ROMANIST FICTIONS. * FROM the time when Hannah More sent Co3lebs

in Search of a Wife, religionists have made fiction a vehicle for their own opinions. Some writers with a natural turn for " heavy busi- ness" have done little more than throw a disquisition on dogmas or doctrines into the form of dialogue ,. others, still aiming at pre- ceptive purposes, tried to infuse something of life and action into the story, and confined the prosiness to two or three excellent but argumentative persons. The more popular class of writers have been more effective, but hardly so honest as the controvertists. With dramatic power they made use of dramatic art, though in a onesided way. The good characters were of their own way of thinking in theology ; those who differed with them exhibited the evil courses to which erroneous views in doctrine or discipline in- evitably conduct 1..ple. The lucubration touching Low Church and Dissent, we t k, rather belonged to the " arguefying " class. Tractarian, Anti-Tractarian, and above all Anti-Romanist, took the dramatic form, and occasionally presented something like em- bodied demons in the divines of the opposite church, while the lay dramatis persons:13 consisted of dupes or subordinate instru- ments. Jesuits and monks were more especially men of crime : as soon as one of them appeared upon the scene, the expe- rienced reader knew what was coming. In point of numbers, the Protestant and Tractarian assaults have had the advantage. We call to mind but two strictly Romanist fictions of any moment in twenty years ; and though the writers did lean to their own side, there was little gross exaggeration about them. In fact, they might be recommended as social pictures of a very respectable re- tiring, and limited class, the English Roman Catholic families. Controversy there was, as well as an embodied picture of Evan-. gelical activities and liberalities ; but it was all done fairly enough. There might be a trace of superstitious exaggeration, but nothing more. The three novels before us belong to another and in every re- spect an inferior school, whether as respects rational tone of mind or narrative and dramatic power. They all exhibit more or less of bigotry, and that blind perversion of reason which bigotry is apt to produce ; and they push their prejudices to a degree where the odious is lost in the ridiculous. In literary merit they differ much; but they may all be truly called religious novels, for it was certainly no temporal impulse, no " innatus amor scribendi," that could have prompted writers to assume a task for which they are naturally so unfit. An historical knowledge of Italy in the tenth century sustains Mr. Mao Cabe so long as he confines him- self to mere narrative : as soon as he has to contrive situations or exhibit emotion, his want of dramatic power is visible. The author of Alley Moore, a modern Irish story, has a better con- ception of what action and dialogue require, and apparently an actual knowledge of the Irish life and character he would por- tray; hut he cannot realize his own conceptions, except in a flat and literal manner : such as his conceptions are, he continually overwhelms them by religious matter, which most people will think had been better away. The Beleaguered Hearth is very far below the other two m point of novel-like ability. The author possesses a certain trained cleverness in composition, but in the requisites of a novelist there is a total deficiency. There is ignorance of the commonest characteristics of people in society ; an incapacity of forming an idea of the commonest events of life ; the more active parts of the story are a spoiled copy of the wildest notions of Italian romance as presented. by the Minerva Press. In all that concerns the Roman religion, the ideas are so infantile, that except to persons as narrow and feeble-minded as the writer, coreligionists cannot but feel that such weakness and superstition must work injury. Willibald Cowley, the religious hero of the tale, is foredoomed to a religious vocation, in spite of the avowed opposition of his mother, of Captain Cowley his father, and his own distaste for the cowl and cell. The scene is

the most part laid in Italy, where Captain Cowley has pur- chased an estate and settled : there is a good deal of garbage about banditti, a disputed estate, a sort of love-story, and other

boint-stock matter of romancists ; but the action of the story is to ring Willibaldinto the order of St. Francis and make a first-rate monk of him. Various mundane occurrences that seem to oppose this end are overruled to forward it. Among them is a penchant for Miss Butwell, a young English lady, who has called with her father at the Villa Algorouki, Captain Cowley's seat, and made an impression on Willibald at first sight. The thoughts of waking lovers are occasionally handled in fiction, but hitherto we have met nothing like this. "The following morning, on his first waking, Miss Butwell's image rushed into his mind before he could sprinkle himself with holy water and make the sign of the cross. He felt exactly as if, by merely speaking to her in the manner lie had done the day preceding, he had entangled his own spirit with hers. It was in vain he endeavoured to forget the steady glance which had been the sole means by which Miss Butwell could resent the animadversion [on her Protestantism] he had seemed to indulge in at her expense; the more he strove to banish it from his thoughts, the more vivid became his recollection of it, and the more charmed did his soul become at, the thought. Though he had previously come in close contact with many great beauties, he found himself, now, affected in a way quite new to him, by the charms of this cool-looking Inglese. After the lapse of a few days,

• Adelaide, Queen of Italy ; or the Iron Crown : an Historical Tale. By Wil- liam Bernard Mac Cabe, Author of " Bertha, or the Pope and the Emperor," 4-e. Published by Dolman.

Ailey Moore : a Tale of the flaws, showing .how Evictions, Murder, and such like Pastimes, are Managed, and Justice Administered in Ireland ; together with many stirring Incidents in other Lands. By Father Baptist. Published by Da-

man.

The Beleaguered Hearth: a Novel. Published br Dolman.

he began to suspect that the thought of her was of the nature of a tempta- tion. At the end of a month its malignant character was fully declared?'

Willibald had become dissatisfied with his confessor, because the holy man had " expressed his conviction that Willibald was called to the religious life." He consequently, adopted a reserve towards his spiritual director touching Miss Butwell ; and with very, bad results.

" Willibald was equally indisposed to allow his brother or any other living creature to dream, whilst his words remained satirical, that his thoughts were wondrous pleasing and fond. There was another, too, whom he had lately avoided conversing with in his usual intimate and confiding way. This was a no less exalted, wonderful, and adorable being, than our Lord Himself. Up to this period ho had been wont (it seemed his nature to do so) to raise up his heart when at prayer with so much confidence and fervour, that the equivalent of a sensible interview with his Divine Master was the result; but he had chosen of late to be more humble (as he was pleased to style himself) at his prayers—more humble, and more stupid he ought to have added.

"Thus was he gradually, and almost insensibly, yielding to the power of this dangerous temptation, when he was suddenly made fully aware of his danger, by finding himself committed to a struggle with a suggestion so vile as to make him fear he had already lost the favour of God.

"Hitherto he had lived in habits of innocence without difficulty ; and so cheerful a view did he take in general of the Christian's warfare, that it might be said of him that up to this time, he had never for one moment dreamt of going anywhere but to heaven after death. He now began to grow uneasy, and to wish he had never seen Miss Butwell ; because from the first he had determined that he could never marry her ; first, because she was a Protestant ; secondly, because there was not enough of innocence in her appearance to satisfy the requisitions of his beau ideal of a wife. At last, his uneasiness increased so much, that, however reluctantly, he was

clrliVei1t4y speak tolhiserecor 11:1,!estruor more.sx air onntehedistyubijoect. they th con-

versed together. 'If you do not continue to direct all the powers of your soul in a contemplative spirit towards the Master, in whose sole service some souls alone can live without forming liaisons of a base and grovelling nature, like those which so frightfully enslaved the spirit of the glorious St. Mary Magdalen before that Master presented himself to her, just in the same way that he has so often to you, you will become the sport of the Devil whenever he can bring to bear upon your susceptibilities an instrument of sufficient power to effect the object he has in view."

There is certainly some novelty here, but we opine thg it is not the sort of novelty, desirable in romance. To make the marvellous probable, is one of the difficulties of fiction. Writers who follow the laws of art can do no- more than take up with popular superstitions, and are bounded by a ghost-story, which many readers expect to have " explained " at the end. The Evangelicals might have had recourse to "judg- ments," though we think they have used them very sparingly. Some years ago, the Tractarians, and a few vulgar imitators since, really worked to the dregs the curse of possessing Church property seized at the Reformation. The member of a religion which lays claim to miraculous power, allows possession by de- vils, and the virtue of exorcism, has a great advantage over his fellow novelists ; and the author of The Beleaguered Hearth is not slow to exercise it. Willibald by his mere touch opens a door which had resisted sledge-hammers ; and finds there an omen in- dicative of his Franciscan vocation. In consequence of Mrs. Cowley's hardness of heart, and resistance to miraculous indica- tions touching Willibald's call, she is " possessed " ; but her hus- band and " the worldly" deeming her mad, she is confined for years. The most remarkable miracle is perhaps the following. Willibald has been carried off by banditti. The leader, for pur- poses of his own, wishes to corrupt him. With that object, he employs one of flis mistresses to assail the prisoner ; but, instead of shaking his morals, her conscience is disturbed by his pro- position of prayers. Her conversion is thus accomplished, as she is wandering full of thought in a secluded part of the ban- ditti's retreat.

"The desertion, silence, and desolation of the place, so entirely suited her present frame of mind, that she advanced with joy. In doing so, she came suddenly in view of an object which the branches of a silver birch had hitherto concealed. This was the figure of an old friar, in the attitude of prayr,feanolidnsgucsyendaredeminellite qt-iortaoyulotioewnU f)yeeotnaeboo;eprtohfeo grodurnedv.orenoe, tookpossession of the heart of the beholder as she stood gazing on the wonderful sight. Being herself on a declivity, she was nearly on a level with the friar, and, as he was not far distant, she could see most distinctly the expression of his face. Every feature was as still and immoveable as marble, and, save that the skirts of the habit were stirred by the passing breeze, there was no appearance indicative of its subjection in the usual way to the laws of nature in this enraptured figure ; so that it appeared to Priscilla as if it had been for ever there, and would remain there for all eternity. Time and all that is transient seemed to have nothing to do with that adorer of the Eternal. His soul seemed to have gone out of his revering eyes into the presence of those who cry without ceasing, 'Holy!' and what reason had Priscilla to expect that that soul would ever return—that those eyes would ever be released from their present happy occupation ? As she still stood gazing, her limbs began to tremble, and she was glad to sit down. A joy indescribably sweet chained her to the spot for several hours, during which the figure and the face of the friar remained stiller than death.

The only approaches to actual life in The Beleagured Hearth are the sketches of Mrs. Cowley and a few others. These de- rive their interests less from the power of portraiture than from the indications they contain that the religion of many Romanists is of a formal kind, and that some look down upon the priest- hood as an inferior body.

But for the species of flatness already mentioned, and the one- sidedness of a religious partisan, Ailey Moore would have been an average Irish novel. The object of the writer is to exhibit the evils which Protestant bigotry, Protestant zeal, and Protestant landlords, inflict upon the Romish peasantry. There is a stupid, persecuting, embarrassed Irish nobleman, and a most villanous agent, with a touch of farce in him, but capable of any crime, and actually guilty of subornation of murder, robbery of a deed, and numerous acts of oppression, chiefly that he may marry the he- roine Ailey. A Protestant parson and his wife are thrown in, but they are handled gently. In the.novel the Protestant schemes are defeated, and in their darker features through the agency of one of those wonderful persons that Scott was so fond of introducing. Shaun a Dherk is a more extraordinary person than even Meg Merrilies ; though the author tells us that the outlaw " has been drawn from life," and that he "has been softened rather than ex- aggerated." The pictures of Irish sufferings and oppression refer to the past rather than the present time, and have been exhibited with more vigour and artistic effects by other writers. In con- sistency, the Moores at least ought to have been crushed by the power, art, and villany brought to bear against them ; but Gerald is acquitted by the law, the agent Snapper is punished by the'law, and finally Gerald and his sister succeed to property and marry converted Protestants.

There is plenty of that obvious unfairness in Ailey Moore which consists in confining the virtues to the professors of the writer's creed. As a representation of something like what life may be supposed to be, it is far superior to The Beleaguered Hearth. It is equally weak in its miracles, though they are not so numerous or absurd. Here is one respecting the influence of the Host.

" But I thought,' Ailey continued, 'that since the little tabernacle was placed in your room, you had had perfect freedom.' " There is my despair !' cried Emma—' there is my despair ! Never had the daimon dared to present himself in the presence of the Adorable ; and after great trouble and many refusals, my confessor obtained leave to place Him in my room, keeping the key himself. For a week I was in heaven ! I lay down at night. with a soul so happy—and I could not sleep—and I needed not, for I felt fresh in the dear presence of my Saviour—my dear Saviour, that came to dwell with me ! I could not and I would not sleep : I thought it hard to sleep, and He, my Saviour, watching; and if I slept for a moment, His face was just before me, smiling, and so assuring,—He used to say, Fear not ! ' Oh, Miss Moore, Miss Moore ! I am a sinner ! I am a sinner ! The night before last !—oh God ! '

" 'Do not exhaust yourself, Miss Crane,' said Frank, in the kindest and most friendly tone.

" No, sir—I cannot now stand long—my heart is breaking !—I feel it! I had not seen it since I was in London : my God had protected me ! And the night before last I was lying as usual in my little bed, and thinking on my God, and looking at the little lamp, and watching its shadow as it moved on the altar-cloth; and I was saying, I am happy—happy at last. Oh! my heart began to beat; and I felt as if the place was closing in around me, and the awful shadow of some giant had filled my little room ! Oh God ! I looked on the floor : it stood—stood there—there ! ' she said, pointing to a certain spot on the floor. gnashed its teeth—and the fire flash.d red- red—from its murderous eyes, and it crouched for the bound—and, 0 Sa- viour! I called upon Jesus and Mary in vain !—and Jesus so near me! I am deserted !—I am deserted, because I am a sinner !—oh God !' * * *

" Beg pardon, miss,' said the little servant Kate, who had followed them out of the room; I want to speak one word, miss.'

Well, gatey,' answered Ailey. " Things ain't so bad as Miss Crane says, miss,' said Kate.

"Ailey blushed crimson, and her heart beat.

" Sure you won't tell on me, miss ?'

" Oh, no, Katey : speak the truth.' " And you won't tell Miss Crane, miss ? ' " No, child : but take care to tell the truth.'

" ' Well, miss' she said, while Frank devoured her words no less than Ailey—' well, miss, Father Beanie, miss, came two days ago, when Miss Crane was out, an' he said, miss, it was all fancy, so it was ; an' he took out a bunch of keys, miss, an he opened the tabernacle, an' he took away our Lord in the blessed sacrament, miss; an' then that night Mies Crane was attacked, miss, again.'

" Oh, Kate ! why did you not tell poor Emma ? ' " I was afraid o Father Beanie, miss ; but I went to look for him, an' he was out.'

" And why not tell the confessor ? ' " Oh, Miss Ailey, he'd be so angry—he'd be so angry—hush, miss! Oh

myiBoillitnge! igtdheereonlfae isor! jo,rou wttne't tell him,' .be)feorrede, Sate.

thanked Providence for an interposition which cost poor Emma some pain, but which resolved the doubts of more than Father Beanie. The whole case was explained to the sufferer, and her security was once more restored."

The object of Mr. Mac Cabe in Adelaide Queen of Italy is as much political as religious. In the form of an historical novel, he wishes to impress upon the world the mischiefs that would arise if the Pope were dispossessed of his temporal power • and, if we may judge by his preface, he considers the Austrian power; a most happy event. The current political notions about robbing the Holy See of its dominions are not, he says, new. The idea has been realized hundreds of years ago, and the Pontiff been subjected. to the power of the Emperor of Germany, the Roman nobles, or to revolutionists like Arnold of Brescia and Rienzi. The consequence was misery, not deliverance, to Italy ; and such would be the case again. History looked at from this point of view is not likely to be exhibited with much truth ; but the au- thor's politics are more conspicuous in his introduction than in his romance.