frost-bound roads leading to this goal of hospitality and happiness, as there ever did before, if not more so; to find everything all save the Christmas Tree, alas!--beautifully ready and prepared for them. The usual programme was gone through; first tea, then the magic-lantern, then singing and recitation, and dancing of all sorts.

In the middle of somebody's song, as the night wore on, a loud knock resounded on the outer door. Nobody seemed to mind it, and presently it came again, this time loudly and insistently.

Our hostess started up in alarm. so loudly?" she asked excitedly.

"Who is that knocking

"Don't let them in, for

goodness sake! don't open the door, anybody—it might be a tramp!"

We looked at her in amazement.

"Oh, you needn't be afraid with all us here, Miss K-," said one small boy valiantly, and I believe that I, in my commiseration for my hostess's alarm, even declared myself capable of knocking the head off him' unaided.

Oh, no matter!" she persisted, her eyes bright with excitement. "This is a very lonely place, and the gate has been open all the evening. You could never tell who it might be, at this hour of the night!"

The door of the room opened and one of the visitors appeared.

"There is a gentleman outside, Miss K," she told her hostess, "who says he heard you were having a Christmas party and would like to come to it."

"Oh, in that case," she replied with a reassured look, "you had better bring him in."

For the whilom

Then came the surprise of the evening. 'tramp' and gentleman' proved to be no other than Father Christmas himself, his hair and grey beard sparkling with frost, his great red cloak covered with cotton-wool snowflakes, whilst his bright old eyes regarded one and all with a jolly and highly benignant gaze. Best of all, he carried on his bent and heavily laden shoulders a huge sack filled to the very mouth with brown paper parcels of toys and presents for old and young, rich and poor, and all chosen with a thought for the special needs of each recipient!

Great, indeed, and very varied in its effects, was the commotion caused by his unexpected appearance. Many of the younger children ran under tables, chairs, and the grand piano in their fright, and could only be persuaded to emerge after much coaxing and soothing. The older ones, of course, beamed with pleasure, and gave hearty cheers of acclamation for both Miss K and her latest guest, as he handed out parcel after parcel-three or four for each one, no less!-to each eager and highly pleased participator.

How well she kept the secret, and how beautifully she had deceived us all, with her No Christmas Tree this year, my dears!' and not one word about this other splendid surprise! "Indeed then," said one dear old woman, the mother and grandmother of two of the guests, and herself the recipient of a comfortable gift from Father Christmas's lavish hands, “I never thought she had such tricks in her!"'

SOME NEW BOOKS

1. Some Thoughts on Catholic Apologetics. By Edward Ingram Watkin, B.A. London: B. Herder. net.)

(Price 1s.

This latest volume of the Catholic Library' is one of the most interesting and valuable of the series. The author calls it 'A Plea for Interpretation'; he explains what he means by this title in the Preface. To Catholics he would sav: "Do speak so that non-Catholics can and will listen," and more fully in his third section: "Yet, all the while, did but the unbeliever [in orthodox Christianity] realize aught of the true character of our Faith, of its bearing on modern problems, of the infinite depth of meaning concealed under those apparently external and even childish doctrines, of its applicability to all the needs of the human soul... he must needs reverence and study it, and likely enough would be converted to it." If the Catholic, he urges, is to so state and interpret the teaching of the Faith

that these unbelievers may comprehend his meaning, he must possess a sympathetic understanding of modern thinkers and modern thought; and to help to such an understanding he attempts a survey of the present conditions and future prospects of Christian apologetics, of the state of affairs both in our own camp and in that of the enemy. He discusses several lines of apologetic argument, notes seven leading tendencies of modern thought hostile to Catholicism, and considers at some length Pantheism as being the rival and direct enemy of Catholicism. He writes on the whole well and clearly, and his style has that welcome suggestion of ripeness which flavours the expression of those who think out questions for themselves. A shilling is a modest price to put on these hundred and forty pages of vigorous and stimulating thought on a very important subject.

2. Stilts. A Novel. By Adam Squire. Duckworth and Co. (Price 6s.)

London:

There is something in this novel by Adam Squire, as the author chooses to be known (his real name would make a prompt appeal to the interest of Irishmen), which suggests comparison with the works of Henry Harland. It is not on a level with Harland's writings-with his best, at least-in point of grace and subtlety and smoothness; but in some other respects the advantage lies with the author of Stilts, in the working out of the plot, for example, and in the strength of thought. We do not wish to convey that this is a novel with a purpose or an intellectual problem; it is just a pleasant, humorous and very readable story of modern life, with scenes laid partly in London and partly in Sicily, orthodox resorts for the personages in present day novels. The characters are on the whole well handled; several of them impress one as being real living people; the treatment, however, of the child is not so successful. Religion is not introduced; but apart from this the book can be recommended to those in search of a quite clean and quite interesting story.

of

3. Confirmation. A Study in the Development Sacramental Theology. By Rev. Michael O'Dwyer. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, Ltd. (Price 3s. 6d.)

Since this treatise was written, Father O'Dwyer has become privileged to add to his name the letters which indicate that he has won the very honourable distinction of a Doctor's degree in Divinity; and in part he has won it by reason of this book. It is the thesis which he presented for the degree. The actual examination was held in Maynooth on the twenty-first of last June, and the degree conferred the day following. He had previously been one of the select few who pursue a special study of theology in the Dunboyne establishment. The theology of Confirmation he treats on historical lines; first considering the passages in the New Testament which bear on the subject; then the testimony of the Fathers and the usages in the early Church; and finally the discussions of theologians, the decrees of Councils, the Protestant opposition, and present day practice and teaching; and the study of the question, he says, "has forced him, against his wishes almost, to the conclusion that Christ determined the matter and form of the Sacrament merely in a generic fashion, and left to his Church the power to make specific changes in the sacred rite." We congratulate the author on his distinguished success as a student of the Queen of Sciences-proved both by his degree and by this well-written volume.

4. A short Appreciation of Robert H. Benson by Father R. O'Loughran, though bearing marks of having been hastily written, has yet something of the attraction and glow about it of a lively conversation. The characteristics. of Monsignor Benson - his childlike simplicity and straightforwardness, his gentleness and strength, his humour are happily described by one who knew him. The turning-point of Monsignor Benson's life, his conversion, is more particularly dwelt upon, and a suitable tribute is paid to his literary work. The price is sixpence and the publishers Messrs. Guy and Co. of Cork.

5. From Messrs. Browne and Nolan (Dublin) we have a new edition of the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (2s. 6d. net.) revised in accordance with latest rubrics and decrees by the Very Rev. T. Canon O'Doherty, B.A., Dean of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth. In addition to the Little Office of the B.V.M., it contains the Office for the Dead and

the new Office for November the 2nd. The type of this new edition is large and clear and makes easy reading. The same publishers have issued The Rosary, a Plea for the daily recital of its Fifteen Mysteries, by the Rev. T. McGeoy, P.P., whose pleasantly written and animated account of the Irish National Pilgrimage to Lourdes we reviewed last year. He points out that the Rosary is a fitting and natural substitute for the Little Office of Our Lady, which in olden days was so commonly recited by the laity, and urges its recitation in full on many grounds, particularly in these dark and troubled days of war. The booklet is bound in cloth and costs sixpence net.

6. The insistent topic of the war claims for itself a large space in periodical literature of most kinds at present, and as one would expect figures prominently in some of our college annuals. The Belvederian has a very interesting contribution from Dom Columba Marmion, O.S.B., Lord Abbot of Maredsous in Belgium, one of the most distinguished of past Belvederians, in which he describes his experiences at the beginning of the war. It is well illustrated like most of the other articles in the number, some of the most attractive in this respect being the account of John Hogan the sculptor from the pen of Mr. J. Clarke, and the Notes on a Visit to Petrograd and Moscow.' The artistically garbed Clongownian is still more centred on the subject of the war; the foremost item in its contents is a list of its past students who have distinguished themselves in service, on land or sea, with portraits of those who have fallen in the strife. It continues the series of articles on careers for Clongownians with an excellent one on The Profession of a Chartered Accountant' by Thomas C. Flynn, A.C.A. A very hopeful sign of the times is to be found in the account of The Clongowes Social Service Club.' The Club, under the presidency of Mr. Daniel S. Doyle, LL.B., has taken premises in Holles-street, where it is active in the service of the poor boys of Westland Row Parish. The annual of Sion Hill, Blackrock, Teritas, is naturally more concerned with questions of peace than the two preceding. It is produced with the charming taste which seems to be an abiding inheritance of the Dominican Order and the works which it inspires. Art and literature (and, we need