December 30, 1933.

THE TABLET y l Weekly N ew s p a p e r a n d R e v ie w DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS V E ST R IS CONSTANTER MANEATIS

From, the Brief o f His Holiness Pius IX to The Tablet, June 4,1870.

Vol. 162. No. 4886. London, December 30, 1933.

Sixpence.

R eg is t e r e d at th e General P ost Of f i c e as a New s pa p e r .

Page

New s and No t e s ...................8 65 The King’s Speech . . . 869 After ....................................... 869 “ Mine H o s t” ................. 870 The “ Thirty-Fours ” . . . 871 Books Received ................. 873 R e v ie w s : Modernism’s “ Message ” 873 A Scholar-Ambassador . . . 874 Christian Missions . . . 874 A Great Seaman . . . 874 Social Work in Other Lands ............................ 876

CONT

Page

New Books and Music . . . 876 Obituary .............................. 877 Catholic Education Notes . . . 878 London University Results 878 Two New Birmingham Churches ............................ 878 E t C i E T E R A .................................... 8 7 9 Correspondence :

Rome (Our Own Corre­ spondent’s Weekly Letter from) ............................ 881 Cardinal Bourne ................. 882

NOTANDA Christmas, 1933. The Commonwealth’s greetings to the King-Emperor and His Majesty’s message to “ our world-wide family ” (p. 869).

“ A fter Epiphany” ; not “ A fter Christmas.” The evangelistic lesson of a liturgical fact (p. 869).

The Bishops to their flocks. Some further extracts from the Advent pastorals. Many details of Catholic progress in England during the past year (pp. 883-8).

General O’Duffy’s arrest and release. Some fine dicta of two Irish Judges (p. 866).

Codex Sinaiticus safely out of Godless Russia and safely housed in the British Museum (p. 865).

“ Mine Host.” An under-crowded profession for Catholics who are sincerely and not merely verbally willing to “ do anything ” (p. 870).

A March to Mass, mainly of men who had never heard Mass before (p. 868).

It happened in ’Thirty-four. A survey of many occurrences in Christian history which lend themselves, next year, to centenary commemoration (p. 871). __________________________

NEWS AND NOTES Q N L Y TWO DAYS of the Old Year’s life remain to be lived. I f the three hundred and sixty-three days which are forever gone have been unhappy, the fault is our own; and the blame will be ours also if 1934 be not a Happy New Year. To wish every reader of The Tablet a New Year brimful of pleasure and running over with money would be folly; but it is sober truth that the most solid happiness is within the reach of any man, even if he be sick and a pauper, so long as he will lay hold upon the helps and graces which Almighty God has provided for his creatures’ needs. This is no mere platitude of piety. I t is a challenge to sincerity and faith. New Series. Vol. CXXX. No. 4285.

ENTS

Advent P a s t o r a l s : Page B r e n tw o o d .............. . . . 883 Salford .............. . . . 883 Lancaster .............. . . . 884 Clifton .............. . . . 885 Plymouth .............. . . . 886 Middlesbrough . . . 887 From The Tablet of Ninety Years Ago .............888 Com in g E vents .............888 Or b is Terrarum : England .............888 Ireland .............889 Australia .............889

Pago

Or b is T errarum ( Oontd.) : Austria ............................ 889 Belgium ............................ 889 China ............................889 France ............................ 889 Germany ............................ 889 Indo-China 889 Italy 890 New Zealand ................. 890 Snain 890 Tibet 892 Christmas at Crispin Street 892 Soc ia l and P ersonal . . . 892 This Week’s Tablet . . . 892 Ch e s s .............................. '892

Not by that picturesque name did the scribes of the Codex Sinaiticus call their work. To them it was simply a copy of Holy Scripture, transcribed with reverence. Therefore Bolshevist Russia has long ceased to be its fitting home, and it is good news that the MS. which Tischendorf rescued from wastepaper baskets and furnaces as lately as midVictorian times has been delivered once more from unworthy custodians. In passing, we ought to say, for the sake of those who have been reading inexpert articles in popular papers, that the Sinaitic monks who so ignorantly destroyed priceless MSS. in the nineteenth century were not Catholic monks. Theirs was a monastery of the schismatic “ Orthodox ” Church. -The price paid for this fourthcentury Codex, which is in important respects the twin-brother of the Codex Vaticanus, is £100,000; but Moscow will not handle the money. I t has been placed to her credit in London, and will be used as part payment for Russian purchases of British goods. We mention this bartering lest anybody should be troubled by a fear that the cash might be spent on the anti-Christian propaganda which Moscow is feverishly reviving. As for the value of Codex Sinaiticus to Biblical scholars, its importance is vast; but textual critics do not take account of a manuscript’s age alone. A fifthcentury vellum may be more helpful than one of the fourth century in establishing a first-century text; because it may have been copied from a papyrus of third- or even second-century date. All the same, it is very, very good to have Sinaiticus safely lodged in the British Museum, where the chemistpakeographers can scrutinize the inks used in the very many corrections, and perhaps tell us more about the much discussed Csesarean text of the Gospels. I t is to be hoped that Catholic seats of learning will figure among the subscribers to the £100,000. By the way, the Soviets, in the first instance, priced the Codex at no less a figure than £250,000.