NEW BOOKS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 30, 23 November 1883, Page 21

NEW BOOKS.

Sermons for Children. By A. Decoppjbt : translated from the French by Mane Taylor, with an introduction by Mrs. Henry Reeve. Mas. Reeve in her introduction to these sermons tells us that M Decoppets writings have been translated into several languages but that the volume under review is the first brought within the reach of the exclusively English reader.-" I think," she says, « his W £ 8 I C S ldre ° ml be welcomed by English parents as they -?J£ mo f ?7P? 7 P? c ?- Ch r fcherSl and that his graceful, but simple, statement of Christian duty will commend itself to parent and child «T« of T Ca ? siacerel r a g r ee, for, although the sermons IS t r °rf V^? 1 ' ° f the " aeform^ Church," they arc such as can be read with pleasure and approval only, by people of every Christian denomination. The simplicity and graceV wMch llvi Reeve speaks have, moreover, been well rendered in the translation, which, even without having the advantage of seeing the original we perceive to be admirably done. The contents of the sermons are for the most part practical instructions to children against prevailing S£Srf°i ,h tl{ V 8 ieqUired °V he . m ' and virtues t0 t>e gained, and th! interest of the hearer or reader is won and maintained by anecdotes S?ni? ?*? * w M tha |\ are ., none the less powerful because of their simplicity. We would willingly, if our space permitted, quote at length from these, but at least, we must take the following, which will serve also to show the complete absence of the anti- Catholic spmt in this Protestant preacher, preaching in a country where the great majority of Christians are Catholics :-« What is that over the door of that church ? A cross. What is the shape affected by almost all the cathedrals ? The shape of a cross. What do you see upon the altars m all the Roman Catholic churches, aud in many Protestant ones? A cross. And what is that jewel so thoioughlv Christian which. I see round the neck of several young girls? It is a cross Almost at every step in our Christian countries you meet with the cross. The instrument of the most cruel toitnre, of the greatest ignominy, has become a glorious sign, a sacred emblem, which we love to multiply under every possible shape, and to carry about with us. It recalls the death of our Saviour, the central doctrine of the (xospel. The death of Jesus Christ is the culminating point, I miaht say the highest summit of our holy religion. If you travel in the Alps you meet at first slightly undulating slopes, covered with er-en meadows and pretty wooden cottages, but if you go on ascending as yon would some gigantic staircase, you reach the region of forests and get under the dark firs. Higher still you get to the snow-covered peaks, and if you ascend one of them, fancying tbat you can get no farther you discover another still higher, till you reach at last the highest summit of the whole chain. It is the same with the cross of Jesus. It rose one day upon the Calvary or Golgotha, a small hill of Judea, and now that hill is, morally speaking, the highest mountain in the world From its summit you discern the whole story of mankind, the endless ocean of divine mercies." The preacher goes on to show how the ascent was made from summit to summit— from the promises of the Redeemer in Eden to the brazen serpent in the desert and on through the prophets to Calvary. The faults of the sermons to Catholics .ire distinctively Protestant methods of expression an exaggerated, if inevitable, confidence in the fruits of Protestant missions, and, at least in one instance, a betrayal of questionable tneoJogy. It is that where speaking of the country where our Lord's early years were passed the preacher says that there also "the future was revealed to Him." Nevertheless, to find that such sermons have been preached m the Oratoire at Paris-that gloomiest and most dismal of all Protestant temples-and where is there one tbat is not gloomy and dismal ?-seem 3 to us as if we had seen a sunbeam thrown by reflection in through the darkness where we least expected it could penetrate We conclude with the aspiration that a mind out of which so much that is good and beautiful has come may, at length, be made fruitful to the full extent of its powers by the pouring m upon it of the light of Catholic truth.

The Story oftU Scottish Me or nation,. By A. Wilmot, F.R.G.S. This is a pleasantly-written and comprehensive sketch of the great and unfortunate movement of the sixteenth century in Scotland ~ The character of the local apostle of the Kef ormation, par excellence °l h l^ niei l \ ery plainly shows ns once more h e may be called ir .*° ffian of the Reformation," is especially well brought out— and the futile attempts undertaken to clear him of the charges made with every appearance of truth, by certain of his contemporaries, are fully and unanswerably exposed, as are also his bullying and cowardice. —Of the particulars events described, the murder of Cardinal Beaton and Kizzio are forcibly given, and Knox's part in them is fully sustained, me total absence of any religious motives for the change of religion made, is also clearly established, and the rapacity and unscrupulousness of the nobles are assigned their due place among the causes of the lamentable tiansaction.— lt would, again, open the eyes of some of our dreamers, whose notions of history are taken from hearsay of the vaguest kind, and caught up here and there from the accumulated prejudices of generations, were they to read of the true fruits that the Reformation in Scotland produced— how it imposed upon the people a most degrading form of slavery, and threw back for centuries their pi ogress in civilisation and learning These are points which our auihor brings out with irrefutable clearness and confirms by unquestionable testimony. In writing again of tms particular period of Scotch history, there is always the danger of misrepresenting the part played by one of the chief persons engaged in it, that is the unfortunate Queen Mary whose admirers are inclined to make np for the cruellies inflicted on her by her enemies, and the injuries since done to her memory, by assigning to h r a somewhat higher place than that to which it has, at least' been conclusively proved she is entitled. In many cases it seems to admiring writers not enough to have cleared her memory from the foul accusations brought against her, as indeed has indisputablj been done, but a degree of sanctity little if anything short of heroic and the martyr's crown are wont to be conferred by them upon her

without, as it seems to us, ! a sufficient basis for so great an elevation* That she was a high and noble lady, basely betrayed and falsely accused, is undoubted, it is undoubted also that she was a faithful daughter of the Church, and that she bore the sufferings and met her death not only as it' became so great a princess, but as a resigned and admirable Christian woman — but to have obtained the martyr's palm involves something more than all this, and we cannot say with truth that we believe Queen Mary to have fulfilled all the conditions necessary to its acquisition. Mr. Wilmot, however, has dealt fairly with the unhappy queen, and has extenuated nothing of her faults of # character or weakness of action. He has only claimed for her the martyr's death, which, as we said, can hardly be in strict justice accorded to her. Among the other faults to be met with, in the book are a. familiar phrase or two not in character with the nature of the subjects treated of, and such a play upon words, for example, as the epithet t( Knoxious" coined from the " ruffian 's " name. The work, nevertheless, is of considerable merit, and contains a large amount of valuable information very agreeably set forth. "Wo may recommend it, with confidence, to those of our readers who are desirous of forming a just view of the origin of the Kirk, and the effects of its establishment.

Lectures an, Liberty, FreethougTit, Socialism, and Atheism. By the Very Ke*. Father Le Menant des Chesnais, S.M. This CQ||jrse of lectures was delivered recently during a mission given in Au«ff7and with very excellent results.— The lectures were found so instructive, and to have made so deep an impression on those who heard them, that it was thought advisable to have them published in order that a far -wider consideration might be secured for them. The Bishop of Auckland, who has written an introduction to "them, says : " We would wish to see them in every Catholic household, and carefully read by the Catholic youth ." The lecturer has taken as his subject the various phases of what is called modern thought, and has brought to its examination a mind prepared for the task by long and diligent studies. — Each lecture, indeed, although of very moderate length, and such as could have been listened to with unbroken attention by the most impatient of all hearers, has evidently required a tedious course of reading on the part of the lecturer. Not that there is any pretentious display of learning made ; on the contrary, the treatment of the various points dealt with is extremely plain and simple, and such as must bring them within reach of the meanest intellect and most, iminstructed mind. It has, nevertheless, been necessary for the lecturer to spend many hours in mastering the subjects exposed, and in examining them by the light of science so that he might bring them fully within the comprehension of his hearers and readers.— The publication is, moreover, particularly suited to the needs of the present time, when the questions with which it deals are to be found freely discussed on every side of us, and when the views that are the most frequently put forward with confidence, and an assumption of truth, are dangerous to mankind ia all their relations and interests, spiritual and material. Father Le Menant des Chesnais has especially devoted his time and attention to the q\xestions referred to, and brought to bear upon them the scientific researches of a studious mind made more keen and industrious iv study by the design of devoting all to the service of God, and to the welfare of men. It is, however, unnecessary for us to dwell at any length on the qualifications of the rev. lecturer for the task he has undertaken, as our readers have already had the advantage of reading in our columns more than one of his lectures.— The publication to which we allude may be recommended as deserving a place in every Catholic household.