MY REFERENCE IN THE CHRISTMAS number to the remarkable work being done in Trenton by the Catholic Club in Father Hogan's parish has called forth considerable correspondence.

Priests and laymen in various parts of the country have written to me for particulars. They want the secret of the success in Trenton, and, incidentally, the explanation of the failure of similar clubs elsewhere. I am tickled to death to have another opportunity to speak of the Catholic Club in Trenton, and to make some attempt to analyze its methods, because, in all seriousness, I think that Father Hogan has hit upon one of the most urgent necessities of the life of Catholics in this country, and in an amazing way solved the difficulty.

First of all, then, the Trenton Club starts out on the theory that the Church and the civilization which inheres in her teaching are the refining and elevating forces which have created society. All art, music, literature and culture are the offspring of true principles. The function of Christianity has been to teach man all truth, hence all that is true in life, in civilization. Therefore, when the Church, or when churchmen, acting as such, and under Church auspices, engage in efforts which are not elevating nor refining they are to that extent departing from the true work of the Church, and neutralizing one very important note of her mission in the world,

A Catholic is a gentleman in so far as he is catholic. An association of Catholic gentlemen organized for purely social pleasure remains Catholic only so long as the entertainments, manners and spirit of the association continue to be those of gentlemen.

Consequently, when a club called "Catholic" manifests in its conduct and attitude no essential difference from that of a gang of political heelers, or of a fourth-rate pool room, it is not merely not Catholic, but an outrageous betrayal of Catholicity, I care not if every man in it be a Catholic and its meetings be held in the parish Lyceum.

To say that because a majority of our young men are poor and uneducated, we cannot expect them to be gentlemen, is a gross libel, which I resent and deny.

Riches and learning never yet made a gentleman. Charity and humility and self-control are the only possible elements in a true gentleman, and these, thank God, come from Heaven, and not from the pocketbook.

Let every Catholic Club in the land realize that in our holy religion lies the secret of all true culture, and we shall have more of them doing the splendid work now being accomplished in Trenton.

If our young men must have variety shows, does it follow that the Church must become the impressario?

If

young fellows must spit, and romp, and indulge in vulgar horse-play, does it follow that our over-worked pastors must put up costly buildings in which these hoodlum propensities may be indulged? Father Hogan does not think so. He seems to feel that before he announces an entertainment, or endorses a sociable, or encourages any public event, that it ought to be of a character which the whole community shall regard as worthy of the Majestic Mother of Civilization, the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church.

The result is that the ladies and gentlemen of Trenton not of the Faith do not regard Catholic entertainments as synonymous with vulgarity, and they have been happily educated to realize that anything given under the auspices of the Catholic Club and with the endorsement of the reverend clergy carries with it a guarantee of its being at the same time refined in manner and sound in principles.

MANY PERSONS IMAGINE that the life of an editor is one prolonged unpleasantness, a dreary monotone of boredom, or a fever fit of anxiety, or an ineffectual attempt to please the disgruntled.

Nothing could be less true. An editor does, indeed, have a very wide and interesting opportunity for studying human nature; that is to say, for discovering how much most people resemble himself as he feels before breakfast.

But there is a rosy and joyous side to his life. No day's mail but brings to him letters which add to the gayety of life and pierce the sombre gloominess of routine.

Recently, for example, I received the following refreshing outburst from Canada. If the people who send me stories and essays would put onetenth as much life into their effusions as my beloved critics manage to squeeze into their animadversions, I

would be grateful and literature enriched. Witness:

Montreal, Canada, Nov. 8, 1897. Dear Mr. Adams:

Because of all the nice things said OF you and TO you, perhaps you will not be very cross on receipt of a "Growl" from an humble admirer in Canada.

The writer is not a "New Woman," does not belong to any shrieking sisterhood, doesn't care whether woman is emancipated or man "put in his place" and kept there or not. She never had a "Heart to Heart talk on pillow shams" or paper, but she would like her FAVORITE Editor to be consistent.

You are not in favor of a writer placing his or her hero or heroine in the cloister, in which idea you are right; but why in the name of modern fiction don't you improve on it? You consign to "waste-basket oblivion" the "Cloister" finale and laud to the (Editorial) skies the "Bicycle" finale (perhaps the bicycle is newer than the cloister).

Now don't you think that any woman "new" or "old" would look better in the cloister than scorching down a hill on an improved safety with her arms wound round a man's neck (the woman not the safety) as was illustrated in "An Emer gency" lately published in Donahoe's? Such a finale might be supplemented with a "Marriage on an iceberg" to compiete the SENSATIONAL.

I guess while I'm at it I had better finish the scolding. "Crumbs of Bread" is very good, but it encroaches on the editorial preserves (one editor is enough for any Paper) and it is "Bits of Glass" in "Ave Maria."

Then you might crush the use of the misnomer "Typical." If you tell us so and so is a "typical American" how many thoughts fly to John Boyle O'Reilly or Dr. Conaty, rather to "Sam Slick." A typical Irishman is the stage Irishman as a typical Englishman is the beef-eater and beerdrinker of the comic weeklies. I saw lately in a Catholic paper the expression "A typical American priest." Next I suppose we will hear something about the "typical American nun." ! ! !!

The Children's Department is excellent but could easily stand a little religion. The "person in charge" seems afraid of that good old word "Catholic." A mention now and then of "Our Lady" and the Saints would give your little readers an idea that Donahoe's was a Catholic magazine and not "St. Nicholas" or "Harper's Young People."

I see your lip curl and hear you exclaim "Here's another who knows how to run