EDITOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION

The author of "The Christian Philosophy of Life" has
reached the close of his earthly pilgrimage. " Finita sunt
omnia. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti ! Amen"
Such were his last words. On October 18, 1899, death came
to end his sharp, prolonged sufferings. It found him an
exile at Valkenburg, a small town in the Netherlands, and
his mortal remains have been laid to rest - in foreign soil,
but we trust that his soul is at home once more in the
land where light and peace reign eternally.

Tilmann Pesch was born in Cologne on February 1, 1836,
and entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Munster
on October 15, 1852. He was consecrated to the priesthood
in January 1866, by that splendid champion of the
liberty of the Church, Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler,
in the chapel of the episcopal palace at Munich, and made
his solemn vows at Aix-la-Chapelle on February 2, 1871.
For the space of many years he filled the post of lecturer
on philosophy, first at Maria-Laach, and subsequently at
Blijenbeck, in Holland.

The numerous works for which we are indebted to his
pen form no mean contribution to Catholic letters, and attest
alike his intellectual gifts and industry, whilst through the
medium of his spiritual writings, sermons and conferences,
he has brought counsel and comfort to many souls. Wide
learning, in his case, was accompanied by a childlike
humility, and his gentle, benignant spirit knew neither fear
nor compromise wherever principles were at stake. The
fabric of a life so abundantly fruitful in its apostolic activities
was reared upon the sure foundation of faith and knowledge,
energetic action and quiet patience, born of a philosophy in
which natural and supernatural elements coalesced to form
one harmonious whole. By these his life's work was directed,
and rendered consistent and faithful in the service of God
and of the Church ; from these he drew the strength which
braced him to the endurance of long years of suffering without
a murmur. The closer the fetters which bodily weakness
laid upon him, the freer his soul became, the more stripped of
earthly desires, and the more perfectly purified by boundless
submission to the holy will of God.

The idea of a work on Christian philosophy had long
been in his mind, and such spare moments as his manifold
duties left to him were employed in the accumulation of
material. It was his habit, when possible, to devote the
last three days of Holy Week to this task. Increasing
illness, and the advice of Bishop Kneipp, led him at length
to Betzdorf, in Rhenish Prussia, to seek relief in a course
of the waters there, and the opportunity thus afforded was
utilised by him to reduce to order the mass of material
at his disposal. He was permitted the joy of witnessing
the strikingly favourable reception accorded to this, his last
work.

May it prove a source of comfort, edification and spiritual
healing to many souls in days to come ! Such was the one
heartfelt desire of its author.

HEINRICH PESCH, S.J.
Luxemburg (Bellevue), February 2, 1900.