We can strongly recommend it for daily spiritual reading; and those who have to instruct others, with perhaps little time for preparation, will be able to get here in a few minutes the matter necessary for a profitable short discourse. The work is in two volumes, and most serviceably brought out by Messrs. Washbourne. 10. Modernism and Modern Thought. By the Rev. J. Bampton, S.J. London: Sands & Co. (Price 2s. net). Here in Ireland, thank God, we are not likely to be much troubled by this curious canker of error that has appeared on several branches of the sacred tree which sprang up from the mustard-seed, and which is Christ's Church. Yet many educated Irish Catholics would do well to have some notion of the nature of Modernism, and Father Bampton's lectures on the subject will make this a comparatively easy task, for their language is clear and simple. While not professing to give a profound or exhaustive treatment of the matter, he certainly supplies Catholics with as much information about Modernism as they need for their instruction and warning. He sees the danger to Catholics, not so much in the doctrines of Modernism, as in the spirit which infects much of the thought and literature of the present day. II. A Divine Friend. By the Rev. Henry C. Schuyler, S.T.L. Philadelphia: Peter Reilly. (Price $1.00 net). Mgr. Benson furnishes a preface to this volume, which deals with the relations of Our Lord with some to whom He accorded a particular degree of intimacy. John the Baptist, Nicodemus, Judas, St. Peter, Lazarus, Martha, Mary Magdalen, and the Beloved Disciple are taken, each in their turn, and in a light and easy style Father Schuyler points out what should be done, what left undone, what given, and what held back in the formation of real friendship. The reading of his A Divine Friend should have one result-a closer friendship with Him, without whom, says à Kempis, "thou canst not well live." The book is attractively produced, and has five beautiful illustrations in colours. 12. Questions and Answers on the Catholic Church. The Answers by A. B. Sharpe, M.A. London: Sands & Co. (Price Iod. net.) This is not to be counfounded with the very popular Question Box, which it resembles in many respects. As all the questions here answered (and they number 213) were actually propounded by persons desirous of information about the Church, it will be seen that it represents the difficulties felt nowadays by nonCatholics. For the most part, they were asked at Missions or Lectures to non-Catholics. They are arranged under seventeen headings, and there is an index at the end of the book. 13. In his preface to the Catholic Who's Who for 1914, Sir F. C. Burnand says justly that its compilers" may congratulate themselves on the result of their labours, as evidenced by its increasing size and success." It now contains as many as four thousand brief biographies of Catholics, and is, indeed, a very useful book of reference. It is brought out by Messrs. Burns and Oates, and the price is Three and sixpence, net. 14. From the Australian Catholic Truth Society, 312 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, we have received some penny booklets :Catholicism: What it is, and what it is not. By the Right Rev. Mgr. Robert Hugh Benson. A simple and lucid exposition of Catholic Doctrine, which is evidently intended for non-Catholics, but which would be very useful to Catholics who are thrown among persons of other beliefs; As We Forgive. By A. M'Namara (Merriwah, N.S.W.) A touching little story of anger and repentance; and two biographies, The Venerable Bernadette Soubirous and Lourdes, by the Rev. Alphonsus Coen, O.P., and Sister Theresa of the Child Jesus, by the Rev. Stanislaus M. Hogan, O.P. It is heartening to read in their "Annual Report" of the Society's activity and increasing vitality. They have up to now put into circulation close on 900,000 copies of their booklets. 15. The Naboclish, a Comedy in Two Acts; and Uncle Pat, a Comedy in One Act. by Thomas King Moylan. Dublin: James Duffy & Co., Ltd. (Price Is. net.) The former is the story of an Englishman who finds himself by mistake in a village in Co. Clare. The local people introduce him to an imaginary Secret Society, and succeed in fooling him to the top of his bent. The dialogue is very natural and humorous, and the play abounds in amusing situations. Uncle Pat is a domestic comedy drawn from the peasant life of Ireland. The hero is a returned American who had never got further than Liverpool. He entertains his admiring relatives with wonderful accounts of his life in America, but the sudden appearance of a Liverpool acquaintance brings the truth to light. It is full of action, and genuinely humorous. 16. On Prayer and the Contemplative Life. By St. Thomas Aquinas. By the Rev. Hugh Pope, O.P., S.T.M. London: R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 3s. 6d. net.) Father Pope has taken from the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas the treatises on Religion, on Devotion, on Prayer, and on the Contemplative Life, and presented them in this volume in an English dress. It would be superfluous to expatiate on the merits of St. Thomas as a guide in the paths of prayer-in him we have a marvellous intellect supported by deep erudition and wonderfully enlightened by supernatural wisdom; his teaching on prayer comes from one whose life was prayer. It is well to remark that by the Contemplative Life St. Thomas does not mean the life of visions and ecstasies and exceptional states of prayer, but, on the contrary, the natural life of one who devotes a certain portion of his time to the study and contemplation of Divine things. An introduction of twenty-six pages gives an interesting account of St. Thomas, and explains his method of treatment; and lastly, but not the least merit of the work, it is provided with a very full index. 17. We offer a hearty welcome to the latest college annual, The Lanthorn, from the Dominican College, Eccles Street. Periodicals, like orators, have a right to claim a certain amount of indulgence on their first appearance, but we shall say at once that The Lanthorn has no need to make any such claim. It is very handsomely produced. The illustrations are excellentthey include a really beautiful picture of St. Thomas Aquinas, and an unusually good view of the Old House of Parliament. The articles are numerous and interesting and cover a wide variety of subjects. We were particularly pleased by the honour shown to those things that are characteristic of our own country. There are several articles in Irish, one of which is a Prize Essay of the Dublin Feis of 1913; the names on the School Roll are given in Irish and English; there is a report of the Irish Debating Society; the Games section has a picture of "Our Hurlers,” and tells how the choice of the girls fell upon the national gamethese are some of the signs that show that to love and honour Ireland is part of the spirit of this Dominican College. We wish The Lanthorn a long and honourable career. 18. Convict No. 25, or the Clearances of Westmeath. By James Murphy. Dublin: James Duffy & Co., Ltd. A very interesting story of peasant life in Ireland in the early part of the nineteenth century, giving a vivid picture of the difficulties and troubles that were the farmer's lot before the coming of O'Connell to power. It is full of exciting adventures which keep a fast hold on the reader's attention. What strikes one perhaps most of all is the strong faith of the people and their unshaken trust in Divine Providence-which carry a lesson for those engaged in modern industrial struggles. Even for this lesson alone, the story is well worth reading. To most people this will come as a new story, as it is some thirty years since the first edition was printed. GOOD THINGS WELL SAID 1. Extreme poverty, no less than extreme wealth, causes the defection of thousands from the Church.-Francis J. Finn, S.J. 2. The brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the son of his own works. Cervantes. 3. When death, the great reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness that we repent of, but our severity.-George Eliot. 4. Solitude is the audience chamber of God.-W. S. Landor. 5. The entrance of a happy man or woman into a room is as though another candle had been lighted. We need not care whether they can demonstrate the 47th Proposition; they do a little better thing than that: they practically demonstrate the great Theorem of the Liveableness of Life.-R. L. Stevenson. 6. Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.-J. M. Barrie. 7. I never juda e from manners, for I once had my pockets picked by the civil st gentleman I ever met with.-Byron. 8. If one is to keep his aim in sight, he must not have too many aims.-E. E. Hale. 9. They are weakest, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their powers.-Bovee. 10. Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray.-Dr. Brent. II. If a man habitually has kind thoughts of others, and that on supernatural motives, he is not far from being a saint.Father Faber. 12 Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, the future to His providence.-St. Augustine. THE IRISH MONTHLY MARCH, 1914 THE WAY TO THE STARS BY THE MOST REVEREND THOMAS P. GILMARTIN, D.D. [WE are glad to have the opportunity of preserving in permanent form and of presenting to our readers the following very thoughtful discourse on humility which was preached last October by His Lordship the Bishop of Clonfert, at the religious ceremonies which marked the opening of the present scholastic year of University College, Dublin. The title given to it here is suggested by the Latin motto of the College, Ad Astra. To say that humility is the way to the stars is to give another rendering of the divinely inspired word which tells us that he that humbles himself will be exalted. The sermon opened with St. Paul's words to the Philippians: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."] There are types of mind as there are types of body. Of these, two are generic, namely, the Christian mind, and what is miscalled the rationalist mind. The Christian mind is the mind of Christ; the other has its prototype in Lucifer. One of the notes by which the two types are irreconcilably distinguished would, it occurred to me, be a subject suitable to the present occasion. Old though it be, it will never be out of date. It is, in fact, the subject of the latest work by the Professor of History in the University of Halle. I refer to Dr. Albert von Ruville's book, entitled, Humility the True Talisman. Von Ruville may be called the lay Newman of Germany. He was brought up a Protestant. Starting with Harnack's conception of Christ as the greatest of human prophets, he came to the conclusion that He was God. A few more logical steps brought him, with the aid of grace, into the Catholic Church. His apologia, VOL. XLII.-No 489 |