There is scarcely a page of this new issue of the Relatio, and the accompanying letters, that does not invite special interest. Surely those missionaries were men of God, living and dying to serve him only. “I would rather,” writes F. Brock, laboring in the conversion of these Indians, “expire on the bare ground, deprived of all human succor, and perishing with hunger, than once think of abandoning this holy work of God from fear of want.” Within a few weeks after writing that letter, worn out with privations, he went to rest from his labors.
Good F. White, seized by Claiborne's rebel soldiers, was sent in irons to England, where he died like a saint, as he had lived. “His self-denial, privations, and sufferings,” says Dr. Dalrymple, himself a Protestant minister, “and the touching patience and cheerfulness with which they were all endured, move our profound respect and admiration. F. White deserves a high place of honor amongst the many heroic missionaries of the Society of Jesus.” What wonderful men they were indeed, the old Jesuit missionaries! We of the present day could scarcely believe their lives possible but for the F. De Smets and kindred spirits who repeat them even in our own day. Laudamus viros gloriosos.... Omnes isti in generatione suæ gentis gloriam adepti sunt.—Eccles. cap. xliv.
We may repeat that the Maryland Historical Society has done a good work in bringing out this volume anew; and its agents, editor, translator, and publisher have all done their work in the most creditable manner. We observed in the translation, excellent as it is, some few points open to criticism; as, e.g., p. 10, “To the Very Rev. Father, General Mutius Vitelleschi.” The comma is misplaced between father and general. On p. 11 it is said, speaking of S. Clement, “who, because he had been tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea, obtained the crown of martyrdom.” A man is not a martyr because of his execution in any fashion, but because of the principles for which he suffers. We find, on p. 12, the word Sabbatum rendered Sabbath, instead of Saturday, which would convey the true idea in this case. [pg 541] There may be some other slight inaccuracies of the same or a similar kind, but, upon the whole, they are unimportant, and the translation is a fair and creditable rendering of the text.
Finally, we would say that if the reader would wish to spend a few hours, safely, profitably, and pleasantly in field and camp, with true soldiers of the cross, let him obtain and read the Relatio Itineris, with the accompanying documents.
On The Wing. A Southern Flight. IV.
“De Fil En Aiguille.”[119]
By the time we had been a fortnight at R—— R——, the sentiment of the dolce far niente[120] of the Italians seemed gradually to take possession of Mary and myself. I sketched a little, and Mary sat in the loggia, reading occasionally, and dreaming a great deal. Frank was still absent; having, in the most unjustifiable way, undertaken a complete tour in the Abruzzi, accompanied by his friend, Don Emidio Gandolfi, who had given him rendezvous at Monte Casino. One day, however, when I came home from a delightful ramble all over the gardens of the Villa “Mon Caprice,” Mary greeted me with the exclamation:
“Frank will arrive the day after to-morrow, and Don Emidio is coming with him.”
“I thought it had been settled Don Emidio was to go back to Rome.”