days, oh!\nthen my heart sank with profound sorrow, and I felt an ardent, painful\ndesire to repair the evil I had caused\u2014an evil which (whatever may be\nsaid) is never altogether involuntary!\n\nAh! if women would only consider how far their fatal influence sometimes\nextends, even those who add hardness of heart to their desire to please\nwould become indifferent to the wish. They scarcely hesitate sometimes to\nsacrifice a man\u2019s career, his abilities, his whole existence. Vanity and\npride take pleasure in ravages of this kind. But if their eyes could\nbehold the firesides they quench the light of, the maternal hearts they\nsadden, the families whose sweet joys they destroy, their trophies would\nseem bloody, and they might be brought to comprehend the words of the\nPsalmist which I had humbly learned to repeat: _Ab occultis meis munda me,\net ab alienis parce servo tuo._\n\nLorenzo\u2019s celebrity increased by the productions he now exhibited to the\npublic. The singularity of our position in returning to Paris, under\ncircumstances so different from those which surrounded us when we made our\nfirst appearance in the _grand monde_, drew upon us the attention of this\nvery world which would have enticed us from our retreat. But, thank\nHeaven! I did not have to exert my influence over Lorenzo to induce him to\ndecline it. His pride would have been sufficient, had not his whole time\nbeen absorbed in his labors, and it was even with difficulty he consented\nto accompany me one evening to the H\u00f4tel de Kergy.\n\nFrom that time, however, he willingly repeated his visits, attracted by\nMme. de Kergy\u2019s dignified cordiality and simplicity of manner as well as\nby the charm of the intellectual circle of which her _salon_ was the\ncentre\u2014a charm he would have always appreciated had he not been under the\ninfluence of another attraction. Now there was no counteracting influence,\nand he took fresh pleasure every evening in going there to repose after\nthe fatigue of the day and seek something more beneficial to his mind than\nmere recreation.\n\nA person endowed with noble gifts, who returns to the right path after\nlong going astray, experiences an immense consolation in finding himself\nin his true element. It would, therefore, be impossible to tell how great\nLorenzo\u2019s joy now was, or how eloquently he was able to express it. And\nnothing could express the feelings with which I listened to him!\n\nThe only shadow of my life at this time was my separation from Stella. A\nthousand times did I urge her to join me, as she was no longer under any\nobligation to remain at Naples. I felt that the only possible solace for\nher broken heart would be to leave the place where she had suffered so\nmuch; her courageous soul would find a salutary aliment in the great\ncharitable movement at Paris, at that time in all the vigor of its first\nimpulse, given a few years before. I therefore continually urged her to\ncome, but I begged her in vain. An invincible repugnance to leave the\nplace of refuge where she had hidden her grief prevented her from yielding\nto my wishes.\n\nThus passed days, weeks, months, yes, even a whole year and more of\nhappiness. The satisfactory life I had dreamed of was now a reality, and\nthe world I once fancied I could reveal to Lorenzo unaided he had\ndiscovered himself. It had been revealed to him by trials, humiliation,\nand labor. The absolute change in his habits, which Lando had once\nindicated as the only remedy, had, as he had foreseen, produced a\nbeneficial, efficacious, and lasting effect.\n\nBut we know one of the anomalies of the human heart is to expect and long\nfor happiness as its right, and yet to be incapable of possessing it a\nsingle day in its plenitude without trembling, as if conscious it was not\nin the nature of things here below for it to endure a long time.\n\nLorenzo experienced more than most people this melancholy of happiness,\nwhich was often increased by too profound a regret for the errors of his\nlife. It partook of the vehemence of his character, and it was sometimes\ndifficult to overcome the sadness awakened by the remembrance of the past.\n\n\u201cGinevra,\u201d said he one day, \u201cI am far too happy for a man who merits it so\nlittle.\u201d\n\nHe said this with a gloomy expression. It was the beginning of spring. The\nair was soft, the sky clear, the lilacs of our little garden were in\nbloom, and we sat there inhaling the perfume. He repeated:\n\n\u201cYes, my life is now too happy\u2014too happy, I feel, to be of long duration.\u201d\nA remark somewhat trite, which is often thrown like a veil over the too\nexcessive brightness of earthly happiness! But I could not repress a\nshudder as I listened to it. And yet what was there to fear ... to desire\n... to refuse ... when I felt the present and the future were in the hands\nof Him whom I loved more than anything here below?\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nA Bit Of Modern Thought On Matter.\n\n\nWe have now accomplished the first portion of our task, by establishing on\ngood philosophical and physical grounds the fundamental truths regarding\nthe essence and the properties of material substance as such. We might,\ntherefore, take up the second part of our treatise, and begin our\ninvestigation about the nature of the metaphysical constituents of matter\nand their necessary relations, in order to ascertain how far the\nprinciples of the scholastic doctrine on matter can nowadays be maintained\nconsistently with the principles of natural science. But we think it\nnecessary, before we enter into the study of such a difficult subject, to\ncaution our readers against some productions of modern thinkers, whose\nspeculations on the nature of material things confound all philosophy, and\ntend by their sophistry to popularize the most pernicious errors. The\nnumber of such productions is daily increasing, owing to the efforts of\npowerful societies, and the philosophical imbecility of the scientific\npress and of its patrons. The heap of intellectual rubbish thus\naccumulated, both in Europe and in America, is quite prodigious; to sweep\nit all away would be like purging the Augean stable\u2014a task which some new\nHercules may yet undertake. We shall confine ourselves to a small portion\nof that task, by scattering to the winds some plausible quibbles we have\nlately met with in an American scientific magazine.\n\nJ. B. Stallo is the author of a series of articles published in the\n_Popular Science Monthly_ under the title \u201cThe Primary Concepts of Modern\nPhysical Science.\u201d He is a clever writer; but his conclusions, owing to a\nlack of sound philosophy, are not always correct. Some of them are\naltogether unfounded, others demonstrably false; and many of them, while\nattempting to revolutionize science, tend to foster downright scepticism.\nWe shall single out a few of those propositions which clash with the\ncommon doctrines of modern physics no less than with the common principles\nof metaphysics; and we hope to show, by their refutation, the incomparable\nsuperiority of our old over his new philosophy.\n\n_Indestructibility of matter._\u2014\u201cThe indestructibility of matter,\u201d says the\nwriter,(181) \u201cis an unquestionable truth. But in what sense, and upon what\ngrounds, is this indestructibility predicated of matter? The unanimous\nanswer of the atomists is: Experience teaches that all the changes to\nwhich matter is subject are but variations of form, and that amid these\nvariations there is an unvarying constant\u2014the mass or quantity of matter.\nThe constancy of the mass is attested by the balance, which shows that\nneither fusion nor sublimation, neither generation nor corruption, can add\nto, or detract from, the weight of a body subjected to experiment. When a\npound of carbon is burned, the balance demonstrates the continuous\nexistence of this pound in the carbonic acid, which is the product of\ncombustion, and from which the original weight of carbon may be recovered.\nThe quantity of matter is measured by its weight, and this weight is\nunchangeable.\u201d\n\nSo far all is right; but he continues: \u201cSuch is the fact familiar to every\none, and its interpretation equally familiar. To test the correctness of\nthis interpretation we may be permitted slightly to vary the method of\nverifying it. Instead of burning the pound of carbon, let us simply carry\nit to the summit of a mountain, or remove it to a lower latitude; is its\nweight still the same? Relatively it is; it will still balance the\noriginal counterpoise. But the absolute weight is no longer the same....\nIt is thus evident that the constancy, upon the observation of which the\nassertion of the indestructibility of matter is based, is simply the\nconstancy of a relation, and that the ordinary statement of the fact is\ncrude and inadequate. Indeed, while it is true that the weight of a body\nis a measure of its mass, this is but a single case of the more general\nfact that the masses of bodies are inversely as the velocities imparted to\nthem by the action of the same force, or, more generally still, inversely\nas the accelerations produced in them by the same force. In the case of\ngravity, the forces of attraction are directly proportional to the masses,\nso that the action of the forces (_weight_) is the simplest measure of the\nrelation between any two masses as such; but in any inquiry relating to\nthe validity of the atomic theory, it is necessary to bear in mind that\nthis weight is not the equivalent, or rather the presentation, of an\nabsolute substantive entity in one of the bodies (the body weighed), but\nthe mere expression of a relation between two bodies mutually attracting\neach other. And it is further necessary to remember that this weight may\nbe indefinitely reduced, without any diminution in the mass of the body\nweighed, by a mere change of its position in reference to the body between\nwhich and the body weighed the relation subsists.\u201d\n\nThe aim of the author is, as we shall see, to prove that \u201cthere are and\ncan be no absolute constants of mass\u201d; hence he endeavors at the very\noutset to shake our opposite conviction by showing that there is no\nabsolute measure of masses. Such is the drift of the passage we have\ntranscribed.\n\nBut we beg to remark that absolute quantities may be known to be absolute\nindependently of any absolute measurement. Three kinds of quantity are\nconceivable: intensive quantity, which is measured by _degrees_; dimensive\nquantity, which is measured by _distances_; and numerical quantity, which\nis measured by discrete _units_. Of course dimensive quantity is\naltogether relative, inasmuch as it entirely consists of relations, and\ncannot be measured but by relative and arbitrary measures; but intensive\nquantity, though measured by arbitrary degrees, is altogether absolute,\nbecause it consists of a reality whose value is independent of correlative\nterms. And in the same manner numerical quantity is altogether absolute,\nbecause it consists of absolute units, by which it can be measured,\nabsolutely speaking, though we may fail to reach such units, and are then\nobliged to measure it by some other standard. Now, the mass, or the\nquantity of matter in a body, is a numerical quantity; for it consists of\na number of primitive units, independent of one another for their essence\nand for their existence, and therefore absolute in regard to their\nsubstantial being. Consequently, every mass of matter has an absolute\nvalue corresponding to the number of absolute units it contains; and thus\nevery mass of matter is \u201can absolute constant of mass.\u201d It is true that we\nhave no means of ascertaining the absolute number of primitive units\ncontained in a given mass; hence we are constrained to measure the\nquantity of matter by a relative measure\u2014that is, by comparing it with an\nequal volume of another substance, whose density and weight we assume as\nthe measure of other densities and weights. But does our ignorance of the\nabsolute number of primitive units contained in a given mass interfere\nwith their real existence? or, can our method of measuring change the\nnature of the thing measured?\n\nWe are told that \u201cthe weight of a body may be indefinitely reduced without\nany diminution in the mass of the body weighed.\u201d Would not this show that,\ncontrary to the author\u2019s opinion, the body weighed possesses \u201can absolute\nconstant of mass\u201d? We are told at the same time that \u201cthe weight of a body\nis a measure of its mass.\u201d This cannot be true, unless, while the mass\nremains unchanged, the weight also remains unchanged. Hence the author\u2019s\nidea of carrying the pound of carbon to the summit of a mountain in order\nto diminish its weight, is inconsistent with the law of measurement, which\nforbids the employment of two weights and measures for measuring one and\nthe same quantity.\n\nThe atomists measure the quantity of matter by its weight, because they\nknow that every particle of matter is subject to gravitation, and\ntherefore that the weights, all other things being equal, are\nproportionate to the number of primitive particles contained in the\nbodies. Thus, if a body contains a number, _m_, of primitive particles,\nand each of these particles is subject to the gravitation, _g_, while\nanother body contains a number, _m\u00b4_, of primitive particles subject to\nthe same gravitation, the ratio of the weights of the two bodies will be\nthe same as the ratio of the two masses; for\n\n_mg_ : _m\u00b4g_ : : _m_ : _m\u00b4_;\n\nand if the two bodies were carried to the summit of a mountain, where the\ngravitation is reduced to _g\u00b4_, the weights would indeed be changed, but\ntheir ratio would remain unaltered, and we would still have\n\n_mg\u00b4_ : _m\u00b4g\u00b4_ : : _m_ : _m\u00b4_.\n\nHence, whether we weigh two bodies in the valley or at the summit of the\nmountain, so long as we keep the same unit of gravitation for both, the\nratio of their masses remains the same. This shows that the quantity of\nmatter existing in those bodies implies \u201ca constant of mass\u201d _independent_\nof the intensity of gravitation, and that the ratio of the two masses is\nthe ratio of two \u201cabsolute\u201d quantities\u2014that is, of two numbers of\nprimitive material units.\n\nIt is not true, therefore, that the weight is not \u201cthe presentation of an\nabsolute substantive entity,\u201d as the author pretends. Weight implies mass\nand gravitation, and presents the one as subject to the other. Now, the\nmass is an \u201cabsolute substantive entity,\u201d as we have shown. Nor is it true\nthat weight is \u201cthe mere expression of a relation between two bodies\nmutually attracting each other,\u201d as the author imagines. The pound of\ncarbon is a pound not because of an attraction exercised by the carbon\nupon the earth, but merely because of the attraction exercised by the\nearth on the mass of the carbon. Were it otherwise, the mathematical\nexpression of weight should contain, besides the mass of the body weighed\nand the action of gravity upon it, a third quantity representing the\naction of the body upon the earth, and the gravitation of the earth\ntowards the body.\n\nThe writer proceeds: \u201cMasses find their true and only measure in the\naction of forces, and the quantitative persistence of the effect of this\naction is the simple and accurate expression of the fact which is\nordinarily described as the indestructibility of matter. It is obvious\nthat this persistence is in no sense explained or accounted for by the\natomic theory\u201d (p. 708).\n\nWe admit that, owing to our inability to determine the absolute number of\nprimitive elements in a body, we resort to the persistence of the weight\nin order to ascertain the persistence of a certain quantity of matter in\nthe body. But this does not show that the action of forces is the \u201conly\nmeasure\u201d of masses. A mass is a number of material units; its true measure\nis _one of such units_, and it is only in order to determine the relative\nnumber of such units in different bodies that we have recourse to their\nweights. It is not the quantity of matter that follows the weight of the\nbody, but it is the weight of the body that follows the quantity of\nmatter; and therefore, although we determine the relative quantities of\nmatter by the relation of their weights, it is not the weight that\nmeasures the quantity of matter, but it is the quantity of matter that\nmeasures the weight. In other terms, the persistence of the mass is merely\n_known_ through the persistence of the weight, but the persistence of the\nweight is itself _a consequence_ of the persistence of the mass. Hence the\npersistence of the mass is perfectly accounted for by the atomic theory,\nnotwithstanding Mr. Stallo\u2019s contrary assertion.\n\nHe says: \u201cThe hypothesis of ultimate indestructible atoms is not a\nnecessary implication of the persistence of weight, and can at best\naccount for the indestructibility of matter if it can be shown that there\nis an absolute limit to the compressibility of matter\u2014in other words, that\nthere is an absolutely least volume for every determinate mass\u201d (p. 708).\nBoth parts of this proposition are false. The first is false, because the\nweight of a body is the result of the gravitation of all its particles;\nand, therefore, it cannot persist without the persistence of the\ngravitating particles. The second part also is false, because the\npersistence of the weight implies the persistence of the mass\nindependently of all considerations concerning a limit of compressibility\nor an absolute minimum of volume. Hence, whatever the author may say to\nthe contrary, it is quite certain of scientific certainty that there can\nbe, and there is, in all bodies, \u201can absolute constant of mass.\u201d\n\n_Atomic theory._\u2014The writer objects to the atomic theory on the ground\nthat it does not explain impenetrability, and that it misconceives the\nnature of reality. He begins by remarking that \u201cthe proposition, according\nto which a space occupied by one body cannot be occupied by another,\nimplies the assumption that space is an absolute, self\u2010measuring entity,\nand the further assumption that there is a least space which a given body\nwill absolutely fill so as to exclude any other body\u201d (p. 709). We think\nthat the proposition implies nothing of the kind. The space occupied by\none body cannot _naturally_ be occupied by another, because all bodies are\nmade up of molecules which at very small distances repel one another with\nactions of greater and greater intensities, thus preventing\ncompenetration, while successfully struggling for the preservation of\ntheir own individuality. This the molecules can do, whether space can be\nfilled or not, and whether space is a self\u2010measuring entity or not. Hence\nthe remark of the author has no foundation.\n\nBut he continues: \u201cThe atomic theory has become next to valueless as an\nexplanation of the impenetrability of matter, since it has been pressed\ninto the service of the undulatory theory of light, heat, etc., and\nassumed the form in which it is now held by the majority of physicists.\nAccording to this form of the theory, the atoms are either mere points,\nwholly without extension, or their dimensions are infinitely small as\ncompared with the distances between them, whatever be the state of\naggregation of the substances into which they enter. In this view, the\nresistance which a body, _i.e._, a system of atoms, offers to the\nintrusion of another body is due not to the rigidity or unchangeability of\nvolume of the individual atoms, but to the relation between the attractive\nand repulsive forces with which they are supposed to be endowed. There are\nphysicists holding this view, who are of opinion that the atomic\nconstitution of matter is consistent with its compenetrability\u2014among them\nM. Cauchy, who in his _Sept Le\u00e7ons de physique g\u00e9n\u00e9rale_ (ed. Moigno,\nParis, 1868, p. 38), after defining atoms as material points without\nextension, uses this language: \u2018Thus, this property of matter, which we\ncall impenetrability, is explained when we consider the atoms as material\npoints exerting on each other attractions and repulsions which vary with\nthe distances that separate them.... From this it follows that, if it\npleased the Author of nature simply to modify the laws according to which\nthe atoms attract or repel each other, we might instantly see the hardest\nbodies penetrate each other, the smallest particles of matter occupy\nimmense spaces, or the largest masses reduce themselves to the smallest\nvolumes, the entire universe concentrating itself, as it were, in a single\npoint\u2019 \u201d (p. 710).\n\nWe think that the author\u2019s notion of the form in which the atomic theory\nis now held by physicists is not quite correct. The chemical atoms are now\nconsidered as dynamical systems of material points, so that the atomic\ntheory is now scarcely distinguishable from the molecular theory. That\nsuch a theory \u201chas become next to valueless as an explanation of the\nimpenetrability of matter\u201d is not true. Of course two primitive elements\nof matter, if attractive, would, according to the theory, as we understand\nit, pass through one another; as nothing can oppose their progress except\nrepulsion, which is not to be thought of in the case of attractive\nelements. But the case is different with molecules; for every molecule of\nany special substance contains a number of repulsive elements, and\npossesses a repulsive envelope(182) which resists most effectually all\nattempt at compenetration on the part of other molecules. Hence the\nimpenetrability of _bodies_ (not of _matter_, as the author says) is a\nsimple result of the molecular constitution of bodies, as explained in the\natomic theory of the modern chemists.\n\nThat the resistance which a body offers to the intrusion of another body\nis due \u201cnot to the rigidity or unchangeability of volume of individual\natoms, but to the relation between the attractive and repulsive forces\nwith which they are supposed to be endowed,\u201d is an obvious truth. We do\nnot see by what kind of reasoning the author can infer from it that \u201cthe\natomic theory has become next to valueless as an explanation of\nimpenetrability.\u201d We rather maintain that the theory is correct, and that\nno other theory has yet been found which explains impenetrability without\nassuming much that philosophy condemns. As to M. Cauchy\u2019s views, we remark\nthat, when he defines atoms as \u201cmaterial points without extension,\u201d he\ndoes not speak of the chemical atoms, or equivalents, but of the primitive\nelements of which such atoms or equivalents are composed.\n\nThe author says: \u201cThe assumption of atoms of different specific gravities\nproves to be not only futile, but absurd. Its manifest theoretical\nineptitude is found to mask the most fatal inconsistencies. According to\nthe mechanical conception which underlies the whole atomic hypothesis,\ndifferences of weight are differences of density; and differences of\ndensity are differences of distance between the particles contained in a\ngiven space. Now, in the atom there is no multiplicity of particles and no\nvoid space; hence differences of density or weight are impossible in the\ncase of atoms\u201d (p. 715).\n\nThis conclusion would be quite inevitable, if it were true that the atom\nof the chemists contains no multiplicity of particles and no void space;\nbut the truth is that chemical atoms are nothing but _equivalents_, or\n_molecules_\u2014that is, dynamical systems of material points intercepting\nvoid space. Hence the author\u2019s argument has no foundation. The very fact\nthat men of science unanimously agree in attributing to different atoms a\ndifferent weight, should have warned Mr. Stallo that the word \u201catom\u201d could\nnot be considered by them as a simple material point.\n\nThe author in his second article (November, 1873) argues against the\n_actio in distans_. We have given his words in one of our own articles,\nwhere we undertook to show that _actio in distans_ cannot be impugned with\nany good argument.(183) The author, however, we are glad to see, honestly\nacknowledges that \u201cthe transfer of motion from one body to another by\nimpact is no less incomprehensible than the _actio in distans_\u201d (p. 96);\nwhich shows that, after having rejected the action at a distance, he is at\na loss how to account for any communication or propagation of movement. A\nlittle later he quotes a passage of Faraday, which we have given in\nanother place, and in which the English professor considers the atoms as\nconsisting of a mere sphere of power, with a central point having no\ndimensions. Then he gives his own view of the subject in the following\nwords:\n\n\u201cThe true root of all these errors is a total misconception of the nature\nof reality. All the reality we know is not only spatially finite, but\nlimited in all its aspects; its whole existence lies in relation and\ncontrast, as I shall show more at length in the next article. We know\nnothing of force, except by its contrast with mass, or (what is the same\nthing) inertia; and conversely, as I have already pointed out in my first\narticle, we know nothing of mass except by its relation to force. Mass,\ninertia (or, as it is sometimes, though inaccurately, called, matter _per\nse_), is indistinguishable from absolute nothingness; for matter reveals\nits presence, or evinces its reality, only by its action, its force, its\ntension, or motion. But, on the other hand, mere force is equally nothing;\nfor, if we reduce the mass upon which a given force, however small, acts,\nuntil it vanishes\u2014or, mathematically expressed, until it becomes\ninfinitely small\u2014the consequence is that the velocity of the resulting\nmotion is infinitely great, and that the \u2018thing\u2019 (if under these\ncircumstances a thing can still be spoken of) is at any given moment\nneither here nor there, but everywhere\u2014that is, there is no real presence.\nIt is impossible, therefore, to construct matter by a mere synthesis of\nforces.... The true formula of matter is mass \u00d7 force, or inertia \u00d7 force\u201d\n(p. 103).\n\nThe author is greatly mistaken in assuming that those who consider the\natoms (primitive elements) as centres of force totally misconceive the\nnature of reality. That Faraday, notwithstanding his saying that \u201cthe\nsubstance consists of the powers,\u201d admits with the power the matter also,\nis evident from his very mention of the _centre_ of the powers; for such a\ncentre is nothing else than _the_ matter, as we have proved above. He\nsays, indeed, that the nucleus of the atom \u201cvanishes\u201d; but by \u201cnucleus\u201d he\nmeans the _bulk_ or the continuous material extension of the atom. This\nbulk, says he, must vanish, inasmuch as the centre of the powers must be a\nmere unextended point. He therefore denies, not the matter, but only its\nintrinsic extension.\n\nMr. Stallo volunteers to show us \u201cthe true root\u201d of all our _errors_.\nAccording to him, we totally misconceive the nature of reality. \u201cAll the\nreality we know,\u201d he says, \u201cis not only spatially finite, but limited in\nall its aspects.\u201d About this we will not quarrel, for we admit that all\ncreated substances are limited; yet we would ask the author whether he\nthinks that the range of universal attraction has any known limit in\nspace; and, if so, we would further ask where it is; for we admit our full\nignorance of its existence. \u201cWe know nothing of force,\u201d he continues,\n\u201cexcept by its contrast with mass, or, what is the same thing, inertia.\u201d\nOur readers know that mass and inertia are not the same thing; the mass is\na quantity of matter, while inertia is the incapability of self\u2010motion. A\nwriter who can confound the two as identical is not competent to correct\nour _errors_ and to teach us the nature of reality. As to the contrast of\nforce with mass, we have no objection; yet, while speaking of the nature\nof things, we would prefer to contrast matter with form rather than force\nwith mass. The term _force_ applies to the production of phenomena, and is\nusually confounded with action and with movement, neither of which is a\nconstituent of substance; whilst the term _mass_ expresses any quantity of\nmatter from a single element up to a mountain; and thus it does not\nexhibit with precision the matter due to the primitive material substance.\n\n\u201cMass, or matter _per se_, is indistinguishable from absolute\nnothingness.\u201d Of course, matter _per se_\u2014that is, without form\u2014cannot\nexist. In the same manner \u201cmere force is equally nothing\u201d\u2014that is, the\nmaterial form, which is the principle of action, has no separate existence\nwithout its matter. This every one admits, though not on the grounds\nsuggested by Mr. Stallo. \u201cIf we reduce,\u201d says he, \u201cthe mass upon which a\ngiven force, however small, acts, until it vanishes\u2014or, mathematically\nexpressed, until it becomes infinitely small\u2014the consequence is that the\nvelocity of the resulting motion is infinitely great.\u201d We deny this\nconsequence, as well as the supposition from which it is inferred. Masses\nare numbers of material elements, or units. When such units are reached,\nthe division is at an end, because those primitive units are without\ndimensions. Hence the extreme limit of the reduction of masses is not an\ninfinitesimal quantity of mass, as the author imagines, but an absolute\nfinite unit; for this unit, when repeated a finite number of times, gives\nus a finite quantity of mass. But, even supposing that the hypothesis of\nthe author might be entertained (and it must be entertained by all those\nwho consider matter as materially continuous), his consequence would still\nbe false. For, let there be a continuous atom having finite dimensions. If\nsuch an atom is acted on, say by gravity, it will acquire a finite\nvelocity. Now, it is evident that, when the atom has a finite velocity,\nevery infinitesimal portion of it will have a finite velocity. Therefore\nthe action which produces a finite velocity in the finite mass of the\natom, produces a finite velocity in the infinitesimal masses of which the\natom is assumed to consist. The error of the author arises from his\nconfounding quantity of movement with action. A quantity of movement is a\nproduct of a mass into its velocity; and evidently the product cannot\nremain constant, unless the velocity increases in the same ratio as the\nmass decreases. The action, on the contrary, is _directly_ proportional to\nthe mass; and therefore, in the author\u2019s hypothesis, the consequence\nshould have been the very opposite of that which he enounces; that is, the\nvelocity acquired by an infinitesimal mass would still be finite instead\nof infinitely great. But, as we have said, the hypothesis itself is\ninadmissible, because only continuous quantity can be reduced to\ninfinitesimals, whilst masses are not continuous but discrete quantities.\n\nThat it is impossible \u201cto construct matter by a mere synthesis of forces\u201d\nis undeniable; but there was no need of arguing a point which no one\ncontests. The author should rather have given us his ground for asserting\nthat \u201cthe true formula of matter is _mass multiplied by force_.\u201d This\nassertion can by no means be made good. All physicists know that mass\nmultiplied by force represents nothing but a quantity of movement; and the\nauthor will not pretend, we presume, that matter is a quantity of\nmovement. The true formula of matter is its essential definition; and it\nis not a mathematical but a metaphysical product, or rather a metaphysical\nratio, as we have shown in another place. Material substance is _matter\nactuated by its substantial form_, and nothing else.\n\nThe author continues thus: \u201cWe now have before us in full view one of the\nfundamental fallacies of the atomic theory. This fallacy consists in the\ndelusion that the conceptual constituents of matter can be grasped as\nseparate and real entities. The corpuscular atomists take the element of\ninertia, and treat it as real by itself: while Boscovich, Faraday, and all\nthose who define atoms as _centres of force_, seek to realize the\ncorresponding element, force, as an entity by itself. In both cases\nelements of reality are mistaken for kinds of reality\u201d (p. 103).\n\nIt is rather singular that a man who is so little at home in questions\nabout matter should undertake to point out the fallacies and delusions of\nthe best informed. Is it true that Boscovich, Faraday, and others of the\nsame school, consider force as an entity by itself? And is it true that\nthe corpuscular atomists treat the element of inertia as real by itself?\nThere is much to be said against corpuscular atomists for other reasons,\nbut they cannot surely be accused of maintaining that the element of\ninertia\u2014that is, the mass of the atom\u2014can exist separately without any\ninherent power, as they uniformly teach that their atoms are endowed with\nresisting powers. The accusation brought against Boscovich, Faraday, and\nothers, is still more glaringly unjust. They do not seek to realize force\n\u201cas an entity by itself\u201d; on the contrary, when they define the atoms as\ncentres of force, they manifestly teach that both the force and its centre\nare indispensable for the constitution of a primitive atom. And, since by\nthe word _force_ they mean the principle of activity (the form), and in\nthe centre they recognize the principle of passivity (the matter), we\ncannot but conclude that the accusation has no ground, and that the\nfallacy and the delusion is on the side of Mr. Stallo himself.\n\nMoreover, is it true that _mass_ and _force_, or, to speak more\naccurately, the matter and the form, are nothing more than \u201cthe\n_conceptual_ constituents\u201d of material substance? This the author assumes\nas the base of his argumentation; yet it is plain that, if the\nconstituents of a thing are only conceptual, the thing they constitute\ncannot be anything else than a conceptual being\u2014that is, a being of\nreason. We must therefore either deny the reality of matter or concede\nthat its constituents are more than conceptual. Could not the author\nperceive that, if mass is a mere concept, and force another mere concept,\ntheir alliance gives nothing but two concepts, and that the reality of the\nexternal world becomes a dream?\n\nWe live in times when men of a certain class presume to discuss\nmetaphysical subjects without previous study and without a sufficient\nacquaintance with the first notions of metaphysics. One of these first\nnotions is that all real being has real constituents. Such constituents,\nwhen known to us, are the object of our conceptions, and consequently they\nmay become conceptual; but they do not cease to be real outside of our\nmind. Were we to conceive matter as separated from its form, or form as\ndeprived of its matter, nothing real would correspond to our conception;\nfor nowhere can real matter be found without a form, or a real form\nwithout its matter. Hence form without matter and matter without form are\nat best beings of reason. But when we conceive the matter as it is under\nits form, or the form as it is terminated to its matter, we evidently\nconceive the real constituents of material substance as they are in\nnature\u2014that is, as metaphysical realities contained in the physical being.\nDoes it follow that \u201celements of reality,\u201d as the author objects, \u201care\nmistaken for kinds of reality\u201d? By no means. The constituents of physical\nreality are themselves metaphysical realities, but they are not exactly\ntwo kinds of reality, because they belong both to the same essence which\ncannot be of two kinds. Hence the matter and the substantial form, or, in\ngeneral, act and potency, notwithstanding their real metaphysical\nopposition and distinction, are one essence, one kind, and one being. But\nlet us go back to our author.\n\nIn his third article (December, 1873) he says: \u201cThe ordinary mechanical\nexplanation of the molecular states of matter, or states of aggregation,\non the basis of the atomic theory, proceeds on the assumption that the\nmolecular states are produced by the conflict of antagonistic central\nforces\u2014molecular attraction and repulsion\u2014the preponderance of the one or\nthe other of which gives rise to the solid and gaseous forms, while their\nbalance or equilibrium results in the liquid state. The utter futility of\nthis explanation is apparent at a glance. Even waiving the considerations\npresented by Herbert Spencer (_First Principles_, p. 60 et seq.), that, in\nview of the necessary variation of the attractive and repulsive forces in\nthe inverse ratio of the squares of the distances, the constituent atoms\nof a body, if they are _in equilibrio_ at any particular distance, must be\nequally _in equilibrio_ at all other distances, and that their density or\nstate, therefore, must be invariable; and admitting that the increase or\ndiminution of the repulsive force, _heat_, may render the preponderance of\neither force, and thus the change of density or state of aggregation,\npossible, what becomes of the liquid state as corresponding to the exact\nbalance of these two forces in the absence of external coercion? The exact\nbalance of the two opposing forces is a mere mathematical limit, which\nmust be passed with the slightest preponderance of either force over the\nother. All bodies being subject to continual changes of temperature, the\nequilibrium can at best be but momentary; it must of necessity be of the\nmost labile kind\u201d (p. 223).\n\nThis argument against the atomic theory would be very good, if its\npremises were not deceptive. Mr. Stallo, unfortunately, relies too much on\nthe terminology of physical writers, which is not always correct. Thus, it\nis not true that the solid form is the result of an actual preponderance\nof attraction between the molecules. If attraction prevailed, the\nmolecules would not remain in their relative position, but would move in\nthe direction of the attraction. The truth is that molecules, whether in\nthe solid or in the liquid form, are in equilibrium of position;\naccordingly, neither attraction nor repulsion actually prevails between\nthem.\n\nTheir position of equilibrium is determined by their own constitution, and\nmay change; for the molecules admit of accidental changes in their\nconstitution. Hence the distance of relative equilibrium is not\nnecessarily constant, but changes with the change of state of each\nmolecule. This shows that bodies, whether solid or liquid, can retain\ntheir solid or liquid form while subjected to considerable molecular\nchanges, and that therefore neither the solid nor the liquid form is\nnecessarily impaired by \u201cthe changes of temperature\u201d or other molecular\nmovements. The molecules of bodies attract each other when their distance\nis great, and repel each other when their distance has become very small;\nwhence we immediately infer that there is for every kind of molecules a\ndistance which marks the limit of their mutual attraction and repulsion,\nand that at such a distance the molecules must find their position of\nequilibrium. A body will be solid when, its molecules being in the\nposition of relative equilibrium, from a small increase of their distance\nan attraction arises, which does not allow of the molecules being easily\nseparated or arranged in a different order around one another. A body will\nbe liquid when, its molecules being in the position of relative\nequilibrium, from a small increase of their distance a weak attraction\narises, which allows of the molecules being easily separated or easily\narranged, without separation, in a different manner around one another. A\nbody will be expansive and fluid when its free molecules are at a distance\nsensibly less than that of relative equilibrium, and therefore repel each\nother, and are in need of exterior pressure to be kept at such a distance.\nBut we must not forget that the distance of relative equilibrium varies\nwith the intrinsic dynamical variation of the molecules, and that\ntherefore \u201cthe exact balance of the two opposing forces is _not_ a mere\nmathematical limit,\u201d but is comprised between two mathematical limits\ndetermined by the amount of the variations of which each species of\nmolecules is susceptible before settling into a different form.\n\nHaving thus disposed of the main argument by which the author wished to\nshow \u201cthe utter futility\u201d of the ordinary mechanical explanation of the\nmolecular states of matter on the basis of the atomic theory, we may add a\nfew words concerning Herbert Spencer\u2019s argument alluded to by the author.\nThe law of actions inversely proportional to the squares of the distances\nis true for each primitive element of matter, but it is not applicable to\nmolecules acting at molecular distances, as we have proved in another\nplace.(184) Hence Spencer\u2019s argument, which assumes the contrary, is\nentirely worthless. On the other hand, were the argument admissible, we do\nnot see how the proposition, \u201cThe constituent atoms of a body, if they are\n_in equilibrio_ at any particular distance, must be equally _in\nequilibrio_ at all other distances,\u201d can justify the conclusion that\n\u201ctheir density or state must be invariable.\u201d It seems to us that a change\nof molecular distances must entail a change of density; but, of course, we\nare behind our age.\n\n_Relativity of material realities._\u2014\u201cIt has been a favorite tenet, not\nonly of metaphysicians, but of physicists as well, that reality is\ncognizable only as absolute, permanent, and invariable, or, as the\nmetaphysicians of the XVIth and XVIIth centuries expressed it, _sub specie\n\u00e6terni et abroluti_. This proposition,\u201d Mr. Stallo continues, \u201clike so\nmany others which have served as pillars of imposing metaphysical\nstructures, is the precise opposite of the truth\u201d (p. 223). Do you\nunderstand, reader? Metaphysicians and physicists of all centuries count\nfor nothing; they were blind, every one of them; but a great luminary has\nappeared at last, a Mr. J. B. Stallo, whose superior wisdom, if not\nphilosophical infallibility, opens a new era of thought, and dispels the\ndarkness which has been thickening around us up to the present day. Yet\neven the sun has spots; and Mr. Stallo will permit us to remark that his\nstatement of the metaphysical doctrine of the ancients is not altogether\ncorrect. They did not teach \u201cthat reality is cognizable _only_ as\nabsolute, permanent, and invariable\u201d; they well knew and taught that there\nwere realities cognizable, both relative and changeable. Substance, of\ncourse, was considered by them, and it is still considered by us, as an\nabsolute reality; but they never imagined that the essence of such a\nreality was cognizable except through its constituent principles as\nrelated to one another, and therefore through an intelligible relation.\nThis relation, as intelligible, was considered necessary and invariable,\nbut, as an actual reality in nature, was considered contingent and\nchangeable; the intelligible essence of things was known _sub specie\n\u00e6terni_, but their existence was known _sub specie contingentis_. Now, on\nwhat ground does Mr. Stallo impugn this doctrine? How does he prove that\nit is \u201cthe precise opposite of truth\u201d? Alas! we should be exceedingly\nsimple were we to expect proofs. Progress consists nowadays of stout\nassertions on the part of the writer, and of a silly credulity on that of\nmost readers. Hence our author, instead of proving what he had rashly\nasserted, gives us a strain of other assertions equally rash and\nridiculously absurd.\n\nHe says: \u201cAll material reality is, in its nature, not absolute, but\nessentially relative. All material reality depends upon determination; and\ndetermination is essentially limitation, as even Spinoza well knew. A\nthing \u2018in and by itself\u2019 is an impossibility\u201d (_ibid._) Spinoza! a great\nauthority indeed! But we should like to know how the proposition,\n\u201cDetermination is essentially limitation,\u201d can lead to the conclusion that\n\u201ca thing in itself and by itself is an impossibility.\u201d To make a logical\nconnection between the two propositions, it would be necessary to assume\nthat \u201cnothing finite can be in itself and by itself.\u201d But the assumption\nis so foolish that even Spinoza, who based on it his revolting system of\nPantheism, could never support it except by a false definition of\nsubstance, and by giving to the phrases \u201cin itself\u201d and \u201cby itself\u201d an\nextravagant interpretation, which proved, if not his malice and bad faith,\nat least his profound philosophical ignorance. Let Mr. Stallo consult any\ngood philosophical treatise on this subject, and he will see how stolid a\nman must be to fall a victim to the gross sophistry of the Jewish\ndogmatizer.\n\nWhat shall we say of the other assertion, \u201cAll material reality is, in its\nnature, not absolute, but essentially relative\u201d? Can anything be\n_relative_ without at the same time being _absolute_? Can relation exist\nwithout two absolute terms? Relativity connects one absolute thing with\nanother; the things thus connected acquire a relative mode of being, but\nthey do not for that lose their absolute being. Thus Mr. Stallo may be an\nAmerican citizen without ceasing to be a man, though he cannot be a\ncitizen without being endued with a relation not involved in his nature as\nroan. So, also, husband and wife are essentially relative; yet we hope the\nauthor will not say that the relative _Husband_ annihilates the absolute\n_Man_, or that the relative _Wife_ excludes the absolute _Woman_.\n\nThese remarks apply to all relations, whether merely accidental or founded\nin the essence of things. Pantheists imagine that creatures cannot have\nany absolute being, because their being is essentially dependent, and\ntherefore relative. They should consider that a creature is a _created\nbeing_\u2014that is, a being related to its Creator. Such a creature, inasmuch\nas it is a being, _is_; and inasmuch as it is related, _connotes_ its\nMaker. Now, to be and to connote are not identical. The first means\n_existence_, the second _dependence_; the first is perfectly complete in\nthe creature itself, the second is incomplete without a correlative term;\nand therefore the creature is in possession of absolute being, while it is\nendued with an essential relativity. Take away the absolute being; nothing\nwill remain of which any relativity may be predicated.\n\nPerhaps the author, when pronouncing that \u201call material reality is in its\nnature essentially relative,\u201d alludes to the essential constitution of\nmaterial realities, and to the essential relation of matter and form. If\nsuch is his meaning, the utmost he can claim is that the reality of the\nform is essentially connected with the matter, and the reality of the\nmatter essentially connected with the form. This every one will concede;\nbut no one will infer that therefore the reality which results from the\nconspiration of matter and form is not an absolute reality. For as the\nmatter and the form are the principles of one essence, and as their mutual\nrelativity connotes nothing extrinsic to the same essence, but finds in it\nits adequate consummation, it is evident that the resulting reality is\nintrinsically complete, and subsistent in its individuality. Hence this\nresulting reality is an _absolute_ reality; and only as such can it become\nthe subject of relativity, and acquire the denomination of _relative_.\n\nOur author, entirely taken up by Spinoza\u2019s views, proceeds in the\nfollowing strain: \u201cAll quality is relation; all action is reaction; all\nforce is antagonism; all measure is a ratio between terms neither of which\nis absolute; every objectively real thing is a term in numberless series\nof mutual implications, and its reality outside of these series is utterly\ninconceivable. A material entity, absolute in any of its aspects, would be\nnothing less than a finite infinitude. There is no absolute material\nquality, no absolute material substance, no absolute physical unit, no\nabsolutely simple physical entity, no absolute constant, no absolute\nstandard either of quantity or quality, no absolute motion, no absolute\nrest, no absolute time, no absolute space.... There is and can be no\nphysical real thing which is absolutely simple\u201d (p. 225).\n\nThis string of blunders needs no refutation, as no reader who has a\nmodicum of common sense can be deceived by what is evidently false. Yet,\nas to the assertion that \u201cthere is and can be no physical real thing which\nis absolutely simple,\u201d it must be observed that there are two kinds of\nsimplicity, as there are two kinds of composition. A being is physically\nsimple when it is free from physical composition; whilst it is\nmetaphysically simple, if it has no metaphysical components. Now, God\nalone is free from metaphysical as well as physical composition; and\ntherefore God alone is absolutely simple. Hence, created beings, though\nphysically simple, are always metaphysically compound.\n\nWhat follows is a curious specimen of Mr. Stallo\u2019s philosophical\nresources. He says: \u201cLeibnitz places at the head of his Monadology the\nprinciple that there must be simple substances, because there are compound\nsubstances. _Necesse est_, he says, _dari substantias simplices, quia\ndantur composit\u00e6_. This enthymeme, though it has been long since exploded\nin metaphysics, is still regarded by many physicists as proof of the real\nexistence of absolutely simple constituents of matter. Nevertheless, it is\nobvious that it is nothing but a vicious paralogism\u2014a fallacy of the class\nknown in logic as fallacies of the suppressed relative. The existence of a\ncompound substance certainly proves the existence of component parts,\nwhich, _relatively to this substance_, are simple. But it proves nothing\nwhatever as to the simplicity of these parts in themselves\u201d (p. 226).\n\nOur reader will ask when and how Leibnitz\u2019 enthymeme has been \u201cexploded.\u201d\nWe shall inform him that it has _not_ been exploded, though the attempt\nhas often been made; because in the whole arsenal of metaphysics no powder\ncould be found that would produce the explosion. The enthymeme, therefore,\nis as good and unanswerable now as it was in Leibnitz\u2019 time; and it will\nbe as good and unanswerable hereafter, notwithstanding Mr. Stallo\u2019s\nefforts against it. He says that \u201cit is nothing but a vicious paralogism\u201d;\nbut he himself, while endeavoring to prove this latter assertion, resorts\nto a paralogism (_vicious_, of course) which we may call \u201cfallacy of the\nsuppressed absolute.\u201d The existence of a compound proves the existence of\nits component parts, as the author admits. These parts are either compound\nor simple. If simple, then there are simple substances. If compound, then\nthey have components; and these parts are again either compound or simple.\nWe must therefore either admit simple substances, or continue our analysis\nby further subdivisions of the compound substance without any chance of\never coming to an end. But if the analysis cannot come to an end, the\ncompound has no first components; and thus it will be false that \u201cthe\nexistence of a compound substance proves the existence of the component\nparts.\u201d The fallacy of the author consists in stopping his analysis of the\ncompound before he has reached the first components. If the parts he has\nreached are still compound substances, why does he not examine their\ncomposition and point out their components? For no other reason, we\npresume, than that he did not wish to meet with an _absolute_ substantial\nunit, which he was sure to find at the end of the process. His argument is\ntherefore nothing but a despicable fraud.\n\nIn his fourth article (January, 1874) Mr. Stallo remarks that \u201cthe recent\ndoctrine of the correlation and mutual convertibility of the physical\nforces, as a part of the theory of the conservation of energy, has shaken,\nif not destroyed, the conception of a multiplicity of independent original\nforces\u201d (p. 350). Of course, there are men whose convictions can be\nshaken, or even destroyed, by the sophistic generalizations of the modern\nschool; but there are men also whose convictions rest on too solid a\nground to be destroyed or shaken; and these latter have ere now challenged\nthe abettors of the \u201crecent doctrine\u201d to clear up their case with\nsomething like logical precision\u2014a thing which modern thinkers must have\nfound impossible, since they have constantly ignored the challenge. We\nhave proved elsewhere(185) that \u201cthe mutual convertibility of physical\nforces,\u201d as understood by the champions of the theory, confounds movement\nwith action and the effects with their causes. The facts on which the\ntheory is based are true; but the theory itself is false, for it\nattributes to the powers by which the phenomena are produced what\nexclusively belongs to \u201cthe phenomena\u201d, besides deforming the nature of\nthe phenomena themselves by denying the production and extinction of\nmovement. It is plain that such a theory can have no weight in philosophy;\nand it is no less plain that no philosopher will, for the sake of the new\ntheory, renounce his firm conviction concerning \u201cthe multiplicity of\nindependent original forces.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have endeavored,\u201d says the author, \u201cto show that there are no absolute\nconstants of mass; that both the hypothesis of corpuscular atoms and that\nof centres of forces are growths of a confusion of the intellect, which\nmistakes _conceptual_ elements of matter for _real_ elements; that these\nelements\u2014force and mass, or force and inertia\u2014are not only inseparable, as\nis conceded by the more thoughtful among modern physicists, but that\nneither of these elements has any reality as such, each of them being\nsimply the conceptual correlate of the other, and thus the condition both\nof its realization in thought and of its objectivation to sense\u201d (p. 350).\n\nAs we have already discussed all the points which the author vainly\nendeavored to establish, we shall only remind the reader that the matter\nand the form have no separate existence; and therefore have no reality in\nnature, unless they are together. The author, therefore, is right when\naffirming that neither of them has any reality _as such_; but he is wrong\nin inferring that they have no reality _as united_. As action has no\nreality without passion, nor passion without action, so also matter has no\nreality without form, nor form without matter; but as action producing\npassion is real, so also is a form actuating matter; and as passion is no\nless real than the action whence it proceeds, so matter also is no less\nreal than the form by which it is actuated. Both are, of course, only\nmetaphysical realities.\n\nThe author says: \u201cThe mathematical treatment of mechanical problems, from\nthe nature of the methods, necessitates the fiction that force and mass\nare separate and distinct terms\u201d (p. 351). By no means. It is not the\nnature of the methods, but the nature of the things that compels the\ndistinction of the two terms. Their distinction, therefore, is not a\n\u201cfiction.\u201d But the author\u2019s remark has no bearing on the question of the\nconstitution of matter; for mechanical forces are not substantial forms.\n\nHe adds: \u201cA material object is in every one of its aspects but one term of\na relation; its whole being is a presupposition of correlates without....\nEvery change of a body, therefore, presupposes a corresponding change in\nits correlates. If the state of any material object could be changed\nwithout a corresponding change of state in other objects without, this\nobject would, to that extent, become absolute. But this is utterly\nunthinkable, and therefore utterly impossible, as we have already seen....\nMechanically speaking, all force, properly so\u2010called\u2014_i.e._, all potential\nenergy\u2014is energy of position.... Whatever energy is spent in actual motion\nis gained in position; ... thus we are led to the principle of the\nconservation of energy\u201d (p. 351).\n\nThis is a heap of absurdities. If a material object is the term of a\nrelation, it is absolute in itself, as we have shown. Again, the change of\na body presupposes only the exertion of active power, and not the change\nof another body, as the author imagines. That the absolute is unthinkable\nhe has failed to prove. Lastly, mechanical force, properly so\u2010called, is\nthe product of a mass into its velocity, whilst \u201cenergy of position\u201d is a\nmyth.(186)\n\nBut the author says: \u201cForce is a mere inference from the motion itself\nunder the universal conditions of reality, and its measure, therefore, is\nsimply the effect for which it is postulated as a cause; it has no other\nexistence. The only reality of force and of its action is the\ncorrespondence between the physical phenomena in conformity to the\nprinciple of the essential relativity of all material existence. That\nforce has no independent reality is so plain and obvious that it has been\nproposed by some thinkers to abolish the term _force_, like the term\n_cause_, altogether. However desirable this might be in some respects, it\nis impossible, for the reason that the concept _force_, when properly\ninterpreted in terms of experience, is valid; and, if its name were\nabolished, it would instantly reappear under another name.... The reality\nof force is purely conceptual; ... it is not a distinct and individual\ntangible or intangible entity\u201d (p. 354).\n\nHere the author treats us to a luxury of contradictions. Force is \u201ca mere\ninference from motion,\u201d yet it causes motion; for it is active. Hence the\ncausality is a mere inference of its effect. It is therefore the effect\nthat gives existence to its cause, and the cause \u201chas no other existence\u201d\nthan that which may be imbibed in the effect for which it is postulated.\nWhat, then, becomes of the \u201cforce, properly so\u2010called\u201d\u2014that is, of the\npotential energy, or of the energy of position, which has no actual\neffect? Again, \u201cthe reality of force, is purely conceptual.\u201d This means\nthat the reality of force is unreal; which would just amount to saying\nthat Mr. Stallo\u2019s intellect is unintelligent or that his writings are\nunwritten. Again, the \u201creality of force and of its action is the\ncorrespondence between the physical phenomena\u201d; but, if the reality of\nforce is merely conceptual, the correspondence between the physical\nphenomena must be merely conceptual; which would prove that the concept\n\u201cforce,\u201d when properly interpreted in terms of experience, is _not_ valid,\nthough the author maintains the contrary. Moreover, what can the author\nmean by \u201cthe action of force\u201d? Is this action real or unreal? If unreal,\nit is no action at all; and if real, it implies a real active power. We\ndefy Mr. Stallo to conceive a real action of an unreal force. We are\ninformed that \u201csome thinkers\u201d wish to abolish the term \u201cforce,\u201d like the\nterm \u201ccause,\u201d and we are told that this proves how plain and obvious it is\nthat force has no independent reality. This, however, proves only that\nsome so\u2010called \u201cthinkers\u201d are either lunatics or knaves. After all, if\nforce is purely conceptual, as the author pretends, its reality must be\ndenied without any restriction. Why, then, does he deny merely that force\nhas an \u201cindependent\u201d reality? Has it any \u201cdependent\u201d reality if it is\n\u201cpurely conceptual\u201d?\n\nBut we must come to an end. Mr. Stallo\u2019s conclusion is that \u201cthe very\nconception of force depends upon the relation between two terms at least,\u201d\nand that therefore \u201ca constant central force, as belonging to an\nindividual atom in and by itself, is an impossibility\u201d (p. 355). In this\nargument the term \u201cforce\u201d is used equivocally. It stands for _active\npower_ in the consequence, while it stands for _action_ or for _movement_\nin the antecedent. Hence the conclusion is worthless. \u201cI have shown,\u201d says\nhe, \u201cthat there are and can be no absolute constants of mass. And it is\nevident now that there are similarly no constant central forces belonging\nto, or inherent in, constants of mass as such\u201d (p. 356). We say in our\nturn: No, Mr. Stallo, you have not shown what you imagine; and, if\nanything is evident, it is not that there are no constant central forces,\nbut that philosophical questions cannot be solved without good logic and a\nclear knowledge of metaphysical principles.\n\n\n\n\nThe Blind Student.\n\n\nWhen Ernest D\u2019Arcy left the University of \u2014\u2014, all the glorious\npossibilities of life seemed to unfold themselves invitingly before him.\nHe was young, he was clever, he was ambitious. Unlike too many American\nstudents, he had not wasted the golden hours of college life in idleness,\ndissipation, or even social enjoyment. He had been a hard, indeed, an\nenthusiastic, student; but on commencement day, when his brow was bound\nwith victorious wreaths, he felt rewarded for having scorned the seductive\npleasures of youth, and rejoiced that he had lived laborious days and\nnights.\n\nBut D\u2019Arcy did not consider his education finished because he had passed\nthrough the university brilliantly. He well knew that the college was only\nthe vestibule to the temple of learning. Through this vestibule he had\npassed; and now he wished to enter the noble temple itself. But on its\nvery threshold he found himself suddenly stopped. A dangerous disease\nattacked his eyes. The most eminent oculists were consulted at once;\nabsolute rest alone could save him from total blindness. He was forbidden\nto read or write a line. This was indeed a terrible blow to the ambitious\nyoung student. His golden hopes left him; his sweet dream of fame faded\naway; his bright career was blighted in the very bud. Unsustained by the\nholy influence of religion, a deep and dangerous despondency seized him;\nhe abandoned himself to despair, and could not follow the advice of Burke,\n\u201cDespair, but work even in despair,\u201d for the affliction that caused his\ndespair prevented him from working. So depressed was he at times that he\ncontemplated suicide as a happy relief.\n\nThe D\u2019Arcy family were of Norman origin. The grandfather of Ernest escaped\nfrom France in the early days of the Revolution, bringing with him to the\nUnited States the fortune that had descended to him through a long line of\nancestors. Like so many French gentlemen of the last century, M. D\u2019Arcy\nhad imbibed the fashionable scepticism of the time of Voltaire and the\nEncyclop\u00e6dists. After coming to America, he married a Catholic lady, and\nhis scepticism gradually settled into a form of mild indifferentism.\nErnest\u2019s father was a devoted Catholic, but he died while his children\nwere in their infancy. His wife was a Protestant, a woman of fashion,\nwhose highest ambition was to be a leader of society. Her children, Ernest\nand his sister Mary, were brought up from their infancy on the\nChesterfieldian model: _to shine in society_. To this end everything else\nwas sacrificed. From the nursery they went to the dancing\u2010school, and had\nmasters to teach them all those superficial accomplishments which make up\na modern fashionable education. Ernest\u2019s clever and original mind saved\nhim from the evil effects of such an education. But, unfortunately, he did\nnot escape a worse danger. With no one to direct his studies, at the\nsusceptible age of seventeen he began to read the infidel French\nliterature of the XVIIIth century, which formed a large part of his\ngrandfather\u2019s library. Fascinated by the diabolical wit of Voltaire,\nErnest\u2019s young and undisciplined mind mistook sophistry for argument,\nridicule for reason, wit for wisdom. The fashionable religion of his\nmother had never possessed any charm or interest for him, and now,\nrejecting all belief, he became a free\u2010thinker.\n\nErnest entered the University of \u2014\u2014 in his eighteenth year, eager for\ndistinction and determined to succeed. Succeed he did; and when he\ngraduated, four years later, he was the first student of the university\nand unanimously chosen the commencement orator. No student ever left the\nUniversity of \u2014\u2014, which has been the Alma Mater of so many distinguished\nmen, with a brighter future before him than Ernest D\u2019Arcy. But it was a\nfuture for this world, and for this world alone. Fame was the god of his\nidolatry. His residence at the University of \u2014\u2014, which boasts the absence\nof all religious teaching, had strengthened his scepticism. But the\nscepticism of Ernest D\u2019Arcy was a scepticism of the head, not of the\nheart. His natural love for the true, the beautiful, and the good had kept\nhim pure, even at the most dangerous period of youth, when the blood is\nwarm, the passions strong, and the will weak. While the heart is good and\npure, however the head may err, there is always hope. The unbelief of\nErnest D\u2019Arcy was not the cold, heartless, satisfied unbelief of the\nhardened scoffer rejoicing in his infidelity. It was the natural result\nupon an eager and active intellect of an education without religion, a\nhome without God.\n\nThe same year that Ernest left the university his sister \u201cfinished\u201d at the\nAcademy of the Visitation of \u2014\u2014. Mary D\u2019Arcy was not a brilliant girl, but\nvery sweet, gentle, and interesting. Three years at the convent school had\nremoved all traces of her unfortunate home education. Mary\u2019s most intimate\nfriend at the convent was Edith Northcote, a young Catholic girl from the\nSouth. When they parted on distribution day, it was with the understanding\nthat Edith should pass the next winter with Mary, and the two young ladies\nenter society together.\n\nOne morning, towards the end of October, Ernest was sitting in the\nlibrary, surrounded by the most enchanting literature of the world, and\nnot allowed to read a single line. D\u2019Arcy was no sentimental dreamer or\naimless student.\n\n\n \u201cTo sleep away his hours\n In desperate sloth, miscalled philosophy.\u201d\n\n\nHe wished to be a man among men. His ambition was first to teach himself,\nand then to teach the world. He wished to elevate the tone of society; to\nraise it from its fallen state. His was no splendid dream of\nrevolutionizing the social world; he had no fond hope of creating an\nUtopia out of this busy, bustling America of the XIXth century. But he\nknew that life was too precious to be dedicated solely to the one selfish,\nabsorbing pursuit of wealth; that the entire surrender of mind and heart\nand life itself to the accumulation of money was corrupting our people and\nexercising a baleful influence over the whole nation. Our merchants rival\nthe merchant princes of Italy in wealth and enterprise; why should they\nnot rival them also in their princely tastes? The palaces, the gardens,\nthe galleries, the libraries, of Florence, Venice, and Genoa, \u201call tell\nthe story of great thoughts and noble tastes which gold and trade may\nnurture when nobleness and greatness deal with them.\u201d We should take time\nto cultivate the beautiful as well as the useful; the poetical as well as\nthe practical. The artist should be patronized as well as the artisan.\nTime should be given to the refinement, the grace, the sweetness of life.\nWe have followed too long and too earnestly the false philosophy taught in\n\u201cPoor Richard\u2019s Almanac,\u201d that money\u2010getting is a sort of secular\nreligion, and \u201cthere will be sleeping enough in the grave.\u201d Our American\nlife is one long \u201cfitful fever.\u201d We give no time to rest. Repose, a\ncultivated leisure, is not idleness. An elegant essay on this\nsubject\u2014leisure(187)\u2014by a distinguished Baltimore lawyer, should be read\nand pondered by our eager and restless people, who are devoured by their\nbusiness as Act\u00e6on was by his own dogs. \u201cI mean,\u201d says this writer, \u201cthe\nrest which is won and deserved by labor, and which sweetens and\ninvigorates it and furnishes its reward. Whence comes this doctrine, that\nlife, to be anything, must be for ever in motion? There is no process of\nphysical development which does not need and depend upon repose. To all\nthe green and beautiful things that deck the earth\u2014the flowers that give\nit perfume, and the fruits and foliage that make it glad\u2014there is needful\nthe calm sunshine and the peaceful shade, the gentle rain and the yet\ngentler dew. Not a gem that flashes but has been crystallized in the\nimmovable stillness of the great earth\u2019s breast. I believe that to be\nfalse philosophy which denies to individuals their seasons of leisure and\nmeditation; teaching them that existence was meant to be nothing but a\nstruggle.\u201d Our very amusements are unwholesome and dangerous: the midnight\n\u201cGerman,\u201d the lascivious drama, the race\u2010course, the steamboat excursion,\nthe political meeting. The priceless time of youth should have some better\nemployment than dancing and novel\u2010reading. Our young men should be taught\nthat life is too valuable, time too precious, to be frittered away in idle\npleasures, in frivolous amusement, in heartless dissipation. Our young\nwomen should be taught that there is something nobler in life than the\npassing triumphs of the ball\u2010room, gay flirtations, and dazzling toilets.\n\nThoughts like these occupied Ernest D\u2019Arcy on that bright October\nmorning\u2014thoughts that stirred his heart and mind, and made him eager for\nthe glorious work. With a soul longing to \u201cbe up and doing,\u201d he was\ncompelled to sit idle in the golden prime of his manhood. These were the\nmoments of his greatest despondency, when all the brightness seemed gone\nfrom his life, and all the hope from his soul. Sitting there in the\nlibrary that morning, D\u2019Arcy recalled the beautiful lines of Miss Procter\nin \u201cMy Picture\u201d:\n\n\n \u201cHe had a student air,\n With a look half sad, half stately,\n Grave, sweet eyes and flowing hair.\u201d\n\n\nThe library\u2010door was opened, and there came in one who was always\nwelcome\u2014Mary D\u2019Arcy.\n\n\u201cErnest, I have a letter from Edith Northcote,\u201d Mary said. \u201cShe will be\nhere to\u2010morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am glad to hear it. From all you have told me about Miss Northcote, I\nthink I shall like her.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am sure of it,\u201d returned his sister. \u201cIf you don\u2019t, my opinion of your\ntaste is gone for ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is nothing of the bread\u2010and\u2010butter miss, I hope? I have all Byron\u2019s\nantipathy, you know, for that class.\u201d\n\n\u201cByron himself could have found no fault with Edith on that ground,\u201d said\nMary.\n\n\u201cWell, I am relieved of no little apprehension,\u201d said Ernest. \u201cI have a\nperfect horror of the common run of girls, who haven\u2019t an idea above the\nlast novel and the last fashion.\u201d\n\nThe next day Edith arrived, and her appearance certainly realized all of\nErnest\u2019s expectations. She was nineteen\u2014an age when the sweet graces of\ngirlhood still linger and lend an additional charm to the blooming woman.\nHer features were not regularly beautiful, but her face possessed a charm\nand an interest which no faultlessly beautiful face ever had. If a true\nwoman\u2019s soul, full of the sweetest sympathy, ever brightened and\nbeautified a human face, it was that of Edith Northcote. Then, her voice\nwas so sweet and cordial and warm\u2014and what is more attractive than a low,\nsweet voice in woman? Edith was scarcely the medium height, but\nexquisitely formed, and perfectly natural and graceful in all her\nmovements, in charming contrast with the trained glances and artificial\nmanners of our fashionable society belles. Like Alexandrine, in _A\nSister\u2019s Story_, there was an air of refinement about this lovely girl as\nrare as it was delightful; she had all the freshness and fragrance of the\nrose without the rose\u2019s thorns. Mrs. D\u2019Arcy, who was a female Turveydrop\nin the matter of deportment, said she had never seen in any society\nmanners so elegant and at the same time so sweet and natural as the\nmanners of Edith Northcote. Such praise from such a woman was in itself\nfame.\n\nEdith soon became the life and joy of the house; she was an elegant lady\nin the parlor, an intelligent companion in the library, and the charming,\nsweet girl everywhere. The influence of her bright presence pervaded the\nwhole household. Even stately Mrs. D\u2019Arcy yielded to the general\nenthusiasm, and declared that Mary was fortunate in having such a friend.\nBut of all the family, Ernest felt the influence of Edith\u2019s society the\nmost. The library, where he had passed so many hours in gloom and\ndespondency, was now brightened by her daily and hourly presence. She read\nbeautifully, and with a voice and manner that threw a charm around\neverything. Her true, womanly heart sympathized deeply with Ernest in his\ngreat affliction, and she at once determined to do all in her power to\nrelieve it. So it soon became the custom for Ernest and Edith to retire to\nthe library every morning after breakfast, where she read the morning\npaper to him while he smoked his cigar. Then two or three hours were\ndevoted to serious study. The books, so long neglected, were again\nresumed. The literary work, which Ernest loved so well, was again taken\nup. Edith was his librarian, his reader, his amanuensis. He had the true\nstudent\u2019s dislike of any person touching his books and papers; but Edith\u2019s\ntouch seemed to have magic in it, for she could do what few ladies can\never do\u2014put papers in order without putting them out of place.\n\nBut not only as his literary assistant was Edith serviceable to Ernest;\nshe was his sweet and gentle companion, his kind and sympathetic friend,\never ready in all things to make him forget his blindness and his\nconsequent dependence. Inspiring and stimulating him to renewed exertion,\nshe also directed his ambition to the noblest ends. She opened a new life\nto the brilliant young student\u2014a life full of love and sweetness and\nhumanity. Her bright and joyous influence banished from his soul the dark\ndespair that had been enthroned there so long, and again there was raised\nin his heart\n\n\n \u201cA hope\n That he was born for something braver than\n To hang his head and wear a nameless name.\u201d\n\n\nEdith found time for everything; duty, as well as pleasure, had each its\nallotted place in her daily life. Before the rest of the family were awake\nshe was up and off to early Mass. In the winter twilight, when other young\nladies were returning from the fashionable promenade, Edith could often be\nseen with a little basket on her arm, carrying delicacies to the sick, or\nmore substantial food to relieve the necessities of Christ\u2019s suffering\nchildren. Ernest sometimes accompanied her on these errands of mercy, and\nit was a new revelation to him to see Edith, so gay, sparkling, and\nfascinating in society, visiting the humble homes of the poor, cheering\nand comforting the sick and destitute. Her very presence seemed like a\nsunbeam in their dreary dwellings. Edith did not think she was performing\nany heroic virtue by these things. She knew she was only following the\ninjunction of Him who loved the poor so well that he became like one of\nthem. She knew the Catholic poor were the blessed inheritance of the\nCatholic Church. Many Catholic young ladies, delicately nurtured and\nfastidiously refined, are daily doing what Edith did.\n\nErnest was benefited by attending Edith on those missions of love. His\nwarm heart was touched and all the latent sweetness of his nature brought\nout by the distress which he witnessed, and of which he had never dreamed\namidst the luxuries of his own elegant home. There was one case that\nparticularly interested him; unfortunately, there are many such in this\nage of boasted religious liberty. It was that of a Mrs. White. She was a\nwoman of education and refinement, and had been accustomed to all the\ncomforts of life in her father\u2019s house. Early in life she married a poor\nbut worthy young man. He was a clerk, and labored for his wife and\nchildren with an industry that knew no flagging. By constantly bending\nover his desk he literally worked himself into consumption. After\nlingering a few months, during which all his little savings were spent, he\ndied, leaving his family in utter destitution. During his sickness he had\nbeen visited by several Catholic ladies, who attended to his wants with so\nsweet a charity that his heart was touched, and he longed to know more of\na religion which taught such blessed humanity. As the Author of all truth\nhas declared that he who seeks shall find, so Mr. White found the truth\nwhich he sought, and died a most beautiful and edifying death. His wife\nsoon afterwards became a Catholic, converted by the example of the good\nladies who had so kindly ministered to her dying husband. In the extremity\nof her distress Mrs. White appealed to her father, who had refused to have\nany intercourse with her since her marriage. What do you think was the\nanswer of this father to a daughter whose only offence was that she had\nleft _father and mother to cleave to her husband_? We blush for the\nhumanity that could send to a grief\u2010stricken and desolate daughter so\nbrutal a message as this:\n\n\u201cNow your chosen husband is dead, I will receive you back, provided you\ngive up, at once and for ever, the Catholic religion, which you have\nrecently professed. Otherwise, you may die as you have lived\u2014a pauper and\nan outcast.\u201d\n\nAnd so she lived and died a pauper and an outcast; but, so living and so\ndying, her lot was more enviable than that of her cruel and unnatural\nfather. Her last moments were comforted by the promise of Ernest D\u2019Arcy to\nprovide for her two children. The elder, a bright little fellow of\nthirteen, he placed in a lawyer\u2019s office; the other, a boy nine years old,\nwas admitted into a Catholic orphan asylum.\n\nThus visiting the sick and relieving the poor, and frequently meeting\nCatholic priests and Catholic Sisters in pious attendance on death\u2010beds,\nthe conversation of Ernest and Edith naturally took a religious turn. One\nevening, after returning from one of their charitable visits, they were\nsitting in the library before the great wood\u2010fire (for Ernest would not\nallow that abomination, miscalled a modern improvement, a furnace\u2010flue, in\nhis _sanctum_), as they generally did before tea. Ernest was unusually\nthoughtful that evening, so much so that Edith observed it and asked him\nthe cause.\n\n\u201cI am thinking about you and myself\u2014about all your goodness to me,\u201d he\nsaid; \u201cabout what I was before I knew you, and what I may be by your noble\nexample. Edith, the daily beauty of your life makes mine ugly. My father\nwas a Catholic, and I am\u2014nothing. The cold and fashionable religion of my\nmother neither satisfied my mind nor interested my heart. I became a free\u2010\nthinker, an infidel, but never a scoffer at religion. I did not believe,\nbecause I did not know what to believe.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must read together Chateaubriand\u2019s _Genius of Christianity_\u2014that\nmagnificent tribute to the truth and beauty of the Christian religion,\u201d\nEdith replied. \u201cYou know the story of his conversion: in his extreme youth\nhe yielded to the gay scepticism which at the time controlled French\nsociety, and he, a son of the Crusaders, became a disciple of Voltaire,\nand wrote in the interest of infidelity. The death of Chateaubriand\u2019s\nmother, whose last moments had been saddened by his scepticism, and whose\nlast words were a prayer for his conversion, recalled him to a sense of\nthat religion in which he had been educated. \u2018_I became a Christian_,\u2019\nChateaubriand wrote. \u2018_My conviction came from the heart. I wept and I\nbelieved._\u2019 He resolved to devote to religion the eloquent pen which had\nbeen used against her. The result was his immortal work the _Genius of\nChristianity_. The beautiful style, the vast information, the glowing\ndescriptions of art, scenery, poetry, and music cannot fail to delight and\ninterest you.\u201d\n\nThe next day Edith commenced Chateaubriand\u2019s great masterpiece. As, day\nafter day, the reading continued, Ernest grew deeply interested. He saw\nclearly demonstrated the noble and inspiring fact that \u201cthe Christian\nreligion, of all the religions that ever existed, is the most favorable to\nliberty and to the arts and sciences; that the modern world is indebted to\nit for every improvement: from agriculture to the abstract sciences; from\nthe hospitals for the reception of the unfortunate to the temples reared\nby the Michael Angelos and embellished by the Raphaels.\u201d\n\nOther books were read, all breathing the same divine spirit, the same\nexalted Christian charity, the same sweet human sympathy. The warm, tender\nheart of Ernest D\u2019Arcy was fascinated by the beautiful and noble\nsentiments expressed in the volumes which were now a part of his daily\nreading. He compared them with the false philosophy of a Voltaire and the\nsenseless sentimentality of a Rousseau, which taught how to destroy, but\nnot how to save; whose end was the destruction, not the amelioration, of\nsociety. These books certainly opened a newer and a sweeter world to the\nstudent. But it must not be supposed that the young D\u2019Arcy saw immediately\nthe truth of Catholicity in all its divine beauty. Few, like S. Paul, are\nmiraculously changed from the enemy to the friend of God\u2019s church. Few,\nlike Chateaubriand, can say: \u201cI wept and I believed.\u201d\n\nWith the opening of spring Edith returned home, and Earnest was again left\nalone with his books. But how changed seemed everything! The brightness\nwas gone from the library. The pleasure was gone from his studies. He\nsadly missed her who had been his constant companion for so many months.\nFortunately, about this time his eyes improved sufficiently to allow him\nto read for a short time every day. He continued the reading to which\nEdith had introduced him. This was some consolation to him, now that he\nwas separated from her. But, alas! it was a consolation not long allowed\nto him. If that stern old moralist, Dr. Johnson, acknowledged that he\nfound it easier to practise abstinence than temperance in wine, it will\nnot be surprising that so ardent a student as Ernest D\u2019Arcy found it\nabsolutely impossible to practise temperance in reading when he read at\nall. And now he had a greater incentive to work than ever before. He felt\nthat he must make himself worthy of the sweet girl whom he loved. The\ndelicately refined nature of this perfect gentleman would not allow him to\nmake a formal declaration of love to Edith while she was a guest in his\nmother\u2019s house, but that unerring, never\u2010failing instinct which belongs to\nwoman enabled her to see plainly that he was deeply, fondly interested in\nher. Nor was Edith insensible to the many attractive qualities of Ernest\nD\u2019Arcy; his cultured mind, his noble heart, his high ambition, his exalted\nsentiments of honor and morality, claimed her enthusiastic admiration,\nwhile the romantic character of their constant intercourse pleased her\ngirlish fancy.\n\nD\u2019Arcy\u2019s Catholic reading had enchanted his impressible mind. As an\nhistorical institution, the church delighted and astonished him. He saw it\nrise triumphantly on the ruins of the empire of the C\u00e6sars; he saw it\nconquer and civilize the barbarians of Germany and the North; he saw it\ntame the fierce passions of the Franks and Goths; he saw it in the middle\nages standing between the people and princely despots; he saw it always on\nthe side of right and always against wrong, always raising its powerful\nvoice in favor of the oppressed; he saw it in the XVIth century\nsuccessfully sustain itself against the most formidable religious\nrevolution the world had ever known; he saw it in the XIXth century serene\nin the midst of tumbling thrones and political convulsions, teaching one\nfaith and one doctrine, while heresy was broken into a thousand\nindistinguishable fragmentary sects.\n\nWith his mind fresh from these new and interesting studies, Ernest D\u2019Arcy\nbegan to write the story of his mental life, which he called _From\nDarkness to Light_. Like Milton, he became so engrossed in his work that\nhis eyes grew rapidly worse; and, like him also, he was unwilling to\ndiscontinue his studies, until at length study was impossible. Edith\nNorthcote heard of this new trial through Ernest\u2019s sister Mary; for Ernest\nhimself was too manly, too considerate, to annoy Edith with his troubles.\nShe determined at once to make a Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes to obtain\nthe cure of Ernest\u2019s eyes. She procured some of the celebrated miraculous\nwater, and sent it to Ernest, telling him that on a certain day she would\ncommence the Novena, requesting him to apply the water to his eyes each\nday, and say the prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes contained in the little\nbook recently published. The account of the apparition greatly interested\nErnest, and, though not yet a Catholic, he did not hesitate to comply with\nboth of Edith\u2019s requests.\n\nThousands of unrecorded miracles have been wrought by the water of\nLourdes, and the restoration of Ernest\u2019s eyes was one of them.(188) As the\ndarkness left his eyes, the divine light of faith entered his soul; and he\nwho had been both mentally and physically blind, now saw with the eyes of\nthe body and saw also with the eyes of the soul. He saw the truth, the\nbeauty, and the goodness of the Catholic religion; seeing, he believed;\nbelieving, he professed; professing, he practised. Ernest D\u2019Arcy became a\nCatholic\u2014a devout, a zealous, a fervid Catholic.\n\nErnest did not inform Edith by letter of the happy effects of the water of\nLourdes. He visited her in her Southern home. Simply saying a friend\nwished to see her, he awaited her entrance with no little impatience. At\nlength she appeared. Ernest advanced to meet her. The few words he spoke\nexplained everything: \u201c_Edith, I am a Catholic._\u201d\n\nThe next few weeks were the sweetest Ernest had ever known\u2014sweeter than he\nhad ever dreamed of. He had found what he had so long sought in vain\u2014the\ntrue religion; and in finding the religion which was to make him happy in\nheaven, he also found the being who was to make him happy on earth.\n\n\n\n\nTurning From Darwin To Thomas Aquinas.\n\n\nUNLESS in thought with thee I often live,\n Angelic Doctor! life seems poor to me.\n What _are_ these bounties, if they only be\nSuch boon as farmers to their servants give?\nThat I am fed, and that mine oxen thrive,\n That my lambs fatten, that mine hours are free\u2014\n These ask my nightly thanks on bended knee;\nAnd I _do_ thank Him who hath blest my hive\n And made content my herd, my flock, my bee.\n But, Father! nobler things I ask from thee.\nFishes have sunshine, worms have everything!\n Are we but apes? Oh! give me, God, to know\nI am death\u2019s master; not a scaffolding,\n But a true temple where Christ\u2019s word could grow.\n\n\n\n\nThe Future Of The Russian Church.\n\n\nBy The Rev. C\u00e6sarius Tondini, Barnabite.\n\n\n\nIII.\n\n\nIn presence of the melancholy reality of to\u2010day, and in expectation of a\nyet sadder morrow, those Russians who are sincerely attached to their\nchurch, and who have at heart the interests of their faith, will perhaps\nask themselves if it be not needful to labor in some direct manner to\ndeliver the Russian Church from a protection which has been so fatal to\nher.\n\nThe question is a very serious one; we do not venture to decide upon it.\n\nAs Catholic, and precisely because we are Catholic, we must, in a question\nof this kind, consider souls. Now, to work _directly_ to overthrow the\nreligious autocracy of the czars might easily, considering the actual\ncircumstances of Russia, hasten this morrow we have been considering, and\nthat without any efficacious remedy being at hand to accompany or to\nfollow quickly upon so great an evil. If it were not to be feared that,\nunder present circumstances, the overthrow of the official church would\ncause the unbelief of the higher classes to descend also among the lower,\nthus rendering it general, and endangering the existence of every faith in\nthe Russian people, the question would be easy to answer; but so long as\nthis doubt exists it is quite a case to which to apply the principle that\nof two evils we must choose the least. From this point of view we prefer\nthe continuance of the present state of things, because it seems to us the\nlesser evil.\n\nThere exist, however, other doubts, and their existence is of an extreme\ngravity, in determining the attitude of Russians toward their church; they\nare these:\n\nWill the czars, even should they change their policy and show themselves\nfor the future true protectors and not masters, be able long to continue\nto the Russian Church the support of the laws?\n\nAgain: Will Russia much longer have the czars?\n\nThese doubts are not chimerical.\n\nIn the first place, it appears to us unlikely that the czars should be\nable to continue indefinitely to refuse liberty of conscience. Already, at\nthis present time, the Russian authorities shut their eyes to many\ninfractions of the laws relating to the different religious communions;\nthe ever\u2010increasing and multiplied relations of Russia with other\ncountries, and of her people with foreigners, and foreigners with\nRussians, might easily create serious embarrassments, and even give rise\nto political complications, if there were a desire to apply the religious\nlaws in all their rigor.\n\nNevertheless, it seems to us equally difficult to imagine that Russia\nshould, at one bound, arrive at declaring the civil law to be atheistical,\nand to repel all solidarity between material interests and the religious\ninterests of the people. During some time Russia will probably offer to us\nthe same spectacle as in England, the classic land of religious license,\nwhere every one, _except the sovereign_, is free to believe what he\npleases, and where at the same time _convenances_ and multiplied interests\nkeep the official church standing. But the Anglican Church has a far\ndifferent past and far other memories\u2014above all, a very different\nliterature\u2014from the Russian Church. In continuing this comparison the\nreader will find an explanation of the vitality shown by the state\u2010church\nof England, and at the same time the motives which do not allow us to\npredict for that of Russia either able defenders or even a lingering\ndeath.\n\nIf, then, the Russians ought not to labor directly to overthrow the\nreligious autocracy of the czars, seeing that, in present circumstances,\nthe overthrow of this autocracy might be the cause of still greater\ndisasters than those of the past, they nevertheless ought not to fold\ntheir arms and contemplate with indifference the probability that this\noverthrow may be brought about at no distant period by the mere force of\ncircumstances.\n\nThere remains the other doubt: Will Russia much longer have the czars?\n\nThis doubt, considering the epoch in which we live, scarcely needs to be\njustified. What sovereign is there who can promise himself that he shall\nend his days upon the throne? One alone\u2014the Pope, because even in a\ndungeon he is obeyed just as if he were upon a throne.\n\nLet Russians who have at heart the interests of their faith boldly face\nthis second doubt and the fears to which it gives rise. Never, perhaps,\ncould history offer us a more remarkable spectacle than that of an\northodox church, and a perfect automaton; to\u2010day receiving speech,\nmovement, and action from an orthodox emperor, and to\u2010morrow receiving\nthem from the head of a Protestant government, perhaps a Jew, perhaps an\natheist. In fact, the organization of a church reckoning nearly fifty\nmillions of adherents cannot be changed in twenty\u2010four hours, especially\nif this organization is identified with the state to the degree of\nconfusing herself with the latter. What will then become of the Synod we\ndo not know, but neither do we know whether the new government will\nreadily consent to lose the profit of so powerful an _instrumentum regni_\nas the church organized by the czars.\n\nIn presence of these eventualities, which, on account of the rapid march\nof modern revolutions, are far from improbable, and may take place any\nday, is there anything the Russians can do in order to save orthodoxy?\nThere is one thing, and, we believe, one only. We will say what that is,\nthough we greatly doubt whether it will be accepted; too many prejudices,\ntoo many objections, will oppose themselves to it; everything else will be\ntried, rather than have recourse to it; a great confidence especially will\nbe placed in the triumph of the panslavist idea; but each new attempt will\nbut prove this one plan to be the only efficacious one, and the ill\u2010\nsuccess of all the others will gradually lead minds to ally themselves to\nit. In the alternative of accepting this, or else of letting orthodoxy\nperish, Russians sincerely attached to their faith will not indefinitely\nhesitate. Besides, a Providence watches over states and peoples; in that\nProvidence we place our trust, and it will not be in vain.\n\nIf, calling things by their names, we were to say plainly that this only\nway is the reunion of the Russian with the Catholic Church, a Russian who\nmight do us the honor to peruse these pages would perhaps throw down the\nbook, and, however well disposed he might be, would see nothing more in it\nthan vain and dangerous imaginations. This alarm, however, would prove,\nmore than anything else, the exceeding power of the words. We will\nendeavor to express the same idea in another manner; and, without\nflattering ourselves that we shall gain acceptance for it, we hope at\nleast to obtain for it serious examination.\n\nWhat is Russian orthodoxy? It is the collection of the dogmas accepted and\ntaught by the Russian Church. Now, these dogmas, with the exception of\nsome few misunderstandings,(189) are the same as those of the Catholic\nChurch; the point which really separates the two churches is the denial,\non the part of the Russians, of the jurisdiction of the Pope over the\nuniversal church. At the utmost, a real doctrinal disagreement should be\nadmitted respecting the infallibility of the Pope defining _ex cathedr\u00e2_\non faith or morals. But however important this disagreement may be in the\neyes of Catholics, it has no importance in the eyes of Protestants and\nrationalists. Those who admit no revelation would not certainly prefer\northodoxy merely because there is in it one article less to believe. As to\nProtestants, the difficult point is to make them admit a visible authority\ntaught by God himself, and having the right and mission to explain the\nScriptures and to make a practical application of them to our lives. Now,\nis it likely that, in their eyes, an authority residing in the dispersed\nchurch, without the necessary bond which unites the bishops to each other,\nwould be much more acceptable than a central authority, always living,\nalways ready to declare its oracles, and, by that very fact, independent\nof the obstacles which an inimical government or any other adversary might\nraise against it to prevent it from declaring itself? For the rest, the\n_Spiritual Regulation_ will let Protestants know whether a church\norganized as is that of Russia at the present time can alone make a free\nword to be heard.\n\nProtestants and rationalists are, then, common adversaries of the Russian\nand also of the Catholic Church. Common adversaries also, on doctrinal\ngrounds, are all those who cannot be exactly classed with either\nProtestants or rationalists, but against whom the Russian Church will no\nless have to defend herself\u2014Jews, Mahometans, and, lastly, the Raskolniks\nalso, unless, indeed, a portion of the latter should not prefer to ally\nthemselves to the Catholic Church rather than to the Synod, if only they\ncan be persuaded that in becoming Catholics they do not by any means cease\nto be Russians. Now, when in the XVIIth century the heresy of Calvin was\nfor a moment seated on the patriarchal throne of Constantinople in the\nperson of Cyril\u2010Lucar, and when that patriarch had published his _Orthodox\nConfession of the Christian Faith_,(190) which was full of Calvinistic\nerrors, the gravity of the danger to orthodoxy was then sufficiently\npowerful to render the Greeks far from being disdainful of the support\noffered to them by Catholics, and even by the Pope himself, for the\npurpose of guarding in safety the articles of the common faith.\n\nNothing was found too hard to be said against Catholics and Rome, because\nof their intervention in the deposition of the heretical patriarch and the\ncondemnation of his doctrine. For their justification we may be permitted\nto refer the reader to a publication which, upon its appearance, had the\nimportance of a great event, and this is No. 42 of the _Tracts for the\nTimes_, which, in England, opened the way to the Catholic faith.(191)\n\nThis historical precedent will not, we hope, remain without its\nconsequences in history. Already Catholic theologians unconsciously afford\na solid support to orthodoxy, with regard to the defence of the dogmas\nwhich are common to us with the Russians. Our theological works find\nentrance into Russia, and are there studied and quoted; whilst it is\nrarely, if ever, that we find modern authors of the Greek Church quoted,\nunless it be to draw from them arguments against the primacy of the Pope,\nand to perpetuate the misunderstandings relating to the Procession of the\nHoly Ghost and to purgatory.\n\nFrom the time of Peter the Great orthodoxy has done nothing but lose\nground in Russia; neither the patriarchs of the East nor the other heads\nof the various branches of the Orthodox Church appear to be solely\noccupied with it. One might say that any heresy inspires them with less\nhorror than the Catholic doctrine about the Pope, and that they consider\nthe rejection of this doctrine a sufficient proof of a healthy orthodoxy.\nBut the day will come when every Russian who loves orthodoxy above all\nelse will no longer regard with so much horror as now a church which is\nfar better calculated than the Greek Church to furnish him with arms\nwherewith to defend the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Real Presence, the\nsacraments, the veneration of Mary and the saints. The same horror with\nwhich we Catholics still inspire many orthodox Russians we formerly\ninspired Anglicans. Relations with us, and _study_, have disabused many\ncredulous minds; in Russia, moreover, the double sentiment will operate in\nour favor of the danger to which orthodoxy will be exposed, and the\ninsufficiency of the succor which can arrive to it from any quarter except\nthe Catholic Church alone.\n\nBut Protestants, rationalists, Jews, Mahometans, and Raskolniks are not\nthe only adversaries which the Russian Church must prepare to combat, and\nagainst whom she will find no help more efficacious than that which\nCatholics can afford. Among her adversaries she may reckon the government,\natheism in the legislation, obstacles of every kind created against the\npropaganda of orthodoxy, compulsory irreligious instruction, unbelief and\nmaterialism \u201ccrowned\u201d by the academies\u2014in a word, all the constituted\nauthorities upon which the people depend. Can the Russian Church promise\nherself that she will be able successfully to contend against such\nadversaries? No one will maintain that the past history of this church\noffers a certain guarantee that she will; her existence, especially since\nPeter the Great, has been too monotonous, and has had a sphere of action\ntoo circumscribed, to allow her to make trial of her strength. Alas! there\nis something more; however monotonous may have been her existence, it\nnevertheless offers one characteristic feature, and this is, the facility\nwith which she has permitted the czars to impose their laws upon her, and\nto obtain from her that which nothing would have forced from the great\ndoctors and fathers of the Greek Church. Now, if the Russian Church has\nbeen so feeble in presence of the czars, is it very certain that she would\ninstantaneously recover her energy, were she to find herself face to face\nwith a government inspired by principles the most hostile to Christianity,\nand the declared enemy, no longer of the whole Christian church only, but\nof Jesus Christ himself? We are no prophet; but, after all, it is not\nabsolutely impossible that, at a period more or less distant, some Russian\nsocialist may find himself seated in the place of the czars.\n\nThus the past history of the Russian Church is far from being a sure\nwarranty that she will know how to wrestle with impious governments. What\nsuccor, in fact, can she expect from churches which, in presence of the\nsultan, and of the sovereigns of the other countries where they are\nestablished, have shown themselves fully as feeble as the Russian Church\nhas been in presence of the czars? The sultan\u2014to speak of him only\u2014has not\nhe himself settled the Bulgarian question? And, besides, will not these\nchurches have enough to do to defend themselves at a time when political\nimportance decides everything? What influence in the religious affairs of\nRussia can be exercised by little states occupying scarcely the third or\nfourth rank among the states of Europe?\n\nShould the Russian Church accept the aid of the Catholic Church, it will\nbe a very different matter. In the same way that history shows us the\nlatter as having already had to deal, on doctrinal ground, with every sort\nof error, and of having fought against it, thus offering, with the weight\nof her experience, the aid of a science as vast as the variety of errors\nagainst which it has combated; so also has the Catholic Church already\nencountered, on practical ground, every sort of obstacle, and has passed\nthrough storms and tempests which would a thousand times over have\nsubmerged her were she not divine. The number, variety, and gravity of the\nstruggles she has maintained also against governments and nations give her\nthe right to repeat with a calm security, each time that the signs of a\nfresh persecution appear: _Alios vidi ventos aliasque procellas_\u2014\u201cOther\ntempestuous winds and other storms have I seen.\u201d She possesses\ninstitutions born of these struggles and adapted to those of the future,\nwhich will also create new ones in their turn. Her missionaries and her\npriests present us with the spectacle of an army as numerous as it is\nvaried, answering to all the needs of war and to all the possible\neventualities of the field of battle. Still more: in the existence of the\nchurch warfare is, so to speak, the normal condition, and peace the\nexception; it thus follows that the powers of the Catholic Church are kept\nin continual exercise, and that the science of the means of victory is\nnever reduced to simple memories.\n\nThis, from the history of the past, is what may be with certainty\nforeseen, whether with regard to the inefficiency of the help which the\nRussian Church may promise herself from the various branches of the\northodox communion, in a struggle against unbelief and impious\ngovernments, or with regard to the solid support which, in this case, she\nwould find from the Catholic Church. But this prevision is not only\njustified by history. History has done nothing more than throw light upon\nthat which had been foretold to us by a terrible declaration of Jesus\nChrist; and it is in this declaration that lies the deep reason and the\ntrue explanation of that which history causes to pass before our eyes.\n_Omne regnum in seipsum divisum desolabitur_\u2014\u201cEvery kingdom divided\nagainst itself shall be brought to desolation\u201d (S. Luke xi. 17), Our Lord\nhas said.\n\nThe Orthodox Church is a divided kingdom\u2014divided into as many branches as\nthere are states in which she counts her adherents; divided to such a\ndegree that, without the consent of sovereigns, no communication is\npossible between these divers branches; so divided that it is also the\nwill of sovereigns which regulates and measures the relations which the\nbishops of the eparchies (dioceses) of one self\u2010same state may hold among\nthemselves. The Orthodox Church is a kingdom divided against itself\u2014so\ndivided that nowhere is there to be found an authority which, being itself\nthe source of jurisdiction, can terminate the litigations about\njurisdiction without appeal; so divided that a little boldness and\nobstinacy sufficed to enable Greece to withdraw herself from the\njurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople; that a little boldness\nand obstinacy sufficed to gain the cause for Bulgaria, when, not long ago,\nshe also shook off the authority of the same patriarch; and that a little\nboldness and obstinacy always suffice to enable the revolted definitively\nto shake off the yoke of their pastors.(192)\n\nAlas! it is not even here that the desolation of this kingdom ends. Of the\nOrthodox Church it may be truly said that the desolation has no bounds. It\nhas no bounds because already the principle has been established that the\nchurch of each state ought to be independent, and that each separate\nnation also ought to have its distinct and independent church. It is\nendless because to these principles\u2014subversive of all order and all\nstability, and which make ecclesiastical jurisdiction depend no longer\nupon the laws and customs of the church, but on the chances of war, the\nvalor of conquerors, and the craftiness of conspirators\u2014the Orthodox\nChurch can oppose nothing but vain protestations; it is endless because\nthe very bishops themselves of the Orthodox Church take the lead in\nupholding these principles, and are the first to treat with contempt the\ncomplaints of those of their brethren whose jurisdiction is injured.\n\nAnd, in fact, it was by invoking its political independence that the\nrecently\u2010formed kingdom of Greece declared itself, in 1833, freed from the\njurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople. This declaration was made\nand carried by _all_ the bishops of the kingdom, assembled at Nauplia; not\na single voice appears to have been raised to require that the patriarch\nshould at least be first consulted. The patriarch appealed to the canons\nof the church, and protested\u2014and they let him protest. For seventeen years\nhe went on protesting, until at last, in 1850, his successor recognized\nthe accomplished fact; had he not done so, he would have been allowed to\nprotest to an indefinite period, as long as he might be inclined. It was\nby appealing to the principle of nationality (_phyletism_) that the\nBulgarians shook off the authority of the same patriarch. Their bishops\nnominated an exarch, and long before the sultan had definitely settled\nthis affair they gave no more heed to the patriarch\u2019s protestations than\nfor seventeen years had been given by the bishops of the Hellenic kingdom.\nIn the hope of leading back the Bulgarians to obedience, the patriarch, in\n1872, convoked a great council in the Church of S. George at\nConstantinople. He made his complaints against his rebellious children,\nand without apparently considering the effect which might be produced by\nthe publicity given to his words, he there related that, having summoned\nthe recalcitrant bishops to return to obedience, one of them had answered\nhim, _by the telegraph_, that he should go and receive the reply from the\nexarch.\n\nThe council thereupon proceeded to excommunicate the Bulgarians, who had\nalready so willingly excommunicated themselves, sure beforehand that they\nwould none the less continue to be considered members of the Orthodox\nChurch\u2014 a certainty which could not fail to be realized. The example of\nGreece had borne its fruit. Besides, this council was not \u0153cumenical;\namongst others, the Russian bishops did not sit there at all; a letter of\nthe Synod had the mission of representing them, probably unknown to\nthemselves, and certainly without their permission. By what right, then,\ncould the council separate the Bulgarian nation from _the whole_ church?\nBy what right did it speak in the name of _the whole_ church? It had so\nmuch the less right, also, from the fact that the Patriarch of Jerusalem,\nCyril, who happened to be then at Constantinople, determinedly refused,\nfor reasons which gave evidence of more than unwillingness, to appear at\nits sittings.(193)\n\nWill it be said that the Bulgarians were excommunicated by virtue of the\ncanons of the church; that the council applied to them an anathema already\ndecreed by the fathers and the \u0153cumenical councils against those who\nviolated the canons? We have some acquaintance with these canons; and, if\nthey are to be taken literally, we would not take upon ourselves to prove\nthat the whole Orthodox Church has not long ago fallen under some\nexcommunication pronounced by her own canons; such, at any rate, would be\nthe case with regard to the Russian Church, which forms its principal\nportion. To escape this somewhat embarrassing conclusion, it becomes\nnecessary to admit that the canons must be understood, as it is commonly\nexpressed, _cum grano salis_, and that they are susceptible of a mild\ninterpretation. It is this which the Bulgarians believe themselves to have\ndone. They have found in the past history of their church _several_\nexamples authorizing an interpretation of the canons conformable to their\nwishes; amongst others, that of Peter the Great, who, _without ever\nceasing to be considered orthodox_, abolished the patriarchate of Moscow,\ninstituted the Synod, made it the principal authority of the Russian\nChurch, and declared himself to be the \u201cSupreme Judge\u201d thereof; after\nwhich he informed the Oriental patriarchs of what had happened, and\ndemanded of them an approbation which he was fully determined to do\nwithout, in case it should be refused. The crime of the Bulgarians\nconsisted in interpreting the canons as they had been interpreted by the\nnumerous bishops who had not on that account been, by any means, expelled\nfrom the church; and if the letter of the Russian Synod, the mandatory of\nthe Russian episcopate at the council of 1872, blamed them, besides that,\nin their revolt, they were sustained by Russia.(194) The Bulgarians called\nto mind that it was Russia, too, which had the most strenuously labored to\ninduce the Patriarch of Constantinople to recognize the independence of\nthe Church of the Hellenic kingdom as an accomplished fact. With memories\nsuch as these, the anathema of the Council of Constantinople of 1872 could\nscarcely disquiet the Bulgarians.\n\nAnd this is not all. This council made a decision which is, in truth, a\n_doctrinal_ decision by declaring that the exterior constitution of the\nchurch is independent of the principle of nationality, and in condemning\nthe application of this principle to the church, as being contrary to the\nScriptures and to the Fathers. By what right did this council, not being\necumenical, make a decision of this kind, and what value could it possess?\nWill it be said that this council did nothing more than define and affirm\nwhat was contained in the Scriptures and the Fathers? It was precisely\nthis to which the Bulgarians would not agree, and of which the Patriarch\nof Jerusalem\u2014to mention him only\u2014was by no means convinced; in short, that\nwhich only a truly ecumenical council could _authoritatively_ decide. In\npresence of a merely nominal doctrinal authority, it was perfectly natural\nthat the Bulgarians should keep their own view of the matter.\n\nBut still more embarrassing by far would be the consequences resulting to\nthe Orthodox Church if it were admitted that this council possessed a\nreally doctrinal authority, and that its decisions were obligatory on the\nconsciences of the orthodox faithful. In this case the Orthodox Church\nwould have added yet another definition to those already recorded in the\nseven Ecumenical Councils allowed by her. This church has always boasted\nof having _added nothing_ to the doctrine expressed in the seven\nEcumenical Councils, in which, according to her, the Holy Ghost has\ndeposited, _once for all_,(195) whatever it is necessary to believe. She\nis so persuaded that nothing can be added to them that she takes pleasure\nin recognizing in these councils the seven pillars of wisdom, the seven\nmysterious seals, spoken of by S. John\u2014pillars and seals which will\neternally remain seven in number, without any possible chance of reaching\neven to the number eight. Therefore it is that she throws in our faces our\nwestern councils and their definitions, and therefore that she reproaches\nus with _new dogmas_. But the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the\ndoctrinal Infallibility of the Pope\u2014these two dogmas which the church has\nfound in the Scriptures and in the Fathers\u2014were they newer in the eyes of\nthe Bulgarians than the dogma defined at the Council of Constantinople in\n1872, that \u201cthe church, in her exterior constitution, is independent of\nthe principle of nationality\u201d\u2014a dogma condemned, implicitly at least, by\nthe previous practice of a large portion of the Orthodox Church?\n\nFinally, why should the Bulgarians have submitted to the decision of a\nparticular council\u2014a decision, carried by the Greeks _judices in caus\u00e2\npropri\u00e2_, when the Russian Church, as all the world knew, thought so\nlightly of the doctrine and practice of the whole Greek Church in a matter\nof far greater importance, _the validity of baptism_? Baptism by infusion\nis in fact recognized at St. Petersburg and Moscow as valid, while at\nConstantinople it is null and void. A Protestant or a Catholic baptized by\ninfusion, who should ask to be received into the Orthodox Church, would be\naccepted unconditionally in Russia: but at Constantinople he would be\nrequired to be rebaptized. A Christian in the dominions of the czar, he\nwould become a pagan at Constantinople; and yet this is one and the same\nchurch!(196)\n\nYes, the shock has been given. The Council of Constantinople of 1872 has\nnot been able to hinder the defection of the Bulgarians, but it has\nattracted the attention of the Christian world to the fact that the\nOrthodox Church has no authority which can force consciences to reject as\nheretical the application to the exterior constitution of the church,\neither of the principle of nationality, or any other principle upon which\nmight be based the political constitution of nations. And further, the\nacts of the Council of Constantinople of 1872 give evidence of the\nhesitation and uncertainty existing among the representatives of the\northodox faith(197) with regard to a question so momentous, and which\nconcerns the very life of that church. The shock has been given. Error has\na terrible logic. Where will the divisions, the sub\u2010divisions, and the\nparcellings\u2010out of the orthodox communion end?\n\nAnd what consequences may result from the want of exterior unity, not only\nfor the independence, but also for the faith, of the church, we have just\nglanced at; but it will be revealed by the _Ecclesiastical Regulation_ in\na manner more convincing and more sad.\n\nAssuredly the future had not been foreseen when, in the _Confession of the\nOrthodox Faith_, the great catechism of the whole Oriental Church, it was\nconsidered sufficient to explain as follows the unity of the church:\n\n\u201cThe church is one, ... according to the teaching of the apostle: _For I\nhave espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste\nvirgin to Christ_ (2 Cor. xi. 2). For even as there is but one Christ,\neven so his spouse can be but one; as it is written in the fourth chapter\nof the Epistle of S. Paul to the Ephesians (iv. 5, 6): _One Lord, one\nfaith, one baptism: there is but one God, the Father of all._\u201d(198)\n\nNor was the future any more foreseen when, in the catechism of Mgr.\nPhilarete, the unity of the church was defined:(199)\n\n\u201cQ. Why is the church one?\n\n\u201cA. Because she represents one _spiritual_ body, animated by one sole and\nonly divine Spirit, and having one head only, who is Christ.\u201d\n\nLet us now turn away our gaze from the Orthodox Church, in which the\nterrible declaration of Jesus Christ finds only too fully its\naccomplishment. Another church appears before us. She is not a divided\nkingdom: on the contrary, if there be one characteristic mark by which she\nmay be at once recognized by all who seek for her, it is the imposing\nunity of her exterior organization. The pope forms this unity. Let us ask\nof history what the pope has done for the church.\n\nAnd history answers: The pope has saved the church. The pope alone has\nbeen able to hinder this church from breaking up, as the Orthodox Church\nhas done, into so many national churches, at first under the protection,\nthen under the authority, and finally under the rod, of sovereigns who\nwere at first kings, then presidents of a republic, sometimes\nRobespierres. It is the pope, and the pope only, who has maintained, not\nmerely the vague notion, but the living sentiment of Catholic fraternity\u2014a\nsentiment which inspires the adversaries of the church with a fear which,\nin spite of themselves, they betray. It is the pope, and the pope alone,\nwho has caused the sap of Christian piety to circulate in the whole\nCatholic world, by the honors of the altars accorded to the saints of\nevery land, and by those institutions which, originating in one country,\nbelong to all countries, as powerful, in the realization of their vast\naspirations, as zeal and charity themselves. It is the pope who makes the\ntreasures of virtue and learning which he discovers in any particular\nlocality the common property of the world\u2014in a word, it is the pope who\ncauses the church always to survive, not only the enemies who desire her\ndeath, not only the false prophets who, for centuries past, have gone on\nannouncing this death as imminent, but all kingdoms and all empires, their\ninstitutions, and even their remembrance. This is what the pope is for the\nCatholic Church.\n\nThus we see, on the one side, division, and, as its consequence, the\ndissolution foretold by Jesus Christ; on the other side, unity, and, with\nunity, victory and strength. This is the signification of the church\nhaving or not having a pope. Besides, the unity of government is so\nnecessary to arrest the indefinite parcelling out of one church into a\nnumber of independent churches, and as a safeguard to the common faith,\nthat each separate branch of the Orthodox Eastern Church has not been able\nto maintain its integrity without the aid of a supreme and central\nauthority. Instead of the pope, this is a patriarch, or it is a synod, or\nit is the sovereign of the country, but everywhere and always the very\nadversaries of the Papacy themselves render an involuntary homage to the\nCatholic dogma which declares a visible head, a pope, necessary to the\nchurch.\n\nYes, a pope is necessary for the church\u2014necessary to her existence, and\nnecessary for the fulfilment of her mission.\n\nLet us consider it with regard to the most powerful of the various\nbranches of the orthodox communion\u2014the Russian Church. Even could this\nchurch (by hypothesis) maintain herself alone, and could she continue her\nwork without the operation of the laws; could she alone combat unbelief,\nand alone make head against impious governments, the pope would be none\nthe less necessary for her. And why? Because the Russian Church calls\nherself _Catholic_; that is, _universal_. Now, it is not enough for a\nchurch which calls itself Catholic, and the one church of the Saviour of\nall, to be able to maintain her ground in that part of the world in which\nshe is now enclosed; it is not enough that she should combat unbelief in\nthe empire of the czars, nor that she should be able to resist an impious\ngovernment which may succeed to theirs.\n\nIf she is Catholic, she ought, the Russian Church herself, to be equal to\npenetrating _everywhere_, and everywhere to maintain herself; to combat\n_everywhere_ heresy and unbelief, and everywhere to sustain collision with\nthe government. If she is Catholic, let her issue from the limits of the\ncountry of the czars, and at least _attempt_ the conquest of Italy,\nGermany, France, England, all Europe; America, the whole world; let her,\nin the name of Jesus Christ, utter words of authority to the conquerors of\nthe earth, brave the hatred which the consciousness of her rights would\ndraw upon her, and dare to declare to crowned heads that all Christians\nbelong to her; let her not confine herself to raising in capital cities\nRussian temples for the use of the Russian embassies, but let her require\nevery government to recognize the orthodox worship; let her missionaries\npenetrate, whether welcomed or repelled, into all the countries of the\nearth with the sole credentials of the apostles, and, strong in this\nsingle right, let them return whither they are driven out, and sprinkle\nwith their blood the soil wherein they sow the seed of orthodoxy. Then,\nand only then, will the Russian Church show herself Catholic; that is to\nsay, universal; that is to say, the church of the Saviour of all. Until\nthen in vain may she call herself Catholic while the title is denied by\nthe fact.\n\nBut these things the Russian Church will never be able to accomplish\nwithout a pope.\n\nFrom whom, in fact, will her priests hold their commission? To whom will\nthey recur for counsel, protection, and support? In whose name will they\nspeak to governments and kings? To whom will they refer the latter to\nauthenticate the validity of their mission, to propose objections, or to\nlodge complaints? If we except Russia, Turkey, the Hellenic kingdom,\nRoumania, Servia, and some provinces of the Austro\u2010Hungarian Empire, the\nrest of the world is missionary ground for the Orthodox Church, just as\nmuch as is China for the Catholic Church. Let us suppose the Russian\nChurch wishing only to undertake the conversion of France. Paris already\npossesses a Russian temple; it is now the Synod, in concert with the\ngovernment, which nominates the persons attached to this temple. When the\nofficial church shall have fallen, and all the Russian bishops shall be\ncanonically equal, or at least independent of each other, to which among\nthem will the charge of this mission belong?\n\nParis is a place to stimulate the zeal of many bishops. It is allowable to\nbelieve that a settlement will not be very quickly made. Let us suppose it\nmade, however, and moreover that even there is established a college _De\nPropaganda Fide Orthodox\u00e2_ at St. Petersburg or Moscow. What would be the\nattitude of the Greek Church of Constantinople? Will the latter possess,\nor will she not possess, the right to evangelize France, and there to\nexercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction? If it be allowed that she has this\nright, the same question presents itself also for the three patriarchates\nof Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem; it also presents itself for the\nGreek Church of the Hellenic kingdom, for the Church of Roumania, for that\nof Servia, for the Orthodox Church of the Austro\u2010Hungarian Empire, and\neven for that of Montenegro. Here is already an accumulation and\nintermingling of jurisdictions liable to give rise to numerous contests.\nWho shall decide amongst them? Will they come to a mutual agreement? But\nan agreement will be everlastingly impossible between the Greek and\nRussian Churches, at least so long as the question of the validity of\nbaptism by infusion remains undecided. We will say Catholics are to be\n\u201cconverted\u201d to orthodoxy: the Russian ministers will not rebaptize them.\nThe Greek Church knows it\u2014this church, as we have just said, which regards\nbaptism by infusion as null. If the Greek Church consents that the Russian\nmissionaries shall evangelize France, it declares, by that consent, that\nbaptism is no longer necessary for belonging to the church. If, however,\nshe opposes their so doing, who is to decide between them? And the simple\nones who had previously let themselves be incorporated into the Russian\nChurch\u2014would they be very certain that they really belonged to the church?\nWhich, then, will be the true missionaries?\n\nWe confine ourselves to this example. Let us apply ourselves carefully to\nrealize, in imagination, what would be the situation of a church\nattempting to do without a pope that which must be done by a church\nbelieving herself divine, and invested by God with a commission to convert\nthe world\u2014wishing to do, without a pope, what is done by the Catholic\nChurch every day. Then it will be easy to understand whether there can be\na divine church without a pope.\n\nAnd this pope, without which the Russian Church will never be the\nuniversal church of Jesus Christ nor fulfil the mission of that\nchurch\u2014where would she seek him? Would she, on account of the needs\ncreated by her new situation, confer upon one of the bishops all the\nauthority which is now concentrated in the hands of the Synod? Will she\nsay to him, Help me to fulfil the mission of converting the world? But\nthis charge, this part, would it not with greater right belong to the\nPatriarch of Constantinople, who, so powerful is the need of unity, has\nalready declared, upon one solemn occasion, that on him rests the _care of\nall the churches?_(200) We are supposing in the Russian Church, and in the\nother branches of the orthodox communion, enough self\u2010denial to consent to\nthis. But when this great event shall have been accomplished, what will\nhave been done?\n\nIt will have been acknowledged before the face of all the world that it is\nnot Rome who made the schism. It will have been confessed that during ten\ncenturies it has been charged as a crime upon the Catholic Church that she\nhas not sacrificed that which, after ten centuries of disasters, the\nEastern Church has found it necessary to force herself to regain under\npain of ceasing to exist. There will have been rendered to the Catholic\nChurch the most splendid of testimonies, in confessing that she alone\npossesses the true sense of the words of Jesus Christ, and that the rock\non which Jesus Christ has built his church is Peter.\n\nIndeed, from that day forward there will be no more excuse for schism.\nBetween a rock designated by men of the XIXth century, and that rock of\nwhich the manifest existence goes back to Jesus Christ himself, and has\nbeen pointed out by him, who that but knows how to read and write can\nhesitate for an instant?\n\nSuch, therefore, is the alternative: either the Orthodox Church will be\nforced to give herself a pope, to show that she is really that which she\nentitles herself, \u201cCatholic,\u201d or universal, and to fulfil the mission\nimposed by this name, or she will never be able to justify her\nappreciation of this title. What will happen in the former case, we have\njust said; if, on the contrary, the Orthodox Church delays to give herself\na pope, the rapid march of events, and the revolutionary storm from which\nneither Russia nor the East will by any means be preserved, will, before\nvery long, prove to us that it is not upon the sand that Jesus Christ has\nbuilt his church.\n\nTo Be Concluded Next Month.\n\n\n\n\nBurke And The Revolution.\n\n\nBacon\u2019s grand testamentary vindication of his life, \u201cbequeathing his name\nand memory to foreign nations and his own countrymen after some time be\npassed over,\u201d might have been written with even greater justice of\nhimself\u2014because free from any imputation of moral weakness\u2014by the master\u2010\nmind of the XVIIIth century in England in the domain of political\nphilosophy\u2014Edmund Burke, the illustrious orator and statesman, the author\nof _Reflections on the Revolution in France_. To\u2010day, when France,\n\u201cincessantly agitated by a propaganda of the most pernicious\ndoctrines,\u201d(201) still vindicates the sagacity which foresaw the\ndisastrous course of the Revolution, while England, which he saved from\nthe same propaganda, uninterruptedly illustrates the \u201cbeneficial influence\nof the regular action of the public powers,\u201d it may not be amiss to recall\nsome of the opinions to which he gave utterance at the beginning of the\nstorm. Burke\u2019s genius, like Bacon\u2019s, was indeed too refulgent not to be\nacknowledged even in his own day. But the burning questions upon the\ndiscussion of which and their solution, so far as human reason can go, he\nhas built up an enduring fame\u2014_monumentum \u00e6re perennius_\u2014lighted up\npassions too gigantic and furious in the tremendous conflict then\ninaugurated to allow of contemporary justice being done to his labors. Nor\ndid their negatory influence upon his fame end with his death; two allied\ncauses have conspired to partially obscure the clear and immortal flame of\nhis genius, even to our time:\n\nFirst, the jealousy of the political and literary followers of Charles\nJames Fox.\n\nSecond, the inimical spirit of the Revolution.\n\nBurke, as it is well known, had to contend, during his parliamentary\ncareer, not only against the Tory prejudices of the country party,\nrepresented by such men as William Lord Bagot and Col. Onslow, but also\nagainst the ill\u2010concealed jealousy and oligarchical exclusiveness of his\nnominal allies, the Whig aristocracy. But this influence of caste, which\nin his lifetime placed over his head his political pupil, Charles Fox, as\nthe representative of the Whig family compacts, has been succeeded since\nhis death by a more acrimonious spirit of personal jealousy in defence of\nthe fame of his younger rival. The partisans of Fox have never been able\nto forgive Burke\u2019s renunciation of his alliance with the eloquent Whig\nleader; and so large a share of literary and political criticism during\nthe last half\u2010century has come from the pens of that small but popular\nband of writers who took their inspiration from the traditions of Holland\nHouse, that the acknowledgment of Burke\u2019s profound and prophetic genius\nhas been unduly circumscribed by the desire of elevating the \u201cgreat man\u201d\nof the family. Macaulay and Earl Russell have given expression to this\nfeeling; the former by covertly insinuating a doubt of Burke\u2019s judgment,\nwhile lavishly extolling the splendor of his imagination; the latter by\nopen denunciation of his course at the outbreak of the Revolution; Earl\nRussell with unconscious self\u2010satire quoting these lines from La Fontaine:\n\n\n \u201cL\u2019homme est de feu pour le mensonge\n Il est de glace pour la v\u00e9rit\u00e9.\u201d\n\n\nThe efforts of a powerful literary and family connection to elevate its\nidol, Charles Fox, at the expense of Burke, have had, however, but small\neffect in limiting the measure of the latter\u2019s fame, compared with the\nhostile spirit of revolution animating the current periodical literature\nof England and America. If the apostles of the Revolution, who steal\nBurke\u2019s thunder without acknowledgment, when it suits their purpose,\nagainst the despotism of power, could bury out of sight his protests\nagainst that worse despotism of unchained human passions, which is their\nideal of liberty, they would gladly place him in their Pantheon. But the\nmind of the great political philosopher was too grandly comprehensive to\nbe narrowed within the grooves of that fashionable \u201cliberalism\u201d which\ncovers even the basest tyranny, if directed against the Catholic Church.\nHis humanity was too broad and true not to be aroused into flaming\ndenunciation of the abuse of power, whether it assumed the shape of\n\u201copulent oppression\u201d in India or democratic priest\u2010slaughter in France.\nHence it is that Burke holds but a half\u2010allegiance of the Liberal party;\nthat his fame has been, as it were, truncated, so far as they have been\nable to effect it; and that his magnificent vindications of the cause of\nliberty, bounded by no limitations of race, government, or creed, are\ncircumscribed in their minds by his ante\u2010revolutionary labors.\n\nBut it is not in the power of any class of critics, least of all of the\nlight artillery of \u201cliberalism,\u201d to narrow or permanently diminish Burke\u2019s\nkingdom over human thought. His fame will not be dependent upon the\nfashion of this or any single age. The _consensus_ of humanity has crowned\nhim among the Immortals. When Macaulay and Russell shall have become\nobscure names, the works of Burke will endure as monuments of our\ncivilization. His place will be with Demosthenes and Cicero, and in the\nestimation of a more remote posterity he will probably overtop them both.\n\nThe long, lean figure, with spectacles on nose, once familiar to the\ncaricaturists of the third George\u2019s reign, has faded a good deal from the\neyes of the present generation. We now turn over with a smile the prints\nof the \u201cconcealed Jesuit\u201d from S. Omer\u2019s, _barrette_ on head, and long\n_soutane_ clinging to his heels; or the more portly figure of the\nhighwayman, blunderbuss in hand, waylaying, in company with North and Fox,\nthe \u201csavior of India\u201d (Warren Hastings); or the \u201cWatchman\u201d of the\nconstitution, in heavy cloak, lantern in hand, and spectacles on the\nformidable nose, ferreting out the revolutionary preacher, Dr. Price, in\nhis midnight study. The gravers of Gilray and Sayer have yielded to those\nof the caricaturists for _Punch_. The figures of Gladstone, Disraeli, and\nBright have supplanted those of Pitt, Fox, and Burke. The great orator and\nstatesman has taken his place as a classic on the shelves of all\nlibraries, but is popularly known only by a few rounded extracts from his\nspeeches, or by Macaulay\u2019s description of the entrance on the\nparliamentary stage of Lord Rockingham\u2019s young Irish secretary, \u201cwho to an\neloquence surpassing the eloquence of Pitt, and an industry that shamed\nthe industry of Grenville, united an amplitude of comprehension to which\nneither Pitt nor Grenville could lay claim.\u201d But if Burke has shared the\nfate of all great writers not strictly popular in being conventionally\nadmired but practically neglected by the general reader, no political\nauthor is more diligently studied by the \u201cmiddlemen\u201d of thought, the\nmakers and leaders of public opinion. He is the private tutor of public\nteachers; the _vade mecum_ of the orator and politician. Most of the\nquestions of political ethics which have been the subjects of discussion\nduring the present century have been profoundly treated of by him.\nCatholic emancipation, parliamentary reform, the freedom of the press,\nministerial responsibility, the relations of church and state, the\nabolition of the slave trade, the amelioration of the criminal law\u2014all\nhave received from him their most ample and brilliant illustration.\n\nOf all the events of his time, however, the Revolution of 1789 gave the\nchief exercise to his powers. Born in 1730, he was then at the zenith of\nhis fame, in the full maturity of his massive yet acute intellect. Earl\nRussell\u2019s senile complaint in his life of Fox of \u201cthe wreck of his\n(Burke\u2019s) judgment\u201d betrays only the dotage of his own. Advancing age had\nbetter fitted him for the contest. His mind had, as Macaulay truly says,\nbloomed late into flower, although the rhetoric of the essayist has\ncaricatured the sterility of his youth. The giant trunk was now crowned\nwith a luxuriant and graceful foliage, which added to its beauty, while it\ndetracted nothing from its strength. The experience of \u201chis long and\nlaborious life,\u201d the accumulated stores of his prodigious industry,\nfurnished him with weapons of finest temper and irresistible force. Thus\narmed, stepping to the front as the champion of civilization and religion\nagainst the Giant Despair which had broken its bonds in Europe, it was\nwith striking appropriateness that his friend, Sir Joshua Reynolds,\napplied to him, at the moment of his rupture with Fox and the opposition,\nthe lines written under the engraving of 1790 from the portrait of\n1775\u2014lines in which Milton describes the faithful Abdiel striding forth,\nsolitary, from amid the rebel host:\n\n\n \u201cSo spake the fervent angel, but his zeal\n None seconded: .....\n ...... Unmoved,\n Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,\n His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal;\n Nor number nor example with him wrought\n To move from truth, or change his constant mind,\n Though single. From amidst forth he passed\n Long way through hostile scorn, nor of violence feared aught;\n And with retorting scorn, his back he turned\n On those proud towers to swift destruction doomed.\u201d\n\n\nThe efforts of Burke\u2019s single mind at this critical moment decided the\ncourse of events in England. His speeches in Parliament and the\npublication of his _Reflections on the Revolution in France_ aroused a\nnational feeling that all the efforts of the revolutionary propagandists\nwere unable to stem; which Pitt followed rather than led; and which\nenabled England to carry on without flinching, to a triumphant close, the\nlong and bloody war in national self\u2010defence into which she was driven by\nthe aggressive spirit of the Revolution. Pitt only gave utterance to the\nnational feeling when he declared at the close of Burke\u2019s speech on the\nArmy Estimates, in which he flung down the gauntlet to the Revolution,\n\u201cthat not only the present generation but the latest posterity would\nrevere his name for the decided part he had that day taken.\u201d\n\nIt was Burke\u2019s fortune to witness the temporary triumph, but not the\nsucceeding repulse, of the first outbreak of the Revolution. He died at\nthe full tide of its fury. Yet the tremendous blows he dealt its\nprinciples, single\u2010handed, before all that was mortal of him was laid at\nrest at Beaconsfield, undoubtedly saved England from succumbing to its\ninfluence in his own day, and their conservative force is still felt in\nthe government of that country. \u201cThis man,\u201d said Schlegel, \u201chas been to\nhis own country and to all Europe\u2014and, in a particular manner, to all\nGermany\u2014a new light of political wisdom and moral experience. He corrected\nhis age when it was at the height of its revolutionary fury; and without\nmaintaining any system of philosophy, he seems to have seen further into\nthe true nature of society, and to have more clearly comprehended the\neffect of religion in connecting individual security with national\nwelfare, than any philosopher or any system of philosophy of any preceding\nage.\u201d True words, and worthy of attention at this moment, when Germany has\nentered on a new and dangerous course of political action.\n\nFrom the first mutterings of the revolutionary storm Burke had distrusted\nits character and future violence. Alarmed by what he had seen of the\nundisguised levity and scepticism of Parisian society during his visit to\nFrance in 1772, he had taken occasion in one of his speeches, as early as\n1773, to point out \u201cthis conspiracy of atheism to the watchful eyes of\nEuropean governments.\u201d The outrages in the name of liberty which were\nsimultaneous with its outburst determined his course, although his keen\npolitical vision had long before penetrated the hollowness of its\nprofessions. The old political gladiator, \u201cin whose breast,\u201d as he proudly\nand truly said of himself, \u201cno anger, durable or vehement, had ever been\nkindled but by what he considered as tyranny\u201d; whose potent voice had re\u2010\nechoed across the Western ocean in support of the American colonist, had\npleaded for the African slave and Hindoo laborer, and had instilled fresh\nhope, in the broken heart of the Irish \u201cPapist,\u201d roused himself now to his\nlast and most powerful effort in defence of the fugitive French\n\u201caristocrat\u201d and hunted priest.\n\n\u201cI have struggled,\u201d he said, \u201cto the best of my power against two great\nevils, growing out of the most sacred of all things\u2014liberty and authority.\nI have struggled against the licentiousness of freedom, I have contended\nagainst the tyranny of power.\u201d Nearly ten years before, in his speech on\nthe Marriage Act, defending himself against the charges of \u201caristocrat\u201d\nand \u201cradical\u201d which had been alternately levelled against him, he had\npredicted his course in these noble words:\n\n\n \u201cWhen indeed the smallest rights of the poorest people in the\n kingdom are in question, I would set my face against any act of\n pride countenanced by the highest that are in it; and if it should\n come to the last extremity, and a contest of blood, my course is\n taken. I would take my fate with the poor, and low, and feeble.\n But if these people come to turn their liberty into a cloak for\n mischievousness, and to seek a privilege of exemption, not from\n power, but from the rules of morality and virtuous discipline, I\n would join my hand to make them feel the force which a few united\n in a good cause have over a multitude of the profligate and\n ferocious.\u201d\n\n\nBurke\u2019s theory of true reform, illustrated by the honorable labors of his\nwhole public career, was in fact so radically opposed to that of the\nFrench constitution makers that no standing\u2010ground common to both could be\nfound. He foresaw plainly enough what were the secret aims and aspirations\nof the revolutionary leaders from the first, whatever might be their\nhumanitarian professions; that whatever their changes of leaders or\nwatchwords, their goal would always be the same\u2014the destruction of\nexisting society; not reparation, but ruin. He would have seen in M.\nGambetta\u2019s programme of a _nouvelle couche sociale_, enunciated at\nGrenoble in 1872, only a new reading of M. Marat\u2019s schemes of universal\nconfiscation in 1792. Neither would have found more favor in his eyes than\nin those of any English reformer from S. Thomas \u00e0 Becket to Hampden. He\nbelieved with Bacon that there could be no wise design of reform which did\nnot set out with the determination \u201cto weed, to prune, and to graft,\nrather than to plough up and plant all afresh.\u201d Sixty years afterwards\nanother writer, after an elaborate and prolonged study of the _ancien\nr\u00e9gime_, and a lifetime\u2019s experience of the results of the Revolution,\narrived at the point from which Burke started. The writer was Alexis de\nTocqueville. Those who are familiar only with the _Democracy in America_,\nthe work of his inexperienced youth, would do well to read his _Memoir and\nLetters_ by De Beaumont. Writing to M. Freslon in 1853, after the events\nof 1848\u201051 had pretty well cured him of liberalism, he said:\n\n\n \u201cWhen one examines, as I am doing at Tours, the archives of an\n ancient provincial government, one finds a thousand reasons for\n hating the _ancien r\u00e9gime_, but few for loving the Revolution; for\n one sees that the _ancien r\u00e9gime_ was rapidly sinking under the\n weight of years and a gradual change of ideas and manners, so\n that, with a little patience and good conduct, it might have been\n reformed without destroying indiscriminately all that was good in\n it with all that was bad. It is curious to see how different was\n the government of 1780 from that of 1750. One does not recognize\n the government or the governed. The Revolution broke out not when\n evils were at their worst, but when reform was beginning. Halfway\n down the staircase we threw ourselves out of the window, in order\n to get sooner to the bottom\u201d (_Memoir and Remains_, vol. ii. pp.\n 242, 243, Eng. ed.)\n\n\nBurke had an invincible distrust of the crude theories and rash\nspeculations of the _doctrinaires_ of the Revolution. \u201cFollow experience\nand common sense,\u201d he says in a hundred different ways; \u201cthese are the\narguments of statesmen! Leave the rest to the schools, where only they may\nbe debated with\u2014safety.\u201d \u201cIn politics,\u201d he says, \u201cthe most fallacious of\nall things is geometrical demonstration.\u201d Again: \u201cThe majors make a\npompous figure in the battle, but the victory of truth depends upon the\nlittle minors of circumstances.\u201d He compares the socialist theorist ready\nto plunge into the volcano of revolutionary experiment to the Sicilian\nsophist\u2014_ardentem frigidus \u00c6tnam insiluit_. The atrocious principles of\nthe literary and philosophical guides of the Revolution seemed to him\nalmost more portentous than the brutalities of the mob. \u201cNever before this\ntime,\u201d he says, \u201cwas a set of literary men converted into a gang of\nrobbers and assassins. Never before did a den of bravoes and banditti\nassume the garb and tone of an academy of philosophers.\u201d\n\nRemarkable sayings then, and true of experience anterior to his time. But\nhad Burke lived in our day, he would have witnessed with astonishment the\nfull development of the spirit he denounced, in the terrible spectacle of\nan aggressive infidel philosophy, and an almost universal infidel press,\nsometimes truculent, sometimes frivolous, but always shamelessly boastful\nof its pagan principles. He would have seen a school of pseudo\u2010philosophy\nprofessing its open design to destroy the foundations of revealed\nreligion; filled with the spirit of the apostate Julian; as audacious and\nboastful as he, but destined to meet as shameful an end.\n\nLet us compare, then, Burke\u2019s theory of true liberty, and his opinion of\nwhat France might have gained by a large and loyal measure of reform, with\nthe desperate counsels and futile outrages which followed the surrender of\nthe movement by the French conservatives into the hands of the Jacobins.\n\u201cYou would,\u201d he says, had such a course as he recommended been pursued,\n\u201chave rendered the cause of liberty venerable in the eyes of every worthy\nmind in every nation. You would have shamed despotism from the earth by\nshowing that freedom was not only reconcilable, but, as when well\ndisciplined it is, auxiliary to law. You would have had a protected,\nsatisfied, laborious, and obedient people, taught to seek and recognize\nthat happiness is to be found by virtue in all conditions; in which\nconsists the true moral equality of mankind, and not in that monstrous\nfiction which, by inspiring false ideas and vain expectations into men\ndestined to travel in the obscure walks of laborious life, serves only to\naggravate and embitter that real inequality which it never can remove.\u201d\n\nBurke\u2019s frequent definitions of true liberty are as beautiful as they are\ntrue. \u201cYou hope, sir,\u201d he says, writing to De Menonville, \u201cthat I think\nthe French deserving of liberty. I certainly do. I certainly think all men\nwho desire it deserve it. It is not the reward of our merit or the\nacquisition of our industry. It is our inheritance. It is the birthright\nof our species. We cannot forfeit our right to it but by what forfeits our\ntitle to the privileges of our kind. I mean the abuse or oblivion of our\nnatural faculties, and a ferocious indocility which is prompt to wrong or\nviolence, destroys our social nature, and transforms us into something a\nlittle better than a description of wild beast. To men so degraded a state\nof strong restraint is a sort of necessary substitute for freedom, since,\nbad as it is, it may deliver them in some measure from the worst of all\nslavery, that is, the despotism of their own blind and brutal passions.\nYou have kindly said that you began to love freedom from your intercourse\nwith me. Permit me, then, to continue our conversation, and to tell you\nwhat that freedom is that I love. It is not solitary, unconnected,\nindividual, selfish liberty. It is social freedom. It is that state of\nthings in which the liberty of no man and no body of men is in a condition\nto trespass on the liberty of any person or any description of persons in\nsociety. The liberty, the only liberty, I mean, is a liberty connected\nwith order; that not only exists along with virtue and order, but which\ncannot exist without them.\u201d\n\n\u201cAm I,\u201d he asks, in answer to the shibboleth of the \u201crights of man,\u201d\u2014\u201cam I\nto congratulate a highwayman and murderer, who has broke prison, upon the\nrecovery of his natural rights? This would be to act over again the case\nof the criminals condemned to the galleys and their heroic deliverer, the\nknight of the \u2019sorrowful countenance.\u2019\u201d\n\nIf we turn from Burke\u2019s satire upon the revolutionary actors to his\nopinions on its probable onward course and changing fortunes, we shall\nfind a series of the most remarkable political prophecies on record. At a\ntime when Fox and the opposition hailed the Revolution as already\naccomplished, with nothing before it but a future of ideal progress and\nhappiness; when Pitt and the government seemed lulled into a still more\nfatal inaction, Burke proclaimed in decisive tones that the contest\nbetween socialism and all constituted governments had only begun. We group\ntogether a few of these remarkable predictions, which time has so amply\nverified: \u201cHe proposed to prove,\u201d he said in his _Appeal from the New to\nthe Old Whigs_, \u201cthat the present state of things in France is not a\ntransient evil, productive, as some have too favorably supposed, of a\nlasting good; but that the present evil is only the means of producing\nfuture and, if that were possible, worse evils. That this is not an\nundigested, imperfect, and crude scheme of liberty, which may be gradually\nmellowed and ripened into an orderly and social freedom; but that it is so\nfundamentally wrong as to be incapable of correcting itself by any length\nof time.\u201d Again: \u201cWe are not at the end of our struggle or near it. Let us\nnot deceive ourselves; we are at the beginning of great troubles.\u201d\nPredicting the changing features of the Revolution, he said: \u201cIn its\npresent form it can hardly remain; but before its final settlement it may\nhave to pass, as one of our poets says, \u2019through great varieties of\nuntried being,\u2019 and in all its transmigrations to be purified by fire and\nsword.\u201d The very spirit of the Commune is thus foreshadowed in a letter to\nM. de Menonville, 1790: \u201cBut if the same ends should hereafter require the\nsame course which had been already pursued, there is no doubt but the same\nferocious delight in murder and the same savage cruelty will be again\nrenewed.\u201d _Tous les \u00e9v\u00eaques a la lanterne_ was the watchword of both\noutbreaks of the Revolution.\n\nCompare with these sayings the remarks, fifty years later, of another\nobserver, of great acuteness, but moulded in less heroic proportions than\nBurke. \u201cThis day fifty\u2010one years,\u201d writes De Tocqueville, the author of\n_Democracy in America_, \u201cthe French Revolution commenced, and, after the\ndestruction of so many men and institutions, we may say it is still going\non. Is not this reassuring to the nations that are only just beginning\ntheirs?\u201d(202) De Tocqueville, it is well known, during the early part of\nhis career, was tainted with the prevalent liberal Catholicism of his day\nin France. He wished to unite the church with the Revolution\u2014chimerical\ntask, of which advancing years and experience convinced him of the sinful\nfolly! Happily for himself, he died a good Catholic in the bosom of the\nchurch.\n\n\n \u201cI scarcely dare hope,\u201d he says, \u201cto see a regular government,\n strong and at the same time liberal, established in our country.\n This ideal was, as you know, the dream of my youth, and likewise\n of the portion of my mature age that has passed. Is it possible\n still to believe in its realization? For a long time I thought\n (but long before February this belief had been much shaken) that\n we had been making our way over a stormy sea, on which we were\n still tossing, but that the port was at hand. Was I not wrong? Are\n we not on a rolling sea that has no shore? Or is not the land so\n distant, so unknown, that our lives and those of our children may\n pass away before it is reached, or, at least, before any\n settlement is made upon it?... I am indeed alarmed at the state of\n the public mind. It is far from betokening the close of a\n revolution. At the time it was said, and to this day it is\n commonly repeated, that the insurgents of June were the dregs of\n the populace; that they were all outcasts of the basest\n description, whose only motive was lust for plunder. Such, of\n course, were many of them. But it is not true that they were all\n of this kind; would to God that they had been! Such wretches are\n always a small minority; they never prevail; they are imprisoned\n or executed, and all is over. In the insurrection of June, besides\n bad passions, there were, what are far more dangerous, false\n opinions. Many of the men who attempted to overthrow the most\n sacred rights were carried away by an erroneous notion of right.\n They sincerely believed that society was based upon injustice, and\n they wished to give it another foundation. [Compare Gambetta\u2019s\n _nouvelle couche sociale._] Our bayonets and our cannon will never\n destroy this revolutionary fanaticism. It will create for us\n dangers and embarrassments without end. Finally, I begin to ask\n myself whether anything solid or durable can be built on the\n shifting basis of our society? Whether it will support even a\n despotism, which many people, tired of storms, would, for want of\n a better, hail as a haven? We did not see this great revolution in\n human society begin; we shall not see it end. If I had children, I\n should always be repeating this to them, and should tell them that\n in this age and in this country one ought to be fit for\n everything, and prepared for everything, for no one can count on\n the future.\u201d(203)\n\n\nA conversation apropos of a Benedictine survivor of 1789, given from Mr.\nSenior\u2019s _Journal_ (_Memoir_, vol. ii. p. 1), illustrates the final\nopinion of the author of _Democracy in America_ upon the Revolution. It\ntook place only one year before his death:\n\n\n \u201cAnd what effect,\u201d I asked, \u201chas the contemplation of seventy\n years of revolution produced on him (the Benedictine)? Does he\n look back, like Talleyrand, to the _ancien r\u00e9gime_ as a golden\n age?\u201d \u201cHe admits,\u201d said Tocqueville, \u201cthe material superiority of\n our own age, but he believes that intellectually and morally we\n are far inferior to our grandfathers. And I agree with him. These\n seventy years of revolution have destroyed our courage, our\n hopefulness, our self\u2010reliance, our public spirit, and, as\n respects by far the majority of our higher classes, our passions,\n except the vulgarest and most selfish ones, vanity and\n covetousness. Even ambition seems extinct. The men who seek power\n seek it not for itself, not as a means of doing good to their\n country but as a means of getting money and flatterers.\u201d(204)\n\n\nWhat more remarkable testimony to Burke\u2019s prophetic vision could be\noffered?\n\nIf any were needed, it would be found in an opposite quarter, in the\nrevelations of Cluseret and his accomplices as to the premeditated burning\nof Paris and the destruction of the Vend\u00f4me Column in 1871, viewed in\nconnection with Burke\u2019s positive and reiterated assertions that the worst\nexcesses of 1789 were not the result of sudden passion, nor accidental,\n\u201cas some believed or pretended to believe, but were systematically\ndesigned from the beginning.\u201d It is known that among his correspondents in\n1789\u201090 were the notorious Tom Paine and the eccentric cosmopolite,\nAnacharsis Baron de Clootz, both of whom strove to enlist Burke in the\ndefence of the revolutionary cause before he had decisively pronounced\nhimself. Paine and Clootz, congenial birds of prey, had both flown to\nParis (anticipating the course of their disciples in 1871), smelling the\napproaching carnage afar off; and from them there is reason to believe\nBurke gathered ample hints of the full measure of the revolutionary\nprogramme. Striking also is Burke\u2019s remark that the revolutionary\nsubdivision of France would induce a demand for communal or cantonal\nindependence. \u201cThese commonwealths,\u201d he says, \u201cwill not long bear a state\nof subjection to the republic of Paris\u201d\u2014a prediction wonderfully verified\nby the attitude of Lyons and Marseilles during the late war and the period\nof the Commune, as well as by the cantonal programme of the Spanish\nrevolutionists.\n\nBurke\u2019s theory of the true basis of government was as moderate and well\nconceived as the revolutionary schemes were destructive and unsound. \u201cWe\nknow,\u201d he says, \u201cand, what is better, we feel, that religion is the basis\nof society and the source of all good and all comfort. A man full of warm,\nspeculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than as\nhe finds it; but a good patriot and a true politician always considers how\nhe shall make the most of the existing constitution of his country. A\ndisposition to preserve and an ability to improve taken together, would be\nmy standard of a statesman. Everything else is vulgar in the conception,\nperilous in the execution.\u201d His defence of the cause of religion in\nFrance, and his glowing tribute to the virtue and learning of the French\nclergy, then, as now, the mark of the deadliest shafts of the Revolution,\nare eloquent and inspiring, but too long to quote in this article.\n\nEqually remarkable with Burke\u2019s prophetic warnings of the successive\ncrimes and follies of the Revolution and its offspring, the Commune, are\nhis speculations on a supposed restoration of the monarchy. More than a\nquarter of a century after his death their wisdom was illustrated in the\nevents of the inglorious reign of Charles X. His words are almost\nstartling in their applicability to the present posture of French affairs,\nthe Septennate, and the conflicting aspirations of the Comte de Chambord\nand the Prince Imperial:\n\n\n \u201cWhat difficulties,\u201d he says, referring to a Restoration, in his\n letter on the policy of the allies, \u201cwill be met with in a\n country, exhausted by the taking of its capital, and among a\n people in a manner trained and actively disciplined to anarchy,\n rebellion, disorder, and impiety, may be conceived by those who\n know what Jacobin France is; who may have occupied themselves in\n revolving in their minds what they were to do if it fell to their\n lot to re\u2010establish the affairs of France. What support or what\n limitations the restored monarchy must have may be a doubt, or how\n it will settle or pitch at last; but one thing I conceive to be\n far beyond a doubt\u2014that the settlement cannot be immediate, but\n that it must be preceded by some sort of power equal, at least in\n vigor, vigilance, promptness, and decision, to a military\n government. For such a preparatory government no slow\u2010paced,\n methodical, formal, lawyer\u2010like system; still less that of a\n showy, artificial, trifling, intriguing court, guided by cabals of\n ladies, or men like ladies; least of all a philosophic, theoretic,\n disputatious school of sophistry\u2014none of these ever will, or ever\n can, lay the foundations of an order that will last.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cA judicious, well\u2010tempered, and manly severity in the support of law and\norder\u201d\u2014this was Burke\u2019s advice to princes. He advocated freedom of the\npress as understood in England; \u201cbut they indeed,\u201d he said, \u201cwho seriously\nwrite upon a principle of levelling, ought to be answered by the\nmagistrate, and not by the speculatist.\u201d We conclude our quotations by the\nfollowing portrait of the \u201cLegitimate Prince\u201d:\n\n\n \u201cWhoever,\u201d says Burke, \u201cclaims a right by birth to govern there,\n must find in his breast, or conjure up in it, an energy not always\n to be expected, not always to be wished, in well\u2010ordered states.\n The lawful prince must have in everything but crime the character\n of an usurper. He is gone if he imagines himself the quiet\n possessor of a throne. He is to contend for it as much after an\n apparent conquest as before. His task is to win it. He must leave\n posterity to adorn and enjoy it. No velvet cushions for him. He is\n to be always\u2014I speak nearly to the letter\u2014on horseback. This\n opinion is the result of much patient thinking on the subject,\n which I conceive no event is likely to alter.\u201d\n\n\nBurke\u2019s tremendous onslaught on the Revolution drew forth swarms of\nopponents in his own day, most of whom are now forgotten. More than\nemulating the besotted conceit of those early apologists of anarchy,\n\u201cliberal\u201d writers are still to be found so infatuated with hostility to\nthe Catholic Church, so purblind to the experience of nearly a hundred\nyears\u2014of the bloody chapters of 1793, of 1830, of 1848, of 1851, of\n1871\u2014so unawakened by the ruin the same accursed spirit has wrought in\nSpain, as to be heard chanting the glories of the Revolution and bewailing\nthe possibility of \u201ca priestly reaction\u201d as the \u201cdestruction of all that\nhas been gained by the national agonies of the last century.\u201d What has\nbeen gained which would not have been gained in the gradual progress of\nsociety? What rather has not been lost in national honor and domestic\nvirtue and happiness which would have been retained \u201cif men had not been\nquite shrunk,\u201d as Burke said, \u201cfrom their natural dimensions by a\ndegrading and sordid philosophy\u201d? Let a witness like De Tocqueville\nanswer!\n\nThe great political philosopher\u2019s warnings against the real spirit of the\nRevolution are still worthy the attention of all governments. Time has\nadded to their value, not diminished it. \u201cAgainst these, their \u2018rights of\nmen,\u2019 let no government,\u201d he says, \u201clook for security in the length of its\ncontinuance or in the justice and lenity of its administration. They are\nalways at issue with governments, not on a question of abuse, but on a\nquestion of competency and a question of title.\u201d\n\nHis advice is vigorous and plain. \u201cNever,\u201d he says, \u201csuccumb to the enemy.\nIt is a struggle for your national existence. If you must die, die with\nthe sword in your hand! But I have no fear for the result!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nRobert Cavelier De La Salle. Concluded.\n\n\nOn the 6th of April La Salle discovered that the river was running through\nthree channels. The following day he divided his company into three\nparties, of which he led the one that followed the western channel; the\nSieur de Tonty, accompanied by Father Membr\u00e9, took the middle channel, and\nthe Sieur Dautray took the eastern channel. Father Membr\u00e9 relates that\nthese channels appeared to them \u201cbeautiful and deep.\u201d The water began to\nget brackish; then two leagues further down it became perfectly salt; and\nnow, O glorious sight!\n\n\n \u201cThe sea! the sea! the open sea,\n The blue, the fresh, the ever free,\u201d\n\n\nwas spread out before the eager and enchanted eyes of those brave and\nnoble voyagers. Their first impulse was to return thanks to the King of\nkings for the protecting arm of his providence, that had thus guided them\nsafely to this glorious consummation of their hopes; their second was to\nhonor the King of France for his favor and protection. For these purposes,\non the 9th of April, a cross and a column were erected with appropriate\nceremonies. The entire company, under arms, joined with the minister of\nreligion in chanting the hymn of the church, _Vexilla Regis_, and the _Te\nDeum_, and then followed a discharge of their muskets and shouts of \u201cLong\nlive the King!\u201d The column bore the following inscription: \u201cLouis the\nGreat, King of France and Navarre, reigns; the 9th of April, 1682.\u201d At the\nfoot of a tree La Salle caused a leaden plate to be buried, bearing the\narms of France and a Latin inscription commemorative of the first\nnavigation of the Mississippi, from the Illinois to its mouth, by La\nSalle, Tonty, Membr\u00e9, and twenty Frenchmen. An authentic act, in the form\nof a _proc\u00e8s verbal_, was drawn up by La Metairie, the notary of the\nexpedition, and signed by La Salle, Father Membr\u00e9, Tonty, and the other\nprincipal members of the company. La Salle took formal possession of the\ncountry, which he was the first to call Louisiana, for the King of France;\nalso of the natives and people residing therein, the seas, harbors, and\nall the streams flowing into the Mississippi. The great river itself he\ncalled the St. Louis.\n\nIn the midst of their rejoicings they were suffering for food. They found\nsome dried meat prepared by the Indians, of which they partook with\nrelish, and, as the good missionary says, \u201cIt was very good and delicate.\u201d\nWhat must have been their feelings when they discovered that they had\npartaken of human flesh! Scarcity of food compelled them to turn their\ncanoes up\u2010stream. La Salle paid a visit to the hostile Quinipissas, with\nwhom he resorted to his usual address to propitiate their friendship, and,\nthough invited to a banquet, his men partook of it with their guns at\ntheir sides. A treacherous treaty of peace was entered into, but was used\nas a cover for an attack next morning upon the Europeans. But the ever\u2010\nwatchful La Salle was prepared for them. The two parties were engaged in a\ncontest of two hours, in which the Quinipissas were worsted, and sustained\na loss of ten men killed and many wounded. This is the only occasion in\nwhich the hostile dispositions of the natives did not yield to skill and\ndiplomacy. His men, exasperated at the conduct of the treacherous natives,\nurged him to allow them to burn their village; but he adopted the wiser\nand more humane policy of refraining from alienating still more by\nunnecessary cruelty those whom he wished to make devout worshippers of the\nKing of heaven and loyal subjects of the King of France. During the\nremainder of the return voyage, with the exception of the Koroas, who had\nnow become allies of the Quinipissas, he met with the same hospitable\ntreatment from the tribes on the banks of the river as he had received\nwhile going down. They were now regaled on the fresh green corn of the\nfields. La Salle with two canoes pushed forward from the Arkansas, in\nadvance of his party, as far as Fort Prudhomme. Here he became dangerously\nill, and could advance no further, and on the 2d of June was joined by the\nentire company. His malady became so violent that he was compelled to send\nTonty forward to convey early information to the Comte de Frontenac of the\ngreat discovery. Father Membr\u00e9 remained with La Salle, doing all in his\npower to alleviate the sufferings of his cherished leader, whose illness\ncontinued forty days. The expedition by slow advances reached the Miami\nlate in September, where they learned of several of Tonty\u2019s military\nexpeditions undertaken after he left the main body. Intending to make the\nvoyage of the Mississippi again in the spring, and plant colonies along\nits shores, La Salle appointed Father Membr\u00e9 his messenger to the king;\nand this zealous man, accepting the commission with promptness, proceeded\nto Quebec, and on the 2d of October sailed for France, to lay before the\nFrench court accurate information of La Salle\u2019s discoveries. During the\nnext ten or twelve months La Salle remained in the Illinois country,\ncementing his friendly alliances with the Indians, and pushing forward his\ntrading interests. Having seen Fort St. Louis completed, he left Tonty in\ncommand of it, and for his plan of colonization he substituted the project\nof applying to the French government for co\u2010operation in a much more\nextensive one. He reached Quebec early in November, and sailed for France\nto render an account of his fulfilment of the royal orders, and to enlist\nthe good offices of the government in his future plans, and landed at\nRochelle on the 23d of December, 1683.\n\nThe following allusion to La Salle\u2019s services to France in extending the\nprovince of New France by the exploration of the Mississippi, by Gov.\nDongan, of the rival English province of New York, is interesting.\nAlluding to a map of the country which he was sending home to his\nsuperiors, Gov. Dongan writes: \u201cAlso, it points out where there\u2019s a great\nriver discovered by one Lassal, a Frenchman from Canada, who thereupon\nwent into France, and, as it\u2019s reported, brought two or three vessels with\npeople to settle there, which (if true) will prove very inconvenient to\nus, but to the Spanish also (the river running all along from our lakes by\nthe back of Virginia and Carolina into the Bay of Mexico); and it\u2019s\nbelieved Nova Mexico cannot be far from the mountains adjoining it, that\nplace being in 36\u00b0 North Latitude. If your lordships thought it fit, I\ncould send a sloop or two from this place to discover that river.\u201d(205)\n\nLa Salle now conceived the plan of approaching the mouth of the\nMississippi by sea, exploring the country, and founding powerful colonies\ntherein. The evil reports of his enemies had preceded him to France, and\nthese were strengthened by the disparaging representations which De La\nBarre, Frontenac\u2019s successor as Governor of Canada, had been sending home.\nBut the Marquis de Seignelay, the son of the deceased minister Colbert,\nagain favored La Salle\u2019s enterprises, and secured for them the favor of\nthe king. The government provided a fleet of four vessels for the\nexpedition: the _Joly_, a royal ship, a frigate of thirty\u2010six tons,\ncommanded by Capt. de Beaujeu, a Norman gentleman, who was also commander\nof the squadron; the _Belle_, of six tons, a present from the king to La\nSalle; the _Aimable_, a store\u2010ship of three hundred tons burden, on board\nof which were the goods, implements, and effects of the expedition; and\nthe _St. Francis_, a ketch containing munitions and merchandise for San\nDomingo. M. de Chevalier d\u2019Aire was lieutenant to Capt. de Beaujeu, and\nthe Sieur de Hamel, a young gentleman full of fire and courage, his\nensign. Father Le Clercq, the narrator of the expedition, exclaims: \u201cWould\nto God the troops and rest of the crew had been as well chosen!\u201d\n\nA new commission was issued to La Salle, by which he was authorized to\nfound colonies in Louisiana, and to govern the vast country and its\ninhabitants from Lake Michigan to the borders of Mexico. The commander of\nthe squadron was to be subject to his orders, except in navigating the\nships at sea\u2014an arrangement which the jealous and sensitive mind of\nBeaujeu permitted to embitter him against La Salle, and which led to\ndifficulties between them. Besides marines and one hundred soldiers, the\ncompany to embark in the expedition amounted to about two hundred and\neighty persons, amongst whom were several persons of consideration. The\nSieur Moranget, and the Sieur Cavelier, nephews of La Salle, the latter\nonly fourteen years old; Planterose, Thibault, Ory, Joutel, Talon, a\nCanadian gentleman with his family, and some other families, consisting of\nmen and young women, also joined the expedition as volunteers. One of La\nSalle\u2019s first cares was to provide for the spiritual wants of his\nfollowers and colonists and the conversion of the heathen nations he\nexpected to visit. For ten years the zealous Recollect Fathers had\nseconded and promoted the efforts of La Salle to Christianize the natives\nof the New World, and he now made it an essential point to obtain some of\nthese holy men to accompany his great expedition. His application to their\nsuperior, the Rev. Father Hyacinth le Febvre, was cordially complied with,\nand accordingly Fathers Zenobe Membr\u00e9, Anastace Donay, and Maxime Le\nClercq were selected from this order for the task. M. Tron\u00e7on, superior of\nthe Sulpitians, was not behind the Recollects in zeal for the good work,\nand accordingly three secular priests, Cavelier, the brother of La Salle,\nChefdeville his relative, and Majulle, were chosen. These constituted the\necclesiastical corps of the expedition. Nothing was left undone, either by\nthe superiors of the Recollects or of the Sulpitians, nor by the Holy See,\nfor carrying the faith of Christ to those remote and benighted regions.\nAmple powers and privileges were conferred upon the good missionaries, so\nas to relieve them from the necessity in emergencies of resorting to the\ndistant ordinary of Quebec.\n\nBut in selecting soldiers, artisans, and laborers, the most culpable\ndisregard of duty was chargeable to the agents of La Salle, who, while he\nwas engaged at Paris, filled up the ranks by receiving from the streets of\nRochelle worthless vagabonds and beggars, who were wholly ignorant of the\ntrades for which they were chosen. La Salle was only partially able to\nremedy this evil before sailing. Bancroft thus describes the composition\nof this part of the expedition: \u201cBut the mechanics were poor workmen, ill\u2010\nversed in their art; the soldiers, though they had for commander Joutel, a\nman of courage and truth, and afterwards the historian of the grand\nenterprise, were themselves spiritless vagabonds, without discipline and\nwithout experience; the volunteers were restless with indefinite\nexpectations; and, worst of all, the naval commander, Beaujeu, was\ndeficient in judgment, incapable of sympathy with the magnanimous heroism\nof La Salle, envious, self\u2010willed, and foolishly proud.\u201d La Salle arrived\nat Rochelle on the 28th of May, 1684, and during his stay of some weeks\nthe unhappy misunderstanding between him and the commander of the\nsquadron, which proved so great a drawback on the enterprise, began to\nmanifest itself. The four vessels sailed from Rochelle on the 24th of\nJuly, but the breaking of one of the masts of the _Joly_ in a storm caused\nthem to put in at Chef\u2010de\u2010Bois, and finally, on the 1st of August, they\nset sail again, steering for San Domingo. During the voyage to San\nDomingo, La Salle and Beaujeu could not proceed together with cordiality\nor harmony, and the former was unfortunate in gaining the ill\u2010will of the\nsubordinate officers and sailors by interfering to protect his own men\nfrom what he regarded as an absurd and unnecessary procedure. It was the\ncustom among sailors to require all who had not before crossed the tropic\nto submit to the penalty of being plunged into a tub of water by their\nveteran companions for the amusement of others, or pay liberally for a\ncommutation of the penalty. La Salle peremptorily forbade his men being\nsubjected to this alternative; hence the hostility of those who failed to\nrealize the usual fun or fine at their expense. After a prosperous voyage\na storm overtook the squadron as they approached San Domingo. It was\nagreed that the _Joly_ should put in at Port de Paix in the north of the\nisland; but Beaujeu changed his course of his own will, and carried her to\nPetit Gonave, far to the south. In four days the _Belle_ and _Aimable_,\nwhich had been separated from her by the storm, joined her there. The _St.\nFrancis_ was surprised and captured by two Spanish pirogues, which was a\nserious loss to the expedition and a sore affliction to La Salle.\n\nAt Petit Gonave La Salle did all in his power for the relief of the sick.\nHe was, however, stricken down himself by a violent illness that for a\nwhile rendered his recovery hopeless. He recovered in time sufficiently to\nattend to the prosecution of the voyage. He and Fathers Membr\u00e9 and Donay,\nCavelier, Chefdeville, and Joutel, were transferred to the _Aimable_, and\nthus the two commanders were happily separated. In their misunderstanding\nBeaujeu was greatly at fault in accepting a command inferior to that of La\nSalle, as he well knew it to be, and in embarrassing by his petulant and\njealous course an undertaking which his instructions and his obvious duty\nobliged him to promote. La Salle, too, would have acted more wisely and\ndiscreetly in conciliating one whose good\u2010will and co\u2010operation were so\nnecessary to his success. The squadron, now reduced to three vessels,\nsailed from Petit Gonave on the 25th of November.\n\nAfter pursuing their course safely along the Cayman Isles, and anchoring\nat the Isle of Peace (pines), where they stopped to take in water, and at\nPort San Antonio, in the Island of Cuba, they entered the Gulf of Mexico\non the 12th of December. Sailing ten days longer, they descried land at\nonce from the _Belle_ and _Aimable_. So utterly unknown was the latitude\nof the coasts, and so erroneous the sailing information given to them at\nSan Domingo, that no one could tell where they were; but it was\nconjectured after much consultation that they must be in the Bay of\nAppalachee, which is nearly three hundred miles east of the Mississippi.\nOn the contrary, they were near Atchafalaya Bay, about one hundred miles\nwest of the main mouth of the Mississippi. Guided by the general opinion\nas to their locality, they now coasted to the westward, going still\nfurther from the object of their search. No information could be obtained\nfrom the natives on the shore, and finally, after twenty days\u2019 sailing, it\nwas ascertained that they were approaching the borders of Mexico, near\nMagdalen River and the Bay of Espiritu Santo. The _Joly_ now came up, and\nthe unfortunate misunderstanding between La Salle and Beaujeu was renewed,\nin consequence of the latter charging that he had been designedly left\nbehind. The superior sailing capacity of the _Joly_, and Beaujeu\u2019s evident\nindifference about keeping company with the other vessels, flatly\ncontradicted this irritating charge. All now desired to return in the\ndirection of the Mississippi, except Beaujeu, who would not go without a\nnew supply of provisions. La Salle offered a supply of fifteen days, the\nbest he could do; but Beaujeu rejected the offer as insufficient. In the\nmeantime the vessels proceeded twenty miles along the coast, reaching the\noutlet of the Bay of St. Bernard, to which La Salle gave the name of St.\nLouis, now called Matagorda Bay. Joutel and Moranget were sent to explore\nthe bay, and afterwards La Salle joined them at a river they could not\ncross without a boat. The pilots having reported insufficient depth of\nwater, the _Aimable_ was lightened and her captain ordered to run her into\nthe bay. The pilot of the _Belle_, knowing the harbor, was sent to his\nassistance; but the captain of the _Aimable_ refused him admittance on\nboard, saying that he knew how to manage his own ship. The _Aimable_ was\nsoon upon a shoal. She bilged, and was a ruin. A portion of the cargo was\nsaved, Beaujeu himself sending his boats to assist, but most of the\nimplements and tools intended for the colony were lost. There was no\ndoubt, says Joutel, of the treachery of the captain of the _Aimable_ in\nthis affair. La Salle from the shore had the mortification of seeing all\nhis orders disobeyed, and witnessed this deplorable accident to the store\u2010\nship. He was embarking, in order to remedy the false movements of his\nvessels, when over a hundred Indians made their appearance. First putting\nthem to flight, and then offering them the calumet, he made them his\nfriends. He also gave them presents, purchased some of their canoes, and\nall seemed to promise a lasting friendship, from which great advantages\nwould have resulted to the expedition. But, alas! all upon whom La Salle\nhad to depend did not possess his prudence nor always follow his\ninjunctions. By the imprudence of some of his men a serious difficulty\nsprang up with the Indians. A bale of blankets from the wreck of the\nstore\u2010ship was thrown ashore and seized by the Indians. La Salle ordered\nhis men to recover it by peaceable means; but they pursued just the\nopposite course, by demanding its restoration with pointed muskets. They\nbecame alarmed and fled, but returned at night, and, finding the sentinel\nasleep, attacked the camp, killing the Sieurs Ory and Desloges, two of La\nSalle\u2019s most valued friends, two cadets, and dangerously wounding\nMoranget. This and the numerous other disasters which they encountered\ncaused many a heart that started out full of hope and courage to falter or\ndespond, and many talked of abandoning the enterprise. But La Salle\u2019s\nexample of calm determination and unflagging spirit sustained them under\nthe appalling gloom and ill\u2010luck that seemed to hang over the adventure.\nBut Beaujeu, whose hostility to La Salle and his enterprise increased with\nthe misfortunes of the latter, now resolved to return to France. All the\ncannon\u2010balls were in his vessel, and he refused to deliver them, because\nit would be necessary to remove a part of his cargo in order to get them\nout. Thus the cannons were left with the colony, and the balls carried\nback to France. He took on board the treacherous captain and crew of the\n_Aimable_, and the 12th of March sailed for France. In the meantime the\ncompany left at the fort sustained a severe loss in the death of the Sieur\nde Gros from the bite of a rattle\u2010snake. Also, a conspiracy was set on\nfoot in the fort, with the design of murdering Joutel, and then escaping\nwith such effects as they could carry off. But the designs of these\ntraitors were discovered in time to be defeated. The colony now consisted\nof about one hundred and eighty persons besides the crew of the _Belle_,\nand their own faithful guns were their only means of obtaining food in\nthat vast and distant wild. A temporary fort was erected with the _d\u00e9bris_\nof the _Aimable_ for their protection, and Moranget was left in command of\nit. La Salle, accompanied by Fathers Membr\u00e9 and Le Clercq, started out\nwith fifty men to explore the shores of the bay, ordering the _Belle_ to\nsail along to make soundings. Anchoring opposite a point\u2014where a post was\nestablished, to which Hurier gave his own name (being appointed to the\ncommand of it), serving as an intermediate station between the naval camp\nand that which La Salle intended to establish further on\u2014in their course a\nlarge river was discovered, to which La Salle gave the name of Vaches, or\nCow River, from the great number of cows he saw on its banks; and here the\nintended station was erected. Holy Week and Easter intervening, were\ncelebrated with solemnity and fervor by these Christian colonists in the\nwilderness, \u201ceach one,\u201d as Father Membr\u00e9 remarks, \u201creceiving his Creator.\u201d\nAbout the middle of July the entire colony, with their effects and\nwhatever could be of service, were transferred to this encampment from\nthose of Moranget and Hurier, which were destroyed. Here the men were\nemployed in cultivating the soil and in sowing seeds brought from France,\nwhich, however, did not succeed, either because they had been injured by\nthe salt water or because the season was not suitable. They were next\nengaged in erecting a habitation and fort, which was a work of huge labor\nand hardship, as the trees for the timber had to be cut three miles off\nand dragged to the spot, and many of the men sank under the toil. The\nSieur de Villeperdy and thirty others were carried off within a few days\nby disease contracted at San Domingo, and among them was the master\u2010\ncarpenter, whose services could not well be spared. While under these\ncalamities the spirits of all around him were sinking, La Salle remained\nfirm and cheerful. Setting them the example himself, he kept all the\nhealthy men at work. He took the place of architect and chief carpenter\nupon himself, marked out the beams, tenons, and mortises, and prepared the\ntimbers for the workmen. The fort occupied an advantageous position, was\nsoon finished, mounted with twelve pieces of cannon, and supplied with a\nmagazine under ground. It was called St. Louis, and placed under the\ncommand of Joutel. The insolence of the Indians compelled La Salle to give\nthem a proof of his power. For this purpose he waged war upon them, but\nonly with sufficient rigor to make them respect him and his companions.\nAmong the captives was a very young girl, who was baptized, and died a few\ndays afterwards; of whom Father Le Clercq said: \u201cThe first\u2010fruits of this\nmission, and a sure conquest sent to heaven.\u201d\n\nDetained some time by the sickness of his brother, La Salle did not resume\nhis exploration of the bay till towards the last of October, when, putting\nhis clothes, papers, and other effects on the _Belle_, he ordered the\ncaptain to sail along the western shore in concert with his movements.\nWishing to ascertain how near the shore the _Belle_ could approach, he\nsent the pilot and five men to make soundings, with instructions that all\nshould return on board at night. Attracted by the peaceful beauty of the\ncountry, and proposing to cook and enjoy the supper on shore, the pilot\nand five men, leaving their arms and canoe at low water, advanced a gun\u2010\nshot on the upland. After their supper they fell asleep. La Salle,\nbecoming uneasy at their absence, went in search of them, and to his\nhorror found them all lying on the ground murdered, their bodies half\ndevoured by wild animals, and their arms and canoe destroyed. It was with\nsad hearts that the survivors paid the last honors to their slaughtered\ncompanions; for disasters followed in such quick succession that no one\ncould foresee the time or circumstances of his own fate. Of the colony now\ndescribed Bancroft remarks: \u201cThis is the settlement which made Texas a\npart of Louisiana. In its sad condition it had yet saved from the wreck a\ngood supply of arms and bars of iron for the forge. Even now this colony\npossessed from the bounty of Louis XIV., more than was contributed by all\nthe English monarchs together for the twelve English colonies on the\nAtlantic. Its number still exceeded that of Smith in Virginia, or of those\nwho embarked in the _Mayflower_. France took possession of Texas; her arms\nwere carved on its stately forest\u2010trees; and by no treaty or public\ndocument, except the general cessions of Louisiana, did she ever after\nrelinquish the right to the province as colonized under her banners, and\nmade still more surely a part of her territory because the colony found\nthere its grave.\u201d\n\nLa Salle now determined to seek the mouth of the Mississippi by land\naround the eastern part of the bay. Leaving provisions for six, he set out\nwith his brother, the Sieur Cavelier, and twenty men. He explored in\ncanoes every stream that might prove an outlet of the great river, and was\nenchanted with the beautiful region which he traversed. But all was in\nvain. After an absence of four months, and satisfying himself that none of\nthe outlets of the Mississippi emptied into the bay, and after losing\ntwelve or thirteen of his men, he returned in rags to Fort St. Louis. He\nnow sent out a party in search of the _Belle_, whose long absence caused\nhim great uneasiness; for in her were centred all his hopes of reaching\nthe mouth of the Mississippi by sea, of procuring assistance from San\nDomingo, or of sending information of their forlorn condition to France,\nor, perhaps, in his extremest necessity, of saving his colony from a\nhorrid death by famine or at the hands of the savages.\n\nLa Salle, with his characteristic courage and perseverance, now resolved\nto undertake a journey to the distant Illinois, in order to obtain relief\nfrom the faithful Tonty, whom he had stationed there on departing for\nFrance. He selected as his companions on this dangerous and toilsome\njourney his brother, Cavelier, Father Anastasius Donay, Father Le Clercq,\nMoranget, Behorel, Hurier, Heins, a German surgeon who joined him at San\nDomingo, and Nika, the Indian hunter, who was ever at his side, and\nothers, making in all twenty persons. The preparations for this great\njourney consisted of four pounds of powder, four pounds of lead, two axes,\ntwo dozen knives, as many awls, some beads, and two kettles. They first\nrepaired to the chapel, where the Divine Mysteries were celebrated and the\nblessing of heaven invoked upon their undertaking. Committing the colony\nleft behind to the care of Joutel, La Salle and his companions set out on\nthe 22d of April, 1686, from Fort St. Louis. Their route lay in a\nnortheasterly direction and through a country of immense prairies and\nmighty rivers, inhabited by various Indian tribes, who were exceedingly\nfriendly and hospitable; even the women, who were usually timid and\nundemonstrative, coming forward to greet the wayworn, mysterious\ntravellers. In some instances they found that the Indians had had some\nintercourse with the Spaniards. La Salle and the zealous Father Donay\nendeavored on every occasion to instil into their minds some knowledge of\nthe one true God. It is supposed by some that La Salle was attracted in\nthis direction by the fame of the rich mines of Santa Barbara, the El\nDorado of Northern Mexico. They found large quantities of wild cattle,\nwhich supplied them with meat. They crossed numerous rivers, such as the\nColorado, Brazos, and Trinity, which they knew by different titles, and\nupon which they bestowed new names in honor of members of the party. They\nendured incredible exposure, hardship, and toil, and many faltered and\ngave out under their sufferings. In crossing the Brazos (which they called\nthe river Misfortune) on a raft of canoes, with one\u2010half of his party,\nincluding his brother, La Salle and his companions were hurried violently\ndown the current, and almost immediately disappeared from sight. The\ninterval between this and evening was one of intense anxiety to those who\nwitnessed the accident; but at nightfall the raft and its occupants were\ndiscovered safely disembarked on the opposite bank, their onward course\nhaving been providentially arrested by the branches of a large tree in the\nriver. Those who remained on the other side had to cross over and join La\nSalle on a raft of canes, the men having to wade into the water and draw\nthe raft ashore. Father Donay says: \u201cI was obliged to put my Breviary in\nmy cowl, because it got wet in my sleeve.\u201d He also says: \u201cWe had not eaten\nall day, but Providence provided for us by letting two eaglets fall from a\ncedar\u2010tree; we were ten at this meal.\u201d The manner in which they crossed\nthese mighty rivers was to make one of the men swim to the other side and\nfell trees across the stream, while those who remained did the same, so\nthat the trees from the opposite sides, meeting in the centre, formed a\nbridge, upon which they crossed. This was done more than thirty times\nduring their journey. The Indians were in most instances friendly and\nhospitable, and La Salle\u2019s discernment and prudence always enabled him\neither to conciliate their friendship in the first instance, or to\novercome by force of character and courage any hostile feeling they might\nexhibit. Many of the tribes displayed evidences of civilization in their\ndress, implements, and dwellings, and in the ease and cordiality with\nwhich they received and entertained strangers. Horses were abundant among\nthem, and La Salle procured several, which proved of great service. Among\nthe Coenis Indians they found Spanish dollars and smaller coins, silver\nspoons, lace, and clothes of European styles. One of the Indians became so\nenamored with Father Donay\u2019s cowl that he offered the father a horse in\nexchange, but the good religious preferred to walk rather than to part\nwith the cherished habit of S. Francis. After crossing the Trinity River\nLa Salle and his nephew, the Sieur Moranget, were attacked by a violent\nfever, which brought them very low and greatly retarded their march. Just\nbefore this four of the party, unable to endure the fatigues and hardships\nof the journey, deserted and retired to the Nassonis Indians; another was\nswallowed by a crocodile while crossing a river; and Behorel was lost.\nTheir powder now began to give out; they had not advanced more than one\nhundred and fifty leagues in a straight line, and one thousand miles of\ntravel lay before them; sickness, delay, and desertions had impaired their\nability to proceed; and they had no food except what the chase afforded.\nUnder these circumstances La Salle resolved to return to Fort St. Louis.\nThe extreme terminus of their travel is supposed to have been midway\nbetween the Trinity and Red Rivers, near the head\u2010waters of the Sabine,\nand fifty or sixty miles northwest of Nacogdoches. On the return the party\nwere greatly assisted by the horses procured from the Indians. After a\nfull month\u2019s march they arrived on the 17th of October, the feast of S.\nBernard, and were welcomed by their friends at the fort with mingled\nfeelings of joy and sadness. Father Donay remarks: \u201cIt would be difficult\nto find in history courage more intrepid or more invincible than that of\nthe Sieur de La Salle; in adversity he was never cast down, and always\nhoped with the help of heaven to succeed in his enterprises, despite all\nthe obstacles that rose against him.\u201d\n\nSad events awaited La Salle on his return. In a few days he saw to his\nastonishment a canoe approaching in which were Chefdeville, Sablonni\u00e8re,\nand some others from the _Belle_. In this fact he read the sad story of\nthe vessel\u2019s destruction, which was soon confirmed by their own lips. That\nvessel, his last hope, had, by the negligence of the pilot, stranded on\nthe beach of the southern coast of the bay. The returning men,\nprovidentially finding a canoe on the shore, were able to escape. In the\n_Belle_ were lost thirty\u2010six barrels of flour, a quantity of wine, the\nclothes, trunks, linens, and most of the tools. Among the few things saved\nwere the papers and clothes of La Salle. The good Father Le Clercq closes\nhis narrative of this sad accident, which completely disconcerted all of\nLa Salle\u2019s plans, with the remark: \u201cHis great courage, even, could not\nhave borne up had not God aided him by the help of extraordinary grace.\u201d\n\u201cHeaven and man,\u201d says Bancroft, \u201cseemed his enemies; and, with the giant\nenergy of an indomitable will, having lost his hopes of fortune, his hopes\nof fame; with his colony reduced to about forty, among whom discontent had\ngiven birth to plans of crime; with no Europeans nearer than the river\nPanuco, no French nearer than Illinois, he resolved to travel on foot to\nhis countrymen at the north, and return from Canada to renew his colony in\nTexas.\u201d\n\nDuring his absence Joutel had been under the necessity of guarding against\nsavage attacks upon his hunting parties from without, and against\ndisaffection from those within, the fort. The false Duhaut returned to the\nfort, where he incited the men to mutiny\u2014a task of no great difficulty\namong men who had endured so many disappointments and hardships. And\nthough Joutel succeeded in suppressing the mutiny, disaffection lurked\nbehind. But the routine of the fort was occasionally relieved by gayety\nand merriment, as was the case on the marriage of the Sieur Barbier to one\nof the young women who came out with the expedition. The gentleness,\nprudence, and experience of Father Membr\u00e9 went far to ameliorate the\ncondition of the company and make easy the duties of Joutel. Before\nleaving them, La Salle provided for the greater comfort and accommodation\nof those at the fort. As he was about to depart he was again stricken down\nwith illness, and was retarded ten weeks.\n\nOn his recovery La Salle selected from seventeen to twenty companions,\namongst whom were Father Donay, Cavelier the priest, young Cavelier the\nnephew, Joutel, Moranget, Duhaut, Larcheveque, Heins, Liotel, Toten, De\nMarle, Teissier, Saget, and the Indian hunter Nika. La Salle addressed\nthem in thrilling and encouraging words, and, as Father Donay says, \u201cwith\nthat engaging way which was so natural to him,\u201d and on the 12th of\nJanuary, 1687, their simple preparations being made, it only remained for\nthem to turn their steps northward,\n\n\n \u201cAnd, like some low and mournful spell,\n To whisper but one word\u2014farewell.\u201d\n\n\nAs they journeyed on they had to cross many large rivers\u2014resorting to the\nsame means as in their trip towards New Mexico\u2014and to traverse vast\nprairies, to visit and be entertained by the Indian tribes on the route,\nto conciliate their friendship, to secure most of their food by hunting,\nand, in fine, encounter similar scenes and incidents as on their previous\nexcursions. On the 15th of March they arrived at a place where La Salle\nhad caused a quantity of Indian corn and beans to be buried, and he sent\nDuhaut, Heins, Liotel, Larcheveque, Teissier, Nika, and his footman,\nSaget, for it. The corn and beans had disappeared, discovered, probably,\nby the unerring scent of the Indians; but the gun of Nika supplied their\nplace with two buffaloes. They sent Saget to request La Salle to allow\nthem horses to bring the meat, and he accordingly despatched Moranget, De\nMarle, and Saget with two horses for that purpose. On arriving at the\nscene Moranget found that the meat, though quite fresh, had been smoked,\nand that the men had selected certain parts of it and set them aside for\ntheir own enjoyment, as was usual with them. In a moment of anger Moranget\nreproved them, took away both the smoked meat and reserved pieces, and\nthreatened to do as he pleased with it. Duhaut, in whose heart an old\ngrudge against Moranget still survived, became enraged, and adopted the\nguilty resolve of ridding himself of his enemy. He enticed Liotel and\nHeins into a conspiracy to murder not only Moranget, but also Saget and\nNika, whose faithful gun had so often saved them from famine. Liotel was\nthe willing instrument to do the horrid deed; at night, while they were\nburied in sleep, he despatched his victims. A blow extinguished the life\nof Nika; a second that of Saget; but Moranget lingered for two hours,\n\u201cgiving every mark of a death precious in the sight of God, pardoning his\nmurderers, and embracing them,\u201d till De Marle, who was not in the plot,\nwas compelled to complete the bloody tragedy.\n\n\n \u201cCome, thick night,\n And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell!\n That my keen knife see not the wound it makes;\n Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark\n To cry, Hold! hold!\u201d\n\n\nThe bloodthirsty desperadoes did not, alas! stop at this triple murder;\nadding treason to their horrid purposes, they resolved upon the death of\ntheir commander, the great and good La Salle, who had ever been to them a\nfather no less than a leader. Three days elapsed, and the dark purpose was\nonly the more firmly fixed in their guilty souls. In the meantime La Salle\nbecame alarmed for the safety of Moranget, and, as if anticipating what\nhad happened, he asked in the encampment if Duhaut and his associates had\nnot shown signs of disaffection. He resolved at once to go in search of\nhis faithful friend. The remainder of this bloody tragedy we will give in\nthe language of Father Donay, who was an eyewitness of it:\n\n\n \u201cAsking me to accompany him, he took two Indians and set out. All\n the way he conversed with me of matters of piety, grace, and\n predestination; expatiating on all his obligations to God for\n having saved him from so many dangers during the last twenty years\n that he had traversed America. He seemed to me particularly\n penetrated with a sense of God\u2019s benefits to him. Suddenly I saw\n him plunged into a deep melancholy, for which he himself could not\n account; he was so troubled that I did not know him any longer. As\n this state was far from being usual, I roused him from his\n lethargy. Two leagues after we found the bloody cravat of his\n lackey (Saget), he perceived two eagles flying over his head, and\n at the same time perceived some of his people on the edge of the\n river, which he approached, asking them what had become of his\n nephew. They answered us in broken words, showing us where we\n should find him. We proceeded some steps along the bank to the\n fatal spot where two of these murderers were hidden in the grass,\n one on each side, with guns cocked; one missed M. de La Salle, the\n other at the same time shot him in the head. He died an hour\n after, on the 19th of March, 1687.\n\n \u201cI expected the same fate; but this danger did not occupy my\n thoughts, penetrated with grief at so cruel a spectacle. I saw him\n fall a step from me, with his face all full of blood; I watered it\n with my tears, exhorting him to the best of my power to die well.\n He had confessed and fulfilled his devotions just before we\n started; he had still time to recapitulate a part of his life, and\n I gave him absolution. During his last moments he elicited all the\n acts of a good Christian, grasping my hand at every word I\n suggested, and especially at that of pardoning his enemies.\n Meanwhile his murderers, as much alarmed as I, began to strike\n their breasts and detest their blindness. I could not leave the\n spot where he had expired without having buried him as well as I\n could, after which I raised a cross over his grave.\n\n \u201cThus died our wise commander; constant in adversity, intrepid,\n generous, engaging, dexterous, skilful, capable of everything. He\n who for twenty years had softened the fierce temper of countless\n savage tribes was massacred by the hands of his own domestics,\n whom he had loaded with caresses. He died in the prime of life, in\n the midst of his course and labors, without having seen their\n success.\u201d\n\n\nIt has not been precisely ascertained where the place of La Salle\u2019s death\nis located; but it is supposed to have been on one of the streams flowing\ninto the Brazos, about forty or fifty miles north of the present town of\nWashington, in the State of Texas.\n\nAs soon as Father Donay re\u2010entered the encampment, the good and\napostolical Cavelier, the brother of the deceased, read the sad tragedy in\nhis friend\u2019s countenance, and exclaimed: \u201cOh! my poor brother is dead.\u201d\nThe grief of Cavelier, Joutel, and the other faithful companions of La\nSalle was uncontrollable. When the assassins entered the encampment to\nplunder the effects of their murdered commander, they found these faithful\nmen on their knees, prepared for death. But the sight of the venerable\nCavelier, and perhaps some regret at the deed they had committed, stayed\ntheir bloody work; and these were spared, on condition that they would not\nreturn to France, though they several times afterwards heard the murderers\nsay among themselves that they must get rid of them, in order to save\nthemselves from the avenging arm of justice. The assassins seized upon the\neffects of La Salle, elected Duhaut their leader, and resolved to return\nto the Coenis Indians. During several days they travelled together, these\nwretches treating the missionaries and friends of La Salle as servants,\nimposing upon them every hardship in crossing the many rivers they\nencountered. \u201cMeanwhile,\u201d says Father Donay, \u201cthe justice of God\naccomplished the punishment of these men, in default of human punishment.\u201d\nA dispute arose between Duhaut and Heins over the stolen property of La\nSalle, in which the various guilty members of their party took the one\nside or the other. Heins, two days afterwards, seizing the opportunity,\nshot Duhaut through the heart with a pistol in the presence of the whole\ncompany. He died upon the spot. At the same moment Ruter shot Liotel, the\nmurderer of Moranget, who survived several hours; and, while thus\nlingering, another fired a blank cartridge near his head, which set fire\nto his hair and clothes, and he expired amidst the flames. Heins now\nassumed command, and would have killed Larcheveque, a third member of the\nband of assassins, but for the intercession of Joutel. On reaching the\nCoenis camp they found these warriors about to start with a large army\nagainst the Kanoatins, and Heins, dressed in the rich mantle of La Salle,\nto the great disgust of his surviving relatives and friends, went with\nthem to join in fresh deeds of carnage and crime. Father Donay, Cavelier\nthe priest, Cavelier the nephew of La Salle, Joutel, De Marie, Teissier,\nand a young Parisian named Barthelemy, now took their departure for the\nIllinois, and, after journeying till the 24th of July, they were greatly\nrelieved at beholding on the opposite side of the river a large cross and\nlog hut, at the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi, and in a few\nmoments they were united with a small detachment stationed there by Tonty.\nAfter remaining a few days for rest and refreshment, they started again on\nthe 1st of August, and on the 14th arrived at Fort Crevec\u0153ur, where they\nwere led immediately to the chapel, and chanted the _Te Deum_, in\nthanksgiving for their safe deliverance from so many dangers, to which\nothers had fallen victims. Tonty was absent from the fort on their\narrival, on a visit to the Illinois; but on his return he received them\nwith great kindness, and supplied them with every assistance. They\nconcealed from the faithful and devoted Tonty the death of his beloved\nfriend and commander. In the spring of 1688 they left the fort for Quebec,\nwhence they sailed for France in August, arriving there in October.\n\nThe fort in St. Bernard\u2019s Bay was, after the death of La Salle, attacked\nby the Indians, and the whole company massacred except three sons and a\ndaughter of Talon and a young Frenchman named Eustace de Breman, who were\nled into captivity. The Spaniards also, hearing of La Salle\u2019s movements\nand of the presence of Frenchmen among the Coenis Indians, sent out a\nmilitary force, who captured Larcheveque and Grollet, who were sent to\nSpain, where for some time they were confined in prison, and afterwards\nsent to Mexico to work in the mines. The Talons were rescued and sent to\nMexico. The two elder brothers entered the Spanish navy, but were\nafterwards restored to their country by the capture of their vessel. The\nyounger brother and his sister were retained some time in the service of\nthe Viceroy of Mexico, and afterwards accompanied him to Spain. Nothing\nfurther is known of Breman and the others who were taken captives by the\nIndians.\n\nThe will of La Salle, bearing date the 11th of August, 1681, leaves his\nproperty to his cousin, M. Fran\u00e7ois Plet, in gratitude for his kindness\nand the assistance he rendered to the great explorer in his expeditions.\n\nThe following notice of La Salle is given by a Catholic writer:\n\n\n \u201cRobert Cavelier de La Salle, the first explorer who navigated\n Ontario, Erie, Michigan, and Huron, deserves to be enumerated\n among the great captains. A native of Rouen, early employed in the\n colonies, he had been instigated by the reports of missionaries to\n seek, through the northern lakes, a passage to the Gulf of Mexico.\n Building a schooner on the Cayuga Creek, he ascended the lakes in\n 1679, chanting the _Te Deum Laudamus_. Carrying his boats over\n land from the Miami to a branch of the Illinois River, he forced\n or found his way into the upper Mississippi. For many years, with\n most heroic constancy, this soul of fire and frame of iron was\n devoted to the task of opening routes between the Gulfs of St.\n Lawrence and of Mexico, until he perished in his enterprise by the\n hands of two of his own unworthy followers, on an excursion into\n Texas, in 1687. The Catholic character of La Salle is marked in\n every act of his life. He undertook nothing without fortifying\n himself by religion; he completed nothing without giving the\n first\u2010fruits of the glory to God. He planted the cross wherever he\n landed, even for an hour; he made the western desert vocal with\n songs, hymns of thanksgiving and adoration. He is the worthy\n compeer of De Soto and Marquette; he stood, sword in hand, under\n the banner of the cross, the tutelary genius of those great States\n which stretch away from Lake Ontario to the Rio Grande. Every\n league of that region he trod on foot, and every league of its\n water he navigated in frail canoes or crazy schooners. Above his\n tomb the northern pine should tower; around it the Michigan rose\n and the southern myrtle should mingle their hues and unite their\n perfumes.\u201d(206)\n\n\nIn reviewing the history of the last great enterprise of this remarkable\nman, we can but recognize three principal reasons of its failure: first,\nthe inferior character of the men selected at Rochelle by his agents to\naccompany the expedition\u2014a cause of disaster which the virtues and\ncapacity of a Tonty, Joutel, and Moranget could not neutralize; second,\nthe hostility and narrow\u2010minded jealousy of Beaujeu, upon whose co\u2010\noperation so much depended; and, third, the misinformation in regard to\nthe Gulf of Mexico which he received at San Domingo, and the prevailing\nignorance of the times of the bearings of the coast and of the latitudes,\nwhich caused his expedition to miss the object of its search. Mr. Sparks,\nwhile according to him the possession of the highest qualities of mind and\nsoul, considered him wanting in those qualities which are necessary in\norder to secure the hearty co\u2010operation of men, to win their affections as\nwell as their obedience, and, by yielding a little to their weaknesses,\nsecure the benefit of their faithful services. It may be said, however,\nthat no man ever had more faithful, self\u2010sacrificing, and devoted\nfollowers than he, and those who did not sympathize with him were too\nignorant and sordid to appreciate his noble character or his magnificent\nplans. The learned historian at the same time remarks that La Salle labors\nunder the disadvantage of having to be judged from the accounts of others,\nnot all of whom were his friends, and knew little of his plans; for \u201cnot a\nsingle paper from his own hand, not so much as a private letter or a\nfragment of his official correspondence, has ever been published, or even\nconsulted by the writers on whose authority alone we must rely for the\nhistory of the transactions in which he was concerned.\u201d\n\nMr. Sparks then pays the following well\u2010merited and eloquent tribute to\nthe character and services of the illustrious commander:\n\n\n \u201cOn the other hand, his capacity for large designs and for\n devising the methods and procuring the resources to carry them\n forward, has few parallels among the most eminent discoverers. He\n has been called the Columbus of his age; and if his success had\n been equal to his ability and the compass of his plans this\n distinction might justly be awarded to him. As in great battles,\n so in enterprises, success crowns the commander with laurels,\n defeat covers him with disgrace, and perhaps draws upon him the\n obloquy of the world, although he might have fought as bravely and\n man\u0153uvred as adroitly in one case as in the other. Fortune turns\n the scale and baffles the efforts of human skill and prowess. In\n some of the higher attributes of character, such as personal\n courage and endurance, undaunted resolution, patience under\n trials, and perseverance in contending with obstacles and\n struggling through embarrassments that might appall the stoutest\n heart, no man surpassed the Sieur de La Salle. Not a hint appears\n in any writer that has come under notice that casts a shade upon\n his integrity or honor. Cool and intrepid at all times, never\n yielding for a moment to despair, or even to despondency, he bore\n the heavy burden of his calamities manfully to the end and his\n hopes expired only with his last breath. To him must be mainly\n ascribed the discovery of the vast regions of the Mississippi\n Valley, and the subsequent occupation and settlement of them by\n the French; and his name justly holds a prominent place among\n those which adorn the history of civilization in the New World.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Log Chapel On The Rappahannock.\n\n\nErected A.D. 1570\u2014The First Christian Shrine In The Old Dominion.\n\nVirginia is proud of her antiquity. She assumes the title of Old Dominion;\nshe was long styled the Mother of Presidents. But really her antiquity is\ngreater than many know. Before the English settlers landed on the shores\nof the James, Stephen Gomez and other Spanish navigators had entered the\nwaters of the Chesapeake and consecrated that noble sheet of water to the\nVirgin daughter of David\u2019s line, as the Bay of St. Mary, or the Bay of the\nMother of God.\n\nThe soldier of the cross followed hard on the steps of the explorer. As\nearly as in 1536 St. Mary\u2019s Bay is laid down on Spanish maps. Oviedo\nmentions it in 1537, and from that time pilots ranged the coast, David\nGlavid, an Irishman, being recorded as one who knew it best. All agree as\nto its latitude, its two capes, the direction of the bay, and the rivers\nentering into it, identifying beyond all peradventure our modern\nChesapeake with the St. Mary\u2019s Bay of the early Spanish explorers. Though\nhis attention was called to it, the latest historian of Virginia, misled\nby a somewhat careless guide, robs his State of the glory which we claim\nfor her. The sons of S. Dominic first planted the cross on the shores of\nthe Chesapeake, and bore away to civilized shores the brother of the chief\nof Axacan or Jacan, a district not far from the Potomac. Reaching Mexico,\nthis chief attracted the notice of Don Luis de Velasco, the just, upright,\ndisinterested Viceroy of New Spain\u2014one of those model rulers who, amid a\npopulation spurred on by a fierce craving for wealth, never bent the knee\nto Mammon, but lived so poor that he died actually in debt. This good man\nhad the Virginian chief instructed in the Christian faith, and, when his\ndispositions seemed to justify the belief in his sincerity and faith, the\nchieftain of the Rappahannock was baptized, amid all the pomp and splendor\nof Mexico, in the cathedral of that city, the viceroy being his god\u2010\nfather, and bestowing upon him his own name, Don Luis de Velasco, by which\nthe Virginia chief is always styled in Spanish annals.\n\nMeanwhile, Coligny\u2019s French Huguenots attempted to settle Florida, but\ntheir colony, which was doomed to early extinction from its very material\nand utter want of religious organization or any tie but a mere spirit of\nadventure, was crushed with ruthless cruelty by Pedro Melendez, a brave\nbut stern Spanish navigator and warrior, in whose eyes every Frenchman on\nthe sea was a pirate. Soon after accomplishing his bloody work, which left\nSpain in full possession of the southern Atlantic coast, Melendez, who had\nsent out vessels to explore the coast, began his preparations for\noccupying St. Mary\u2019s Bay. The form of the northern continent was not then\nknown; much indeed of the eastern coast had been explored, but so little\nwas the line of the western coast understood that on maps and globes the\nPacific was shown as running nearly into the Atlantic coast, as may be\nseen in a curious copper globe possessed by the New York Historical\nSociety, but which once belonged to Pope Marcellus II. Believing that the\nChesapeake, by the rivers running into it, would easily lead to the\nwestern ocean, Melendez spent the winter of 1565 studying out the subject\nwith the aid of Don Luis de Velasco and Father Urdaneta, a missionary just\narrived from China by the overland route across Mexico. Combining all the\ninformation, he was led to believe that, by ascending for eighty leagues a\nriver flowing into the bay, it was necessary only to cross a mountain\nrange to find two arms of the sea, one leading to the French at\nNewfoundland, the other to the Pacific. To many this will seem wild; but\nit is evident that Don Luis referred to the great trail leading from the\nHuron country through the territory of the Five Nations to the land of the\nAndastes on the Susquehanna, by which the last\u2010named tribe sold furs on\nthe upper lakes, which went down to the French at Brest on the Gulf of St.\nLawrence, while the upper lakes were the arm of the sea stretching\nwestward, as was supposed, to China. An adventurous Frenchman, Stephen\nBrul\u00e9, some few years later followed this trail from the St. Lawrence to\nthe Susquehanna. Melendez, however, misinterpreted it. To his mind the\nupper waters of the Chesapeake, the Potomac and Susquehanna, then known as\nthe Espiritu Santo and Salado, were to be the great carrying place of\neastern trade.\n\nAnxious to secure for his own country so important a pass, Melendez, in\n1566, despatched to St. Mary\u2019s Bay a vessel bearing thirty soldiers and\ntwo Dominican Fathers to begin a station in Axacan or Jacan, near the\nChesapeake. These pioneers of the faith were escorted or guided by Don\nLuis de Velasco. Of these missionaries we seek in vain the names. Perhaps\ntheir fellow\u2010religious now laboring on the banks of the Potomac will be\nstimulated to trace up these early labors of the sons of S. Dominic;\nthough we must admit that Spanish chronicles do not speak of them with\npraise. In fact, they assert that these missionaries, corrupted by an easy\nlife in Peru, had no taste for a laborious mission in Virginia, though\nperhaps they learned the real state of affairs in that land, and, taught\nby Father Cancer\u2019s fate, felt that the attempt would be fatal to all.\nCertain it is that the whole party took alarm. They forced the captain to\nweigh anchor, and, leaving the capes on either hand, steer straight to\nSpain. The Dominican missions in Spanish Florida, which began with the\nglorious epic of Father Cancer\u2019s devoted heroism, closed with this feeble\neffort to plant the Gospel on the shores of the Chesapeake; yet they, too,\nlike the earlier discoverers, undoubtedly consecrated to Mary and the\nRosary the land which in its names, Virginia and Maryland, yet recalls the\nBlessed Virgin Mary, to whom the bay was first consecrated.\n\nFour years later saw Melendez himself in Spain, full of his projects, and\nbent on carrying them out. The sons of S. Ignatius Loyola, full of the\nearly vigor of their institute, were in Florida. The new mission, begun in\n1566, had already a martyr in Father Peter Martinez, of Celda, in the\nDiocese of Saragossa, who was shipwrecked on the coast, and put to death\nby the Indians not far from St. Augustine. It had its devoted laborers in\nFather John Rogel, of Pamplona, Father Sede\u00f1o, and Brother Villareal, who\nsought to win to Christ the Indians near St. Augustine and Port Royal, and\nwho had established an Indian school at Havana to help the great work,\nBrother Baez being the first to compile a grammar. To extend these\nmissions as far as the Chesapeake was a subject which Melendez laid before\nS. Francis Borgia, then recently made general of the order, after having\nacted as commissary of the Spanish missions. A letter of S. Pius V.\nencouraged Melendez, and with the co\u2010operation of these two saints the\nprojected mission to the Chesapeake took form at last. Perhaps some of the\nclergy in Maryland and Virginia remember the personal interest of these\nsaints in the field where they are now laboring; but we fear that the fact\nhas been forgotten. Let us trust that more than one church of S. Pius V.\nwill be monuments of his interest in the land where the next pope that\nbore his name established the first episcopal see on the coast\u2014that of\nBaltimore\u2014and religion has taken such gigantic steps under the fostering\ncare of Popes Pius VII. and Pius IX.\n\nWhen the founder of Florida was thus earnestly engaged in Spain in\npromoting the spiritual welfare of the colony, Don Luis de Velasco, the\nVirginian chief, was still beyond the Atlantic, a grave, intelligent man\nof fifty, well versed in Spanish affairs, to all appearance a sincere and\ncorrect Christian and a friend of the Spaniards. With every mark of joy he\noffered to return to his native land of Axacan, and there do all in his\npower to further the labors of the missionaries who should be sent to\ninstruct his brother\u2019s tribe. So powerful a coadjutor was welcomed by all,\nand ere long Don Luis stood on the deck of a staunch Spanish ship, with a\nband of Jesuits destined to reinforce those already laboring on the\nFlorida mission. This pious party consisted of Father Luis de Quiros, a\nnative of Xerez de la Frontera, in Andalusia, with Brothers Gabriel Gomez,\nof Granada, and Sancho de Zevallos, of Medina de Rio Seco, all selected\nfor the great work by S. Francis Borgia himself. In November the vessel\nanchored before the Spanish fort Santa Elena, which stood on the island of\nSouth Carolina\u2019s famous Port Royal, that still bears the name of the\nsainted mother of Constantine.\n\nThe Jesuit mission of Florida had been erected into a vice\u2010province under\nFather John Baptist Segura. This estimable religious was a native of\nToledo, who had, while pursuing his theological course of study, entered\nthe Society of Jesus at Alcal\u00e0 on the 9th of April, 1566. S. Francis, who\nknew him well, entertained the highest esteem for Segura\u2019s virtues and\npersonal merit, and took him from the rectorship of the College of\nVallisoleta in 1568 to assume the direction of the vice\u2010province of\nFlorida. For two years had he labored with sad discouragement in the\nforbidding field among the Floridian tribes, cheered by letters of his\nsuperiors rather than by any hope of success that as yet seemed to dawn on\nhis exertions.\n\nHe was at Santa Elena when Father Quiros arrived, bearing the instructions\nfor the establishment of the new mission on the shores of the Chesapeake.\n\nThat missionary had become discouraged and disheartened. All his labors\nand those of his associate missionaries among the Calos Indians, on the\nsouthern coast of Florida, had proved utterly unavailing. No impression\ncould be made on the flinty hearts of those treacherous and cruel tribes,\nwhich, indeed, to the end resisted the calls of divine grace. The labors\nof the Jesuit missionaries on the coast of South Carolina were scarcely\nmore encouraging. The attempts to civilize and convert found hearers only\nas long as food and presents were given.\n\nFather Segura resolved for a time to abandon the unpromising field, and\nturn all their energies to an Indian school at Havana, where children from\nthe Florida tribes could be carefully instructed, so as to form a nucleus\nfor future Christian bands in their native tribes. But the voice of S.\nFrancis recalled him to sterner labors, and he resolved to go in person to\nthe new field opened to them in Axacan, where the influence of Don Luis\nand the character of the tribes seemed to promise more consoling results.\nHe accordingly directed the experienced Father Rogel to remain at Santa\nElena in charge of the missions there, and selected eight associates for\nhis new mission. These were Father Luis de Quiros, Brothers Gabriel Gomez\nand Sancho Zevallos, already mentioned, with Brother Peter de Linares and\nJohn Baptist Mendez, Christopher Redondo, and Gabriel de Solis, who with\nAlphonsus, destined to be the sole survivor, seem to have been four Indian\nboys from their school at Havana, and regarded as novices, trained already\nto mission work as catechists. Such was the missionary party that was to\nplant the cross in Axacan and open the way for Christianity to China by a\nnew route.\n\nWith the influence and support of Don Luis they would need no Spanish aid;\nand as experience had shown them that soldiers were sometimes a detriment\nto the mission they were intended to protect, these devoted missionaries\ndetermined to trust themselves entirely, alone and unprotected, in the\nhands of the Indians.\n\nOn his side Don Luis made every promise as to the security of the persons\nof the missionaries confided to his care by the adelantado of Florida.\n\u201cThey shall lack nothing,\u201d he declared. \u201cI will always be at hand to aid\nthem.\u201d\n\nOn the 5th of August, 1570, this little mission colony sailed from Santa\nElena, and in that enervating heat must have crept slowly enough along the\ncoast and up the Chesapeake; for it was not till the 10th of September\nthat they reached the country of Don Luis, which is styled in Spanish\naccounts Axacan or Jacan.\n\nWhere was the spot termed \u201cLa Madre de Dios de Jacan\u201d?\u2014Our Lady of Axacan\n(or, as we should write it, Ahacan or Hacan). Precisely where no map or\ndocument has yet been found to show. It was evidently near the Susquehanna\n(Salado) or the Potomac (Espiritu Santo), the two rivers at the head of\nthe bay known to Melendez, and by which he hoped to reach China. That it\ncould not have been the Susquehanna seems clear from the fact that, being\nto the eastward, it would not naturally be the shortest route; and,\nmoreover, that river was in those days, and till far in the ensuing\ncentury, held by a warlike tribe of Huron origin, living in palisaded\ntowns, while the tribe of Don Luis, who dwelt at Axacan, were evidently\nnomads of the Algonquin race.\n\nWe are therefore led to look for it on the Potomac, the Espiritu Santo of\nthe early Spanish navigators. The vessel that bore the devoted Vice\u2010\nProvincial Father Segura and two other Spanish vessels some time\nafterwards ascended this river for a considerable distance to a point\nwhence they proceeded to the country of Don Luis, which, as letters show,\nlay on a river six miles off, and which they might have reached directly\nby ascending that river, though it was always passed by the pilots, being\nregarded, apparently, as less navigable and safe. The Rappahannock at once\nsuggests itself as answering the conditions required to explain the\nSpanish accounts.\n\nOn the Potomac there is to this day a spot called Occoquan, which is near\nenough to the Spanish Axacan to raise a suspicion of their identity. Not\nfar below it the Potomac and Rappahannock, in their sinuous windings,\napproach so closely as to increase the resemblance to the country\ndescribed.\n\nThe land that met the eyes of the missionary pioneers in the wilderness of\nVirginia was not one to raise fond hopes or sustain delusions. A long\nsterility had visited Florida and extended even to the Chesapeake. Its\neffects were even more striking. Of all that the descriptions of Don Luis\nhad prepared them to find in Axacan there was absolutely nothing to be\nseen. Just come from Florida and its vicinity, with its rich, luxuriant\nvegetation, with fruits of spontaneous growth, they beheld a less favored\nland, bare and parched with a six years\u2019 sterility, with the starving\nremnants of decimated and thrice decimated tribes. The wretched\ninhabitants looked upon Don Luis, their countryman, as if sent from\nheaven, and, seeing him treated with honor, they received the Spaniards\nwith every demonstration of goodwill, though they were so destitute that\nthey could not offer the newcomers any fruit or maize.\n\nWith the winter fast approaching, it seemed almost madness for Father\nSegura and his companions to attempt to establish themselves in this\nunpromising land; but the previous failure of the Dominican Fathers, the\nalmost chiding words of S. Francis Borgia, and the deep interest\nmanifested by Melendez in the success of the attempt, apparently decided\nthe question against all ideas of expediency or mere worldly prudence.\n\nThe researches of the late Buckingham Smith in the Spanish archives not\nonly brought to light many points tending to fix the position of Axacan,\nbut were also rewarded by finding two letters written at this point by\nthese early apostles of Virginia. The father provincial wrote to the king;\nhis associate, Father Quiros, addressed his letters to Melendez, and\nFather Segura added a few words, urging prompt relief. These last have\nfortunately thus reached us. Father Quiros wrote: \u201cSeeing, then, the good\u2010\nwill which this people displayed\u2014although, on the other hand, as I said,\nthey are so famished that all expected to perish of hunger and cold this\nwinter, as many did in preceding winters, because it is very hard for them\nto find the roots on which they usually sustain themselves\u2014the great snows\nwhich fall in this land preventing their search\u2014seeing also the great hope\nthere is of the conversion of this people and the service of our Lord and\nhis Majesty, and a way to the mountains and China, etc., it seemed to the\nProvincial Father Segura that we should venture to remain with so few\nship\u2010stores and provisions, though we ate on the way two of the four\nbarrels of biscuit and the little flour they gave us for the voyage.\u201d\n\nThey resolved to stay, seeing no danger except that of famine; for they\nurged speedy relief. \u201cIt is very necessary that you should endeavor, if\npossible, to supply us with all despatch; and if it be impossible to do so\nin winter, at least it is necessary that in March, or, at the furthest,\nearly in April, a good supply be sent, so as to give all these people\nwherewith to plant.\u201d\n\nThe pilot of the vessel, short of provisions from the time lost on\nreaching Axacan, put the missionaries hastily ashore on the 11th of\nSeptember, and the next day sailed, \u201cleaving us in this depopulated land\nwith the discomforts already described,\u201d say the missionaries.\n\nIt was arranged between the missionaries and this pilot that, about the\ntime of his expected return, they would have Indians on the lookout,\napparently at the mouth of the river, who were to build signal\u2010fires to\nattract attention. On seeing these beacons he was to give them a letter\nfor the missionaries.\n\nThe little band of Christians beheld the vessel hoist her sail and glide\ndown the river. They stood alone in a wild land, far from aid and\nsympathy. Two priests, three religious, Don Luis, and four other Indian\nconverts, formed the little Christendom. But their destination was not yet\nreached. Guided by Don Luis, they took up their march for the river six\nmiles off, Indians bearing some of their scanty supplies, the missionaries\nthemselves carrying their chapel service, books, and other necessaries.\nAfter this portage they embarked on the river\u2014which they might have\nascended, and which seems evidently the Rappahannock\u2014and thus penetrated\nsome two leagues or more further into the country to the villages of the\ntribe.\n\nYet, even before they left the banks of the Potomac they were called upon\nto commence their ministry. \u201cThe cacique, brother of Don Luis, having,\u201d\nsays Father Quiros, \u201ca son three years old very sick, who was seven or\neight leagues from here, as it seemed to him to be on the point of death,\nhe was instant that we should go to baptize it; wherefore it occurred to\nthe vice\u2010principal to send one of us by night to baptize it, as it was\nvery near death.\u201d\n\nThe Indians on the Rappahannock did not dwell in palisaded towns, like the\nConestogas on the Susquehanna, and their kindred, the Five Nations, in New\nYork. From the Spanish accounts they dwelt in scattered bands, each\nforming a little hamlet of a few cabins, each house in the midst of its\nrude garden; for they cultivated little ground, depending on the\nspontaneous productions of the earth: acorns, nuts, berries, and roots.\nSuch were they when Smith described them thirty years later, when\nPowhatan, residing on the James, ruled over the scattered bands as far as\nthe Rappahannock. It was evidently among that tribe, so well known to us\nby Smith\u2019s descriptions, that Father Segura and his companions began their\nlabors, and Powhatan may well have been a son of the cacique, brother of\nDon Luis.\n\nThe accounts of the subsequent proceedings of the little mission colony\nare derived from Alphonsus, one of the Indian boys, and are somewhat\nobscure. They make the journey to the hamlets of the tribe a weary one\nthrough wood and desert and marsh, loaded with their baggage, and living\non roots, and not the short journey which Father Quiros anticipated. His\nletter stated that the Indian canoes were all broken; it was probably\nfound impossible to attempt to repair them, and the whole party trudged on\nby the riverside to their destination.\n\nThe hamlet first reached was a wretched one, tenanted only by gaunt and\nnaked savages, who bore the famine imprinted on their whole forms. Here\namid the tent\u2010like lodges of the Indians, made of poles bound together and\ncovered with mats and bark, Father Segura and his companions erected a\nrude house of logs, the first white habitation in that part of\nAmerica\u2014first church of the living God, first dwelling\u2010place of civilized\nmen; for one end was devoted to their chapel, while the other was their\nsimple dwelling. Here doubtless, before the close of September, 1570, the\nlittle community recited their Office together, and, under the tuition of\nDon Luis, began to study the language. Here, at this modest altar, the\nHoly Sacrifice was for the first time offered by the two priests. Nowhere\non the continent to the northward were the sacred rites then heard,\nunless, indeed, at Brest, in Canada. Greenland, with its bishop and clergy\nand convents, was a thing of the past; Cartier\u2019s colony, on the St.\nLawrence, had been abandoned. The Chapel of the Mother of God, at Jacan,\nwas the church of the frontier, the outpost of the faith.\n\nAs Father Segura had foreseen that he must winter there, and might not\nreceive any supplies before March or April, he doubtless began, like his\nIndian neighbors, to lay up a store of provisions for the long winter.\nAcorns, walnuts, chestnuts, and chinquapins were regularly gathered by the\nnatives, as well as persimmons and a root like a potato, growing in the\nswampy lands. Game must have been scarce on that narrow peninsula between\ntwo rivers, and they had no means of hunting. Though the rivers of\nVirginia teemed with fish, we find no indication that the missionaries\nwere supplied with means of deriving any food from that source.\n\nFor a time Don Luis remained with them, showing all deference and respect\nto Father Segura. In his letter to Melendez Father Quiros gives the\nimpression he had made upon them up to that time, and from which it is\nevident that they had no suspicion of his treachery. \u201cDon Luis,\u201d says he,\n\u201cacts well, as was expected of him, and is very obedient to all that the\nfather enjoins on him, with much respect as well for the provincial as for\nthe rest of us that are here, and he commends himself earnestly to your\nworship, to all his other friends and masters.\u201d\n\nThis good disposition may have been sincere at first, but, as too often\nhappens in such cases, old habits returned; he became Indian with the\nIndians, rather than Spanish with the Spaniards. Ere long he abandoned the\nmissionaries altogether, and went off to another hamlet, distant from it a\nday\u2019s journey and a half.\n\nThe mission party were not yet sufficiently versed in the language to\ndispense with the aid of Don Luis as interpreter, and his influence was\nconstantly needed among the lawless natives. Feeling this, Father Segura\nseveral times sent one of the young men to urge Don Luis to return, but he\nput them off constantly with false statements or unmeaning promises. In\nthis way the winter wore away, with gloomy forebodings in the hearts of\nthe pioneer priests in the log chapel on the Rappahannock. The only hope\nthat cheered and sustained them was that the ship would speedily return\nfrom Santa Elena with the supplies they needed for themselves and the\nseed\u2010corn for the natives, whom they hoped to persuade to cultivate more,\nand depend less on the precarious means of sustenance. Meanwhile, as\nJanuary, 1571, was drawing to a close, Father Segura resolved to make a\nlast effort to move the heart of the recreant Don Luis. He sent Father\nQuiros, with Brothers de Solis and Mendez, to the hamlet where he resided,\nto make a last appeal. The priest, who had so long known him, endeavored\nto recall him to higher and better feelings. The unhappy man made many\nexcuses for his absence, and continued to beguile the missionary with\npromises; but his heart was given up to deadly malice. He had renounced\nChristianity, and doomed its envoys to death. As Father Quiros and his two\ncompanions turned sadly away to depart from the place and rejoin their\nsuffering companions, a shower of arrows whizzed through the air. Quiros\nand his companions fell, pierced by the sharp flinty arrows of the\napostate and his followers. Virginia had its first martyrs of Christ.\nTheir bodies were at once stripped and subjected to all the mutilations\nthat savage fancy inspired.\n\nFather Segura, with the three brothers and two other Indian youths, had\nspent the interval in prayer, anxiety deepening as no sign of Father\nQuiros appeared. On the fourth day the yells and cries that were borne on\nthe chilly air announced the approach of a large party, and in a short\ntime Don Luis appeared, arrayed in the cassock of Father Quiros, attended\nby his brother, the cacique, and a war party armed with clubs and bows. He\nsternly demanded from the missionaries their knives and axes used for\nchopping wood, knowing that with them alone could they make any defence.\nThese were surrendered without remonstrance. Father Segura saw that the\nend was come. The long\u2010delayed ship would be too late. He prepared his\ncompanions to die. They doubtless gathered around the altar where the Holy\nSacrifice had just been offered. Then the apostate gave a signal, and his\nwarriors rushed upon the defenceless and unresisting mission party, and\nslaughtered all but Alphonsus, who was protected by a brother of Don Luis,\nmore humane than that fallen man.\n\nThe bodies of his victims, Father Segura, Brothers Gomez, Linares, and\nZevallos, and the Indian novice, Christopher Redondo, were then, we are\ntold, buried beneath their chapel\u2010house. The shrine of the Mother of God\nwas doubtless pillaged, perhaps demolished; the lamp of Christian light\nwas extinguished, and pagan darkness again prevailed in the land.\n\nAs nearly as could be ascertained, the martyrdom of Father Quiros occurred\non Sunday, the 4th of February, 1571; that of Father Segura a few days\nlater.\n\nWhy had their countrymen in Florida so cruelly neglected them, in spite of\nthe urgent letters taken back by the pilot? It was probably because,\nMelendez being absent, the letters were sent to Spain, and the pilot did\nnot fully reveal the destitute condition in which he had left the mission\ncolony. Brother Vincent Gonzalez was urgent to bear relief to the vice\u2010\nprovincial, but he was put off with the pretext that no pilot could be\nfound to run along the coast from Port Royal to the Chesapeake. It was not\ntill spring that the good brother succeeded in getting a vessel and some\nSpaniards to proceed to the relief of his superior, as to whose welfare\ngreat anxiety was now felt. They ran up the Potomac, and reached the spot\nwhere Segura had landed. Indian runners had descried the vessel when it\nentered the river, and, when the Spanish craft came to anchor, Indians\nwere there to meet them, and the garb of the missionaries was seen in the\ndistance. But the treacherous red men failed to lure them ashore with this\ndevice, although some came forward, crying, \u201cSee the fathers who came to\nus. We have treated them well; come and see them, and we will treat you\nlikewise.\u201d\n\nOn the contrary, suspecting treachery from the fact that the pretended\nfathers did not hasten down to meet them, the Spaniards not only avoided\nlanding, but, seizing two of the treacherous natives, sailed back to Port\nRoyal.\n\nMelendez, soon after returning from Spain, heard their report, and with\ncharacteristic energy resolved to punish the crime. Taking a small but\nstaunch and fleet vessel, with a sufficient force, he sailed in person to\nthe Chesapeake in 1572, bearing with him Father Rogel and Brother\nVillareal. He evidently ran up the Potomac, as the other vessel had done,\nto the spot already familiar to the pilots. Here he landed the Spanish\nsoldiers, and unfurled the standard of Spain on the soil of Virginia.\nMarching inland, this determined man soon captured several Indians. They\nwere interrogated, and at once confessed that the whole mission party had\nbeen cruelly murdered, but they laid the blame of the terrible crime on\nthe apostate Don Luis. Apparently, by one of them Melendez sent word to\nthe tribe that he would not harm the innocent, but he insisted on their\ndelivering up Don Luis. But that false Christian, on seeing the Spanish\nvessel, fled with his brother, the cacique, and all attempts to arrest\nthem failed. The brother who had saved the Indian boy Alphonsus, however,\ncame forward to meet Melendez, bringing to him the only survivor of Father\nSegura\u2019s pious band. The adelantado received him with every mark of\npleasure.\n\nFrom this boy was obtained a detailed account of all that had happened\nafter the departure of the vessel which left the missionaries on the bank\nof the Potomac. The statement is, of course, the basis of all the accounts\nwe possess of the fate of the log chapel on the Rappahannock and the\nlittle Jesuit community gathered to serve it.\n\nThe Spanish commander arrested a number of Indians; and when Alphonsus had\npointed out those concerned in the tragedy, Melendez hung eight of them at\nthe yard\u2010arm of his vessel. Father Rogel prepared them all for death,\ninstructing them, we presume, by the aid of the young survivor, and had\nthe consolation of baptizing them.\n\nAfter this summary act of retributive justice, the founder of St.\nAugustine, with his mail\u2010clad force, embarked, and the Spanish flag\nfloated for the last time over the land of Axacan.\n\nFather Rogel was loath to leave the country without bearing with him the\nprecious remains of his martyred brethren; but Melendez could not venture\nso far from his ship, and his force was too small to divide. The Jesuit\nFather could bear away, as a relic, only a crucifix which had been in the\nlog chapel. Divine vengeance is said to have overtaken those who profaned\nthe sacred vessels, and especially an attempt to injure this crucifix;\nfirst one, then two others, having been struck dead. It was subsequently\nplaced by Father Rogel in the College of Guayala.\n\nSome thirty\u2010five years later an English colony entered a river, to which\nthey gave the name of Mary Stuart\u2019s son. The Indians from that river to\nthe Rappahannock were ruled by Powhatan; and it is worthy of remark that\nRaphe Hamor, one of the earliest settlers, states that Powhatan\u2019s tribe\nwere driven from their original abode by the Spaniards. They were\nAlgonquins, and did not come from Florida. They were, in all probability,\nthe very tribe among whom Father Segura laid down his life. Powhatan,\nrepresented as then a man of sixty, might, at twenty\u2010five, have witnessed\nor taken part in the martyrdom.\n\nSuch is the history of the first community of the Society of Jesus in the\nOld Dominion, of which they were the first white occupants. Dominicans\nbegan the work by converting Don Luis, Jesuits followed it up by actual\npossession, by erecting a chapel, by instituting a regular community life,\nby instructing, baptizing, and hallowing the land by the Holy Sacrifice of\nthe Mass.\n\nThe flag of Spain and the flag of England have alike passed away, but on\nthe banks of the Potomac Jesuit and Dominican are laboring side by side\nthree hundred years after the martyrdom of Segura, Quiros, and their\ncompanions.\n\nFredericksburg, which cannot be far from the early Chapel of the Mother of\nGod, revives its name in her Church of St. Mary of the Immaculate\nConception; and other churches of the same invocation seem to declare\nthat, as of old, so now we may say, \u201cThis is indeed the Blessed Virgin\u2019s\nland.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNew Publications.\n\n\n A LETTER ADDRESSED TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF NORFOLK, ON THE\n OCCASION OF MR. GLADSTONE\u2019S RECENT EXPOSTULATION. By John Henry\n Newman, D.D., of the Oratory. New York: The Catholic Publication\n Society, 9 Warren Street. 1875.\n\n\nThis _Letter_ has two aspects. It is a reply on behalf of the Catholics of\nEngland to Mr. Gladstone\u2019s charge. It is also a polemical pamphlet\nrespecting a domestic controversy with other leaders of the Catholic body\nin England. In its first aspect it is not only masterly in style and\nargument, and marked with the evidence of rare learning, as anything from\nthe author\u2019s pen is sure to be, but, to a certain point, conclusive and\nunanswerable. It proves that Mr. Gladstone\u2019s appeal to English Catholics\nto separate themselves from the doctrine and polity of their spiritual\nsovereign, the Pope, is an arrow shot in the air. It proves that his\ncharge against the Catholic hierarchy of having changed in spirit and\nprinciple, in dogma and in action, in attitude and in aims, is baseless\nand absurd. It refutes the charge that Catholics are intellectually and\nmorally in a state of servile bondage. Several other minor and incidental\nthings are proved, and on the whole it makes an important point in the\ncontroversy about the relation of the Catholic religion to civil\nsovereignty, and the civil rights and duties of the temporal order, as\ndistinct from the spiritual. It does not, and could not be expected to,\nestablish the great fundamental truth opposed to Mr. Gladstone\u2019s error,\nviz., the positive Catholic doctrine of the relation of the church to the\nstate, _in se_, and the firm, immovable basis which that doctrine places\nfor just political sovereignty and corresponding subjection to rest on,\nwhile securing the divine rights of the church and her members, and the\nduties correlative to those rights.\n\nIt is Dr. Newman\u2019s misfortune that a base and dishonest act of some one of\nthe pestilent set of detectives of the press, or the other sneak\u2010thieves\nwho prowled about the purlieus of the Vatican Council, filching secret\ninformation in order to make eligible paragraphs in newspapers, placed him\nin a position before the world embarrassing both to himself and to many of\nhis warmest friends. The embarrassment of which we speak did not imply any\nfalling away from the faith of a Catholic or the holiness of a religious\npriest. Yet it left a sentiment of disappointment, which the present\npamphlet does not altogether remove, that Dr. Newman failed to add lustre\nto his arms, instead of merely preserving unstained what he had already\nacquired.\n\nThe fading impression of this disappointment would have been wholly\neffaced if Dr. Newman had not, in his reply to Mr. Gladstone, renewed it\nby a certain manner of vague and general expression of discontent with a\nnumber of his fellow\u2010Catholics considered by him as extreme or injudicious\nin their doctrine, or way of expressing it, or their measures for\npromoting the growth of the Catholic Church. There may, very well, be\nindividuals deserving his severe language. We have occasion in this\ncountry to lament at extravagant representations of Catholic doctrines,\nharsh and unjust censure of persons or opinions, and other excesses on the\npart of individuals professing to be specially orthodox and devoted to the\nHoly See. We think, however, that Dr. Newman\u2019s language will be understood\nto apply generally to those persons and those writers for the press in\nEngland and Europe who were active and zealous in promoting the definition\nof infallibility by the Vatican Council. If it is true that it has this\nextension, we feel bound to express our painful sense of the wrong done to\na body of the best and truest advocates of the Catholic cause who are to\nbe found among our ranks.\n\nIn respect to the infallibility and supreme authority of the Pope, we\nconsider that Dr. Newman, whose doctrinal soundness was always really\nunquestionable, has given new and explicit evidence which must satisfy\nevery careful reader of the pamphlet who is competent to judge of\ntheological matters. We have carefully scrutinized every phrase and\nproposition, and find nothing which in our judgment is contrary to\nCatholic doctrine. In respect to the theological opinions and the tone of\nargument and expression of the venerable and illustrious author, we think\nhe is sometimes open to criticism, as at least ambiguous, if not\ninaccurate; and in respect to one point, which does not occur as a direct\nstatement of opinion, but as a record of a doubt in his mind expressed in\na letter to a friend written several years ago, viz., the famous question\nof \u201cmoral unanimity,\u201d that the position there taken is altogether\nuntenable.\n\nDr. Newman frankly assumes the _r\u00f4le_ of a \u201cminimizer,\u201d in which his\n_confr\u00e8re_, Father Ryder, figured with so much ability in his controversy\nwith Dr. Ward. We have always thought that Father Ryder proved fairly that\nhis own positions, essentially considered, are within the limits of that\nliberty of opinion which the Catholic doctrine permits. To a certain\nextent we approve of \u201cminimizing.\u201d That is, we approve of not exacting as\na test of orthodoxy, and as _per se_ obligatory under pain of sin, belief\nin more than the law _certainly_ requires. But we are most cordially\nhostile to the system of economy in teaching and practice, which\ninculcates and recommends only the minimum in doctrine, pious opinion, or\ndevotion. We do not attribute the advocacy of such a system to Dr. Newman,\nyet we think it important to caution the readers of his pamphlet against\ndrawing such an inference from his language.\n\nIn speaking of the Syllabus, in particular, we fear that he has spoken in\nsuch a way that some readers will infer that they may disregard it\naltogether. He says it has no dogmatic authority. That it has not, by\nitself, the quality of a complete and independent dogmatic document, we\nmay concede. It is a supplement to a whole series of doctrinal\npronouncements, of the nature of a catalogue of the errors condemned in\nthem. Yet all the errors enumerated are really condemned by virtue of the\nsentence pronounced against them in the whole series of pontifical acts.\nIt is not lawful for any Catholic to hold any one of them. Their\ninterpretation is to be sought, by those who are competent to do so, in\nthe original doctrinal pronouncements of the Holy Father, and by the rest\nof the faithful in the explanation of their pastors, and others who\nexplain them under their sanction. So also, although a condemnation of\nsome particular system of mixed education\u2014_e.g._, in Ireland\u2014does not\ninvolve infallibility, but only authority to which obedience is due, yet\nan _ex cathedr\u00e2_ judgment of the Pope defining as a general proposition\nthat mixed education is dangerous, is an infallible judgment on a question\nof morals.\n\nMoreover, although the condemnation of errors frequently leaves a margin\nfor discussion respecting the full import and extent of the condemned\nerror and the precise limits of the contradictory truth which is affirmed,\nthere is always something positively and certainly decreed, over and above\nthe fact that there is an error of some sort. Frequently, the meaning is\nobvious; and, at least generally, it is soon settled by the agreement of\ntheologians, so far as its essence is concerned. We cannot criticise in\ndetail every particular statement or expression in this pamphlet which, in\nour view, falls short of a clear and unmistakable and complete expression\nof correct theological doctrine. Dr. Newman\u2019s particular line has led\nthrough so many caveats, exceptions, limitations, so much subtle balancing\nof opposite weights, and of what he consents to call \u201cminimizing,\u201d with\nwhich ordinary readers are not familiar, that he leaves the impression\nthat truth, infallible teaching, the authority of the church, even the\nCatholic faith, is something to be afraid of, to be guarded against,\nsomewhat as Englishmen feel about a standing army. We would prefer that,\ninstead of being apparently so solicitous to assure weak brethren and\ntimid converts that they need not believe so much as they are afraid of\nbeing made to, he would speak out with a more clear, ringing, and full\nnote of his own peculiar, unequalled melody, to persuade and encourage\nthem to believe and confide in the church of God and in their prelates,\njoyously, fearlessly, enthusiastically, with the noble spirit worthy of\nthe children of God. We do not like to hear our enemies call Dr. Newman\nthe head of a party of liberal Catholics in England, and set him over\nagainst his archbishop, and pervert his language into a weapon against the\nCouncil of the Vatican. We do not like to have to vindicate him from the\npraise of anti\u2010Catholic writers, and to qualify the approbation which we\nwould like to give to the productions of his subtile and erudite genius by\n\u201cminimizing\u201d criticism. He once wrote of himself,\n\n\n \u201cTime was, I shrank from what was right,\n For fear of what was wrong.\u201d\n\n\nSomething of the same mood seems to have come over his sensitive heart in\nhis seclusion from active, ecclesiastical life, during the Council of the\nVatican, and to have not quite withdrawn its penumbra. We are reminded of\nS. Gregory Nazianzen, complaining of councils and of S. Basil, as he went\naway weary from Constantinople into retirement; and of S. Colman,\ngathering up his relics to quit Lindisfarne and escape from S. Wilfrid.\nThese were weaknesses of saints, but still weaknesses, and it was their\nheroism and not their weakness which made them worthy of our veneration.\nWe trust that Dr. Newman will remember that there are some others to be\nthought of besides those who are weak in the faith and his own _petite\nclientele_ in England; and that he will not close his career without one\nmore deed of prowess, which shall discomfit the enemies of the Holy See\nand the Catholic faith, and show that his pennon still flutters beside\nthose of his fellow\u2010champions.\n\n\n FATHER EUDES, APOSTOLIC MISSIONARY, AND HIS FOUNDATIONS,\n 1601\u20101874. By the Chevalier De Montzey. With a brief of approval\n from his Holiness Pius IX. Boston: Patrick Donahoe. 1874.\n\n\nWe have read this book with pleasure, and have been glad to learn\nsomething of the Congregation of Eudists\u2014one which deserves especial honor\nfor its loyalty to the Holy See and the glorious death of some of its\nmembers at the massacre of the _Carmes_ in Paris during the French\nRevolution. The author, who is a grand\u2010nephew of Father Eudes and of the\nfamous historian Mezeray who was his brother, is a soldier by profession,\nand his style has a freshness and novelty about it quite refreshing in\nhagiography, and contrasting very favorably with some other specimens,\nwhich reflect more credit on the piety than on the literary qualifications\nof their writers. Father Eudes was originally an Oratorian; but after the\ndeath of Father de Condren, when the Oratory became infected with\nJansenism, he left it to found a new congregation of priests, living in\ncommunity without religious vows, and devoted to missions and the\ninstruction of young ecclesiastics in seminaries. He was a truly apostolic\nman, and his work was crowned with success. Dispersed by the French\nRevolution, his congregation has been since revived, and appears to be at\npresent chiefly engaged in the work of secular education. The history of\nthe French Oratory is both singular and instructive. An institute formed\nby Cardinal de Berulle, and including among its members such men as\nMalebranche, Massillon, Mascaron, Father de Condren, and Father Eudes,\nwould seem to have promised a most complete success. Yet it perished\nutterly and ignominiously through the deadly contamination of Jansenism.\nIt has been restored within a few years past, and is now as strongly\nmarked by fidelity to the Holy See and to the spirit of its saintly\nfounders as it was by faithlessness to both in the period of its\ndissolution. Yet its past history will ever remain a grave and warning\nlesson of the deadly effects of tampering or compromising with unsound\ndoctrines, and deviating into new and dangerous ways. Father Eudes\nsucceeded in accomplishing what the founders of the Oratory attempted but\ndid not carry out, though at the cost of much persecution, and in a way\ncomparatively obscure and humble. His character was an original and\nadmirable one, his institute seems to have been judiciously and solidly\norganized, and we both trust and desire that his successors may carry out\nthe excellent work which he commenced to the most ample results. We\nrecommend this life particularly to all who are engaged in similar\nundertakings.\n\n\n THE RELIGIOUS STATE ACCORDING TO THE DOCTRINE OF S. THOMAS. By\n Jules Didiot, D.D. Translated from the French. London: Burns &\n Oates. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n THE PERFECT LAY\u2010BROTHER. By Felix Cumplido, S.J. Same publishers.\n\n THE MISTRESS OF NOVICES ENLIGHTENED UPON HER DUTIES. By M. L\u2019Abb\u00e9\n Leguay. New York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1875.\n\n\nThe first of these three books, specially intended for religious, needs no\nother recommendation than its title. The second is considered by the\nJesuits to be one of the best of its kind, and is equally useful for that\nmost excellent class of religious persons, the Lay\u2010Sisters, as for\nbrothers. The third will be welcome to the ladies in charge of the\nnumerous and crowded novitiates which are the most beautiful feature in\nour American Catholic Church, and, from the recommendations it has\nreceived, we have no doubt will prove satisfactory, though we have not had\ntime even to glance at its contents.\n\n\n MARGARET ROPER. By Agnes Stewart. London: Burns & Oates. 1874.\n (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n\nMiss Stewart is one of our best female writers. The sketch she has given\nof Margaret Roper, in her usual felicitous style, is in the main\nhistorical, with a little fictitious coloring to give it life.\n\n\n CHARACTERISTICS FROM THE WRITINGS OF JOHN HENRY NEWMAN. Arranged\n by W. S. Lilly, with the author\u2019s approval. New York: Scribner,\n Welford & Armstrong. 1875.\n\n\nThe American publishers have imported their edition at the retail price of\n$2.50. It is a London\u2010printed book, which is all that need be said for its\ntypography. The selections are miscellaneous and made with taste and\ndiscrimination. The volume must be welcome to thousands of admirers of the\nmatchless writings of a man who is one of the modern glories of English\nliterature, as well as one of the brightest ornaments of religion and the\nchurch in the present century. One of the best portraits of Dr. Newman\nwhich we have seen, an admirably\u2010executed engraving from a recent\nphotograph, is a welcome addition to the volume.\n\n\n THE COMPLETE OFFICE OF HOLY WEEK, according to the Roman Missal\n and Breviary, in Latin and English. New and revised edition. New\n York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1875.\n\n\nThis little book will be found very useful to those of the laity who have\nan opportunity of attending the Holy Week services, and it will also be\ninteresting to those who may wish to know what those services are which so\noccupy the church during the \u201cGreat Week,\u201d as the work contains all the\ndevotions of Holy Week, with the day and night office. There is an\nabundance of spiritual reading in the Scripture lessons and prophecies, so\nthat those whose duties prevent them from attending the services may reap\nmuch profit by a perusal of the offices at home. Each day is preceded by\nan Introduction, explaining the meaning of the principal ceremonies. There\nis also added the ritual for the blessing of the holy oils, which is\nperformed by the bishop on Holy Thursday.\n\n\n PEACE THROUGH THE TRUTH. SECOND SERIES. PART I. By Rev. J. Harper,\n S.J. London: Burns, Oates & Co. 1875. (New York: Sold by The\n Catholic Publication Society.)\n\n\nThis ponderous volume is employed with the topic of the Levitical\nimpediments to matrimony, and its weight of learning and argument is in\nproportion to its size.\n\n\n THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITUALISM, AND THE PATHOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF\n MEDIOMANIA. Two Lectures. By Frederic R. Marvin, M.D., Professor\n of Psychological Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence in the New\n York Free Medical College for Women. Read before the New York\n Liberal Club, March 20 and 27, 1874. New York: Asa K. Butts & Co.,\n Publishers, No. 36 Dey St. 1874.\n\n\nAsa K. Butts & Co. have published this small book with a long title in a\nvery cheap and economical manner, very well suited to its scientific and\nliterary value. It is decidedly the production of a medio\u2010monomaniac.\n\n\n ON THE WING: A SOUTHERN FLIGHT. By the Hon. Mrs. Alfred\n Montgomery, author of _The Bucklyn Shaig_, _Mine Own Familiar\n Friend_, _The Wrong Man_, etc. London: Hurst & Blackett. 1875.\n\n\nThose of our readers who enjoyed this \u201cflight\u201d during the summer and\nautumn in the pages of THE CATHOLIC WORLD will need no assurance from us\nregarding the pleasure of the trip. To others we will simply say that the\nvolume contains some admirably\u2010told travelling experiences, graphic\ndescriptions of Italian life and scenery, together with romantic episodes\nin which sundry characters, real or imaginary, pass through a variety of\npiquant incidents.\n\nANNOUNCEMENT.\u2014In addition to the new serial already commenced in THE\nCATHOLIC WORLD, we shall begin in the April number the publication of\nanother story by the author of \u201cLaughing Dick Cranstone,\u201d \u201cHow George\nHoward was Cured,\u201d etc.\n\n\n\n\n\n[Transcriber\u2019s Note: Obvious printer\u2019s errors have been corrected.]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n 1 We say \u201cindefinite,\u201d because this virtual sphere in its continuous\n expansion wanes away insensibly, and has no definite limiting\n surface.\n\n 2 That the matter of a primitive element is mathematically unextended\n will be rigorously proved in the next following articles.\n\n 3 \u201cA Speculation touching Electric Conduction and the Nature of\n Matter.\u201d _Philos. Magazine_, 1844, vol. xxiv. p. 136.\n\n 4 THE CATHOLIC WORLD, August, 1874, p. 584.\n\n 5 He says: \u201cWhat do we know of the atom apart from its force? You\n imagine a nucleus which may be called _a_, and surround it by forces\n which may be called _m_: to my mind the _a_, or nucleus, vanishes,\n and the substance consists in the powers of _m_. And, indeed, what\n notion can we form of the nucleus independent of its powers? What\n thought remains on which to hang the imagination of an _a_\n independent of the acknowledged forces?\u201d\n\n We answer that there remains the _inertia_, the _passivity_, and the\n _local position_, which are not the property of the _m_, but of the\n _a_. The _a_, even according to Faraday, is the real centre of a\n sphere, and therefore it cannot vanish while the sphere exists,\n except inasmuch as it must be conceived without bulk, according to\n the theory of simple elements which he adopts.\n\n 6 Opusc. _De Principiis Natur\u00e6._\n\n 7 Aliquid esse semper et ubique potest intelligi dupliciter. Uno modo,\n quia habet in se unde se extendat ad omne tempus et ad omnem locum,\n sicut Deo competit esse ubique et semper. Alio modo, quia non habet\n in se quo determinetur ad aliquem locum vel tempus. _Summa Theol._,\n p. 1, q. 16, a. 7.\n\n 8 Universale est ubique et semper; materia etiam prima, quum sit in\n omnibus corporibus, est ubique. Neutrum autem horum est Deus. Ergo\n esse ubique non est proprium Dei.\u2014Ad primum dicendum, quod\n universale et materia prima sunt quidem ubique, sed non secundum\n idem esse. _Summa Theol._, p. 1, q. 8, a. 4.\n\n 9 _Questi che mai da me non fia divizo._\n\n 10 Formerly September was the 7th month.\n\n 11 This is the title of a remarkable poem by the Rev. John Keble,\n unpublished until after his death.\n\n 12 Dr. Irons, in his book entitled _New Legislation for the Church: Is\n it needed?_ says: \u201cThe most discreditable because the most insincere\n of all the pleas for new legislation is the cry that the ritualists\n are encouraging popery amongst us. To say that we are in danger of\n becoming papists is about as rational as to say that we are becoming\n \u2018Plymouth Brethren,\u2019 \u201d (one of the many new sects which have sprung\n up of late years in England).\n\n 13 At a meeting of a High Church society, called the English Church\n Union, recently held, a member of this Low Church association who\n was present rose and informed the assembly that that body further\n existed \u201cfor the purpose of teaching the bishops the law\u201d\u2014a\n statement which must have been interesting to the Bishop of\n Lichfield and his two coadjutor\u2010bishops who were present.\n\n 14 Upon this the _Times_ remarks: \u201cThere can be no department of\n administration ... without a large deposit of discretionary powers\n in the best hands that can be found. The Church of England has\n always had to submit to that law, for it sees its prelates appointed\n alternately by the opposite political and religious sides, and has\n had to see the ecclesiastical patronage of populous counties\n bestowed for a whole generation on men of one school, and then as\n long on men of the other.\u201d Could any words more graphically depict\n the shuttlecock existence of Anglican ecclesiastical arrangements\n than these?\n\n 15 See _Peace through the Truth_, by the Rev. F. Harper, S. J., whose\n words we occasionally venture to adopt, as expressing so much more\n completely the state of the case than could be done by any of our\n own: \u201cIn the authorized formularies of the Church of England there\n is only one single instance in which confession is distinctly\n alluded to, namely, in the Service for the Visitation of the Sick.\u201d\n But let us hear what is said by the great Anglican authority,\n Archbishop Whately, with regard to the rubric to which we refer, his\n work being a text\u2010book which nearly every Anglican bishop recommends\n to his candidates for ordination. After quoting Marshall and Potter\n as authorities in his favor, he says: \u201cNo authority can be urged\n from thence for the applying of God\u2019s pardon to the conscience of a\n sinner, or for absolving him from any otherwise than from the\n censures of the church,\u201d (_Whately on the Common Prayer_, ch. XI.,\n sec. 5, p. 430, London, 1840). And the late Bishop of London, Dr.\n Blomfield, in one of his charges (1842) speaks of auricular\n confession as \u201ca practice wholly unknown to the primitive church,\n one of the most fearful abuses of that of Rome, and the source of\n unspeakable abominations.\u201d From all which it ought to be clear to\n Anglicans themselves that, if they would find authorized confession\n and valid absolution, they must seek it elsewhere than from the\n self\u2010authorized confessors of their own communion.\n\n 16 F. Harper.\n\n 17 See \u201cOur Paris Letter\u201d in the _Church Times_ for June 12, 1874,\n which might be fitly described as two closely printed columns of\n exasperating mendacity.\n\n 18 We are told that \u201cone striking feature of the evening as regards the\n tone pervading the assemblage was the manifest repudiation of the\n idea ... that, if the bill were pressed, the extreme men would\n secede and free the church from their annoying presence.\u201d When Mr.\n Hillyard, of S. Lawrence\u2019s, Norwich, who presented himself as one of\n the \u201cextremest of the extreme,\u201d told how a parishioner of his had\n said to him, \u201cSir, if fifteen years ago there had been such services\n and spiritual privileges at S. Lawrence as there are now, I should\n never have turned Roman Catholic,\u201d he \u201cfairly brought down the\n house.\u201d The idea of \u201csorrowful departure,\u201d ... when referred to by\n one of the speakers, was received with _shouts of derisive\n laughter_. Another clergyman stated that he had \u201creconciled a great\n number of Roman Catholics to the church\u201d (!), which announcement was\n received with \u201cgreat cheering.\u201d\n\n 19 And Mr. B., moreover, would be able for his part to appeal to the\n \u201cBlack rubric\u201d (so named by the Tractarians), and which is appended\n to the Communion Service, and Art. XXVIII. The former, apologizing\n for the order contained in the office for communicants to receive\n _kneeling_, declares that \u201cthereby no adoration is intended or ought\n to be done, either unto the sacramental bread or wine there bodily\n received, or unto any Corporal Presence of Christ\u2019s natural Flesh\n and Blood. For the sacramental bread and wine remain still in their\n very natural substance, and therefore may not be adored (for that\n were idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians).\u201d Article\n XXVIII. declares that \u201cTransubstantiation cannot be proved by Holy\n Writ; but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture,\n overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to\n many superstitions.... The Sacrament of the Lord\u2019s Supper was not by\n Christ\u2019s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or\n worshipped.\u201d\n\n 20 Mr. H. Wilberforce.\n\n 21 \u201cAs the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch have erred, so\n also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and\n manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith.\u201d\u2014Art. XIX.,\n _Book of Com. Prayer_.\n\n 22 \u201cLudens in orbe terrarum,\u201d Prov. viii. 31.\n\n 23 Animorum nulla in terris origo inveniri potest, nihil enim est in\n animis mixtum atque concretum, aut quod ex terra natum atque fictum\n esse videatur nihil ne aut humidum quidem, aut flabile, aut igneum.\n His enim in naturis nihil inest, quod vim memori\u00e6, mentis,\n cogitationis habeat, quod et pr\u00e6terita teneat, et futura provideat,\n et complecti possit pr\u00e6sentia: qu\u00e6 sola divina sunt; nec invenietur\n unquam unde ad hominem venire possint, nisi a Deo. Singularis est\n igitur qu\u00e6dam natura atque vis animi, sejuncta ab his usitatis\n notisque naturis.\u2014_Tusc. Qu\u00e6st_, lib. 1, c 27.\n\n 24 Laguile, in his _History of Alsace_, regards these apostles as the\n real disciples of S. Peter. He finds a proof of it in the writings\n of S. Iren\u00e6us (who lived in the IIId century), which allude to the\n churches of Germany.\n\n 25 An old tradition attributes the foundation of this ch\u00e2teau to the\n Emperor Maximin, and declares that the rotunda was formerly\n consecrated to the worship of the pagan divinities. This rotunda was\n destroyed in 1734. An inn now stands on the spot.\n\n 26 This abbey, at a later day, adopted the rule of S. Benedict, and in\n the VIIIth century became of great importance, being rebuilt and\n endowed by Duke Garnier.\n\n 27 The remains of St. Deodatus have been preserved in this church.\n Formerly they were borne in procession with great pomp around\n Ebersheim\u2010M\u00fcnster on the 19th of May, the festival of this saint.\n\n 28 S. Odile was particularly attached to Ebersheim\u2010M\u00fcnster. After the\n foundation of the Convent of Hohenbourg she appointed the abbot\n director of her community, and made to it some donations on\n condition that some of the monks of Ebersheim\u2010M\u00fcnster should\n celebrate divine service at Hohenbourg on certain festivals, and the\n abbot himself on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. D\u00e9obald,\n Abbot of Ebersheim\u2010M\u00fcnster, had the particular confidence of\n Charlemagne. He travelled with him to Saxe in 810.\n\n 29 The remains of Adalric were, long after his death, removed from\n Hohenbourg to Ebersheim\u2010M\u00fcnster, and were for a long period\n venerated by the pilgrims.\n\n 30 Chroniclers speak particularly of the wonderful beauty of Odile\u2019s\n fair locks.\n\n 31 \u201cIf Pilatus wears his hood\n The weather surely will be good;\n But if Pilatus dons his sword,\n Then rain will soon be the award.\u201d\n\n 32 \u201cTo the fidelity and courage of the Swiss.\u201d\n\n 33 See Spelman\u2019s _History and Fate of Sacrilege_.\n\n 34 _Les Premi\u00e8res Civilisations: \u00c9tudes d\u2019Histoire et d\u2019Arch\u00e9ologie._\n Par F. Lenormant. Paris.\n\n 35 Cf. Isaias xxxix. 1.\n\n 36 Renan, _Livre de Job_, Introd., p. lxiii., 1860.\n\n 37 Lenormant, _Premi\u00e8res Civilisations_, tom. ii. p. 21.\n\n 38 See Genesis. x. 10.\n\n 39 Cf. Isaias xxxvii. 38.\n\n 40 Is. xlvi. 1.\n\n 41 This is the value of the ideographic sign by which the abode of the\n dead is designated. It also bears two other names, which are of\n great importance, as proving that the Semites, far from borrowing\n from the Greeks their belief in another life, have, on the contrary,\n furnished the latter with the names which they have bestowed on the\n regions of the departed. In the poem of the descent of Istar into\n hell this region is, in fact, denominated _Eribus_, probably meaning\n \u201cthe house of darkness,\u201d from _Ereb_, \u201cevening,\u201d from whence the\n Erebus of the Greeks; and _bit edie_, \u201cthe house of the eternities,\u201d\n from _ed_, \u201ceternity,\u201d from whence comes doubtless the Greek Hades.\n The etymology \u03b1\u03af\u03b4\u03b7\u03c2 is not historical, and may easily be an\n arbitrary invention. Acheron, also, seems very probably derived from\n _Acharon_, the West, the place of darkness, the land of the dead.\n (See Talbot, _Transactions of the Society of Biblical Arch\u00e6ology_.)\n\n 42 _Prem. Civ._ The original text of this poem is given in _Choix de\n Textes Cuneiformes_, pp. 100, 105.\n\n 43 _Transactions of the Soc. of Bibl. Arch\u00e6ol._ vol. i., p. 107, and\n partially translated by Lenormant, _Prem. Civ._\n\n 44 See the two articles by M. Renan upon, or rather _against_, the\n \u201cExp\u00e9dition en Mesopotame\u201d of M. Oppert, in the _Journal des\n Savants_, 1859.\n\n 45 \u201cLet my mouth be filled with thy praise, alleluia, that I may sing,\n alleluia; my lips shall greatly rejoice when I shall sing to thee,\n alleluia, alleluia.\u201d\n\n 46 The Germans call a graveyard God\u2019s acre.\n\n 47 A street of that name.\n\n 48 The old man.\n\n 49 Tiberius\u2019 leap.\n\n 50 _New American Cyclop\u00e6dia_, v. Spiritualism.\n\n 51 The Strada di Toledo, where the maskers assemble, and the combats\n with _confetti_ take place during the Carnival.\n\n 52 _Bals masqu\u00e9s._\n\n 53 The name of the place where large public and private balls are given\n by the Neapolitan nobility, to whom one must belong to have the\n right to subscribe.\n\n 54 Thursday before Lent.\n\n 55 The girls.\n\n 56 An enclosure planted with maize, vines, and orange\u2010trees.\n\n 57 \u201cThat is, Dennis O\u2019Flinn, with whom was this book during a year,\n namely, from the seventh month of the year 1815 to the eighth month\n of the year 1816, _i.e._, viz., D. O\u2019F., of Shandon Street, in Cork,\n of Great Munster, and that put it carefully in this form, as say the\n stanzas above.\u201d\n\n 58 The writer acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr. James O\u2019Farrell for\n this translation and other valuable assistance.\n\n 59 Pronounced Karr.\n\n 60 _The Lay of the Last Minstrel_, canto i. st. vi.\n\n 61 _History of Westmoreland and Cumberland_, Introd.\n\n 62 \u201cIn world is naught, nature has wrought, that shall stay.\n Therefore serve God, keep well the rod, thy fame shall not decay.\u201d\n\n 63 The chronicles do not say how she passed her time at Brisgau. They\n merely state that she lived there about a year as a hermitess and\n mendicant.\n\n 64 S. Attale became the superior of the chapter of S. Etienne at\n Strasbourg, founded by her father and composed of thirty canonesses.\n She lived to a good old age, and died in the odor of sanctity, her\n soul wafted to heaven by a troop of angels and their Queen. Her\n feast is celebrated at Strasbourg on the 3d of December.\n\n 65 S. Eug\u00e9nie succeeded S. Odile as abbess of Hohenbourg, and died in\n 735. She was buried in the Chapel of S. John, and her tomb remained\n entire till the Lutheran soldiers of Mansfeldt broke it open in\n 1622. Her relics were collected by the clergy, and afterwards\n restored to the convent. Later, the Swedes cast them to the winds.\n Only a portion is preserved at Oberehnheim, and still exposed on her\n festival, Sept. 16.\n\n S. Gundeline became the second abbess of Niederm\u00fcnster. Her remains\n were once in a shrine of silver beside the grand altar, but were\n mostly lost in the Thirty Years\u2019 War. What remain are at Einsiedeln.\n\n 66 Roswinde, who had renounced the world before the Monastery of\n Hohenbourg was erected, lived holily under the direction of her\n sister. She was buried in the chapel of SS. Peter and Paul. The name\n of S. Roswinde is found in an ancient litany formerly chanted in the\n Diocese of Strasbourg.\n\n 67 To endow this monastery with relics, he made a pilgrimage to Rome.\n Pope Adrian I. gave him the bodies of S. Sophie and three other\n saints, which he solemnly enshrined at Eschau. He died March 20,\n 783, and was buried at Eschau. He is revered as a saint.\n\n 68 This chalice was still at Hohenbourg in 1546. All the chronicles\n declare that no one could ever tell of what it was composed. The\n Abbey of Hohenbourg had a chalice on its coat\u2010of\u2010arms.\n\n 69 Probably about the year 720. The year is disputed. A popular legend\n says she lived to be one hundred and three years old, which would\n make the year of her death 760.\n\n 70 This will is to be found in the _Histoire de l\u2019Eglise de\n Strasbourg_, by Grandidier.\n\n 71 This precious work was carefully preserved in the Library of\n Strasbourg until the late siege. It is greatly to be hoped that it\n was transferred to a place of safety, and did not share the fate of\n that noble library. The manuscript throughout is by the hand of\n Herrade. It is composed of three hundred and twenty\u2010four leaves of\n parchment. It is especially interesting because it shows the state\n of the sciences and literature, the manners, and the public and\n private usages of the XIIth century.\n\n This work is a systematic collection of extracts taken from\n ecclesiastical history and from the fathers, mingled with\n reflections and observations on astronomy, geography, philosophy,\n history, and mythology, naturally introduced by the subject the\n author is treating of. To these are joined the poems of Herrade. It\n is illuminated with na\u00efve and charming miniatures.\n\n This work is dedicated by the illustrious abbess to her spiritual\n children. She explains in the preface, written in prose, the object\n she had in view in undertaking it. \u201cLike a bee,\u201d she says, \u201cI have\n amassed in this book the honey drawn from the sacred and\n philosophical writings, that I may form a honey\u2010comb to delight you\n and lead you to honor our Lord and the church. Seek herein an\n agreeable food for the soul, refresh hereby your fatigued minds,\n that you may always be occupied with your heavenly Spouse,\u201d etc.,\n etc.\n\n She then enters upon the work. After speaking of God and his\n attributes, the angels and their fall, she comes to the creation,\n discusses man before and after his fall, passes in review the Old\n Testament in its relations with the New, with the history of the\n human race, the development of the arts, sciences, and philosophy.\n\n She comes finally to the mystery of the Redemption, to which she\n joins the genealogy of our Saviour, traced upon a mysterious tree\n planted by the Divinity. She gives an account of the life, miracles,\n teachings, and parables of Christ. Then follow numerous extracts\n from the Acts of the Apostles, to which are annexed very curious\n paintings.\n\n The history of the Roman emperors is naturally connected with the\n development of the Christian Church, and there are ingenious\n miniatures representing allegorically the virtues of the faithful\n followers of Christ, the hideousness of sin, the vanities and\n temptations of the world, the assaults of hell, and the means we\n should use to oppose them.\n\n Finally, Herrade represents, in a series of considerations and\n paintings, the dignities, rights, and obligations of the\n ecclesiastical state.\n\n This work, by the Abbess of Hohenbourg, is the production of a\n thoughtful mind, and is one that required much time. She very\n carefully indicates the numerous and authentic sources whence she\n draws her materials.\n\n Herrade has also left a list of all the popes from S. Peter to\n Clement III., and several astronomical works, which also are, or\n were, in the Library of Strasbourg.\n\n 72 The relics of S. Odile venerated in other places are not of our\n saint. There are three other saints of that name\u2014one a companion of\n S. Ursula; a second, Abbess of Hohenbourg in the XIth century; and a\n third, who was a widow of Liege.\n\n 73 See Silliman\u2019s _Principles of Physics_, n. 20.\n\n 74 The word \u201cmatter\u201d ordinarily signifies \u201cmaterial substance\u201d; but\n among philosophers material substance is that in which one of the\n constituents is _the_ matter, the other being the form. Physicists\n also take the word \u201cmatter\u201d in the sense of one of the constituents\n of material substance, whenever they distinguish _the_ matter from\n the active power of matter. We are surprised to find that Father\n Tongiorgi denies in his _Cosmology_ (n. 102, 103) that the primitive\n atoms are constituted of matter and form. Of what, then, are they\n constituted? He replies that those atoms have no constituents.\n \u201cPhilosophers,\u201d he says, \u201cask what are the constituents of the\n atoms; and we answer that constituents of the atoms there are none,\n whether with regard to their essence or to their\n quantity\u201d\u2014_Qu\u00e6stionem proponunt philosophi qu\u0153nam sint constitutiva\n atomorum. Cui respondemus, constitutiva atomorum nulla esse, nec\n quoad essentiam, nec quoad quantitatem_ (n. 119). This is a curious\n doctrine indeed; for it admits that a thing may be constituted\n without constituents, and not only ignores the metaphysical analysis\n of the primitive being, but implicitly declares it to be absurd.\n That all created substance essentially consists of act and potency\n we have shown in THE CATHOLIC WORLD for March, 1874, p. 824.\n\n 75 We propose to treat this question separately.\n\n 76 THE CATHOLIC WORLD.\n\n 77 Itaque ubi habetur distinctio unius ab altero, ibi habetur unitatum\n pluralitas, seu multitudo, etiamsi qu\u00e6 distincta sunt, unita sint,\n atque adeo communi termino copulentur, ut in continui partibus\n contingit.\u2014_Cosmol._, n. 174.\n\n 78 _Cosmol._, n. 59.\n\n 79 Mysterium philosophicum; est h\u00e6c difficultas in qua ratio plus\n probat, quam possit intelligere; plus objicit, quam possit\n solvere.\u2014Goudin, _Philos._\n\n 80 Quando dicitur continuum esse divisibile in partes in infinitum\n divisibiles, hoc intelligendum est mathematice, non physice; id est\n considerando, quantitatem pr\u00e6cise secundum se, ut eam sumit\n mathematicus, non vero ut est proprietas form\u00e6 corpore\u00e6, sicut eam\n considerat physicus; nam perveniri tandem posset ad partem ita\n minimam, ut minorem nulla forma naturalis pati posset. Attamen,\n mathematice loquendo, in illa minima parte adhuc essent du\u00e6\n medietates, et in illis duabus medietalibus ali\u00e6 medietates, et sic\n in infinitum.\u2014_Ibid._\n\n 81 A childish amusement resorted to the evening of the first Sunday in\n Lent, as a kind of supplement to the Carnival.\n\n 82 Carey\u2019s _Dante_.\n\n 83 A prolongation of the Carnival peculiar to Milan, where it lasts\n four days longer than elsewhere.\n\n 84 Claudio Monteverde, an Italian musician, born at Cremona in 1565;\n died at Venice in 1649. The age of modern music can easily be\n computed.\n\n 85 _R\u00e9sum\u00e9 Philosophique de l\u2019Hist. de la Musique._ Par M. F\u00e9tis.\n\n 86 _Dictionnaire de Plain Chant_, art. Tonalit\u00e9.\n\n 87 We were surprised to find that we had written \u201c_diminished_\u201d seventh\n for the chord _Sol, Si, Re, Fa_, in our last article. The\n accompanying example, however, showed our meaning, and, for\n musicians, corrected the error.\n\n 88 We would also like to know why \u201cchurch music\u201d introduced by\n composers into their operas is so unlike the music they have\n composed for the church.\n\n 89 A marked characteristic of Gregorian chant, Rousseau, in his _Essai\n sur l\u2019Origine des Langues_, examining the influence of music,\n observes: \u201cThus melody, beginning _to be less adherent to speech_,\n took, insensibly, a separate existence, and music became more\n independent of the words. As a consequence, little by little those\n prodigies which it had produced while it was only the accent and the\n harmony of poetry, and which gave to it that power to subdue the\n passions which it would in the future exercise only upon the reason,\n ceased.\u201d\n\n 90 \u201cAnd when they had said a hymn, they went forth unto the Mount of\n Olives.\u201d \u201cId est, hymno cantato,\u201d says Estius; and also S.\n Augustine: \u201cUbi non est cantus, non est hymnus;\u201d and S. Chrysostom:\n \u201cHymnum cecinit, ut et nos similiter faciamus.\u201d Suppose the Passion\n to have taken place in our day, would our Lord and his disciples\n have sung their \u201cCommunio\u201d _\u00e0 la_ Mozart, _alla_ Palestrina, or in\n the style of Gregorian Chant? \u201c_Et nos similiter faciamus._\u201d\n\n 91 Come to his assistance, all ye saints of God; meet him, all ye\n angels of God; receive his soul, and present it before the Lord. May\n Jesus Christ, who called thee, receive thee, and may the angels\n conduct thee to the bosom of Abraham.\n\n 92 Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord! and let perpetual light shine\n upon them.\n\n 93 May the angels conduct thee to paradise; in thy coming may the\n martyrs receive thee and lead thee into the holy city Jerusalem. May\n the chorus of angels receive thee, and with Lazarus, once poor,\n mayest thou obtain eternal rest.\n\n 94 _Bothwell: A Tragedy._ By Algernon Charles Swinburne. London: Chatto\n & Windus. 1874.\n\n 95 _Alexander the Great_: A Dramatic Poem. By Aubrey de Vere. London:\n H. S. King & Co. 1874. New York: The Catholic Publication Society.\n\n 96 _Brownson\u2019s Review_, July, 1874, pp. 301, 304.\n\n 97 Some of Des Cartes\u2019 works were, however, required to be corrected,\n and placed on the Index with that note.\n\n 98 _D\u00e9fense de l\u2019Ontologisme_, p. 1.\n\n 99 _De Orig. Idearum_, art. v. obj. 3.\n\n 100 CATHOLIC WORLD, vol iii. p. 294.\n\n 101 Meaning the _understanding_.\n\n 102 Ib. p. 519.\n\n 103 Ib. p. 520.\n\n 104 Ib. vol. iv. p. 660.\n\n 105 Carlyle, _French Revolution_, vol. i.\n\n 106 Neapolitan for a nervous attack.\n\n 107 _Catholic Orthodoxy._ By Rev. Dr. Overbeck.\n\n 108 _The Elements of Molecular Mechanics._ By Joseph Bayma, S.J.,\n Professor of Philosophy, Stonyhurst College. London and Cambridge:\n Macmillan and Co. 1866.\n\n 109 THE CATHOLIC WORLD, August, 1874, p. 581.\n\n 110 _The Elements of Molecular Mechanics_, pp. 28, 29.\n\n 111 Tongiorgi, _Cosmol._, n. 53.\n\n 112 In olden times it was the custom to ring on the chimes the hymns of\n the church, not the worldly or vulgar airs now too often heard.\n\n 113 _On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_: A series of\n Lectures delivered by the late Eugene O\u2019Curry, M.R.I.A., Professor\n of Irish History and Arch\u00e6ology in the Catholic University of\n Ireland, etc., by W. K. Sullivan, Ph.D., Secretary of Ireland, etc.\n Edited, with an Introduction, Appendixes\u2014the Royal Irish Academy,\n Professor of Chemistry to the Catholic University, etc. 3 vols.\n London: Williams & Norgate. (New York: Sold by The Catholic\n Publication Society.)\n\n 114 Harps.\n\n 115 Otherwise known as Finn McOoul, General of the Militia of Ireland\n A.D. 283.\n\n 116 Oghams.\n\n 117 F\u00e9lempesi, _La V\u00e9rit\u00e9 toute Enti\u00e8re_, p. 173.\n\n 118 Jourgniac, _Thirty\u2010eight Hours in the Abbaye_.\n\n 119 Mme. de Montasson, second wife by a morganatic marriage of the late\n Duke of Orleans, Egalit\u00e9\u2019s father.\n\n 120 \u201cUntil the day dawn and the day\u2010star arise in your hearts.\u201d\u20142 S.\n Peter i. 19.\n\n 121 The technical term for a scarlet coat (worn by fox hunters) when it\n has seen service, and the tails have become _pink_ through exposure\n to the weather.\n\n 122 _Saturday Review_, Feb. 21, 1874, art. \u201cHighland Constituencies.\u201d\n\n 123 \u201cWelch eine h\u00f6chst weise Einrichtung! Wie gl\u00fccklich ist Russland vor\n vielen R\u00f6misch\u2010Katholischen L\u00e4ndern!\u201d\u2014_Hupel_, \u201cDie kirchliche\n Statistik von Russland,\u201d in the _Nordische Miscellanien_, part XI.,\n Riga, 1786, p. 88.\n\n 124 First Series, vols. iii\u2010vii.\n\n 125 See P\u00e9karski, _Learning and Literature in Russia under Peter the\n Great_. (In Russian) St. Petersburg, 1862. Vol. ii., pp. 469\u2010481.\n\n 126 Amongst the various writings in which Prokopovitch develops this\n thought might be noticed one which has for its title _An Historical\n Disquisition on the quality of pontiffs or high\u2010priests of idol\u2010\n worship possessed by the Roman emperors, both pagan and Christian;\n for what reason, and in what sense they possessed it, and whether,\n in the Christian law, Christian sovereigns can be called Bishops and\n Pontiffs, and in what sense_. St. Petersburg, 1721. See _P\u00e9karski_,\n _op. cit._, vol ii., p. 519.\n\n 127 Mgr. Plato, _Orthodox Doctrine; or, Christian Theology Abridged_.\n (In Russian) St. Petersburg, 1st ed., 1765; 2d ed., 1780.\n\n 128 See \u201cThe Act of Succession to the Throne of Russia,\u201d April 5, 1797,\n _Compl. Coll._, Vol. xxiv. (17,910).\n\n 129 See the Ukases of the 3d Nov., 1798 (18,734), and of the 11th Dec.,\n 1800 (19,684). See also on this subject our book: _The Popes of Rome\n and the Popes of the Oriental Church_. London: Longmans, 1871, pp.\n 78\u201081.\n\n 130 _La Russie sera\u2010t\u2010elle Catholique?_ Par le P\u00e8re J. Gagarin, S.J.\n Paris: Douniol, 1856.\n\n 131 See the _Ukases_, Nos. 18,734 and 19,684.\n\n 132 In the eastern provinces of the Russian Empire the Mahometans carry\n on an active propagandism at the expense of orthodoxy.\n\n 133 _Code of the Laws of the Russian Empire_, vol. xiv. \u201cStatute for the\n Prevention and Extirpation of Offences against the Faith,\u201d Arts. 92\n and 97. Ed. 1857, pp. 18, 19.\n\n 134 To mention only the _Panslavists_, whose formula is well known:\n \u201cOrthodoxy and nationality are synonymous.\u201d If all Russians thought\n the same, the Catholics might spare themselves the trouble of any\n further controversy.\n\n 135 _R\u00e9glement eccl\u00e9siastique de Pierre le Grand, etc._, part i., p 16.\n Paris: Library of the Bibliographical Society, 75 Rue de Bac, 1874.\n\n 136 \u201cThe emperor, as a Christian sovereign, is the supreme defender and\n protector of the dogmas of the dominant faith, the guardian of\n orthodoxy and of all that concerns good order in the holy\n church.\u201d\u2014_Code of the Laws of the Russian Empire_; Fundam. Laws,\n art. 42, ed. 1857, p. 10.\n\n 137 We have it from an authentic source that the emperor had had made\n for himself, for this purpose, a set of (sacerdotal) vestments of\n sky\u2010blue velvet, and was so bent upon carrying out his intention\n that his principal favorite, Count Rostoptchin, only succeeded in\n dissuading him by reminding him that he had been twice married, and\n was therefore, according to the canons of the church, disqualified\n for offering the Holy Sacrifice.\n\n 138 Father Gruber, General of the Jesuits, who was in great favor with\n Paul, presented to the czar a project for reunion. By command of the\n czar the Archimandrite Eugenius (Volkhovichinoff), afterwards\n Metropolitan of Kieff, published in 1800 an answer to this project,\n in the form of a canonical dissertation, _On the Authority of the\n Pope_. See _The Russian Clergy_, by P\u00e8re Gagarin, S.J., pp. 118,\n 119.\n\n It appears that this affair was under consideration for several\n years, and even in the reign of Catherine II. And in fact Hupel, in\n a note of the manuscript in which we found the opening passage of\n this essay, mentions the rumors read by the newspapers that a\n complete (_pollige_) reunion of the Russian with the Catholic Church\n was about to be accomplished, and attributed these same rumors to\n the ex\u2010Jesuits. Hupel wrote in 1736. See _op. cit._ p. 88, note.\n\n 139 Schnitzler (J. L.), _Histoire intime de la Russie sous les Empereurs\n Alexandre et Nicolas_, Paris, Renouard, 1847, vol. i., note xiii.;\n _Dispositions religieuses de l\u2019Empereur Alexandre_, p. 463, note\n xi.; _La Sainte Alliance et Mme. de Krudener_. See also a writing by\n the Protestant pastor, Empaytaz, _Notice sur Alexandre, Empereur de\n Russie_. Geneva, 1828.\n\n 140 We have endeavored to elucidate this point of history, without\n having arrived at any definite result; we have some reason to\n believe that all which was known of the last days of the Emperor\n Alexander has not been made public. The notes which we had collected\n upon this subject would here be out of place.\n\n 141 It was in consequence of this event that, not long afterwards,\n appeared the two works, respectively entitled _Pers\u00e9cutions et\n souffrances de l\u2019Eglise Catholique en Russie_. Par un ancien\n Conseiller d\u2019Etat en Russie (le Comte Ars\u00e8ne d\u2019Harrer) Paris: Gaume,\n 1842; and _Vicissitudes de l\u2019Eglise Catholique des deux rites en\n Pologne et en Russie_. Par le P. Theiner, pr\u00eatre de l\u2019Oratoire. The\n French edition of this last work appeared in 1842, preceded by a\n remarkable introduction from the pen of Count de Montalembert.\n Paris: Sagnier and Bray.\n\n 142 Statute for the prevention and extirpation of offences against the\n faith, _Code_, etc., vol. xiv., ed. 1857, art. 97, p. 19.\n\n 143 See _Description of the Country Clergy in Russia_ (Paris, Franck,\n 1858); _The Russian Clergy_ (in Russian), Berlin, 1859; _Of the\n Organization of the Ecclesiastical Schools in Russia_ (in Russian),\n Leipsic, Wagner, 1863; _Of the Orthodox Clergy, Black and White, in\n Russia_ (in Russian), Leipsic, Wagner, 1866; the P\u00e8re Gagarin on\n _The Russian Clergy_ (London, Burns & Oates, 1872); Eckardt, _Modern\n Russia_ (London, 1870), etc., etc.\n\n 144 Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti, _La Tol\u00e9rance et le Schisme Religieux en Russie_.\n Berlin: Behr, 1863, pp. 292, 293.\n\n 145 _Id._, _ib._, p. 293.\n\n 146 The reader will find in the _R\u00e9glement Eccl\u00e9siastique_, just brought\n out in Paris, the passage to which we allude (p. 192, note).\n\n 147 _Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti_ (_op. cit._, pp. 328 and 318).\n\n 148 During the last few years endeavors have been made to raise the\n _status_ of the Russian clergy, and although it remains\n fundamentally the same, the government has given proof of no less\n good will than intelligence in its endeavors. In fact, terrible\n reprisals are in store for the upper classes whenever the people\n shall have lost all faith.\n\n 149 NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR.\n\n CURRAGH CHASE, ADARE, IRELAND, Nov. 24, 1874.\n\n REV. AND DEAR SIR: The public has taken recently such deserved\n interest in the _Memoir and Letters of Sara Coleridge_ that it has\n struck me that the last of the letters which I wrote to her before\n making my submission to the Catholic Church, in which I stated fully\n my reasons for taking that step, might be of use to many enquirers.\n\n Readers of Sara Coleridge\u2019s _Letters_ have often asked me, \u201cBut\n where is your part of the correspondence?\u201d They may perhaps be glad\n to read at least one of those letters, to which many of hers were\n replies.\n\n That letter I send you, with some preliminary remarks, this day, by\n book\u2010post. It is quite at your service, if you think it worth\n publishing in THE CATHOLIC WORLD....\n\n I remain very truly yours,\n AUBREY DE VERE.\n\n 150 This statement is ambiguous. There are doubtless many persons, who\n have been brought up Catholics, who have never formally renounced\n the Catholic profession, and who are ready to declare their belief\n of many Catholic doctrines, but who doubt or disbelieve some one or\n more articles of faith, and have ceased to give unreserved\n allegiance to the authority of the church. Such persons have lost\n faith, and are not really Catholics, though they may call themselves\n by the name, and still enjoy some of the rights of members of the\n church. But every baptized member of the church has, at least, the\n habit of faith, if he has not destroyed it by a contrary act,\n _i.e._, by a formal sin against faith.\u2014ED. C. W.\n\n 151 _Lehrbuch der Universalgeschichte_, von Dr H. Leo, 3d edit., vol. i.\n pp. 13, 14.\n\n 152 As a case in point, we may cite the law of the Pontifical States,\n which leaves the regulation of marriage among Jews to their own\n synagogue.\n\n 153 O Virgin Mother, daughter of thy Son!\n\n 154 _Following of Christ_, book iii. chap. v.\n\n 155 _The History of New South Wales._ With an account of Van Diemen\u2019s\n Land, New Zealand, Port Phillip, Moreton Bay, and other Australasian\n settlements. By Roderick Flanagan. 2 vols. London: Sampson Low.\n 1862.\n\n _Reminiscences of Thirty Years\u2019 Residence in New South Wales and\n Victoria._ With a supplementary chapter on transportation and the\n ticket\u2010of\u2010leave system. By R. Therry, Esq., late one of the judges\n of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. London: Sampson Low. 1863.\n\n 156 See THE CATHOLIC WORLD for March, 1874, p. 828.\n\n 157 See THE CATHOLIC WORLD for March, 1874, p. 831.\n\n 158 By a strange irony of fate the same grotesque coat he had worn on\n the feast of the _Etre Supr\u00eame_ exactly six weeks before!\n\n 159 Shea.\n\n 160 _Narrative of Father Mem\u00f4r\u00e9._\n\n 161 With regard to the Anglican clergy, it may be observed that the\n state church of England is almost entirely for the benefit of the\n aristocracy, which sees its younger sons enter her \u201corders\u201d all the\n more gladly because their subsistence is thus provided for without\n the patrimony of the head of the family being much diminished\u2014the\n children of the aristocracy thus aiding to maintain an institution\n to which in a great measure its influence is owing. As to the German\n Protestant clergy, they are neither so influential nor so respected\n as the Anglican.\n\n 162 \u201cSir Galahad.\u201d\n\n 163 Martinet, _L\u2019Emmanuel, ou le rem\u00e8de \u00e0 tous nos maux_. Paris;\n Lecoffre. 1850.\n\n 164 _Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti, op. cit._ ch. xv. p. 293.\n\n 165 It is not without reason that we insist upon this circumstance of\n being _in contact with the people_. If indeed the Russian Church\n were to unite herself to the Catholic Church, and the latter,\n following the toleration granted to the united Greeks, allowed the\n secular Russian clergy liberty to marry, the inconveniences we have\n noticed would be less felt, for the reason that, besides the fact\n that the Catholic Church would merely _permit_\u2014never, either\n directly or indirectly, _compel_\u2014priests to marry, there would\n always be a regular and celibate clergy side by side with the\n secular and married priests, and equally with them in contact with\n the people.\n\n However, the barrenness in apostolic labors, and the inferior\n condition of all the Christian communities of Oriental rite among\n whom a married priesthood is permitted, oblige us to recognize in\n this permission a simple concession to human frailty; and their\n condition is a powerful argument in favor of the immense advantages,\n if not of the moral necessity, of ecclesiastical celibacy.\n\n 166 Tennyson, _Poetical Works_, \u201cSir Galahad.\u201d\n\n 167 _Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti, op. cit._ p. 293.\n\n 168 _Sch\u00e9do\u2010Ferroti_, _op. cit._ pp. 295, 296.\n\n 169 There are times, in the history of nations, when the moral necessity\n of certain institutions in the Catholic Church makes itself felt,\n even by the most incredulous. It is in Germany, as is well known,\n that the ecclesiastical law of the celibacy of priests has been most\n eagerly attacked; and it is from Germany that has come to us the\n most splendid apology for the firmness displayed by the Catholic\n Church with regard to this point of discipline. Those priests who\n are at this moment so valiantly wrestling against persecution and\n braving the loss of income, braving fines, prison, exile, and death\n itself\u2014can one suppose they would be equally intrepid, did the\n existence of a wife and family depend upon their own?\n\n 170 We shall be excused from considering as an universal history of the\n Orthodox Church certain little manuals which we have found indicated\n in the catalogues of Russian bibliography. Besides, it is not only\n of Russia, but of all the countries of the Orthodox communion, that\n we ask for one single ecclesiastical history like those of Fleury,\n Rohrbacher, Henrion, the Abb\u00e9 Darras, etc. (to quote French names\n only.) The \u0395\u03ba\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u1f74 \u1f39\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c1\u03af\u03b1 (_Ecclesiastical History_) of Mgr.\n Mcletius, Metropolitan of Athens (Vienna, 1783\u201095), cannot certainly\n be compared to them.\n\n 171 Voltaire, _Histoire de Pierre le Grand_, part ii. ch. xiv.\n\n 172 In the greater part of the country\u2010places the popes have not been in\n any seminary at all. They have been taught to read and write, to\n make themselves acquainted with the ceremonies of the church and the\n regulations of the czars, and then they have been ordained priests.\n\n 173 Mgr. Eugenius, _Historical Dictionary of the Ecclesiastical Writers\n of the Gr\u00e6co\u2010Russian Church who have lived in Russia_. (In Russian)\n St. Petersburg, 2d. ed., 1827.\n\n 174 We are so far from objecting to the exercise of censure upon\n writings which treat upon religious matters that, in a note to the\n _R\u00e9glement Eccl\u00e9siastique_ (p. 178), we in some sort express a\n desire for it, even with regard to what is uttered in the pulpit.\n Only we require as a condition that this censure should be exercised\n by a _competent authority_. Now, in Russia it is no longer the\n bishops, but the state, which, not as protector, but as lord and\n master of the church, rules and measures the manifestation of\n religious thought. It is against this illegitimate censure that we\n contend. Very far removed is the sentiment which bows its head\n before the religious autocracy of the czars from the submission of\n the Catholic, who bows before the church _because he owns in her a\n divine authority_. The submission of the Catholic is that which is\n due to the truth and to God. It elevates and ennobles.\n\n 175 We could mention cases in which the pope who wishes to speak to his\n bishop must fall on his knees at the door, even, of the room, and\n drag himself along thus to the prelate, to whom he must only speak\n kneeling.\n\n 176 _Statuti Generali ed altri documenti dei Framassoni pubblicati per\n la prima volta con note dichiarative._ Roma: 1874.\n\n _Rituali Massonici del primo e del trentesimo grado detti di\n Apprendista e di Cavaliere Kadosh, per la prima volta pubblicati e\n commentati._ Roma: 1874.\n\n 177 The French Reformers were reproached for inserting this article, but\n it is found in the statutes of the Scottish Rite printed at Naples,\n the centre of Italian orthodoxy. Perhaps it was left an innocuous\n relic of bygone servitude, when royal Freemasons insisted on\n fettering the craft with this clause. But its value was as well\n understood then as now.\n\n 178 It is also explained, but not at this stage, that the invocation of\n S. John as patron of the lodges is a deception, _Janus_ being the\n real protector.\n\n 179 A living member of the French Academy, famous for his anti\u2010Christian\n writings, on his admission to this grade, struck the Pontifical mask\n with such violence that the poniard broke and wounded his hand,\n which he carried bandaged for some time after.\n\n 180 Eug\u00e9nie de la Ferronays.\n\n 181 October, 1873, p. 707.\n\n 182 See the _Elements of Molecular Mechanics_, p. 147.\n\n 183 THE CATHOLIC WORLD, October, 1874, p. 1.\n\n 184 THE CATHOLIC WORLD for September, 1874. p. 729. Mr. Stallo might\n also see the _Elements of Molecular Mechanics_, book vi., on the\n constitution of molecules.\n\n 185 See THE CATHOLIC WORLD, March, 1874, p. 757. Also, August, 1874, p.\n 644 et seq.\n\n 186 See THE CATHOLIC WORLD, March, 1874, pp. 764, 765.\n\n 187 _Leisure: Its Moral and Political Economy._ By Severn Teackle\n Wallis. Baltimore: Printed by John Murphy & Co.\n\n 188 A fact.\n\n 189 At the incorporation of the Uniates of Lithuania into the Orthodox\n Church, under the Emperor Nicholas, the Synod of St. Petersburg\n declared in its celebrated decree of March 5, 1839, as follows: \u201cThe\n solemn confession expressed in the synodal act (of the apostate\n bishops), that the Lord God our Saviour Jesus Christ is alone the\n true Head of the only and true church, and the promise of dwelling\n in unanimity with the most holy orthodox patriarchs of the East, and\n with the most holy Synod, _leaves nothing more to require of the\n united Greek Church for the veritable and essential union of the\n faith_, and, for this reason, there remains nothing which can oppose\n itself to the hierarchical reunion\u201d (_Pers\u00e9cutions et Souffrances_,\n etc., p. 118). Now, if there existed between the Catholic Church and\n the Russian Church a veritable doctrinal disagreement with regard to\n the Procession of the Holy Ghost, the Synod of St. Petersburg, in\n not requiring of the apostate bishops any retractation on this\n point, would have been guilty of an inconceivable compromise of the\n faith. We leave to orthodox Russians the task of defending it.\n\n It has been stated also that there is a disagreement between us and\n the Russians on the subject of purgatory. We here give what we find\n in the catechism of the late Mgr. Philarete, in use in the schools.\n We make use of the French translation, which appeared in Paris, with\n the concurrence of the Russian government and the Synod.\n\n Q. \u201cWhat remark remains to be made respecting the souls of those who\n have died in the faith, but whose repentance has not had time to\n bear fruit?\n\n A. \u201cThat, to obtain for them a happy resurrection, the prayers of\n those who are yet on this earth may be to them a great assistance,\n especially when joined to the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass and to\n the works of mercy, done in faith and in memory of the departed\u201d\n (_Cat\u00e9chisme d\u00e9taille de l\u2019Eglise Catholique orthodoxe d\u2019Orient,\n examin\u00e9 et approuv\u00e9 par le Saint Synode de Russie._ Paris:\n Klinsiock, 1851. On the eleventh article [of the Nicene Creed], p.\n 89).\n\n 190 \u0391\u03bd\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u1f74 \u039f\u03bc\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03af\u03b1 \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c0\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2. The first edition\n appeared in Latin, at Geneva, in 1629; the second, four years later,\n in Greek and Latin. The _Confession_ of Cyril\u2010Lucar was inserted by\n Kimmel in his work _Libri Symbolici Ecclesi\u00e6 Orientalis_. Jen\u00e6,\n 1843. (Second ed. under the title of _Monumenta Fidei Ecclesi\u00e6\n Orientalis_. Jen\u00e6, 1850.)\n\n 191 The title of this tract is, _Protestantism and Churches in the\n East_. The cause of its appearance was the pretension of the Church\n of England\u2014which, not without analogy with the Russian Church,\n recognized the sovereign of the country as its head, after Jesus\n Christ\u2014in giving to the East a bishop invested by a mandate of Queen\n Victoria, with a jurisdiction embracing the whole of Syria, Chald\u00e6a,\n Egypt, and Abyssinia. Finally, its object is to examine the formula,\n \u201cNo peace with Rome, but union and agreement _at any price_ with the\n Syrians, the Abyssinians, and the _Greeks_,\u201d and to prove the\n absolute impossibility of the Anglican and the Orthodox Churches\n being able honestly to agree together in point of doctrine.\n\n If it be true that, in consequence of the marriage of the Duke of\n Edinburgh, a great sympathy with the Anglican Church has taken\n possession of the aristocracy of St. Petersburg, No. 42 of the\n _Tracts for the Times_ ought to be reprinted in English, translated\n and printed in Russian, and widely disseminated in the two\n languages. It is the honesty itself of the two churches which is at\n stake.\n\n 192 The reader will not take it amiss if he should find here several\n points already developed in our former essay, _The Pope of Rome and\n the Popes of the Oriental Orthodox Church._ (London: Longmans,\n 1871.) It is almost impossible, in touching upon the same subject,\n entirely to avoid repetition; and, besides, there are certain ideas\n which require to be put forward pretty frequently, if they are\n sufficiently to arrest public attention.\n\n Well, then, there is one idea, which we would willingly call the\n \u201cprovidential idea\u201d of the times, of so decisive a tendency does it\n appear to us for hastening the end of the schism and the return of\n the Gr\u00e6co\u2010Russian Church to Catholic unity. It is the idea to which\n we now return, and which forms the subject of the entire third\n chapter of the essay just mentioned. We live in a century of\n revolutions; now, whilst the Catholic Church, in presence of the\n general overturning of thrones, dynasties and political\n constitutions, only strengthens, with her marvellous unity, the\n powers of her government, the Orthodox Eastern Church is given up\n defenceless to all the chances of political revolutions, and\n condemned, in her various branches, to submit to the form of\n government which these revolutions impose upon her. This fact alone\n is of a nature to lead back a goodly number of our separated\n brethren. We have not here to discuss lofty and abstract matters; we\n have to reflect whether Jesus Christ could thus have given up his\n church to the mercy of political revolutions. The man of the people,\n the illiterate, the workman, whose every moment is precious because\n he must live by the labor of his hands, can decide this question as\n easily as the theologian, the philosopher, and the statesman. It is\n a reflection which requires neither study nor any form of reasoning,\n nor even time; it is an argument self\u2010evident to all\u2014the \u201cpopular\n argument,\u201d which must decide between the Catholic Church and the\n Orthodox Eastern Communion.\n\n After this our repetitions will be treated with indulgence, as will\n also our inability to make any promise not to recur, even more than\n once, to this same subject\u2014in short, our desire will be found\n legitimate that the _religious press of every country_ should make\n the idea which we have just expressed its own; that it should\n develop and popularize it, and make it really \u201cthe providential idea\n of the times.\u201d\n\n 193 This patriarch was afterwards deposed _on account of his refusal to\n sign the declaration of the council_, and the Sublime Porte was\n obliged to nominate a successor.\n\n 194 Scarcely was the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cyril, arrested and\n imprisoned, before Russia began to take reprisals against the Greek\n Church.\n\n 195 Expression of the manifesto of the Synod of St. Petersburg, _On the\n Reunion of the Uniates with the Orthodox Church in the Russian\n Empire, printed by order of the Most Holy Synod of St. Petersburg_.\n Synodal Press, 1839. See _Pers\u00e9cutions et Souffrances_, etc., pp.\n 157\u2010166.\n\n 196 From what we have been able to ascertain, the conduct of the Russian\n Church upon this point is not so invariably uniform as to make it\n impossible to quote some exceptions to what we have just mentioned.\n It is very certain, however, that these exceptions do not regard\n great personages, who are always dispensed from submitting to\n baptism by immersion. To mention a recent example: the Princess\n Dagmar was admitted into the Russian Church without being required\n to receive a second baptism. The same thing was done in the last\n century. Voltaire having shown himself persuaded that the Russian\n Church baptized Protestants, baptized by infusion, was reproved by\n Catherine II. in the following terms: \u201cAs head of the Greek Church,\n I cannot honestly leave you unrebuked in your error. The Greek\n Church does not rebaptize at all. The Grand Duchess, etc.\u201d (Vide\n _Kegl. Eccles._, p. 86, _note_.) What Catherine here calls the Greek\n Church is the Russian. Besides, Catherine herself had been received\n into the Russian Church without being rebaptized, and it was of this\n example that William Frederick L\u00fctiens, the Lutheran author of the\n _Dissertatio de Religione Ruthenorum Hodierna_, did not fail to\n avail himself, in maintaining that upon this point also the Russians\n were in agreement with the Lutherans. \u201cIf the Russians of former\n days\u201d (_Rutheni veteres_), writes L\u00fctiens, \u201cdid not recognize as\n valid the baptism (by infusion) of our church, it cannot be\n attributed solely to their belief in the necessity of their\n ceremonies, but also to the hatred which, from the calumnies of the\n Romanists, they nourished against our Lutheran Church ...\u201d\n (_Dissert._, etc., pp. 86, 7).\n\n Besides, we find the following in the _Russian Clergy_ of Father\n Gagarin: \u201cThe _Ecclesiastical Talk_ (Doukhovnaia Beseda) of Sept.\n 17, 1866, was seeking for a means of reconciling on this point the\n Greek and Russian Churches. Nothing is stranger than the idea it has\n entertained. If we are to believe the _Ecclesiastical Talk_, the\n Greek Church fully admits the validity of baptism otherwise than by\n immersion, but has been obliged to exact a new baptism from those\n Latins seeking admission into her bosom, _in order to draw a deeper\n line of demarcation between Greeks and Latins, from fear of a\n reconciliation_, and to this end has attempted nothing less than _to\n make the Greeks believe_ that the Latins were not Christians. We\n should never dare to attribute to the Greek Church such a\n proceeding. Lying, calumny, profanation of a sacrament that cannot\n be repeated\u2014all this, according to the _Ecclesiastical Talk_, the\n Greek Church would knowingly and willingly do! Reading this, we\n cannot believe our eyes. And this journal is published by the\n Ecclesiastical Academy of St. Petersburg, under the eye and with the\n approbation of the Synod!\u201d (_The Russian Clergy, translated from the\n French of Father Gagarin, S.J._, by Ch. Du Gard Makepeace, M.A.\n London: Burns and Oates, 1872; p. 272.)\n\n 197 The Council of Constantinople of 1872 has been acknowledged by one\n portion of the Orthodox Church, and rejected by the other. The\n church of the Hellenic kingdom maintains the authority of the\n council; a portion of the Russian Church rejects it. The Orthodox\n Church is thus divided into two camps; and, according to the tenor\n of the acts of the Council of 1872, all that portion of the Russian\n Church which does not admit the authority of the council is,\n therefore, at this present time excommunicate.\n\n 198 _Confessio Orthodoxa Fidei, Catholic\u00e6 et Apostolic\u00e6 Ecclesi\u00e6\n Orientalis._ Qu\u00e6st. lxxxiii. in Kimmel\u2019s work, _Libri Symbolici\n Ecclesi\u00e6 Orientalis_, p. 153.\n\n 199 _Cat\u00e9chisme D\u00e9taill\u00e9._ On the ninth article, p. 95.\n\n 200 It is thus that Anthimus, the Patriarch of Constantinople, expressed\n himself in a document concerning the independence of the Orthodox\n Church of the Hellenic kingdom. See _The Pope of Rome_, etc., p.\n 142. French ed., p. 227.\n\n 201 Message of Marshal MacMahon to the French Assembly.\n\n 202 Letter to M. Stoffels, Nov. 30, 1841 (_Memoir and Remains of Alexis\n de Tocqueville_).\n\n 203 Letter to Stoffels, July 21, 1848.\n\n 204 Mr. Senior\u2019s _Journal_, April 26, 1858.\n\n 205 _Doc. Hist. N. Y._, v. i. p. 158.\n\n 206 McGee\u2019s _Cath. Hist. America_.","title":"The Catholic World, Vol. 20, October 1874\u2010March 1875","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":489885}