BOOK NOTICES

New Zealand Tablet, 22 January 1920, Page 21

BOOK NOTICES

Catholic Truth Society (Melbourne) — John and Julia; Christian Unity: The Means of Obtaining It; Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament; The Infallibility of the Church; Is There Salvation Outside the Church? One penny each. - '" -- Auckland Catholic School Magazine (Christmas Number). The editor is to be congratulated on the success of the Christmas Number of the Auckland School Magazine. We have read lately that State school teachers are protesting against the low tone of their School Journal. Auckland Catholics may be proud of theirs. As usual, the illustrations are tasteful and artistic. The essays and poems are good reading. To the editor we say Firmetur maims tua, which being interpreted is "More power to your elbow Australasian, Catholic Directory for 1020 (St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney). The Armour of God. (A Prayer Book for Knights of the Blessed Sacrament.) Burns and Oates, Ltd. 3/6. An excellent little manual, well printed and bound. Pears' An mad. Per Gordon and Gotch. 2/- net. In .its twenty-ninth year this line annual nourishes still. It is as artistic as ever. The large colored supplements are fit for framing. The stories and sketches by leading authors are first-rate. Altogether the annual is .splendid value. Christian Brothers' College Annual (Adelaide). The Adelaide Catholic College is to be congratulated on its year book. Letterpress and illustrations leave nothing to be desired. It is a worthy souvenir of the flourishing Adelaide school and a credit to its editors. . St. Ildephonsus' College Magazine (New Norcia). This interesting publication from the far "West tells us how the Church is progressing on the shores of Western Australia. It is well illustrated and full of good reading. Manly (Manly College Magazine). To Manly we give the palm. Not only for its articles, but for its verso and its illustrations, it is easily first of the Australian magazines that have come to hand. Manly lias of course a great advantage in having the aid of a large number of more mature and advanced students than are to bo found in the preparatory colleges. But it is so well brought out that the college may be reasonably proud of its success. Circuits. By Philip Camborne. Methuen and Co., London. Circuits is a good, wholesome story, dealing with clerical life among the Methodists. You get a glimpse of almost every type of parson in the pages of this volume. And the pictures of the parsons' women are no less varied, and interesting. The chief interest centres in the Frazers and their friends, and readers will follow keenly their vicissitudes amid the changes of scene and environment necessitated by the laws and rules of the Church. The author is no mean artist. The pictures are convincing and the. atmosphere is real. Phases of Irish History. By Eoin McNeill. Gill's, Dublin. Students of Irish history will welcome this work by the distinguished professor of the National University. During recent years the author lias been actively engaged not only in teaching but also in making Irish history. His active interest in Sinn Fein did not claim all his energy. The chapters of this volume arc mainly lectures delivered to appreciative Dublin audiences. It must be remembered that the audiences were largely composed of cognoscenti, for it is clear to a casual reader that a. knowledge of Irish history is taken for granted by the author. He takes us back into the twilight of Ireland's story, and deals, as a critic and a scholar, with subjects of profound interest. Many wrong notions about ancient Ireland are set right as we read these pages. New light is thrown on the origin of the Celts, on the progress of Latin Christianity, on the wars of the Irish kings and princes, their genealogy and their laws. With gentle sarcasm he disposes of the fallacious theories of some recent writers of so-called Irish history, and one is conscious that in all ho says.a master speaks. His opinion—conviction, rather — the land was not held in common by the Irish clans is important, as in recent years many writers have been repeating the assertion that not only bogs and mountains, but all lands, wore held in a sort of Socialistic community. Professor McNeill has, we are sure, made a notable contribution to the study of Irish history, and his work is one that no student of that engrossing subject ought to be without. There is no need to say that Eoin McNeill is a sterling patriot, but there may be need, exactly because of his patriotism, to say that the chapters of this book are written with strict historical impartiality and method.