BOOK NOTICES

New Zealand Tablet, 18 August 1921, Page 13

BOOK NOTICES

Aussie (August number). Price Bd.

Aussie, described as “the Cheerful Monthly,” does not belie its second title. It was first published by the Australian Diggers on the battlefields of Flanders, and was printed by machinery found among the ruins of French villages. Its illustrations, its articles, poems, and jokes made its reputation quickly, and it became very popular among the soldiers at the Front, while it also attracted favorable attention from newspapers in England and America. When the editor, Mr. Philip Harris, returned to Australia, he decided to continue its production, and needless to say, under more favorable conditions, it is now better than ever. The drawings in the 4 August number are particularly good. The sketch of Australia asking John Bull (on a cricket field): “What else do you know, John?” is sarcasm itself. The twin pictures: “Anzac,” and “An’ Sacked” are a pathetic comment on the treatment of heroes by a profiteer Government.

The English Dominicans, by Bede Jarrett, O.P. (Burns,

Oates, Washbourne, London; 18s net.)

On paper and in type that are as welcome as they are rare nowadays, the Catholic publishing firm of Burns, Oates, and Washbourne continue to issue books that are worthy of the artistic style in which they appear. Father Bede Jarrett’s history of the Dominican Order in England is a valuable contribution, not only to Dominican literature, but also to the history of the Catholic Church in Great Britain. It is nearly seven centuries now since the friars first came to England, “a band of thirteen, unknown, strange, until one had preached in place of Cardinal Stephen Langton on the festival of the Transfiguration in the Cathedral of Canterbury.” Stephen Langton became their friend when they needed a powerful • friend. After much opposition from various quarters they obtained the royal support, and kings, princes, and lords bestowed money as well as favor on most of the Dominican Priories in England. The friars had royal penitents: Richard 11., Henry IV., Simon de Montfort, Hubert de Burgh, and others of great name came to them for spiritual advice and directionwhich, no doubt, they all badly needed. The first Priory was established at Oxford, where upon their arrival'the monks opened schools of philosophy and theology. • “Here by opposition they stimulated Walter of Merton to adopt the college system, and thus to introduce it to the university, and were of such influence that for a whole generation all public and official disputations and acts were carried on within their walls.” The volume before us tells a fascinating story of those early days of trial and of eventual triumph. But it also chronicles how after victory came relaxation and decline until Wycliffism roused the Order for a time and put it into the fighting line again. But the state interfered and the heresy was suppressed and the friars relapsed into their drowsy sleep once more. The Reformation stiffened their backs for another fight. The Priors of Cambridge, Norwich, and Newcastle attacked the new religion until they were silenced by Henry’s despotism. Persecution broke out and the brethren were hunted at home and often forced to flee across the seas. There were members of the Order in England all the stormy years between 1570 and 1622, but records of their doings are lost in the turmoil of the times. Philip Howard by, establishing abroad a priory that was a feeding centre for the English missions and also a convent for English Dominican nuns kept the Province alive when things became easier under James I, and •Charles I. Trouble came again in the time of the French Revolution, and the Belgian establishments were broken up. Finally, under Bishop IJllathorne and Cardinal Wiseman friars and nuns were solidly established in England and old schools and convents were revived once more. With many interesting accounts of the ancient foundations and priories, of the studies, of the discipline, of the preachers and teachers, and of the vicissitudes of all the years between, Father Jarrett tells the story of the monks and nuns of St. Dominic in England from their first coming down to our time. The pages of his book are a fascinating study of old times in : Catholic England, and they

are full of quaint accounts of the monastic life of bygone days. The volume is well illustrated, and there is a useful index.