BOOK NOTICES

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 8, 4 March 1925, Page 17

BOOK NOTICES

Catherine. BySoprie Maude. Burns, Oates, ir'NlAnh.Yvashhourne, Ltd.—s/-. IV A beautiful story for Catholic readers, it tells- of the life and journeyings of a little English bid of the .fourteenth century who wished to become a. hermit, lie was forced

to become a' page to his sister, but he, ran. ■ away, and. niter many exciting;' experiences (sit the Continent succeeded in reaching Siena. This gives the author the opportunity .of introducing Catherine Beniucasa, the great St. Catherine of Siena, and. of relating much about her miracles and visions, about the part she took in the struggle between the popes and antipopes of the time, and of her influence in bringing about the return of the Pope' from Avignon to Rome. The atmosphere of 1 the book is profoundly Catholic and there are many- graphic descriptions of the home-life and travel conditions of those days when Christendom was Catholic. Paijah and Christian Hide. By Dorn Hugh. ' Bevenot, 0.5.15. Longmans, Green and Co.. London. —5/-. Those who have a taste for history or apologetics, .or political science will do well to obtain a copy of this book. The learned

author portrays in three 1 parts Civil and Religious governance in the past: (1) "Pagan Rule at its. best (under Augustus), (2) Pagan Rule versus Christian Rule (under Theodosius the Great),. (3) Christian Rule at its best (the thirteenth century), and in a fourth part treats of The Responsibility fo'r the present state of Christendom, The Church and the Individual Mind, and The Church and the £Kati(sts. He supports his statements with abundant references to available contemporary documents, and. he does what Hilaire Belloc in the Preface says should ,be done: "In history we must abandon the defensive. We n*st carry the war into Africa. We must make our opponents understand not only that they are wrong in their philosophy, nor only ill-informed in their judgment of cause and effect, but out of touch with the past: which is .ours." Meditations and Itead'uujs for I'jreryday afitic Year. By John Baptist Coylo, C.SS.B. The Talbot Press, Ltd., Dublin.—s/-. - These meditations and readings (two of the former and one of the latter for everyday) are selected from the writings of St. Alph.ouStis, whose one great ambition, according to Benedict XV, was to make known to men the infinite aimiability of Jesus Christ. The

selections are admirable in every wav, and are suited to..the faithful of every .condition of life. Every Catholic home should possess a copy to. serve as an antidote to the vapid and sometimes harmful literature that is bound to find its way there; and it may even replace some spiritual books ol the sugary sort that are occasionally met with. The present volume is the second of the lories, and continues the year from Epiphany up to Septuagosiuia., . ~. ~ ......

The- .luhilce tear. By Rev. E. -I. Mahon. y. . D.D. ..Burns, Dates, arid Wiishtiouruo, Lid. Price, -Right-pence.* ; (Jives• the full text of the Bull hi fin Ha Dei proclaiming the Jubilee of l!)25 together with

short account of the origin and history of

Jubilees, the nature, of the Jubilee Indulgence and the conditions necessary to gain it, both at Rome and in other parts of the world. Priests will find in it much regarding their powers during .Jubilee time, and a.

perusal of it will save them much time searching reviews and records or delving into the, Code. . In South American Waters. By Thomas Coffey, P.A. 11. M. Gil! ami Son, Ltd., Dublin. Price. 2/0. A. rather trite description of an uneventful voyage around the Horn and up the South American coast. The redeeming feature of the book is the Irish and Catholic spirit in which it is written. Edmund Burke as an Irishman. By William O'Brien. 11. M. Gill and Son, Ltd., Dublin— 12/6. A valuable contribution to biographical literature by the author of When We Wen' Boys, etc., written in his own pleasing style. What is evidently his thesis, he announces in the first line of his Introduction: ".Edmund Burke's is the greatest Irish name in the history of civilisation; but even William O'Brien in the three hundred odd pages of the book fails to prove it. Burke was great; Burke was an Irishman; but Burke was not a great Irishman. However, he. was

an Irishman, and its well to have that|fagt' emphasised, because another nation has almost .claimed himyiand we seldom hear of him except as the great '-. English statesman.' or orator. '-•>.-•;•.'•'= s"''-• '"? . ,*:\ r

The Life of Cornelia Connolly. Longmans,' Green and Co., London.7/6. ' The ways of God are wonderful. Cornelia. Connolly was .born of .Protestant parents, educated in the Protestant faith, happily, married to a Protestant minister; 1 yet ..by. the workings of Providence, she became time the foundress of. a congregation for the education of Catholic girls. . She was truly. a wonderful woman, endowed. .with physical beauty and .wonderful; gifts" of. heart and mind. She attained a high degree of sanctity, probably on .account- of \ the 'sincere trials she had to endure greatest were from those of : .her. own household—and because of her great spirit of prayer. All.this is beautifully told in the abridged life,:which has just- been published. . The book is- most interesting, . and moreover,;;,.can:; be .classed as spiritual reading...'. \ ' ■;•■'' !,,,/;„'■'' -.fl .•. ;.-.;.. .. ...-■' . j- I;-.; "': -J. . Catholic Truth Society Pamphlets. " .£. Eastern Catholics. ' By W. L. Scott, KG. St.. Anthony.' ';...: :.,.:.;,,; .*'/'•: Marriaue., By Mrs. Wilfrid Ward. •' ;#'