In treating the great question of civil society, with the subordinate question of the origin and legitimacy of government, etc., the author has shown great judgment and discrimination. He adheres to the theory of Suarez, Bellarmine, and the great body of the ablest Catholic authors, respecting political society. Ultra-monarchical and ultra-democratic theories are equally indefensible, and both are mischievous. We trust that loyal citizens of our republic who are reasonably conservative will find evidence, in Father Hill’s calm and moderate statements, that the Catholic religion is admirably suited to give stability to our own national institutions, notwithstanding its total opposition to the European liberalism and radicalism that would fain overthrow the constitutions and governments of the Old World.
In respect to style, the main point in a work of this kind is to make its ideas clearly and distinctly intelligible. The author, in general, has succeeded in his effort to accomplish this result as well as the necessity of adhering to the phraseology of Latin authors would permit. Sometimes, however, succinctness and condensation produce ambiguity and obscurity—a defect which we suspect in some instances is partly or entirely owing to errors in printing. Again, there are some words used in a way which is not conformed to the English idiom—as, for instance, the word “avert,” used intransitively, and the phrase to “put an action.” There are many minor faults of this sort which can be easily corrected in a second edition. Let us, by all means, have the other volume as soon as possible. The whole, when complete, will serve a most important end, by extending among intelligent readers of English books a knowledge and taste for scholastic philosophy. This taste, when awakened, will demand much larger and more thorough works on the same subjects. We think, moreover, that those who write these works must break away from the trammels of an artificial Latinized style and write in idiomatic English, like Dr. Newman and the best writers in the Dublin Review and Month. We desire to see works on Catholic philosophy which are as fine specimens of pure English idiom as those written by Liberatore in his native language are of a charming and literary Italian style.
I. A History of the United States for the use of Schools, Academies, and Colleges. By John R. G. Hassard, author of Life of Archbishop Hughes, Life of Pius IX., etc. 1 vol. 12mo, illustrated.
II. An Introductory History of the United States for the use of Schools. Arranged on the Catechetical Plan. 1 vol. 16mo, illustrated. New York: The Catholic Publication Society Co. 1878.
In this history Mr. Hassard has performed a very rare feat. He has made a school-book which, while being in every respect a thorough school-book, is full of interest from cover to cover. There is not a dull page in it.
Of course the first thing that commends this book to Catholic teachers and students is that it is written by a Catholic, and Mr. Hassard’s eminent qualifications for the preparation of such a work are too well known to need any mention here. The part that Catholics played, not only in the discovery of this continent but in its exploration and colonization; the part borne by them in the War of Independence and in the later history of these United States, has been carefully forgotten, or slurred over, or misrepresented, or omitted altogether in the average history set in a boy’s hand at school. This is not history; and to remedy this capital defect, we take it, has been the chief object of Mr. Hassard’s book.
He has done his work thoroughly and in an excellent manner. He is nowhere aggressive; he is simply historical from first to last. Where Catholicity comes in he gives it its place; where it does not enter he never drags it in. He is concerned with facts, and he attends chiefly to them. How he has succeeded in grouping them together, in collecting the tangled threads of events that are scattered over a vast continent, where so many nations and tribes of men and forms of religion and government contended for the mastery; the patient skill with which he has woven these into a bright, clear, and picturesque whole, can only be judged by those who read the book, which, for our own part, we could not set down until we had read it through. The history begins with the discovery of the continent, and brings us down by easy yet rapid stages to our own times. The story of the Spanish colonies, the French, the English, the Dutch, are all given due prominence. The work of Catholic missionaries in exploring the continent and attempting to convert the native tribes is briefly yet fully set forth.
The long struggle for national independence is given with great skill, force, and clearness, and indeed these qualities characterize the whole work. It is very plain that the author had everything clear in his own mind before he sat down to inform others. The result is a clean-cut and complete whole, with no important omissions, no waste, and no redundancy. The narrative is invariably spirited and flowing, and to students is in itself a model of clear, strong, simple English. It is wonderful, too, to see how, with the brief space at his command, the author has contrived to throw in at the right time those little personal allusions, pictures, or reminiscences of famous men and events that lend its charm to history and so aptly illustrate the times. Indeed, the gifts here displayed by Mr. Hassard are obviously those that would lend grace, strength, and dignity to a much more ambitious, though not more useful, work than that before us. The sense of historical truth and accuracy plainly predominates in the author’s mind.
His efforts to produce a history that was much needed, yet had hitherto remained unwritten, have been ably seconded by the publishers. The text is a delight to the eye; the illustrations, though many, are unexceptionally excellent; the little maps thrown in here and there are of great use in illustrating the text; and the questions at the foot of the page are all that either student or teacher could desire. It is impossible to commend such a work too heartily. It simply stands alone.
We have often heard the just complaint that Catholics had no history of the United States which they could safely use in their schools—none, at least, which was satisfactory. That complaint can exist no longer.