BOOK NOTICES

New Zealand Tablet, 15 May 1919, Page 43

BOOK NOTICES

Shops and Houses. By Frank Swinnerton. Methuen and Co., London. To those who love a quiet study of life in a suburban town which the levelling influences of Mammon have hardly touched this book will be welcome. Frank Swinnerton depicts the snobbishness and the petty pride of “Society” .in such a town admirably and artistically. The very pious and very Christian old ladies, with their bitter tongues, their malicious gossip, their prying into their neighbor’s business are well drawn. The foolish conceit that makes professional people and independent spinsters in such an environment regard with disdain the shopkeepers with whom they deal is true to life. The hero and his cousin, whose father happens to belong to the ostracised business class, are sympathetically revealed and the main interest of the book lies in their romance. The story is written with distinction. It is from a literary point of view vastly superior to most novels of the day. Devotion to the Sacred Heart. By Rev. J. J. 0. Petrovits. Herder, London (6/-.net). This work, which was submitted to the Faculty of Sacred Sciences at the Catholic University of America as a thesis for the Doctorate of Theology, and which is now introduced to Catholic readers by his Eminence Cardinal Gibbbons, aims •at combating the ... 7 O religious tepidity and the materialism of the times by making better known among the faithful the Devotion to the Sacred Heart to whom the Holy Father in his wisdom consecrated the human race which so badly needs a spiritual uplifting in the present age. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is the special form of love and reparation which our Lord wishes to receive from His adorers to-day. Love is its motive and is the real antidote against the coldness towards Christ, towards our fellow-men, towards religion generally which is the result of the worship of Venus and Mammon by the moderns. The author appreciates the necessity for setting forth the solid foundations on which the devotion rests. He treats exhaustively of the Nine Fridays and. of the Promises made to Margaret Mary. Whether from a theological or from a historical point of view the study is well calculated to satisfy critical readers and to promote among the faithful the knowledge and practice of the Love of Christ in the way most pleasing to Himself. For preachers and directors of confraternities Father Petrovits’ book will be very useful. It is a special study on the subject which is a welcome addition to any Catholic library. A Commentary on Canon Law. By Rev. Charles P. Augustine, 0.5.8., D.D. Herder, London. (Vol. 1., 6/- : Vol. 11., 10/6 net.). The first volume of Father Augustine’s work deals with the introduction and general rules and devotes sixty pages to the history and literature of Canon Law. This is followed by the Encyclical “Providentissima” of Benedict XV. promulgating the new Code, and by, a treatise on Laws, Customs, and Privileges. The second volume treats of Ecclesiastical Persons, from the simple priest to the Pope. The Canons referring to the duties and offices of the clergy, to elections, to congregations, to councils, chapters, and synods are commented on. The work on its first appearance was favorably noticed by such Catholic papers as The Month, The Catholic Times, The Ecclesiastical Review, and The Universe. Father Augustine taught Canon Law at St. Anselmo, in Rome, between 1906 and 1915, and he ought therefore to be master of his subject. Corrections are needed here and there before unqualified approval can be given to the volumes before us. We do not endorse the favorable - opinion of the reviewers. The Round Table, March, 1919 (2/6). This quarterly contains many articles which will interest imperialists.