The Persecutions of Annam: A History of Christianity in Cochin China and Tonking. By J. R. Shortland, M.A. London: Burns & Oates. 1875. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication Society.)
We read an account a few days since of four hundred Catholic priests who four years ago were transported from Poland to Siberia by the Russian government; three hundred have died, and the others can survive but a little while. It was only a paragraph in a newspaper. The martyrs die as of old, and we scarcely hear of their sufferings. The missionary work of the church, too, is almost forgotten by her children who are living at ease and in comfort; and yet it is carried on in all quarters of the globe. Our brothers, if we be worthy to call them by this name, are toiling, suffering, dying for Christ and the souls of men in far-off countries of which we seem not to care even to know anything. Here is a book, most interesting and consoling, full of edifying facts and heroic examples, written clearly and simply. It is a history of Christianity in Cochin China and Tonking; and as these two countries form the Empire of Annam, and the history of the church is always one of persecution, of triumph through suffering, the book is entitled The Persecutions of Annam. For centuries Europeans have been excluded from this country, into the interior of which the only strangers who have penetrated have been Catholic missionaries, and they have gone at the risk of their lives. For two hundred and fifty years the apostles of the church have been laboring in Annam, and whoever will read this book will be struck with wonder at the work they have done and the sufferings they have endured. Never anywhere have there been more barbarous or cruel persecutions, and never have they been borne with more heroic fortitude and simple trust in God.
And then what a wealth of instruction in the lives of these Annamite converts! From 1615 down to our own day thousands and hundreds of thousands have received the faith, and, rather than forfeit it, hundreds and thousands have endured every torment, death itself. Their warm piety, their intelligent faith, their dauntless courage, put us to shame.
The last persecution broke out in 1858, and raged until the Christians were relieved by the arms of France, in consequence of which a treaty of peace was signed in June, 1862, which was soon followed by a decree granting religious worship; and we may hope that the soil which has drunk the blood of so many martyrs will yet become the vineyard of Christ.
But we must refer our readers to the book itself, and close this brief notice with the wish that some one of our Catholic houses in this country may republish this most interesting chapter of Catholic history.
The American State and American Statesmen. By William Giles Dix. 1 vol. 12mo, pp. 171. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. 1876.
It is refreshing in these days to meet with a non-Catholic writer like Mr. Dix, who takes his stand on Christianity and the law of Christ as the foundation of all right law and government. There is a class, and a large class, of patriots among us who seem, unconsciously indeed, to resent the idea that Almighty God had anything at all to do with the growth and development of this country. To this class of men Mr. Dix’s book will be a sharp reminder that there is a God above us who rules all things, and that religion and governments did actually exist in the world at large—and in the New World, for the matter of that—before the Mayflower touched these shores. The book deals with just what its title indicates: the American state and American statesmen. Among the statesmen dealt with are Abraham Lincoln, Charles Sumner, and several of the historic names that have lent a lustre to Congress. But the larger and graver portion of the book deals with the constitution of the States in themselves and their relation to the States as a whole or nation. Mr. Dix is a strong and earnest advocate for his views; but his views in the present matter are almost diametrically opposed to the general feeling of Americans. “Are the United States a nation?” he boldly asks in the final chapter of the book, and his answer is “yes” and “no.” In a word, he is strongly in favor of the centralization of sovereignty as opposed to the local independence of States. As long as federalism exists, says Mr. Dix, practically, so long is the nation exposed to disorder and a renewal of the civil war.
So important a question, it is needless to remark, is scarcely to be settled in a book-notice; is, indeed, beyond books altogether. It is a growth. The country and government alike are a growth, and a growth that will not be forced. They are just entering on the hundredth year of a life that has been seriously threatened, and, notwithstanding the theatrical thunder which is being heard just now of politicians resolved to make “a hit,” we cannot but look to the development of this growth with hope and confidence. At the same time, it is the part of all who are concerned to guard that growth well, to see that no weeds spring up around it, to let in light and air and freedom, and to keep off all noxious influences that would threaten the life of the parent stem. In the desire to do this, such chapters as “Christianity the Inspirer of Nations,” “Materialism the Curse of America,” and “America a Christian Power,” which seem to us the strongest chapters in Mr. Dix’s book, will be found full of eloquent suggestion and sound, even solemn, advice. The book, as a whole, will be found a very interesting one. The writer is a bold man, who certainly has the courage of his convictions, which he never hesitates to express openly. The book overruns with apt illustration and an extraordinary eloquence. Indeed, there is a fault in parts of too great eloquence, compensated for over and over again by passages full of terseness, purity, and strength.
Personal Reminiscences by Constable and Gillies. (Bric-à-Brac Series.) Edited by Richard Henry Stoddard. New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1876.
This volume completes the first Bric-à-Brac Series. The publishers announce an extensive sale—proof only of its being suited to certain literary tastes. We have not been able to pronounce a very favorable opinion upon the merits of the series. In turning over the leaves of a college sheet the other day, we came upon an extract from the letter of a young lady at one of our fashionable seminaries, in which, counselling her sisters to high resolves and noble aims, she says: “Instead of getting a new hat this term, let us buy a Bric-à-Brac.” We think this is good evidence of the value of these volumes as literary works. They are admirably suited for boarding-school misses. But what the authors and scholars who are gossiped about would say at being brought down to this level is another question. On the whole, we would advise this young lady to buy a new hat instead. The hat will serve a useful if not a very exalted purpose in covering her head; the “Bric-à-Brac” will fill it with frivolous and untrustworthy chit-chat.