Father Ronald Knox said on his post card, "The Bible,
suppose, is barred ? " and although we did not specifically say so in our inquiries, we expected that our correspondents would take it for granted that a Book so wrought into the fabric of our civilization, and so diverse in its components, could not be mentioned with lesser works. A few of our correspondents have mentioned the Bible, however. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, for instance, says " the Bible, Bradshaw, and Rudyard Kipling's works" are the three books that have most influenced him. The Dean of Durham gives us "The Bible, especially the New Testament, Dante's Divina Commedia, and Bishop Butler's Analogy." Dr. J. E. C. Welldon adds the following : "I have named three books on the post card which you sent me ; and I should like to explain that I have chosen them, as you ask for the three books which have 'chiefly influenced my career.' Had you asked for the books which have given me the most pleasure, my answer would have been somewhat different. I may say that I have chosen the Bible as being, of course, the supreme treasury of moral and spiritual teaching ; the Divina Commedia as having impressed upon me the profound seriousness under- lying human life, and Bishop Butler's Analogy o Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, as having shown me the kind of evidence for which it is possible to look and upon which it is right to act in different subjects, and above all in religion." Lord Hardinge of Penshurst answers, "The Bible, Markham's History of England, and What to Observe (author unknown)." Many others would no doubt have mentioned the Bible, as Canon Lyttelton does for instance. Excluding that Book, however, his three favourite volumes are "Shakespeare's Plays, The Letters of R. M. Benson, and Homer's Iliad." Dr. Lyttelton adds that his Hit must be conjectural and uncertain because any great book will have affected the subconscious mind of any careful reader so that its effects would be untraceable. Father Knox's final choice is Monsignor Hugh Benson's The Light Invisible, Virgil's Aeneid, and The Imitation of Christ." * *
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