The Catholic world
tyno*5 **W tih**H Ik {&* S-* ** < Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/febcatholicworld66pauluoft THE CATHOLIC WORLD MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF General Literature and Science, Vol. LXVI. FEBRUARY, 1898. No. 395. Articles sent to the Editor for consideration must be accompanied by a stamped and addressed envelope, as well as by postage sufficient to return the MS., if not found available. Otherwise the Editor will not feel bound to acknowledge receipt. New York: THE OFFICE OF THE CATHOLIC WORLD, P. O. Box 2, Station G. Entered at the Post-Office as Second-Class Matter. DEALERS SUPPLIED BY THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY. N.B.— Ttoe pottage on "The Catholic World" to Great Britain and Ireland, France, Belgium Italy, and Germany is 5 cents. The best time to distribute Missionary Literature is AUL THE TIME. See the varied assortment and the wonderfully low prices. MISSIONARY LITERATURE. Catholic and Protestant Countries compared in Civilization, Popular Happiness, General Intelligence, and Morality. By Rev. Alfred Young. 636 pages, cloth, $1.00. Plain Facts for Fair Minds. An Appeal to Candor and Common Sense. By Father Searle, Paulist. 360 pages, cloth, 50 cents ; paper, 10 cents. Christian Unity. By Rev. Morgan M. Sheedy, of Altoona, Pa. 120 pages, cloth, 50 cents ; paper 10 cents. Non-CatholiC Missions. What they are. How to give them. By Rev. Walter Elliott. 175 pages, paper, 10 cents. The Divine Armory of Holy Scripture. By Father Vaughan. 1,028 pages, leather, $2.00. A Brief History of Religion. For busy men and higher classes in the Sunday-School. 46 pages, paper, 10 cents. Catholic Belief. A Short and Simple Exposition of Catholic Doctrine. By Rev. J. Faa Di Bruno. 433 pages, paper, 20 cents. Aspirations Of Nature. By Father Hecker. 360 pages, paper, in quantities, 12 cents. Questions Of the Soul. By Father Hecker. 294 pages, paper, in quantities, 12 cents. 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SHEEDY, Author of " Christian Unity.'1'' HE contest that exists in the moral world between light and darkness, truth and ^falsehood, goes on for ever. In one form or another this struggle exists at all times and in every land, civilized or barbarous, Christian or anti-Christian, mon- archical or republican, and no doubt will continue to exist until light and truth are vindicated in all the fulness of their glory and beauty and blessedness, and exer- cise complete control over the minds and hearts of men. Let us consider in its very beginning the training of the child, and endeavor to reach some sound and helpful conclu- sion as to the benefits to the child and to society of develop- ing his spiritual nature as a remedy against the materialism and socialistic tendencies of the age. It is a truth which, however frequently uttered, cannot be too constantly kept in mind, that the well-being of society depends on the well-being of the individuals composing it. The well-being of the individual begins with the principles Copyright. The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle in the State of New'York. 1897. VOL. LXVI. — 37 578 Spiritual Development vs. [Feb., that should secure him happiness, and at the same time make him a useful member of society. Most of the evils of society come from the failure to realize this. The truth here stated may be accepted theoretically, but unless it enter into the core of our being, and stir into action corresponding motives, neither personal nor social happiness can be secured. TWO OPPOSING THEORIES OF EDUCATION. We must be certain, then, that we start with sound princi- ples in educating the individual members that make up the state. At the outset it may be well to recall that there are two well-defined theories of education, fundamentally opposed to each other. There is the theory of Christianity, which holds that man is made up of body and soul, that he is spiritual as well as material in his being, and that consequently his spiritual as well as his material faculties must be educated ; that he is made according to the image and likeness of God, destined for an immortal end : and there is the other theory, not always openly put forward, but existing nevertheless and daily put in practice, that man is not an immortal spirit made unto the likeness of his Creator and destined for immortality, but a material organism, wonderfully fashioned, it is, true, but made up of physical atoms, bone and tissue, muscle, and the gray matter of the brain. He is so constituted by nature, we are told, that he is capable of the highest degree of refinement and culture, but his interests, as his life, are confined to the narrow sphere of this world, and do not extend beyond it. Now, education, both parties are agreed, forms men, and men form society. The individual forms the nation. The important question is this : How are we to make the nation ? The answer is plain : by taking care of the individual, by fashioning him aright, by so educating the child as to secure to the individual and the nation the greatest degree of happi- ness. Youth is the impressionable period ; youth is the assimi- lative period ; youth stores up the physical, mental, and moral resources of a life-time, and if man is to be reached from with- out at all, it must be while he is still a youth. Now, the advocates of the second theory have labored to expel Christianity from education. Hence they have claimed for education that it must be free, universal, secular, and com- pulsory. Men of progress in all countries have been preaching for generations that religion — that is to say, the development and training of the soul of the child — must be separated from 1898.] Materialism and Socialism. 579 politics, from philosophy, from science. We are almost wearied into silence. Public opinion has been poisoned into this false- hood. As Cardinal Manning said : " The youth of these days is being reared upon a teaching and a literature which are materialistic and sensuous. What wonder, then, that so many grow up in this country to-day without any or little knowledge of God and his law ; that the Christianity of many is shal- low ; that materialism largely controls the actions of men ; and that the spectre of socialism, in its most dreaded form, is manifesting itself more and more every day ? " WHAT OF THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY? How is it going to be with America in the future ? That question, of tremendous importance, is answered by this other : How are we educating the child of to-day ? Without here going into a proof of man's spirituality and his immortal destiny, let me put the matter before you on much lower considerations. Does it pay to bring up the child totally ignoring his spiritual nature and its development ? Is it to be supposed that a child who knows little or nothing of the Ten Commandments, who has never learned to know the meaning, say, of the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh Commandment of God, will make a better citizen, a better neighbor, a better father or mother, a better son or daughter, a better member of society, than one who does ? THE PRESENT TREND. Let us look for a moment at the tendencies in our Ameri- can life at this hour. There is unrest and social discontent. Consider the condition of the masses of the people. The average working-man is discontented not, as a rule, because a cleverer man than he, or a man who got a better start in life, has a vastly larger share of this world's goods, but because he him- self holds so uncertainly his own small share. In America he realizes his inalienable right " to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." But " conditions have changed so that thousands of men distinctly believe, and other thou- sands vaguely suspect, that the latest gains in civilization have clouded the title of the average man " to these rights. Is there anything reprehensible, from the Christian stand- point, in this fight for security; "security of standing-ground; security of opportunity; security of personal recognition among the shareholders in the inheritance of the ages ; security of a 580 Spiritual Development vs. [Feb., man's chance to be a man ; security that the mighty, imper- sonal power of capital and organization shall not be allowed to march masses of men rough-shod over individual men, in pursuit of schemes vast in aim, but needlessly terrific in means " ? Some one has said that it is not wise to be over-emphatic to-day with the working-man about his duties, if one is not prepared to grant with equal emphasis his rights. He has been taught to look for his heaven here, and he is trying very hard to get it. There is a mad scramble for the material things of life. The individual, sensible of his weakness, combines with other individuals. Hence we have great labor unions on the one side and great combinations of capital, or trusts and monopolies, on the other. Between them exists a real warfare. " We talk about the com- ing of an era of peace when the battle-flags shall be furled, when the cannons shall be turned into plough-shares ; we are waging a more terrible and more remorseless and more destructive bat- tle than was ever waged by men who bared their breasts on the fields of conflict to the deadly shot and the thrusts of sabres. It is all the more deadly because none of us is able wholly to realize its true nature and purport. It has come to be considered as a part of the natural law. The results of this economic condition work with the inevitableness of natural law ; it is a part of that great theory of evolution which is itself a phase of the wider theory of a mechanical universe, beginning with star-dust and atoms and involving in it all that we are and all that we hope to be, thrusdng out God and the soul." HOW SOCIALISTS REGARD THE CATHOLIC CLERGY. It is a significant fact that not a single socialist of note can be named who came out of a Christian school or a Catho- lic educational institution. The teaching of the church is a bulwark against anarchy. Herr Bebel, the well-known German socialist, in a recent speech, compared the attitude towards the working classes taken up respectively by the Catholic clergy and the Protestant ministers. With regret he confesses that the Catholic clergy have prevented the progress of socialism, and that this is chiefly because, unlike the Protestant ministers, they were in direct contact with the working people. 1898.] Materialism and Socialism. 581 growth of crime. — how accounted for. The Italian professor, Lombroso, has an article in the North American Review for December on the increase of homi- cide in the United States. He is an authority on the subject, having a world-wide reputation as a student of mental disease and criminology. The striking fact the professor discusses is the increase of sixty per cent, in homicides in the United States in the last ten years, while there has been an increase of only twenty-five per cent, in population. He also points out that, while in all other civilized countries homicide is de- creasing in number, in this country it is increasing. Thus, in 1880 the arrests for homicide were reported by the census at 4,600, and in 1890 at 7,500. Statistics gathered by a Chicago newspaper showed last year 10,000 homicides in the United States. The National Prison Congress met this year in Austin, Texas, and began its sessions on December 2. In his address its president, General Brinkerhoff, said, when discussing methods of preventing crime : " First and foremost, what is essential is, to revolutionize our educational system from top to bottom, so that good morals, good citizenship, and ability to earn an hon- est living shall be its principal purposes, instead of intellectual culture, as heretofore." As another means of preventing crime General Brinkerhoff advocated religious instruction in schools. He added : " I am not asking that creeds should be taught in our public schools, but that ethics be taught, which is the science of morals, or of conduct as right or wrong, which all creeds recognize. Does any sane man object to the teachings of the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount ? If there are such, I have never heard of them. Let us have a text-book that all creeds can approve. Then, with a text-book thus approved, let it have the first place in every school cur- riculum, from the kindergarten to the highest university." A recent writer in one of the great New York dailies re- marks that " whatever may have been the ancient orthodox views on this subject, it is a most remarkable fact that the more modern and distinguished investigators in the department of criminal statistics are opposed to the view that intellectual ignorance is the logical cause of crime. As stated in a recent English publication, and as otherwise known, the following writers have expressed themselves ' as more or less emphati- cally of opinion that instruction in reading and writing has 582 Spiritual Development vs. [Feb., little or no effect in elevating the character and diminishing the volume of crime ' ; viz., in France : Guerry, Ivernes, and Haussonville ; in Italy, Lombroso, Garofalo, and Ferri ; in Belgium and Germany, Quatelet, Van Oettingen, Valestini, and Starcke." DIVORCES* Mr. Gladstone, in acknowledging the receipt of a copy of Christian Unity sent him by the author of this paper, who dealt briefly with the subject of divorce in that work, wrote, as late as June, 1896, as follows: "It is deplorable to read of the state of law and facts with regard to divorce in America. But I am glad that your church gives no countenance to them. If we sap the idea of the family, we destroy the divinely-given foundation both of society and of religion." This is very strong testimony indeed from so high a source, and shows the con- servative power of the Catholic Church as a great social factor and influence. The Hon. Amasa Thornton, a prominent lawyer and Repub- lican, in an article in the North American Review for January,, commenting on Rev. Josiah Strong's solution of the Twentieth Century City Problem, says: "The children and youth of to- day must be given such instruction in the truths of the Bible and Christian precepts, and in the duties and principles of good citizenship, as will prevent them in mature years from swinging from their moorings and being swept into the maelstrom of social and religious depravity, which threatens to engulf the civilization of the future. Such instruction can only be given successfully by an almost entire change of policy and practice on the question of religious teaching in the public schools, and the encouragement of private schools in which sound religious teaching is given." INCREASE OF CRIME AMONG THE YOUNG. The increase of offences against the law by young people is marked, and it is due to the lack of spiritual training of our youth. For many years after negro emancipation the court records in the Southern States discouraged the friends of education by showing an astonishing increase in convictions for forgery of young negroes when first taught to read and write. Now all this, it may fairly be insisted, is the natural, inevitable conse- * The increase of the number of divorces in this country has become alarming. How- account for it ? 1898.] Materialism and Socialism. 583 quence of our false theory of education. But it has been held that men and women may lead moral lives and that upright and good nations may exist without belief in God. But, I ask, where in the pages of history can record of such a nation be found ? Read the history of the ancient republics. What was their fate ? QUO VADIS? To me the undiminished popularity of Quo Vadis? is matter for rejoicing. It is, by all odds, the most successful of contempo- rary novels, and it is being read by thousands, many of whom will probably be benefited by it. The contrast which it presents between pagan and Christian morality is very striking. To the world of to-day, which is relapsing into paganism, the author seems to say "Quo vadis?" and of the woman of the day he seems to ask, "Are you willing to fail back into the degrada- tion from which Christianity rescued you ? " One is disposed to excuse the too realistic passages in the story when one re- members the object the author evidently had in view. Kipling gives us a picture — fairly true to life — of one of the " spoiled darlings " in his Captains Courageous, which represents a type of some young Americans whose number is increasing. But what of the boy or girl who comes out of the school where spiritual development goes hand-in-hand with secular training ? Are all such perfect ? There have been, as we freely admit, many failures among children educated in Christian schools. But this may be fairly accounted for on the grounds of defective home-training, bad companionship, the contamination of the streets, and not to the training received in the Christian school. WHAT RELIGION DOES. It is true that we often find religion disparaged by failures. False religion is accountable for this. With true religion the case is different. It makes man stronger ; it enables him to conquer — to bear up bravely. In other words, it makes of him a man in the true sense of the word. Religion gives man a better chance to be what it was intended. he should be. Re- ligion takes a man from a low, superficial, selfish, worldly life and makes of him a noble, self-sacrificing, conscientious being. A man with religion works with a different spirit and a differ- ent idea of life than he who does not possess it. Leaving out of consideration for the present positively re- 584 Spiritual Development vs. [Feb., ligious acts, such as the attendance upon divine worship, daily prayer, examination of conscience, repentance and confession of sin, restitution and forgiveness of injuries, benevolence and charity, religion reveals to man his place in this world, shows to him the nobility of life, and puts before him the truth that a saint is after all manhood at its very best. The trouble with a great many of us is, that we have lost the use of our spiritual faculties through lack of exercise. Like other faculties with which man is endowed, his spiritual capac- ity, in order to be at its best, needs exercise. This it secures through what we call religious acts. Without this exercise of the spiritual powers we become distorted, one-sided. They make man stronger, nobler, richer. Christianity has one end in view — the uplifting of man. We know that the world has strange notions of Christianity. Let us show that with it we can do life's work better. Everybody is looking for the ideal young man — for one who has a lofty purpose in life, high ideals, and the consciousness that he was placed where he is in order that by his opportunities he may make the world brighter, better, happier, and stronger for his having been in it. OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH. Our school system is good in so far as it is free and uni- versal. Education is good. But our school system is radically defective inasmuch as it lays no stress on morality. What is our idea in educating our children ? To make money-winners and money-getters of boys who will be able to make money enough and more than enough. We do not go down into the deep, eternal basis of man's heart and say, first, Be a man. We say, " Be smart, be shrewd, be clever." Our race will, little by little, decay under such training. The destiny of individuals and nations is controlled by moral forces. If history teaches any lessons it is this. SIGNS OF AWAKENING. But men are becoming alarmed and are prepared to recon- sider their views and theories of education. The other day I read with great satisfaction an address of Dr. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, in which he said, that "there never was a more unscientific book than Spen- cer's Essay on Education" and that Spencer's idea of education is fundamentally false, because, as Dr. Harris pointed out, Spen- 1898.] Materialism and Socialism. 585 cer does not take education as the genesis of man's spiritual life, but merely as something useful for showing man how to care for his body and perform the lower social functions of life. Yet Spencer's view of education has prevailed widely. Again, I find Dr. Edward Everett Hale, while speaking in this city a few days ago on " Morality in the Public Schools," saying : " There is danger of the managers of a great machine taking more pride in the machine and its workings than in the results it turns out. This is the danger in our public schools." There is a good deal wrong with our modern society. But what Carlyle said years ago, in his own blunt, vigorous way, is true now and always will be true : " The beginning and the end of what is the matter with society is, that we have for- gotten God." Hence, to set things right we must restore a knowledge of God and his laws. We must develop the spirit- ual side of man so that he be lifted above the gross and ma- terial things around him ; for society founded on a purely natural and materialistic basis must perish, as all societies so established have perished. DEVICES TO SUPPLEMENT DEFECTIVE TRAINING IN THE DAY-SCHOOL. What are the Kindergarten system, the University Settlement system, the Protestant Sunday-school system, the Epworth League, the Society of Christian Endeavor, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Salvation Army, but means to develop the spiritual nature of man, and to restrain the grosser and materialistic tendencies of his being ? The promoters of all these agencies are fully convinced that it is the moral or spiri- tual element that must save society. Hence, if they were con- sistent they would be on our side on this question of education ; they would unite with us Catholics, and insist that spiritual or religious training should go hand-in-hand with secular in- struction. OUR SUMMING UP. The problem presents itself to us in this simple form : Shall we follow Him who is the light of the world, and who said, " Suffer little children to come unto me "; or, ignoring Him, listen to the false, materialistic philosopher who says, "Make your heaven here; live for this world and what you can get out of it ; leave the next to care for itself"? Or, shall we follow the socialist, with his creed of terror and despair, 586 Spiritual Development vs. Materialism. [Feb., when he tells us "the idea of God is a myth; the present or- der and arrangement of things is unjust, and there can be no peace or rest until it is overthrown " ? Over against this we set the teaching of the Christian school: " Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just and pure and lovely, and of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." These are the thoughts which make us noble and good and Christ-like, and which, being disseminated, will make the world better. Upon the solid pillars of intelligence and morality, patriot- ism and religion, the mighty superstructure of this Republic has been raised, and out of these elements have grown and developed our ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity. To preserve our form of government, to make the nation prosper- ous, contented, and happy, all lovers of their country should have a care that its citizens are trained to be virtuous, con- scientious men ; honest in thought as well as in purpose, so that in all things they may be true to themselves, true to their fellow-men, and true to their God. In other words, we must develop the spiritual or religious nature of the child if we are to have the best type of American citizen. It remains for America, which has taught the world in so many ways during this nineteenth century, to show in the coming century how a republic founded on the intelligence and patriotism of its peo- ple can be preserved against the assaults of materialism and socialism, and this can only be done by following Him who is the Light of the world and the Saviour of society. 1898.] Happy Marriages of Noted Persons. 587 HAPPY MARRIAGES OF NOTED PERSONS. BY FRANCES ALBERT DOUGHTY. MARRIAGE is like a building with stained glass windows. An observer peering into the structure from the outside receives no idea of proportions ; colors, lights, and shadows are strangely confused to his vision. An impression prevails that persons of the marked individu- ality which results in eminence are necessarily difficult to live with, that the most intimate of domestic relations is likely to prove unhappy in their case. By a search into the records of the last hundred years it is quite comforting to discover that this popular notion is exaggerated and incorrect ; that the pro- portion of well-assorted unions, so far as such delicate material can be submitted to investigation and statistics, is about the same among illustrious individuals as among the commonplace couples of our daily acquaintance. It has been said that it would be better for society to let the lord chancellor make the matches in England ; but begin- ning at the top, if we compare the royal marriages of Europe, which are weighed by lawgivers and made for reasons of state, with the marriages of our own presidents, the argument is cer- tainly in favor of personal freedom of choice. Only one life among the presidents furnishes anything like proof of an ill mating. Washington and his wife have always been accepted as models, although tiny currents of tradition have brought down a rumor that Martha managed the Father of his Country. Either he did not know that he was managed or else he was pleased with home rule, for he always wore her miniature over his heart, and the majestic man was not of a sentimental tem- perament. The biographies of the two Adams presidents show that they had helpmates of great force of character who made un- common sacrifices for their interests. Mrs. Madison reflected a light upon her husband's administration which has been a kind of beacon for the succeeding ladies of the White House. Mrs. Monroe and Mrs. Taylor were devoted wives who were con- tent to merge their identity in the renown achieved by their 588 Happy Marriages of Noted Persons. [Feb., partners. The obstinacy of Andrew Jackson has become pro- verbial, but in the heart of Old Hickory there was always a soft spot which yielded to any wish of his cherished Rachel. There is equal evidence of harmony in the married lives of Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Fillmore, and Pierce. Andrew Johnson deserves special notice, for the superior mental acquirements of his wife were a continual incentive to his ambition. He learned the alphabet and the construction of English sentences without her assistance, in the night hours at his workshop in Raleigh, but the rest of his education was ob- tained under her guidance. The later presidential marriages are fresh in the memory of living persons and need no comment. Among contemporary European royalties it is easy to pick out as fortunate in their wedded lives, Victoria and Albert, their daughter and Frederick of Prussia, the late Czar Alex- ander and his Danish czarina, and the present kings and queens of Denmark, Italy, and Greece, but it would not be safe to add many other royal names of the century to the list of domestic felicities. Coming into another kingdom — that of creative intellect — it is gratifying to find that a considerable number of recent part- nerships have been thoroughly congenial on the mental and the affectional planes. Philip Gilbert Hamerton, the gifted author of The Intellec- tual Life, has expressed the opinion that the best possible mar- riage for a man of genius is with an intellectual equal of sym- pathetic aims and pursuits. His own union was of this stamp, and his verdict carries additional weight in consequence. Re- cognizing, however, that such an opportunity is not accorded to every man of genius, he thinks that the second best choice is of a woman who does not even aspire to stand upon her husband's mental platform, but who loves and admires him, trusts the wisdom of his undertakings enough to make a dis- tinct mission of securing his comfort and shielding him from disturbing influences. Husbands and wives of similar tastes and aims who have become collaborateurs afford examples of the perfect mating of both the heart and the intellect. These are " happy," be- cause " their minds are on some object other than their own happiness. The only chance is to treat, not happiness but some end external to it as the object of life." This sentiment, as far as it goes, is in harmony with the teachings of Christianity, although it was an agnostic who gave utterance to it — John 1898.J Happy Marriages of Noted Persons. 589 Stuart Mill. His wife had exerted a formative influence upon his mind and his work in political economy for twenty years previous to their marriage, and the treatise on " Liberty" which he published after her death was a kind of monument to their dual life, for they had reviewed and criticised every sentence together. In Edinburgh a contemporary of Mill's was equally content with his wedded lot. Well known and appreciated in literary circles there, his common name of William Smith was un- favorable to a wide cosmopolitan repute. He was a con- stant contributor to Blackwood's, publishing anonymously ac- cording to the custom of that magazine. The lady of his choice, Lucy Cummings, was also a magazine writer and a translator. They met when he was past fifty and she past forty, and finding in each other the ideal qualities long de- sired for companionship., poverty did not frighten them away from the matrimonial altar. Disclaiming even the wish for riches, they regarded compulsory occupation as heightening the delight of rest and leisure. They wrote for a livelihood with their tables in the same room, enjoying their rambles and holi- days with the pure, innocent zest of children. The influence of a happy marriage is observable in William Smith's later work, Gravenhurst ; it is instinct with the conviction that "good is at the basis of all things." The memoir that Lucy Smith wrote of him to solace her widowhood is one of the most beautiful affectional tributes in English literature ; the attention of the American public has been called to it recently by George Merriam's editing of it, along with the works of William Smith. The reader feels a sense of elevation in the calm, clear love and trust of those united lives. Guizot, the orator and writer, was another who became ac- quainted with his future wife through the literary muse. Mile, de Meulan was the brilliant editor of the Publiciste, supporting not only herself but an aged mother by her pen. Her health gave way under the burden, and in the midst of poverty, illness, and debt she received an anonymous letter one day, respectfully offering to supply articles for the Publiciste regu- larly and without pay until her health should be restored. The letter was accompanied by an article composed very much in her own style. The kind offer was accepted, and later on when, by means of the timely aid, Mile, de Meulan was restored to her usual avocations, she begged her unknown con- tributor, through the columns of the paper, to reveal himself. 59o Happy Marriages of Noted Persons. [Feb., The grave, dignified young Guizot obeyed, and the result was a marriage between them at the expiration of five years. Mme. Guizot was the centre of the literary coteries of the day, her celebrity, greater than that of her husband to begin with, kept pace with his advancement, and she was ever his coun- sellor, critic, and friend. A resemblance has been traced between the marriages of Guizot and of Disraeli. A seniority of thirteen or fourteen years existed on the side of both ladies over their husbands. It was through Disraeli's novel of Vivian Grey . that the attractive widow destined to wear his name and honors was inspired with a desire to know the writer. Alphonse Daudet, on the other hand, declared that he would never wed a literary woman ; he seems to have had a dislike to a feminine rival in his own line. One evening, however, he listened to a cultivated girl's recitation at an entertainment, and all* his prejudices melted away. When she became Mme. Daudet he found her an invaluable critic and amanuensis. Bayard Taylor and his wife were collaborateurs. It is not generally known that the translation of u Faust " was largely due to Mrs. Taylor's assistance. Lowell's relation with his first wife, Maria White, had a marked bearing upon his motives and his life-work. She was herself a poetess, and in dedicating his first book of poems to her he acknowledged his indebtedness in the concluding lines : " The poet now his guide has fotind and follows in the steps of love." Thomas Hardy was thinking of becoming an architect, but his wife decided him in favor of the career of a novelist, and assumed the labor of copying his first novel in that day prior to the typewriter. She also sent it out herself, and she keeps in touch with current literature to save him time and trouble. Mrs. Rider Haggard, Mrs. Eugene Field, Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson, Mrs. Julian Hawthorne, and Mrs. Coventry Patmore have been literary advisers and helpers to their respective husbands. Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning were poets who worked along similar lines, but so far as we know did not collaborate. The recent Orr biography only confirms the sweet story of their wedded happiness, bringing into fuller view the circumstances attending it. She was forty and he thirty-four at the date of their marriage. Her experience of life had been chiefly confined to one room, and Mr. Browning, incited by a 1898.] Happy Marriages of Noted Persons. 591 pitying love, made the care and cheer of this secluded life his mission. Her father was of the opinion that Elizabeth ought to remain on the lounge to which a chronic spinal affection had consigned her, and there meditate on death ; but she sur- prised him and every one else by gaining considerable vitality in the soft Italian climate. There must have been many op- portunities for self-sacrifice on both sides, in the daily associa- tion of a vigorous, society-loving man with a secluded invalid ; but both were dominated by the higher instincts and principles, and the sympathy between them was as perfect as can exist be- hind the mortal veil of flesh. Browning's temperament was as difficult to the general comprehension as his poetry has always been, but it was a transparency to his wife. In writing home about him she said : " He thinks aloud with me, and can't help himself ; nobody exactly understands him except me, who am on the inside of him and hear him breathe." He con- sidered her poetic gift superior to his own. " She has genius," he said ; " I am only a painstaking fellow." To him she was always young ; innocence, moral elevation, and want of early contact with the world giving her face a girlish expression even when she lay in death after sixteen years of wedded life. Another recent poet, Tennyson, remarked of his wife that she was the most wonderful woman in the world. She attended to his correspondence, facilitated his work, and, possessing the artistic faculty herself, sometimes set his songs to music. Nathaniel Hawthorne appears to have been blest in his choice of Sophia Peabody, largely through the difference in their temperaments, her vivacity and optimism acting as an emancipation to the shyness and reserve of his contained nature. William Smith — previously referred to — said that compared to his wife's companionship all other was a cage, and Hawthorne had the same feeling to even a greater degree. When Sophia left him for a few days on one occasion, at the Manse, he resolved to speak to no human being until her return. Our poet of nature, William Cullen Bryant, had a wife whose delicate sense of fitness was a great aid to him. Although she was neither literary nor intellectual, he never wrote a poem without submitting it to her judgment, and its success with the impartial public was exactly proportioned to her valuation of it. After he had been married to Fanny Fairchild twenty years he addressed to her his famous poem on the " Future Life," as if the shadow of their eventual separation were already coming upon him : 592 Happy Marriages of Noted Persons. [Feb., "Yet though thou wearest the glory of the sky, Wilt thou not keep the same beloved name, The same fair, thoughtful brow and gentle eye, Lovelier in heaven's sweet climate, yet the same?" They were permitted to share their earth life for a long term of forty-five years, and in his succeeding solitude his mourning soul found vent in a pathetic tribute — " Alone with- out Thee." Doubtless poets have indited odes to women with whom they did not live in daily harmony, but Bryant was not one of those who wrote for sensational effect ; nor yet is Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian dramatist. An indefatigable satirist of existing institutions, probing the core of society with a desire to reform it, he has no quarrel to pick with his own marriage. From so sincere a man the following lines to Fru Ibsen afford proof that concord and satisfaction reign at home : " THANKS. " Her cares were the shadows That darkened my road, Her joys were the angels My pathway that showed. " It was she that kindled My soul to glow, And all that I owe her None other may know." It is cheering, also, to be assured that Wordsworth's "phantom of delight," the "perfect woman, nobly planned to counsel, comfort, and command," was none other than Mrs. Wordsworth. The great romancer, Sir Walter Scott, had a tender heart, but he always made an effort to appear stoical. His sorrows came " not like single spies, but in battalions." Soon after the failure of his commercial speculations, Lady Scott, long an in- valid, lay dying at Abbotsford. " I wonder what I shall do with the large portion of thoughts which were hers for thirty years," he wrote in his diary. "... I would not at this moment renounce the mysterious yet certain hope that I shall see her in a better world for all that this world can give me." There have been some very interesting marriages on the lines of unity in aim and aspiration among the explorers and archaeologists of this century. Baker's young English wife 1898.] Happy Marriages of Noted Persons. 593 sought with him the hidden sources of the Nile. Dr. and Mrs. Le Plongeon met at the British Museum, each engaged in arch- aeological research among the tomes, and they soon decided that they would be fit companions for the wilderness cities of Yucatan. They spent a number of years in the solitude of those ruins, unearthing sculptures and collecting material for the comprehensive work Dr. Le Plongeon has published lately. Sir Richard and Lady Burton were literary comrades, he tak- ing upon himself the more scientific part. He was the author of some eighty books, many of them become standard ; a scientific linguist of twenty-nine languages, a pioneer and dis- coverer, his faithful wife accompanying him through twenty-six years of travel as his secretary, aide-de-camp, and counsellor, nobly placing her fine individual powers at his service. She was a conscientious Catholic. Dr. Schliemann, the explorer of ancient Troy and Mycenae, when ready to contract a second marriage, determined to find a Greek who would talk to him familiarly of Priam and Ulysses and quote the f Had and Odyssey with fluency. He made his young bride elect sign a contract that she would learn fifty lines of the Iliad by heart every day, and was resolute in keeping her to the letter of the agreement. In vain during seasons of domestic strain, possibly in times of pickling, preserving, and spring cleaning, did Mrs. Schliemann resort to persuasion, argument, even to tears, to induce him to retract. Finally, along with the everlasting Homeric lines she incorporated some of the motive and spirit of her enthusiastic husband, aiding him in his researches, consoling him in disap- pointment, her temperamental influence always balancing his mind in the direction of common sense. The talented wife of Dr. Navilie, the Egyptian archaeologist, works with him, making drawings of the recovered sculptures and piecing together disjointed fragments with wonderful skill. 