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Life ofFather Ignatius of St. Paul,Passionist.
Picture and Autograph of Fr. Ignatius
LIFE OF
Father Ignatius of St. Paul,
PASSIONIST
(The Hon. & Rev. George Spencer).
Compiled chiefly from his
Autobiography, Journal, & Letters.
BY
The Rev. Father Pius A Sp. Sancto,
Passionist.
DUBLIN:
James Duffy, 15, Wellington Quay;
And 22, Paternoster Row, London.
1866.
[The right of translation is reserved.]
Cox And Wyman,
Classical and General Printers,Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C.
To the Very Reverend
Father Ignatius Of The Infant Jesus,
Passionist,
Long The Director Of Father Ignatius Of St. Paul,
For Nine Years The Faithful Steward Of The Anglo-Hibernian
Province, Which He Found A Handful And Made A Host,
This Volume,
Written By His Order And Published With His Blessing,
Is Dedicated,
To Testify The Gratitude All His Subjects Feel, And The MostUnworthy Of Them Tries To Express,
By His Paternity's
Devoted And Affectionate Child,
The Author.
Preface.
Great servants of God have seldom beenunderstood in their lifetime. Persecutionhas assailed them often, from quarterswhere help would be expected in theirdefence. Even holy souls are sometimes mistakenabout the particular line of virtue which distinguishestheir contemporaries from themselves. St. John ofthe Cross, St. Joseph Calasanctius, and St. AlphonsusLiguori, have had the close of their lives embittered,as we might call it, by domestic persecution; and itwas some time before their splendour, as they vanishedfrom the horizon of life, rose again to its zenith, andoutshone its former glory. If the impartial eye, withwhich we read their actions, fails to find a plea forthe manner they have been dealt with, let us rememberthat we have no interests at stake—no falsecolouring of passion to blind us. Death, indeed,does not always mow down mistaken notions withthe life of him about whom they are taken up. Wemust, however, be thankful that it slays so many{viii}wrong impressions, and attribute the residue to othercauses.
Justice to the dead is an impulse of nature; andthose who would qualify praise of the living by themention of unworthy actions or inferior motives, willqualify blame of the dead by a contrary proceeding.This instinct has its golden mean as well as everyother. If an ancient Greek ostracised a man becausehe was praised by every one, many moderns will defenda ma