a member of the Board of Directors. Hall Ghât Abbey is not a show place; none but earnest enquirers are admitted to converse with the monks, and for any such enquirers there are means unexplained of obtaining a through ticket from Charing Cross to Hall Ghât station. Some of the returned monks fortunately kept records of their conversations with visitors, and these conversations are now published with the permission of the Lord Abbot and the Board of Directors. So we are told in the Introduction. Yet one hardly requires the Preface to divine that Father Rickaby is himself the wealthy banker who has built the airy fabric of the Indian Abbey and written the dialogues for his mythical monk. The first chapter is headed Megalomania, a heading equally applicable to all the chapters, containing, as they do, types of that disease which makes man try to compass the infinite in his finite brain. Dialogues on Illogical Postulates, Creation and Pantheism, Faith, Love of God, Matrimony, Historical Scandals and Omnipotence, follow the chapter on Megalomania. The work is not suitable for popular reading. It is a disconnected series of learned discussions on various scientific and philosophic objections to Catholic principles and doctrines. The reader will meet with Greek and Latin quotations that bespeak the facility and aptness of a master. He will also meet with some doubts, whose only solution is to be found in the humble cry of the father of the lunatic child, Domine ; adjuva incredulitatem meam.' Credo, D. ST. JOAN OF ARC. The Life-Story of the Maid of Orleans. By Rev. Denis Lynch, S.J. Benziger Brothers. ROMANCE knows no tale more touching and dramatic than that of Joan of Arc. A peasant girl in the poor little village of Domremy, she begins at the age of 13 to receive heavenly visits, and thenceforth almost continually till her death, is directed by her 'Voices.' At their command, when barely 17, she leaves home to lead a soldier's life. Her military genius in council and her inspiring valour in the field, her simple piety and spotless virtue, her day of triumph as she stood beside the worthless Charles VII at his coronation in Rheims, her capture and sale to the English, her long imprisonment and torturous appearances before the iniquitous judges, ending in her condemnation to death at the stake in the public square of Rouen: these are the headlines of the history of the Maid. It requires the touch of an artist to vivify such a saint and heroine. The short extracts from Lang, Michelet and Coleman, which occupy three pages before the table of Contents, are delightful reading, and perhaps their excellence interferes with a due appreciation of Father Lynch's work. At any rate our initial enthusiasm was cooled by the time we had laboured through forty-five pages of prefatory dissertations. Tastes differ, but for our part we would prefer a life written after the manner of Bury's Life of St. Patrick, in which the author first tells the story of the saint and then supports his facts and assumptions in a series of learned appendices. The book is beautifully produced by Benziger Brothers, and contains a dozen fine plates. IT is with great pleasure that we welcome this further contribution of Dr. Windle on the attitude of the Church towards scientific questions and men. Whatever he writes is worthy of mature consideration. As a Scientist and a Catholic he stands out to-day as the foremost champion of the Church in the domain of science. He is fully qualified to occupy this position, for besides being a Scientist and a Philosopher (a rare combination), he shows he has a thorough grasp of Catholic Theology. Yet, he is by no means blind to the faults of Churchmen in their connexion with science, which faults indeed, as he shows, are very rare, much rarer than their opponents try to make out. He shows, on the contrary, how much science owes to Churchmen, and enumerates those who have been pioneers in certain branches of science. The Church has always taken a definite stand in regard to science. What the Church does [he says]—and surely it must be clear that from her standpoint she could not do less-is to instruct Catholic men of science not to proclaim as proved facts such modern theories-and there are many of them-as still remain wholly unproved, when these theories are such as might seem to conflict with the teaching of the Church. This is very far from saying that Catholics are forbidden to study such theories. On the contrary, they are encouraged to do so, and that, need it be said, with the one idea of ascertaining the truth? Men of science, Catholic and otherwise, have, as a mere matter of fact, been time and again encouraged by Popes and other ecclesiastical authorities to go on searching for the truth, never, however, neglecting the wise maxim that all things must be proved. So long as a theory is unproved it must be candidly admitted that it is a crime against science to proclaim it to be incontrovertible truth, yet this crime is being committed every day. It is really against it that the magisterium of the Church is exercised. The wholesome discipline which she exercises might also be exercised to the great benefit of the ordinary reading public by some central scientific authority. . . . . . Such constraint, when rightly regarded, is not or would not be a shackling of the human intellect, but a kindly and intelligent guidance of those unable to form a proper conclusion themselves.' It is here we find the effective utility of Dr. Windle's books. They are safe guides for the ordinary reader in scientific matters. Perhaps in no branch of learning is guidance so necessary as in science. The Catholic Imprimatur stinks in the nostrils of scientists and anti-Catholics. He Yet the State and any decent Christian family has its Index Librorum Prohibitorum. The weak ones of the flock must be protected from the wolves. The wolves have a horror of the idea of the Creator. They fit that revulsion into all their speculations. Theophobia is due, as Dr. Windle shows, to the low ebb of religion in the Georgian period, to Evangelicalism, Calvinism and Sabbatarianism of the Victorian era. speaks with an intimate knowledge of this exaggerated Sabbatarianism. He was brought up in it himself, and gives us a most interesting and illuminative insight into its constitution and consequences. These creeds, he says, had most to do with the spread of materialism. Then science failed, contrary to the expectation and wish of its followers, to explain everything, and there was a re-action towards spiritualism as a substitute for science and for religion. A passing acquaintance with the London of to-day will show how England has gone mad, especially after the war, over spiritualism which requires no particular creed and no special code of morals. We need mention only a few of the chapters of Dr. Windle's latest book to show their interest and importance: The Gospel of Science, Science as a Rule of Life, Science in Bondage, Science and the War,Heredity and Arrangement, Special Creation, Catholic Writers and Spontaneous Generation, A Theory of Life. The writer everywhere emphasizes the lamentable ignorance of Catholic teaching and the lamentable incapacity for clear-thinking which afflict most non-Catholic scientists. There is nothing in which clear thinking and clear writing are more necessary than in scientific discussions. Scientists, as a rule, seem to be hopelessly ignorant of philosophy. A sense of humour or a gentleman's knowledge might save them from their grotesque conclusions, their dogmatic utterances, and their extravagant theories. Dr. Windle logically and ruthlessly exposes all their fallacies and failures, and brings them to a sense of proportion for the sake of truth and of science. The Catholic attitude towards science cannot be too often stated, as even amongst well-informed Catholics it is surprising what old controversial skeletons are dragged forth from time to time, which have been buried and damned long since. Dr. Windle's book is admirable in its scientific exorcism of all these bogeys, and will be a safe guide to all interested in scientific questions. It is written in a simple, lucid, and graceful style that makes the subject attractive. We should, however, suggest that where there are very technical names and expressions a note or a definition might be inserted for the better understanding of the ordinary reader. Dr. Windle's books on scientific questions should find a place in all our Catholic libraries and colleges. They will be useful as an antidote to the mass of cheap science primers and publications that even the man in the street has become familiar with. It is a pleasure, an education, and an edification to read Dr. Windle's books, M. R. CONFERENCES FOR MEN. By Rev. Reynold Kuchnel. London: Herder. THESE Conferences were originally delivered at meetings of the Holy Name Society in the States. They are now,' the reverend author tells us, 'issued in book form in the hope that they may be of use particularly to Reverend Directors of the Holy Name Society, by suggesting topics and subject-matter for discourses to members of their societies.' In all there are fifty-two conferences in the volume, twenty of them dealing with Socialism and the labour question and fourteen with the upbringing of children. As one might anticipate, the conferences are straight, personal talks, worded with the vigour and directness for which American speakers are noted. D. BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED America: A Catholic Review (January). The Ecclesiastical Review (January). U.SA: The Rosary Magazine (January). Somerset, Ohio. The Catholic World (January). New York. The Austral Light (December). Melbourne. The Irish Monthly (January). Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd. Revue Pratique d'Apologétique (January). Paris: Beauchesne. The Lamp (January). Garrison, N.Y. La Documentation Catholique (January). Paris: 5 Rue Bayard. OUR SILENT CONGREGATIONS BY REV. J. J. M'NAMEE THERE are no people in the world who throng so readily to their churches, and comport themselves so devoutly therein, as the Catholic people of Ireland. Some years ago we had quite an epidemic of self-constituted critics of our churchbuilding activities, who besought us to moderate our zeal, warning us that we were building churches that were entirely too spacious for our congregations, and which, they were certain, would scarcely ever be filled. Time has proved that these good people were quite unnecessarily alarmed, for their fears have been altogether unjustified by the result. The truth is just the exact contrary to their expectation. In many cases the new churches are too small for the needs of the people; hardly can a case be found where a church is too large. And pace the pessimists, never was religion more flourishing in the Irish Church than at the present day. Never had the people (thanks to our zealous school-teachers and to our diocesan examiners) such an intelligent grasp of the truths of their faith. Never were the confessionals so much frequented by penitents. Never were the communion rails so thronged with devout seekers of the Bread of Life. Never were missions, confraternities and pilgrimages so popular. Buideaċas Le Dia agus le n-a mátair agus le Pádraic! But, despite their pre-eminent piety and devotion to church practices, the strange fact remains, that there are no people who evince so much reluctance to active participation in church functions as our Irish people. Their whole tendency in assisting at public devotions and liturgical functions is towards a state of devout passivity. They display a strange timidity in speaking aloud the responses to even the most familiar prayers in the vernacular; a certain reverent awe restrains them from joining heartily in popular hymns, with the words and music of which they are perfectly familiar; while, owing to their unfamiliarity with even the commoner FIFTH SERIES, VOL. XV-MARCH, 1920 |