The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-12-26
CONTINUED from Page ~
ROBERT HUGH BENSEN.

and, above all, the fierce death-grapple
of old and new in religion, morality
and society.
Novels With a Purpose.
And, first of all, religion: the fiction
of Benson is permeated with a SUI
preme purpose-the conversion of the
nom Catholic. He used the novel as u
weapon for pulverizing modern error.
The keynote of this purpose is found
in the publishers notice introducing
the public to the Lord of the
World:
THE subject of this book is a par
able of the religious crisis which may
be expected to take place a century
hence if the lines of the present day
controversies are produced Indefinite
ly. The author ventures to prophesy
that century hence there will be, at
any rate in the western world, but
two religious camps-Catholicis and
humanitarianism, and that these two
camps will be in fierce opposition and
this opposition will take the form of
stern laws and even bloodshed.
No comment is needed to emphasize
the significance of this remarkable
passage. The question inevitably aris-
ing as we read it is: Are we not
justified in believing that, as time goes
on, deeper and broader humanity
must make such anticipated collisions
impossible? We like to think so. We
like to think that a part of the splen-
did fruitage of advancing civilization
will consist in chloroforming the ape
and tiger in such hostile camps, so
that bloodshed may not ensue. Some
thing must be pardoned to the perfer-
vid imagination of the convert who
has come into harbour after rough
voyage, with shrouds and tackle torn.
Should Be Read by Catholics.
The novel with purpose as written
by Benson is of immense value to
Catholics in their relations with
Professionals. The peculiar psychology
of the Protestant mind is laid bare in
such novels as The Average Man, +"
SO"O 1N1 1lS Lulu vi GuC
World" and these books ought to be
familiar to the average Catholic read
er. Monsignor Benson introduces
characters from every walk of life,
high and low, learned and illiterate
and he seems to know all the labyrin-
thine windings of religious error and
all the prejudices and superstitions
of those in whom hatred of Catholic
ism has been instilled from the cradle
bred SO to speak in the bone. A
convert knows these things and how
to deal with them far better than any
one else. Hence, the practical value
attached to a full acquaintance with
the writings of Benson whose zeal was
like a consuming fire in the matter OF
making converts. He believed that he
secured the greatest prize in the
world and he wished that all his non
Catholic neighbours might share the
same treasure. To that end he bent
all the energies of his soul and en-
ployed his splendid literary talent.
Whoever picks up volume of Ben.
son is not apt to lay it down until he
has finished the story. And this is
adequate praise for any novelist. Like
Stevenson or Dickens or Scott, he was
master in plot manipulation, quickly
arousing the readers interest and re.
tanning it till the close; and his char.
acters, though covering a wide range
and area of life, are real men and
women and not mere puppets or au-
donations such as one generally finds
in the novel with purpose.