PUBLISHER’S NOTICE.

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No book on the war, that has been published in recent years, has met with a more generous reception than has been accorded by the reading public to the “Angels of the Battlefield.” Congratulations and expressions of good-will have come from all classes of persons. Following will be found brief comments from letters and from notices of the secular and religious press. These references are in most cases mere excerpts from lengthy reviews of the book. Of course it has been impracticable to publish quotations from all of the newspapers, but those that are given are of a representative character.

Archbishop Ryan’s Eloquent and Earnest Letter of Recommendation.

I beg to thank you for the copy of your book, “Angels of the Battlefield,” which you were kind enough to send to me. I have read it with great satisfaction and beg to congratulate you on your success in presenting the touching and edifying scenes in which Charity sent her Angels into both camps alike, to heal the sick and console the dying, to chasten triumph and comfort defeat.

The mission of these “Angels of the Battlefield” was to remove the strong prejudices that impeded the progress of the Church. It was like the mission of Saints Peter and John to the poor lame man at the porch that was called beautiful of Solomon’s temple. The nation, wounded and crippled by the war, was sent in through the beautiful gate of Catholic charity to view the true temple of God. And of those who never belonged to the fold of the Catholic Church how many can cry out with honest Captain Jack Crawford, quoted by you. “My friends, I am not a Catholic, but I stand ready at any and all times to defend these noble women, even with my life, for I owe that life to them.”

I earnestly recommend your excellent book to all with whom my opinion may have any influence.—Most Rev. P. J. Ryan, D. D., LL. D., Archbishop of Philadelphia.

A Very Flattering Tribute from the Governor of Pennsylvania.

I am more than pleased with the work. It is a valuable addition to our war literature. I cannot but recommend your subject matter and approve of your literary style. I congratulate you heartily on the graceful and deserved tribute to the women who served so faithfully and loyally the cause of humanity during the dark days of our nation’s struggle.—Gen. Daniel H. Hastings, Governor of Pennsylvania.

High Praise from the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic.

General J. P. S. Gobin, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, writes:—

“I have at length had an opportunity to carefully read your volume, “Angels of the Battlefield,” and wish to thank you for the pleasure you have given me. Your book is a valuable addition to the literature of the War. You have depicted those scenes with rare fidelity and without exaggeration, which so frequently justified the title you have selected.—Very truly yours, J. P. S. Gobin, Commander-in-Chief.

Particularly Happy in Avoiding Sectional, Political or Religious Controversies.

There is a praiseworthy attempt to give plain facts without comment or unnecessary coloring. The author has been particularly happy in avoiding sectional, political or religious controversies. Although many volumes have been written concerning the work of women in the war, this book is said to be the first connected and consecutive history of the self-sacrificing labors of the Catholic Sisterhoods during that great conflict.—The Washington (D. C.) Post.

Comment from the Official Organ of the Historical Society of Quebec, Canada.

As might be expected, the work is full of interest, and is an eloquent tribute to the faith that produces such heroines. There was difficulty in collecting the data for the genuine humility so characteristic of the Sisters would move them to hide, rather than publish, the deeds, in themselves so heroic, but in their eyes only what their duty, enlightened by faith and enkindled by charity, demanded of them. In order to make the narrative as consecutive as the scattered notes permitted, a sketchy account of the war is introduced.—Le Courrier Du Livre, Quebec, Canada, official organ of the Quebec Historical Society.

Cordial Words from Right Rev. Edmond F. Prendergast, D. D., Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia.

“I have read your beautiful work, ‘Angels of the Battlefield,’ from beginning to end, with the greatest pleasure. It is certainly a most delightful book, and I trust and hope that it will have readers everywhere.”—Right Rev. Edmond F. Prendergast, D. D., Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia.

General Miles, the Head of the Army, and the “Angels of the Battlefield.”

“Recently I had occasion to call on General Miles, the ranking officer of the army, the Miles who gained such distinction as one of Hancock’s fighting commanders. When I entered his office, at the War Department, I found him reading a book in which he appeared to be deeply interested. Having the curiosity which comes to newspaper men, both by nature and from training, I could not restrain myself from asking the General the name of the book. It proved to be “Angels of the Battlefield: A History of the Catholic Sisterhoods in the War of the Rebellion,” a work by a near friend and professional colleague of mine, Mr. George Barton.—“S. M.” in Philadelphia Evening Star.

The work possesses “the Light and Interest Which Belongs to Incidents from Life.”

The author has been able to gather from personal interviews with Sisters many narratives which give to his pages the light and interest which belong to incidents from life. He possesses the vivid sympathy with action and suffering, without which a history of this kind would be no better than dry bones. The author is rightly touched by the heroism that surrounded those cots, where enemies lay side by side in an agony, which, for many, could only obtain surcease in the grave. Some incidental descriptions of battles are animated, and we are sure our readers will find themselves moved for the better by this narrative of heroic charity on the part of the nuns, and soldierly heroism on that of the men to whom they ministered.—The Catholic World Magazine, New York.

Record of Blameless Lives, “Strung Like Golden Beads on a Silver Thread.”

It is a sweet, and clean, and healthy book. The sketches are delightful reading. The writer has poetic touch and a felicity of phrase. Nothing is overdrawn. Mr. Barton writes without rhetoric, but with wholesome sentiment, and rescues from the convents the story of the part these Sisters took in the great drama of our Civil war. It has been a labor of love, and the author has strung like golden beads on a silver thread the record of the blameless lives of the Sisters and their absolute devotion to duty. Literature and libraries are enriched by this contribution to impartial history.—The Monongahela (Pa.) Daily Republican.

“Magnificent Contribution to the Best Literature of Our Day.”

It was a beautiful thought to collect in one splendidly illustrated volume the touching records of so many noble lives; to snatch from oblivion, as it were, the names of those heroic Sisters whose deeds of mercy and valor in our hospitals and on our battlefields have hitherto been known, in some instances, to God and themselves alone. Your book is a unique and magnificent contribution to the best literature of our day, and I wish it the success it so richly deserves.—Eleanor C. Donnelly, of Philadelphia.

“Supplies a Chapter Essential to the History of the War.”

It supplies a chapter essential to the history of our Civil War. The Christian religion claims that its teachings have mitigated the horrors of war; and the conduct of the Catholic Sisterhoods, North and South, furnished a striking evidence of the truth of such claims, in the particular instance of our domestic conflict.

It is such books as yours that accomplish the end which the Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII, most ardently desires, in the relations of Church and State—the perfect accord of the love of our faith with the love of country.—Rev. Joseph V. O’Connor, of the diocese of Philadelphia.