OLD THUNDER: A LIFE OF HILAIRE BELLOC

by Joseph Pearce Ignatius Press, 2002 318 pages, $24.95

In 1903 Hilaire Belloc—energetic journalist, critic, rising literary star, British Catholic apologist and friend of G.K. Chesterton—turned his attention to politics. He set his sights on winning a seat in Parliament. But his hopes were dashed when the local Catholic priest came forward to embrace him at a nomination meeting. Belloc was convinced this gesture was akin to a kiss of death for his chances of being chosen.

His fears proved well-founded. His subsequent rejection was a reminder of the bitter anti-Catholic prejudice that still existed in England at the time. Undeterred, in January 1906, Belloc spoke to a packed political meeting in South Salford, where he had been selected as the Liberal candidate. “Gentlemen, I am a Catholic,” he said. “As far as possible I go to mass every day. This is a rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell these beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God that he has spared me the indignity of being elected as your representative.” Later that month, the working class voters of Salford elected Belloc to Parliament by a slim majority.

In recounting such illustrative anecdotes, Joseph Pearce writes not so much about Catholic doctrine as about a larger-than-life Catholic thinker and his ideas. Pearce's focus is on Belloc's development as a shaper of social and political thought, a man of exaggerated speech but also of considerable power, influence and integrity.

Belloc was, by nearly all accounts, a genius as a speaker and as a writer of prose and poetry. He was admired by many who did not agree with him. He so much believed the truths of the Catholic faith that some saw him as closed-minded. Belloc was always open to critique. He sought the heights of the English literary establishment. Now his work is gradually being recognized for the significant place it deserves.

Belloc was responsible for bringing many men of English letters into the Catholic Church. G.K. Chesterton, for example. Pearce recalls what Frank Sheed wrote about the two Catholic men who would have a profound effect on the Catholic literary renewal of the 20th century: “More than any other man, Belloc made the English-speaking world in which all of us live. … There was Chesterton, of course, but then Belloc has so much to do with the making of Chesterton and Chesterton, not much with the making of Belloc.”

Pearce's book is a good introduction to Belloc's life, times and contribution. It tells a gripping tale of one born of French-English parentage who was forced early in life to move with his family from France to England. His marriage in 1896 to an American, Elodie Hogan, was a great joy and support to him. Although his work and wanderlust often took him away from home, he was deeply attached to her. Her untimely death, writes Pearce, “opened up a wound in him that would never heal.”

Belloc would survive another four decades, but he never regained his form as the mercurial defender of the faith that he had been. Yet his reputation continued to grow. Possibly his two most significant works are his conversion story The Path to Rome (1902) and Europe and the Faith (1920), a defense of his view of European history as an essential carrier of the Catholic Christian tradition.

Pearce's book is painstakingly documented. An extensive bibliography is most helpful to any reader who might wish to pursue a particular theme from the encyclopedic Belloc's pen.

It must be noted that some of Belloc's views would be deemed offensive today (his opinion of Jews, for example). Pearce opts out of dissecting Belloc's rough edges in detail. All told, however, Pearce offers a balanced biography of an intellectual giant whose influence is still observable. Anyone wanting an introduction to the life and work of a most strategic early 20th century conservative English Catholic writer would do well to become acquainted with this most helpful biography.

Wayne A. Holst has taught religion and culture at the University of Calgary.