On the fifth of August died in Paris Sister Nathalie Narishkin, a Russian
by birth, and descended from the same family from which sprang the mother
of Peter the Great. Born on the 1/13th of May, 1820, Sister Nathalie
Narishkin abjured the Greek Church August the 15th, 1844. This first step
had cost her a fearful struggle—that struggle of heart for which Jesus
Christ prepared us when he said, “I came to set a man at variance against
his father, _and a daughter against her mother_” (S. Matt. x. 35). We mean
that endurance which is perhaps the hardest of martyrdoms, at least when
God requires it of a soul whose love of him is combated by an unusual
tenderness of affection towards the authors of her being. Such was
Nathalie Narishkin.
But as any sacrifice we offer to God enables us, by strengthening our
will, to make fresh sacrifices for his love, she had not yet attained the
age of twenty‐eight when she resolved to follow more closely the footsteps
of our Lord, and in March, 1848, she entered the novitiate of the Sisters
of Charity in Paris. A few years afterwards she was named superioress of
the convent in the Rue St. Guillaume, where she died.
Foreigners who visit Catholic countries often imagine themselves
acquainted with Catholicity when they have hastily glanced through the
streets of our capitals, visited the museums, the public buildings, and
theatres, and inspected the Catholics in the churches at some mid‐day or
one o’clock Mass on Sundays. Hence it follows that in reality they have
nothing to relate concerning the influence of the Catholic faith in the
sanctification of souls. What would have been their edification, and
perhaps surprise, had they visited that convent of the Rue St. Guillaume,
and had the good‐fortune to converse with Sister Nathalie! No one who
approached her could help feeling that he was in presence of a soul in
continual union with God, and in whom self‐abnegation and the profoundest
humility had grown, as it were, into a second nature. With these
qualities, which at once struck the beholders, she combined the most
refined gentleness of manners and language—a gentleness which, let us
remark, was in her the same when soliciting from the Emperor Alexander
II., at the Elysée, in 1867, permission to enter Russia for the purpose of
nursing the sick attacked with cholera, as when answering the meanest
beggar asking at her hands a morsel of bread. “Every one who had to deal
with Sister Narishkin departed satisfied”—this is the general testimony of
all who ever had occasion to speak with her.
It is needless to add that, with regard to charity—that virtue which is
the special vocation of the daughters of S. Vincent de Paul, and the
surest token of true Christianity, as pointed out by Christ himself—Sister
Nathalie was second to no one; and this was made manifest on the day of
her funeral by the multitude of poor who accompanied her remains to the
cemetery, and the tears they shed on their way to the grave. What is the
pomp of the sepulture of kings and the great ones of the nations when
compared to this tribute to the memory of a Catholic Sister?
Father Gagarin, S.J., himself a Russian convert, though scarcely recovered
from an illness, and in spite of his age and physical sufferings—which did
not permit him to walk without difficulty, and leaning on a stick—would
not fail to follow the funeral on foot. The body was deposited in the
Cemetery of Mont Parnasse—in that same cemetery where for fifteen years
past have reposed the remains of that other Russian convert and Barnabite
father, Schouvaloff, who, speaking of those among his countrymen who had
become Catholics, said: “Fear not, little flock; we are the first‐fruits
of that union which every Christian should desire, and which we know will
take place. Fear not; our sufferings and our prayers will find grace
before God. _Russia will be Catholic._”
New Publications.
THE ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC FAMILY ALMANAC FOR THE UNITED STATES, FOR
THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1875. Calculated for Different Parallels of
Latitude, and Adapted for Use throughout the Country. New York:
The Catholic Publication Society.
This annual is already known in almost every Catholic home in the land.
Its cheapness places it within the reach of all, whilst its literary and
artistic excellence renders it acceptable even to the most fastidious. The
issue for 1875 even surpasses its predecessors in the variety of subjects
treated and in the beauty of its illustrations.
Publications of this kind undoubtedly do very much to awaken a truly
Catholic interest in the contemporary history of the church, and therefore
tend to enlarge the views and widen the sympathies of our people. The
life‐current of the universal church is borne through the whole earth, and
whatever anywhere concerns her welfare is of importance to Catholics
everywhere.
The opening sketch in the _Almanac_ for the year which even now “waiteth
at the door” carries us to Rome, in a biographical notice of Cardinal
Barnabo, whose name will long be held in grateful remembrance in the
United States.
There are also sketches of the lives of the late Archbishop Kenrick,
Archbishop Blanc of New Orleans, Bishop Whelan. Bishop McFarland—brief,
but sufficiently comprehensive to give one an insight into the character
and labors of these apostolic men. Col. Meline and Dr. Huntington, who
strove so faithfully and so successfully, as men of letters, to defend and
adorn Catholic truth, receive due tribute, and are held up as examples for
those of our Catholic young men to whom God has given talent and
opportunity of education.
Cardinal Mezzofanti, the greatest of linguists; Cardinal Allen, who was
the first president, and we may say founder, of the Douay College, which,
during the darkest period of the history of the Catholic Church in
England, gave so many noble confessors of the faith to Great Britain;
Archbishop Ledochowski, who is to‐day suffering for Christ in the dungeons
of Ostrowo, all pass before us in the pages of the _Catholic Almanac_ for
1875.
Then we have sketches of John O’Donovan, the famous Irish antiquarian; of
Father Gahan, the great Irish preacher; of Father Clavigero, the historian
of Mexico and California, and of Joan of Arc, whose name may yet be
inscribed by the church among those of her saints. The miscellaneous
matter with which the present issue of the _Catholic Almanac_ is filled
has been chosen with admirable tact and with a special view to the wants
of our own people.
If the standard of excellence which this publication has now reached be
maintained, it cannot fail to command a steadily increasing patronage, and
to become in yet wider circles an instrument for good.
NOTES ON THE SECOND PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. By Rev. S.
Smith, D.D., formerly Professor of Sacred Scripture, Canon Law,
and Ecclesiastical History at Seton Hall Seminary. New York: P.
O’Shea. 1874.
The author of these _Notes_ makes his observations on a considerable
number of very practical questions, some of which are of the greatest
moment and of no small difficulty, with great modesty and moderation of
language. Evidently, he seeks to promote piety, discipline, and the well‐
being of the church in an orderly manner, and with due respect to
authority and established usage. _The Decrees of the Second Plenary
Council of Baltimore_ is intended as a text‐book of instruction for the
clergy and seminarists on what we may call “pastoral theology”—that is, on
the whole range of subjects relating to the conduct, preaching, and
administration of those who are invested to a lesser or greater degree
with the pastoral office. The author makes the Acts of the Council
therefore the basis of his _Notes_, or familiar disquisitions on practical
topics of canon law, giving also a general exposition of certain
fundamental canonical principles and laws, chiefly derived from the
standard authors Soglia and Tarquini. Some valuable documents are also
contained in the appendix. Such a work as this is evidently one that, if
it can be made complete, and also carry with it sufficient intrinsic and
extrinsic authority to give its statements and opinions due weight, will
be one of great utility. Due respect to the author, who has given us the
results of careful and conscientious labor, as well as the great
importance of the topics he discusses, demand that we should not attempt
to express a judgment upon his work or the opinions contained in it
without a minute and detailed examination and discussion of every point,
supported by reasons and authorities. We are not prepared to do this at
present. We may say, however, that, in our opinion, a work of this kind
cannot easily be brought to completion by a first and single effort. It
is, in many respects, _tentative_ in its character. As such, we regard it
as a promising effort, creditable to its author, and in many ways likely
to prove a serviceable manual for the clergy and those who are engaged in
teaching canon law in seminaries.
THE MISTRESS OF THE MANSE. By J. G. Holland. New York: Scribner,
Armstrong & Co. 1874.
We never pardon the reviewer who praises a novel by telling us its plot.
Therefore we shall not spoil the pleasure of the reader by revealing the
story of this poem. We will only say that the heroine is the wife of a
“country parson,” and that their conjugal life is beautifully drawn. A
Catholic will not find anything to move his righteous indignation, as he
did in the author’s _Marble Prophecy_ though here and there he will come
upon something which
“In the light of deeper eyes
Is matter for a flying smile.”
For instance, a poet who can write such Tennysonian verse does not blush
to place in the same “evangelical” library “Augustine” and “Ansel” (we
suppose he means S. Anselm) by the side of
“Great Luther, with his great disputes,
And Calvin with his finished scheme.” (!)
After the flood of light which even Protestant research has poured on the
characters of Luther and Calvin, how can a poet (of all men) dare to hold
them up to admiration?
MARIA MONK’S DAUGHTER. An Autobiography. By Mrs. L. St. John
Eckel. New York: Published for the Author by the United States
Publishing Co.., 13 University Place. 1874.
The writer of this notice well remembers reading, when a boy of fifteen,
the _Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk_, and _Six Months in a Convent_, by
Rebecca Reed. With great satisfaction he recalls the fact that his own
father, who was a Presbyterian minister of Connecticut, together with a
very large number of other most respectable Protestants, condemned and
repudiated the calumnies of Maria Monk from the first moment of their
publication. The effect of these books and of the exposure so honorably
made by Col. Stone on our own young mind, and undoubtedly upon the minds
of thousands besides, to open our eyes to the falsehood and dishonesty of
the gross misrepresentations of the Catholic religion and its professors
which have been rife among Protestants, and are still prevalent among the
less enlightened of them, both gentle and simple. Afterwards the task
devolved upon us to prepare a set of documents concerning Rebecca Reed and
Maria Monk which Bishop England had collected, for publication in the
edition of his works issued by his successor in the see of Charleston.
While we were correcting the last proofs of the printer at Philadelphia,
the _Times_ of that morning furnished us the last item of news respecting
the unfortunate Maria Monk, which came to the knowledge of the public
before the publication of the volume under notice, viz., that she had died
in a cell on Blackwell’s Island. After the lapse of twenty‐five years, we
find before us the autobiography of a daughter of Maria Monk, who seeks to
expiate her mother’s crime, and to make reparation for the wrong done to
the clergy and religious of the Catholic Church by her pretended
disclosures made in the fictitious character of an escaped nun. The
unhappy young woman herself, though we believe she was the daughter of an
English officer at Montreal, seems to have had a very unkind mother, and,
for some reason to us unknown, to have been brought up without education,
and early turned adrift without any protection. Having fallen into a
condition of desperate misery, she resorted to the expedient of inventing
her _Awful Disclosures_ in order to get money and escape from present
wretchedness. The men—far more malicious and base in their villainy than
this poor forlorn girl, so much sinned against and so fearfully punished
for her own sins that we pity more than we blame her—who prepared the vile
book of _Awful Disclosures_, and published it under the name of HOWE AND
BATES, cheated her out of her share of the profits. We are glad to see
their infamy once more exposed, and the honor of the Catholic religion
avenged. Although the most honorable class of Protestants are exempt from
complicity with this and similar gross libels on Catholics and caricatures
of all they hold dear and sacred, nevertheless their cause and name are
disgraced by the fact that they are so frequently and generally implicated
in a mode of warfare on the Catholic Church which is dishonorable. The
statements which are continually made current among them respecting
Catholics and their religion, and which are so generally believed, do no
credit to their intelligence or fairness. We remember hearing the
Archbishop of Westminster remark that the most ridiculous fables about the
Catholic religion are accepted as truth among the aristocratic residents
of the West End of London. The coarse and angry assaults of the English
press upon the Marquis of Ripon, on account of his conversion, show, what
Dr. Newman has so humorously and graphically described, the extent and
obstinacy of vulgar prejudice and hostility in England. There is less
here, and it is diminishing; yet there is enough to make Mrs. Eckel’s
audacious spring into the arena of combat against it well timed as well as
chivalrous.
We do not intend a criticism on her book, but merely, as an act of justice
to one who has braved the criticism of the world, to aid herself and her
book to meet this criticism fairly, without prejudice from any false
impressions which may be taken from its title. We therefore mention the
fact, which may not be known to those who have not read the book or any
correct account of its contents, that Maria Monk, according to the
probable evidence furnished in the book, and which does not seem to have
anything opposed to it, was really married to a man who was a gentleman by
birth and of respectable connections, although reduced by his youthful
follies to a condition which was always precarious and sometimes very
destitute. Mrs. Eckel is the offspring of this marriage. After a childhood
of hardship, she was adopted into a respectable family related to her
father, Mr. St. John, and made the most strenuous efforts to acquire the
education and good manners which are suitable for a lady. She married a
gentleman of respectable position and of very superior intellectual gifts
and culture, Mr. Eckel, who afterwards fell into distressed circumstances,
and died in a very tragical manner. Mrs. Eckel separated herself from him
some time before this occurred, and very shortly before the birth of her
daughter, as it seems to us for very good reasons which exonerate her from
all blame for the misery into which her husband fell when he lost the
support of her sustaining arm. The remarkable history of her subsequent
career in Paris must be sought for in the pages of the autobiography. The
circles in which she moved while there were the highest, and many of her
intimate friends were persons of not only exalted rank, but of the most
exemplary piety, and of universal fame among Catholics. Of her own accord,
without either compulsion or advice, she did what she was not bound in
conscience to do—abandoned her brilliant position in the world, made known
the secret of her origin, and has now thrown open the history of her life
to the inspection of the world. That history must plead for itself and for
the author before impartial and judicious readers. In our opinion it is
substantially true. We believe the author has written it from a good
motive, and that she is sincere in her statements. Divested of all the
adventitious glitter of the successful woman of the world, she presents
herself for precisely what she is in herself, and, as we think, is far
more worthy of honor and respect now than ever before, or than the most
brilliant marriage in France could have made her.
Everybody who can read this book will do so, as a matter of course, even
if they have no other motive than they would have in reading one of
Thackeray’s romances. It is a romance in real life, and an instance of the
truth of the old adage, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” Such fictitious
works as _Lothair_ and the _Schönberg‐Cotta Family_ have served as a
polemical weapon against the Catholic Church, and we do not see why a
romantic but true history, of much greater literary merit than the whole
class of that sort of trash, should not answer a good purpose on the other
side. If the readers of the book find in it many things open to criticism,
and jarring upon a delicate and cultivated Catholic sense of propriety and
reverence, they should remember that the author lacks the advantage of
long and careful Catholic discipline, is still comparatively young, and a
novice in everything that relates to the spiritual and religious life. She
does not profess to give the history of her life as a model to be
imitated, or to instruct others as one competent to teach on spiritual
matters, but to write her confessions for the encouragement of other
wayward and wandering souls, and to speak out freely what she thinks as
she goes along, with very little regard to censure or fear of it.
There seems a Nemesis in the publication of such a book which should give
a salutary lesson to those who dare to throw dirt on the spotless robe of
the Catholic Church. We have often thought that this Nemesis is frequently
apparent of late in the punishments which have come from divine or human
justice on notorious corrupters of public and private morals. Dreadful as
are the actual corruptions and the corrupt tendencies in the bosom of our
political and social state, we hope this is a sign that God has not
abandoned us. It is hardly necessary to say that this is not a book
suitable for very young people.