bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Anglo-Catholic on St. Paul
Authors: McNabb Vincent 
Published: July 2007

It has of late been almost taken for granted that the Anglo-Catholic movement within the Church of England was in danger of forfeiting its claim to scholarship. The early Tractarians from whom the movement began had left names like Keble, Newman, Pusey, which might almost overawe into silence the men whom their genius organized into a school of action rather than of thought. On the other hand, the stalwarts of Biblical exegesis—Hort, Westcott, Light-foot—had captured a position in the world of scholars which few could rival. Moreover, to the credit of the Anglo-Catholics it may be said that, scorning academic delight, they have lived laborious days, often in the slums of England or the poverty of foreign missions, building up the ‘Catholic Church of England’ ; which is not yet, but is to be. Much of the reason why the scholarly output of recent Anglo-Catholics has not equalled the old is written in Fr. Knox’s pathetic words of introduction : ‘For my impertinence in presenting to the public a book on such a subject, which has been composed for the most part in the intervals of parochial work in London, I can only offer my humblest apologies.’The modern scholar is to be seen or felt in every page of this work written against the overwhelming odds of a London parish. So high a level of conscientious scholarship is reached that even those who find themselves in disagreement with many of his views must find themselves in admiration of the dogged zeal which has packed his book with toil and thought.
Mr. Chesterton's ‘Everlasting Man’
Authors: K. W.  
Published: July 2007

It is a relief to turn from the nebulous emotionalism and egoistical self-centredness of the recent articles on My Religion which have recently appeared in the daily press to Mr. Chesterton’s Everlasting Man—a work which comes upon us as a fresh breeze from the mountain tops. It is a challenge, and a noble one, ranging from scientific theories to religious dogmas. It is quite impossible to give more than the briefest of brief outlines of its scope and treatment, and one can only hint at the faultless and fearless fathoming of flaws in the attitudes of the modern mind. But it is not until we come to the end of the book that we find, what we had all along surmised, that most of the theories attacked are popular rather than really scientific, and the author’s conscience smites him with the thought that he ‘may sometimes have given an impression of scoffing at serious scientific work.’ The book is really meant to be a popular criticism of popular fancies, often, indeed, of very vulgar errors, ana it is never meant to be ‘an impertinence to the truly learned.’ So we know where we are, or, at any rate, where we have been, when we come to the Appendix.In pointing this out we do not mean to imply that his strictures are beside the mark—in point of fact, they hit it every time, and he is inimitably accurate in detecting the weak points in many popular theories.
The Church and the Class-War
Authors: James Stanley B. 
Published: July 2007

He theory known as the Materialistic Interpretation of History, which constitutes the philosophical background of Communism, asserts that religious beliefs are the product of social and economic circumstances and vary according to those circumstances. I had never realised the large measure of truth in that theory until quite recently. The need of refreshing my memory concerning the methods of worship among certain sects, for the purposes of a series of articles on the subject in a Catholic newspaper, led to sundry visits to non-Catholic bodies. The formative influence of class traditions on ecclesiastical proceedure and belief was impressed on my mind with considerable force as visit followed visit.It was impossible, for instance, not to recognise that factor in the case of the Christian Scientists. It was not merely that the roadway outside the Hall was lined with motor-cars for some hundreds of yards or that those who filled the building were most obviously of the leisured class. The whole tone of the Service was that of a drawing-room meeting, well-bred, politely interested, and—if the paradox may be allowed—profoundly superficial.Christian Science is an American importation. One might speak of it as the Gospel of Optimism or as Christianity without the Cross. It is a cult patronised almost exclusively by those whose external circumstances have placed them beyond the need of that severe struggle which others must make for a livelihood. Happiness for these consists largely in their power to shut out the ugly and sordid aspects of life. Conversation among such people quietly assumes that the whole world, or at least the part of it that matters, is circumstanced as are they themselves. The intrusion of poverty and disease into their comfortable circle is resented as something lacking good taste.
‘A Pioneer of Pre-history
Authors: Clark Kevin 
Published: July 2007

Part IIIIn many of the modern text books epitomizing the story of the first discoveries of the Antiquity of Man and of his having been the contemporary of extinct mammalia, the part played by MacEnery, Pengelly and the members of the Torquay Natural History Society often receives very little adequate representation. Usually most of the praise is meted out to Boucher de Perthes, and it is quite forgotten that it was the spade work of these English pioneers which induced Falconer, Prestwich and Evans to take up the cause of the famous archaeologist of Abbeville. An attempt therefore will be made to relate in their proper order the series of incidents that led up to the revolution of scientific opinion in 1859 on the antiquity of the human race. These when seen in their true sequence, from Kent’s Cavern to the valley of the Somme, are also the vindication of MacEnery’s discoveries.As early as 1840, Godwin-Austen read a paper to the Geological Society of London On the Bone Caves of Devonshire (March 25th), but in it he made no mention of MacEnery; nor did he, as is generally asserted, speak of the flint implements. Perhaps he thought it politic to avoid the subject as Buckland was in the chair. A year later (MacEnery died in the February) Godwin-Austen and Buckland had ‘an interesting discussion’ at the Plymouth meeting of the British Association.Dr. Buckland combatted the notion that, because human remains were found among the bones of the geological period, it was to be supposed that those human beings were contemporary with them.This discussion, however, did not appear in the printed report.
Canticum Magorum
Authors: McN V. 
Published: July 2007

Are not man’s fable;But are in sooth God’s naked Truth.The narrow Cave Is what God gave Our pride to save.The mirk within Is mortal sin.The winter frost Is God’s love lost.The hay and straw Are things of awe,Befall ‘n by law.Ev’n ox and ass Have come to pass.The want and cold Are pain foretold.The Nursling’s cries End prophecies.And we who now Before Thee bow Are wholly sin Without, within.Yet—crib and stable Being no fond fable,Although our guilt This Child’s joy spilt,Our hearts beat wild To know this ChildIs God the Son And Sin—Undone!Ero Mors Tua O Mors.The star without Has come about To light our doubt. The working man Kneels there, to plan.And, man of faith All joyous saith:‘That Son who stirs Is God’s and—hers! ‘The Maid who sings Soft carollingsLulls by her words The Lord of Lords.From out the skies Loud anthems rise. Heav’n’s royal choir A song conspire All shot with fire,To speed their King Gone conquering.V. McN.
Reconciliation in Ireland
Authors: Gwynn Denis 
Published: July 2007

The cartoon with which Punch expressed its bewildered opinion of the Irish settlement deserves to be remembered in history. After more than two centuries of deliberate exploitation of anti-Irish sentiment in the north-east of Ireland, the leader of the Ulster Unionists is represented in the most characteristic organ of British middle-class opinion, as uniting with the President of the Free State to pick the pocket of John Bull. In actual fact, the Ulster Government’s financial ‘benefits through the settlement would appear to consist in a grant for the Ulster Parliament buildings and the separate Ulster Law Courts—neither of which were ever asked for by the Ulster Unionists, but were, on the contrary, accepted by them in response to an urgent appeal by the Imperial Parliament. There is a further financial concession also in the continuation for one year of the annual grant in aid of the Ulster Special Constabulary, but on the clear understanding (never before insisted upon) that this latest grant of roughly a million pounds must be the last. No Irish Catholic is likely to sympathise with Sir James Craig’s lamentations at the fact that the ‘Specials’ must therefore be disbanded; but even the Ulster ‘Specials’ would never have come into existence except to defend the jurisdiction of the Ulster Parliament in the area for which the Orange Lodges agreed, under urgent appeals, to accept responsibility.So much for Sir James Craig’s alleged pilferings from the pockets of John Bull. Mr. Cosgrave’s are scarcely more real when examined in the light of facts.
A Scholastic Philosopher and Einstein
Authors: Shove Herbert 
Published: July 2007

Father Vincent McNabb prefaces his article in the October number of BLACKFRIARS with the statement that he has neither the wish nor the capability to offer a criticism of ‘the astronomies and mathematics’ of Prof. Einstein. And the present writer feels impelled to make a similar disclaimer as regards the scholastic philosophy of Father McNabb, whom he is proud to number amongst the most revered of his personal friends and spiritual advisers. But, as one whose technical education involved a good deal of ‘astronomies and mathematics’ and whose tastes have even leaned towards the study of physical science, it appears to him that the body of Father McNabb’s article does not fulfill the promise of sticking to his philosophic last which he makes at the outset. Before the close, he is dealing with questions of the purest mechanics, which cannot be divorced from astronomy, even if they can from pure mathematics.Father McNabb opens his attack by quoting the following passage from Einstein’s book on Relativity :‘If, in pursuance of our habit of thought, we now supplement the propositions of Euclidean geometry by the single proposition that two points on a practically rigid body always correspond to the same distance (line : interval) independently of any changes in position to which we may subject the body, the propositions of Euclidean geometry then resolve themselves into propositions of the possible relative position of practically rigid bodies.Geometry which has been supplemented in this way is then to be treated as a branch of physics.
Excursion
Authors: Gray John 
Published: July 2007

Ten or half-past get off from Innerleithen Station, southwards, in early days of January. Before you might know it you are over the Tweed, a Scotch river which has already acquired an ‘English accent.’ There is plenty of water in its tributaries, and their little daughters; the whole country is abustle with them. You catch no sight of the beautiful old house as you pass through Traquair Village and cross Quair Water.The scene soon gets to business. Before you are beyond the last fir plantation and straggling, bad-tempered-looking birches, it is evident that the country is of a high quality; and if you turn to verify the steepness of the ascent, the view of Moorfoot, seldom disappointing, is fine. It is Newhall Burn against which you are walking; the road in time leaves it deep on the right in the valley, the far side of which has become a vast wall of pasture. Only get the sun upon it and any sort of blue sky, and the effect is admirable : the grass tends to be quite pale; the bracken, squirrel-colour of course, provides the striking accent; the heather is sepia, and a scanty element. A few pockets of snow help; as may later the nearly black of a peat cutting; but not the outbreaking stone, blueish. The sheep are blueish too; here is a flock of ewes, watching the departure of a ram, refractory without hope against the tactic of a fine border lad and two young bitches.
Music in the Divine Comedy II.
Authors: Smythe Barbara 
Published: July 2007

II.In addition to singing and dancing, one other species A of music is introduced in Dante’s Heaven, though less is said of it than might, perhaps, be expected. This is the music of the spheres. The idea that the movement of the planetary spheres caused them to emit sound was first scientifically expounded by Pythagoras, but the myth of sphere-music is of earlier origin, for the seven strings of the lyre and seven pipes of the syrinx are said to have been made to correspond with the seven notes of the spheres. The Pythagorean doctrine, though rejected by Aristotle, was accepted by many philosophers, and becoming widely known through the teaching of the neo-pythagorean Nico-machus of Gerasa (second century A.D.) had a considerable influence on the musical theories of the Middle Ages. The comparatively small use which Dante makes of it may be accounted for by the fact that the ‘master of those who know’ (Inf. iv, 131) declared it to be false. It is natural to think that the idea of sphere-harmony, based as it is on numerical proportion, would have attracted Dante, with his love of the symbolism of numbers, and the mere fact that he introduced it at all, in defiance of the authority both of Aristotle and of St. Thomas, shows that it made indeed a strong appeal to him.
The Church and Art
Authors: Gill Eric 
Published: July 2007

IIIWhat, according to the Catholic conception, is the relation of art to life?It has been said, and it is Catholic doctrine, that man is a bridge connecting the material and the spiritual. Both are real, both are good. God is spirit, man is matter and spirit. Man is therefore able to see, to present in material terms things spiritual and, conversely, though he cannot represent it, he is able to comprehend, though not fully, the spiritual significance of the material. He can show the spiritual in terms of matter, but he cannot show the material in terms of spirit.The art of man, though ultimately unimportant, for, like all material things, works of art will return to dust, has therefore two claims to attention. In the first place it is the only activity of which man is capable which is in itself worth pursuing, and in the second it is man’s sole abiding solace in this vale of tears. In this age, an age noted for every sort of material achievement but such as can be called works of art, these are very controversial statements. Let us proceed to their demonstration. The essence of Religion is the affirmation of absolute values. Religions may be good or bad, values may be true or false, but the affirmation of an absolute value is a religious affirmation. Without such affirmations there would be sciences, moralities, and—Royal Academies of Art, but there would be no religion. To affirm that such and such is true because it is true and for no other reason, or that such and such is good because it is good and for no other reason are religious affirmations.
Mr. CLAYTON'S REJOINDER.
Authors: Clayton Joseph 
Published: July 2007

In the March BLACKFRIARS I reviewed Dr. Coulton’s Medieval Village and pointed out that the title of the book was ‘misleading and inaccurate,’ that neither the middle ages nor its village was the subject of Dr. Coulton’s study, and that ‘a false view of village life’ was presented. Dr. Coulton in his reply does not question the truth of my statements.I also picked out no less than seventeen sentences from the book (giving in each case the page on which the sentence could be found) for evidence that Dr. Coulton is untrustworthy as a historian.Four of these sentences were badly phrased. Dr. Coulton thinks otherwise. The reader can decide. But the blunders and errors in the other thirteen sentences Dr. Coulton leaves unanswered. They were not trivial or unimportant mistakes; they were serious misrepresentations. I could have made the list of mistakes longer, for the Medieval Village is disgraced by inaccuracies.Since Dr. Coulton does not deny that his errors were exposed in the review, why does he not acknowledge that he has erred? Dr. Coulton pleads ‘unavoidable haste,’ and then rides off with a detailed description of a -particular village which he ‘happens to know best,’ and compares it with a general description of peasant life in the time of Chaucer. The comparison is worthless, as all comparisons of the general and particular are apt to be. It should not be difficult for Dr. Coulton, or any other student of the middle ages, to find a detailed account of village life that would present a picture vastly different from the generalised view selected by Dr. Coulton.
Scylla and Charybdis
Authors: Swinstead Margaret 
Published: July 2007

Not long ago I was telling a story to a little five-year-old friend of mine. She listened with great delight till we came to the inevitable fairy, who helps the distracted heroine through her troubles, when she interrupted with ‘Please let the fairy be an angel!’I thought of this instinctive desire of a child for angelic comradeship, when looking through a number of modern children’s books in a large bookshop lately. I was struck with the entire absence of a reference to any form of religion in the charming and artistic productions which are published by the hundred to amuse and instruct the younger children of to-day. There are fairies in abundance, talking flowers, singing pigs, intelligent carrots, but no saints, or angels, and never a reference, however remote, to Almighty God.I am not, of course, referring to the numberless story books by well-intentioned writers of all denominations, which are written with a definite religious purpose, to convey a definite religious lesson; many of these are excellent, if some are a trifle tedious; but of the many beautifully illustrated and charming little tales which find their way into any house where there is a child.These books of to-day are definitely non-moral, they do not pretend to do anything but amuse; in this they reflect the spirit of the age. Most of them are only negatively harmful, but it is surely a most ominous sign that the children of this generation are encouraged in their most impressionable years, to seek for recreation in a region of thought in which God is entirely forgotten.
A British Ambassador and the Vatican
Authors: Gwynn Denis 
Published: July 2007

English public men very seldom make any public allusion to the activities of the Holy See. Very few of them give much attention either to its influence or to its policies. Sir Rennell Rodd, however, as British Ambassador to Rome from 1908 until 1919, had ample opportunities for becoming aware of the Pope’s existence as an international force. And in his latest volume of reminiscences, which cover the whole period of the war, he discreetly reveals here and there his own observations and suspicions concerning the Vatican. Indeed, he does not disguise the fact that the information which reached him in his official capacity from various sources caused him constant apprehension during the war. And after the death, in August, 1914, of Pope Pius X (whom he credits with sufficiently ‘humane’ motives to have been likely to develop pro-Ally tendencies had he lived), Sir Rennell quite plainly regards the Holy See as being engaged in constant intrigues to bring the war to an end prematurely upon conditions advantageous to the Central Powers.The attitude of this ex-Ambassador towards the peace policy of the Holy See is not only characteristic of what most Englishmen of his orthodox and official type of mind felt throughout the war and still feel. It is worth examining more closely because Sir Rennell Rodd, who enjoyed unique advantages for ascertaining and understanding the pacific efforts of the Vatican throughout the war, failed completely to understand what Pope Benedict XV was striving to accomplish.
The Faith of an English Catholic
Authors: McNabb Vincent 
Published: July 2007

On the paper covers of this little book we find the following:—
‘The purpose of this book is to supply an answer to the question: “What is the meaning of Anglo-Catholicism?” .... The past history of Anglo-Catholicism is described and its future prospects are estimated. Finally, an appeal is made for toleration, both of Anglo-Catholicism by the authorities of the English Church, and by Anglo-Catholics of other than themselves.’Discussion carried on in the serene atmosphere of this little book invites the like serenity of discussion. If any words, of ours are beyond the right of trank criticism or human courtesy we wish them unsaid. But we feel that the frankness of Dr. Stone’s statement can be rewarded only by as frank a criticism.(a) In the first place a Catholic, who, like his English forbears of fifteen centuries, is in full communion with the See of Rome, cannot fail to be struck with the title of the book. It is what it purports to be, nothing more or less than the faith of an English Catholic.’ It does not speak for any group; still less for any church.In reviewing the book, The Church Times (Feb. 26th) calls it a ‘Valuable Summary.’ . . . . ‘The book will be of immense service to both the clergy and the laity, and will serve an admirable purpose in making clear to Protestants and Roman Catholics exactly what Anglo-Catholicism accepts and rejects.’
The Outcast Woman
Authors: Delany Bernard 
Published: July 2007

A person in search of adventure might join a Polar expedition, arrange an aerial flight round the world or found a newspaper entirely dedicated to truth-telling. These adventures are of the more spectacular and expensive kind, and only within the reach of the favoured few. A cheaper way of satisfying the thirst for adventure is to empty your pockets of all your money, dress in the oldest and shabbiest clothes you can find, and make yourself a tramp. This is what Mrs. Cecil Chesterton did—not exactly for the fun of the thing, not in search of romance and adventure, but to study destitution, and to prove to herself that a woman without status and that recommendation which is called a ‘character’ or a ‘reference’ cannot obtain employment in any recognised craft or calling.We have heard of these amateur explorers into the underworld before. Are they not, we ask ourselves, mere spectators, in, though not of the surroundings they have themselves freely chosen? They go among the outcasts to record facts and register impressions, but they are only onlookers and not outcasts themselves. If any of these thoughts arise with regard to Mrs. Chesterton’s personal experiment, her book, In Darkest London, will dispel them. She says : ‘I left my home one evening in February. I wore my own clothes, which were shabby but not ragged. I had watertight shoes and a raincoat—and not a penny in my pocket. I had determined to start life from an entirely new angle.