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By Aldous HuxleyHARPERS
THE strange life and personality of Father Joseph of Paris, a Capuchin of the Capuchins, a mystic of the mystics, a man who disciplined himself to the point of exhaustion every day he lived, who as ambassador from the Court of France to the Pope in Rome would travel on shank’s mare barefoot the whole length of his journey, who was Richelieu’s right-hand man and coadjutor, who exercised an influence in contemporary Europe second to none — one hardly knows whether the life and biography of this unique individual are more or less interesting than the personality of the present biographer. Never has Mr. Huxley displayed his talents as an interpreter of a bizarre personality with greater skill and acumen, nor, I believe, has he ever put more of himself into a book than in this instance. One can take tor granted from so experienced an author his erudition, his skillful analysis, and his historical sense. But what is astonishing in the present book is his ability to get inside the skin of a seventeenth-century mystic and to analyse with skill and amazing virtuosity the processes by which a virtual saint became one of the most subtle, most hated, and most Machiavellian foreign ministers of his time. One cannot help feeling his sympathy for Father Joseph, who was originally a French nobleman, courtier, scholar, and soldier, of great intellectual and worldly gifts, but who in his search for oneness with God committed himself to His service as a poor friar. His intuitive gifts were so great that he was called into the service of his king and country, both of which he identified with God, and was led along the path of worldliness more or less in spite of himself, but convinced until the end that he was serving God in all his activities.
It is not always possible to follow Mr. Huxley’s historical logic. His long-range deductions as to the guilt of Cardinal Richelieu and Father Joseph, as lineal fathers of the first and second World Wars, are not altogether convincing. He is at his best in analyzing the subject of his biography, in which I think he is entirely successful. In his own words, ‘The real Father Joseph moves through history as the most fascinating of enigmas.’ Thanks to Mr. Huxley’s brilliant and understanding study, this enigma is rationally explained. For this service, for his extraordinary analysis of mystical Catholicism, and for his intuitive and scholarly historical references, this unusual and ‘ different’ book will command the respect of all historically-minded people. R. E. D.