SERMONS IN STONE

SICKNESS of body in this life has often brought health of soul in the next.

For the notes of your conversation you can find no better tuning fork than the Golden Rule.

The French, knowing that the world and the devil have much in common, spell their names with the same letters-monde and démon.

Tears of sorrow, like raindrops washing the window-panes, frequently clear the way for God's white light to enter the soul. Operatio sequitur esse is a maxim out of Scholastic philosophy; it is, therefore, natural for some people to sing falsetto.

Don't be envious of another's talent; the astronomer may have his telescope to show him some star that is invisible to the naked eye, but that is not to hinder you from enjoying what you may see at a glance-the countless stars in the harmony of God's law.

A Perhaps of the past ought not to engage men more than a Certainty of the great eternal future. The question of the body's evolution is a trivial subject for man's thoughts when the soul is crying out its certainty of an imperishable life to come.

A saint is a person that makes the most of every moment for the glory of God; therefore, it is quite possible for each one of us to be a saint, if not day in and day out, at least from time to time. The thought that you are now thinking, the word that you are speaking, the action that you are doing-put your best heart into them and for God.

Lucifer, with all his intellectual power, failed when he tried to reach God's throne under the banner of pride; many a little maid of this world has reached it under the standard of humility.

Work on with courage, even though you are slow; and remember that a tailor's scissors with the long blades may move quickly through the cloth, but it is the tinsmith's shears, with short, slow blades, that cut through sheets of metal.

As plants in a dark corner of a hothouse reach forward to a favourable position in the sun's light and then take on their natural form and colour, so should we, howsoever humble our spiritual opportunities, lean towards the nourishing splendour of of God's love, and, being warmed therein, show in thought, in word, and in act, the marks of the children of the Light.

MICHAEL EARLS, S.J.

NOTES ON NEW BOOKS

1. The Catholic Encyclopedia, an International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Vol. I. New York: Robert Appleton Company. London: Caxton Publishing Company, Surrey Street.

At last we have here the splendid beginning of one of the most important additions that the twentieth century is likely to make to Catholic literature in the English language. This stately tome is the first of fifteen volumes which are intended to furnish "full and authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine." This instalment reaches only to "Assize," though the book-" a noble one in aspect and opulent in contents," as the New York Tribune says -consists of more than 800 royal octavo pages, the double columns with their admirably clear, though compact, typography compressing into a small space a very large amount of matter. The work is edited by Charles G. Herbermann, Ph.D., LL.D.; Edward A. Pace, Ph.D., D.D.; Condé E. Pallen, Ph.D., LL.D.; Thomas J. Shahan, D.D.; and John J. Wynne, S.J. three priests and two laymen have the fullest confidence of the Archbishop of New York, who on their authority alone gives his official Imprimatur to the work. They are assisted by some thousand contributors of the highest standing from every country in the world. Seven thousand copies of this volume have already been distributed, and a second edition is at press. Each article is signed with the author's name in full, not mere initials, and ten very interesting columns in front of the volume give these names alphabetically with the academic qualifications of each contributor and the office that he fills. We have studied with great interest the dozen pages at the end which contain the names of the stockholders and original promoters. Among the former are Cardinal Gibbons, the Archbishops of New York, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, and twelve other American prelates. The other stockholders are 130 American priests and laymen, New York being largely in the majority, followed by Philadelphia and Boston. The only representative of the female sex is Mrs. Teresa Kulage, and the only intruder from without the United States is Major P. W. O'Gorman, Punjab, India. The original promoters are those who had

sufficient interest in the undertaking and sufficient confidence in the men who had undertaken it to pay in full for the entire set (18) before the publication of the first volume. These, too, are nearly all American names, or rather for the most part (thank God) Irish names with American addresses attached to them. We can see no names from this side of the Atlantic except Father Wernz, General of the Jesuits, Dr. Sheehan, Bishop of Waterford, Father Bewerunge of Maynooth College, the Rev. Patrick Donohoe, C.C., Longford, Dr. Hoare, Bishop of Ardagh (here called by mistake Bishop of Longford), Canon Murphy of Macroom, the new President of the Maynooth Union, and Dr Browne, Bishop of Ferns, who pays in advance for two sets of the entire work, as Dr. Conaty, Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles, does for three sets. The only European college that we notice among these "original promoters is St. Beuno's College, North Wales. Eleven convents of the Sacred Heart in the States have paid in advance, their contribution to the undertaking being thus two hundred pounds. In the same way ten clubs of the Knights of Columbus invest £180, and ten convents of the Sisters of Charity do the same, with the Sisters of Mercy just one short of that number. All this is not very profound criticism, but it may serve to interest the reader in this great work. The most practical proof of interest would be to send twenty-eight shillings to the Caxton Publishing Company, Clun House, Surrey Street, Strand, London; for that, we believe, is the separate price of Volume One with its twenty-three fullpage illustrations, its three coloured plates, and its four admirable maps, which make many of the articles much more easily understood.

2. Prince and Saviour. The Story of Jesus Simply told for the Young. By Rosa Mulholland. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, Ltd. (Price Is.)

Lady Gilbert's exquisite version of the Gospel history has long been out of print, has been constantly asked for, and is here reproduced in a form and at a price which are sure to make it a favourite among a new generation of children. But "children of a larger growth" will admire the skill with which the sublime incidents are narrated for the benefit of Christ's little ones. The publishers have given the book clear, widely-spaced printing, good paper, pretty binding, and pictures much better than the ordinary run of illustrations, the frontispiece being J. R. Herbert's beautiful conception of "The Youth of our Lord," and the next, Holman Hunt's famous "The Light of the World." Even in these days of cheap printing a shilling is a very small price for such a book.

3. Institutiones Philosophicae Auctore C. Willems. Treveris : Ex Officina ad S. Paulinum.

Dr. Willems is professor of philosophy in the seminary of Trier. His two large and admirably printed volumes (pp. 578 and 662, price 7 marks and 8 marks respectively) discuss with Teutonic thoroughness and solidity the vast range of questions with which his chair is concerned. After he had taught for nine years, he printed his lectures for the convenience of his pupils, 1899; and now, that private edition being exhausted, he prints them again for any students of philosophy who may care to read them. Dr. Willems' Latin is very clear and pure. The first volume treats of Logic and Ontology; the second, of cosmology, psychology, and natural theology While Aristotle, Aquinas, and the ancients are duly honoured, Dr. Willems brings his treatment of the various questions down to date, and such very modern names as Balfour, Lord Kelvin, and John Stuart Mill appear frequently in his pages-the last of these being sometimes disguised as "St. Mill." The references to contemporary books and periodicals are particularly copious. The very small percentage of our readers to whom this work appeals will be able from these particulars to judge how far it consults for their needs.

4. John Keats wrote one of the finest sonnets in the English language, "On first looking into Chapman's Homer." Mr. George Fairfax, of Montreal, has chosen the same medium for expressing his feelings on looking into the first volume of the Catholic Encyclopedia, concerning which we have given our opinion in prose in the first of these Book Notes.

Thou last-wrought marvel of the printer's art,
I turn to thee with ever fresh delight,

And, as each page new features brings to sight,
I murmur thanks with happy, grateful heart.

Of all thy treasures here is but a part,

And yet what garnered gold! what jewels bright!
With rich and varied lore! what floods of light
On court and cloister, hall and busy mart!

Unskilled to toil at such a learned loom,
Mine but to speed the swiftly parting gloom;
And, as fresh volumes from the presses flow,

I'll haste to each as to a welcome tryst,

And joy to watch beneath deft fingers grow
A vesture rare to deck the Bride of Christ.

5. We copy this sonnet from the Messenger for July, the editor of which, Father John J. Wynne, S.J., has a chief share in the arduous undertaking which inspired the Canadian Muse.

The announcement is made in this number that the Messenger will henceforth be conducted altogether separately from the devotional periodical, the Messenger of the Sacred Heart. The former, which since 1902 has been a magazine of general literary interest, quite distinct from the organ of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, will have its editorial rooms at Fordham University and its publication office at 500 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Quod bonum, faustum, felixque sit; but we wish the names also were more distinct. Librarians in the twenty-first century will be puzzled by the numeration of the volumes. For instance, the July number is called No. 1 of Vol. 48; but the periodical of that ancient lineage would seem now to be represented rather by the Messenger of the Sacred Heart. However, this may be, the literary magazine, the Messenger, has already attained a very high standard of merit. Nothing can be more tasteful than its get-up, its cover, its paper, its type, its illustrations. All the articles are excellent, each in its own way, especially the story begun by a new writer, Patience Warren. The "Chronicle" is the most complete summary that we know of the contemporary events in the various countries of the world chiefly in their bearings on religion.

6. The Catholic Truth Society (60 Southwark Bridge Road London) shows no signs of falling away from its first fervour. Among the latest additions to the great multitude of excellent writings that it has put into print and (what is better) into circulation, is an admirable little treatise on " Alleged Difficulties in Holy Scripture," by M. N. The price of this is threepence; but all the others that we are about to name cost only a penny each. Perhaps the most interesting of these is Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) by the Rev. George O'Neill, who compresses into 32 pages a very clear sketch of a complex career and character. Other biographical sketches are Venerable John Nutter (one of the English Martyrs) by John B. Wainewright, "The Brothers Ratisbonne, and (nearer still) Lady Amabel Kerr. Two theological tracts are Faith Healing in the Gospels, by the Rev. R. H. J. Stewart, S.J., and Pantheism, by William Mathews. More practical subjects are treated in Socialism and Religion, by the Rev. John Ashton, S.J., Religious Instruction in Schools, by Robert J. Smythe, and the excellent pennyworth which gives both The Pope and the French Government: Who's to blame? by Father Gerard, S.J., and M. Briand's Real Sentiments, by Father Sydney Smith, S.J. If it was necessary to expose the Rev. Joseph Hocking's ridiculous and vulgar absurdities, Mr. James Britten's arm can wield the scourge deftly. A pleasanter pennyworth is No. 57 of The Catholic's Library of Tales, which,