Religion And Philosophy

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28346, 3 August 1957, Page 3

Religion And Philosophy

[Reviewed by- L.G.W.] Soldier of the Spirit. By Michael Carrouges. Gollanz. 300 pp.

This book is a biography of the Vicomte de Foucauld a name justly famous in * France forty years ago. Charles de Foucauld waj born in Strasbourg in 1858 and belonged to a wealthy aristocratic family. In due course he joined the French Army and became notorious for his love of creature comforts and his indiscipline. But when he went on active service ip Algeria this “well-read- play-boy” showed himself to be both a soldier and a leader. When he was 23, he left the army and went on a long exploring expedition in unknown Morocco. His journey was perilous in the extreme, but he gathered much valuable information of a scientific kind. He returned to Africa until he had seen all the north of the continent from Tangier to Tunis. When he was 29, he regained his faith under the influence of Father Huvelin. From that time his whol? life was given up to the idea of serving Christ among the poorest of the poor. He tried his vocation with the Trappists of France and Syria. But they were not severe enough for his ideals. He went to Nazareth and became handyman at a convent. He became a priest and returned to Africa to live among the Tuaregs, whose language he studied with scientific industry. His charity knew no bounds, and the natives reverenced him as a saint, though they were Mohammedans. On December 1, .1916, a party of Senussi invaded his hermitage and he was murdered.

This is the story Mr Carrouges tells in this entrancing book. A short review cannot reproduce the magic and heroism of Father de Foucauld’s character. No reader can help being fascinated by this man, who said: “Jesus is Master of the Impossible.” An Introduction to Canon Law in the Church of England. By E. W. Kemp. Hodder and Stoughton. 87 pp.

The Canon Law of the English Church has not been changed since the seventeenth century. It has been suggested, somewhat belatedly, that the canons should be revised. In this little book Prebendary Kemp explains the listing of the subject and how difficult the task of revision is. The law itself is often rooted in medieval times and does not envisage modern conditions, yet its administration requires knowledge very different from that which common law involves. The courts set up to deal with it are today inadequate. This is not a dull book. The author’s learning and skill in setting forth his case make his work of deep interest.

tains a rich store of material for the scholar, the research worker and the historian. Though there is a good deal of repetition, the work can be recommended as an authoritative exposition of Pan-Turkism today.