The Satanist. By Mrs. Hugh Fraser and J. 3. Stahlain,nn.
(Hutchinson and Co. 6s.)—What is a " Satanist" ? The dictionaries say "an exceedingly wicked person "; but the word means more than that. A " Satanist" is on the side of Satan, hopes and believes that he will win—one remembers Thurlow's exclamation after bearing about the Evil One in "Paradise Lost." "By God ! I hope he'll win "—and, in fact, addresses him in the words of Carducci : " Salute, 0 Satana, 0 Ribellione." One has hoard, of course, of the Syrian sect which reserves some of its worship for the Devil, on the principle that it is well to have friends everywhere ; but the Satanists are much more thorough- going. They incorporate with their religion in a very curious way the belief in the Real Presence as the orthodox Roman. Catholic holds it. The Consecrated Wafer has become God, and does not cease to be so when it comes into hostile hands. So that adherents of the Satanist belief contrive to turn it to evil uses. All this is very disgusting, and not, it may be said, a fit subject for fiction. With this we are disposed to agree ; but we are bound to say that it is very powerfully handled in the story now under review, and that the writers are emphatically on the right side. It is not a book for all readers, but we can see that there is much to be learnt from it. We see that the one thing which makes Yolanda. Schiavoni the heroine susceptible to Satanist influences is the attitude of her father, a very capable statesman, towards religion. He thinks it a good thing for women, but wholly negligible by men.
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