The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-10-07
POPULAR CATHOLIC LITERATURE

Chats by the Fireside. A study in
Life, Art and Literature By Thomas
O'Hagan, Phi. D. Published by the
Rosary Press, Somerset, Ohio. Price
$780,
In my early days, books were not so
plentiful as later, and my chief sup
ply came from a brother who was
away in college, and who had a faculty
of winning prizes. One of these prize
books made a great impression on my
mind Or rather on my literary tastes.
It was Evenings in the Library"
by Maurice Francis Egan, our present
minister to Denmark, but then a COM
paratively unknown writer. The
name itself had something suggestive
of comfort and coziness in it. have
been in many library since but
never enjoyed myself more than in
that one mot built by hands" And
what noble acquaintance I made
there-Longfellow, Tennyson, Bryant,
Aldrich and a host of others who are
now old friends.
Just such a feeling of satisfaction
comes over me today on reading
"Chats by the Fireside," though the
book is along a different plane, and
contains more mature thought and
criticism The "chats" give you the
delightful feeling that you are learn
| ing lot of things without being lee
tured at. They are so much a part
of the author that just few words
about him will add to the pleasure of
the reading. There never was red
cross knight of olden times more de-
voted to his cause than DIR. O'Hagan is
to the advancement of Catholic litera-
ture. His whole life has been a prep
aration; and he brings to his work not
only a mind endowed by nature with
philosophical turn but rigidly train
ed in the best schools of this country
and of Europe. Nor is he stranger
to the reading world, having quite a
number of books already to his credit
and having sung his way to it's heart
in 'The Songs of the Settlement"
"Chats by the Fireside" is, just as
the name implies, desultory CONVEX
sation, one sided, of course, on the
various subjects that come under the
observation of a Catholic editor; but
every page has an educative value by
reason of the wide and varied informa-
ton of the man behind it. Sometimes
it is nebulous thought crystallized
into expression, clear-cut differentia-
tion or well-expressed definition, and
i uvhn hn dc
there is always evidence of balance
and absence of rancour.
AS an example of his style, here is
his distinction between Catholic and
secular education: ''The former en-
phasizes the things of the soul, the
latter the things of the mind" His
literary creed is summed up in the
following, Il hold that what is strong.
est, best, most enduring, and abso-
lutely essential in all great English
poetry is Catholic" He is foe to
superficial education as he delightfully."-
puts it: Those little educational
skiffs, thats skim the high seas OF
knowledge, yet seldom linger to study
the mysteries of the Deep"
The English language he uses with
respect and judgment. 1T is pitiable, :
he says, to see thought buried un
der a great boulder of words" In one
chat he pays much-needed atten
ton to our magazines, and again here
is an example of his nice differentia
ton: 1--WE have too much smart writ
ing, and not enough of scholarship and
thought" Again: Criticism should
be the conscience of art, and should
have in it more of construction than
destruction" And yet with all his
kindness his temperament" once
and while gets away with him, as
witness the case of the Englishmar
who attempted to criticise the works
i of Michael Angelo and Raphael:
'1This son of the North from the
island of fog and mist, whose people