The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-12-11

ways written in the Catholic spirit
though not always upon Catholic
themes. AS an essayist, she can not
be expected to confine herself rigidly
to Catholic subjects, or make cate
gorical profession of faith in every
paragraph. The same may be said
of Louise lmogen Quincy or DIR. James
Walsh or Katherine Breezy or Maurice
Francis Egan. Yet all these delight
full essayists and many more are help
ing to enlarge the treasure of Cath
olic literature"
Leading Catholic Novelists.
The novelists are quite as numerous
as the essayists, and enjoy if any
thing a wider popularity. Indeed, it
often happens that we have, as in the
case of Talbot Smith and Maurice
Francis Egan, a novelist and an essay
list rolled into one. There are five
leading Catholic novelists, although
many more deserve mention; Egan,
Norris, Spearman, Ayscough, Clarke.
And here are few novels from their
pens-very suitable for Xmas reading
or Xmas presents: THE Ivy Hedge"
Mother" THE Treasure" "Satur-
days Child Robert Kimberley"
''Dromina,' ''Faustula," 'Hurdcott,"
"Marotz," "San Celestina,'' "The
Blue River" Fine Clay" Secret
Citadel" OF course, the older Cath
Ollie classics like the 'Son of Sire" or
my New Citrate" or "Callista"
The Church that produced Dante
has always had poets of genius among
her sons and daughters from the days
of Robert Southwell, the Jesuit Martyr
under Queen Elizabeth, down to the
Victorian era when Francis Thomp-
son swept the streets of London. Not
to mention the author of the Hound
of Heaven" there are in our own day
such Catholic poets of repute as
Katherine lyman, Lionel Johnson,
Alice Maynell, Louise Imogen Quincy,
Maurice Francis Egan, Helen Hughes
Hielscher, Thomas O'Hagan, J. O'Mal-
ley, Charles O'Donnell, Thomas Daily
and many more. Then what shall
we say of the clustered muse;
almost every convent in the country
possesses some Catholic poetess who
cheers the world with noble and
melodious words. They are numer-
Gus and gifted, those singing Sisters
and Brothers and they have lofty prec-
edents, for have we not Saint
Teresa and a Saint Francis of Assist
among the Catholic poets?
Catholic Historians.
AS a critic i'll the Extension Maya
zine writes, the Catholic Church has
suffered more from historical false
hood than from any other enemy.
History which forms department of
| literature (if we use the term i'll its
widest sensel becomes, therefore, a
| literary matter of prime Importance
to Catholics. 1t has been, at least
since Reformation days, conspiracy
against the truth. Avowed atheists
| like Hume and Gibbon, blind bigots
| like Froude and FoXe, rhetorical
sophists like Macaulay and Robertson
have done their worst, SO that Eng
lish history became perfect para
disc for lying spirits; they have
poisoned the wells whence millions
have drawn their information. And
although we are now living in the
era when a spirit of fairness and a
greater love of historical truth pre-
vail, it is wisdom to put into the Cath
Ollie home only such works as bear
the approval of the Church. Catholic
historians, like Catholic novelists or
essayists, are plentiful; the most
scholarly being Lingard, Gasquet,
Allies, Pastor and Jansen. The two
greatest Catholic historians of the
last century were Rev. John Baptist
Alzog and John JANSEN; the former
wrote his Universal History of the
Church which has passed through
numberless editions and is regarded
as a standard Catholic authority. The
| literary and critical merits of John
Jansen who wrote the History of
the German People" have long been
recognized by Protestant as well as
| Catholic. In English, the splendid
work done by Lingard a century ago
is now being supplemented by the
careful research and painstaking
zeal of DIR. Gasquet recently raised to
| the Cardinalate. In the United
States, the works of John Culinary
Shea and Bishop O'Gorman deserve
special mention, although as yet
there is no complete and exhaustive
history of the Church in America.
Catholic Journals.
1t was evidently the plan and pur-
pose of the Extension Magazine in
bringing out a special book-number
to stimulate among Catholics a love
of good reading. And we hope that
the same magazine in the near future
will devote a special number to Cath
Ollie Journalism. For next to a
plentiful supply of good Catholic
books, our reading public reeds a
large supply Of good Catholic journals.
There never was a time in the his
tory of the Church in America when
we had greater need of wide reading
~ u,