The ignorant, the unwary, and those who wish to escape from the sense of responsibility to God may be deceived by this kind of art. But really, and in the view of a true and comprehensive science, all that can be gathered from false religions and imperfect philosophies, both in those things which resemble, and those which are partly or wholly dissimilar to, the divine philosophy of revelation and Christian theology, confirms and proves the divine truth of the Old and New Testaments and the concurrent religious tradition of the church of God from the creation of man. Proudhon was right when he said that a man who is logical must be an atheist or an ultramontane. Whoever stands by what is positive, and is ready to follow it to its consequences, belongs logically to the Catholic side. Whoever takes the negative belongs with atheists and materialists. One sad and startling proof that the great mass of those who reject the Catholic Church, and yet are not ready to renounce the name of Christian, are sliding downward, is the multiplication of books like this one, and much worse than this, published by our principal firms, and everywhere advertised along with works professedly Christian and pious. We suppose that most of these gentlemen profess to be Christians. Where is their conscience, then, when, for the sake of money, they disseminate the works of Renan, Strauss, Büchner, and other infidels and atheists, which are sapping the foundations of religion and morality, and poisoning the public mind? Where is the public conscience [pg 575] which tolerates this? And why do not the Protestant periodicals, newspapers, synods and conventions, pulpits and lecturing rostrums, resound with a cry of alarm, warning and denunciation? Have they lost all interest and all courage in the matter, or are they going over to the enemy?
Dialogues of St. Gregory. London: Burns & Oates. 1874. (For sale by The Catholic Publication Society.)
Gregory the Great is illustrious among the popes, and even among the doctors of the church, for his genius. There is an exquisite flavor in his writings which is peculiar to them. Edited and published with the utmost care and the most perfect literary taste, like all the books of this series, this volume adds one more gem to the treasury of English Catholic literature which is now so rapidly filling up. The publication of entire works of the fathers presents the evidences of the Catholic religion in the most convincing form, and is therefore a way of propagating the faith in some respects superior to the ordinary method of controversy. It is also most valuable for Catholics as a means of increasing and deepening their knowledge of our holy faith. It is to be hoped that a taste for books of this description will become more general among reading Catholics, and that all who have the means of doing so will in every way promote their general circulation.
Tigranes: A Tale of the Days of Julian the Apostate. Translated from the Italian of F. John Joseph Franco, S.J. Philadelphia: P. F. Cunningham & Son. 1874.
This historical romance, which is not literally translated, but condensed and abridged—judiciously, we think, for it is plenty long enough as it is—is much superior to the most of similar works of fiction founded on early Christian history. It is full of information which only a learned man could give with accuracy, and the events it describes are of thrilling interest. The Messenger of the Sacred Heart, from whose pages the translation is reprinted, we have already had occasion to say, is as distinguished for its literary excellence as it is for its edifying piety. We hope to see much more frequent and more important contributions to sacred literature in future from the learned and accomplished group of professors at the Woodstock College.
The Catholic Church in its Relations to Human Progress. A Lecture by the Rev. J. J. Moriarty, A.M., Chatham Village, N. Y. Albany: Van Benthuysen.
This pamphlet, which has as neat an appearance as if it had been printed in London or Boston, is a good specimen of a well-written popular lecture, of just the sort to please and instruct an ordinary audience. Our familiar friend, the New Zealander, who is an indefatigable traveller, and whom we last saw in a French costume in the columns of a Paris newspaper, turns up again in the lecture. Lord Macaulay would have been astonished, when he drew the picture of this venerable personage sitting on a broken arch of London bridge, if he could have foreseen how many would make use of it to adorn their discourse. We can say nothing, however, to F. Moriarty, which does not recoil upon ourselves; for have we not done the same thing?
Catholics and Roman Catholics. By an Old Catholic (Bishop Coxe). Buffalo: Martin Taylor.
This reply to Dr. Ryan's pamphlet seems to have elated the spirits of our Episcopalian friends no little. It is receiving due attention at present in the columns of the Catholic paper at Buffalo, and no doubt the articles published in that paper will appear in a pamphlet form when they are completed. Etiquette will not allow us to interfere in this controversy until the principals have done with it. If anything is left for us to say after that, we may pay our respects to Dr. Coxe in this magazine.
The Baltimore Gun Club. From the French of Jules Verne. Freely translated by Edward Roth. Philadelphia: King & Baird, Publishers, 607 Sansom St.