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Article REVIEWSJKE HEW BOOKS / ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Reviewsjke Hew Books /
totally misunderstood the meaning and object of the novel . It is a lively , smart , well-connected satire ^ very often too fhppant and eccentric , but always entertaining and instructive . The author comes to us as a convert from the Roman Catholic , or rather the Puseyite , church , and pourtrays wiife much warmth the absurdities and mockeries which form the basis
of all the ridicule which is heaped upon that kind of worship . But he does not do this in a spirit of intolerance or vindictiveness . He simply states with sorrow , that these things exist ; and endeavours to point out the circumstances and feelings , from which they in the first instance arise . He has peculiar sources of information and he uses these well . The narrative rarely halts to give place to pages of didactic reasoning—nor does the author , as is too often the case , make the best of every opportunity for foisting upon his readers his own views and feelings in regard to the ceremonials and observances in the Catholic Church . He tells us of facts
and initiates us into mysteries about which the public curiosity is now peculiarly alive in consequence of the late exposure of the practices in the Belgravian confessional ; and though in some instances his description may provoke a laugh , and though we may at one moment feel inclined to think that they are only fools after all , still we are led by the perusal of such books as these to condemn the upholders of a system which insome measure serves to cloak iniquity , and often acts as the hiding place of the
most terrible and cold blooded crimes . Philip Paternoster the hero does not turn out , as you would at first expect him , a thoroughgoing , eccentric , set down u priest . " He is a decided Puseyite and an erudite and polished preacher ; but while delighting in fasts , in confessions , in reverences to the altar , and such like observances , he also enjoys a good story , a jovial companion and a glass of grog . In the end too , his constancy is commendable ¦ '¦; and having seen first of all a little of life , and quite sufficient to prove
the folly of his former conceits , he settles down in a quiet , business-like manner , as he should have done at first , and enjoys the well earned reputation of a model husband and a loving father we hope . There are a great many surprises in store for the reader of "Philip Paternoster . " Hebe Walford , about whose fortune the greatest interest is cast , is the most natural of the female dramatis personam and sustains her original character throughout the tale . Henrietta , however , disappointed us ; and we are
compelled to say it—this disappointment was evidently caused by the fact that the author was at a loss what to do with her . Still greater surprise however will be aroused by the alternate fate of Herbert Osborne , who comes on the stage at first as a jovial , kind hearted , good humoured young fellow , who would apparently rather lend you a a sovereign than knock you down , but who afterwards falls step by step down to the most grovelling depth of iniquity , and at length dies a violent death by his own hands .
But the author notwithstanding all this has accomplished his object . It was his intention to pourtray in the biography of an individual the peculiarities of a sect , to produce a novel , which possessing a strange interest , and arousing curiosity by its originality of name and character , should be the means of developing a great moral lesson ; and this he has done . He has
not pried too deeply into the mysteries of the confessional—he has not raked up , as other writers have lately done , indecent and baseless allusions , which ought to have sunk into disuse , if not oblivion , like the works of Rabelais ; but he has said enough to cast ridicule upon the Puseyite system , and , at the same time , produced not only a remarkable but an amusing tale . The Passionate Pilgrim ; or , Eros and Anteros , by J . Thurstan . London Chapman & Hall . —The author of this strange tale of unrequited love
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviewsjke Hew Books /
totally misunderstood the meaning and object of the novel . It is a lively , smart , well-connected satire ^ very often too fhppant and eccentric , but always entertaining and instructive . The author comes to us as a convert from the Roman Catholic , or rather the Puseyite , church , and pourtrays wiife much warmth the absurdities and mockeries which form the basis
of all the ridicule which is heaped upon that kind of worship . But he does not do this in a spirit of intolerance or vindictiveness . He simply states with sorrow , that these things exist ; and endeavours to point out the circumstances and feelings , from which they in the first instance arise . He has peculiar sources of information and he uses these well . The narrative rarely halts to give place to pages of didactic reasoning—nor does the author , as is too often the case , make the best of every opportunity for foisting upon his readers his own views and feelings in regard to the ceremonials and observances in the Catholic Church . He tells us of facts
and initiates us into mysteries about which the public curiosity is now peculiarly alive in consequence of the late exposure of the practices in the Belgravian confessional ; and though in some instances his description may provoke a laugh , and though we may at one moment feel inclined to think that they are only fools after all , still we are led by the perusal of such books as these to condemn the upholders of a system which insome measure serves to cloak iniquity , and often acts as the hiding place of the
most terrible and cold blooded crimes . Philip Paternoster the hero does not turn out , as you would at first expect him , a thoroughgoing , eccentric , set down u priest . " He is a decided Puseyite and an erudite and polished preacher ; but while delighting in fasts , in confessions , in reverences to the altar , and such like observances , he also enjoys a good story , a jovial companion and a glass of grog . In the end too , his constancy is commendable ¦ '¦; and having seen first of all a little of life , and quite sufficient to prove
the folly of his former conceits , he settles down in a quiet , business-like manner , as he should have done at first , and enjoys the well earned reputation of a model husband and a loving father we hope . There are a great many surprises in store for the reader of "Philip Paternoster . " Hebe Walford , about whose fortune the greatest interest is cast , is the most natural of the female dramatis personam and sustains her original character throughout the tale . Henrietta , however , disappointed us ; and we are
compelled to say it—this disappointment was evidently caused by the fact that the author was at a loss what to do with her . Still greater surprise however will be aroused by the alternate fate of Herbert Osborne , who comes on the stage at first as a jovial , kind hearted , good humoured young fellow , who would apparently rather lend you a a sovereign than knock you down , but who afterwards falls step by step down to the most grovelling depth of iniquity , and at length dies a violent death by his own hands .
But the author notwithstanding all this has accomplished his object . It was his intention to pourtray in the biography of an individual the peculiarities of a sect , to produce a novel , which possessing a strange interest , and arousing curiosity by its originality of name and character , should be the means of developing a great moral lesson ; and this he has done . He has
not pried too deeply into the mysteries of the confessional—he has not raked up , as other writers have lately done , indecent and baseless allusions , which ought to have sunk into disuse , if not oblivion , like the works of Rabelais ; but he has said enough to cast ridicule upon the Puseyite system , and , at the same time , produced not only a remarkable but an amusing tale . The Passionate Pilgrim ; or , Eros and Anteros , by J . Thurstan . London Chapman & Hall . —The author of this strange tale of unrequited love