New-York tribune., 1889-12-25
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MFpIAEvAI, MYSTIC.

q n
SAINT THERESA OF AvILA. BY Mrs. bTsuiei pntiers %
man. l6mo. PIP. 203. Boston N~oOo ~ .n,,a he
No series of biographies Of famous women "ou 1o
son,plste n n did not include life OF sain'
rather Tercsa) but there are few "r''e's ,vs
Ao,n. ,us,,ce to the subject. and among tose AZ"
,erret that IL is impossible to number Mfs Ddu''' a.
man The methods employed oy her apPo". - Sono
he sinsularly and fatally infelicitous' he' ''n .
Ia deal with character In which III. suo's" a. MT
sor,nant inauence she to have laooreo " pu.
,n,. ont ~ sight as far as possible WIN q" 0'.'
s.,. q, achieve thoroughly sane narrative anu one
IN accord with the standards OF the Pre>cn' 10Y
h,s either ignored mere mythical anu eso"uaI'
,rowtbs the whole OF that curious weai'" Vi
which, whatever Judgment may DC pa'S.u upo" ~ %
tt.r of fact is Of vital Importance IN hepihs Us
..,,,ation OF the general condition OF the age III
s,,n teresa lived Mrs. Gilman having thus stripped
her heroine of every claim upon either '"e ne'.' -
pure inteIlectualism and the venefauon oil pure "V
.co,nmends her to the admiration OF scep'cai anu
aterialst nineteenth century public upon no pe''er
opnds than that she showed considerable pcrss'ehoo
nd .nerrv in a kind of work which most people To-
d.v consider either useless mschievons; that Is 10
saw the establishment OF converts In whch women
shonld torture themselves by ascetic discipline MIS-
Gilman attempts to palatc the obviously unavoraDle
tferences Of her sketch by observing That the spanish
Xomon of secular life in the sixteenth century were
uttle better than slaves No doubt this true enough
hnt what relief from slavery could women find IN the
rr.ctioe Of the strict Carmee rule revived by SAINT
Theresa
The truth is that the life Of the famous Spanish
sant as presented in this volume Is anything out d"
tractve and a reader WHO had no further Kno"leuso
of her than NAV be derived from Mrs. Gilmans pages
might well be puzzled at the extent and character OF
her reputation. Briefly summarized, TINS Is no" s"o
is made to appear giddy, worldly pretty sir'' noi
behavior when very young was so wd ana mp ""en'
that her father put her in convent 10 nave tic nun
sense taken out of her. After tme during when
fntin ant
.,o u.as converted but had many backsldings both
before aud after her public profession Much against
her fathers will she took the veil In the Carneh'c
Convent of the Incarnation. and there she hVed '"chs
years before really reconced to convenouai
life and before she became truly religious now III
order To understand what this long virtual hoVuaVo
meant Mrs Gilman should have given study OF
snanish conventual life in the sixteenth century Iho
materials are abundant. There Is no omcul'y III W
tanning access to them. and such picture Is
In fact the corruption of the Spanish Church aU tS
period was something very different from wla' IL Is
represented here Ooe might suppose from hIs' uii
MANS statements that nothing worse than frlvohv
WAS cbarceable against the and the priests ie
case was really much darker The enor's Vi su0"
men az John OF the Cross and Peter OF Acadra WOW
not stimulated by mere venia sins among tne relisou
Tbesc reformers knew Luther knew, the nature anu
extent OF the corruption Win WHICH 'i0 ~~ ~~ " ~
its branches reeked. .
Theresa was many years in purging herself OF that
love Of worldly amusements when was srouiiue" O.1p
IN her nature What changed her hhalIy was '"0
force and vyidness of her imagination. lhere never
was n mystic without strong Imagination "hich 10
the capacity to realize subjectivey or opectNe, OS
interior or external vision, those religious aspirations
.,.h 4, oil sucb cases tend inevitably toward form
and color and picturesque dramatic arrangement
sister Teresa very ignorant Her nnhu was
ouite uncultivated. Her imagination therefore, was
dependent upon conventional conceptions OF the super
f.ftI Croh
she not been curbed and held back by her splrtual
directors who could not agree as to whether her
yis,ons were from above or below, they would no
Doubt have burgeoned forth eXuberantly AS IL
was she was taught TO mstrust them, ana eVeh'uaily
came 10 nut no reliance upon them at all; indeed, as
soon as she was VIII launched upon the pracucal
business of her fe they left her altogether as seems
perfectly natural TO the modern mind But IheTesas
fame the interest which attaches to her rest so lar
As the secular world is concerned, little, or not at ALL
upon her abors in founding converts and monaSteres
All this according TO the spirit OF the present age Was
merely mlsdirected and wasted energy 1t is in There
sa,s autobiography in her FL Castillo INTERIOR thao
modern interest centres; and even here 1t IS per
haps quite as much the gift of expresson-the STYLE
that is to say-which attracts and charms the
reader as the matter, a large proportion OF wmch
must always be "caviare to the general
In her life and letters this strongly emotional and
often hysterical revealed her nmost self with
ton is precious and fascinating because no matter now
great the knowledge acquired by any man. the best
and the most difficult thing to learn is the heart OF his
fellow. 1t is not normal condition that we find eX-
hbited in Saint Theresa and very certainly II Is ire
ouenty morbid condition. But its analysis Is faci-
taed by the frank detail of the recapuaton and the
genuneness of the aspiration which breathes through
the record mparts to 1t an odor Of purity ana oi
sanctity To know her at all it is absolutely lndls-
pensable read Of her works. and especially the
autobiography. The dispassOnate student of the
science of religion will recognize IN all her compost
tions the characteristics which distinguished mystical
literature from all other and which demonstrate its
essential unity Of origin, matter in what Church
sppears 1t to the want of adequate treatment OF
this dominant phase of her life that the defective
ness of Mrs. Gilmans biography of saint Theresa is
due II we wish TO understand such character we must
study it in its peculiar habitat we must endeavor
to inform ourselves with the spirit of the to which
it belonge and must, for the time being so far
enlarge receptive capacity as TO be able to per
ceive how, three hundred years ago. people accepted
seriously many beliefs which appear TO us too puerile
to be examined. Taken thus, very interesting life
OF Saint Theresa could be written, but are com
PEELED to say that the work still remains unacc0m-
cd