As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  an  immense  hody  of  Catholic
literature  never  studied  by  critics,  either  because  it  does  not  fall
within  their  jurisdiction,  or,  we  are  bound  to  say,  because  it  is
beneath  their  notice. Of  all  books,  theological  treatises  are
probably  the  hardest  and  most  technical,  and  if  the  official
acts  of  the  Church  are  generally  written  with  an  elegance  and
majesty  unknown  to  civil  documents,  their  style  is  so  impersonal,
they  are  in  every  way  so  closely  modelled  on  traditional  types,
that  only  in  exceptional  cases  do  they  rank  as  literature. Of
sermons  there  is  no  end,  but — and  this  is  highly  to  the  credit
of  the  Church — they  are  supposed  to  derive  all  their  merit  from
their  doctrine  and  their  efficacy,  not  from  the  beauty  of  their
form  or  the  personality  of  the  orator. The  brilliant  discourses
of  Fathers  Lacordaire,  de  Ravignan,  Felix,  Hyacinthe  Loyson,
at  Notre-Dame  were  officially  styled  lectures,  not  sermons ;
they  were  almost  a  unique  experiment  in  modern  French
Catholicism,  and  one  which  filled  many  pious  souls  with  mis-
givings. Then  there  are  books  of  spiritual  direction  and
mysticism  :  they  transcend  literature. Sainte-Beuve,  a  sceptic  ;
Barbey  dAurevilly,  a  believer,  both  said,  "  Where  prayer
begins,  criticism  loses  its  rights."

But  there  is  also  the  vast,  insipid  stream  of  edifying  litera-
ture published  by  such  firms  as  Mame  or  Poussielgue :  well-
meant  books,  some  of  them  ably  written — not  worse,  on  the
whole,  than  the  average  Protestant  production  of  the  same
kind. We  shall  have  several  times  to  refer  to  that  expressive
word  "  bondieuseries,"  freely  used  by  such  good  Catholics  as
Huysmans  and  Jules  Lemaitre. Most  foreign  tourists,  on  their
way  to  the  Luxembourg  or  the  Sorbonne,  have  noticed  the
religious  art  shops  around  Saint- Sulpice,  with  their  hideous
statues  painted  in  barbaric  colours — the  shame  of  a  city  which
calls  itself  the  modern  Athens  :  these  shops  and  their  wares
are  called  "  bondieuseries."  Their  exact  equivalents  exist  in
literature. Such  books  seem  to  reach  an  immense  public. Les
Recits  d'une  Soeur,  for  instance,  had  a  larger  circulation  than
many  recognised  masterpieces. We  must  therefore  give  up  the


28       FRENCH  PROPHETS  OF  YESTERDAY

hope  of  discovering  a  second  French  literature  hidden  behind
the  one  we  know. 