The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 22, August, 1859: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and PoliticsVarious
Religion
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 22, August, 1859: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
American periodicals
Between those two advocates of Catholicity, Hulia Protestante walks
slowly through the halls of the University. She sees first a Cabinet of
Natural History, including minerals, shells, fossils, and insects, all
well-arranged, and constituting a very respectable beginning. Padre Lluc
says some good words on the importance of scientific education. Padre
Doyaguez laughs at the ladies' hoops, which he calls Malakoffs, as they
crowd through the doorways and among the glass cases; he repeats
occasionally, "_Hulia Protestante_?" in a tone of mock astonishment, and
receives for answer, "_Sí, Hulia Protestante_." Then comes a very
creditable array of scientific apparatus,--not of the order employed by
the judges of Galileo,--electric and galvanic batteries, an orrery, and
many things beside. The library interests us more, with some luxurious
classics, a superb Dante, and a prison-cage of forbidden works, of which
Padre Lluc certainly has the key. Among these were fine editions of
Rousseau and Voltaire, which appeared to be intended for use; and we
could imagine a solitary student, dark-eyed and pale, exploring their
depths at midnight with a stolen candle, and endeavoring, with
self-torment, to reconcile the intolerance of his doctrine with the
charities of his heart. We imagine such a one lost in the philosophy and
sentiment of the "Nouvelle Héloise," and suddenly summoned by the
convent-bell to the droning of the Mass, the mockery of Holy Water, the
fable of the Real Presence. Such contrasts might be strange and
dangerous. No, no, Padre Lluc! keep these unknown spells from your
heart,--let the forbidden books alone. Instead of the Confessions of
Jean Jacques, read the Confessions of St. Augustine,--read the new book,
in three volumes, on the Immaculate Conception, which you show me with
such ardor, telling me that Can Grande, which, in the vernacular, is
Parker, has spoken of it with respect. Beyond the Fathers you must not
get, for you have vowed to be a child all your life. Those clear eyes of
yours are never to look up into the face of the Eternal Father; the
show-box of the Church must content them, with Mary and the saints seen
through its dusty glass,--the august figure of the Son, who sometimes
reproved his mother, crowded quite out of sight behind the woman, whom
it is so much easier to dress up and exhibit. What is this other book
which Parker has read? Padre Doyaguez says, "Hulia, if you read this,
you must become a Catholic." Padre Lluc says, "If Parker has read this
book, I cannot conceive that he is not a Catholic." The quick Doyaguez
then remarks, "Parker is going to Rome to join the Romish Church." Padre
Lluc rejoins, "They say so." Hulia Protestante is inclined to cry out,
"The day that Parker becomes a Catholic, I, too, will become one"; but,
remembering the rashness of vows and the fallibility of men, she does
not adopt that form of expressing _Never_. Parker might, if it pleased
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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