The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-04


 Golden Jubilee of His Holiness Pope
 Plus X. In six large folio volumes. Volume I now published CThe Cath
 ollie Editing company, New York,
 N Y.).
 The reviews of last week contained mention of beautiful book namely "The Book of the Pearl" The star volume of this week, or many weeks in so far as beauty workmanship and authoritative text are concerned is Catholic monument, so to speak, the first of six volumes to be published soon as prepared carefully on "The Catholic Church in the United States of America" The first volume which has recently come from the press was intended to celebrate the golden Jubilee of Pope Plus x, and deals with "The Religious Communities of the United States."~
 It is stated in the preface to this first volume that in 15 years the number ef i Catholics in America has doubled That today the members of the Catholic church equal In number the protesting adh erents of all other creeds within the republic and that if the insular posses sions of the United States are included the 2O00O, 900 Catholics therein, all tol1 far out number the united believers Of all other religions.
 And summaries tell nothing. To say 1 that new diocese is created every year, that a single bishop counts 700 l annual converts; to tabulate our l5,00o i clergy, 6S,000 religious, our million 1 children in parish schools, our TOO academies for girls is to attempt the dull picturing of statistics and some i thing more than this was needed.
 Then was planned a set of books portraying authoritatively and attrae- ] lively Catholic progress and develop 1 ment in the United States.
 And so 1t was our purpose to create l a great album a thank offering of our i piety In honor of the golden Jubilee CT
 his holiness-an album that would re-
 veal what part the Catholic church Tn the United States is taking in the work
 of his illustrious pontificate, that IS
 gloriously bound to the renewal Of all
 things in Christ. In this we had the
 inestimable favor of his holiness ap-
 uroval We also obtained the sanction
 of his eminence, Cardinal Gibbons Of
 many high prelates and Of the heads
 of the famous religious orders III
 Rome."
 When this work first was undertaken
 the idea was not to make so full
 history of the Catholic church In America, but there was so much to teli I so much that was necessary to put into
 books of this kind that the undertak- ing grew, with the result:
 That By the enthusiastic help or ] American Catholics the scope or our
 plan speedily widened and we are now engaged in the compilation Of mohu i mental work that will. be historical as : well as illustrative and descrlptlVe- 1 in it's condolences, the first attempt of the kind a storehouse of precise ana l exhaustive information relating to our Catholic church of the United States. i The present the first, volume of the SIX to complete the work undertaken IS oe- voted to the religious orders and com ,nunities scattered over the entire union 1 because. as 1t is explained, 1t was the l regular clergy who were the first to open l North America to the Catholic reisloh' IL 1 has been by the powerful and inValuapie 1 co-operation of the reverent superiors .haI 1 every section has been prepared by the person designated as most competent lo l assume the duty and almost every chap- l fer i. signed The whole work Is au- l lucrative. exact in research and statistics. 1 Many sections are of new historlcal lm- | portance. for, of many Of the commuhi- | ties treated in this first volume, ntue or | nothing has hitherto been Kno"n' hleie l or nothing written.
 The work is encyclopedic in its na- | p,re and It's arrangement, having been l shared in by many hands. Though ao- | stractly a historical or chronolog1cal ar 1 rangement might have been pre1erreo, IL l is easy to see what difficulties that | course would have presented and Tor pur- 1 poses Of reference the oroer aoop'eo | | surely the best.
 l Therefore. in this first volume we have l inc religious orders of the Catholic | church in the United States, clerical ana lay arranged in alphabetlcal oroef, HTS. those of men and those or WoIneIl' VI l the former there are no less than oi' no. counting subdivisions; and Of the latter
 
 accompanied by pictures of founders and other distinguished members and partlcu- larly of the buildings The facts In each case. as heretofore stated, have been gath cred from the authorities in charge. Non-Catholics will be astonished not only at the extension or the monastlc TO ders in the United States, put at the variety given to Catholic activity by the | diversity in these organizations That more space is not given to some or the best known is due probably to the accl- | dent that in a composite work or this kind some writers are less pronx than l others. . | the secular clergy arranged according to | provinces. The last volume, which per- l hans should have been the first, will give | the history of the Catholic cnurch anu treat of general movements In it. IL IS remarkable work, of as deep interest to those who QO HOt pcioh6 'O 'hS ANANi' Ns to those who do, bearing testimony not only to what Catholics have accomplished hut to the great change In the esti- mate of them that has come over the United States in 60 years. The record Ia put in an imposing shape, stately, fine ly printed, well bound foilos.
 This undertaking in the literary line of six volumes-the first volume only as yet produced-together with the 15 volumes of the Catholic Encyclopedia, four volumes of which have come from the press, all reviewed in this department, are two great works now in the hands of the Catholic church. If the other five volumes of "The Catholic Church in the United States of America" hold to the stride of the first one here discussed, the work will be monumental, really.
 "Aline of the Grand Woods by Nevil G.
 Henshaw (The Outing Publishing Co.)
 This is a very interesting novel dealing with Louisiana life and the Cajuns, or Acadians The scene of the story is laid in a little village of Landry, La., sonic dis tance from the railroad, wee bit clus- ter of houses on farms and plantations near the larger railroad town of Mou- ton, La.
 Monsieur Landry" the storekeeper anu postmaster at Landry, the little village named for his family in years gone, was inouisitive and loquacious but very goo1 hearted with 1t all Pere Martian, the spiritual adviser and father confessor to inc people at Landry and around about, has thereabouts powerful influence for good and is much beloved by all MT. Tawrence. a dsinherited son of rich