Book Review, Part One: "The Republic of Love"; Nussbaum on "Le Nozze di Figaro"

I purchased this book from Eighth Day Books. It's from Oxford University Press:

In The Republic of Love, philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum argues that opera engages in political dialogue with the other institutions of public life. Opera interrogates the underlying political culture: what human beings have to be like to sustain different political institutions. Opera’s central contribution, buttressed by the powers of the chorus and the nuances of musical expression, is its exploration of emotions in the structuring of public life, including the role of gender, rank, and class. Nussbaum argues that a distinct Mozartean strand of opera embodies the political project of the Enlightenment. These operas, starting with those of Mozart himself—The Marriage of Figaro, Idomeneo, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, and La Clemenza di Tito—portray an egalitarian vision, not just of republican political institutions, but of emotion. This vision calls for the rejection of feudal hierarchy based on retributive anger and fear, and an embrace of love. This project has faced complications from the power-politics, tyranny, and oppression of the modern world, and so Mozart’s heirs considered how the Republic of Love can exist despite evil. Nussbaum traces the development of the Mozartean vision from Beethoven’s Fidelio and Verdi’s Don Carlos to Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Adams’s Nixon in China. Contrasting with this hopeful tradition, Nussbaum considers one antagonist, Richard Wagner, who envisioned a closed and unaccepting society, fearful of strangers, and with eyes forever cast backwards. Ending with hope, Nussbaum examines Verdi’s Falstaff and its joyful and humorous depiction of human frailty.

Eighth Day Books stocks several of her previously published books.

Her focus on Mozart's operas was one of the main reasons I wanted to read this book. I've especially relished the chapter on Le Nozze di Figaro. Nussbaum wrote an essay for Chicago Lyric Opera in 2024 that is very similar to this chapter in The Republic of Love:

1. Equality and Love at the End of "The Marriage of Figaro": Forging Democratic Emotions

    "Happy in That Way"

    The Ancien Regime and the Male Voice: Shame, Disgust

    Females: Fraternity, Equality, Liberty [Liberté, égalité, fraternité]

    Creating a Man: "Mischievous Look," a "Good Outside Myself"

    Cherubino, Rousseau, Herder: Spaces for Craziness, "Dispositions of Peace"

    Transcending the Everyday? [Martha] Nussbaum contra [Charles O.] Nussbaum

After reading that chapter, I watched (again) three videotaped productions of that opera, one from the Glyndebourne Festival directed by Sir Peter Hall (1973)*, one from the Paris Opera directed by Giorgio Strehler (1980)*, and one from the Metropolitan Opera directed by Jean-Ponnelle (1985)#. I also watched one staged by Sir Thomas Allen (who sang the Count in the Met version above) with a young cast at the Royal College of Music and a couple of others online. I'm very familiar with the first three and as I read the chapter I recognized some of the ways their directors' interpretations and Allen's differed or matched Nussbaum's view of the opera, particularly the difference between the male characters' rivalry (the Count and Figaro/Bartolo and Figaro (still smarting over how Figaro helped the Count marry Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia) and the female characters' partnership of equality and sympathy (the Countess Rosina and Susanna). 

In between these two contrasts, Nussbaum poses Cherubino, the young page, who moves between the two poles of the opera but identifies more with the women (in her view), certainly in his expressions of love and desire in his two arias as she contends--in both the Lyric Opera essay (and the book)--because "he has been educated by women and by music":

He talks about love. He is the only male in the opera (before the last act, at any rate) who has the slightest interest in that emotion. Certainly, the breathlessness of "Non so più" expresses the promiscuous quality, as well as the confusion, of adolescent infatuation. But it also contains romantic and poetic sentiments. The musical idiom, breathless and yet tender, is utterly unlike the tense accents of the adult males. When we reach the Countess's chamber, Cherubino's difference from other males becomes even more evident. Deeply infatuated with the Countess, he has decided to make her a present. What sort of present? What naturally occurs to him is to write a poem, set it to music, and sing it himself.

The content of that passion (in the beautiful aria "Voi che sapete") is remarkable for its utter difference from the arias of all the other males. First of all, Cherubino simply talks about love, and about its beautiful female object. He has nothing to say about other men, and he seems utterly impervious to questions of honor, shame, and competition. Second, he is eager to learn something, and he is eager to learn it from women: "You who know what sort of thing love is, women, tell me whether that is what I have in my heart." Third, unlike all the other males, he is utterly vulnerable, and he makes no attempt to conceal his vulnerability. Finally, and most remarkably, he locates what he is pursuing in a place outside of his own ego: "I seek a good that is outside myself." Hearing these words, we realize that no other male in the opera deigns to seek a good outside himself: all are preoccupied with winning a competitive victory, or shielding the ego from shame.

Cherubino, traditionally, is sung by a woman, a mezzo-soprano (although some recent productions I've seen online cast a male counter-tenor! How horrible; ruins the effect of the character's persona.), so that his natural community does seem to be among the women--the Countess and Susanna, Barbarina and the girls before the wedding, etc. He looks to Susanna and the Countess for protection; he certainly does not want to leave the Countess or go to war; as he tells Susanna, he really respects the Countess ("Ah, che troppo rispetto ella m'ispira!") He wants to stay where it's safe, with the women. As Beaumarchais wrote him, he's vulnerable.

Nussbaum offers a detailed analysis of the famous dressing up scene, as Susanna sings “Venite inginocchiatevi,” and certainly the Glyndebourne and Paris productions follow her lead (at the Met in the Ponnelle production Cherubino is behind a screen and we never see him in a girl's dress at all). Cherubino is happy to cooperate with Susanna and and she and the Countess in the first two productions are both amused and admiring of his transformation--since the Countess never sees Cherubino dressed as a girl in the Ponnelle, the scene relies on Susanna's aria alone. It seemed to me that the production by Sir Thomas Allen and a few others coarsened the character of Cherubino, depicting him as randy and rude, so that some of the charm Nussbaum looks for in this scene is absent.

Nussbaum emphasizes how different Cherubino is from the other men, but she does skip a crucial line during the last scene, when he is flirting with the Countess (thinking she's Susanna): why can't I do what the Count does everyday?: "E perche far io non posso/quelche il Conte or or fara?" He's learned something from the Count that the ladies won't appreciate. Nussbaum does admit that at the end of the opera when the Count has apologized and the Countess has accepted his apology, knowing his contrition will not last long:

Indeed, it seems far more likely that Cherubino will be corrupted by the male world around him than that the other men will drop their quest for honor and status and learn to sing like Cherubino.

Nor does Nussbaum contend with Barbarina's disrespectful conversation with the Count in front of the Countess in Act III, Scene 12 when Cherubino is discovered among the maidens at Court, not having joined the regiment, but dressed like one of the peasant girls. Barbarina reminds the Count that he promised her anything when they were kissing and cuddling. She wants to marry Cherubino, but she promises the Count that she'll still love him like a kitten:

BARBARINA Eccellenza, eccellenza, voi mi dite sì spesso, qual volta m'abbracciate e mi baciate: «Barbarina, se m'ami, ti darò quel che brami».

CONTE Io, dissi questo?

BARBARINA Voi. Or datemi, padrone, in sposo Cherubino, e v'amerò com'amo il mio gattino.

Poor Count; now he's a kitten? Barbarina seems more like the Count than the Countess or Susanna. And if Cherubino goes along, this a very different sort of reciprocity than Nussbaum is suggesting (is he willing to share Barbarina with the Count? That's not the kind of love either Susanna or the Countess want from their husbands). 

Nussbaum's other detailed analysis of Mozart's musical setting of Da Ponte's libretto (part of her argument is that Mozart sometimes emphasizes these ideas of fraternity, equality, and liberty musically more than Da Ponte does literarily) is of the duet between the Countess and Susanna in Act III, "Canzonetta sull'aria". She comments: "Their musical partnership expresses a kind of friendly attunement that is, we might say, an image of mutual respect, but also a reciprocal affection that is deeper than respect." She does refer to the scene in the Shawshank Redemption movie when Dufresne plays the duet over the prison loud speaker and Red describing the impression of beauty and freedom the prisoners experienced in spite of not understanding the words.

Nussbaum comments also on the finale with the Count's apology and the Countess's acceptance of it, noting that she knows he'll not reform. For the sake of at least some happiness, she accepts, after a pause, when his answer had been "no, no, no, no, no!" Thus, "Ah! Tutti contenti saremo così." "We'll alll be happy that way!"

Questo giorno di tormenti, 

di capricci e di follia, 

in contenti e in allegria solo 

Amor può terminar. 

Sposi, amici, al ballo! al gioco! 

Alle mine date fuoco, 

ed al suon di lieta marcia 

corriam tutti a festeggiar. 

This day of torment,
Of caprices and folly,
Love can end
Only in contentment and joy.
Lovers and friends, let's round things off
In dancing and pleasure,
And to the sound of a gay march
Let's hasten to the revelry.

[During this ensemble in the Ponnelle/Met Opera production, the men go to one side of the stage and the women on the other--and Cherubino's with the women!]

Thus she concludes: 

What that seems to mean is that all present say yes to a world that seeks and aims at reciprocity, respect, and attunement without being starry-eyed about perfection, a world in which people commit themselves to liberty, fraternity, and equality, while understanding that these transcendent ideals are not to be attained by exiting from the real world into a pristine world, but rather by pursuing them in this one . . .

And I would conclude that this is why the French Revolution devolved into terror, violence, and cruelty: the leaders did think they had to create a pristine world for their ideals to succeed--thus this week we'll mark Bastille Day (today) AND the feast of Carmelites of Compiegne (July 17), martyred because they wanted to practice their Faith and their vocations freely. Now there's an operatic finale (especially the 1987 performance from the Met of Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites with Jessye Norman, Maria Ewing, Betsy Norden and a slashing blade in John Dexter's production! Readily available on line.)

Nevertheless, it does seem appropriate to post this today since it's Bastille Day. Beaumarchais's play had been banned in France because of its revolutionary tendencies. The Emperor Joseph allowed its performance and Da Ponte (not Mozart as in Amadeus!) assured him that the opera would not encourage those ideas.

I'm not commenting on the two more historical or philosophical chapters because this post is already long and my main interest is in Nussbaum's interpretation of the opera (the libretto and the score) not so much the background to Mozart's interest in this view of the society of the Almaviva household. I think that will be different in the next chapter about the influence of Freemasonry on Idomeneo and Die Zauberflote.

I might just comment on the Mozart chapters on this blog. 

*These two performances are available on YouTube.

#The Metropolitan Opera performance is available for rental or with a membership at Met on Demand 

Image Credit: Fair Use of Cover in a book review.

Belloc's "Charles II" (or "The Last Rally: A Story of Charles II")

This is the fifth historical character study by Hilaire Belloc I've read. Mysterium Press has sent me their handsome hardcover editions for my opinions on each: Wolsey, Cranmer, Charles I, and Cromwell, and now Charles II. (I also have James II in queue.) The cover of each book features a striking portrait of the subject, with a tag line that offers a great summing up of Belloc's theme for each man:

Wolsey: "The cardinal who unwittingly steered England to its ruin" [and specifically, regrettably steered the Catholic Church in England to its ruin]

Cranmer: "The archbishop who helped destroy England's founding faith"

Charles I: "The king who stood for liberty and lost his head for it"

Cromwell: "The killer of the king and the butcher of the Irish"

Charles II: "The king who pitted monarchy against money"

and 

James II: "The last king of England's ancient monarchy"

You can see the covers of the entire "Hilaire Belloc English Histories Collection" here. In the USA, these books are available from Os Justi Press. It's kind of surprising that Belloc did not write a study of the other Cromwell, Thomas. You can find his analysis of "The true creator of the English Reformation" (my idea of a tag line) in Characters of the Reformation!

In each of these books I've been impressed by Belloc's political and strategic acumen; his sympathy for the challenges and struggles each man faced; his effort to be honest and straight-forward in his analysis of how their backgrounds and education prepared them for their most crucial decisions and actions; his careful judgment of their strengths and weaknesses--and all those strengths are present this book, which was first published with the title The Last Rally: A Story of Charles II in 1939. 

Belloc adds the ground of a beautiful metaphor to the structure of this book: the young, exiled Prince of Wales's love of being on the sea, captaining a ship, struggling with the elements, winning the battle, and returning to port. That metaphor is expressed in many chapter titles (and remember that Belloc loved sailing too!):

1. The Last Rally
2. The Task
3. The Formation
4. The Annealing
5. First Grasp of the Helm
6. The Fair Run
7. The Fleet and Empire
8. The Sunken Reef
9. The Triangle
10. Gathering Storm
11. Whiggery
12. The Women
13. Full Gale: The Popish Plot
14. Hurricane and Harbor
15. Drop Anchor

An elegant feature in this book.

Throughout this series, the great theme is power: how to get it, how to hold it, and how to lose it. Each man achieves power either by inheriting it (Charles I--with the honorable mention of his father James I and VI--and his heirs Charles II and James II) or by talent, opportunity, and influence (Wolsey, Cranmer, and Cromwell). The variable of this theme is how Charles II tried to restore the power of the monarchy in England after the English Civil War, the Interregnum and Protectorate. As Belloc explains:

As I dealt in my former book with the leading case of Louis XIV of France as a monarch standing up to the Money Power (and, upon the whole, successfully), so in this book I deal with the parallel and complementary case of his contemporary and first cousin, Charles II, Stuart King of England.

He also found himself faced by that unescapable conflict between the Money Power and Monarchy; but, unlike his cousin Louis, Charles failed. The Money Power was too much for him. So long as he lived he managed to fend it off though not to tame it; but immediately after his death, in the less competent hands of his brother James (the last real and active King of England, as also the last by hereditary right), Monarchy went down. (p. 1)

One of the important early chapters is "The Annealing". Annealing is a term of art in metallurgy. This website provides a good, not-too-technical definition: "the process of heating a metal to a high temperature and then cooling it slowly. The slow cooling allows the crystalline structure to settle into a lower-energy, more stable configuration. Fast cooling (quenching) locks in stress and brittleness; slow cooling produces resilience." Applied to human experience, it is "the analogous process by which competing patterns of action gradually resolve into a stable configuration." 

Belloc proposes that from age 17 to 30, Charles, the exiled Prince of Wales, went through this annealing process as he struggled to make his claim to the throne of England after his father's execution and during the Commonwealth and Protectorate. He developed his characteristic responses to danger, decision, and success.

During this struggle, Charles attempted to gain the throne in Scotland, at least, by making a covenant with the Kirk. It included renouncing the Church of England, the Anglican doctrine and structure his late father had held so firmly. He was crowned the King of Scotland and then faced the English military response. In the midst of that struggle, and the subsequent military defeat he and the Scots suffered at Worcester, he met Father John Huddleston, a Catholic priest, and read a book of Catholic apologetics and was convinced it taught the Truth. Of course, we know that he did not follow up on that conviction until on his deathbed, because the restoration of the monarchy in England was his main goal.

Belloc is careful about weighing this dichotomy in Charles's behavior, just as he is in examining Charles's pattern of unfaithfulness to his wife, Catherine of Braganza. He describes how Charles never succumbed to any influence of his mistresses and made sure that his wife was respected, at least outwardly, at Court. It seems the two women who had the most influence on his Court and Reign were Anne Hyde, the Earl of Clarendon's daughter and his brother James, the Duke of York's wife, and his sister Minette (Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orléans), King Louis XIV's sister-in-law--both through their Catholicism. Minette influenced him in signing the Treaty of Dover, in which he promised to convert to Catholicism at some point.

Another great issue was the conflict with Parliament over funding the government, especially the British Navy to protect trade. This problem led Charles to negotiate for funds with King Louis of France and to triangulate three foes: Louis, Holland, and Parliament against one to another as needed. To Belloc, here Charles succeeded, however briefly, to attain true Royal power and authority. Belloc also notes throughout his discussions of the conflict between King and Parliament that the House of Commons was not at all representative of the population of England and not even of the men who had the privilege to vote in Parliamentary election in proportion to city and county size and commercial etc. influence.

Belloc expresses the greatest condemnation of Charles's behavior in the course of the Popish Plot, especially when he allowed William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford (a Blessed martyr and grandson of Saint Philip Howard) and Oliver Plunkett (a Sainted martyr) to be executed when the Popish Plot had been exposed as a lie. It is Belloc's opinion that the Popish Plot "gave the deathblow to Catholicism in England." (p. 225). Belloc avers that even as he acknowledges the change in the Catholic legal position in England, the English converts from Newman in 1845 until his own day, and the influx of Irish Catholics. If he is paying attention to matters now, I wonder what he thinks about Catholic revival in England, especially vis-a-vis the Church of England.

In some ways it seems that Belloc expresses greater concern for the triumph of the Monarchy in English government than he does for Charles's dedication to his conscience and the truth of Catholicism. It's one way, of course, that Belloc avoids the accusation of letting his own Catholic faith influence his historical analysis of Charles II's character and reign. I don't think he is betraying his Faith but he is upholding his general thesis in each of these books that a strong executive is essential in governance of a nation. Writing as he was in the age of Roosevelt, Mussolini/Victor Emmanuel, and Hitler (not that I'm suggesting any similarity between Roosevelt and the others--although I do recall that Alistair Cooke stated in his America that FDR basically ignored the Constitution of the United States in his implementation of The New Deal), one can see his concern for the balance of power.

His narration of Charles's deathbed conversion is moving, of course, but the reader knows that the hereditary monarchy would soon fail during James II's reign, especially once the Catholic convert King and his Catholic wife would have a Catholic son and heir. (Belloc had published his study of James II in 1928--this book was published in 1939.)

As usual, Mysterium Press presents a excellent edition of Belloc's work and I appreciate the publisher sending me these copies in exchange for my opinion of them. 

I'll be reading and reviewing James II next.

From "The New Criterion": Shakespeare's Plays and His Creed (?)

It may be behind a paywall for non-subscribers, so I apologize, but I found this archived article (a review by Paul Dean of A Will to Believe: Shakespeare and Religion by David Scott Kastan) at The New Criterion fascinating because of this paragraph:

The law compelled Shakespeare to be ingenious and allusive, even if he had not been so by nature. The representation of liturgical services onstage was forbidden; indeed, the reformers routinely denounced the Mass as a species of play-acting. Such condemnations looked back to the medieval cycle plays with their medley of scriptural, patristic, legendary, and folkloric traditions, their range of tones and moods welcoming everything from the exalted to the scatological and farcical. It was these plays that Shakespeare experienced as a live theatrical tradition when he saw them at Coventry as a teenager; his use of the Bible and the prayer book is colored by this more eclectic heritage. The plays are equally distorted by those who seek a Protestant or Catholic bias, for there were many varieties of each, and drama thrives on dialectical debate. “Whether the Reformation was motivated from above or below,” Kastan comments, “it was, in either case, incomplete.” Arguably it was complete only with the expulsion of the Catholic James II in 1688 and his replacement, at the invitation of Parliament, by the Dutch Protestants William and Mary.

Arguably? Since other changes in the Book of Common Prayer and Church of England doctrine and liturgy (both and after the Tractarian movement) continued to occur, I think one could argue about that.

And this comment, offering a perfect example of litotes:

Elizabeth I’s religious temper was famously enigmatic; candles burned on the altar in her private chapel, to the scandal of many, and she kept her most Puritan Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Grindal, under virtual house-arrest, yet she was no friend to Roman Catholics.

The abstract of the book from Oxford Academic describes A Will to Believe thus:

On 19 December 1601, John Croke, then Speaker of the House of Commons, addressed his colleagues: “If a question should be asked, What is the first and chief thing in a Commonwealth to be regarded? I should say, religion. If, What is the second? I should say, religion. If, What the third? I should still say, religion.” But if religion was recognized as the “chief thing in a Commonwealth,” we have been less certain what it does in Shakespeare’s plays. Written and performed in a culture in which religion was indeed inescapable, the plays have usually been seen either as evidence of Shakespeare’s own disinterested secularism or, more recently, as coded signposts to his own sectarian commitments. Based upon the inaugural series of the Oxford-Wells Shakespeare Lectures in 2008, this book offers a thoughtful, surprising, and often moving consideration of how religion actually functions in them: not as keys to Shakespeare’s own faith but as remarkably sensitive registers of the various ways in which religion charged the world in which he lived. The book shows what we know and can’t know about Shakespeare’s own beliefs, and demonstrates, in a series of wonderfully alert and agile readings, how the often fraught and vertiginous religious environment of Post-Reformation England gets refracted by the lens of Shakespeare’s imagination.

Within the review of Kastan's book, Dean also refers to two other books also from Oxford University Press: The Bible in Shakespeare by Hannibal Hamlin and Shakespeare's Common Prayers: The Book of Common Prayer and the Elizabethan Age by Daniel Swift.

Image Credit (Public Domain): The Plays of William Shakespeare, a painting containing scenes and characters from several plays of Shakespeare; by Sir John Gilbert, c. 1849.(Notice that Henry VIII is the most dominating and entirely portrayed figure! Compare it to the Apotheosis of Shakespeare's Characters, 1871 from the Yale Center for British Art by the same artist: Henry VIII is in in the upper left, much less dominating!)

"Waugh is me!": Reading Evelyn Waugh on Dante Gabriel Rossetti

"By birth, Mrs [sic] Rossetti was half Italian and wholly pedagogic." (p. 10)*

"He learned some Latin and a little Greek." (p. 13)

". . . while [Benjamin] Hayden was dying of neglected vanity." (p. 19)

*when the family had financial troubles: "Maria Francesca reverted to the family trade of governess" (p. 55)

The OUP Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh describes Rossetti: His Life and Works thus:

This, Waugh's first published book [the second book was his first novel, Decline and Fall], marked the centenary of the birth of the painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882). Waugh was fascinated by the bohemian lives of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, and by his own family connection with them (William Holman Hunt had married, successively, two cousins of his grandfather). Rossetti is both compassionate towards its subject and critical of his self-destructive nature. The incisive analysis of Rossetti's painterly techniques contributed to the resurgence of public interest in Rossetti's art and poetry. The biography was also an early expression of Waugh's lifelong interest in narrative art, and laid the foundations for his own belief in the importance of the spiritual as well as the aesthetic vision of the artist. Although Rossetti was hastily compiled, it is nevertheless elegant and witty.

And how! 

I purchased and read the Penguin edition, which I wish had more and color plates of his artwork. While I found some of Waugh's wit distracting (like the examples above), he does analyze Rossetti's art, life, trials, poetry, character, achievement, and difficulties both judiciously and sympathetically. One of the more surprising comments Waugh often makes is that Rossetti did not really know how to paint: he had not acquired the proper techniques of preparing a canvas--when he and other Pre-Raphaelites worked on some frescoes for the Oxford Debating club for example, they did not begin with fresh lime plaster, and thus the works soon deteriorated. Rossetti used water color brushes for oil paint, Waugh tells us; he did not master the rules of perspective, etc.

Part of Waugh's effort in the book--the part that I didn't track that well with--is the analysis of how art criticism developed in the age of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Art criticism seems to have been so personal, addressing the character (indeed the morality) of the artist as the basis for praising or denigrating the work.

One of the saddest passages is when Rossetti, who had buried manuscripts of his early poems with his wife, Elizabeth Siddal, decided he wanted to review, revise, and publish them. He doesn't go to the grave; he waits for the papers to be delivered to him; then he must wait until the "poems had been dried and disinfected" and piece "together his work from among the stains and worm-holes of seven and a half years in the grave." (p. 205) (This reminded me of a line from Dominick Argento's opera The Aspern Papers when the Lodger is shocked that he might be thought capable of "desecrating a grave" to retrieve a lost opera by the composer.)

As for Waugh's analysis of Rossetti's art and poetry, I found it fascinating. There is one quibble I have with a comment about reading Rossetti's poetry: Waugh says it should be/must be read aloud (p. 210). I think all poetry must be read aloud, unless the author really didn't want us to hear the sounds of the words in our ears as we discerned the meaning and the music of her expression. (And then, has she really written a poem?)

One fun passage in chapter four, "The Good Years, 1862-1867", lists all the animals and bric-a-brac he collected in Tudor House. One of his obsessions was fine china. Fortunately, he had collected enough and it was valuable enough that when he desperately needed money (in chapter six, 'The Fleshly School') it could be sold for £650.00! (£650.00 in 1872 is worth £98,250.98 in 2025 with a "Purchasing Power Decrease: 99.34%"!)

Rossetti's life story is, like all of ours, a mixture of good and bad, but one of aspects Waugh constantly highlights is that he had a circle of friends who helped him over and over again as he suffered depression, ill health, mourning his wife, etc--in spite of how often, over and over again he subverted their attempts to help him or demonstrated a lack of gratitude. But they came back to help him anyway, knowing that illness, and addiction (to a prescribed medication, Chloral) and his absolute need moved them to great sacrifice and difficulty. He recovered from several crises, but entered his last illness on Good Friday, April 7 and died on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1882.

One musical note: Dante Gabriel Rossetti wrote "The Blessed Damozel", which Claude Debussy, among other composers, set to music ("La damoiselle élue") and submitted to the Académie des beaux-arts as an entry for the Prix de Rome in 1892. And of course, Rossetti depicted the blessed Damozel, leaning out "From the gold bar of Heaven" with "three lilies in her hand," and seven stars in her hair.

An entertaining and enlightening read.

Image credit (Public Domain): An illustration of Rossetti's poem

Another Chevrot: The Woman at the Well: "The Well of Life"

Scepter Publishers, which also published/sells my book Supremacy and Survival, publishes several works by Monsignor Georges Chevrot (1879-1958). He was pastor of Saint Francis Xavier from 1930 to 1958 (priests have long tenures there!) and preached during Lent at Notre Dame de Paris in 1938, 1939, and 1940 and received the Medaille de la Resistance Francaise for his efforts during German occupation of Paris during World War II. 

I've now purchased/read three of his works: The Beatitudes: How God Saves Us, The Easter Impact: How the Resurrection Restores and Strengthens Our Faith, and The Well of Life.

I recommended The Beatitudes for the Son Rise Morning Show's Summer reading lists in June last year, and mentioned The Easter Impact earlier this month!

In The Well of Life, Monsignor Chevrot goes through the story of the woman at well of Sychar verse by verse, offering commentary on the dialogue between Our Lord and Saint Photina. As Scepter describes it:

This book leads the reader to understand in a deeper way the meaning of the unusual encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacobs’ well. It starts in a casual conversation between a thirsty traveler and a woman engaged in the ordinary work of drawing water from the town well. From her questions about the “living water” that the Lord tries to explain, her soul’s blind and ignorant condition is only penetrated by Jesus’ straightforward questioning about her married life. In her sincerity she freely admits the truth. In short order she enthusiastically reaches out to her entire village, bringing them rushing to the feet of Christ and to their conversion to his message of universal salvation.

Chevrot adds further commentary and details which show that something extraordinarily new is taking place. Sinful but repentant people, not only the faithful and justified, are now also entrusted with spreading the new kingdom of Christ. In other words, everyone is called to holiness. Salvation is not only for the just, but also for the world’s low lifes. The book’s 24 chapters tackle prejudice, of what use is religion, not being scandalized, confession of sins, Christian obedience, optimism, witnessing in ordinary circumstances to Christ, and the experience of faith and how it changes peoples and societies.

Originally translated from French and published in English by Scepter in the 1950s. This book is newly edited and released again after an absence of 60 years.

Table of Contents, including chapters, subheads, and quotations:

Introduction

1. Tired (John 4:6)

    A School of Humility

2. Providential Meetings (John 4:7)

    Freeing Ourselves from Evil

3. The First Steps (John 4:7)

    Penetrating Souls

4. Prejudice (4:9)

5. The Gift of God (4:10)

6. Who It Is (4:10):

    In Jesus Christ, the two natures form a single person in such a unity that the solder which joins them cannot be seen. Jesus is fully God and also fully man. He teaches us both the human knowledge of God, and the divine knowledge of man, in showing man as God conceives him and wishes him to be. Christ is our brother without sin, you will object. Yes, without sin, because it is not essential to sin in order to be a man. . . . As man, he can reveal to us what we are, not because he was a good and just man whom the admiration of his fellows later defined but because he is God made man. . . .

    How consoling it is to consider our humanity through him!

(cf. Pope St. Leo the Great on the Incarnation)

    The Duty of the Normal Man

    Knowing Our True Selves

7. Our Need for God (4:11-14)

8. What Good is Religion? (4:15)

    Source of Progress

    Cooperation with God's Gifts

9. The Knowledge of Sin (4:16-19)

     Advancing Toward Sanctity

10. The New Worship (4:20-22)

    Photina points to Mount Gerizim on which the temple of Manassas had been built. Even after the Jewish high priest John Hyrcanus had destroyed it, the Samaritans had continued to come to this place to offer ritual sacrifice.

11. Unity in Truth (4:22)

    No compromise

12. Adoration in Spirit and in Truth (4:23-24)

13. The Messiah's Work (4:25-26)

    Apostolate is Not Optional

14. Do Not Be Shocked (4:27)

15. God's Pardon (4:28-30)

16. Confession of Our Sins (4:29)

    Confession . . . satisfies man's nature and God's rights at the same time. . . . This is why Jesus brought the forgiveness of heaven to earth and left it there.  

    Proof of Regret

    Perfection is a drawn-out business.    
17. Our Reason for Living (4:31-34)

    Principle of Unity

18. Christian Obedience (4:34)

    A Higher Plane

19. Christian Optimism (4:35)

    Apostles in the World

20. Sowers and Reapers (4:36-38)

    God Chooses Us to Help Him

21. Witnesses to Christ (4:39)

    The unexpected conversion of the village of Sichar made an unforgettable impression on the disciples.

22. Prayer and Faith (4:40-41)

23. Experience of the Faith (4:42)

    Personal Influence of Jesus

24. The Savior of the World (4:42)

    Interior Reform

    Personal Sin

Epilogue: The Supreme Testimony

    (the martyrdom of St. Photina and her sons Joseph and Victor celebrated on March 20)

    

I finished the book on March 20! I recommend The Well of Life highly: it offers scriptural exegesis, doctrinal instruction, and spiritual counsel.

Book Review: Belloc on Oliver Cromwell

The picture posted above "Cromwell and dead Charles I", painted by Paul Delaroche in 1831, is in some way the opposite of Hilaire Belloc's study of Cromwell, published last year in a handsome hardcover edition by Mysterium Press in their series. Unlike Belloc, who wants to eschew myth and depict reality, Delaroche based this painting on François-René de Chateaubriand's fictional account of Cromwell opening Charles I's coffin. (It doesn't seem like Charles has been decollated at all from the angle Delaroche chose! Is there some blood pooled under the king's beard or is that just a shadow? Lack of a model, I suppose.) Belloc does reference this painting at the end of Chapter 12, "Killing the King":

There is a story the witness to which may be believed or unbelieved; it is of so dramatic a sort that many doubt it; but there is nothing impossible in it. It runs thus:

In the room where the King's body was lying at evening a figure entered which the watcher recognized as Cromwell's. He who so came in lifted the veil and looked upon the face, which was quiet even after such a death, and was heard to mutter, "Cruel necessity." (p, 216)

I commented on Belloc's style in my review of Belloc's Charles I. Here are a few examples of how that style creates confidence in the reader, from the first chapter of Cromwell, "Myth and Reality":

This book is not another life of Oliver Cromwell; there are dozens too many, the earlier batch a mass of slander, the later a mass of panegyric--all of them myth. My object here is to seek reality; to discover what Cromwell was within the nature of the man's motives, the quality of his actions as witnesses to the moral truth about himself. (p. 1)

[Ignoring the two myths, one condemning, the other praising] Belloc states: ". . . it is the business of historical judgment to establish truth on this character. No other object has been pursued in these pages." (p. 7)

And addressing the reader, Belloc emphasizes that we need to know Cromwell's background, his social standing, his great wealth, his attraction to the "intense new religion" [Puritan Calvinism]:

To discover his circumstances, you must, again, envisage those things in the world around him which made him act in a manner natural to him, strange to us: for instance, the presence of what I have called "The Catholic Menace" to him in 1620-50 most vividly apparent, to us in 1930-40 incomprehensible." (p. 8)

With that kind of address to the reader, and that kind of clarity of purpose, Belloc makes a case for trusting his portrait of Cromwell. He would have to be an utter cad if he was/is lying to his reader. He also makes it clear that he is more interested in Cromwell's political actions in bringing about Charles I's death than he is in Cromwell's military and strategic prowess, which he readily acknowledges. Not that he's going to ignore it, but it's not his main interest. He acknowledges it; he offers details in chapter 10, and narrates actions in other chapters.

The Table of Contents:

1. The Myth and Reality
2. The Problem
3. The New Millionaires
4. The New Religion
5. Growth of Character
6. The Catholic Menace
7. The Soldier Out of Place
8. The Nature of the Civil War

9. Forming and Informing

10. The Typical Actions
I. Winceby
II. Marston Moor
III. The Second Battle of Newbury
IV. Naseby
11. The Siege Train and Basing House
12. The Killing of the King
13. Ireland
I. The Approach
II. Drogheda 

III. Wexford
IV. Waterford
V. Kilkenny
VI. Clonmel
14. The Scotch Campaigns
I. Preston
II. Dunbar
III. Worcester
15. Reluctant Power
16. Cromwell in the Presence of Death

The first nine chapters are Belloc's setting of the scene of Cromwell's actions before, during, and after the English Civil War and through his reign as Protector. He describes Cromwell's family background, how the Williams-Cromwell family came to wealth through their connection with Thomas Cromwell and acquisition of land through the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Chapters 4 and 6 analyze the religious/social background of Calvinism and Catholicism, framing Belloc's scrupulously fair and balanced analysis of Cromwell's character. 

It's in Chapter 13 on Cromwell's actions in the sieges of the five Irish cities that Belloc concludes that Cromwell acted cruelly, unjustly, and horribly against especially the civilian population but also the military in those cities when they had been granted quarter. He charges Cromwell with "the profound wounding, mutilation and attempted murder of a nation." (p. 217)

Regarding these sieges, Belloc notes that in "the excesses of cruelty" displayed Cromwell was able to give "free rein to his religion" in a "crusading action" against Catholicism and Catholics. Cromwell accepted and even rejoiced in his responsibility in this action because he saw it as God's will. Belloc judges, however, that he was violating agreed-upon truces, surrender, quarter, and amnesties because of his hatred for Catholics. (pp. 224-225) For example, when the people of Wexford required the continued practice of their Catholic faith and the protection of Catholic churches and monasteries as part of their surrender, these terms "moved Cromwell to violence." 

In the last two chapters, Belloc describes Cromwell's reluctant personal rule and death. Cromwell finds himself facing the same difficulties Charles I had--how to finance the government when the people were tired of years of taxation (the taxation Parliament had fought Charles I about), especially when England was fighting a trade and naval war against the Dutch. Cromwell didn't want this absolute authority but was never able to share it with a reasonable Parliament. The responsibility for the debt England was incurring was all his. It was a "grinding menace" and "the burden grew heavier with every week that passed." (p. 315)

Belloc sympathizes with Cromwell's aches and pains at the end of his life after so much wear and tear on his body in the campaigns of the Civil War. Cromwell suffered from insomnia and was exhausted. Then his "beloved daughter, Elizabeth Claypool must die" and Cromwell "would not leave her" bedside as she was suffering, only adding to his exhaustion. (p. 319) As Belloc had suffered the devastating losses of his wife Elohe in 1914 and his son Louis in 1918 when serving the Royal Flying Corps in France.

I appreciate Belloc's fairness and his standards of judging Cromwell's character, as he has done in other books about Wolsey, Cranmer, and Charles I. I look forward to the books about Charles II and James II. He is careful, discreet, and as fair as possible, acknowledging the possibility of bias.

Please note that the publisher sent me a review copy in exchange for my opinion about the book. Mysterium Press books are available for sale in the USA at Os Justi Press in their "Belloc Books" collection.

Image Credit (Public Domain): Charles I, with Cromwell standing over his dead body.

Delaroche is famous for these genre historical paintings, like this one of Lady Jane Grey or of Saint Joan of Arc questioned by the Cardinal of Winchester.

Best Books of 2025: "Generalissima"--Queen Henrietta Maria and the English Civil War!

This is the second volume in a trilogy of historical novels about Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I; mother of Kings Charles II and James II and therefore grandmother of the Old Pretender and great-grandmother of the Young Pretender and the Cardinal Pretender. 

In this book the author traces the lives of the Queen and her family from 1640 to 1644, from the Royal palaces of Saint James, Wimbledon, Whitehall, Hampton Court, to The Hague in the Netherlands, the battlefields of the English Civil War, through betrayals--especially by Lucy Fairfax, one of her ladies-in-waiting--and attacks on Henriette (as she is called throughout the book) because she is a Catholic; storms and battles at sea, the death of her mother, pregnancies, separations, her efforts and love for her husband and her disappointments that he has not always fulfilled the promises of their marriage contract, times in York, Oxford, Cornwall, and France!

Throughout all these conflicts, dangers, and adventures, Vidal's narration, use of dialogue, and description are vivid, personal, and often poignant.

The publisher's blurb:

As the Three Kingdoms totter on the brink of anarchy, Henriette-Marie, queen of Charles I, strives to bring up their lively, growing family. In addition to her own health problems, she worries about the welfare of her mother the Dowager Queen of France, who sought refuge in London only to find herself under attack. As Henriette faces choices which may separate herself from her beloved husband and children, she seeks help from the Pope and the Irish Catholics. Meanwhile, Henriette's spy, Wat Montagu, informs her that there is a traitor within the royal household. Determined to save the throne, Henriette eventually decides to sell her jewels in order to raise an army. In spite of storms and near shipwreck as well as the attempts of her enemies to kill her, Henriette is able to return to her husband's side with an army, earning for herself the moniker of "Generalissima."

And my blurb for the book, written after reading the book in manuscript:

“From the first words of the Prologue, you're there with the Royal Family in the picture Gallery. Limned by a great historical novelist, each episode in this second volume of Vidal's ‘Henrietta of France Trilogy’ develops the characters and explores the challenges they face with vivid description and riveting action. Vidal depicts Queen Henrietta Maria's love and loyalty to her husband King Charles I and her family in the throes of the English Civil War sympathetically and realistically. Volume Three can't appear soon enough! —Stephanie A. Mann, blogger and author of Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation

I appreciated Vidal's focus on James, the Duke of York in a couple of scenes; the author assured me that he will certainly be featured in the third volume of this work. I think a novel about his life would be wonderful from the pen of this author!

Please note again, that I was asked to blurb the book, and that I received a copy of the book. The author and I have been acquainted since my book was published, and we met at the Catholic Writers Guild Live Conference in 2010. I appreciate her craft and historical acumen.

One of the Best Books of 2025: "The Most Dangerous Man in England"

I've read many, many books about Saint John Henry Newman and nearly all them have added to my knowledge of this great saint and Doctor of the Church. Last year, I bought and read a copy of "The Most Dangerous Man in England": Newman and the Laity by Paul Shrimpton, published by Word on Fire Academic, and it certainly did fulfill that purpose. The publisher's book description:

Once described by the papal chamberlain George Talbot as “the most dangerous man in England,” John Henry Newman held bold views on the laity that challenged the ecclesial status quo of his day. But what exactly made his ideas so provocative? And what relevance do they have today?

In “The Most Dangerous Man in England”: Newman and the Laity, Paul Shrimpton examines Newman’s revolutionary perspective on the laity’s role in the Church and in the world. More than just an analysis of Newman’s writings, this work tells the story of the great saint’s dealings with lay men and women throughout his long and eventful life, revealing Newman’s lively insights, genius for friendship, and deep humanity. Shrimpton traces Newman’s journey from his influential years at Oxford to his leadership at the Birmingham Oratory, from the founding of the Catholic University in Ireland to his controversial efforts to establish a “Catholic Eton,” a boys’ school attached to the Birmingham Oratory. Through these episodes, Newman emerges as an example to pastors for how to work with and for the laity, as well as an example to laypeople for how to carry out a Christian apostolate through friendship. Shrimpton also shows how Newman’s emphasis on education for laypeople and the universal call to holiness anticipates the teachings of Vatican II by well over a century.

The whole Church, pastors and laity, should take note of the words and works of this great modern intellectual and Christian humanist. Newman’s vision has the potential to revitalize and empower every man and woman to embrace their mission to sanctify the world.

Paul Shrimpton has brought together his studies (A Catholic Eton? Newman's Oratory School (2005) and The “Making of Men”: The Idea and Reality of Newman's University in Oxford and Dublin (2015)) of Newman, his schools and a wide range of Newman's Anglican and Catholic interactions with and interventions for the laity in this magnificently comprehensive study.

There were probably some Anglicans who thought Newman was a dangerous man as he wrote the Tracts for the Times and argued for the apostolic authority of the Anglican bishops. After he became a Catholic, some Anglicans deplored the men and women who followed him as converts. But it was among the English Catholic hierarchy, some of the more ultramontane Catholic converts, and some of the old Recusant Catholic families that he was regarded as "the most dangerous man in England" because of their fear of the young, well-educated (Oxford and Cambridge) lay men and women whom Newman wanted to help, mostly through education and formation.

Shrimpton begins in Chapter 2, "Newman's Anglican Years, 1801-1845", with the Oxford years, highlighting Newman's service as a pastor to the Anglican congregations in matters of life and death, his efforts to educate his pupils as Tutor at Oriel College (in which he was thwarted by Whately), and of course his Tractarian movement efforts.

After Newman's conversion, Shrimpton emphasizes as much or more than Placid Murray, OSB in Newman the Oratorian: Oratory Papers 1846-1878, how and why Newman chose the Oratorian model of Saint Philip Neri. He chose the Oratorian vocation for himself and his Oxford converts as much for Neri's model for service to the laity in formation and education as for the Common Room community it provided them. The Little Brothers of the Oratory met to learn and share, both didactically and socially, with music and prayer. Newman wanted to do more for the ladies and girls of the Oratory too, and in course founded a "Catholic Eton" for the sons of many prominent Catholic families, certain of the need for the motherly touch at a boarding school. (Chapter 3, "Catholic and Oratorian, 1845-1890)

Shrimpton ably covers territory familiar to me from previous biographies and studies--the struggles to establish a true Catholic university for the laity in Ireland, the efforts to save The Rambler, and the mutiny at the first Oratory school, adding details throughout the episodes. Those details demonstrate Newman's comprehensive energy and the range and depth of his personal concern for his students, employees, and contacts. He was always ready to act, to advise, and to confront as necessary. (Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8)*

Chapter 9, "Opposition to Newman and His Influence of the Laity, 1862-67", demonstrating how out of favor Newman was in those years is balanced by Chapter 11, "Vatican I, the Cardinalate, Newman's Last Years", when honors at Trinity College in Oxford, and at Rome, and in Catholic England (his "victory lap" when coming home with the Cardinal's hat) finally come to Newman. 

Chapter 10, "Dublin Revisited: Newman's Reflections on His "Campaign in Ireland", 1858-74) , could be subtitled "Newman's Second Apologia", as Newman looks back on what he wanted to achieve, how misunderstood and feared those goals were, and how he deprecates the effects on the laity of Ireland of the failure of that campaign--a battle on many fronts.

Then in Chapter 12, "At the Service of the Laity", Shrimpton offers great examples of Newman's personal and written contact with lay men and women, families, parishioners, etc., reminding me a little of Peter C. Wilcox's John Henry Newman: Spiritual Director, 1845-1890. The section on "The geography of Newman's Prayer" is beautifully moving.

Shrimpton's chapter on Newman and Vatican II acknowledges the Reverend Ian Ker's insights in Newman and Vatican II in Chapter 13, but focuses more on the laity (especially in the universal call to holiness and evangelization) with an appropriate emphasis on the laity in the Body of Christ, the Church, and the triple roles of priest, prophet, and king.

In the last chapter, "Newman Today", Shrimpton offers insights into how Newman is a guide for the laity in the Church as we are "Living in a world turned irreligious", highlights Newman's personalism via John F. Crosby and others, discusses the formation and education of the laity "as if truth really mattered", etc., but I found it somewhat repetitious, especially the section on Vatican II, "Both precursor and interpreter of Vatican II", since I'd just read about that.

Nevertheless and notwithstanding, this is a great and comprehensive exploration of Newman and the Laity. It filled gaps in my knowledge--or reminded me--of certain important aspects of his efforts to aid the formerly ostracized Catholic laity of England, the recent lay converts, and the Irish in both Ireland and England. He wanted both to form them more fully in the Catholic Faith and to prepare them for evangelization and the defense of what they believed and lived. Highly recommended.

* Chapter 4, "Establishing a University in Ireland, 1851-54"; Chapter 5, "Running a Catholic University, 1854-58"; Chapter 6, "Establishing a Catholic Eton, 1857-59"; Chapter 7, "Rescuing "The Rambler" 1859; Chapter 8, "The Oratory School: Its Early Years and the Staff Mutiny, 1859-62".

Book Review: Belloc on Charles I AND Oliver Cromwell

The publisher of Mysterium Press kindly sent me review copies of the next set of biographies/character studies by Hilaire Belloc: Charles I (published in 1933) and Cromwell (published in 1934). The books are available in the USA from Os Justi Press.

I finished reading Charles I and am still reading Cromwell. 

What Belloc does in these books--as he did in Wolsey and Cranmer--is not just, or really, biography, but character analysis--, and how, for example, Charles I's character influenced historical events. Belloc also creates word pictures of the the cultural, religious, economic, and political milieu of the era of his subject's life. And he presents his interpretation of the crucial historical events and how, again, the characteristic personalities of the actors involved influenced their actions, strategies, successes, and failures. 

And he does it all without a bibliography and just a few footnotes. So the reader has to trust Belloc, that he is honestly guiding her through these lives and these events. I reviewed the first two volumes from Mysterium Press, Wolsey and Cranmer, previously. And Mysterium is preparing Belloc's works on Charles II and James II--I really look forward to the latter.

But as to Charles I; here is the publisher's blurb:

In an increasingly divided England the wealthy eyed the Crown and plotted revolution. Monarchy went back beyond tradition and was a symbol of the nation's unity: the people were embodied in one man. England was the first to lose it.

Charles Stuart, once a sickly child, manned the tottering throne (which was weakened and despoiled by theft) with tenacity and dignity and was led, outgunned, into a war which ended with his murder. He cleaved to law and precedent and sued for peace and freedom, was tricked by lies and cunning, and then finally beheaded.

Master historian Hilaire Belloc paints a portrait of the principled and rueful monarch who suffered for the people's rights, and whose sense of honour led him and kingship to the block.

And here is a list of the chapters:

1. The Problem
2. The Circumstance
3. Stuart
4. The Formative Years
5. Buckingham
    I. The Spanish Match
    II. The Attack Begins

    III. The Blow
6. Maturity
7. Scotland
8. The Effort for Unity
    I. The Central Effort
    II. The Effort in the Church
    III. The Effort in Ireland
    IV. The Abortive Effort in Scotland
9. The Menace
10. The Crisis
11. The Great Rebellion
12. The Triumph of the Great Rebellion
13. The Hostage    
    I. The Hostage of the Scotch
    II. Hostage of the Parliament
14. The Killing of the King

I'd like to highlight the comment from the blurb "the wealthy eyed the Crown and plotted revolution"** because in the first chapter, "The Problem", Belloc outlines how the Tudor dynasty, especially the reign of Elizabeth I, set up the fall of the monarch to come in the Stuart era. Although she still was the symbol of unity in England, Burghley was the one who truly ruled the country. 

[**I do wonder what Belloc was seeing in the early 1930's that inspired him to write this:

Today all Christendom is hungry for monarchy. In the United States, partly by provision of the Constitution, more by its development in the nineteenth century, the principle of an executive in the hands of one man was preserved. But in Europe it was gradually lost, and replaced by the rule for a few; in practice, of the rich, under the guise of representatives. That experiment is breaking down before our eyes, and monarchy is returning.

(p. 1) Where was he seeing this in Europe in the 1930s? In France? Hindsight's view of any development of "an executive in the hands of one man" in Germany or Italy is chillingly negative. But what did he know or see by 1933 to inspire this sentence?]

When James VI of Scotland came south to England to rule, he tried to wrest that power and authority from the nobility to some extent, although he was influenced by his favorites. When Charles I succeeded his father (because the first heir, Henry, had died), he inherited the same problem, with Buckingham's influence so strong in his adolescence and early reign. Yet, he was determined to rule as the King of England, as more than "a symbol of the nation's unity"; he wanted (as chapter 8 demonstrates) to create and enforce that unity among the three kingdoms in England, Ireland, Scotland--and in the Church of England.

He had developed, because of childhood weakness (rickets!) and slow development of speech, into a young man who had been isolated and presented some characteristics, according to Belloc, of reaction to events in a certain pattern: "fluid against the first onset of attack; then there came a moment when the attack reached something quite different from the first fluid resistance--a stone wall. It was thus that he same to his death. Men were led on to think him pliable; when they came unexpectedly on rigidity, they were infuriated." (p. 47)

But, when he, and his counselors, during the period of his Personal Rule (1629 to 1640) while Parliament was prorogued and the Crown was not able to raise taxes to fund the administration of the kingdom, had a plan for effecting the unity, Charles I demonstrated how determined he could be. With Richard Weston the Earl of Rutland (and a Catholic), his treasurer, William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury; William Noy, his Attorney General; and Thomas Wentworth, privy counsellor and Lord Deputy of Ireland, Charles I had a plan for creating that unity mentioned above.

As adept as Belloc is in political and economic analysis, he also excels as an interpreter of military strategy--it's important to note that his study of the French Revolution he dedicates a long chapter, with maps, to the battles of the French Revolution--and he demonstrates that aptly in this book too. [Please note that in my review of Belloc's The French Revolution, linked above, I am quite willing to disagree with Belloc when I think it's necessary. He fails entirely in that book to reckon with the anti-Catholicism of the French Revolution--while he's quite ready to acknowledge its presence in England etc. in his studies of Charles I and Cromwell!]

Throughout, Belloc's prose, with its clarity of expression, balancing brevity with comprehensiveness and detail, provides an incredible model. As a voice of authority, it's so clear that it does inspire the reader's confidence in Belloc's interpretation of character and events. 

I appreciate Mysterium Press making these books available in handsome hardback editions and recommend this addition to the series highly.

Image Credit (Public Domain): King Charles I after original by van Dyck

Image Credit (Public Domain): 1915 portrait Belloc    

Book Review: Blessed Germain Gardiner on John Frith

The editor of this book, Boone W. Larson, contacted me and offered to send me a copy to read and review, because I have posted in the past about the author of the letter, Blessed Germain Gardiner.

Book description:

The Folly of Heresy was first published in 1534. It was written in response to the trial and supposed martyrdom of John Frith, who famously denied the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The author, Blessed Germain Gardiner—himself martyred in 1544 for denying King Henry's religious supremacy—saw in Frith's case a dangerous occasion for confusion and scandal among England's Catholics. How could they, he asked, honor a man who denied so important a doctrine of the faith? The work (which first bore a verbose title beginning with A letter of a yonge gentylman...) is not only a Scriptural-Patristic defense of the Real Presence but also a brief chronicle of Blessed Germain's personal interviews of Frith before the latter's sentencing. His account, beyond being valuable to Christians interested in Sacramental and Eucharistic theology, is in fact of extraordinary value to scholars of Henrician religious history. Despite its value, it has remained out of print since it was first issued almost five hundred years ago.

The present edition has been thoroughly revised: archaic and unintelligible spellings and grammar have been adjusted, many explanatory notes have been added, and the originally very lengthy paragraphs have been divided up for easier digestion. An introduction, textual-critical endnotes, an appendix, and indices have also been created for this edition by the editor. These editorial supplements will serve to make an otherwise inaccessible piece of English history not only approchable [sic] but enjoyable for the modern reader, whether his interest be casual or scholarly.

(No artificial intelligence was used in the creation or editing of any part of this book.)

I can also assure you that no artificial intelligence was used in this review, either!

It's great to see an independent scholar like Mr. Larson pursuing his enthusiasm in English recusant history and literature. He has already edited the Rev. Paul M. Kimball's translation of On the Just Punishment of Heretics by Alfonso de Castro, O.F.M. published by Dolorosa Press, 2024. He is preparing another important book by the Catholic exile and controversialist Thomas Stapleton, S.T.D., A Fortress of the Faith and other Works of English Recusant Theology. That will be a very important publication.

In this letter Blessed Germain Gardiner describes his attempts to reason with John Frith who would not be persuaded to renounce his heretical stance against the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This indeed was a doctrine that Henry VIII insisted upon as Supreme Head and Governor of the Church of England, that Jesus is really present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in Holy Communion; in agreement with his master at the time, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury did too, although he would later change his mind.

Gardiner brings evidence and texts of the interpretation of Scripture and Church doctrine from the Fathers of the Church to reason with Frith, but finds him not just obstinate but changeable. He requires one standard of proof but once it's been given, changes the requirement. Gardiner notes that William Tyndale had written from the Continent advising Frith not to proceed with this line of argument--he wasn't ready for it himself.

I have to admit that--and this was true even when I read some of Saint Thomas More's apologetic/argumentative works--this kind of back-and-forth narrative of the conversations between Gardiner and Frith is not as "enjoyable" for me as promised in the book description above (from Amazon.com). Note More had exchanged arguments with John Frith too (in 1532) on the doctrine of the Real Presence. Gardiner's letter is dated August 1, 1534; More had been imprisoned in the Tower of London since April 17 of that year.

But the introduction and footnotes (often providing extended quotations from the Fathers, etc.) certainly make the work accessible. Blessed Germain Gardiner's concern for John Frith and his great efforts to reconcile him with the Eucharistic teaching of the Catholic Church certainly shine through. It's an important document and the editor is to be commended for his diligence and excellent work.

Book Review: "Weep, Shudder, Die" by Dana Gioia

I enjoy listening to, watching, and reading about opera. When I was little my grandparents--and later my parents--had the two volume Lincoln Library of Essential Information (not sure what edition) and it contained a section with synopses of all the major operas and I nearly memorized them. The plot to Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots shocked me and then I had to read about the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre! Probably in the Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia.

I've attended eight or so operatic performances, but I've watched many more on television and listened to them on the radio (especially the Met's Saturday Matinee broadcasts!), records, compact discs, and now YouTube. So when I saw this book recommended on an OperaAmerica video, I had to read it: Weep, Shudder, Die: On Opera and Poetry, by Dana Gioia.

According to the publisher, Paul Dry Books:

Weep, Shudder, Die explores opera from the perspective by which the art was originally created, as the most intense form of poetic drama. The great operas have an essential connection to poetry, song, and the primal power of the human voice. The aim of opera is irrational enchantment, the unleashing of emotions and visionary imagination.

Gioia rejects the conventional view of opera which assumes that great operas can be built on execrable texts. He insists that in opera, words matter. Operas begin as words; strong words inspire composers, weak words burden them. Ultimately, singers embody the words to give the music a human form for the audience.

Weep, Shudder, Die is a poet’s book about opera. To some, that statement will suggest writing that is airy, impressionistic, and unreliable, but a poet also brings a practical sense of how words animate opera, lend life to imaginary characters, and give human shape to music. Written from a lifelong devotion to the art, Gioia’s book is for anyone who has wept in the dark of an opera house.

Or laughed.

I appreciated the autobiographical background of Gioia's boyhood, college days, and travels to Europe. He describes his discovery of opera, classical music, and literature, and how they set him apart from his classmates. 

His encyclopedic and detailed analysis of the great librettists of the core of the standard repertoire is helpful: 24 of the 50 most performed operas have librettos written by eight poets:

Lorenzo Da Ponte

Felice Romani 

Francisco Maria Piave 

Salvadore Cammarano

Arrigo Boito

Luigi Illica

Hugo von Hoffmansthal

Richard Wagner

Gioia also selects "stellar teams":

Mozart with Da Ponte 

Bellini with Romani

Verdi with Piave 

Verdi with Boito

Puccini with Illica

Strauss with Hoffmansthal

Wagner with Wagner (he wrote his own "poems")

[Cammarano wrote the libretto for Verdi's Il Trovatore]

He also highlights Pietro Metastasio, whose librettos inspired Vivaldi, Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and Donizetti, even after his death, especially for the opera seria style.

Although Gioia argues that opera is an incredibly collaborative art of the theatre, he focuses mostly on the composer and the librettist and even notes that he will not--except for one slip--talk about the singers who sing the words and music, even though he admits later in the book that each singer will interpret the words and music differently. He mentions singers he heard in Vienna, with Cesare Siepi, Sena Jurinac, Gundula Janowitz, and Wilma Lipp--so a long time ago. He mentions Leontyne Price, William Warfield, and others, including Leyla Gencer, but the index doesn't tell me where; she was a great bel canto soprano but did not make many commercial recordings; I think she was called "the queen of the bootlegs"! He briefly mentions the system of "fach"; on page 151 he states: "Opera exists only through the skill and artistry of singers. I didn't understand opera until I saw great singers perform it." He also does not write much about the conductors of opera. His focus is on the libretto as it inspires the composer to compose the music the conductor, the orchestra, and the singers will perform.

Chapters on individual opera librettists and composers in the USA from Menotti and Floyd to Bernstein and Sondheim are discerning and fascinating and then in last chapters he gets into his own experience writing opera librettos and how much it differed from his work as a poet, expressing himself, not the characters in the operas, etc. Crucially, he also discusses the relationship between opera in the USA and our musical theater--what American works are operas and which are musical theater pieces? Porgy and Bess? Sweeney Todd? A Little Night Music? Candide?

Gioia also discusses the state of opera in the USA: there's a dwindling market but it's passionate and devoted. The OperaAmerica video I watched (in which this book was recommended) highlighted the great quality of the singers prepared and trained in the USA and their limited opportunities: the interviewee said he was encouraging singers to go the European houses (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) where they can become "house singers" and practice and perform their repertoire. That is certainly going to affect the opportunities for librettists and composers in the USA. It's a fascinating book.

I found Leyla Gencer! Page 99 not page 211 as it's listed in the index.