Communications
506 THE COMMONWEAL September 30, 1925 beautiful vermilion." A similar brutality appears in his treatment of sex. His male athletes rather inconsistently regard women either as the...
...His male athletes rather inconsistently regard women either as the unpleasant but necessary means for the continuance of the race, or as the pleasant but contemptible means of relaxation when out of training...
...Before closing, may I say that I was greatly pleased to see your appreciative mention of Father Hecker in the issue of September 2 ? He was a great American, far too little known...
...COMMUNICATIONS BISHOP BERKELEY AND SAINT OSWALD San Diego, Cal...
...He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and in his mature years became successively (Protestant) Dean of Dromore...
...Walsh, referring to Bishop Berkeley, leaves no other impression than that the brilliant idealist was in every respect an Englishman, while in fact he was a native of Kilkenny, and his most permanent home and principal field of labor were in Ireland...
...As then, so now, I ask myself—what personal action may Catholic laymen take...
...September 30, 1925 THE COMMONWEAL...
...Do you suppose there would be any chance of discovering them if you were to have in The Commonweal 9ome space for suggestions as to what the laity may do ? Do you think someone might have an idea of some practical means of bringing about the renaissance of energy that you want...
...In his closing chapter on "personal responsibility," he says—"If there is any thought or word in what I have said that seems to you true, then I ask you to use it, not as a matter for discussion, but as an impulse toward personal action...
...Edward H. Whelan...
...Do you think it possible that the Ozanams are here in our midst, but are made dumb by the reticence and shyness which seems characteristic of thinking Americans...
...Courtesy and the gentle heart do not exist in this philosophy...
...The fact that Aidan and his fellow monks came from the Irish monastic centre on Iona probably explains why he selected for his see an island—the Iona of England...
...Of course Mr...
...Is this solely due to his temperament and European background...
...M. de Montherlant, assuredly, has not done full justice to his subject...
...But there can be no doubt that he expresses, and often expresses beautifully, much of its spirit...
...Perhaps I should find an answer in your remarks about Ozanam and the Count de Mun, who, were they here in New York, would perceive the "work...
...I confess to a complex against obiter dicta history, and science, especially when, even unintentionally as here, it tends to further the Nordic nonsense...
...Again you state, speaking of migratory birds, that a monastery which became the glory of Northumbria under Saint Oswald, was founded by this saint on the Fame Islands in A. D. 635...
...As Oswald survived the founding of the monastery only seven years, during which he was constantly harassed in warfare with the Britons and the Mercians, it was not he who developed the glory of Northumbria, but as Bede makes very clear, it was Aidan, his Irish colleagues and their successors...
...and Derry, and Bishop of Cloyne...
...Bede is, of course, our only authority on these matters, and those who refer to him will remember that he calls all the Irish, north and south, "Scots," while the native people of Alba or Caledonia were the "Picts...
...And although our Venerable author deplores their irregularity about Easter, he lauds their remarkable continence and humility, their thorough knowledge of the scriptures and (soothe to say) their discretion...
...But each impulse to serve evaporates for want of a "work" —a "cause" to absorb its energy...
...When the Catholic radio begins to broadcast I hope it will bring out the point that the radio is the projection of Isaac Hecker's spirit into the twentieth century...
...And he leaves no doubt, either, despite an occasional gesture of moderation, that to him this spirit is essentially one with the spirit of war and militarism...
...If we cannot answer it ourselves, the future surely will...
...Or has he, perchance, after all caught the real mood of our athletics ? And if so, has sport then remained, what it would seem to have been phylogenetically, a preparation for war rather than a substitute for war...
...To analyze satisfactorily the causes and the affiliations of modern sport would require a far more patient and judicial mind than his...
...the means to the arousing of the spirit of social consciousness you desire...
...At the age of sixty-seven he changed his residence to England and died within the year...
...It seems to me that many of us Catholics are ready and glad to put our shoulders to the wheel if we can find the wheel...
...Do you not sense a new spirit among people—a real desire and enthusiasm to improve the condition of the world...
...the Calvert Associates have theirs...
...The monastery was on the island of Lindisfarne and was founded by the Irish monk and bishop, Saint Aidan, who requested the pious King Oswald to grant him this site...
...That is the fundamental question which demands an answer...
...But the mass of Catholics are only amateurs, and it is by amateurs that whatever is to be done, must be done...
...For three years he resided in America...
...TO the Editor:—In your issue of September 9 are two small samples of obiter dicta history which would not be hurt by a little emendation...
...Can you fancy Father Hecker's delight at the idea of a mammoth Question-Box conducted by radio, reaching the nation he loved with such a practical love ? Katherine Delmonico Byles...
...To use the tools of one's age was one of his maxims, and the present Paulists seem to me to be following his lead in a very striking manner...
...Cram has his "work...
...Oswald, having spent the sixteen years of his banishment among the Irish, knew their language so perfectly, Bede tells us, that with admirable humility he served as interpreter for Aidan in the conversion of the English...
...THE NEW YORK LIBRARY New York, N. Y. TO the Editor:—So many of the librarians have read and admired your recent editorial on behalf of the New York Public Library that I want to express for some of us our appreciation and gratitude for your able and sympathetic presentation of the library case...
...T Esther Johnston, Librarian-in-Charge...
...THE LAYMAN'S RESPONSIBILITY New York, N. Y. TO the Editor:—As I see your various stimulating articles on Catholic social apathy, I feel much as I did when in 1921 I read Ralph Adams Cram's Toward the Great Peace...
Vol. 2 • September 1925 • No. 21
