Death of Lord Lloyd
THE death of Lord Lloyd takes from us a notable punlic servant to whom all who value Christian ideals arc deeply in. debted. Above all, he used his imagination in all his work, none of which was more successful or more useful to the country than the British Council which, under his guidance, sought to maintain and develop cultural relations between this country and every foreign country. e
thoroughly realised that such cultural ti.eslea
t tions can only have a spiritual basis, and that was why he gave such importance to religion in the work of the Council. In particular we are indebted to him for hard work in renewing the old friendsip between Britain and Spain after the Civil War. In many ways the times were against Lord Lloyd's outlook, and it is a great tragedy that he should have died comparatively early when there exists greater hope that what he fought for will become more generally accepted.
The Flying Priest
OUR reader.' have often heard of Fr. Paul Schulte, the " Flying Priest," but I am afraid that we have never succeeded in giving as good a pen-picture of this pioneer Alaskan missionary as a reviewer in the New York Herald Trib.me provides when reviewing Fr. Schulte's own account of his work in a recent book that has not yet
reached this country I am not sure that the reviewer wholly admires his hero, but to the born Catholic what he says is surely admirable and true to the best traditions of Catholicity. Having described his many adventures. the reviewei goes on ;—" Then. almost before you can wink your eye, this 250-pound priest, who makes no bones of his fondness for wining and dining, is strolling on Fifth Avenue enjoying the delights of civilisation. " It is an odd, naive, winsome melange of aeronautical technique, Eskimo ethno logy, bravery, pity and bravado With a cheek-up on the ignition system and a prayer to the Virgin, with one eye on the gyroscopic compass and the other on a crucifixion scene hung up In the cabin, Father Schulte takes off for Churchill, Chesterfield, Repulse Bay, Fury and Hecla Strait, and points north."
Gill Memorial Number
RLACKFRIARS February number is a " memorial to Eric Gill. It consists of eight personal appreciations. articles on Gill as sculptor (by David Jones), Gill as social reformer (Bernard Kelly), Gill as philosopher (Fr. Kenelin Foster, and Walter Shrewring), and Gill as friend (Rene Hague), and reviews of his last two books —his autobiography and Drawings front Life, The personal tributes are written by the Rev. F. Lockyer (Gill's parish priest at High Wycombe), J. Middleton Murry, Fr, Martin d'Arcy, S.J., Neville Gorton, Fr. Bernard Delany. O.P., Hilary Pepler. Donald Attwater and Anthony Foster.
" We don't pretend," says Blackfrairs, " to have given a complete portrait of the many-sided character of that great Catholic workman His activities were too numer
ous . . it is too soon The tributes and reviews of certain aspects of Mr. Gill's life and work must fulfil a double purpose —to pay homage . . • and to throw a searchlight on the fundamental truths for which he stood.
" During his life-time a degree of misunderstanding hindered the power of Eric Gill's thought from having its full effect... A protest against them, misunderstandings is
therefore immediately necessary to dispel the mirage of an artistic temperament or an "arty Chelsea ' behaviour.
" What those who saw oddities or read a scribbler failed to discern was an attempt at a normal Christian life based on the marriage of Nature and Grace in a Christian culture. The friends who have bare studied him under such different aspects all in fact discover one common and essential feature, an integrity by which Gill both saw and lived things wholly."
The War of Life
FTJRTHER theological disquisitions reach me from my little girl friend of nine (who threatens to submit them to the Universe, if I don't use them). This time she appears to have struck on the same thoughts as prompted S. Ignatius to write the meditation on the " Two Standards."
" We are sometimes," she writes, " at war, and sometimes at peace. Really we are always at war. It is called the war of life. This war is against Satan Satcn is stronger than a milion bilion strong armies. Everybody has their own war. Each one has to fight alone except for three helpers. thier will, thier conchens and God. Your will means you can do what you like, your conshense is a little person inside who tells you whether you are right or wrong.
God is the greatest helper of all. Without Him we could not help giving in to Saten Besides all his wicked tempters Satan has many kinds of sin to help him It is these we must keep away from. The battle lasts till the end of your life. Then God decides whether you have stayed on His side enough to come into His country, Heaven. If you have stayed on His side quite a tot but not quite enough He puts you in a place called Purgatry until you are good enough to come in heaven. If you have been on His side very little He puts you in a place of fire for ever, This place is called Hell and Saten rules there. If you are put in Hell Satan wins the war of life."
High-brow Talks for Troops
I AM indebted to the Guardian for an
I interesting account of the work of the Churches' Committee for supplementing religious education among the Forces. I see that among the subjects selected for talks to the men are ' The Conflict of Reason and Unreason To-day," and '' The Worship of Money in our Demo-Plutocracy." Also that writers like von Hegel and Berdyaev are among those recommended for general reading. Personally, I am glad that so high a standard is being set I have always thought that we tend to underrate the level of intelligence of people in our apologetics. The art is to talk about important and even difficult subjects in simple and plain language.
" Le Glaive de l'Esprit "
4' RALLYING round the Croix de Lor
raine," featuring Cardinal Hinsley and General de Gaulle together at a recent lunch, with the text of their speeches, is the main article ot the second monthly number of " Le Gfttive de l'Esprit."
This French edition of "The Sword of the Spirit " deserves praise for its excellence. It fills the want of the multitude of French. speaking exiles in England for spiritual matter to carry them through this period of moral desolation and anguish.
The contents include Paul Claudel's inspiring poem on St. Paul', Conversion, with its reference to the sword dividing the body and the Spirit, and also an eloquent patriotic and Christian appeal to French youth in verse by " P. B." :—
" For twenty years or more, these sons of
St. Louis were told: " God 1 If we deny Him not, at least we ignore Him !
" The Three Colours !
" A mere Rag in Colours
" 7,a Paine? Ideology I " Francais I You are going out le fight
" For Christian Civilisation, " For the honour of the Flag, "The Petrie is in danger I"
Father Mullins, OP., announces that on February 9 " The Sword of the Spirit " is to inaugurate a Belgian section, with a bulletin in three languages--French, Flemish and English.
JOTTER.