Volume 22 — THE APOSTOLIC MISSION TO CHILI. A CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF PIUS IX. (continued 2)

It was really too bad in Dr. Clarke to deny asylum to the ex-premier on our (reputed) hospitable shores, after the relentless logic to which he was subjected at home, when proving so clearly to his own satisfaction the disloyalty of Catholics—to spoil, in fact, his nice little story that it was the Protestants, and not those hateful Catholics, who made Maryland a refuge for fugitives from English persecution for conscience’ sake. And what makes the matter all the more aggravating is that our author is in league with ever so many Protestants in this design. For shame, gentlemen!

Historical Scenes from the Old Jesuit Missions. By the Right Rev. William Ingraham Kip, D.D., LL.D., member of the New York Historical Society [and Protestant Episcopal Bishop of California]. New York: A. D. F. Randolph & Co. 1875.

The author of this work had the good fortune while in England some years since to secure a copy of Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses écrites des Missions Etrangéres, in forty-seven volumes, “containing the letters of the Jesuit missionaries from about 1650 to 1750.… He selected those letters which relate to the labors of the Jesuits within the bounds of our own land, and published a translation, with notes, under the title of The Early Jesuit Missions in North America.” In the present work he takes a wider range, and makes selections, from the same source, of letters from parts of the world widely remote from each other—from China and California; from Cape Horn and the far north; from the shores of South America and the Mediterranean; from the monasteries of Mount Lebanon and the Thebaid Desert.

Bishop Kip and his publishers have laid both Protestants and Catholics under great obligations by the publication of this valuable and beautiful volume. We can scarcely commend too highly the evident fairness of the translation and of the accompanying remarks and notes. It could not well be otherwise than that a Protestant should have some qualifications to offer respecting statements of fact and doctrine such as would naturally occur in these letters; but the Catholic reader will be gratified to find much that is laudatory, and scarcely anything to which he would object; the notes being for the most part historical and philological in character. The naïve simplicity of these relations constitutes one of their chief charms and the best answer to any suggestion of guile on the part of the writers.

The principles and operations of the Jesuits have been, and to a great extent are still, believed by our Protestant fellow-citizens to constitute a vulnerable point in Catholicity, so that we rejoice at the facilities offered by such writers as Parkman, Shea, and Kip for a better understanding of the matter. Nothing can give Catholics greater pleasure than that their Protestant friends should have full opportunities for studying our doctrines and history.

Life of S. Benedict, surnamed “The Moor,” the Son of a Slave. Canonized by Pope Pius VII., May 24, 1807. From the French of M. Allibert, Canon of the Primatial Church of Lyons. Philadelphia: P. F. Cunningham & Son. 1875.

This volume is a concise and well-written account of a holy life, showing what abundant graces are often bestowed upon the meek and lowly, and how those who humble themselves are exalted by Almighty God.

S. Benedict, the child of an enslaved negro parent, was born at Sanfratello in Sicily, A.D. 1524. Early instructed in religion by his parents, he offered himself to God, and became eminent for sanctity as a religious. Seeking always the lowest and most humiliating employments, he served for twenty-seven years as a cook in a convent. Already, during his lifetime, regarded as a saint, he was venerated by all classes. “At the door of his humble kitchen,” says his biographer, “were to be seen the nobles of Palermo, who sought to honor the saint and recommend themselves to his prayers, the learned who came for advice, the afflicted who desired consolation, the sick who hoped for the recovery of their health, and the indigent who desired assistance.”

Winning by his wisdom and virtues the confidence of his brethren, he was chosen guardian of the convent, and afterwards vicar, and master of novices—positions which he accepted with extreme reluctance, and in which he proved his great charity and humility.

But the more he sought to abase and hide himself, the greater the graces bestowed upon him. Though blessed with the spirit of prophecy, the power of performing miracles, and the gift of ecstasy, so great was his humility that he again turned to his simple occupation, and retained it till his death, which occurred in 1589.

The Life and Letters of Paul Seigneret, Seminarist of S. Sulpice (shot at Belleville, Paris, May 26, 1871). From the French. New York: P. O’Shea. 1875.

The title of this work can scarcely fail to awaken an interest in the youthful hero who gave his life for his faith—an interest which is enhanced by the knowledge that this youth, frail as a girl and possessed of a highly-cultivated mind and rare sensibility, was so filled with the spirit of self-sacrifice that he may well be classed with those “courtiers of martyrdom” whose lives are the glory of the church and the wonder of the world.

Paul Seigneret’s is a name that must be dear to all Catholics at all familiar with his saintly life and death. To a heart overflowing with love for all who had claims upon his affection and charity for all mankind, and to those quick and delicate perceptions which retain all that is good and instinctively reject all that is evil, was added a fervent piety and ardent zeal for the glory of God. Animated by these sentiments, he sought the priesthood, and soon turned his thoughts to the cloister—“‘that pure and shining height’ whither he would go to fix his dwelling nearer heaven.” While yet a student in the Seminary of S. Sulpice, he fell a victim to the Commune, and was permitted to win the crown of martyrdom, which had been the object of his most ardent desires.

The volume before us is one which we would especially recommend to our youthful readers, who will find in it much that is edifying and worthy of imitation. In an age in which respect for authority and filial obedience are so much ignored, we cannot place too high a value on the example of Paul Seigneret, whose devotion and submission to his parents were second only to his love of God.

If a work so admirable in most respects may be criticised, we would say that it would be quite as interesting if the author had condensed the valuable materials of which it is composed. We are aware of the difficulties under which many translations from the French are made. Innumerable things in that versatile, flexible language will bear many repetitions and much minutiæ in description, which will not admit of more than the simple statement in our unyielding vernacular. Readers should therefore hesitate in pronouncing a book dull because some of the aroma escapes in the transition from one medium of thought to another.

Pastoral Letter of the Right Rev. P. N. Lynch, D.D., Bishop of Charleston, on the Jubilee of 1875. New York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1875. 8vo, pp. 299.

The reader will rightly infer from the size of this pastoral that it differs in many respects from other documents of the kind. The learned author has taken occasion to enter very fully into the doctrinal and historical aspects of his subject, thereby making the publication a valuable reference to all who would understand the history and nature of this observance.