In many respects this is a useful contribution to our Catholic literature. It tells the story of a workwoman who attained a very high degree of Christian perfection. In its matter, the book reminds one of Marie-Eustelle Harpain, but it does not greatly resemble it in its composition. A religious biography can do good in two ways. It can edify the readers with the history of remarkable piety and virtue. And it can also elevate and refine our minds, if it be written in pure and correct English. Unfortunately, this biography does not possess this character. Its very title is an example of a fault which is frequently seen throughout the volume. It is the "Life of Sœur Marie," not Sister Mary. When this good girl addresses her director, she does not say "Father," but it must be "Mon Père," and without the accent to which that word is lawfully entitled. Surely it is absurd affectation to ruin a beautiful thought and a good English sentence by mixing with it two or three French words. But this is not the only fault of the volume. It speaks of "promises of milk and water," an expression which contains no definite idea. It informs us that Sister Mary "went straight to church." Who can tell whether the author intends to say that she went to church immediately or went there by the most direct way? Then, too, if this book be intended to form one of a series of biographies of persons who are not canonized, why call them "Hidden Saints"? The holy see has always wished us to be most careful in the use of this word. But these faults do not destroy the value of the book. They are only blemishes, and in a future edition we hope to find them completely removed.
Marion. A Tale of French Society under the Old Régime. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet & Co. 1870. Pp. 176.
Marion is a woman of "stiff figure, bony hands, bloodshot eyes, and innumerable wrinkles, always reminding one of stories about vampires and ghouls." (P. 4.) This sentence gives a fair idea of the style and literary value of this novel. It is filled with similar nonsensical and overdrawn descriptions. We must, therefore, beg leave to differ from the very modest opinion expressed in the preface, that the book has a character "which stamps it as one that the young may read with profit." On the contrary, it is a shame that such a story should be translated and allowed to live in another language than the one in which it was originally written. However, we will do it justice. There is one mark of common sense about the book. It is this—both the author and translator have concealed their names.
Thomas Francis Meagher. By Captain W. F. Lyons. New York: D. & J. Sadlier. 1870. Pp. 357.
We do not believe the sentiment which Shakespeare has put in the mouth of Mark Antony, that
"The evil which men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones."
It is not true that men delight in recalling the faults of their fellow-men; and especially do the dead claim our forgiveness and compassion. We are truly sorry, therefore, to find in this volume speeches which reflect no credit from a literary point of view upon General Meagher, and which, moreover, contain doctrines most clearly condemned by the Catholic Church. Out of respect to the many good qualities of Meagher, we wish to forget his faults. We would wish also to remember, and we wish his countrymen to remember, his manly virtues. But until the speech beginning on page 280 of this volume is omitted, we cannot recommend this book to the Catholic public, or consider it a worthy monument of Thomas Francis Meagher.