The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-15

| tanelli to Rome. The abruptness Of the
summons intimates that he has been too
lenient with the students of reaction
airy ideas. His successor is FIR. Cardi
| who invites young Burton to the use o.
his library and then prepares him t.
| accept himself as q spiritual director
BY a series of leading questions in the
| confessional the father acquires {
knowledge of the secrets of Young Italy
| and the name of a fellow agitator. He
also reveals to his young penitent the
secret password and his words imply
| that he Is in sympathy with the move
ment. Burton's arrest soon follows.
On his release from prison through
the mediation of the English ambassa-
dor, he learns that others Of the band
have been betrayed through the perfidy
of the father confessor He is driven
to despair by this knowledge and over
Whelmed with the loss OF Gemma's
friendship, he determines upon suicide
Learning of the deceit of the Canon
Montanalli, he
ABANDONS HIS PLAN
of suicide. Goaded to frenzy by shame
and hatred, he breaks with a hammer
the image of the crucifix into fragments
eXecrates all priests as liars and then
renounces his faith He escapes ia
South America, leaving a note direct
ing his relatives to search for his body
in the harhor
Manned in body with every moral
sensibility dulled, after an absence OF
thirteen years, he reappears as Riva-
rez, alias THE Gadhy" Sensualist
atheist, deadliest enemy of the clergy
ne directs or assists the propaganda OF
antt-clericalism through the story until
barbarously executed by soldiers of the
government. Upon this baseless fab
rication, Mrs. Voynich has constructed
the character of 1.-THE Gadfy"
Scarcely a character in the book APP
peals to ones sympathy unless it be
Cerares with his dog-like devotedness tc
Comma. The patient suffering OF
Comma is lost in the attention which
the heroic eXpiation of the cardinal for
single sinful transgression demands OF
the reader. The Gadfy's references to
Zita are
COARSE, INDECENT
and unworthy the pen of a woman
Through a series of dialogues devoid
of any great literary merit, the Gadfly
rings the changes of Islander, hatred
and revenge which have furnished ar
guments for revilers of revealed re-
ligion from Simon Magus to Ingersoll
The keynote of the entire work is
struck by the author at the close of
the scene in the prison cell, where is
described the conflict of hatred and
love in the breast of the Gadfly and love
and duty in the heart of the cardinal
Duty triumphS after a bitter struggle
The Galilean had conquered Is the
comment of the author. How like the
despairing cry of Julian at the walls OF
Jerusalem.
In the second last chapter, Mrs. Voy-
mich drags the Erinnys upon the scene
Montanelli chose duty, sacrificing love
and now the Furies reward this action
with insanity. One must go to Swine
burne to find an inspiration for the
authors loathsome distortion of the
Catholic belief in the eucharist. Here
she allows her antipathy to run riot
although this chapter contains the
finest bit of descriptive writing in the
Gadhy. Quoting the Latin text of the
ritual, she misconstrues it's application
If she covers her attack under the
mad rawlings of the insane Drelate, she
is confusion worse COMPOUNDED in he1
idea Of the bloody sacrifice Of the cross
and the unbloody sacrifice of the altar
To a Catholic the Intent is blasphe-
nous. A quotation will suffice to show
the horrible concreteness of her mis-
conception. Drink of it, Christians
drink Of it, all of you! Is it not yours
For you the
RED STREAMS STAIN
the grass; for you the living flesh is
scared and torn. Eat of it, cannibals
eat of it, all of you. This is your feast
and your orgiei this is the day of youl
joy! For the Christian hosts are
marching, marching in mighty process.
sion to their sacramental feast of blood
as marches an army of famished rats
to the cleaning" And yet Mrs. Voy.
mich, Mr. Rose and Stuart Robson
wonder why THE Gadfy" should MOI
find place with THE Sign of the
Cross" 1.-THE Christian, . Under the
Red Robe,' on the American stage.
1t cannot be denied that an intense
interest is sustained throughout the
novel, and it abounds with strong
thrilling situations. Its literary meri
is not of high order, and one car
find little or nothing between it's cover:
worthy of remembrance, Considered
simply as a story and excluding mo
tives, its fascination appeals to tina
portion of the public which has beer
APPLY or inaptly satirized as the Gen
eral Reader"