The Irish standard., 1898-04-16
CANON DoYLE's PRIEST AND Nun.

The Easter number OF Donahoe's
contains g clever article from tho editor,
Henry Austin Adams. showing the alb
surd and silly manner in which the
Catholic priest and nun are used by A
Conan Doyle in his story OF The Con-
fessional." The novelist is the son of
an Irish Catholic who resigned his posi-
ton as carioaturist on "Punch"
rathe.' than hold up the pope
and the Catholic hierarchy to ridi
culo in its columns. The Anglo-Irish
story writer appears to be degenerate
son OF noble father, who preferred
principle to popularity DR.. Adams in
terestingly says:
Only last month had occasion to call
attention to the sudden departure Of our
solid and heretofore decent contempor-
airy. the Atlantic Monthly, into the do
main OF the yellow journal. The cause
of my animadversions at that time was a
villainous. cheap. hysterical yarn told
by one little Penrhyn Lee to me I'M
known. 1t ia bad enough when nobodies
make their bread and butter by scrib
cling putrid stories about religion. but II
becomes calling to find great guns"
like Conan Doyle descending to those
dirty levels In quest Zone would suppose.
unnecessarily Of dramatic raw mater
ial
L. 1,Ntt l.
know that large percentage of his
delighted readers belong to that church
which. in one of his latest stories he
wantonfy vilfGs by making use of the
worm-eaten theme of the love of nun
for /; priest. and the eternal motive Of
disappointed love" being the source of
vocation to the religious life. In his
talo entitled THE Confession" DR.. Doyle
plunsea like any penny a-liner hack into
the Shiny and mock-tragic regions usu-
ally exclusively in the possession of the
disrcputabln panderers to the vicious in
literature
His plot" has done service for five
hundred years and should be permanent
ly retired on Il pension.
priest-needlcss to say, a Jesuit
and Spaniard-has been giving the
Dominican nuns of a convent in Lisbon
their annual retreat. Tho Abbess Of
these gentle fanatics" was endowed
with many virtues and wax like face"
She was very good to sinners In spite of
her cold and serene" look and the worst
wretches whom she helped caught at
times look in her remarkable eyes
which showed plainly that there was
no depth" to which the Abbcss had not
been before them
Then Padre Garcia turns up to give
the retreat.
The Abbcss goes to confession and dis
covers that the Jesuit Is none other
than her long lost Pedro This is cheap
enough-and threadbarc; but listen to
what follows! tOur friend Penryhn
Lee will have to mind his laurels and
work hard on his next revelation of hor-
rors. for Conan Doyle is pressing 1T his
bloody hee!-prints). How is this for
DR.. Doyle: "A convulsed face" ter
rible eyes-so full Of hungry longing and
hopeless despair" The padre didn't
know that his Julia had taken the
veil. What was there left for me to
do" asks Julia. since Pedro Tilted hrr.
Explanations. 1t appears that kerc-
senc lamp was to blame. But for that
fateful lamp Pedro would never have be-
como Father Garcia. nor beautiful Julia
the Abbcss Monica with the wax face.
On a certain evening they had arranged
that she would put this plag.ley lamp at
her window. which romantic proceeding
would give Mr.. Pedro incoming in the
Plaza below. to understand that she
wished him to be true to her." She
failed to place the lamp there. he says
She says she did. More explanations.
Ho thought her window was the third
at the top" No! 1t was the first 1T
tho top. Treachery somewhere. Wick