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New Zealand Tablet, 24 January 1918, Page 26

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-— 1 " » ■ —— “Fabiola” We invite the attention of our readers to our new serial, Fabiola , which begins next week. Fabiola, Cardinal Wiseman’s great masterpiece, has been translated into most of the European languages, and read with interest by kings and peasants. The author was specially qualified ,to write a . historical novel on early Christian Rome by his long residence in the Eternal - City and his profound scholarship. As literature Fabiola ranks high among works of fiction in English. A splendid tribute was paid to the Cardinal’s literary .talents when he was invited to deliver the address commemorating the tercentenary of the birth of Shakespere. Names ■ v . '*■ T :.. “ What’s in a name? That' which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.”. , With all due deference to - Shakespere, there is much in a name : so much that it has been said halfseriously that a name makes a man’s destiny and moulds his| character. /; Who : * should : expect Praise-the-Lord . Barebones to.be a poet; Smite-Hip-and-Thigh Jackson to be a comedian, r 'a : man called t Samson to be a weakl.a ii.'i .'y '

ling, or a Seumas to be a shoneen ? It may yet come, .in these times |of "ours when the nursery seems to-be .the ■ province ■ of -Cabinet Ministers and 'when a - feeding: bottle were .no inapposite emblem for a Minister of Home Affairs, that' '."[ meddlesome government, will determine what name a hapless infant shall' bear for life. ; While we are free let it be our endeavor to give the children names that are both beautiful ...and appropriate. Drop the Emmelines and the Ermengardes and remember the simple music of the names of our saints: ' there are Agnes, Cecilia, Elizabeth, and Margaret, and better still Bride and Oona and Maire.-

The Beauty of Irish Names , ;v In Ireland the revival" of national pride and common sense has inspired the parents to give to their children old Irish names which they can carry without blushing and trying to hide through shame of their companions. And what melody and what poetry there is in many of the dear old names ! Fionnuola means the "white-shouldered" Muirgeal the "sea-bright," and Blathnait the "little blossom." Writing'on this subject in the Irish Monthly, Mrs. Coucaimon says: "One repeats the beautiful Irish names over and over again for one's sheer delight in them, and perhaps not without hope of reviving them again for new use in the New Ireland of to-day or to-morrow. What a gracious pledge of the sweetness and purity of our future civilisation would be offered if the little maidens whose delicate hands shall have under God the moulding of it, were called by • the old names whose meaning would be a constant inspiration. Could a girl named Binne (melody) fail to cultivate the tjifts of ' voice and sweet speech ' which were reckoned by the ancient Irish two of the six gifts of manhood? Could Eimar be other than 'gentle,' or Medbh 'tender,' or "Muiriie 'full of affection'? In Aille we have 'beauty' itself. Blathnait and Scoithin ought to be as sweet and lovely as flowers. Eithne, whose name signifies primarily 'hutkernel/ would understand that knowledge found therein its symbol. ... . The sun would give a name to Grian, and some of its splendor would shine around Niamh. Brigid would be an arrow of fire, and Ita's thirst for God would win the name for her.'

Irish History Do you remember what the old American pastor said of his flock—" When they cease to be Irish they are no use to anybody."? And an Irish Catholic who has lost his supreme love for Ireland has also, as a rule, gone a long way towards losing his faith. There is nothing surer than this. If anything could be surer it is this other fact: an Irish Catholic who cares as little for his faith as for his country is the most contemptible thing on earth. And when we say Irish Catholic we include also the descendants of Irish parents. Forgetfulness of our religion and want of pride in it proceed from - sheer ' ignorance of what our faith - means and what its glories are; in the same want of love for Ireland can only exist when a man or woman, boy or girl, is blind to-the fact that, for the sake of honor and truth and purity Ireland fought an incredible fight against incredible odds for seven hundred years, and won a victory; that gives her a crown' possessed by no other nation. -Lest we forget, lest what our fathers did for Ireland and for us should be forgotten, and lest the descendants of Irish exiles should become bad Irishmen and, as a consequence, bad Catholics, let us do what we can to teach the young people the history of the '-'lsland of Saints and Scholars." Much could be done in our own schools, and no doubt will be done very willingly. In the case' of children who cannot attend : Catholic schools we ask the parents to do their part' by providing the children with such books as The Story of Ireland.

, v- r ■-. ■ ;;•;• '.;-: ; - ; v.v:;.•■ ;- : ;.-\:' v--^;i;'; J:; ■.■■"■ »can-afford- Ignore. Personally we have always found r it^fitenseTy^inftre€tihg;~^^^Nofetlft^asr^fiits^chafiaft

for v us ,are. ; the ..accounts,: of , .chats between such two scholars as the ' subject of the book t and* its writer. These' passages, which come in as it were; as obiter dicta, give us a real insight into the deep culture and *he keen literary sense' of the "Grand Old Man." For instance: ?I~"J.M. A friend' sfet me : oh : a hunt this morning through Wordsworth for f the words ? about France 'standing on top of golden hours. I did 1 not find them, but I came across " a good line of ' Hartley \ Coleridge's about the Thames:—- ■"%•.'■'' ~ :fi : - I And the. thronged river. toiling i to the main.'.; T^ Mr. G.—Yes, a good line:" Toiling to the main recalls Dante: : u ' " • '' i gj *isr: V. ' Sit la marina, dove 'I Po discende, '.',."■ ','«"• ■'-. ;,■'•.;• Per aver pace co'seguaci sui.' i..'."•-' ~'; ; . ,7 —Have you seen -Symonds's ire-issued volume on Dante? 'Tis very good. Shall I lend it you? - Mr. G.—Sure to be good, but not in the session. I never look at Dante 1 unless I . can have a continuous draught of him. :; He's too big,"he seizes and masters you. " ' '* ' '*"-• & ■*■ ■■■'- P -n- >V i*ii :. : ■ •:-.; |

J.M.—Oh, - 1 like the picturesque bits, if it's only for half-an-hour before dinner : the bird i looking i out of its nest for the dawn, the afternoon bell, the trembling of the water in the morning light, and the rest that everybody knows.N -".:: "ii;-r:u .odij■ h."} . Mr. G.—No, 1 cannot do -it. By the way, ladies nowadays keep question-books, and among other things ask their friends for the finest line in poetry.- I think I am divided between three, perhaps the most glorious is Milton's (somehow this line has slipped :from memory, but the reader might ■'■possibly do : worse 'than turn over Milton in search of his finest line.) Or else Wordsworth's —■ >->: : Vf_c sri.; . >. .= ;y;; s;-.:.^-'Or hear Old Triton blow his wreathed horn.'/, Yet what so splendid as Penelope's about not rejoicing the heart of anybody less than Odysseus?—- ?■•-; - *■ Mede ti cheironos andros cuphrainoimi noema." Tom Codd's Alternative v ♦ " u '■- L -■■"■ :..;?? Speaking of Lord Morley reminds us of a good story told concerning himself and Paruell. Paruell once met in Wexford an intransigent old farmer; 1 named Tom Codd. Tom would not join tbo Land League; neither would he pay the rent demanded" by the landlord. "What will you do then said Parnell. "I'll offer him a fair rent," quoth Tom. "And if he refuses " "If he does he can go to Hades." Only c Tom did not say. Hades that way. Later, when arranging about the Irish. representation ,in Westminster under Gladstone's Home Rule "Bill Parnell and - Gladstone disagreed. . John Morley was the intermediary. "Parnell .gave his ultimatum. "How will :J it be if Mr. Gladstone does not agree to this?" said 1 Morley. "He can ; then take Tom Codd's alternative," replied the Irish Chief. ,No ; doubt an elucidation' was asked for and given, but we are' not told, what Gladstone said when he heard it. . What memories' the names of Par;nell and Gladstone recall f.' And what a tragedy One can almost see the gaunt figure of the Irish Leader, stern and impassive as' fate, and the venerable English statesman who j said he always felt when dealing 11 with r Parnell that he was treating with a foreign Power—"He was not a man at all: he was an institution,'' . said , Gladstone", speaking "of Parnell after his death. ; And again—" Poor Parnell! It was'a great 5 tragedy! A great tragedy ! '""'; •""?^'f' 4 '"'. v; v ''"■■ ■•■■''■ -'z

Gladstone and Morley J / ' | Lord Morley’s Life of Gladstone was once described as a book that fell by its own weight. Nevertheless it is a remarkable, biography, and. one. that., few,, students .i.