His catechetical writers are Canisius, Somnius, Fœlisius, Nider, Bayus, and Claude Thuet.
“And although,” says Marchant, “I may have amassed stones, wood, and mortar from other sources than my own field or quarry, in order that I might erect this edifice, yet do not deny it to be mine, for it is according to my own scheme; mine is the labour, mine the skill, mine the hand which erected, disposed, and consummated it. No one surely will deny that the garden is his who possesses, digs, cultivates, arranges, and adorns it, though he may have brought from elsewhere some seeds, herbs, fruit-trees, and flowers, which by pruning, lopping, and transplanting, he may have sown or planted there. However, it is little to have sown, planted, watered, and cultivated, unless there be increase and fruit produced, all which comes, not of human skill, but of God alone.
“I say, then, that the garden is not mine, but His who worketh all in all, to whom I commend and reconsecrate it with my whole heart, that He may give it increase. And do thou use it happily, and pray for me. Farewell.”
The Hortus Pastorum consists of four books; the first treats of Faith, the second of Hope, the third of Charity, the fourth of Justice—the four great streams springing from one source which water the Eden of the Church.
Under the head of Faith, Marchant expounds the Apostles’ Creed in seventeen tracts, each containing several propositions and lections.
Under the head of Hope, he discusses prayer, and especially the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelic Salutation. In this book are five tracts.
Under the head of Charity, Marchant treats of the Commandments, in four tracts.
The fourth book of the Hortus Pastorum has a separate title, the Tuba Sacerdotalis, or the sevenfold blast of the priestly trumpet laying low the walls of Jericho.
These walls of the city of palms are, according to Marchant, the seven deadly sins, which he accordingly treats of in seven tracts, each containing from nine to ten lections.
In addition to the Hortus Pastorum and the Tuba Sacerdotalis, Marchant is the author of other works, a list of which follows, together with the list of the different editions of the Hortus.