Chapter XXVII: Carl Yorke’s Orbit (8)

“Kind Heaven has sent us another professor,
Who follows the steps of his great predecessor.”

As we read, we share the sensation he produced at the Presidential _levée_ at Washington, clad in a blue coat out of the very web that furnished Mr. Webster’s last suit. The meeting of the President of the United States of America, serenely conscious of his new clothes, and the President of Fashion, who so successfully cut them, reminds us of another meeting there which Irving compared to “two kings of Brentford smelling at one rose.”

We cannot close without expressing our gratitude in particular for the fine suit of black our Prince of Tailors presented Father Mathew of blessed and abstemious memory.

* * * * *

THE BOOK OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF ST. TERESA OF JESUS, OF THE ORDER
OF OUR LADY OF CARMEL. Written by herself. Translated from
the Spanish by David Lewis. London: Burns, Oates & Co. New
York: The Catholic Publication Society.

This volume contains, besides the work indicated in the title-page, _Annals of the Saint’s Life_, by Don Vicente de La Fuente, _The Carmelite Rule_ and _Constitutions_, and _The Visitation of Nunneries_, and _Maxims_ of St. Teresa herself. The principal work is also more complete than any previous edition in English.

Those who are familiar with the wonderful story of St. Teresa’s history will need no assurance that the spirit which animated her life also pervades her works. Indeed, the two are almost inseparable, her writings evidently being a faithful transcript of her whole history. Notwithstanding the signal favors she received from heaven, she seemed always oppressed with the idea of her own unworthiness. The prologue to the _Foundations_ furnishes many valuable lessons to religious as well as those whose sphere of duty lies in the world. St. Teresa knew how to exert the utmost zeal and energy in the service of religion, with entire submission to her ecclesiastical superiors. The case of St. Teresa, moreover, is evidence of the way the church honors real reformers--by proposing them to the veneration of the faithful as canonized saints. As an indication of her humility, even the main work in this volume was undertaken, not to gratify any personal feeling, but in obedience to the command of her confessor. It contains a history of the religious houses, male and female, she established. In the face of great difficulties and discouragements, she persevered in her purpose, until the reform was recognized at Rome, and the Carmelite Order was divided into two branches, one under the milder observance, and her own under the stricter or primitive observance.

The lives of the saints present marvels exceeding in interest the dreams of poetry and romance, and we cannot do better than commend to those who jeopardize their innocence in the perusal of sensational figments of the imagination, to betake themselves to the more edifying and truly interesting lives and writings of the saints.

* * * * *

SERMONS ON ECCLESIASTICAL SUBJECTS. By Henry Edward, Archbishop
of Westminster. Vol. I. American Edition. New York: The
Catholic Publication Society. 1872.

Each new volume from Archbishop Manning is a precious addition to Catholic literature. The present collection of sermons has all the usual characteristics of the author, both as a preacher and as a writer. Great as many other sermons undoubtedly are, those of Dr. Manning possess a charm all their own. The oldest theme is never stale in his hands. His logic is always of the keenest, while his style is as clear and musical as a brook.

Of the sermons before us, we commend two especially. The first, on “The Church, the Spirit, and the Word”; and the sixth, “The Blessed Sacrament the Centre of Immutable Truth.” The thirteenth will also be found of peculiar interest for American readers. It was preached in St. Joseph’s College, Nov. 17, 1871. Its subject: “The Negro Mission.”

* * * * *

AN ESSAY ON THE DRUIDS, THE ANCIENT CHURCHES, AND THE ROUND
TOWERS OF IRELAND. By the Rev. Richard Smiddy. Dublin: W. B.
Kelly. 1871. New York: The Catholic Publication Society.

This is a very neat little publication, well-bound and handsomely printed. Those who have not leisure or opportunity to read Petrie’s elaborate book on the Round Towers or the works issued by the Archæological Society will find in Mr. Smiddy’s essay much valuable information regarding Irish antiquities, though in some of his views and theories he differs materially from preceding writers on the same class of subjects.

* * * * *

SALAD FOR THE SOLITARY AND THE SOCIAL. By an Epicure. New York:
De Witt C. Lent & Co. 8vo, pp. 526. 1872.

The author of this book, if author in the proper sense he may be called, has acted discreetly in withholding his name from the public, for, though a work not specially opposed to morality or truth, it is as little likely to increase the fame of the compiler or secure the approbation of the judicious as any of the many modern publications that teem from our metropolitan press, and depend almost altogether on the beauty of their illustrations and mechanical taste for public patronage. We have a very high appreciation of the shrewdness and foresight of publishers as a class, but upon a cursory glance at the appearance of the book, and on a comparison of it with its homogeneous contents, we were inclined to think the firm of Lent & Co. was an exception until we noticed in a brief preface that thirty thousand copies of the original, of which the book before us is said to be an enlarged and improved edition, have been sold. This may or may not be a piece of exaggeration on the part of the publishers: if it be not, then we are sorry for the lack of sense and judgment on the part of so many of our fellow-beings. The work is compiled, not written, pretty much as it is said “leading articles” in remote Western journals are produced, by the efficient aid of the scissors and mucilage, and its general contents would be more in place in the columns of those second or third hand journals, under the stereotyped headings of “Facts and Fancies” or “Mirth and Fun,” than in the imposing garb of a well-bound book. From cover to cover it is nothing but a compilation of old stories, thread-bare jokes, worn-out puns, stupid epitaphs, and references to historical and literary personages which are neither new nor original, and scarcely _apropos_ to the subject they are intended to make interesting. There is some attempt at arrangement in the display of this useless learning, and here and there a pleasant little bit of chat, but the whole composition is so disjointed and puerile that the effect produced on the mind of the reader is anything but pleasurable. There is no discretion apparent in the selection of extracts and quotations, and no dignity in the tone of the entire work that would entitle it to the praise of even comparatively illiterate persons, though the generally good character of the engravings and its attractive exterior may secure some purchasers. Besides, its title gives no idea of its contents, and we hope not to be considered unkind when we offer the suggestion that, if the author should ever inflict another edition on a patient public, he will change it. _Hash_ would be much more expressive and germain to the matter, _salad_ being much too palatable a dish to be treated with such contumely.

* * * * *

A REMEMBRANCE OF THE LIVING TO PRAY FOR THE DEAD. By James
Mumford, Priest of the Society of Jesus. Reprinted from the
Edition of 1661. With Appendix on the Heroic Act. By John
Morris, Priest of the same Society. London: Burns, Oates &
Co. New York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1871.

Those who have read Father Mumford’s _Catholic Scripturist_ or _Question of Questions_ will need no assurance from us of the excellence of the present treatise. Those who are yet strangers to this old writer will find a peculiar charm in the work, if, at least, they have any liking for terseness, directness, and unction. Father Mumford is somewhat quaint; but that only adds to his style. Good works on Purgatory are not plentiful. This is one of the very best. It particularly inculcates, too, a duty we seldom appreciate sufficiently.

* * * * *

LITTLE PRUDY’S FLYAWAY SERIES. Aunt Madge’s Story. By Sophie May,
author of “Little Prudy’s Stories,” “Dotty Dimple Stories,”
etc. Illustrated. Boston: Lee & Shepard. New York: Lee,
Shepard & Dillingham. 1872.

This is a delightful little story for children, but this is saying nothing new, for Sophie May’s stories always are. As Aunt Madge was not one of the “tremendous good” children, her story will, perhaps, have a special interest for the little ones.

P. F. CUNNINGHAM has in press and will soon publish _Marion Howard_, a story of much interest.

BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED.

From CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO., New York: A Commentary on the Holy
Scriptures. By J. P. Lange, D.D. Translated, enlarged,
and edited by P. Schaff, D.D. Vol. IV. Containing Joshua,
Judges, and Ruth. 8vo, pp. iv., 188, 261, 53.--Lectures on
Science and Religion. By Max Müller, M.A. 12mo, pp. iv.,
300.--Systematic Theology. By C. Hodge, D.D. Vol. II. 8vo,
pp. 732.

From CARLTON & LANAHAN, New York: Three Score Years and Beyond.
By Rev. W. H. De Puy, D.D. 8vo, pp. 512.--Jesus Christ. By E.
de Pressensé, D.D. 12mo, pp. 312.--Pillars of the Temple.
By Rev. W. C. Smith. 12mo, pp. 366.--Light on the Pathway of
Holiness. By Rev. L. D. McCabe, D.D. 18mo, pp. 114.--The Land
of the Veda. By Rev. W. Butler, D.D.

From D. APPLETON & CO., New York: Ballads of Good Deeds. By H.
Abbey. 18mo, pp. 129.

From P. DONAHOE, Boston: The Fourfold Sovereignty of God. By
Henry Edward, Archbishop of Westminster. 18mo, pp. 272.--The
Council of the Vatican. By Thomas, Canon Pope. 12mo, pp.
xviii., 340.

From KELLY, PIET & CO., Baltimore: The Martyrs of the Coliseum.
By Rev. A. J. O’Reilly. 12mo, pp. viii., 396.

From J. R. OSGOOD & CO., Boston: The Divine Tragedy. By H. W.
Longfellow. 18mo, pp. iv., 150.

From LEE & SHEPARD, Boston: Half Truths and the Truth. By Rev. J.
M. Manning, D.D. 12mo, pp. xii., 398.

From the AUTHOR: Notes on Historical Evidence in Reference to
Adverse Theories of the Origin and Nature of the Government
of the United States. By J. B. Dillon. 8vo, pp. x., 141.

From D. &. J. SADLIER & CO., New York: The Devil. By Father
Delaporte. 18mo, pp. viii., 202.

From KREUZER BROS., Baltimore: Triumph of the Blessed Sacrament.
By Rev. M. Müller, C.SS.R. 18mo, pp. 146.--The Catholic
Priest. By Rev. M. Müller, C.SS.R. 18mo, pp. 163.

From G. ROUTLEDGE & SONS, New York: The Moral of Accidents. By
the late Rev. T. T. Lynch. 12mo, pp. xviii., 415.--Una and
Her Paupers.--Memorials of Agnes E. Jones. By her Sister.
With an Introduction by Florence Nightingale. First American
Edition. With an Introductory Preface by Rev. H. W. Beecher.
12mo, pp. xlvi., 497.

From P. O’SHEA, New York: Lectures on the Church. By Rev. D. A.
Merrick, S.J. 12mo, pp. iv., 263.

From J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., Philadelphia: Wear and Tear. By S.
W. Mitchell. 18mo, paper, pp. 59.

From R. CODDINGTON, New York: The Church and the World. By Rev.
T. S. Preston, D.D. Paper, pp. 30.

From ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston: The To-Morrow of Death. By Louis
Figuier. 12mo, pp. viii., 395.

From C. C. CHATFIELD & CO., New Haven: Logical Praxis. By H. N.
Day. 12mo, pp. viii., 148.

Proceedings of the Third Annual Session of the American
Philological Association, held at New Haven, Conn., July,
1871. [The Third Annual Meeting of the Association will be
held in Providence, R. I., July 24, 1872, at 3 P.M.]

We are under obligations to the Author for a copy of Evolution
and its Consequences. (Reprinted from the _Contemporary
Review_.) A Reply to Prof. Huxley. By St. Geo. Mivart, F.R.S.

THE CATHOLIC WORLD.

VOL. XV., No. 86.--MAY, 1872.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by Rev.
I. T. HECKER, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at
Washington, D. C.

DUTIES OF THE RICH IN CHRISTIAN SOCIETY.

NO. IV.

DUTIES TO THE CHURCH.

If we look at one aspect of Christian society, we cannot help being overwhelmed with astonishment at the number and the greatness of the generous deeds and sacrifices which crowd and adorn its history. The noble, the powerful, the highly gifted, the wealthy, have lavished their possessions, their labors, their lives, for their fellow-men, in such a way as really to merit our wonder when we think of the weakness of human nature and the rarity of disinterested philanthropy among those who are not Christians. But, if we look at another aspect of the same, the amount of meanness, selfishness, and baseness which meets our view makes us wonder that Christian faith has, after all, produced so little really rare and rich fruit in the soil of human nature. The little which we do find is so perfect that we are astonished not to see more of the same quality produced by the same causes and influences. When we think of the motive which men have for making sacrifices, and of the example which has been given them--that is, that the Lord of heaven has died on the cross for mankind--the conduct of those Christians who have followed that example by the practice of heroic perfection seems merely the fulfilment of a plain, Christian duty of gratitude. On the other hand, the conduct of those Christians who live a selfish and unworthy life appears not only in a mean and ignoble, but even in an atrocious, light. That we belong absolutely to God, that we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, that we have only one lawful end to our life on the earth, which is to glorify God and merit to be glorified by him hereafter, are first truths which no Catholic ever thinks of denying or doubting. These truths caused some of the saints to renounce literally everything for Jesus Christ, and others to administer the power and wealth which they retained, exclusively for the glory of God and the good of their fellow-men. The saints are only examples of the highest degrees of those virtues of the same kind which constitute the character of all really good Christians. Every rich man, therefore, who wishes to be a good Christian, must have the same devotion to the faith, to the church, to the cause of God, of Christ, and of the Vicar of Christ on earth, which the saints had. Devotion to the church sums up the whole, because it includes or implies everything. This devotion must precede, direct, and dominate over every intention, motive, object, and undertaking of life. The obligation to it lies in the very nature of baptism. The baptized person is wholly devoted to the service of the Lord who has redeemed him, signed him with his own peculiar mark, and given him a title to the crown of celestial glory. The nature and extent of the service due varies with the position and the talents of the individual. The one who receives one talent is bound to gain one more with it. This may mean, for instance, that this particular man, or that particular woman, is bound to no other service to the church than to bring up well some three or five children, to come to Mass and the sacraments with them, to live an honest life, and to make some small contributions to the treasury of the church. The one who receives five talents is also bound to gain five more. The explication of the sense of this, and its application to particular cases, are easily made. Whatever the talents conferred on any individual may be, all must be devoted primarily to the sacred cause of the Catholic Church. It is the kingdom of Christ; it is the only hope of salvation to the world; it is the ark of safety to the individual himself with whom we are speaking. Into that church he has been baptized at the font, and made its child, its citizen, and its subject. There is no escape from its allegiance except by treason. The character of baptism is ineffaceable, and no one who bears that mark has any rights over himself, his talents, or his possessions, except such as are conceded to him by the law of Christ. “Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price.” “Henceforth, no one liveth to himself, and no one dieth to himself.” It is necessary to live and die as a member of the Catholic Church, in order to live honorably and to die happily. As it is only by partaking in the common life of the church that its individual members have any life of their own, it is their first duty to promote that common life. The law of life is the law of duty: the greater and stronger and more important the member is, the greater is the service it is bound to render to the body.

The duties of Catholics who belong to the higher and more wealthy class in society to the church are very various, numerous, and heavy. One portion of them coincides to a great extent with their obligations to the poor and miserable, of which notice was taken in our last number. The obligation of succoring their fellow-creatures because they are of the same blood through Adam, and made in the rational image of the same God, becomes more sacred towards those who are brethren in Christ through baptismal grace. How is it possible for Christians who expect to be saved through the infinite charity of Jesus Christ to revel in splendor, luxury, and enjoyment, and at the same time to look with heartless indifference on the want and suffering of those who are the dearest friends of Christ? If they are charitable and kind-hearted, as every true Christian must be, the charities of the church are so numerous and extensive as to tax their generosity to the utmost. There is great scope for private and personal charity toward individuals, but the great organized works of general charity must be carried on by the clergy or religious societies. The funds which they are ordinarily able to procure for these works are, in proportion to the necessities clamoring for relief, like the five loaves and two small fishes which the disciples of Christ set before the famishing multitude of five thousand men, besides women and children. These small funds come in great part from the almsgiving of laboring people, or from the various devices of lectures, fairs, concerts, etc., to which the managers of charitable works are obliged to resort. After all has been done, the Catholic priest, the charitable layman who makes his round of visits in the name of the St. Vincent de Paul’s Society, the Sister of Charity, are hardly able to do more than help those who are in want of the absolutely necessary clothing, food, and fire with which to keep off the gaunt death that grins at them out of every corner of their life. The demands upon charity are constant, multifarious, and pressing. They are made chiefly upon priests, who have already given up everything for God. It is plain, therefore, that it is the duty of the rich to furnish them liberally and abundantly with the means for supplying these demands.

The building of churches, their decoration, the furnishing of sacred vessels and ornaments for the sanctuary, and other works directly connected with the service and worship of the divine Majesty, are objects demanding a truly immense outlay of money. So far as concerns that which is necessary for the ministering of the word and sacraments of Christ, these spiritual wants of the people take precedence of their bodily necessities. So far as the decoration, splendor, and dignity of religion only are concerned, they come next after the more essential works of charity. Add to the buildings which are immediately devoted to divine worship, all those which belong to colleges, schools, orphanages, etc., and the work demanded of the Catholics of the United States appears colossal, and would seem impossible, did we not see before our eyes so much of it already accomplished. Then, there are the most just and imperative claims of the Holy Father, and the pathetic appeals of the foreign missions, never so pressing as at the present moment, when the downfall of the power of France has left them so denuded of the succor which they formerly received from that most generous nation. The naïve response which a most estimable French lady once gave to a priest who asked her for a donation to a good work in this city, very well expresses the true state of the case in hand: “Very much call, very little fund.” Nowhere is this more literally true than in New York. The most extreme liberality of all the Catholics of this city who have anything to spare, whether rich or poor, would not yield the means of furnishing a sufficient number of churches, schools, and other means for supplying the spiritual and corporal wants of our swarming and increasing population. Millions might be used at the present moment, if they could be had, in works of the most practical utility and even necessity. When a city or a nation is in straits through the calamities of war, pestilence, or famine, all its citizens are expected to strain every nerve and to make heroic sacrifices for its relief. No city or nation has a thousandth part of the claim to devotion from its citizens which the church possesses. And the church, always militant, is always in straits, at least in some part of her great empire, always suffering from the effects of the perpetual warfare waged against her, from pestilential vices and sins among her children, from a famine of the word and sacraments of Christ among the most neglected and abandoned of her people. God alone can help her efficiently. But men must struggle to help themselves, if they expect God to help them. Our Lord demanded of his disciples to feed the hungry multitude, and ordered them to set before them the whole of their own scanty provisions. “He himself knew what he would do,” and he did it by multiplying miraculously the loaves and fishes of his disciples. God alone can rescue the famishing and perishing multitudes of Christendom and heathendom from the abyss of temporal and spiritual ruin and death which yawns under their feet. Society must be reconstructed on a Christian basis, and by mighty, organic movements, in which the church and the state, the hierarchy, both ecclesiastical and civil, and all the powers contained in the bosom of society, in harmonious concert of action, labor together for a common end, it must work out its own regeneration and the Christian civilization of the human race; or the work will remain for ever incomplete. Christendom is full of deadly disorders and wounds, inflicted on it by the fell power of schism, heresy, and infidelity. Only Catholic unity can heal it, and combine its members in the work assigned to it by divine Providence, and only a miracle of grace can restore to that unity the severed and disorganized parts, close up the deadly gashes in the living body, and reanimate it with complete health. The zeal, activity, and wealth of the whole community, collected in the communion of the Catholic Church, would be sufficient for as thorough a regeneration of New York, and of the whole United States, as the most sanguine optimist could ever expect to see brought about in any country in the world. Christendom, united in itself, and governed on Christian principles, would absorb into itself on a century the entire world. But meanwhile, the faithful and loyal children of the church must do what they can, and await the time for God to do what he has determined, and to a great extent made conditional in the efforts of men. The most of our Catholic people in the United States have, on the whole, fulfilled the duty of contributing the funds required for carrying on the works of the church remarkably well. Whether the richer portion of them have done their fair share, is a question not so easy to answer. Instances of princely generosity have not been wanting, and to a considerable extent there has been a creditable liberality manifested by the wealthier classes of Catholics when they have been publicly or privately solicited to aid in religious or other charitable works. That there are some who are niggardly in their disposition, and many who are more sparing and moderate in their charities than they ought to be, can hardly be doubted. The comparatively small number of wealthy men in the Catholic community has necessarily thrown the great burden of supporting the institutions of the church upon the mass of the people who are not rich. There is nothing in this to complain of. If the rich do their fair share, it is no disgrace to them that they enjoy the benefits which have been chiefly purchased by the money of the laboring classes. But if they fall behind their proportion, it is a real disgrace to them, because they receive in that case for nothing, and as an alms from the poor, something which they ought to have paid for.

The church demands something more than a portion of the surplus of the wealth of the rich. She demands the consecration and devotion of the minds, the wills, the time, the efforts of all the _élite_ of her laity, of those who are rich in intellectual gifts and acquisitions, as well as of those who are rich in gold and silver. The principal medium of the operation of this devotion at the present time are voluntary associations under the sanction and direction of the hierarchy. These associations have for their scope the organization of charitable works, the diffusion of knowledge, resistance to the enemies of the church, the defence of the Holy See, and general co-operation with the clergy in the extension of the Catholic religion. We will not enlarge on this theme, at present, as we have promised to make our articles very brief, and an essay on the subject has already appeared in our pages. What we have said will be sufficient, we trust, to stimulate all those who are imbued with the spirit of Catholic faith to greater zeal and effort in the sacred cause of the church, in which the laity have as great an interest as the clergy.

ANNIVERSARY OF BAPTISM.

BY A CONVERT.

On this steep pathway, which, with prayers, I climb,
I pause a moment--as a traveller might,
Weary and footsore, and in dusty plight,
Hearing, far off, the clear, melodious chime
Of bells that mark the swiftly passing time:
Then, as he pauses on the beetling height,
Through filming distance fixes his keen sight
On one faint speck, his starting point at prime,
And takes fresh courage for the sharp ascent--
Thus do I pause to-day; my steadfast eye
Fixed on that point of time, in which doth lie
The germ of all which can my soul content;
On which my waking thoughts, my dreams, are bent:
Then, turn where life’s still summits touch th’ eternal sky.

THE HOUSE OF YORKE.