“Gilbert Burnet,” says one of his Puritan contemporaries, Jacob Lawton, “was a man who blew hot and cold for money or for rich patrons”; and in the ninth volume of Sir Walter Scott’s Life and Works of Dryden will be found the narrative of the betrayal to the House of Commons by Burnet of the secrets of his patron, the Duke of Lauderdale. Finally, his bishopric from William was merely the reward of trickery and treason simply infamous.
As to Burnet the historian, Hume’s opinion that he is “sometimes mistaken as to facts,” and Sir Walter Scott’s statement that “his [Burnet’s] opinions were often hastily adopted, and sometimes awkwardly retracted,” may be thought not entirely fatal to his reputation; but other authorities speak more plainly. Sir John Dalrymple “never tried Burnet’s facts by test of dates and original papers without finding them wrong.” Arbuthnot and Swift challenge his veracity, and do not hesitate to attribute to him unworthy motives. In 1693, Henry Wharton demonstrated his “suppression, coloring, and falsifying of facts,” and the Historical and Critical Remarks of Bevil Higgons more than confirms Miss Strickland’s conclusion that Burnet is “a notoriously false witness.” This is Mr. Allibone’s veracious upholder of Foxe’s truth! He may now take the witness.
St. Thomas of Aquin: His Life and Labors. By the Rev. Father Roger Bede Vaughan, O.S.B. Vol. II. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)
The first volume of this goodly work has been already noticed. We are glad to welcome the second and concluding volume. Together with the events of the life of St. Thomas from the time of his contest with William of St. Amour until his death, which occupy but a small portion of its space, this volume continues the history and analysis of his works, and expatiates upon the Greek philosophers, Christian doctors, and other sources of the doctrine of St. Thomas, in their relation with him. As a biography we prefer that of the Frenchman Bareille, which we desire to see translated, and which the present work by no means supersedes. As a history of the times and the works of the saint, Father Vaughan’s volumes are rich, attractive, and valuable. The description of the Paris University in the thirteenth century, and the account of St. Thomas and St. Buonaventura taking the doctor’s cap, are very lively and graphic. The centenary of St. Thomas will recur in 1874, and will probably be celebrated with extraordinary splendor in Europe. Perhaps we may do a little something also in America.
The Virtues of Mary, Mother of God. From the Spanish of Father Francis Arias, S.J. London: Burns & Oates. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)
If it takes a saint to know a saint, and it is pretty generally considered that it does, it certainly takes a saint to do justice to the sublime virtues of the Queen of Saints. By all accounts F. Arias was a saint, and his little work on the virtues of the Blessed Virgin is what might be expected—a treatise full of piety, full of emotion, and full of the highest asceticism. Together with being a holy man Arias was a learned man, and in his book with the fervor of the saint is combined the accuracy of the theologian. Many of the saints have themselves been able to realize the almost ineffable holiness of the Mother of God; but few have been able to make this holiness a reality to others.
In this we think the Spanish Jesuit has surpassed most others. In his hand the virtues of our Blessed Lady become a reality, intelligible to all and imitable by all. Therefore it is that his little work, while pre-eminently suitable for the convent and the cloister, may be read with great benefit by all classes of persons in the world.
It is proper to remark that The Virtues of Mary, Mother of God is a republication; the same translation having been long ago published under the title of Imitation of the Blessed Virgin. It would be a great blessing if we had more republications of the same sort instead of the mass of modern commonplaces, many of which are wanting in emotion and not a few in genuine piety.