The Catholic World Volume Ii Part 43

"'_It is all that is made_.' I marvelled how it might last: for methought it might sodenlie have fallen to naught for litleness.

"And I was answered in my understanding, _'It lasteth and ever shall: for G.o.d loveth it, And so hath all thing being by the love of G.o.d.'_"

COMPLETE WORKS OF THE MOST REV. JOHN HUGHES, D.D., ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK. Comprising his Sermons, Letters, Lectures, Speeches, etc.

Carefully compiled from the best sources, and edited by Lawrence Kehoe. 2 vols. 8vo., pp. 608 and 810. New York: Lawrence Kehoe, No. 7 Beekman street.

In opening these two capacious volumes, one of the first things that strikes us is the great number of excellent pieces from the pen of the late Archbishop of New York which are now entirely forgotten by the general public. There never was an author more careless of his fame than Dr. Hughes. He cast his writings upon the world, and gave no thought to them afterward He was not even at the pains of keeping single copies of his own publications. So it has happened that many of his best productions have not only been long out of print, but have never even been heard of except by a few of the writer's special friends, or some of our oldest and best read Catholic citizens. We make no doubt that the collection for which the Catholic public is so much indebted to the zeal and industry of Mr. Kehoe, will cause considerable surprise among those who supposed themselves to be well acquainted with Archbishop Hughes's literary labors. How many persons, for instance, have ever heard or remember anything of a tract of some thirty or forty pages called "An Answer to Nine Objections," which Father Hughes published when he was first a priest? Or of his controversies with Dr. Delancey, the late Protestant Episcopal bishop of western New York, and Dr. Onderdonk, P. E. bishop of Pennsylvania?

Or of his letters on "Infallibility," written while he was in Philadelphia? Or his once famous series of letters on the "Importance of being in Communion with the Catholic Church?" And yet some of these deserve to rank among the most important and valuable productions of his pen. Our readers will find them all in Mr. Kehoe's volumes, and many other pieces with them which possess a more than ordinary interest. There is a long letter here to the Leopoldine Society of Vienna, in which Dr. Hughes exposes in a very graphic and masterly manner the condition of the Irish emigrants in this country: to the best of our belief it has never been published before. There is a touching and beautiful narrative, extracted from the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith for 1840 of the conversion of the Dodge Family in western New York. There is a description of a storm at sea, written during the bishop's voyage to Europe in 1839. And the second volume closes with a "Christmas Vesper Hymn," which has often been printed before, and even set to music, but will doubtless be new to many people.

We have mentioned these portions of Mr. Kehoe's collection, not only because they are less known than the archbishop's great controversies; but because every true friend of the lamented prelate's fame ought to desire them to be far better known than they are. Archbishop Hughes was one of the kindest, tenderest-hearted men that ever lived; and any one who should judge him by the severe, caustic tone of his letters to Breckinridge, for example, or his speeches on the school question, would gravely mistake his character. Most of the pieces that we have named, and some others as well, show him in his true and most amiable light.

The first volume is occupied princ.i.p.ally by the archbishop's various letters and speeches on the School Question; his letters to David Hale, Mayor Harper, and Colonel Stone: Letters on the Importance of being in Communion with the Catholic Church; Kirwan Unmasked; and a number of miscellaneous lectures and sermons. The second contains a number of letters, sermons, etc., on the Temporal Power of the Pope; various lectures; over thirty miscellaneous sermons; the Church Property Controversy with Senator Brooks and others; and a great deal of miscellaneous matter, including the archbishop's speeches at banquets etc., during his last visit to Europe. Bishop Bayley's admirable lecture on {283} the Life and Times of Archbishop Hughes is given in full, by way of introduction to the second volume.

Mr. Kehoe's collection is the most important contribution to the history of the Church in the United States that has been made for many a year. Archbishop Hughes not only played an important part in the ecclesiastical history of his time and country, but he may be said without much exaggeration to have _made_ that history. His writings are destined to hold a permanent place in American Catholic literature by the side of those of Bishop England, while from their subjects, as well as the comparatively cheap form in which they are now presented to us, they will no doubt be more popular than those of the ill.u.s.trious Bishop of Charleston.

CAPE COD. By Henry D. Th.o.r.eau. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1865. 12mo., pp. 253.

This is a readable book, notwithstanding some of its critics have put it down as "dry." The keen observations, and quaint remarks sprinkled all over its pages, keep its reader in good humor chapter after chapter until the book is read. Th.o.r.eau's books are healthy, and deserve to be read, especially by our young men.

This is true of the general tone of his writings. Occasionally, however, there is a slight vein of skepticism running through them.

But he has less of this than his contemporaries. Th.o.r.eau had deep religious feeling, but he found no expression for it in the religious denominations around him. Had he lived in the fifth century he would have been a father of the desert. As it is, he gives you the natural side of life and things exclusively, but with freshness and originality.

The st.u.r.dy integrity of the man, the fixed determination of seeing life and things with his own eyes, and his resolve to have his own say about them, is what characterizes all his writings, and what makes them valuable where popular opinion sways.

As a sample of his talent for description, read the following pen-drawing of a wrecker:

"We soon met one of these wreckers,--a regular Cape Cod man, with a bleached and weather-beaten face, within whose wrinkles I distinguished no particular feature. It was like an old sail endowed with life--a hanging cliff of weather-beaten flesh--like one of the clay boulders which occurred in that sand-bank. He had on a hat which had seen salt water, and a coat of many pieces and colors, though it was mainly the color of the beach, as if it had been sanded. His variegated back--for his coat had many patches, even between the shoulders--was a rich study to us, when we had pa.s.sed him and looked around. It might have been dishonorable for him to have so many scars behind, it is true, if he had not had many more, and more serious ones, in front. He looked as if he sometimes saw a doughnut, but never descended to comfort; too grave to laugh, too tough to cry; as in different as a clam,--like a sea-clam with hat on, and legs, that was out walking the strand. He may have been one of the Pilgrims--Peregrine White, at least--who has kept on the back side of the Cape and let the centuries go by. He was looking for wrecks, old logs, water-logged and covered with barnacles, or bits of boards and joists--even chips, which he drew out of reach of the tides and stacked up to dry. When the log was too large to carry far, he cut it up where the last wave had left it, or, rolling it a few feet, appropriated it by sticking two sticks into the ground crosswise above it. Some rotten trunk, which in Maine enc.u.mbers the ground, and is, perchance, thrown into the water on purpose, is here thus carefully picked up, split and dried, and husbanded. Before winter the wrecker painfully carries these things up the bank on his shoulders by a long diagonal slanting path made with a hoe in the sand, if there is no hollow at hand. You may see his hooked pike-staff always lying on the bank, ready for use. He is the true monarch of the beach, whose 'right there is none to dispute,' and he is as much identified with it as a beach bird."

THE STORY OF THE GREAT MARCH.

From the Diary of a Staff Officer. By Brevet Major George Ward Nichols, Aid-de-camp to General Sherman. With a Map and Ill.u.s.trations.

12mo., pp. 394. New York: Harper Brothers.

The advance of General Sherman, with 70,000 men, through the heart of the seceded states, will ever be memorable in the annals of American history as the greatest achievement of modern times. From the time of his departure from Atlanta, Ga., until the purpose on which he started was accomplished in the surrender of Gen. Johnston, near Raleigh, N.C., his {284} movements attracted the attention, and called forth the criticism, of _un_military as well as military men in Europe and America. Many were the prophecies uttered of his total failure, but the able captain who conceived the plan and to whose care it was intrusted, carried the expedition successfully through. Of this march most of our readers have read more or less, in the daily papers. These statements have oftentimes been very incorrect and vague, from the excitement and hurry of the correspondents in getting them up. The handsome volume before us, however, is a clear and concise narrative of that great march, noted down from day to day by a member of General Sherman's staff. The author in this sketch gives us a true narrative of the entire march, and account of the interview between Sherman and Johnston. His style is plain and unaffected, but occasionally a little inflated. This, however, is pardonable, for he is very brief, and brevity, the poet says, "is the soul of wit." He wastes but few words in "saying his say," and has evidently taken much pains in getting his statements in as small s.p.a.ce as possible. The book is embellished with a fine map of the march, and several appropriate wood-cuts. It also contains General Sherman's official reports of the campaign, and statement before the Congressional committee on the conduct of the war--valuable doc.u.ments in themselves. We copy the following extracts from the chapter personal to General Sherman:

"Late in the summer of 1864, I was relieved from detached service in the west, and ordered to report to the general commanding the military division of the Mississippi. I found General Sherman at Atlanta, seated in the parlor of his headquarters, surrounded by several of his generals, and shall never forget the kindness with which he received me when he heard that I was a stranger in the western army; he said, "Very well; I will retain you on my staff."

The expression of gentleness, sympathy, and consideration which accompanied this brief announcement, made an impression upon me which will be fully understood by any officer who has had the fortune to be suddenly ordered to a strange and distant field of duty, where anxiety and embarra.s.sment awaited him. The incident is introduced here because it gives the key-note to a striking feature in the character of General Sherman.

"A striking evidence of his sense of justice and his unselfishness may be seen in his refusal to accept the commission of a major-general in the regular army which was offered him previous to the fall of Atlanta. In his letter declining the honor, he said: 'These positions of so much trust and honor should be held open till the close of the war. They should not be hastily given. Important campaigns are in operation. At the end, let those who prove their capacity in merit be the ones appointed for these high honors.'

"General Sherman's memory is marvellous. The simplest incidents of friendly intercourse, the details of his campaigns, citations of events, dates, names, faces, remain fresh in his mind. A soldier who may have addressed him long years ago in the swamps of Florida; some heroic deed of an officer at Shiloh; a barn or a hill-side in Georgia; a chance expression of your own which you may have forgotten; minutest description of the plan of the campaign; whatever he has seen, heard, or read, he remembers with astonishing accuracy. Napoleon had a similar trait.

"He is also remarkably observant, especially of the conduct and character of the officers of the army. He sees what many persons suppose it is impossible for his eye to reach. In an army of 70,000 men, it might be reasonably imagined that the commanding general is too far removed from the great ma.s.s to know or be known by them; but when it is remembered that Sherman has marched during this campaign alternately with one and another corps, it ceases to be a matter of surprise that he is thoroughly acquainted with the character of the different organizations. In truth, nothing escapes that vigilant and piercing eye, from the greatest to the minutest detail of the command.

"General Sherman is sociable in the best sense of the word. When the responsibilities of the hour are cast aside--and he throws them off with the utmost facility--he enters into the spirit of a merry-making with all the zest and appreciation of the jolliest of the party. He has a keen sense of wit and humor; and not unfrequently he is the centre and life of the occasion. He converses freely, yet he is reticent to the last degree, knowing how to keep his own counsel, and never betraying his purpose. He is cautious and often suspicious; yet no man ever accused him of deceit or dishonesty either in word or deed. His unmeasured scorn and contempt are visited upon pretense, new philanthropy, arrogance, self-conceit, or boasting; but he never fails to recognize and pay a hearty tribute to unpretentious merit, courage, capacity, Christian manliness and simplicity. He is not prodigal of promises, but his word once given is {285} sacred as holy writ. General Sherman is terribly in earnest in his method of conducting war, but he is neither vindictive nor implacable. He once said to a Methodist preacher in Georgia who had, by voice and example, helped to plunge the nation into war: 'You, sir, and such as you, had the power to resist this mad rebellion; but you chose to strike down the best government ever created, and for no good reason whatsoever. You are suffering the consequence, and have no great reason to complain.'

"Yet there is a depth of tenderness akin to the love of woman behind that face, which is furrowed with the lines of anxiety and care, and those eyes, which dart keen and suspicious glances. Little children cling to the general's knees and nestle in his arms with intuitive faith and affection. During our sojourn in Savannah his headquarters and private room became the play-ground of hosts of little ones, upon whom the door was never closed no matter what business was pending.

"General Sherman's integrity seemed to pervade every trait in his character. His intense dislike of the men who have been interested in the war only to make money out of it, is well known. From the first instant of the rebellion pecuniary considerations were cast aside by the general, and he has given himself wholly to the service of his country. He knows the value of money, but he can say with honorable pride that the atmosphere of integrity and honesty about him withers and destroys the l.u.s.t of gain. Not even the taint of suspicion in this regard has ever been cast upon him nor upon the officers a.s.sociated with him.

"In person, General Sherman is nearly six feet in height, with a wiry, muscular, and not ungraceful frame. His age is only forty-seven years, but his face is furrowed with deep lines, indicating care and profound thought. With surprising rapidity, however, these strong lines disappear when he talks with children and women. His eyes are of a dark brown color, and sharp and quick in expression. His forehead is broad and fair, sloping gently at the top of the head, which is covered with thick and light brown hair, closely trimmed. His beard and moustache, of a sandy hue, are also closely cut. His const.i.tution is iron. Exposure to cold, rain, or burning heat seems to produce no effect upon his powers of endurance and strength. Under the most hara.s.sing conditions I have never seen him exhibit any symptoms of fatigue. In the field he retires early, but at midnight he may be found pacing in front of his tent, or sitting by the camp fire smoking a cigar. His sleep must be light and unrestful, for the gallopping of a courier's horse down the road instantly wakes him, as well as a voice or a movement in his tent.

He falls asleep as easily and as quickly as a little child--by the road-aide, upon the wet ground or the hard floor, or when a battle rages near him. His mien is never clumsy or commonplace; and when mounted upon review he appears in every way the great captain that he is.

"When sounds of musketry or cannonading reach his ears, the general is extremely restless until he has been satisfied as to the origin, location, and probable results of the fight in progress. At such moments he lights a fresh cigar, and smokes while walking to and fro; stopping now and then to listen to the increasing rattle of musketry; then muttering 'Forward,' will mount old 'Sam,' a horribly fast-walking horse, which is as indifferent to shot and sh.e.l.l as his master, and starts off in the direction of the fire.

"One afternoon during the Atlanta campaign the general paid a visit to General Hooker, who had pitched his headquarters in a place almost as much exposed to the fire of the enemy as any that could have been found along the line. The two generals seated themselves comfortably, with their feet planted against the trees, watching the operations immediately in front and in full view of the rebels. Very soon a rebel sh.e.l.l pa.s.sed them, shrieking overhead, clearing the crockery from the dinner-table with amazing rapidity, and frightening the cook Sambo, who afterward excused himself on the ground that his mate had been killed the night before by one of 'them things.' Another sh.e.l.l quickly followed, demolishing a chair which had just been vacated by an officer. Meanwhile the rifle bullets were singing and 'fiezing' about in a reckless way, chipping the bark from the trees, and cutting their leaves and branches.

Still the two generals sat, discussing military questions, with the utmost indifference until the sun went down; while the staff officers, not seeing any fun in the business, carried on their own conversation as companionably as could reasonably be expected in a spot where the protecting trees were five to ten feet apart.

"The general's habits of life are simple. Primitive almost as first principles, his greatest sacrifice will be made when he resigns campaigning for a more civilized life. He has a keen sense of the beauty of nature, and never is happier than when his camp is pitched in some forest of lofty pines, where the wind sings through the tree-tops in melodious measure, and the feet are buried in the soft carpeting of spindles. He is the last one to complain when the table-fare is reduced {286} to beef and 'hard tack,' and, in truth, he rather enjoys poverty of food as one of the conditions of a soldier's life. I remember that he apologized to our guest, the secretary of war, one day at Savannah, because certain luxuries, such as canned fruits and jellies, had found their way to his table.

"'This,' he remarked, 'is the consequence of coming into houses and cities. The only place to live, Mr. Secretary, is out of doors in the woods.'

"General Sherman's patriotism is a vital force. He has given himself and all that he has to the national cause. Personal considerations, I am sure, have never influenced him. Doubtless he is ambitious, but it is impossible to discern any selfish or unworthy motive, either in his word or deeds. I do not believe it possible for a man more absolutely to subordinate himself and his personal interests to the great cause than he. His patriotism is as pure as the faith of a child; and, before it, family and social influences are powerless.

His relatives are the last persons to receive from his hand preferment or promotion. In answer to the request of one nearly allied to him that he would give his son a position on his staff, the general's reply was curt and unmistakable: 'Let him enter the ranks as a soldier, and carry a musket a few years!'

"In no instance is it possible for the general to favor the advancement of soldiers upon mere political grounds; bravery and capacity are the considerations which weigh with him. When a paper is handed to him for endors.e.m.e.nt, accompanied by questions relative to promotion, he leaves the selection of the candidate to army or corps commanders, reserving his own opinion until the proper time.

"He has had as great responsibilities to meet as any man of the age, but there has never yet been an instance when he was not equal to the occasion, even to the acceptance of a new truth. Few men have so harmoniously united common sense and genius as General Sherman."

THE OLD HOUSE BY THE BOYNE. By Mrs. J. Sadlier. 12mo., pp. 375. New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Co. 1865.

Another new story by Mrs. Sadlier! "Why, it is only the other day,"

the reader will naturally exclaim, "I read one also from her pen." But such is the fact. "The Old House by the Boyne" is, however, her latest production, and well does it sustain her reputation as one of our best living Irish novelists at home or abroad. Mrs. Sadlier is thoroughly Irish in her stories, and her sole object in them all is the elevation and edification of her countrymen and countrywomen on this side the Atlantic. A most praise-worthy object, and one which must in the end bring forth good fruit. The low and the vulgar, which the English novelists, and we are sorry to say some Irish writers also, take particular pains to bring forward as _the_ leading characters in their works, find no place in Mrs. Sadlier's books. All that is good and generous in the Irish character is given its true value, and when necessity compels her to describe the ruffian, she does so in such a manner as to make the reader abhor his actions, and not as other writers have done--make him a sort of a hero, as if his crime was the rule and not the exception.

Her descriptions of Irish manners, customs, and characteristics can always be relied upon as correct, for she has made the Irish character her constant study, and beside, she feels for the miseries and misfortunes of that unfortunate but generous and kind-hearted people.

Mrs. Sadlier has done much for the Catholic literature of America. Her works, original and translated, put together, make a large library in themselves, and every year sees additions to them. We trust she will be spared a good longtime yet, to aid by her prolific pen the good cause in this country.

THE PEEP O' DAY; or, John Doe, and Crohoore of the Billhook. By the O'Hara Family. A new edition, with Introduction and Notes. By Michael Banim, the survivor of "The O'Hara Family." Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4. New York: D. & J. Sadlier. 1865.

These are the first four parts of "The Works of the Brothers Banim,"

known as "The O'Hara Family," now publishing in numbers by the Sadliers. The Banims were, without an exception, the most powerful Irish novelists of the present century. Their style of writing was altogether different from that of Griffin, who was their superior in describing some phases of Irish life. All through Griffin's writings can be found that deep religious feeling which he never for a moment lost sight of. The Banims, although Catholics, launch {287} out more boldly into the world of pa.s.sion and folly, and give us more dramatic scenes; more of reality than the "gentle Griffin" could possibly allow his pen to write. For this reason we look upon Banim's works as bolder and more vivid pictures of Irish life, as it existed forty years ago, than Griffin's. Griffin's are sounder and safer reading, for no word ever escaped his pen that could not be uttered in any society.

The present editor, Mr. Michael Banim, says in the preface to the first volume "that my brother and myself were joint producers of the stories now about to be republished. This being the case, it will, I trust, be conceded that the editorship has not been intrusted, by the publisher, to unfit hands. It is my intention, as each volume appears, in condensed shape, to state in how far I have been concerned therewith. It is my intention also, as we go on, to append notes here and there. It will be my endeavor to make these notations as little c.u.mbrous as possible, and to throw into them whatever of anecdote or historical reference may appear to me interesting to the reader."

So far the notes are highly interesting. We only wish the publishers had given us the work in volumes, just as it appears in Dublin, instead of in numbers. We do not like to read a story by "piecemeal,"

hence our objection to the publication of novels in monthly or semi-monthly parts. When the whole is completed and published in bound volumes, these writings will be a valuable addition to our literature.

REMY ST. REMY; or, The Boy in Blue.

By Mrs. C. H. Gildersleeve. 12mo., pp. 352. New York: James O'Kane. 1865.

Another story of the late rebellion. And we may make up our mind to be overloaded with stories of this description for at least the next ten years. "The Boy in Blue" is the latest we have seen, and is an indifferent one enough. There are plots sufficient in the book for two or three good stories, but they are badly managed, and the various parts of the story clumsily put together. "The Boy in Blue" proves to be a girl, who thus uns.e.xed herself for the double purpose of thwarting the vengeance of a rejected lover, whom she refused to marry because he was _disloyal_, and of being near a _loyal_ lover whom she afterward married. The scene opens in Ma.s.sachusetts, jumps abruptly to the army of the Potomac, and from there to that of the c.u.mberland, where the princ.i.p.al events occur. The characters are nearly all East Tennesseeans, and are made to figure in the story without any regard to time or place. The book is one we cannot recommend; for none of the characters are any better than the law allows them to be. The heroine is no model for any virtuous modest girl; for no woman of correct training or good morals could dress herself in the habiliments of the opposite s.e.x. If the auth.o.r.ess cannot write a better story than this one, she had better give her time and attention to something else than novel writing. It is not her _forte_.