Father Brown Of The Church Of Rome, selected mystery stories by G. K. Chesterton

This book’s introduction gives the reader a solemn warning that readers who are deeply anti-Catholic are not going to like this particular book, which is true enough as far as it goes. The editor of this book, one John Peterson, has selected from among the large body of Father Brown short stories some ten stories from 1920 to 1935 that have largely not been anthologized and which demonstrate both the savvy as well as the Catholicism of Father Brown (and indirectly, therefore, of G.K. Chesterton himself). What is remarkable about Chesterton’s Catholicism in these stories is its remarkable graciousness towards sinners as well as its hostility to religious belief systems or political systems that are only based on gaining or using power while neglecting the moral and spiritual and emotional aspects of human beings and their need to be treated with dignity because of their being created in the image and likeness of God. Interestingly enough, in several of the stories, deliberate attention is drawn to a supposed contrast between heathen mystery religions and the specific nature of Father Brown’s Catholicism, which is hostile in general to secret societies and secret plots for domination (be they Jesuitical, Gnostic, or Freemason in nature). This book, therefore, is part of a larger polemical that addresses the place of the Catholic within British society, a strong hostility to Calvinism (one I must admit I personally share as a committed Arminian), as well as the place of Catholicism with regards to the ancient heathen mystery religions that it syncretized with.

This particular book is a bit more than 260 pages of sparsely annotated stories, ten in number, that are not included in any sort of chronological order. The book begins with an introduction, before moving on to “The Chief Mourner of Marne,” from 1925, where Father Brown has to uncover a cold case murder mystery which hinges on the psychology of a murderer. “The Red Moon of Meru,” from 1927, which deals with the combination of theft and religious fraud, then follows. After that comes “The Miracle of Moon Crescent,” from 1924, which takes a sour look at the consequences of Progressive thoughts about how people can be disposed of without caring about the dignity or sensitivity of the people involved. “The Resurrection Of Father Brown,” from 1926, shows Father Brown somewhere likely in Guyana or close to it, dealing with an anti-Catholic plot that seeks to take advantage of Brown’s supposed vanity. “The Man With Two Beards,” from 1925, is a story that examines the repentance of a thief who ends up being a murder victim of another and less obviously recognized thief. “The Curse of the Golden Cross,” from 1925, examines the context of a monomaniac’s search for a specific artifact that threatens the life of an honest scholar of Byzantine antiquities. “The Flying Stars,” from 1911, discusses the last theft of the repentant Flambeau, which also shows Chesterton’s remarkable kindness towards idealistic socialists, a class of people I must not admit having a great deal of personal sympathy towards. “The Secret Garden,” from 1910, plays on the violence in the heart of anti-Catholic agitators towards would-be converts. “The Honour Of Israel Gow,” from 1911 shows Father Brown’s considerably complicated thoughts towards Scotland and its history. The final story, “The Insoluble Problem,” from 1916, shows Father Brown dealing with a non-crime that is itself a red herring meant to distract his attention from another real crime that is being planned, after which the book ends with a note on the texts and a note on the notes within the book.

Most of the notes in the book appear to explain references that Chesterton made in his stories to other literary works, and only one of them is obviously defective, a note in the 9th story of the book that confuses Mary, Queen of Scots, with her cousin Mary I Tudor, popularity known as Bloody Mary, though as both of them were Catholic sovereigns, it makes sense that Chesterton’s intriguing thoughts about Mary, Queen of Scots about the romance around her being a castle of lies is immensely interesting indeed. It seems far more likely that Chesterton would be far kinder to Mary Tudor than to the less principled and less tragic Mary Stuart. As is often the case with writings, these particular stories reveal the religious interests of the editor in selecting them from Chesterton’s larger variety of work and Chesterton’s own deep interest in not only solving crimes, but also wrestling with issues of motive and the consequences of religious beliefs, or lack thereof, on one’s own behavior and mentality. Quite a few of the cases that Father Brown solves here are solved in large part because of Father Brown’s insight about the moral character of the people involved, which may make some readers uncomfortable. Not that is by any means a bad thing about the stories themselves.