Binder, William Earle. Madelon Hawley, or, The Jesuit and His Victim : A Revelation of Romanism. New-York: D,. W. Evans & Company, 1860. [12424]
Teal cloth, boards blindstamped, spine titles in copper, old stains visible but little wear, 7 1/4 x 5 inches. 277 pp., light dampstain in top corner starting about p. 260. Indentation on the top of the long edge of the back board, indicating that the book was once strung in a bundle of books; not tight, a bit shaken. Good. Hardcover.
A fictional account set in the year 1844, of an old man's story who was once a Roman Catholic priest.
"The thrilling and almost incredible story which I that night listened to will be revealed in the following pages; and improbable as the circumstances may first appear I cannot, for my own part, doubt the veracity of that poor, old man, standing as he was on the upon the very outermost brink of eternity." - p. 13.
"Framed as a story that the author heard from a dying man, Joseph Secor, who left a corrupt Society of Jesus, the text traffics in the hallmarks of anti-Catholic prejudice handed down from the English Reformation. During his time in the Society, the Fr. Joseph clashes with a tyrannical and cunning senior member, Fr. Eustace, who tormented to death the married Mrs. Hawley, a woman who refused his sexual advances; later, he pursues her virginal daughter Madelon even after excommunicating her (spoiler alert: he and Madelon both die). The pages are filled with priests in disguise, gross caricatures of the Irish, kidnapped women held prisoner in cloisters, allusions to the Inquisition, and vivid (historically and doctrinally inaccurate) ritual." - Ashley O'Mara, Broadly Textual Pub online, August 21, 2026.
We have not found any information about the author, only that he wrote several books at this time. We presume it is a pseudonym.
