of the
abridgment and work the principles out in his own way. St. John of
the Cross and Lallemant, as already stated, were his hand-books of
mysticism and ascetic principles. The former he caused to be read to
him in regular course over and over again, enjoying every syllable
with fresh relish. In later days the _Life of Mary Ward,_ by Mary
Catherine Chambers, and _The Glories of Divine Grace,_ by Scheeben,
afforded him special pleasure. Books which told of the religious
tendencies of minds outside the Church were sure to interest him. He
studied them as Columbus inspected the drifting weeds and the wild
birds encountered on his voyage of discovery. Those who served him as
readers sometimes found this kind of literature pretty dry, just as
Columbus's crew doubtless found it idle work to fish up the floating
weeds of the sea. The following sentences occur in a diary written
while in Europe in 1875. It is a statement of his opinion of the
objective points at which Catholic teachers and writers of our day
should aim:

"In dogmatic theology, when treating of the doctrine of the fall of
man keep in view the value of human nature and the necessity of
divine grace preceding every act of Christian life.

"In moral theology, stimulate the sense of personal responsibility.

"In ascetic theology, fidelity to the Holy Spirit.

"In polemic theology, develop the intrinsic notes of the Church."

As to novels, he fully appreciated their power over minds, but we
believe that he did not read half a dozen in his whole life, and
these he treated as he did graver works: he studied them. "To read is
one thing, to study is another," says Cardinal Manning; but all
reading was study to Father Hecker. We remember one novel which he
read, slowly and most carefully, underlining much of it and filling
the margins of every page with notes. "Why don't you read novels, as
other people do?" he was asked. "Because life is more novel than any
fiction, for fiction is but an attempt to paint life," he answered.
No printed matter of any kind, much less a book, ever could be a
plaything to Isaac Hecker. He often made more of the sentences on a
scrap of newspaper, and studied them far harder, than the writer of
them himself had done. A man whose play and work are in such problems
as, how God is known, how the Trinity subsists, what beatitude is,
how God's being is mirrored in man's activity, has too real a life
within him and about him to tarry long in